Venice: May 31st-June 3rd!

Cool, right?

Me and Mandy Oh Venice No cars, just boats :-) The colors just seemed so vivid! Basilica di San Marco
So Thursday after class we packed up and took off like a bat outta hell! Ryan, Kevin, Mandy, Tim, and I bused, trained, and planed to Venice, and that was the easy part. Little did we know that when we were to arrive, we would have to deal with our first language barrier! For one, it was later than we had hoped when we arrived at the airport we were still outside of Venice and we had to find a way to contact Michele, who we were renting an apartment from for the weekend, (a guy… I was expecting a girl… silly me). This was rather stressful and tricky (payphones are scary when you don’t know how they work), and then we called, took a bus, called, took a boat, and finally met up with Michele. He had worked really hard to give us directions, but we really struggled to understand him because he was less apt at English than most people we came into contact with. He was really nice though, and tried very hard for us, so we mostly nodded and pretended that we knew what he was saying. We understood the things that were important, and let me tell you, our accommodations were pretty kickass! Lol, there was even a hair dryer and cable tv! Anyway that night we all got dinner, and then Mandy and I were exhausted, so we stayed in while the guys went out.

Friday we woke up early and headed to the San Marco square… well I should say the Basilica di San Marco, but let’s face it… I’ll probably just always call it the San Marco square. We shopped, and just marveled at this beautiful building… and city for that matter! Really for the rest of the day we just wandered, took many photos, shopped and ate lots of gelato. We ate pizza and watched some performers who were playing on wine glasses. Around 5 it started to rain, so we headed back to the apartment, which was literally a 4 minute walk from the Basilica di San Marco… it was right in the middle of town! Kevin took a nap, and the rest of us watched MTV in Italian for a bit. Around 6 we headed to dinner, where I had some delicious cheese gnocchi. After dinner we all got some more gelato, then stopped back by the apartment. Tim, Kevin, Mandy, and I found the Basilica Di Santa Maria Gloriosa Dei Frari and took photos… and then more photos, then we went back eventually and got some sleep!

Saturday was for yet more shopping! We checked out every tourist shop we came across, along with almost every Murano glass shop… beautiful! For lunch I ate pizza again, and then we all went back to the apartment to use the restroom. Kevin, Tim, and Mandy ended up napping, while Ryan and I chatted, and you guessed it, shopped! We met up with everyone for dinner, and then Tim and Kevin went back to the apartment again, while Ryan, Mandy, and I strolled along the grand canal. We found a great park, but it was really a bit to dark for pictures to come out by that time. When we got back, all of us drank some wine and watched Forrest Gump in Italian, thoroughly entertaining! Then we watched some MTV and great infomercials… then slept hard!

Sunday we woke up, packed up, checked out, and traveled. We had a long wait for the bus, but everything worked out smoothly. The plane ride was also smooth, but there was a big scare for me when I left my purse in my seat! It was recovered pretty quickly though (kudos RyanAir), and we ran into Kymber, Megan, and Sara who were also headed from Amsterdam back to Maastricht. We talked a van into driving us to the trainstation for the same price as a bus would have been, with some confusion about 150 euros to Liege… lol. In Liege we hit up a Quick (the best fast food in Europe, I swear!). We made it back to Maastricht pretty early and most everyone headed down to the square for a big party that Maastricht has every year. Megan, Sara and I chose to stay in and had really good bonding time! I adore those girls!

Maastricht: May 28th-31st

From the vineyard Just a pretty picture on the walk Countryside... I love it Windmills! also right on the other side is Belgium... it's a 20 min walk to Belgium... Neat! Maastricht from the enterence to the caves

This week flew by! Good classes, good food, good nights, and a great fieldtrip! We went on a bit of a hike around Maastricht for the fieldtrip, visited a vineyard, and saw the caves that are beneath Maastricht. The weather and scenery were incredible! The caves were man made, but we did have a part that we walked through in complete darkness… it’s really disorienting, and I could definitely understand how someone might go a bit crazy after only a short time… scary! After that we trekked to the vineyard. The hike was beautiful, and the well at one point very steep! What a workout! The vineyard was charming! We learned about making wine in Maastricht, and also did some wine tasting. Besides the fieldtrip, it was another fun week. We went out some, and learned that two of our fellow classmates got engaged while in Rome! We also made some bartender friends at the Shamrock, a local Irish pub. I liked the atmosphere there a lot, and Marc and Stephen (the bartenders) were a lot of fun! I chatted with Stephen about Europe and America, and I’m sure he thought I was a little eccentric. Fun night… we planned another night out with them for next week! Oh! Ryan, Kymber, and I also went bowling! That was a fun experience... the board wasn't in English, so we had to have an employee come help us put our names in and get set up... I love bowling though!

