Monthly Archives: April 2011

Cusine Trip Part 1: Cremona and Parma

At the beginning of Spring Break, IES:Milano offers all students a 3-day all-expenses included (except for lunch) Cuisine and Culture Field Trip that features visits to the small Italian cities of Cremona, Parma, Mantova, and Castell’Arquato. Given the chance to eat great food, drink good wine, and experience authentic Italy for free, I was more than eager to sign up.

Cremona

The first destination on our trip was a tiny town located about 2.5 hours southeast of Milan called Cremona. Upon reaching the city by bus, we first visited it’s famous opera house. Considered one of the four most important opera houses in all of Italy, we were given an exclusive tour of the facilities, even though there was a performance scheduled for the next day. Although this theater pales in comparison to La Scala in Milan in both size and grandeur, it’s quaint atmosphere and intricate decoration make it a worthy tourist destination when visiting Cremona.

After leaving the opera house, we walked to the city center and visited the the Duomo and Baptistery. Although I certainly wouldn’t make a special trip to Cremona to visit these sites, if you happen to be in the city, they are worth stopping by

Our next stop was to a shop owned and operated by a violin maker, a skill and craft from which Cremona derives it’s worldwide fame. A small town in Northern Italy, Cremona is known throughout the music world as the heart of violin making and the prime destination for those who wish to purchase the best and most expensive of these intricately made musical instruments. We sat and listened for an hour as the violin maker explained the history of his craft, including the painstaking process required for the construction of each individual violin. Throughout this lecture we learned that each violin takes 2-3 months for its complete construction and costs anywhere from 5,000 – 25,000 euros. (Fun Fact: A violin made by revered violin maker Antonio Stradivari typically goes for 3-5 million euros at auction!).

After leaving this shop, we were given a more extensive tour of the city center, including a stop at a famous candy and sweet shop. In addition to it’s fame as the home of violin making, Cremona is also well known for it’s delicious nugget. After purchasing a giant chocolate from this shop (which I must say was amazing) and eating lunch, we headed to Parma.

Parma

Since Parma was the town in which we would be based in for the next two days, we checked into our hotel immediately upon arriving. After about an hour of free time, IES had arranged for us to receive a tour of the city before dinner. On this tour, we again visited the Duomo and Baptistery of this larger, but still small, Italian town. Although my desire to visit old churches has significantly waned over the course of the semester, I was still very impressed by the Duomo in Parma. In particular, the dome painted by Correggio was a breathtaking example of Italian art. This work was equally as impressive as any I have seen across Europe, although it was absolutely ridiculous that in addition to having to pay to visit the church, an additional fee was required to actually activate the lights necessary to see the dome!

After our tour was completed, we walked over to the restaurant in which IES had arranged for us to eat dinner, the Trattoria Corrieri. This 2.5 hour, 5-course meal was probably the best dinner I have ever had as we were treated to an appetizer of fried dough and assorted deli meats, a first course of pumpkin ravioli, a second course of rizzoto and polenta, a third course of chicken with gravy, and dessert featuring tiramisu.

Location: Cremona, Italy

Getting Sick

This past weekend was a long weekend since most of Taiwan’s schools recognized 清明節 [tomb sweeping day] and 兒童節 [children’s day]. I returned to Tainan to visit during this long holiday and felt a little displaced. 4-5 weeks ago, Tainan was my home and my safe haven, and I missed it terribly my first 2 weeks in Taipei. Though I still love it here in Tainan, it felt a little weird to be back since I had just started to get used to life in Taipei. It felt a little bit like when you’re switching in between a hot tub and a cool pool. The hot tub is nice and comfortable and you feel vastly uncomfortable when you suddenly jump into the cool pool. After a while though, you get used to the soothing cool of the pool but when you return back to the hot tub, it’s almost too hot for you to handle. Now, when I’m just about to get used to the warmth of the hot tub, I have to return to Taipei. But I did realize one thing through all of switching back and forth. Both places have their pros and cons and are different, I love them both.

I have been getting sick pretty regularly since coming to Taipei. Right before I left for Tainan I had a bad cough and headaches and since returning from Tainan, the cough has returned and has gotten worse. I woke myself up last night because I kept coughing. So in consideration of my roommates, today I donned the Face Mask. I have officially become more Taiwanese. Now I am 110% Taiwanese. The Face Mask is very fashionable in Taiwan. Don’t laugh. It’s for reals.

