Showing posts with label Travel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Travel. Show all posts
September 17, 2010
A New Normal
This morning I woke up and felt so normal, I thought - I can't be in Spain, I can't still be travelling. It was just like an ordinary morning when you get to sleep in and wake up natural, not sore from climbing mountains or anything like that... just good, normal-like. I've been in Spain for four weeks now. A month. It's a new record.
August 19, 2010
Scotland Summary
I'm at Allan's house now and will be for the weekend. We'll catch up on some much needed sleep and maybe take a trip or two out, like to New Lanark or Hadrian's Wall, but for the most part I'm starting to look ahead to Spain. Scotland has been awesome. I was expecting a lot from the country but it has exceeded all expectations. The highlights have probably been Edinburgh (seeing Allan's haunts, the, lovely castle, etc...), climbing Ben Nevis (the U.K.s highest mountain), Loch Ness (the good, the bad, the pathetically touristy), and our brief but spectacular taste of the Hebrides Islands (Allan, Lucia and I had an afternoon on a beach of white sands and turquoise waters, and all to ourselves!) As far as the company goes, I love both Allan and Lucia dearly, and we had a lot of fun, but I'm not sure I thought through the ramifications of my plan to get them to hook up clearly. In fact I'm not sure I even expected it to actually work. It did and I'm happy for both of them but of course there were a few lonely times and a few awkward times but all ameliorated by a bunch of drunken Slovakians on one night and a certain Slovenian on two others.
We didn't complete our walk in the end. We'd planned to go from Ft. William to Inverness across the Great Glen Way, crossing Scotland from sea to sea and not even at its absolute narrowest point! In the end we were a bit cocky. I still think it wasn't so much the raw distance as the fact that we did our trial run in dry weather, on flat ground, and with half the weight. Really smart, and to make matters worse the day before the walk was the day we climbed Britain's highest mountain, and you're not supposed to do anything the day after. While we had unbelievably nice weather for most of the days of the trip, it rained every day we were walking, and after several days of trudging through pouring rain and the like, Allan was in lots of pain, I had caught some sort of sickness from Lucia, and Lucia was both sick and in pain, though possibly to less extremes, so we ended up taking the bus on two days. Still, we completed more than half the walk and learned a lot for next time. We should have been in better shape, we should have built in a rest day (especially considering Ben Nevis), and there were also things outside of our control, like pretty bad weather even for Scotland and illness. Whatever sickness Lucia brought with her from Chile was some nasty stuff - she is only now recovering after a month of sore throat, dripping nose, and cough, whereas I had the same symptoms more severely and acutely (already feeling fine again), and now Allan seems to have caught the same thing.
Is it rainy here? A few days in I would have told you it was all rubbish. We had lovely sunshine on the islands and the weather while climbing Ben Nevis was also fine. Yes it rained when we were in Glasgow but somehow rain bothers me less in urban environments. Then we started walking and it rained the WHOLE TIME - and then we finished and the weather in Inverness was absolutely glorious again. But what's really freaky about the rain here isn't the frequency (it rains far more in Costa Rica, for example), or the intensity (when it does rain in St. Louis in the summer, you better be inside unless you want to be blown into the Mississippi or struck by lightening, it's somewhat less here), but more of the combination between the two and other factors as well. It does rain frequently, I'd say at least once every other day, and unlike in, say, Costa Rica its still quite heavy and unpredictable, and cold or at least a bit bracing.
What I dislike about Scotland:
The wet, because towels and clothes never dry but always seem sort of damp and cold.
The way hot and cold spouts are separated and the hot water gets as hot enough to make tea - sometimes that can be handy yeah but usually you just have to pick between burning your skin off or freezing - it would be so easy to combine the spouts but no, why would anyone ever need warm or even lukewarm water when they could have boiling or icy?
The unpredictability - I mean rain is fine, but if you wear your raincoat it probably won't rain and carry it around all day, and if you don't, it's guaranteed to rain regardless of the forecast and regardless of how blue and clear the sky seems when you go out.
That there are random areas that according to Allan are rough, and I believe him of course for like Glasgow which has a reputation, but I mean he'll even say it of these little towns which look so sleepy and sweet. Makes me a bit sad. :( Why do these places have to be so gritty and real when they look so much like a fairy tale?
What I like about Scotland:
The wet, because it feels lovely and is good for my skin.
The food, the food, the food. I love the meat pies with their delicious flaky tender pastry and mix of vegetables and meat and spices inside. :D :D :D The candy is tasty, like Crunchie with its honeycomb centre, and the Galaxy and Cadbury chocolate. And there are berries by the side of the road, like in Finland and Norway, and very nearly as tasty. They have Magnum Ice Cream which is always a bonus. Blood Pudding really isn't bad after all, Potato Scones are quite nice, the availability of Indian food is always pleasant even when it doesn't seem to fit, and here's the big one -
Haggis: it's awesome.
The evil pine tree forests (in spite of everything), and the native deciduous forests with their dappled sunlight.
The moss and the lichen and the rocks (never get old somehow).
The Gaelic. It's more real than I expected, (but, to be fair, I was being pessimistic.) I've heard several people speak it and up north the signs are written in Gaelic first, English second.
Scots, too, and the myriad of different accents, are also somehow more real than I expected. Part of this I think is just the normal growing up in America you think everything else is hopelessly quaint and exotic, grow up and get disillusioned and then get surprised again to discover some things are real.
The Islands - they're as lovely as anything Caribbean or Mediterranean, different of course. I expected the desolation and the wildness and they are as advertised, but the deep blue of the waters and white sands caught me by surprise.
The Mountains. If you know me at all this comes as absolutely no surprise, but many of the are bigger than expected and all of them lovely. I expected them to be more like the Appalachians in a sense with more tree cover but I love them the way they are, more naked and windswept and almost like the Faroes. There are so many waterfalls snaking down everywhere like liquid silver and there are even some valleys by the sea that could rival the average Norwegian fjord.
The way the power outlets have little individual on-off switches.
Inverness. Perhaps the lovely weather made me a bit bias, but I thought the city was so nice with the river running through and the funny bridge and all the churches and the castle. :)
Loch Ness - its super touristy but even that's a bit fun once in a while, all the Nessie madness is so ridiculous it becomes fun again. And Urquhart Castle is lovely, and I had fun taking a swim in the Loch itself.
Ben Nevis - what a great mountain, what a lovely day spent climbing it. It's a bit of a challenge but really beautiful at every stage. Breathtaking in both senses of the word. :P
Edinburgh - So much culture for such a small city, plus its just so lovely and historic, even taking out, say, the brilliant castle and Arthur's Seat, the little mountain. Most of the city is actually a World Heritage Site. If I could afford to study abroad in an English speaking country, it would be in Edinburgh for sure.
The castles. I know it's super duper stereotypical but they're everywhere and it's just so cool. Allan actually has one like a fifteen minute walk from his house, a little one and not very old but still beautiful and ruined, all trees and vines twisting around the stonework and birds living in the upper stories. ^^
We didn't complete our walk in the end. We'd planned to go from Ft. William to Inverness across the Great Glen Way, crossing Scotland from sea to sea and not even at its absolute narrowest point! In the end we were a bit cocky. I still think it wasn't so much the raw distance as the fact that we did our trial run in dry weather, on flat ground, and with half the weight. Really smart, and to make matters worse the day before the walk was the day we climbed Britain's highest mountain, and you're not supposed to do anything the day after. While we had unbelievably nice weather for most of the days of the trip, it rained every day we were walking, and after several days of trudging through pouring rain and the like, Allan was in lots of pain, I had caught some sort of sickness from Lucia, and Lucia was both sick and in pain, though possibly to less extremes, so we ended up taking the bus on two days. Still, we completed more than half the walk and learned a lot for next time. We should have been in better shape, we should have built in a rest day (especially considering Ben Nevis), and there were also things outside of our control, like pretty bad weather even for Scotland and illness. Whatever sickness Lucia brought with her from Chile was some nasty stuff - she is only now recovering after a month of sore throat, dripping nose, and cough, whereas I had the same symptoms more severely and acutely (already feeling fine again), and now Allan seems to have caught the same thing.
Is it rainy here? A few days in I would have told you it was all rubbish. We had lovely sunshine on the islands and the weather while climbing Ben Nevis was also fine. Yes it rained when we were in Glasgow but somehow rain bothers me less in urban environments. Then we started walking and it rained the WHOLE TIME - and then we finished and the weather in Inverness was absolutely glorious again. But what's really freaky about the rain here isn't the frequency (it rains far more in Costa Rica, for example), or the intensity (when it does rain in St. Louis in the summer, you better be inside unless you want to be blown into the Mississippi or struck by lightening, it's somewhat less here), but more of the combination between the two and other factors as well. It does rain frequently, I'd say at least once every other day, and unlike in, say, Costa Rica its still quite heavy and unpredictable, and cold or at least a bit bracing.
What I dislike about Scotland:
The wet, because towels and clothes never dry but always seem sort of damp and cold.
The way hot and cold spouts are separated and the hot water gets as hot enough to make tea - sometimes that can be handy yeah but usually you just have to pick between burning your skin off or freezing - it would be so easy to combine the spouts but no, why would anyone ever need warm or even lukewarm water when they could have boiling or icy?
The unpredictability - I mean rain is fine, but if you wear your raincoat it probably won't rain and carry it around all day, and if you don't, it's guaranteed to rain regardless of the forecast and regardless of how blue and clear the sky seems when you go out.
That there are random areas that according to Allan are rough, and I believe him of course for like Glasgow which has a reputation, but I mean he'll even say it of these little towns which look so sleepy and sweet. Makes me a bit sad. :( Why do these places have to be so gritty and real when they look so much like a fairy tale?
What I like about Scotland:
The wet, because it feels lovely and is good for my skin.
The food, the food, the food. I love the meat pies with their delicious flaky tender pastry and mix of vegetables and meat and spices inside. :D :D :D The candy is tasty, like Crunchie with its honeycomb centre, and the Galaxy and Cadbury chocolate. And there are berries by the side of the road, like in Finland and Norway, and very nearly as tasty. They have Magnum Ice Cream which is always a bonus. Blood Pudding really isn't bad after all, Potato Scones are quite nice, the availability of Indian food is always pleasant even when it doesn't seem to fit, and here's the big one -
Haggis: it's awesome.
The evil pine tree forests (in spite of everything), and the native deciduous forests with their dappled sunlight.
The moss and the lichen and the rocks (never get old somehow).
The Gaelic. It's more real than I expected, (but, to be fair, I was being pessimistic.) I've heard several people speak it and up north the signs are written in Gaelic first, English second.
Scots, too, and the myriad of different accents, are also somehow more real than I expected. Part of this I think is just the normal growing up in America you think everything else is hopelessly quaint and exotic, grow up and get disillusioned and then get surprised again to discover some things are real.
The Islands - they're as lovely as anything Caribbean or Mediterranean, different of course. I expected the desolation and the wildness and they are as advertised, but the deep blue of the waters and white sands caught me by surprise.
The Mountains. If you know me at all this comes as absolutely no surprise, but many of the are bigger than expected and all of them lovely. I expected them to be more like the Appalachians in a sense with more tree cover but I love them the way they are, more naked and windswept and almost like the Faroes. There are so many waterfalls snaking down everywhere like liquid silver and there are even some valleys by the sea that could rival the average Norwegian fjord.
The way the power outlets have little individual on-off switches.
Inverness. Perhaps the lovely weather made me a bit bias, but I thought the city was so nice with the river running through and the funny bridge and all the churches and the castle. :)
Loch Ness - its super touristy but even that's a bit fun once in a while, all the Nessie madness is so ridiculous it becomes fun again. And Urquhart Castle is lovely, and I had fun taking a swim in the Loch itself.
Ben Nevis - what a great mountain, what a lovely day spent climbing it. It's a bit of a challenge but really beautiful at every stage. Breathtaking in both senses of the word. :P
Edinburgh - So much culture for such a small city, plus its just so lovely and historic, even taking out, say, the brilliant castle and Arthur's Seat, the little mountain. Most of the city is actually a World Heritage Site. If I could afford to study abroad in an English speaking country, it would be in Edinburgh for sure.
The castles. I know it's super duper stereotypical but they're everywhere and it's just so cool. Allan actually has one like a fifteen minute walk from his house, a little one and not very old but still beautiful and ruined, all trees and vines twisting around the stonework and birds living in the upper stories. ^^
August 01, 2010
Flying Over
My flight to Dallas was at 6:40. My parents got home from New Orleans at 3:10, and at 4:00 they went back to the airport with me. The line at security was longer than normal but not too bad, and then I ate a last American meal at Popeye’s. For some strange reason, the shrimp meal was cheaper than any of the chicken meals, so I got that with a bottle of water and some rice with red beans. I’d never eaten that kind of rice and beans before. It was quite good and I was quite hungry. I even got a biscuit. One last artery-clogging bit of Americana.