Switzerland: May 24th-27th

Hang Gliding!!!The Crew: That Night in Switzerland

The Alps from Interlaken InterlakenOne of the Lakes Grindelwald! Me asleep on the train ride home... good weekend :-)





Switzerland should be my home. Ok, I know I’ve said that about everywhere so far, but this time I mean it… I even found myself constantly telling myself that I belong there because I’m more Swiss than anything else! Thursday we booked it after class and bussed, trained, and planed our way to Basel. We were worried about making our plane, but we checked in on time… although Ryan almost got “Steven Peter’s” ticket to London, instead of his two Basel, luckily all of that got sorted out in time! We didn’t do very much in Basel, but we did eat some tasty pizza! We went back pretty early and got in a good night of sleep before the trip to Interlaken the next day.

Friday morning was another decently early morning, but we were well rested. We took a train from Basel to Interlaken, and the scenery was beautiful! We arrived in Interlaken and set about finding the Funny Farm. Cool place. It was the first more typical hostel that we stayed in, but I liked the atmosphere very much! That night we mostly just walked around and took pictures of the beautiful scenery. I love mountains. Dinner was good. More walking to Wilderswil, the next town over… I just enjoyed walking, but I think Ryan was less interested. When we got back we set up Hang gliding for the next day, and then we hung out with a few other backpackers that we met. Four of them were from New Hampshire, and the other couple were from Ohio. We all played Catch phrase… it was nice. We went to bed decently early yet again… funny how early mornings and lots of walking do that. Oh! The people who we roomed with on Friday night sucked… loudest snoring EVER… and I’m pretty sure one of the guys had consumption… no joke… he should probably have been trying to get medical help.

Saturday morning we woke up and hit up the nearest Coop for yogurt, juice, and a croissant. Cheap and good! Then it was of to hang glide! We met Greggie and Ed, who took us. They were FREAKING COOL. Greggie speaks 5 languages and is working on learning Spanish now… how cool is that? Also, hang gliding was amazingly beautiful and a hell of a lot of fun! Afterwards they had some stuff to get together, so we took a walk to one of the lakes that Interlaken is named for (Interlaken = locked between two lakes). It was beautiful. When we were walking back from hang gliding, we literally ran into Marty, Alaine, and Eric, who were also on our same study abroad trip… they had told us that they might end up in Interlaken, but they were in Germany the day before, so we weren’t sure that we would see them. No cell phones makes meeting up with people much more exciting! Anyway, we made plans to meet them later… me and Ryan went to Grindelwald and they went zip lining! Grindelwald was a little further up in the mountains, and I’m pretty sure it’s impossible to take a bad photo there! Perfectly picturesque! We walked and souvenir shopped, and then stopped to get some coffee… good timing too, because it started raining! It was one of those perfect moments to me. When we got back, we ate a quick dinner then headed out for drinks with Marty, Eric, and Alaine. Thus “That night in Switzerland” began!… Marty is hands down the best story teller I know, and I love that Eric doesn’t know what it means when someone tells him something in confidence. I may have drank too much, and we ended the night at Hooter’s (ridiculous… we’re in Europe… but I swear there was not very much open!), but it was a hell of a night out!


Sunday morning we got up early yet again, and I took one of the top 5 showers of my life! Sure we had to use stolen table clothes for towels, and I washed with nothing but shampoo, but trust me… it was necessary! After that we packed up and headed off to the train station. When we got there we ran into the couple from Ohio… I was a little jealous of them because they were just pouring through a train schedule to decide where to go! There wasn’t a train to the place they wanted to go, so they were just up and heading to wherever. Awesome. Travel for the day was smooth. I got a window seat, and Ryan took the one behind me. He talked to a nice couple next two him. They were cute old people, and they told him that they run a farm that has been in the family for 300 years! Incredible! Made it back, caught up on emails, and slept!