Location: Taipei, Taiwan

Directed Research

I’m sorry that it’s been so long since my last blog post! Life has been so busy here lately. We have finally started our directed research projects. The next 4 weeks will be completely devoted to data collection, data analysis, paper writing and presentations to the community. There are three projects that we could have chosen from. The environmental policy DR focuses on water usage/shortage and how it affects the politics and policies of the region. Similarly, the wildlife ecology DR focuses on how water availability affects the ecology of riverine habitats and people’s attitudes towards conservation. My DR (wildlife management) will examine the habitat viability of 5 different sanctuaries in the surrounding area. We spend hours everyday walking 10km or more through these sanctuaries counting animals, marking their GPS coordinates and identifying the different habitats. We will eventually input all of this information into GIS (geographic information systems) and determine the extent of habitat overlap for different species and how sustainable the current environment is for all populations. In 3 weeks we will have the opportunity to present our findings to the local community including the officials who manage these sanctuaries. Hopefully, they will listen to our recommendations and we will have helped improve these wildlife sanctuaries!

The work is demanding and the days are long but it is still so much fun. The other day, my group of three students, a local guide and a KWS (Kenya Wildlife Service) ranger were dropped off at our starting point only to find a family of giraffe about 200m to the west, a herd of gazelles about 300m to the east and a herd of over 20 zebra running across the open grasslands with Kilimanjaro, clear as day, in the background. It was the most breathtaking scene I’ve ever witnessed. Yesterday, we came across a family of elephants! We even saw two sets of lion prints but no lion sightings.

Even though I love all the work I’m doing, I’m so glad that today is a non-program day. I think I’m going to visit Laitokitok and walk around the market for a few hours this morning before relaxing at a new lodge bordering Amboseli National Park for the afternoon. It should be a wonderful and relaxing day before another 4 days of data collection. Until next time!

Location: Kimana, Kenya

Living the LIfe

Well, I hate to say it but the semester is halfway done and the work is catching up. I’ve had minimal assignments up until this point and all of a sudden it’s like a rush of papers is flying at me. I also find it especially hard to do any work here at all, because there are just so many things I’d rather be doing. I wrote only a 4 page, 1,000 word essay today and it took me literally 9 hours to complete. Oh well.

Being halfway done is pretty sad for a few reasons. For one, the weather is starting to get colder. And by colder I mean it’s dropped from about the 80’s to the 60’s/70’s. It’s actually pretty funny to look around on campus and see how the students dress for the weather. Lately it’s been around 60-65 and students are seriously BUNDLED UP. It’s the most bizarre sight. I’m sorry but I’m from the northeast, and a little chilliness isn’t going to stop me from wearing my denim shorts, and I’m definitely not ready to say goodbye to them and hello to jeans, so I’ll get plenty of weird looks from the scarf-wearing students.

It’s also pretty sad to think that time here is just flying. There’s still a ton of places that I need to see and it seems that for the whole month of May I’ll be traveling (goodbye money in my bank account). The trips I have planned so far are Cairns for Easter Break (fall break) with IES – which is an amazing deal – 5 days of planned trips including a day of snorkeling and diving on the Great Barrier Reef and “jungle surfing” in the Daintree Rainforest, for just $500. Plus a few of us opted to extend our trip for a few more days at our own expense, so that will be pretty fun. I’m also going to Fraser Island, which is a huge sand island where we’ll rent 4WD’s and camp. For our week long break before finals a few friends and I are island hopping around FIJI (VERY excited), and hopefully I’m going to get to book a trip to Melbourne/Tasmania within the week.

So, even though I’m sadly halfway through, I’m getting the feeling that I’m starting to know Sydney very well and I’m getting antsy to step out and see more of Australia. Don’t get me wrong, Sydney is an amazing city and I’m having a blast (we just went to Luna Park and ran around like Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen a la Our LIps are Sealed – one of the best days ever), but Australia in itself is such an incredible place, and I’m excited to see what else it has in store.

Location: Sydney, Australia

Las Ramblas

Our first full day in Barcelona the weather was beautiful. I walked around with my coat on which was a mistake even though most of the locals had on parkas. Being that it was Sunday the majority of businesses were closed. We took the metro to the area where Las Ramblas is but we need to eat first. We found a restaurant called. La Mamasita. I had a hamburger with grinned up goat cheese on top and some kind of ketchup sauce on the side and really skinny ‘Chips’ it was delicious. Lunch takes a few hours in Spain. Then we went to a very touristy place called Las Ramblas. It is filled with real people posing at statues to make money, kiosk, gift shops are filled with bartering and at the end is a statue of Christopher Columbus.

In the picture below the man wouldn’t let me take a picture unless I gave him some Euros. He wanted me to go up beside him so the “floating head” could give me a kiss and at the same time provide entertainment for the gathered audience. It was really awkward when I

went up beside because I had no clue what was going on and then Allison gladly went up for the sake of a picture. From the end of Las Ramblas the beach was only 5 minutes away! So naturally we walked along the Mediterranean Sea which is beautiful. People made sand sculptures to earn money as well.