The flight was half an hour delayed, which made for a tight connection in Dallas – FTW (I know it’s Fort Worth, but I always think For the Win!!!) Still, there’s an enormous difference between a tight connection and a missed connection. I knew I couldn’t run, not with the backpack and the heavy briefcase, so I simply walked quickly from one terminal to the other. The boarding line had dwindled to about twelve, but I was in no real danger of missing the flight, and as it was there was no wasted time – I got right on and we left. As soon as I got on, the man directing us to our seats said, “Oh, I see you have Popeye’s (pronounced more like papayas). I like them.” Then, when I sat down, the man next to me made a comment about them too… and when the flight attendant came around to remind us to stow our luggage, she said, “remember to give me your Popeye’s….” almost seamlessly. It sure got a lot of attention, but the more I thought about it, everyone I ran into the whole way from America was very nice and friendly. Even the security guards had cracked more jokes than usual, both of the people I sat next to had been friendly, etc.
On this flight I initially sat next to a sort of wild looking man – I mean sort of crazy eyes and long hair. But nice. And an interesting life story and current situation. He’s American, with kids over in Europe who he was going to spend a holiday in France with. He left his hometown of New York as a teenager and ended up selling cars to tourists and drug dealers in the Greek Islands, and he’s a recreational pilot today. Nice anyway. Strangely, although Tampa and my previous flight had both been very crowded, this flight was anything but. Soon I hopped across the aisle to the two empty seats there and flew in what was for me almost unreal luxury the rest of the way to Europe. I had plenty of room at my feet for luggage etc, I could cross my legs any way I liked, I had an extra pillow and blanket, an extra tray table, and I could even just manage to curl up and sleep. I didn’t think I actually nodded off completely, but the flight went so quickly I think I must have. First, though, the flight movie was coincidentally enough How to Train Your Dragon, which takes place in Scotland and with which Lucia became obsessed recently. The main flight attendant kept making jokes about me ordering a Scotch on the Rocks, so finally it came out that I’m almost 21, so not as funny as he might think. But of course, he had a hard time believing it, and over the course of the light told several other flight attendants. He also kept joking about it being my actual birthday and ‘buying me drinks’ – giving me a water bottle instead of a glass. Very nice, if a bit weird. :P
It got somewhat cold on the flight, cold enough I was glad to have two blankets. They woke us up in the ‘morning’ and I was quite drowsy as they came around and served breakfast. I always make myself drink all the orange juice I get on flights, because its there and good for the immune system, etc. To help myself wake up, I opened my window shade and the light was brilliant and fantastic, all white clouds and blue sea, and I huddled in my blanket looking out and sipping my orange juice and would you believe that I felt like a first class luxury passenger. Being crammed in like sardines somehow dulls the thrill of air travel, but somehow even the few more inches of elbow room made such a big difference, and I realized anew the miracle of soaring through the clouds.
The flight was half an hour delayed, which made for a tight connection in Dallas – FTW (I know it’s Fort Worth, but I always think For the Win!!!) Still, there’s an enormous difference between a tight connection and a missed connection. I knew I couldn’t run, not with the backpack and the heavy briefcase, so I simply walked quickly from one terminal to the other. The boarding line had dwindled to about twelve, but I was in no real danger of missing the flight, and as it was there was no wasted time – I got right on and we left. As soon as I got on, the man directing us to our seats said, “Oh, I see you have Popeye’s (pronounced more like papayas). I like them.” Then, when I sat down, the man next to me made a comment about them too… and when the flight attendant came around to remind us to stow our luggage, she said, “remember to give me your Popeye’s….” almost seamlessly. It sure got a lot of attention, but the more I thought about it, everyone I ran into the whole way from America was very nice and friendly. Even the security guards had cracked more jokes than usual, both of the people I sat next to had been friendly, etc.
On this flight I initially sat next to a sort of wild looking man – I mean sort of crazy eyes and long hair. But nice. And an interesting life story and current situation. He’s American, with kids over in Europe who he was going to spend a holiday in France with. He left his hometown of New York as a teenager and ended up selling cars to tourists and drug dealers in the Greek Islands, and he’s a recreational pilot today. Nice anyway. Strangely, although Tampa and my previous flight had both been very crowded, this flight was anything but. Soon I hopped across the aisle to the two empty seats there and flew in what was for me almost unreal luxury the rest of the way to Europe. I had plenty of room at my feet for luggage etc, I could cross my legs any way I liked, I had an extra pillow and blanket, an extra tray table, and I could even just manage to curl up and sleep. I didn’t think I actually nodded off completely, but the flight went so quickly I think I must have. First, though, the flight movie was coincidentally enough How to Train Your Dragon, which takes place in Scotland and with which Lucia became obsessed recently. The main flight attendant kept making jokes about me ordering a Scotch on the Rocks, so finally it came out that I’m almost 21, so not as funny as he might think. But of course, he had a hard time believing it, and over the course of the light told several other flight attendants. He also kept joking about it being my actual birthday and ‘buying me drinks’ – giving me a water bottle instead of a glass. Very nice, if a bit weird. :P
It got somewhat cold on the flight, cold enough I was glad to have two blankets. They woke us up in the ‘morning’ and I was quite drowsy as they came around and served breakfast. I always make myself drink all the orange juice I get on flights, because its there and good for the immune system, etc. To help myself wake up, I opened my window shade and the light was brilliant and fantastic, all white clouds and blue sea, and I huddled in my blanket looking out and sipping my orange juice and would you believe that I felt like a first class luxury passenger. Being crammed in like sardines somehow dulls the thrill of air travel, but somehow even the few more inches of elbow room made such a big difference, and I realized anew the miracle of soaring through the clouds.
June 30, 2010
Preparations
I've never had so much to get organized before. There's a lot to prepare for almost two solid months of travel, and a semester abroad.
For Liisa and my trip I've reserved a climbing tour, made arrangements to stay in St. Louis with some friends and be ferried to and from the airport by others - we're going to Skype tomorrow and figure out plans for Orlando and Horseback riding. We're leaving a lot to chance and the future - that's part of the freedom of a road trip, but it still makes me nervous!
Allan and I have planned the UK trip pretty well. We've traded off paying deposits, so Lucia owes us each a little bundle of money. ;) We booked hostels all across the Great Glen Way and in Oban, bought tickets for cultural events in Edinburgh, etc. Just today I got an email from Palak saying that she can't host Lucia and I in London after all, so I'll have to work around that... :( But otherwise we're all set.
The trip to Spain is as settled as it can be, but we're still going to have to play the details by ear! We have our flights into Spain, a hostel in Pamplona, a bus to Valencia, a hostel in Valencia, and a bus to Pamplona. We need to find a place to stay in Pamplona maybe - I haven't quite ironed out my apartment plans yes. :S And Tomatina is stressful but nothing can be done ahead of time.
As far as next semester goes, I've tried to find an apartment. One of the responses seemed very promising, and I was about ready to agree - but now they haven't replied to my second email despite a week and a reminder. :S So probably this evening I need to start sending emails to other listings.
I've signed up for the welcoming events, which look good, and I've tried to sign up for the mentoring program, but after filling in all of my information carefully, there was no submit button. Of course, I emailed tech support, and of course, they didn't reply yet, and it's been a week. So I might not get a mentor - I'll live if that's the case.
As I posted, I got good walking sandals and good boots should be on the way to arrive very soon. I just hope they fit, and that they arrive before I head Northwest. They should - we'll see. I still need to buy a jacket - that was going to happen yesterday, and then it was going to happen today, but things come up. Tomorrow perhaps.
Update: The boots arrived and fit quite well. They're not super hardcore hiking boots, but comfortable, sort of like good tennis shoes plus ankle support and waterproofing, which will definitely do for now. And they look nice. Today I also got the Northface Resolve Jacket. I rather like it although it is a bit big on me, even the XS. The extra room in the torso's nice for layering, but the arms are a bit too puffy - ah well. :)
As for other material things, it seems my new laptop battery has been set to ship at last. It will be shipped on July 21st, they estimate, which means I have a good but not certain shot at getting it before I leave. Since I leave on a Sunday, it will probably show up in Monday's mail. I'm considering ordering/buying another one, which will for sure arrive before I leave for Europe, but even then may not arrive for my upcoming trip, unless I make arrangements to have it shipped to a friend in St. Louis... And then, when the other one arrives, I'll have 2, and I'm trying to figure out if that would be useful. On one hand, spare batteries are nice - on the other, these batteries last like 11 hours anyway, and the powercord is smaller than a spare battery to carry. :S
My awesome tripod hasn't arrived yet, which may be fine, it could arrive any day - except the website doesn't look super official or anything, and when I called the number to check my order, I just got an answering machine with no information but the phone number... and my emails haven't been replied to... so I'm getting a bit nervous and wondering about the protocol to follow if you order something online which never comes.
Update: They called me back. The item has been discontinued and I get a refund. Wonder what would have happened if I hadn't called? :P After a long time searching, I found the next best one (20$ more expensive and better in a few points, worse in a few. Nice.) and had it shipped to a friend in Missouri since I'll probably be there before it would arrive - also a spare battery for my camera.
I've also decided to go for the waterproof/lifeproof Canon Powershot. When I go for the jacket I'm going to stop by Best Buy and see if I'm lucky enough to have them have it in stock. I'd ideally like to try before I buy, and also have it in my hands immediately, instead of trusting the mail, given all my other rotten luck.
I'm mostly done with packing for Spain. I still need to make some last decisions about which tops to bring, buy some socks (I want two brand new packages - one white, one black, so that I dont have to get stressed out about that at least over there). I also need some little items that are compact and intensely American to give to friends, etc while abroad - I can pick these up on my road trip probably, or else in Florida Giftshops if I procrastinate too much!
For Liisa and my trip I've reserved a climbing tour, made arrangements to stay in St. Louis with some friends and be ferried to and from the airport by others - we're going to Skype tomorrow and figure out plans for Orlando and Horseback riding. We're leaving a lot to chance and the future - that's part of the freedom of a road trip, but it still makes me nervous!
Allan and I have planned the UK trip pretty well. We've traded off paying deposits, so Lucia owes us each a little bundle of money. ;) We booked hostels all across the Great Glen Way and in Oban, bought tickets for cultural events in Edinburgh, etc. Just today I got an email from Palak saying that she can't host Lucia and I in London after all, so I'll have to work around that... :( But otherwise we're all set.
The trip to Spain is as settled as it can be, but we're still going to have to play the details by ear! We have our flights into Spain, a hostel in Pamplona, a bus to Valencia, a hostel in Valencia, and a bus to Pamplona. We need to find a place to stay in Pamplona maybe - I haven't quite ironed out my apartment plans yes. :S And Tomatina is stressful but nothing can be done ahead of time.
As far as next semester goes, I've tried to find an apartment. One of the responses seemed very promising, and I was about ready to agree - but now they haven't replied to my second email despite a week and a reminder. :S So probably this evening I need to start sending emails to other listings.
I've signed up for the welcoming events, which look good, and I've tried to sign up for the mentoring program, but after filling in all of my information carefully, there was no submit button. Of course, I emailed tech support, and of course, they didn't reply yet, and it's been a week. So I might not get a mentor - I'll live if that's the case.
As I posted, I got good walking sandals and good boots should be on the way to arrive very soon. I just hope they fit, and that they arrive before I head Northwest. They should - we'll see. I still need to buy a jacket - that was going to happen yesterday, and then it was going to happen today, but things come up. Tomorrow perhaps.
Update: The boots arrived and fit quite well. They're not super hardcore hiking boots, but comfortable, sort of like good tennis shoes plus ankle support and waterproofing, which will definitely do for now. And they look nice. Today I also got the Northface Resolve Jacket. I rather like it although it is a bit big on me, even the XS. The extra room in the torso's nice for layering, but the arms are a bit too puffy - ah well. :)
As for other material things, it seems my new laptop battery has been set to ship at last. It will be shipped on July 21st, they estimate, which means I have a good but not certain shot at getting it before I leave. Since I leave on a Sunday, it will probably show up in Monday's mail. I'm considering ordering/buying another one, which will for sure arrive before I leave for Europe, but even then may not arrive for my upcoming trip, unless I make arrangements to have it shipped to a friend in St. Louis... And then, when the other one arrives, I'll have 2, and I'm trying to figure out if that would be useful. On one hand, spare batteries are nice - on the other, these batteries last like 11 hours anyway, and the powercord is smaller than a spare battery to carry. :S
My awesome tripod hasn't arrived yet, which may be fine, it could arrive any day - except the website doesn't look super official or anything, and when I called the number to check my order, I just got an answering machine with no information but the phone number... and my emails haven't been replied to... so I'm getting a bit nervous and wondering about the protocol to follow if you order something online which never comes.
Update: They called me back. The item has been discontinued and I get a refund. Wonder what would have happened if I hadn't called? :P After a long time searching, I found the next best one (20$ more expensive and better in a few points, worse in a few. Nice.) and had it shipped to a friend in Missouri since I'll probably be there before it would arrive - also a spare battery for my camera.
I've also decided to go for the waterproof/lifeproof Canon Powershot. When I go for the jacket I'm going to stop by Best Buy and see if I'm lucky enough to have them have it in stock. I'd ideally like to try before I buy, and also have it in my hands immediately, instead of trusting the mail, given all my other rotten luck.
I'm mostly done with packing for Spain. I still need to make some last decisions about which tops to bring, buy some socks (I want two brand new packages - one white, one black, so that I dont have to get stressed out about that at least over there). I also need some little items that are compact and intensely American to give to friends, etc while abroad - I can pick these up on my road trip probably, or else in Florida Giftshops if I procrastinate too much!