Maastricht: May 21st-24th!

The North Sea! The Mauritshuis in The Hague
Part of the original wall surrounding Maastricht... I love this photo


Class went well this week… Thursday was already the Midterm… not sure how I feel about a 4 week class! On Monday a bunch of us went shopping… I bought nutella! Yes it is delicious! I have to say, shopping in Maastricht is quite wonderful! The shops are endless, and everything seems so much more fashionable and put together! I spent money, but I love clothes… oops! That evening we watched the movie Girl with a Pearl Earring, and I also caught up on Gilmore Girls and The Office in the computer lab… I love those shows, and it was great me time. Tuesday = Field trip day! We woke up far too early and headed to The Hague! We went to the International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, where we were debriefed and then got to watch part of the trail. Not that it’s neat, but it was quite interesting! Afterwards we went to the art museum and saw Girl with a Pearl Earring. I enjoyed the Art museum, but my favorite part of the day was the time we spent on the beach of the North Sea. It was quite cold, but the sea is very serene to me. We did some shopping, and drank some hot chocolate and coffee, it was a great day. Wednesday was nothing too exciting, but plans are finalized for Switzerland! I’m stoked!

May 17th-20th: Brussels and Bruges!

A doggie in the window in Bruges :-) My favorite photo from Bruges!
Ben, Kevin, Me and Ryan in Brussels
The view from the top of the Belfort in Bruges.

Brussels
Madonna and Child


On Thursday Ryan, Kevin, Ben, and me made our way from Maastricht to Brussels. When we first got arrived, we were all just excited, but after an hour of walking, looking for our hotel, we were all a little short of temper (well at least I definitely was). We ended up in a rather shady area of town, and while I wanted to stop and ask someone for directions, the guys were uninterested in doing so (go figure!). Eventually we found the place and the funny concierge and size of the room put everyone in a good mood! The man who checked us in teased Kevin for his poor French… but I was a little jealous that he could at least understand a little! That evening we explored and had a good dinner, then the next morning we found a brewery and took a tour. While there, we struck up conversation with two other American college students (we are rather easy to pick out with our hoodies and school names). They were from Florida and we spent the rest of the tour with them, and shared a drink with them at the end. It was fun, and I was sad to see them go! We also found the Manneken Pis … hehehe (completely childish), and a chocolate factory! I’m in love with Belgium chocolate. Enough said.

During the train ride form Brussels to Bruges, Kevin, Ryan, and I struck up conversation with a Russian woman, who happened to be seated across from us. She was originally from Russia, but had traveled quite a bit, and had even spent time living in Chicago! We talked about Chicago for a while, and then she told us that she is currently living in Antwerp, Belgium. I would like to visit there :-) She also told us about her son, who happens to be about our same age. It sounded like a rather interesting situation… she was going to be traveling to see him for the first time in 7 years because he is getting married… to a 17 year old! While this seemed astonishing to us, she explained that where she grew up in Russia, if a girls isn’t married by 25, she is considered to be a spinster. I was rather taken aback by this… I can’t imagine being married at 17… that was almost 5 years ago… insane. She seemed quite happy about seeing her son though. Also she had the cutest little dog with her on the train… the Dutch and Belgium people bring their pets everywhere it seems! I like it!

Bruges: My new favorite place!
Ok so Bruges is amazing, perfect, beautiful, historical, and absolutely the most confusing city to find your way in! I loved it! Also Kevin has an amazing sense of direction, kudos! Our hostel room was cute, and everything just seemed rather perfect. We wandered, ate, wandered, rested, and wandered. That evening there was a carnival going on, so we went on some rides, and mostly had a good time people watching. We experienced Belgium waffles and some local beers. Wonderful. Leffe, I love it! We all slept really well that night, and the next day we went to see the Michelangelo sculpture Madonna and Child, the only Michelangelo north of the alps! Ryan and I also climbed the 366 winding stairs of the Belfort… well worth it for the view! We were also able to do yet another chocolate museum tour, buy chocolate, watch and see how lace is made, and eat another waffle. Oh! And we did a boat tour! It was all really wonderful. Everything I ate was good, everything I drank was good, and everything I saw was beautiful :-) Leaving was hard, but I was excited to get back and send out emails too. It’s funny… by the time I got back, I already considered Maastricht home… after only one week!