On the way back to Colin’s, he and Chris need to get food to ‘take away’ or to-go since they were going to a Barcelona football game. They chose McDonald’s with McBeers, I’m happy to say I have no idea what it taste like. Sam, Allison and I chose to get more substantial food. When we got back to Colin’s one of his house mates took us to Starbucks (only coffee place open at 8PM on Sunday) and then we went to another restaurant. It was almost 9PM when we got to La Botiga and were the only people in there for about 20 minutes before locals came in. We ate out twice since we couldn’t go to a super market. I had a delicious risotto type dish with a homemade dinner roll and we shared a pitcher of sangria.

NOTE: Water doesn’t seem to be free anywhere in Spain. At restaurants you can purchase water in a glass bottle or water bottle, usually and it cost more than a glass of wine or a pint of beer. I learned quickly to keep a bottle of water with me in my bag anywhere I went.

Location: Barcelona

Introduction to Spain

A little bit about Barcelona: This may be a little bias being that I loved every second spent in this country. It was a wonderful time away from the current England gloomy weather. Barcelona was sunny and in the 60’s every day we were there (end of February), it was beautiful. If I spoke Spanish and had the opportunity to study abroad again I would study there!

Some of the differences, there seemed to be just as many people (men and women) driving mopeds as there were driving cars. It was between 60 and 70 degrees for the five days we were there and most people were wearing parkas whereas in England, at the current time, it was rainy every other day. On Sundays the majority if businesses were closed out of respect of the country’s main religion, Catholicism, some restaurants and tourist things were open.

I mentioned in an earlier blog about how America entertains other part of the world, well they entertain Spain as well. American music is played everywhere; most people have no idea what it is saying though. We were sitting in a nice restaurant and Cee Lo Greens most recent song came on ‘Forget You’ only it was not censored. The song just felt so out of place in a nice eating environment. The daily routine in Spain is much more relaxed than anywhere I have ever been. Breakfast doesn’t really exist, if someone east breakfast it is on the go and consist of a croissant or pastry early in morning. Lunch is typically around lunch time, noon. From about 2-4 during siesta time (which is a nap), some people go pick their kids up from school, some close shop and take a few hours off then they go back to work or open their business back up at 4 and are open until 6 – 8. Restaurants and super markets are a little different though. They are open during siesta so people can eat, get food and are open until about 11 since dinner doesn’t usually begin until 9 PM. What a difference in daily routine from England and America.

Location: Barcelona, spain

Difficult Lecture

Today in class, we discussed the difficult topic of coping with children in the classroom who have experienced loss. As an education major, you don’t often think about the sad things that you may need to deal with. Today’s lecture was particularly difficult, and made me a little nervous about my future profession.

When I was in third grade, my best friend Natalie lived down the street from me. She was one year younger, and we got along like sisters. She and I would constantly play together, get into plenty of trouble, and spend hours at either her house or mine. This same year, Natalie’s mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. I remember my mom telling me that Mrs. Bradon was sick, but I just assumed she would need to go to the doctor and she would be fine. Only a few short months later, Mrs. Bradon passed away. I remember my mom telling me that we were going to the funeral, and when there, I sat next to Natalie and colored for hours. We sat there in silence, coloring.

At the time, I never really thought about what happened much. I assumed that Mrs. Bradon was away on holiday, or that she would come back soon. Natalie and I continued to play, and nothing seemed to have changed. However, subconsciously I think I knew that Mrs. Bradon would never come back, and would never be there to make us lunch or warn me not to touch the radiator (when every time I ignored her and did it anyway… getting burns on my hand to prove it). Looking back now, especially after this lecture, I can see that Natalie was going through the toughest time of her life. As a future teacher, it is more than likely that I will go through dealing with a bereaved child. In such a case, I will look back to my past and remember Mrs. Bradon every time I come across a similar situation. Perhaps my sitting there, coloring with her, was the best thing that I could have done at the time. Allowing Natalie to know that I was there for her, that nothing had changed for me, and that I would still color with her even though her mom wasn’t going to be there anymore, supported her in a way that was subconscious. I would like to imagine that that helped her a significant amount, but I don’t know because of being so young at the time.

This lecture was particularly necessary. Oftentimes, as stated before, teachers do not think that anything will go wrong. We have this presumption that every child is happy and fine, but the reality is that children are often going through a lot more than we think. Learning methods to help children deal with troubling times made me nervous about teaching, but also put me slightly at ease, as now I have some ideas of methods I could use in the future. We as human beings do not like to discuss difficult topics, but they are very necessary and will prove to be helpful in the future.

Location: jonkoping, sweden

London in 12 hours

Sorry I am falling behind in my posts once again. But 2 Fridays ago I went to London for a day trip by myself. I thought I could do it all in a day, most people had told me that London was one of their least favorite cities to visit. Boy, were they wrong. I had a fantastic day and I would go back in a heartbeat.