June 25, 2010
Shoes, Shoes, Shoes
I'm getting ready for the summer and beyond, and that means buying some new shoes. I had intended to just get some walking boots, although it has been in the back of my mind that I could use some walking sandals as well. Anyway, today I ended up getting both - the boots were on clearance and very cheap, the sandals on the other hand were more than I would have liked to pay. If you average them out, however, I still came out ahead, and now I feel confident to walk in any sort of weather. :)
Here are my boots - they have a 100% waterproof gore-tex lining, nubuck/textile construction, and are lightweight. Oddly enough they have them in only three sizes - 36 (5), 37 (6), and 42 (11), but I'm size 5 so that's just dandy.
Here are the sandals - they're designed to be all terrain, with shock absorbing midsoles and 'aggressive traction patterning' - whatever that means. ;)
Here are my boots - they have a 100% waterproof gore-tex lining, nubuck/textile construction, and are lightweight. Oddly enough they have them in only three sizes - 36 (5), 37 (6), and 42 (11), but I'm size 5 so that's just dandy.
Here are the sandals - they're designed to be all terrain, with shock absorbing midsoles and 'aggressive traction patterning' - whatever that means. ;)
June 16, 2010
Looking for My Auberge Espagnole
I sent out my first little queries to people renting apartments in Pamplona last night. Oddly enough, this is the part of planning that's been freaking me out the most... because, I dunno, it's the sort of thing that you don't really do long distance - and I have to do it long distance. And because I've never looked for and signed in apartment before, period, not in English, not in America, nothing, so I have to cope with complications even as I tackle the basic concept for the first time.
I find that I really don't care much about the apartment. What I mean is, I've never chosen where to live before, really, and I know I'm not all that picky. If the apartment is drafty, I'll put on more clothes. If it's hot, that's a bit tougher but I'll be there in fall semester, so I can cope for a bit - just pretend I'm at summer camp and wear lots of deodorant. Yummy. If the apartment is untidy, I really really don't care. If the apartment is actually dirty, even then I don't mind terribly unless it is smelly or unhealthy (the kitchen or the bathroom is filthy and resists efforts to keep it to a reasonable standard)... and I'm living with girls, so I doubt it'll be too big of an issue. Spanish apartment prices are pretty low, so while I'm looking for a reasonable value, I don't have to spend hours trying to find the lowest possible rent.
I'm looking through the pictures and the listings and I can imagine myself in all of these different apartments. It's only for a few months, anyway, I feel I can handle anything for so long! Obsessing over finding the perfect perfect place probably would only increase my chances of disappointment if the place is not perfect, and of course it won't be. But if things are good, then how nice, it's luxurious - if they're not so good, then meh, it's a bit of a character builder, an experience - if they border on the comically horrific, then it's still a story, right? And it's still only for a few months. "One time, I lived in Spain, in a Maison Ikkoku, an Auberge Espagnole both literally and figuratively..."
Still, I had to draw up at least a few preferences to narrow my choices down - it was that or flip coins. I looked through the ads on the Unav website. First I searched for shared apartments who were looking for a female roommate. Then, I asked Jorge about good areas, compared walking times, and started my search by looking in Iturrama, with the idea that the closer the places were to campus, the better, and they also got a few points if they were near the Parque Yamaguchi. Internet was the one facility I absolutely could not compromise on, so all places without internet were automatically out. Then, I took out any apartments that were in the overpriced range (seemed as if they would top 350 a month with utilities). Now, this was all I felt that I really needed - girls, close to campus, internet, not too expensive. And I only had about 40 ads to wade through! :) I had to get pickier.
I spent some time chatting with Lucia and trying to decide how else to sort through the pile. I decided to cut out all the ones that didn't have pictures - this was about half the listings. Although it would be easy enough to ask for pictures, by the time I did so they would know that I would be agreeing to the apartment long distance - I feel that pictures posted in advance of this knowledge might be more trustworthy, and anyway I still had enough choices to be flexible. I went through again and scrutinized lists of facilities, ruthlessly cutting those that, for example, had no central heating. I looked at the fine print and canceled the ones that seemed just too complicated - one seemed to be saying that it was for rent every month but October?
In the end I'd become pickier, and ended up with about 12 listings. Not terrible. I sorted these into good (4), better (4), and best (2) piles. The good ones were fine, but the better and best ones had slightly more ideal locations, sometimes lower prices, and sometimes even perks like a sauna or a private balcony. I emailed the 2 listings in the best category first and I'm planning to give them a few days to respond before I start emailing the better people too. I'm asking for more info, whether they'd be okay with an international student staying only one semester, what I would need to do before arriving, for more pictures, etc.
I'm lucky to have such great friends helping me with everything I do - Jorge for Pamplona advice, Allan for big kid advice (finding an apartment? Oh noes!) and Lucia for Spanish correction etc. ^^ It really is a comfort.
I'm very excited and yet not at the same time, at least in the stereotypical sense. I am 100% confident that I will love being in Spain, but I do believe that I'm going and it does feel real. I've been preparing for this for a long time, in lesser and greater ways, and I've travelled enough and learned enough about what I'm capable of that it takes some of the radical, chaotic nerves and excitement out of the situation. I'm not jumping up and down and shrieking about going to Spain - it's more of a big smile of anticipation.
Besides, I'm enjoying my life right now too in a way - the preparation time was much needed, it's nice to rest up, to cook for my family and help around the house, spend time with mom and dad and Tidbit, and see Melissa graduate high school. We moved her into college today and that's in most ways a bigger step than I'm taking by moving to Spain, I'm not going to miss any of that by being too blinded by excitement by what's coming up next.
I find that I really don't care much about the apartment. What I mean is, I've never chosen where to live before, really, and I know I'm not all that picky. If the apartment is drafty, I'll put on more clothes. If it's hot, that's a bit tougher but I'll be there in fall semester, so I can cope for a bit - just pretend I'm at summer camp and wear lots of deodorant. Yummy. If the apartment is untidy, I really really don't care. If the apartment is actually dirty, even then I don't mind terribly unless it is smelly or unhealthy (the kitchen or the bathroom is filthy and resists efforts to keep it to a reasonable standard)... and I'm living with girls, so I doubt it'll be too big of an issue. Spanish apartment prices are pretty low, so while I'm looking for a reasonable value, I don't have to spend hours trying to find the lowest possible rent.
I'm looking through the pictures and the listings and I can imagine myself in all of these different apartments. It's only for a few months, anyway, I feel I can handle anything for so long! Obsessing over finding the perfect perfect place probably would only increase my chances of disappointment if the place is not perfect, and of course it won't be. But if things are good, then how nice, it's luxurious - if they're not so good, then meh, it's a bit of a character builder, an experience - if they border on the comically horrific, then it's still a story, right? And it's still only for a few months. "One time, I lived in Spain, in a Maison Ikkoku, an Auberge Espagnole both literally and figuratively..."
Still, I had to draw up at least a few preferences to narrow my choices down - it was that or flip coins. I looked through the ads on the Unav website. First I searched for shared apartments who were looking for a female roommate. Then, I asked Jorge about good areas, compared walking times, and started my search by looking in Iturrama, with the idea that the closer the places were to campus, the better, and they also got a few points if they were near the Parque Yamaguchi. Internet was the one facility I absolutely could not compromise on, so all places without internet were automatically out. Then, I took out any apartments that were in the overpriced range (seemed as if they would top 350 a month with utilities). Now, this was all I felt that I really needed - girls, close to campus, internet, not too expensive. And I only had about 40 ads to wade through! :) I had to get pickier.
I spent some time chatting with Lucia and trying to decide how else to sort through the pile. I decided to cut out all the ones that didn't have pictures - this was about half the listings. Although it would be easy enough to ask for pictures, by the time I did so they would know that I would be agreeing to the apartment long distance - I feel that pictures posted in advance of this knowledge might be more trustworthy, and anyway I still had enough choices to be flexible. I went through again and scrutinized lists of facilities, ruthlessly cutting those that, for example, had no central heating. I looked at the fine print and canceled the ones that seemed just too complicated - one seemed to be saying that it was for rent every month but October?
In the end I'd become pickier, and ended up with about 12 listings. Not terrible. I sorted these into good (4), better (4), and best (2) piles. The good ones were fine, but the better and best ones had slightly more ideal locations, sometimes lower prices, and sometimes even perks like a sauna or a private balcony. I emailed the 2 listings in the best category first and I'm planning to give them a few days to respond before I start emailing the better people too. I'm asking for more info, whether they'd be okay with an international student staying only one semester, what I would need to do before arriving, for more pictures, etc.
I'm lucky to have such great friends helping me with everything I do - Jorge for Pamplona advice, Allan for big kid advice (finding an apartment? Oh noes!) and Lucia for Spanish correction etc. ^^ It really is a comfort.
I'm very excited and yet not at the same time, at least in the stereotypical sense. I am 100% confident that I will love being in Spain, but I do believe that I'm going and it does feel real. I've been preparing for this for a long time, in lesser and greater ways, and I've travelled enough and learned enough about what I'm capable of that it takes some of the radical, chaotic nerves and excitement out of the situation. I'm not jumping up and down and shrieking about going to Spain - it's more of a big smile of anticipation.
Besides, I'm enjoying my life right now too in a way - the preparation time was much needed, it's nice to rest up, to cook for my family and help around the house, spend time with mom and dad and Tidbit, and see Melissa graduate high school. We moved her into college today and that's in most ways a bigger step than I'm taking by moving to Spain, I'm not going to miss any of that by being too blinded by excitement by what's coming up next.
June 04, 2010
To Do
Things I need to be getting done:
I need to order the new battery for my Toshiba.
I need to order the student's version of Photoshop.
I need to get my mom's internet working.
I need to buy at least a small, cheap tripod, a lens cleaning cloth, UV filters for my two lenses, and perhaps, perhaps, a polarizing lens. The UV filters both protect the lenses, and improves image quality a hair, and they're cheap. I'm so ignorant I don't even know whether you leave them on all the time, or only put them on when you're using the camera - if the latter, I only need one. The polarizing filter can be really cool - it eliminates reflections, so you need one for photographing water, and it also makes foliage look better, deepens the blue of the sky, etc...
I need to get some things done for trip/school planning:
I'm torn between a desire to have secure plans, and to be spontaneous, regarding this summer. Still, I'm starting to feel a bit better, as most of what we need to pre-book is coming together.
We've booked all of our lodging in Scotland - we're bumming at Palak's house in London, Allan's house in Lockerbie, and Allan's brother's flat in Edinburgh, so we only needed to reserve hostels across the Great Glen Way. In some of the towns there was only one hostel, so I'm glad we have that done. We've also booked bus rides from London into Carlisle, and from Inverness to Edinburgh. We're saving loads by taking buses instead of trains, even though it is taking a shade longer. Apparently the ferry we're taking, and the train north to Oban, though Glasgow, don't need to be prebooked.
The U.S. trip is slightly less settled - I've really only booked airfare. But, it's a big country, and we'll have a car, so we shouldn't need to prebook any lodging really - we can just keep going to the next small town. That said, Liisa and I are going to chat soon, and if we're planning to camp in Rocky Mountain National Park or something, we might need to reserve ahead. I think we've also picked the activities we want to do in Colorado and South Dakota, so we'll need to reserve those. Still - we're using our own car, and bumming with my family on Florida, so enough has been done that if everything goes to hell from here on out, the trip is still doable.
The only plane ticket that's left to book is the flight to Spain from the U.K. Should be pretty cheap, but the fact that I'm not a U.K. citizen has screwed us out of a few deals, and I'm also going to need to fly on a decent airline because I'll have a semester's worth of baggage on me. So, I'm anxious to do that, but we're planning to get it nailed down by the end of the week. Also our lodging in Barcelona, and we might look into the cheapest ways to get from city to city in Spain and make sure they don't require prebooking.
Finally, and this is a big one, I need to find an apartment for Spain - start emailing people and inquiring. This scares me. XD But I can do it!
I need to order the new battery for my Toshiba.
I need to order the student's version of Photoshop.
I need to get my mom's internet working.
I need to buy at least a small, cheap tripod, a lens cleaning cloth, UV filters for my two lenses, and perhaps, perhaps, a polarizing lens. The UV filters both protect the lenses, and improves image quality a hair, and they're cheap. I'm so ignorant I don't even know whether you leave them on all the time, or only put them on when you're using the camera - if the latter, I only need one. The polarizing filter can be really cool - it eliminates reflections, so you need one for photographing water, and it also makes foliage look better, deepens the blue of the sky, etc...
I need to get some things done for trip/school planning:
I'm torn between a desire to have secure plans, and to be spontaneous, regarding this summer. Still, I'm starting to feel a bit better, as most of what we need to pre-book is coming together.
We've booked all of our lodging in Scotland - we're bumming at Palak's house in London, Allan's house in Lockerbie, and Allan's brother's flat in Edinburgh, so we only needed to reserve hostels across the Great Glen Way. In some of the towns there was only one hostel, so I'm glad we have that done. We've also booked bus rides from London into Carlisle, and from Inverness to Edinburgh. We're saving loads by taking buses instead of trains, even though it is taking a shade longer. Apparently the ferry we're taking, and the train north to Oban, though Glasgow, don't need to be prebooked.