A few random observations:
Since we arrived it has rained :-\ Also it’s so cold in the mornings, but by midafternoon, I’m sweating! And it gets light outside at like 6 am, but it doesn’t get dark till 10 pm… I swear! I love the long days! Oh, and all the bathrooms that I’ve used have been extremely clean… puts American public restrooms to shame!

Tuesday, May 15th 2007

Smart Cars!

beautiful senery

Our English Bulldog friend!

Today Ryan and I split from the group and spent the afternoon exploring Maastrticht. We came to realize that although Maastricht isn’t that large of a town, it does have three universities! While we were walking, we came across a man, who was taking his English bull dog for a walk, but was stopped while the dog took a break. The way the dog was sprawled out on the sidewalk was just comical, so we stopped and chatted with the man. It was quite the experience! The man spoke rather broken English, but he explained that the dog was getting old, and no longer enjoyed the warm weather. We also think he told us that he used to fight the dog in the area and that “the police no like him.” Although the man was very friendly, and we were enjoying the attempts on both of our parts to understand him, we were both starting to get a little leery of this dog. We did both pet him though, and he seemed friendly… I could see why people would be nervous though! It was a good experience to talk with the man because even though we couldn’t understand everything he was saying, he just kept trying in the friendliest manner. Although I had the mindset that Europeans don’t care for Americans, I’m finding that everyone I’ve met so far is much friendlier that I believe Americans would be. Go figure.

Reactions to traveling from Chicago, Illinois to Maastricht, The Netherlands

Me, Kevin, and Ryan on the trip to Maastricht
The Swiss Alps from the plane!

Well it was definitely a long trip! I left my house around 11 am and didn’t arrive in Maastricht till around 3:30 the next day! (sure 7 hours of that is because of time change… but still!) We flew from O’hare to Milan, then had a shorter ride from Milan to Amsterdam, and really the plane rides didn’t seem as long as I thought they’d be. I was just so excited! I wish I would have had a window seat! Since I didn’t sleep much during the some 10 hours of flying, I pretty much passed out on the 3 hour bus ride from Amsterdam to Maastricht, which was unfortunate because I missed yet more scenery! Before we left, I was a little nervous about traveling, but the only time I felt at all confused or nervous is when we changed planes in Milan. It was just a little disorienting for everything to be in another language, and I was afraid that I wouldn’t get on the right plane or that I might do something else silly. When we got to Maastircht and then to Teikyo, the university where we were staying, I was a little groggy, but a sense of excitement took over. As a group we went for a walk around Maastricht and everything just seemed so surreal. We all sat down at an outdoor café, and I drank a wonderful mango smoothie! I am not sure I talked much during the couple hours we were walking… I just couldn’t stop looking around! I love this town!

Maastrict

Why am I studying abroad?

Even before I came to EIU, I wanted to travel. My Aunt Karen began traveling for work about 10 years ago, and she has brought souvenirs back from Thailand, Japan, South Africa, Italy, London, Australia, as well as many other places. She and I are very close, so when she returned, I was excited to see pictures and souvenirs. Each time she returned, the urge to travel grew stronger for me. I’ve traveled with my family, and some on my own in the U.S. I’ve been to Phoenix, San Diego, Seattle, Virginia, Florida, New Orleans, Las Vegas and New York… not too bad for a 21 year old. I just love the excitement of being somewhere new! In coming to college, my plan was always to spend a semester studying abroad. Unfortunately, in becoming an RA, I made the choice to save money instead of spending it. Because I wasn’t ready to let the opportunity to study abroad go, I began considering summer programs, and when I learned about the psychology one, I was sold. The ability to travel on the weekends, to learn about multicultural psychology during the week, and also to travel with two close friends were benefits that I just couldn’t pass up. In my trip journal I discuss my fears of a language barrier, cultural differences, and even my fear of being thrust into a class that is out of my comfort zone, but more than anything else, I was purely excited about the opportunity for new experiences.