They didn’t start off too well seeing ad I go to Gare du Nord in Paris with what I thought was plenty of time to spare but as I was sitting at the little caf� at the train station I noticed a small sign above the eurostar trains in French that read “check-in for eurostar upstairs”. So I went upstairs and see this huge line of people waiting to check in and get their passports stamped. Silly me, only going to Schengen space countries forgot that you have to go through customs to go to London. So I hopped in line waited until check in was closed for my 6:43 am train then went to the ticket desk and got it switched to 7:15. Thankfully the very nice lady switched it for free and let me bypass the line and go through the business class entrance. I got through customs and security with 5 minutes to spare. But here comes the kicker my first train had been delayed and was just now boarding. Since I had my original ticket still I just got on that train and set off for London.

The train ride was uneventful; I slept the entire ride. No, the chunnel is not a tunnel that you can see the fish in the English channel, I was particularly disappointed about this fact. And then I arrived in London and so began my whirlwind 12 hour tour.

Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Princess Diana Memorial Walk through St. James Park, St. James Square, Changing of the Guard, London Eye, Tower of London, London Bridge, British Museum, finishing with a dinner of fish and chips

Then my ride home on the chunnel, it went smoothly the second time and I got back to my apartment at 12:30 in the morning.

Location: London, England

PROSHing

Work from uni has finally caught up to me. Within the next week I have 2 midterms and 2 essays due before the much-anticipated break! Over the weekend I went to another AFL game, the West Coast Eagles vs. Sydney Swans. We sat behind the goal posts which was an interesting way to watch the game. The game itself has pretty many rules but I knew how the basic scoring was done. There are 4 goal posts and if you get it the ball within the inner 2 you get 6 points and if you get it within the outer 2 you get 1 point. The game was pretty close until the Swans came from behind and shocked the home crowd by pulling off a 95-88 win. The fans really get into the game, there was a woman behind me who almost had a nervous breakdown when it went down the drain for the Eagles.

On Tuesday Night/Wednesday, PROSH was held. PROSH is student run philanthropy that sells satirical newspapers in order to raise money for charity. PROSH actually starts the night before, where people start to party all night long. Around 5:00 AM people head over to UWA and get papers and a tin then hit the busses to go all around Perth. We went to downtown Perth and sold papers for about 3 hours. Last year PROSH raised $143,000, the money goes to local charities like the food bank. Its different than THON because alcohol is a very large component to the charity event. Last year there was a rave at 4:00 AM but it was cancelled this year.

Tommy More PROSHing in Perth.

Back to work, lots to do!

Location: UWA

Getting to Barcalona

Once again I apologize for the month and a half hiatus. Between traveling and getting coursework essays complete blogging just wasn’t happening. Now that I have a month off for Easter Holiday expect updates about twice a week. This month will consist of blogs from Barcelona, London, and welcoming Spring =)

Getting to Barcelona we (Allison, Sam, and Chris all people from the States) took just about every form of transportation. We left the house at 10:30 AM. Went to town took the high speed train from Canterbury West to London St. Pancras. Its about an hour train ride. Once we arrived in London we had about an hour to kill so we got some lunch. While eating we realized that none of us had contacted our banks informing them that we were leaving England. Luckily I had brought my UK calling card and we managed to all get in touch with our banks back home by the time we arrived at the Luton airport. That was an hour and half train ride. Then a shuttle bus took us to the actual airport. We checked in 2 hours early, made it through security, and took a 25 minute walk to our gate which was very surprising considering the size of Luton Airport. Then we waited as the only 4 people in the gate area and entertained ourselves for the next hour. Once the gate was posted on the LCD screens we noticed people coming in basically a herd to the gate. Turns out that no one knows the gate until it is displayed, however the kind lady that checked us in gave us the gate number so we were there very early and managed to be one of the first people in line to board the plane. Ryanair does not have assigned seating so we got lucky that we were some of the first people in line and got seats together.

It was a two hour plane ride to Girona airport which is outside of Barcelona. We had to get a bus from the Girona Airport to Barcelona which took an hour and fifteen minutes. The bus ride was rather interesting being that were chanting men. About every 10-25 they would chant something about football (not American football). It was about 10PM when we arrived at the bus station in Barcelona and had some trouble finding where the taxis were parked but we found them. Sam had printed off Colin’s address (Chris’s roommate from school at home) who we were staying with. She was our only hope of getting from point A to point B with her little bit of Spanish. The taxi driver was really nice and a little perk was he played American music; I’ll talk more about that later. In Spain they drive on the right side of the road, literally, not the left. Forms of transportation that were utilized in 12 hours were, bus, train, taxi and airplane. The metro was used daily after that.

Location: London, Girona, Barcelona, Spain

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