The U.S. trip is slightly less settled - I've really only booked airfare. But, it's a big country, and we'll have a car, so we shouldn't need to prebook any lodging really - we can just keep going to the next small town. That said, Liisa and I are going to chat soon, and if we're planning to camp in Rocky Mountain National Park or something, we might need to reserve ahead. I think we've also picked the activities we want to do in Colorado and South Dakota, so we'll need to reserve those. Still - we're using our own car, and bumming with my family on Florida, so enough has been done that if everything goes to hell from here on out, the trip is still doable.
The only plane ticket that's left to book is the flight to Spain from the U.K. Should be pretty cheap, but the fact that I'm not a U.K. citizen has screwed us out of a few deals, and I'm also going to need to fly on a decent airline because I'll have a semester's worth of baggage on me. So, I'm anxious to do that, but we're planning to get it nailed down by the end of the week. Also our lodging in Barcelona, and we might look into the cheapest ways to get from city to city in Spain and make sure they don't require prebooking.
Finally, and this is a big one, I need to find an apartment for Spain - start emailing people and inquiring. This scares me. XD But I can do it!
May 21, 2010
Summer Begins
We got done with Reslife relatively early - 10pm on Saturday. Tina and I ate my last frozen curry meal in the kitchen and she took a black sharpie and wrote my name on her stomach, and then I took it and did the same, using a little mole for the i. And we were sad, a little bit. The whole weekend when I was moving out it was wet and cool for May. I went to the lake with mom and dad and I sorted some of my crap out, helped dad with dry-wall, went on a canoe ride or two, and worked on my papers. On Tuesday I said goodbye to a misty Missouri morning, drove to Columbia, dumped off my last library books and said goodbye to Monica (^^), and then flew into Florida where I instantly became 'a northerner' in my long pants and plaid shirt. Whatever. I've never been tropical and I don't claim or wish to be.
But Florida does have its charms. Dad bought a boat here. It's a small fishing boat and a bit rickety and makes me nervous when we're going at top speed and hit a wake, especially when I'm holding onto Tidbit. I could just go into jetski mentality and hold on and enjoy the ride, but I'm not 100% confident in any part of the boat's construction, and so I have little images going through my head of the entire front seat snapping off when we hit some wave and sending me, Tidbit, and the chair into the water. Still, it's nice to feel the wind on my face. I've always liked boats for that.
It's good to be back home with Tidbit. Mom's always lamenting that Tidbit's growing old, but other than the white face I don't really see if. She's become more of a beggar which can be annoying, thanks to mom feeding her the occasional piece of salmon skin, popcorn, tortilla chip, etc. Mom just wants to spoil her in her old age but I don't necessarily like the effect it's had on her personality. Still, she runs when she wants to, that funny, off-center sort of run she has where her body rolls a little bit with every stride. And her tail seems to always be wagging. I've missed her.
The next month I'll spend cooking, getting ready for Liisa and the road trip, getting ready for Scotland and study abroad. I have bags to pack, cds to burn, airfare and hotels to book, cameras to buy, and a lot of Skyping to do. The next month, though, is mostly lazy - along with a few celebrations in Melissa's behalf. She's graduating from high school, having her party, turning 18, and starting college at the University of South Florida - St. Petersburg. So that'll all be nice.
But Florida does have its charms. Dad bought a boat here. It's a small fishing boat and a bit rickety and makes me nervous when we're going at top speed and hit a wake, especially when I'm holding onto Tidbit. I could just go into jetski mentality and hold on and enjoy the ride, but I'm not 100% confident in any part of the boat's construction, and so I have little images going through my head of the entire front seat snapping off when we hit some wave and sending me, Tidbit, and the chair into the water. Still, it's nice to feel the wind on my face. I've always liked boats for that.
It's good to be back home with Tidbit. Mom's always lamenting that Tidbit's growing old, but other than the white face I don't really see if. She's become more of a beggar which can be annoying, thanks to mom feeding her the occasional piece of salmon skin, popcorn, tortilla chip, etc. Mom just wants to spoil her in her old age but I don't necessarily like the effect it's had on her personality. Still, she runs when she wants to, that funny, off-center sort of run she has where her body rolls a little bit with every stride. And her tail seems to always be wagging. I've missed her.
The next month I'll spend cooking, getting ready for Liisa and the road trip, getting ready for Scotland and study abroad. I have bags to pack, cds to burn, airfare and hotels to book, cameras to buy, and a lot of Skyping to do. The next month, though, is mostly lazy - along with a few celebrations in Melissa's behalf. She's graduating from high school, having her party, turning 18, and starting college at the University of South Florida - St. Petersburg. So that'll all be nice.
May 09, 2010
Proof that you're alive
"After you're dead and buried and floating around whatever place we go to, what's going to be your best memory of earth? What one moment for you defines what it's like to be alive on this planet. What's your takeaway? Fake yuppie experiences that you had to spend money on, like white water rafting or elephant rides in Thailand don't count. I want to hear some small moment from your life that proves you're really alive."
— Douglas Coupland (Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture)
— Douglas Coupland (Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture)
April 26, 2010
The Camping Trip from Hell. :D
Got back from camping yesterday and when I woke up this morning it was hard to believe everything we'd been through. I mean, except of course for the lingering feeling of being wet and cold, the barely conscious urge to seek high ground at all times, the slight smell of forest and slighter smell of mildew throughout my room, and, of course, the giant tent filling the entirety of my bathroom. I squeezed around that this morning to brush my teeth and wash my face. I have a pimple in the middle of my forehead for the first time in years. I also have a toothache and a headache. Nice. I spent most of the day yesterday getting each of the four tents to safe and dry place so that they wouldn't mold, and I'll likely put in another 1-2 hours this week getting them folded up, sorted, and returned, but such is life. It was the weekend from hell, as predicted, but it was also awesome. Not only because the company started out good and got better (you can't help but bond through such experiences), but because it was beautiful.
We survived and that felt good, but it made me feel more vulnerable rather than more capable. I was forced to understand nature and my own limits. What if the tornado had hit our campground? What if we didn't have cars? What if we hadn't found the coin laundry? What if we weren't going home after only two days of the pain and cold? And how pathetic - we weren't even in the middle of nowhere in anything hellish - just a fierce two day thunderstorm, in a nice state park that even offered hot showers (which we never used because frankly we were wet enough).
I understood something of homelessness when I slept in the laundry room in a shelf above the dryers, feeling exposed and alone and even though it was hard and cold and uncomfortable still feeling bad for being there at all, that I didn't deserve even that... and in the morning after sleeping on and off I woke up to voices and my first thought was "shit, must be park rangers and here come the questions and, since I /am/ more legitimate than a real homeless person, an apologetic removal rather than one by force..." and I squirmed in my sleeping bag and waited but it turns out that time it was just some hick emptying his trailer toilet into the sewer. Relief. Zahra and I slept another fitful hour and then packed up before the real authorities might take offense.
Everything flooded the first night. We were all cozy and happy at first, eating chicken in the big tent by candlelight and then listening to the thunderstorm and feeling very safe and warm and dry inside. Then Lingxiao came in and said she was a bit wet, and Palak seconded. So Palak squeezed in a bit tighter and Lingxiao came over by me. After a little while Palak said her side was becoming unbearable and so was mine. So we sent Palak and Lingxiao into the cars to sleep, and brought in towels and whatever else we could find to try to keep the middle of the tent reasonable for Megan, Zahra, and I. We kicked out Zahra early on because the water kept coming, but she took the last available spot in a car, so Megan and I tried to last the night. Our tiny dry spot got smaller and smaller and we moved closer and closer to one another, catching only the tiniest moments of sleep now and then. Everything was damp, even wet, but we kept shrinking away from the puddles of genuine standing water until even that reached us. When three inches of water reached my face, I told Megan that we would have to figure something out. She elected to sleep in the front seat of one of the cars, and I gathered up my sleeping bag and went for a hike. It was barely even raining by now although the ground was soaking wet. I went up to the bathhouse and found a coin laundry, used all the coins on me to dry the sleeping bag, running laps around the campground while I waited, and then took the sleeping bag up to a little shelf, about a foot wide, perched above the dryer, and there I slept at last for an hour until the birds started singing at dawn.
We went climbing at Elephant Rocks and Johnson Shut In's, weather be damned or close enough. We hiked through the rain and when it stopped we climbed on the rocks, timidly at first and then a bit more ambitiously. We had to be careful, careful because things were slippery when wet and we held onto each others hands firmly and helped each other go higher and higher. At Johnson Shut Ins it was mostly me who went out, the others hadn't been there before and didn't trust it as much as I did. I had almost reached the other side when the rain picked up, turned into one of those torrential moments that can't last. I was in the middle of the river with the waterfalls and rapids on all sides and suddenly it turned as dark as after sunset and the water became dark grey and troubled. Everyone called me to come back. I did so, but calmly, thinking to myself how many times I've done the same thing in summer when the rocks were just as wet from splashing children and I didn't even have shoes on. God was it beautiful in the middle in the rain.
A dry moment at Elephant Rocks...
... and a wet one at Johnson's Shut Ins.As soon as I reached the side my friends were on, the rain stopped and in seconds there was a dramatic reversal. The sun came out and the sky was blue - it was the best weather we'd had the entire weekend. I took off my jacket - I was still soaked underneath, but lighter weight, and Ju, Prite and I went out again. Prite was wearing flip flops and started walking through the shallower parts of the water rather than leaping from rock to rock and Ju and I did. Soon he was soaked and gave up on staying dry at all. He started jumping out of crevices and splashing us, so finally I put down my bag and jumped in after him.
We attempted to go up to Taum Sauk and Mina Sauk. We did stop for a while at the highest point in Missouri and took pictures at the overlook with the last of the short sunshine. As we reached the Mina Sauk fall trail, we realized that it was longer than anticipated and also very muddy and nasty, so we decided to head back to camp. It was a good thing, because no sooner had we gotten into the cars then it started raining again - harder than ever. It was such rain that it still impaired visibility when our wipers were at full speed, and here we were trying to make our way down the mountain. The roads weren't exactly in bad repair, or exceptionally steep, but they were definitely going downhill and were very curvy and windy and gravelly and muddy. I kept reminding myself of how it had been driving through the Smoky Mountains in a rainstorm at 60 mph and I knew I could manage. Just as I was thinking about where I would pull over if it got even the tiniest bit worse, the rain stopped again and the sun came back out. We had beautiful sun all the way back home and the drive was amazing.
That night wasn't nearly as bad as the first had been. After a miniature campfire in the pavilion so that Zahra could at last have the halal s'mores she'd been dreaming of and a game of Bullshit under the yellow lights of the bathroom building, we slept relatively well. We set up a new tent that seemed a bit more solid than the first, plus put it on higher ground, plus the rain wasn't as intense. Still, we were a bit scared after the first night, so Megan and Palak elected to sleep in the cars from the beginning, Prite and Matt took one of the 'safe' tents, Ju and Lingxiao took the other, and Zahra and I decided to sleep up in the laundry area again. It's amazing what can seem like luxury after a disaster.
Only picture of the whole group: Zahra, Megan, Lingxiao, Prite, Matt, Ju, Palak, and me.
Would I do it again? Abso-freaking-lutely. But not tonight please. :)
April 19, 2010
Travel Blogging and Niches
So, this summer I'm definitely going to start a travel blog. A good one. I started a little one that never got much traffic and I don't blame it because it simply wasn't very good. The content was solid but there was nothing that was bringing people back to it. I had too many facts and not enough stories. I've learned a lot from that one and also from my Journalism classes and SATW events and reading other travel blogs, so I think I'm ready to give it another go. I also have enough material, finally, to keep it going for a long time - I have my past experiences, plus a full summer of travel ahead and a semester each in Spain and Germany. Lack of material isn't a problem - the problem might be the opposite.
I want to do everything. And I'm not supposed to want that. I'm supposed to find a niche, a focus... either horizontally or vertically and stick with that. That's what they all told me at SATW and I totally see where they're coming from. Other blogs do this, even if some of them seem to have a theme of all travel, it usually translates to country hopping fairly superficially. Not that that's bad either, just different, and sort of expensive. They told me that if I couldn't sum up the niche in one clear and simple sentence, it wasn't a niche. That's true too, I'm sure. I definitely have interests and I don't feel that I'm a generalist. But I guess I am. I mean, can't my niche be Spanish speaking countries, Northern Europe, and Japan? (Oh, and Siberia too... ideally... maybe want to leave open the possibility of India and Southeast Asia as well... and anyway how can I judge China until I've been there? And I like all of Southern Europe, not just Spain... also German speaking countries... and I'm so curious about Eastern Europe!)
Um.... okay... yeah... a vertical specialty isn't going to work - I love too many cultures, languages, regions. So how about horizontal? One type of travel. Eco-Travel is cool and all, but there are hippies more suited to that. One thing I can say isn't really for me is cute, artsy, shopping travel. The people who write those are much better suited to it than I am. But I don't want it to be off limits either! Even I sometimes find a really cool shop and want to write about it. Hmmm.... so what part/kind of travel interests me the most? Budget! But maybe I'll grow out of that a little bit. And I'm certainly willing to pay up for things I can't get any other way, like staying in a Ryokan on Miyajima. Okay, so maybe not budget, although that's an aspect... Youth Travel! Right, I am young, and I travel. But I'm not going to be young forever, and anyway it's a bit of an open/artificial topic anyway, especially since I go for things that youth aren't always expected to go for. Adventure? That's what SATW was recommending. I do like ice swimming, sauna, ziplining, long walks... all sorts of stuff some would find scary or crazy. I don't have a lot of fear.
At the same time, I have pretty strict boundaries for this stuff that would prevent me from being the best Adventure Writer. I shy away from things that have too much risk involved. Bungee jumping at a reputable place? Sure. Skydiving? Erm.... maybe. Before I have any dependents. Base-Jumping? No way. I'm not afraid of pain but I think I'm too afraid of dying young to really be awesome at that. Cultural Travel? Now there's a thought. It's a growing industry. Actually I have no idea whether it is or not, I just said that. I should probably go look it up. But really, that's what I like to do - immerse myself in the other culture. Learn the language. Do what they do - even if we would find it extreme or something. (Take ice swimming - pretty normal in Finland, pretty 'extreme' here, but I don't find it overly risky because there are people who do it regularly and are fine... it's not invented for the thrill alone.)
Hmmm... that's really an idea. I should see whether they have a market for that. Still, I feel that Cultural Travel requires specialization, because you have to get in depth. Which is what I want, but probably would be better if I picked a more cohesive geographic region. :S Anyway, I'm ending the conversation for now by saying that I think I have a few more years to see the world and decide on my niche. But there's still the question of the blog.... O.O
I can either... keep this blog and get no experience with travel blogging but keep my sanity, make a new blog for Spain only (probably best aesthetically etc, but will necessarily have a limited run and then what? A new blog for Germany?), or make a new blog for all travel and just let it be Spain Heavy for a little while.
I want to do everything. And I'm not supposed to want that. I'm supposed to find a niche, a focus... either horizontally or vertically and stick with that. That's what they all told me at SATW and I totally see where they're coming from. Other blogs do this, even if some of them seem to have a theme of all travel, it usually translates to country hopping fairly superficially. Not that that's bad either, just different, and sort of expensive. They told me that if I couldn't sum up the niche in one clear and simple sentence, it wasn't a niche. That's true too, I'm sure. I definitely have interests and I don't feel that I'm a generalist. But I guess I am. I mean, can't my niche be Spanish speaking countries, Northern Europe, and Japan? (Oh, and Siberia too... ideally... maybe want to leave open the possibility of India and Southeast Asia as well... and anyway how can I judge China until I've been there? And I like all of Southern Europe, not just Spain... also German speaking countries... and I'm so curious about Eastern Europe!)
Um.... okay... yeah... a vertical specialty isn't going to work - I love too many cultures, languages, regions. So how about horizontal? One type of travel. Eco-Travel is cool and all, but there are hippies more suited to that. One thing I can say isn't really for me is cute, artsy, shopping travel. The people who write those are much better suited to it than I am. But I don't want it to be off limits either! Even I sometimes find a really cool shop and want to write about it. Hmmm.... so what part/kind of travel interests me the most? Budget! But maybe I'll grow out of that a little bit. And I'm certainly willing to pay up for things I can't get any other way, like staying in a Ryokan on Miyajima. Okay, so maybe not budget, although that's an aspect... Youth Travel! Right, I am young, and I travel. But I'm not going to be young forever, and anyway it's a bit of an open/artificial topic anyway, especially since I go for things that youth aren't always expected to go for. Adventure? That's what SATW was recommending. I do like ice swimming, sauna, ziplining, long walks... all sorts of stuff some would find scary or crazy. I don't have a lot of fear.
At the same time, I have pretty strict boundaries for this stuff that would prevent me from being the best Adventure Writer. I shy away from things that have too much risk involved. Bungee jumping at a reputable place? Sure. Skydiving? Erm.... maybe. Before I have any dependents. Base-Jumping? No way. I'm not afraid of pain but I think I'm too afraid of dying young to really be awesome at that. Cultural Travel? Now there's a thought. It's a growing industry. Actually I have no idea whether it is or not, I just said that. I should probably go look it up. But really, that's what I like to do - immerse myself in the other culture. Learn the language. Do what they do - even if we would find it extreme or something. (Take ice swimming - pretty normal in Finland, pretty 'extreme' here, but I don't find it overly risky because there are people who do it regularly and are fine... it's not invented for the thrill alone.)
Hmmm... that's really an idea. I should see whether they have a market for that. Still, I feel that Cultural Travel requires specialization, because you have to get in depth. Which is what I want, but probably would be better if I picked a more cohesive geographic region. :S Anyway, I'm ending the conversation for now by saying that I think I have a few more years to see the world and decide on my niche. But there's still the question of the blog.... O.O
I can either... keep this blog and get no experience with travel blogging but keep my sanity, make a new blog for Spain only (probably best aesthetically etc, but will necessarily have a limited run and then what? A new blog for Germany?), or make a new blog for all travel and just let it be Spain Heavy for a little while.
Stress and Excitement
I am too busy to blog guilt-free these days. (I'm stealing time to write this in an awkward half hour between classes). I'm really too busy to do much of anything except write papers, but you know what? I have A's in all classes right now. And I'm not going to be here next year. So I need to take at least some personal time, say goodbye to friends and to Missouri. I'm going camping this weekend despite the nagging - no, threatening and trembling - voice telling me I'd be better off staying home and locking myself in. I also need to pack and blah blah blah. Luckily I am at least one step ahead because my room is cleaner than it's been most of the semester, and I'm going to really try to keep it that way.
So yeah, stressful times, but it's mostly good stress. I like most of the papers I'm doing - especially the Nihonjinron one. This can actually be sort of a problem - as much as I'd love to shut myself up for a week (or longer) with it, do field work even, come up with something publishable - it's not in the cards, it's not in the schedule. And that's okay, I guess. :) I kind of wish they would give me June to keep working on it, but less as an extension because I procrastinated and more because I want to devote my full attention to it and make it as good as it can be. And so I can procrastinate, too. ;)
The other two papers are the one for Catalan and the one for Spanish. I think the Catalan paper is going to be about Andorra - perceptions of Andorra from within and without and what it means to be Andorran and how it's shown in media and what people think about it. Again I could go much further with the topic, but in the end I'm just going to read a few books and put together 20 pages of a beginning. The Spanish paper is a bit yucky... we'd only read two plays in class when we started working on it, and I wasn't very enthusiastic about either of them. Two plays later and if I switch topics now I have more work, plus I'm only mildly enthusiastic about one of the plays out of four. I guess drama just isn't my favourite genre. If I don't switch topics, I'll be writing about The Man Who Turned into a Dog and what this means about professions and castes and blah blah blah, especially in a down economy. I'm not excited about it at all, but I could do research about how the current recession and the Great Depression were dehumanizing. If I do switch topics, I'll write about how drama is a more realistic medium than prose or poetry. Not that it's better, just more realistic because it shows us communication - and communication is all we know of people in reality. I'm more interested in that topic, especially for a shorter essay, but I actually think the first one might be easier. There's one more informal essay coming up, so I might write the informal essay about my new idea and see how that goes.
Anyway. I need to say goodbye to Ju and Prite in a manner of speaking, and I'm not going to be seeing any of the others - Zahra, Laura, Tabi, etc for another year as well. Thus the camping. It's going to be awesome and I'm very excited. I'm excited about other stuff as well - Liisa's visit this summer and Scotland and Spain. Still, it's planning and money and stress, however nice. Lucia and Allan and I got together in a three-way chat and started hammering out the 'details'. I'm a bit nervous becuase I'm not 100% when I need to report for my VISA or even what the EU entry requirements are... what if by some awful chance I won't get the VISA until late August and can't enter the EU until then? Honestly? I'd seriously consider hopping to Norway and back or something like that. What are the other non-EU countries that are close by and cheap? Ooohhh... what about Iceland? Not that it's cheap, but I'd actually love that. Well, jk, ideally I'll have the VISA tucked away neatly by the time I take off.
I would tell the details of the plan but this is an ugly stresspost and I don't want to put the details in now and create a redundancy when I repost them with glee later on. Suffice to say that it's all going to be awesome... we've booked the first element (hostel in Valencia for Tomatina)... we've planned an epic six day walk across Scotland... and Lucia won't shut up about Nessie or dressing up as Vikings. Liisa and I have a Skype Date set for tomorrow morning and I should have some idea about what distance we're heading in at that point. :)
So, basically lots of excitement and also a lot of stress. What else is new? :)
So yeah, stressful times, but it's mostly good stress. I like most of the papers I'm doing - especially the Nihonjinron one. This can actually be sort of a problem - as much as I'd love to shut myself up for a week (or longer) with it, do field work even, come up with something publishable - it's not in the cards, it's not in the schedule. And that's okay, I guess. :) I kind of wish they would give me June to keep working on it, but less as an extension because I procrastinated and more because I want to devote my full attention to it and make it as good as it can be. And so I can procrastinate, too. ;)
The other two papers are the one for Catalan and the one for Spanish. I think the Catalan paper is going to be about Andorra - perceptions of Andorra from within and without and what it means to be Andorran and how it's shown in media and what people think about it. Again I could go much further with the topic, but in the end I'm just going to read a few books and put together 20 pages of a beginning. The Spanish paper is a bit yucky... we'd only read two plays in class when we started working on it, and I wasn't very enthusiastic about either of them. Two plays later and if I switch topics now I have more work, plus I'm only mildly enthusiastic about one of the plays out of four. I guess drama just isn't my favourite genre. If I don't switch topics, I'll be writing about The Man Who Turned into a Dog and what this means about professions and castes and blah blah blah, especially in a down economy. I'm not excited about it at all, but I could do research about how the current recession and the Great Depression were dehumanizing. If I do switch topics, I'll write about how drama is a more realistic medium than prose or poetry. Not that it's better, just more realistic because it shows us communication - and communication is all we know of people in reality. I'm more interested in that topic, especially for a shorter essay, but I actually think the first one might be easier. There's one more informal essay coming up, so I might write the informal essay about my new idea and see how that goes.
Anyway. I need to say goodbye to Ju and Prite in a manner of speaking, and I'm not going to be seeing any of the others - Zahra, Laura, Tabi, etc for another year as well. Thus the camping. It's going to be awesome and I'm very excited. I'm excited about other stuff as well - Liisa's visit this summer and Scotland and Spain. Still, it's planning and money and stress, however nice. Lucia and Allan and I got together in a three-way chat and started hammering out the 'details'. I'm a bit nervous becuase I'm not 100% when I need to report for my VISA or even what the EU entry requirements are... what if by some awful chance I won't get the VISA until late August and can't enter the EU until then? Honestly? I'd seriously consider hopping to Norway and back or something like that. What are the other non-EU countries that are close by and cheap? Ooohhh... what about Iceland? Not that it's cheap, but I'd actually love that. Well, jk, ideally I'll have the VISA tucked away neatly by the time I take off.
I would tell the details of the plan but this is an ugly stresspost and I don't want to put the details in now and create a redundancy when I repost them with glee later on. Suffice to say that it's all going to be awesome... we've booked the first element (hostel in Valencia for Tomatina)... we've planned an epic six day walk across Scotland... and Lucia won't shut up about Nessie or dressing up as Vikings. Liisa and I have a Skype Date set for tomorrow morning and I should have some idea about what distance we're heading in at that point. :)
So, basically lots of excitement and also a lot of stress. What else is new? :)
April 18, 2010
SATW and Kansas City
At the invitation of Diana Lambdin Meyer, with whom I've been corresponding for almost a year now, I spent Friday night and all day Saturday with the Society of American Travel Writers at their Central States conference in Kansas City. I thought I knew Kansas City reasonably well since two of my cousins went to college there. What a joke - I realized that the handful of walks I'd taken in the Plaza and University areas hadn't even allowed me to scratch the surface of the city.
I met most of the members at the College Basketball Experience, where we all dressed up in our college t-shirts (mine was a bit closer to the front of my closet than some of the others', I imagine ;)) and played an assortment of Basketball mini games, practicing our free throws, vertical jumps, and sports broadcasting skills.
Breakfast the next morning consisted of a quick awards ceremony within the society, and then, to my surprise, Yakov Smirnoff, the famous Russian comedian, appeared and spent the better part of an hour with us! He was just as good in 'real life' as he is on the show, everything he said was somehow hilarious and a lot of it had to be improv. I actually even got a picture with him!
Then I went on a tour through four of the neighborhoods of Kansas City - Brookside, Westport, the Plaza, and the Crossroads. In Brookside we shopped our way through two dozen stores including World's Window (ethnic clothing and jewelry), the Barkery (a gourmet pet treat store), the Reading Reptile (a children's bookstore), and Foo's Fabulous Frozen Custard, while in Westport we walked through almost two hundred years of American history, and in the Plaza we saw beautiful Spanish-inspired architecture and several of Kansas City's most famous fountains.
Our last stop, the Crossroads Art District, seemed less impressive than the others at first glance, with construction on the outskirts and more than it's share of rundown buildings. By the end of the tour, however, the Crossroads was my favourite district. One of the first shops we stopped in was Birdies, a tiny lingerie store filled with very unique (and very pricey) undergarments. From there we visited The Peruvian Connection and its racks of featherlight scarves, sweaters, and dresses woven from alpaca and vicuña wool. In Black Bamboo, an Asian furniture store, I fell in love with candle holders carved out of gypsum to look precisely like ice. I would have taken one of those home with me if we were only allowed candles in the residence halls!
The final stop on our tour was Christopher Elbow's Artisanal Chocolate Boutique. After sampling the Caramel with Fleur de Sel, I couldn't stop myself from buying four more of the truffles. Each one was so delicate, beautiful and delicious - almost as fun to look as it was to eat. The Strawberry Balsamic truffle, for example, had a deep burgundy sheen, and the Wildflower Honey truffle was button shaped and looked golden and molten.
In the evening we went to the American Jazz Museum and the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, which share the same building. I went in the Negro Leagues side first, and spent so long in there that I had to rush through the American Jazz Museum before dinner. The Negro Leagues museum was small but densely packed with information. "This is not a black hall of fame," our tour guide told us at the beginning. "The negro leagues should never have existed." The purpose of the museum is less to showcase black athletes and more to explain the discrimination and bigotry that was rampant in all aspects of American life between the Civil War and the Civil Rights Movement.
In the evening I spent time getting to know the travel writers a bit better. They were all such wonderful people, and despite their experience and reputations I found them very easy to talk to and get along with. Of course it's a bit frightening still for me to look three or four years into the future and imagine myself as a professional, but this experience made me if anything more determined to follow my dream. I came home with a large collection of business cards and I fully plan on looking up some of my new friends over the next few years.
I met most of the members at the College Basketball Experience, where we all dressed up in our college t-shirts (mine was a bit closer to the front of my closet than some of the others', I imagine ;)) and played an assortment of Basketball mini games, practicing our free throws, vertical jumps, and sports broadcasting skills.
Breakfast the next morning consisted of a quick awards ceremony within the society, and then, to my surprise, Yakov Smirnoff, the famous Russian comedian, appeared and spent the better part of an hour with us! He was just as good in 'real life' as he is on the show, everything he said was somehow hilarious and a lot of it had to be improv. I actually even got a picture with him!
Then I went on a tour through four of the neighborhoods of Kansas City - Brookside, Westport, the Plaza, and the Crossroads. In Brookside we shopped our way through two dozen stores including World's Window (ethnic clothing and jewelry), the Barkery (a gourmet pet treat store), the Reading Reptile (a children's bookstore), and Foo's Fabulous Frozen Custard, while in Westport we walked through almost two hundred years of American history, and in the Plaza we saw beautiful Spanish-inspired architecture and several of Kansas City's most famous fountains.
Our last stop, the Crossroads Art District, seemed less impressive than the others at first glance, with construction on the outskirts and more than it's share of rundown buildings. By the end of the tour, however, the Crossroads was my favourite district. One of the first shops we stopped in was Birdies, a tiny lingerie store filled with very unique (and very pricey) undergarments. From there we visited The Peruvian Connection and its racks of featherlight scarves, sweaters, and dresses woven from alpaca and vicuña wool. In Black Bamboo, an Asian furniture store, I fell in love with candle holders carved out of gypsum to look precisely like ice. I would have taken one of those home with me if we were only allowed candles in the residence halls!
The final stop on our tour was Christopher Elbow's Artisanal Chocolate Boutique. After sampling the Caramel with Fleur de Sel, I couldn't stop myself from buying four more of the truffles. Each one was so delicate, beautiful and delicious - almost as fun to look as it was to eat. The Strawberry Balsamic truffle, for example, had a deep burgundy sheen, and the Wildflower Honey truffle was button shaped and looked golden and molten.
In the evening we went to the American Jazz Museum and the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, which share the same building. I went in the Negro Leagues side first, and spent so long in there that I had to rush through the American Jazz Museum before dinner. The Negro Leagues museum was small but densely packed with information. "This is not a black hall of fame," our tour guide told us at the beginning. "The negro leagues should never have existed." The purpose of the museum is less to showcase black athletes and more to explain the discrimination and bigotry that was rampant in all aspects of American life between the Civil War and the Civil Rights Movement.
In the evening I spent time getting to know the travel writers a bit better. They were all such wonderful people, and despite their experience and reputations I found them very easy to talk to and get along with. Of course it's a bit frightening still for me to look three or four years into the future and imagine myself as a professional, but this experience made me if anything more determined to follow my dream. I came home with a large collection of business cards and I fully plan on looking up some of my new friends over the next few years.
January 31, 2010
Deutsche Reisetrends
For Modern German Culture I have to give a presentation (In German, naturally) about German Travel Trends and in particular how they differ from their American counterparts. I picked the topic because it's of interest to me, and I wanted to devote a good chunk of it towards the concept of Youth Travel which I see as a fairly substantial cultural difference, but I didn't find information on Google presenting itself to me belly up, so after about an hour of halfhearted unplanned research I was beginning to get nervous.
I can't over-recommend making an outline in times like this. As soon as I started putting up 1's, 2's, a's and b's, the outline of the project fell together neatly. I have a plan, I have a goal, I have neat little topics that will be much easier to research, and a full quarter of the mental stress and work is done. My goal is to have the research done tonight, and a new organization put together including the data and specifics. If I have more energy, I'll make my powerpoint and informal script tonight - otherwise I have until Wednesday.
1.) Germans – Kings of Travel
a.) Travel culture (Goethe to Status Symbol)
b.) Proximity to cool/foreign places
c.) Vacation time
2.) Where/When/How Germans Travel
a.) Common domestic destinations
b.) Common international destinations
c.) Package Tours
d.) Public Transport
3.) Youth Travel
a.) The experiences of German/European friends
b.) My experiences
c.) Types of Youth Travel: The class trip, the friend trip, study abroad, the gap year
d.) Why Americans are Afraid
e.) What Germans/Other Europeans think of the benefits
f.) Practical Advantages German Youth Have: Proximity, Experience, Public Transport
I can't over-recommend making an outline in times like this. As soon as I started putting up 1's, 2's, a's and b's, the outline of the project fell together neatly. I have a plan, I have a goal, I have neat little topics that will be much easier to research, and a full quarter of the mental stress and work is done. My goal is to have the research done tonight, and a new organization put together including the data and specifics. If I have more energy, I'll make my powerpoint and informal script tonight - otherwise I have until Wednesday.
1.) Germans – Kings of Travel
a.) Travel culture (Goethe to Status Symbol)
b.) Proximity to cool/foreign places
c.) Vacation time
2.) Where/When/How Germans Travel
a.) Common domestic destinations
b.) Common international destinations
c.) Package Tours
d.) Public Transport
3.) Youth Travel
a.) The experiences of German/European friends
b.) My experiences
c.) Types of Youth Travel: The class trip, the friend trip, study abroad, the gap year
d.) Why Americans are Afraid
e.) What Germans/Other Europeans think of the benefits
f.) Practical Advantages German Youth Have: Proximity, Experience, Public Transport
January 13, 2010
New Years Eve - Times Square (Part IV)
11:30 - Dancing dissolves as we grow tired and excited by the proximity of 2010. Still, there's half an hour left to wait, so our group unexpectedly find ourselves in one last, short, game of kick-the-can. The crowd has definitely filled back in, so our circle is much smaller this time around, and every time the can gets kicked out of the ring there is some doubt about whether we'll get it back again. At one point a can of pringles gets knocked into our circle... we kick it around until suddenly it pops open spraying little pringle shards everywhere, like confetti. A young couple joins our game towards the end, saying they're from Minneapolis, although they have some sort of foreign accent... and our group grows once more.
Photo: Allan and "the Young Couple" playing Kick-the-Can
Photo: Pringles Confetti
11:55 - Kick-the-can disbands once more, this time for good. The time for games has passed. The mood in the square suddenly becomes almost suffocating. Our group, which has grown to include not only Kelly, Amy, Allan and I, but also Adrienne and Michelle, the three Maryland boys, their mother, the little Canadian girls, and even the young couple, huddles close together in anticipation.
11:59 - Allan is on one side of me, Adrienne is on the other as the final countdown begins. I grab both of their hands and everyone starts counting down together, jumping up and down for the perhaps the last twenty seconds...
12:00 - The square explodes with light - fireworks, confetti... "Happy New Year 2010" on the countdown screen. In all the confusion we don't even physically see the ball-drop, but that's okay, I figure - I can mentally reconstruct it from more than 15 years of T.V. coverage. Everyone screams, then hugs each other happily. Happy New Year!!!
Photo: My Best, Crappy Picture of the New Year. Figured it had to be included...
12:02 - Just like that, it's over. We trade Facebook info with some of our new friends, and get pictures together as the square starts emptying with surprising rapidity. The Canadian girl's go to say goodbye to Allan, who picks them up and spins them around. Their mother, a bit drunk, starts shrieking, "Get a picture with him! Get a picture with him!" So they do. For probably a full two minutes on end, the girls keep running back to Allan and saying, "Happy New Year!" again. I think they would have gone on for an hour if their mother had let them.
Photo: Allan and the Canadians
Photo: "The Young Couple" and Me
12:05 - Finally it is just our original group and the two German au-pairs left. We are all headed towards Port Authority, the bus station, so they say, "We'll just follow you", and the six of us start trying to make our way through the crowd.
12:15 - We reach the center of Times Square itself, where there is a genuine deadlock of people. For a few minutes no one can move at all - we are pressed in on all sides. It's not quite scary - we can breathe - but really not much else.
12:30 - We finally reach Port Authority, bid farewell to the Germans, and Allan and I head off to the bathroom while Amy and Kelly play it cool and head straight to the bus.
12:35 - Allan and I get to the bus stop and meet them just in time to make the bus that leaves a full hour before the one we'd originally planned to make. Go us.
03:00 - We finally make it back home and into bed. Guess who comes perilously close to needing her adult diaper, after all the bravado? That's right, Kelly. :D
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wrap Up - From going out the door to coming back in, this was a full 12 hour experience. It was exhausting and physically demanding. However, it was also awesome and completely worth it. Kelly and Amy both agreed that they would do it again.
I, on the other hand, would probably not. Why? Judging from other people's accounts, and from several serendipitous occurrences (the emptying of the pen, the first kick-the-can game), I think I had a very atypical experience. The typical experience of standing and waiting in long hours of cold, concentrated misery? That's definitely a once-in-a-lifetime trial, but even the way it worked out for us was exciting, wonderful and most of all unique. I wouldn't trade it for anything, but neither would I jeopardize the memory by attempting to repeat it.
Thanks to everyone we met that night for making it a night I'll remember forever! <3
Photo: Allan and "the Young Couple" playing Kick-the-Can
Photo: Pringles Confetti11:55 - Kick-the-can disbands once more, this time for good. The time for games has passed. The mood in the square suddenly becomes almost suffocating. Our group, which has grown to include not only Kelly, Amy, Allan and I, but also Adrienne and Michelle, the three Maryland boys, their mother, the little Canadian girls, and even the young couple, huddles close together in anticipation.
11:59 - Allan is on one side of me, Adrienne is on the other as the final countdown begins. I grab both of their hands and everyone starts counting down together, jumping up and down for the perhaps the last twenty seconds...
12:00 - The square explodes with light - fireworks, confetti... "Happy New Year 2010" on the countdown screen. In all the confusion we don't even physically see the ball-drop, but that's okay, I figure - I can mentally reconstruct it from more than 15 years of T.V. coverage. Everyone screams, then hugs each other happily. Happy New Year!!!
Photo: My Best, Crappy Picture of the New Year. Figured it had to be included...12:02 - Just like that, it's over. We trade Facebook info with some of our new friends, and get pictures together as the square starts emptying with surprising rapidity. The Canadian girl's go to say goodbye to Allan, who picks them up and spins them around. Their mother, a bit drunk, starts shrieking, "Get a picture with him! Get a picture with him!" So they do. For probably a full two minutes on end, the girls keep running back to Allan and saying, "Happy New Year!" again. I think they would have gone on for an hour if their mother had let them.
Photo: Allan and the Canadians
Photo: "The Young Couple" and Me12:15 - We reach the center of Times Square itself, where there is a genuine deadlock of people. For a few minutes no one can move at all - we are pressed in on all sides. It's not quite scary - we can breathe - but really not much else.
12:30 - We finally reach Port Authority, bid farewell to the Germans, and Allan and I head off to the bathroom while Amy and Kelly play it cool and head straight to the bus.
12:35 - Allan and I get to the bus stop and meet them just in time to make the bus that leaves a full hour before the one we'd originally planned to make. Go us.
03:00 - We finally make it back home and into bed. Guess who comes perilously close to needing her adult diaper, after all the bravado? That's right, Kelly. :D
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wrap Up - From going out the door to coming back in, this was a full 12 hour experience. It was exhausting and physically demanding. However, it was also awesome and completely worth it. Kelly and Amy both agreed that they would do it again.
I, on the other hand, would probably not. Why? Judging from other people's accounts, and from several serendipitous occurrences (the emptying of the pen, the first kick-the-can game), I think I had a very atypical experience. The typical experience of standing and waiting in long hours of cold, concentrated misery? That's definitely a once-in-a-lifetime trial, but even the way it worked out for us was exciting, wonderful and most of all unique. I wouldn't trade it for anything, but neither would I jeopardize the memory by attempting to repeat it.
Thanks to everyone we met that night for making it a night I'll remember forever! <3
January 10, 2010
New Years Eve - Times Square (Part II)
3:00 - We run to catch a bus into NYC. We know we're pushing our luck, trying to leave as late as we can and still have a view of the ball...
4:30 - The bus is running late, so we arrive in NYC at 4:30 rather than 4:00. We meet up with our friend Allan, who was staying on the other side of the city and came in by train. We make a quick run to the DR pharmacy for some food and batteries. The line in
side is quite long but moving fast, so it only takes about five minutes to get through.
5:00 - We start the long march around Times Square, trying to find 'pens' that aren't full and sectioned off yet. At each block, the answer is the same - "This block is closed, keep going to ___ street".
5:30 - The pens and blocked off streets seem to end. We are able to turn inwards, where Kelly asks several policemen whether any good spots are still open. They are friendly but very pessimistic, and tell us that we might as well go to a bar or something like that and watch the ball drop on TV. The general consensus is that we arrived half an hour to an hour too late for a decent spot. Our spirits crushed, we walk around somewhat aimlessly.
6:00 - Suddenly, we stumble into a few open pens, a ways off but directly in line with and within view of the square. We can see the Toshiba advertisements... we're in! Our location is just behind 52nd street, by the Sheraton Manhattan. The pen quickly fills up and closes behind us. It is crowded but not unbearably so... we can all move in a circle, face each other, get food out of our bags, play sudoku on our phones, etc. Still, sitting or walking around are out of the question.
Photo: Our view. All that light is Times Square... somewhat hard to photograph from here.
6:30 - The feeling of excitement melts into a realization that we have six more hours to wait... Kelly and Amy text all their friends and try talking to the people around them. We are positioned near the right hand barrier, so Allan and I help those who are having second thoughts to escape. Allan has an interesting conversation with an upper-middle aged woman whose daughter is encouraging her to climb over the fence.
Allan: You can do it, just sit like this and swing over...
Lady: No, you don't understand, I'm wearing a skirt...
Allan: Listen, I come from Scotland. We wear kilts. I have a lot of experience getting over fences in skirts.
But, for the most part, things are uneventful and boring. I sit on the barrier and look out over the crowd for a while, I also try looking straight up at the dizzying height of the skyscrapers against the clouded grey sky. Allan warns me not to use up all the fun so early in the evening.
The Toshiba screens occasionally display messages like, "Cheer if you're a girl". All the girls cheer. It's even less exciting than it sounds.
7:00 - The screen goes into countdown mode - this is actually quite exciting. At the end, instead of saying Happy New Year as we all semi-expect from TV, it reads, "5 hours to go!" Indeed. During this countdown Allan and I are playing War with a deck of cards I bought from the M&M store.
Photo: A shot from Amy's superior camera of one of these hourly countdowns.
8:00 - Another countdown. "4 hours to go!" We are one third of the way through the night, already tired and bored. The one thing we aren't is cold, thanks to our layers and layers of clothing. Then it starts raining - hard.
I carry a very small umbrella in my purse, so I pulled that out and the four of us assembled into a 'survival pod'. It looked a bit awkward but we all stayed more or less dry inside of it. I was the shortest so the others sort of leaned down on me, and my head was inside our human shelter, with the umbrella covering their heads. Our bags were at our feet. Even in the midst of the crowd we could hear little except the rain on top of the umbrella....
New Years Eve - Times Square (Part I)
I hesitated until about noon, not 100% certain that I was prepared, physically, mentally, or emotionally for the Times Square experience. Most people know that the center of New York gets pretty crowded for the ball drop, but fewer know the gory details - that armed policemen shove spectators into well-named 'pens' based on when they arrive, and in the pen there is no alcohol, no large bags, no elbow room, and, most notably, no bathroom. In the end, I went for it, not least because I'm studying to be a Travel Journalist, and I can't stop running from such unpleasantries now. This is how things went, from preparation to aftermath:
--------------------
11:00 - Zahra and I have been watching the news all morning. We learn that it is snowing in Times Square on New Years Eve for the first time in some fifty years, that despite the bitter cold people are already massing at the best viewing spots, that we aren't allowed to bring backpacks, and that it's true - there is no access to bathrooms within the pens. Amy and Kelly arrive, and we make our decisions. In the end, Zahra elects to stay at home. She will have many more chances to see the ball drop. Amy, Kelly and I decide to go to the Square.
11:30 - We head out to a convenience store to buy a pack of adult diapers. They are sold in sets of twenty, so we have a few extras. We test one out with water and turmeric, and are surprised and disgusted by how much 'pee' it holds.
12:30 - We eat our 'last meal', complete with quite a bit of water. The goal, after all, is to not need the diapers. Then, we lay out all the clothes we're planning to wear, and rest up. We'll need our strength to stand for 7+ hours in the cold.
2:30 - We struggle into multiple layers of warm clothing. The cold is the one enemy we know how to keep at bay. In the end, I was up to 17 articles of clothing, and Amy and Kelly were at 19 each.
Photo: Yes, I wore all of this, and then some...
My Outfit:
Thick, Crew-Cut Socks (2 pairs)
Snow Boots
Adult Diaper (and no, I'm not ashamed)
Long Underwear Bottoms
Workout Pants
Jeans
Bra
Long Underwear Top
Long Sleeve Shirts (2, one of which extended below my hips at the bottom)
Sweat-Jacket
Sweat-Shirt
Parka
Wool Scarf (for lower neck)
Silk Scarf (for upper neck, lower face if necessary)
Thick Gloves
Silly Monkey Hat (not worn)
Photo: You might call this my under-wear.
------------------
September 07, 2009
Routine Flights
Today I came back home to Columbia after a weekend in Dallas. Usually I absolutely love traveling, am so filled with excitement and positive energy that even annoying things either fade completely away or become part of the epic. This time, however, the flights and drives were isolated and just felt routine. I imagine that my dad feels this way a lot, but it's new to me.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
I was amused by the airport people's expectations of me.
"Take care, dear."
"It's the second stop. God bless you."
"Are you old enough to be traveling by yourself?"
Me: "I really hope so, seeing as I've flown by myself internationally. And I am nineteen, just so you know."
If people actually see me in action, they rarely say any of these silly things. I check my gate and time on the flight monitor without slowing down, I never pause and look confused, I switch my bag from rolling to carrying and back again quicker than any but the most experience business travelers. So take that.
-----------------------------------------------------------
On the flight from Dallas into Memphis, we were on a smallish plane. There were twenty rows, with four seats in each row. The girls sitting across from me kept freaking out about how it was the smallest plane they'd ever been on. There was pretty bad turbulence at one point, and they shrieked a bit. When we got off, I heard other passengers complaining to waiting family members in the terminal about what a small plane, what a bumpy ride it had been. I laughed.
The plane from Memphis to Columbia had 20 passengers, one flight attendant, and of course the pilots. It was a propeller plane and shook the entire trip.
--------------
With aspirations as lofty as mine, you would think I'd prefer to call some big city home. You know, someplace cosmopolitan and famous and connected. Actually, I'm proud of being a bit provincial. And while Tokyo and Paris definitely had their charm, I also have a perhaps less common fondness for the smaller, more out of the way destinations, and regular flights on a twenty seat plane, among other things, are helping prepare me for them.
And there's something wonderful about Columbia. It's a bit of brilliant civilization surrounded by a mix of ruralness and wilderness that I love just as much. :) I'm not sure I'll be one of the many graduates who stay here after finishing their studies, but I will enjoy my two and a half remaining years in Mid Missouri.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
I was amused by the airport people's expectations of me.
"Take care, dear."
"It's the second stop. God bless you."
"Are you old enough to be traveling by yourself?"
Me: "I really hope so, seeing as I've flown by myself internationally. And I am nineteen, just so you know."
If people actually see me in action, they rarely say any of these silly things. I check my gate and time on the flight monitor without slowing down, I never pause and look confused, I switch my bag from rolling to carrying and back again quicker than any but the most experience business travelers. So take that.
-----------------------------------------------------------
On the flight from Dallas into Memphis, we were on a smallish plane. There were twenty rows, with four seats in each row. The girls sitting across from me kept freaking out about how it was the smallest plane they'd ever been on. There was pretty bad turbulence at one point, and they shrieked a bit. When we got off, I heard other passengers complaining to waiting family members in the terminal about what a small plane, what a bumpy ride it had been. I laughed.
The plane from Memphis to Columbia had 20 passengers, one flight attendant, and of course the pilots. It was a propeller plane and shook the entire trip.
--------------
With aspirations as lofty as mine, you would think I'd prefer to call some big city home. You know, someplace cosmopolitan and famous and connected. Actually, I'm proud of being a bit provincial. And while Tokyo and Paris definitely had their charm, I also have a perhaps less common fondness for the smaller, more out of the way destinations, and regular flights on a twenty seat plane, among other things, are helping prepare me for them.
And there's something wonderful about Columbia. It's a bit of brilliant civilization surrounded by a mix of ruralness and wilderness that I love just as much. :) I'm not sure I'll be one of the many graduates who stay here after finishing their studies, but I will enjoy my two and a half remaining years in Mid Missouri.
September 02, 2009
Japan - Raw Experiences
I know I keep saying, "Tomorrow, Tomorrow" about Japan. But the truth is that it was so different, so fascinating, that I don't know where to begin. I'm trying to unravel my memories and the things I brought back with me. Some days I cling to the material objects I brought home as souvenirs, because the rest of it seems too ephemeral, too far away.
The whole thing lacks cohesiveness. It exists as a whole, don't misunderstand. If I sat down now I could talk and talk and talk and show pictures and videos and cards and candies and fireworks and paper fans and prattle off words and, after a month, I could tell you about Japan. But it's tangled in my mind, and untangling it is not something that can be rushed through. I can't tell you the ten best parts, nor show you the ten best photos. It is all tied together, one giant mass of raw experiences.
That doesn't mean I'm not working with it at all. Today I thought about the video I plan to make, combining video clips I took while in Japan. I gathered those clips today, strung them all together on Windows Movie Maker, and watched. When all was said and done, I took 36 minutes of video in Japan, mostly in the form of five to ten second clips.
- Traffic
- The funicular rising to Mt. Koya
- The water flowing in and out of the Koya Dofu, like a sponge
- Crabs scuttling around Miyajima at low tide
- Flowers blowing in the wind
- Passing sunlit forests by bus
- Mists climbing Mt. Misen
- The reflection of the Golden Pavilion
- Tokyo's most crowded alley
- Waterfalls
- Windchimes in Kanazawa
- The tide coming in around Miyajima's floating shrine
- Clouds enveloping an island in the inland sea
- Miniature rivers in Kenrokuen
- Crowds in the Tokyo subway
- A tame deer attacking in search of food
- The turbulent waters under the Shogun Bridge in Nikko
- Crowds leaving Tokyo Disney Sea as it closes
- A firework festival
- Crows in a graveyard in Kyoto
- The waves on the shores of the lake of the dead
- Bubbling, sulfurous pools of Mount Fear
- Summer fireworks with Mayumi and Mitsuki
- The world's busiest intersection
- A white moth, fluttering in circles over the red earth
- Rainwater hitting the roof of shrines
- The steaming source of the hot mineral waters of Yumoto Onsen
- The Japanese bath in Sanboin
- Karaoke Boats
- The Illuminated Earth in Yokohama
- A giant mechanical spider
- Ginza from the Sky Bus
- A duck feeding in the marshes on Yumoto
- Matsuri Gion procession
- Rushing past houses and rivers and dams on the train
- City bells and strong winds in Mutsu
- The top of the waterfall in Takayama
- The Japanese river Styx
- Lavender Fields
- Looking over Yokohama from the Ferris Wheel
-------------------------------------------------------------------
"The novel looked ragged and unfinished, like the hull of a ship rotting on the beach."
- Turning Japanese, David Mura
A white moth, fluttering in circles over the red earth.
The whole thing lacks cohesiveness. It exists as a whole, don't misunderstand. If I sat down now I could talk and talk and talk and show pictures and videos and cards and candies and fireworks and paper fans and prattle off words and, after a month, I could tell you about Japan. But it's tangled in my mind, and untangling it is not something that can be rushed through. I can't tell you the ten best parts, nor show you the ten best photos. It is all tied together, one giant mass of raw experiences.
That doesn't mean I'm not working with it at all. Today I thought about the video I plan to make, combining video clips I took while in Japan. I gathered those clips today, strung them all together on Windows Movie Maker, and watched. When all was said and done, I took 36 minutes of video in Japan, mostly in the form of five to ten second clips.
- Traffic
- The funicular rising to Mt. Koya
- The water flowing in and out of the Koya Dofu, like a sponge
- Crabs scuttling around Miyajima at low tide
- Flowers blowing in the wind
- Passing sunlit forests by bus
- Mists climbing Mt. Misen
- The reflection of the Golden Pavilion
- Tokyo's most crowded alley
- Waterfalls
- Windchimes in Kanazawa
- The tide coming in around Miyajima's floating shrine
- Clouds enveloping an island in the inland sea
- Miniature rivers in Kenrokuen
- Crowds in the Tokyo subway
- A tame deer attacking in search of food
- The turbulent waters under the Shogun Bridge in Nikko
- Crowds leaving Tokyo Disney Sea as it closes
- A firework festival
- Crows in a graveyard in Kyoto
- The waves on the shores of the lake of the dead
- Bubbling, sulfurous pools of Mount Fear
- Summer fireworks with Mayumi and Mitsuki
- The world's busiest intersection
- A white moth, fluttering in circles over the red earth
- Rainwater hitting the roof of shrines
- The steaming source of the hot mineral waters of Yumoto Onsen
- The Japanese bath in Sanboin
- Karaoke Boats
- The Illuminated Earth in Yokohama
- A giant mechanical spider
- Ginza from the Sky Bus
- A duck feeding in the marshes on Yumoto
- Matsuri Gion procession
- Rushing past houses and rivers and dams on the train
- City bells and strong winds in Mutsu
- The top of the waterfall in Takayama
- The Japanese river Styx
- Lavender Fields
- Looking over Yokohama from the Ferris Wheel
-------------------------------------------------------------------
"The novel looked ragged and unfinished, like the hull of a ship rotting on the beach."
- Turning Japanese, David Mura
A white moth, fluttering in circles over the red earth.
July 14, 2009
Preparing for Departure
It’s morning at Laura’s house. I am not yet as mentally excited as I will soon be, but adrenaline is already racing uncalled for through my body. I slept poorly, but not in a miserable way. I woke up early, at 8:30, and decided to finish Rosetta Stone. I worked through the morning, pausing only for brief walks around the house (the adrenaline, remember), a cookie, and a glass of milk. I checked on Laura once or twice, as she was sleeping so long and soundly that I worried about her a bit. Yesterday I had stomach aches, and I was worried she might have them now. But she was fine. I kept working on Rosetta Stone.
When Laura woke up, I organized my suitcase, double checked that I had my important documents, my gifts for Mayumi and Mitsuki, and index cards – things I worry about forgetting. I charged my iPod and put it away. I also erased some files from my computer to free up room (I have to get my external hard drive working properly when I return), and emptied all of my memory cards onto the computer. I’m going to Japan with 18 gb of memory. Yikes.
I’m proud of how lightly we packed
And I keep learning Japanese, right up until the last minute:
Shatsu wa yogorete imasu – the shirt is dirty
Doushite te o aratte imasu ka – why are you washing your hands
Yogorete imasu kara aratte imasu –I am washing because they are dirty.
Ryourishite imasu kara daidokoro ni imasu – He is in the kitchen because he is cooking
Doushite okaasan wa inu o aratte imasu ka – why is mom washing the dog
Nodo ga kawaite imasu kara mizu o nonde imasu – I am drinking water because I am thirsty.
Otoko no hito wa ha o migaite imasu – the man is brushing his teeth
Onna no ko tachi wa kami o tokashite imasu – the girls are brushing their hair
Watashi wa hirugohan no mae ni te o araimasu – I wash my hands before lunch
Watashi wa asagohan no ato ni ha o migakimasu. – I brush my teeth after breakfast
Neko wa makkura no ue ni arimasu – The cat is on top of the pillow.
Pinku no moufu wa kirei desu – the pink blanket is pretty
Kirei desu kara – because they are clean
Otoko no ko wa ima de nete imasu – the boy is sleeping in the living room
Hana o nanbon kate imasu ka? – how many flowers are you buying?
Karera wa sekken de te o aratte imasu – they are washing their hands with soap
Kanojo wa sangurasu o irimasu – she needs sunglasses
Utte imasu – is selling
Kaimono o shite imasu – to be shopping
Kowareta terebi – broken tv
Ga hoshii desu – wants
Megane – glasses
Hoshiku arimasen – does not want
Watashi wa atarashii terebi ga irimasu – I need a new tv
Doushite atarashii terebi ga irimasuka – why do you need a new tv?
Watashi no furui terebi wa kowarete imasu kara – because my old tv is broken.
Doko de keeke o kaimasuka? – where do you buy cake?
Kowareta terebi – broken tv
Supaa wa hashi no chikaku ni arimasu – the supermarket is of the vicinity of the bridge
Kusuriya – pharmacy
Sumimasen, kusuriya wa doko desu ka? – excuse me, where is the pharmacy
Watashi wa hon ga hoshii desu – I want to buy a book
Suki dewa arimasen – doesn’t like
Tenisu o shite imasu – playing tennis
Kono onna no ko wa tenisu no suru no ga suki dewa arimasen – this girl doesn’t like to play tennis
Kanojo wa hon o yomu no ga suki desu – she likes to read books
Nani o suru no ga suki desu ka? – what do you like to do?
Onnanoko wa otousan yori ookii keeki o motte imasu – The girl has a bigger cake than her father
Onnanoko wa okaasan yori takusan no orenji o motte imasu – the girl has more oranges than her mother.
Onna no hito wa musukosan hodo takusan no juusu o motte imasen – the woman does not have as much juice than her son.
Dochira no doobutsu ga ookii desu ka – which animal is big
Kochira no doubutsu ga ookii desu – this animal is big
Dochira no kudamono ga akai desu ka – which fruit is red
Kochira no kudamono ga akai desu – this fruit is red
Ookii shatsu ga chairo desu – the big shirt is brown
Watashi wa koohii yori ocha no hou ga suki desu – I like tea better than coffee
Watashi wa sakkaa yori tenisu no hou ga suki desu – I like tennis better than coffee.
Watashi wa juusu yori gyuunyuu no hou ga suki desu. – I like milk better than juice.
Dochira no kutsu ga suki desu ka – which shoes do you like?
Watashi wa midori no kutsu yori aoi kutsu no hou ga suki desu – I like the green shoes better than the blue shoes.
Eiga no chiketto wa kyuu pondo desu – the movie ticket is 9 pounds.
Ninjin wa ikura desu ka? – How much are the carrots?
Boushi wa kooto yori yasui desu – the hat is cheaper than the coat
Haratte imasu – is using
Haraimasu - use
Omoi – heavy
Karui – light
Hayai – fast
Osoi – slow
My books are heavy – watashi no hon wa omoi desu
His books are heavier – kare no hon wa motto omoi desu
This camera is small – kono kamera wa chiisai desu.
This camera is smaller – Kono kamera was motto chiisai desu.
This camera is the smallest – kono kamera ga ichiban chiisai desu.
Toshi o totta – elderly
Osanai – very young, child
Motto takusan - more
Ichiban takusan – the most
Osara wa arimasuka – do you have plates
Kinzoku to kami to ki no osara ga arimasu – we have metal, paper, and wooden plates.
Dono osara ga irimasuka – which plate do you need
Watashi no kazoku wa kyoo koen de hirugohan o tabemasu kara, karui osara ga irimasu – because my family is eating in the park today, I need light plates.
Ki no osara wa kinzoku no osara yori karui desu ga, kami no osara ga ichiban karui desu. – although wooden plates are lighter than metal plates, paper plates are lightest.
Sukunai – less
Chigau – different
Onaji – the same
Onaji iro – the same colour
Chigau iro – different colored
Ookisa – size
Onaji ookisa – same size
Chigau ookisa – different size
Ookisugimasu – too big
Chiisasugimasu – too small
Choudo ii desu – the right size
Coudo ii desu ka? – does it fit, is it the right size?
Subete – all
Suwatte imasu – to frown
Kodomotachi wa minna suwatte imasu – all the children are frowning
Kodomotachi wa minna suwatte imasen – none of the children are frowning.
Nanbonka – some
Nanbonka no hana wa purasuchikku desu – some of the flowers are plastic.
Hana wa subete kami desu – all of the flowers are paper.
Watashitachi no shatsu wa subete onaji desu ga, subete chigau iro desu – our shirts are all the same size, but they are all different colors.
Ichiban - best
When Laura woke up, I organized my suitcase, double checked that I had my important documents, my gifts for Mayumi and Mitsuki, and index cards – things I worry about forgetting. I charged my iPod and put it away. I also erased some files from my computer to free up room (I have to get my external hard drive working properly when I return), and emptied all of my memory cards onto the computer. I’m going to Japan with 18 gb of memory. Yikes.
I’m proud of how lightly we packed
And I keep learning Japanese, right up until the last minute:
Shatsu wa yogorete imasu – the shirt is dirty
Doushite te o aratte imasu ka – why are you washing your hands
Yogorete imasu kara aratte imasu –I am washing because they are dirty.
Ryourishite imasu kara daidokoro ni imasu – He is in the kitchen because he is cooking
Doushite okaasan wa inu o aratte imasu ka – why is mom washing the dog
Nodo ga kawaite imasu kara mizu o nonde imasu – I am drinking water because I am thirsty.
Otoko no hito wa ha o migaite imasu – the man is brushing his teeth
Onna no ko tachi wa kami o tokashite imasu – the girls are brushing their hair
Watashi wa hirugohan no mae ni te o araimasu – I wash my hands before lunch
Watashi wa asagohan no ato ni ha o migakimasu. – I brush my teeth after breakfast
Neko wa makkura no ue ni arimasu – The cat is on top of the pillow.
Pinku no moufu wa kirei desu – the pink blanket is pretty
Kirei desu kara – because they are clean
Otoko no ko wa ima de nete imasu – the boy is sleeping in the living room
Hana o nanbon kate imasu ka? – how many flowers are you buying?
Karera wa sekken de te o aratte imasu – they are washing their hands with soap
Kanojo wa sangurasu o irimasu – she needs sunglasses
Utte imasu – is selling
Kaimono o shite imasu – to be shopping
Kowareta terebi – broken tv
Ga hoshii desu – wants
Megane – glasses
Hoshiku arimasen – does not want
Watashi wa atarashii terebi ga irimasu – I need a new tv
Doushite atarashii terebi ga irimasuka – why do you need a new tv?
Watashi no furui terebi wa kowarete imasu kara – because my old tv is broken.
Doko de keeke o kaimasuka? – where do you buy cake?
Kowareta terebi – broken tv
Supaa wa hashi no chikaku ni arimasu – the supermarket is of the vicinity of the bridge
Kusuriya – pharmacy
Sumimasen, kusuriya wa doko desu ka? – excuse me, where is the pharmacy
Watashi wa hon ga hoshii desu – I want to buy a book
Suki dewa arimasen – doesn’t like
Tenisu o shite imasu – playing tennis
Kono onna no ko wa tenisu no suru no ga suki dewa arimasen – this girl doesn’t like to play tennis
Kanojo wa hon o yomu no ga suki desu – she likes to read books
Nani o suru no ga suki desu ka? – what do you like to do?
Onnanoko wa otousan yori ookii keeki o motte imasu – The girl has a bigger cake than her father
Onnanoko wa okaasan yori takusan no orenji o motte imasu – the girl has more oranges than her mother.
Onna no hito wa musukosan hodo takusan no juusu o motte imasen – the woman does not have as much juice than her son.
Dochira no doobutsu ga ookii desu ka – which animal is big
Kochira no doubutsu ga ookii desu – this animal is big
Dochira no kudamono ga akai desu ka – which fruit is red
Kochira no kudamono ga akai desu – this fruit is red
Ookii shatsu ga chairo desu – the big shirt is brown
Watashi wa koohii yori ocha no hou ga suki desu – I like tea better than coffee
Watashi wa sakkaa yori tenisu no hou ga suki desu – I like tennis better than coffee.
Watashi wa juusu yori gyuunyuu no hou ga suki desu. – I like milk better than juice.
Dochira no kutsu ga suki desu ka – which shoes do you like?
Watashi wa midori no kutsu yori aoi kutsu no hou ga suki desu – I like the green shoes better than the blue shoes.
Eiga no chiketto wa kyuu pondo desu – the movie ticket is 9 pounds.
Ninjin wa ikura desu ka? – How much are the carrots?
Boushi wa kooto yori yasui desu – the hat is cheaper than the coat
Haratte imasu – is using
Haraimasu - use
Omoi – heavy
Karui – light
Hayai – fast
Osoi – slow
My books are heavy – watashi no hon wa omoi desu
His books are heavier – kare no hon wa motto omoi desu
This camera is small – kono kamera wa chiisai desu.
This camera is smaller – Kono kamera was motto chiisai desu.
This camera is the smallest – kono kamera ga ichiban chiisai desu.
Toshi o totta – elderly
Osanai – very young, child
Motto takusan - more
Ichiban takusan – the most
Osara wa arimasuka – do you have plates
Kinzoku to kami to ki no osara ga arimasu – we have metal, paper, and wooden plates.
Dono osara ga irimasuka – which plate do you need
Watashi no kazoku wa kyoo koen de hirugohan o tabemasu kara, karui osara ga irimasu – because my family is eating in the park today, I need light plates.
Ki no osara wa kinzoku no osara yori karui desu ga, kami no osara ga ichiban karui desu. – although wooden plates are lighter than metal plates, paper plates are lightest.
Sukunai – less
Chigau – different
Onaji – the same
Onaji iro – the same colour
Chigau iro – different colored
Ookisa – size
Onaji ookisa – same size
Chigau ookisa – different size
Ookisugimasu – too big
Chiisasugimasu – too small
Choudo ii desu – the right size
Coudo ii desu ka? – does it fit, is it the right size?
Subete – all
Suwatte imasu – to frown
Kodomotachi wa minna suwatte imasu – all the children are frowning
Kodomotachi wa minna suwatte imasen – none of the children are frowning.
Nanbonka – some
Nanbonka no hana wa purasuchikku desu – some of the flowers are plastic.
Hana wa subete kami desu – all of the flowers are paper.
Watashitachi no shatsu wa subete onaji desu ga, subete chigau iro desu – our shirts are all the same size, but they are all different colors.
Ichiban - best
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