Tag Archives: adventures

A Little Bit of Mexico City

For future reference, four days in Mexico City is enough time to see seven museums, an entire city of Aztec ruins, try about 9 different restaraunts, and buy as many souveneirs as your budget allows, but is still only enough time to merely scratch the surface of the city. I’m proud to say that our group proved this last weekend, but also glad to have many reasons to return.

The first stop was Teotihuac�n, the ancient Aztec ruins that contain the largest pyramid in the western hemisphere, the Pyramid of the Sun. This was the kind of thing you see in post cards, or read a blurb about in seventh grade Spanish class, or even discover details about in Latin American history class. You marvel at its wonder, but never imagine actual escalating its rocky side.

This trip granted me the opportunity to climb this great structure to the top and witness its magnificent view. The Aztecs did not build this city, but found it abandoned and named the structures independently. I can only imagine how the Aztec people felt when they came upon this structure and climbed its heights. The experience in its entirety is truly mesmorizing.

We also visited Frida Khalo’s house, La Casa Azul. Frida’s infamous unibrow is the first thing that pops into most people’s heads when they hear her unique name. However, I recommend watching the movie, “Frida” for anyone looking to learn a little more about her. This dramatic film featuring Salma Hyek as Frida, presents the artist’s life story through her eyes, breaking through the front of her solemn work. Her life was a roller coaster, but her personality and artistic view makes her a true inspiration.

The walls of her house were dotted with hundreds of works of her and Diego’s art. The house was beautiful, the perfect place for painting. It also presented Frida and Diego’s relationship in a way that emphasized not necessarily a mushy-gushy love, but more of an eternal care that each passionately possessed for one another. These artists are worth learning about, even if only for an interesting surprise.

This is a long entry, and trust me, I could write tons more about this trip! I will spare you the details however but inform you that El Museo Nacional de Antropolog�a is absolutely incredible, and requires about a full day, maybe two, to wholly appreciate its depth of information about Mexican Civilization history (which is very interesting). La Palacio Nacional features Diego’s last murals on its walls, which shows the history of Mexico in picture form if that’s more your style. Lastly, the “Basillica of our Lady Guadalupe” not only displays the religiosity of the nation, but also the city’s swampy foundation! (see photo)

Just a little taste of what Mexico City has to offer. The history of the city makes it especially unique, so in order to fully feel its charm, these types of attractions are definitely worth visiting!

Location: Prados Agua Azul, Puebla, Mexico

Hurry up, we’ve got reckless things to do.

So this past weekend, myself, Meg, and her two flatmates, Britta, Mats decided to take a trip to Lake Taupo which was formed by a massive volcanic eruption a long, long time ago, although the volcano still remains dormant. Taupo is about 2.5 hours south of Hamilton and easily accessible by bus. The lake is beautiful, surrounded by a small town and with views of Mt. Ruapehu, Mt. Tongariro and Mt. Ngauruhoe. Ngauruhoe is the location of “Mt. Doom” for the Lord of the Rings fans. We stayed at a backpackers hostel called Taupo Urban Retreat in the town for two nights. Backpacker’s are really the way to go when you want to travel on a budget. Nakedsleep is one of the cheapest with rooms starting at $5. The website is NOT called Nakedbeds as I found out…

We booked a 4 bed dorm which, since we were planning on spending most of our time exploring, was fine. Two guys that Meg knew from uni, David and Jeff, were also put in our room so we didn’t have to worry about our things being safe. The hostel’s staff were very friendly and willing to help us plan activities as well as assist in quenching our thirst with cheap pitchers of Snakebite (half cider, half lager, with a large amount of blackcurrent cordial. YUM!). The people were surprisingly friendly too, a mix of Brits, Canadians, Eastern Europeans and one slighty crazy old man. Friday was a night out on the town, listening to live music, eating fish and chips and playing pool with a couple from Ireland (we won, but only thanks to Meg).

Lake Taupo with the mountains ^

The next day was what we had been waiting for. We had booked a bungy jump. I wasn’t really nervous until we started talking a guy in the hostel who had done a couple. We arrived at the cliffs overlooking the Waikato river and signed our selves in. The blue water looked so peaceful and surreal from the height (47 metres!). Sometimes they dunk you in the river during your bungy but since this was our first time, we opted to stay dry.

Once we were all strapped in (a thin body harness was used, but you were really only held onto the cord by ankle straps), the guy working the bungy casually told us just “put your arms up, stand on the edge and lean forward on the count of three”. He told me to try putting one arm out and one on my hip and singing I’m a little teapot when I asked if I needed to keep my arms up the whole time. Meg went first and didn’t hesitate at all so I knew I’d have to go straight over too. None of the “hmmm I’ll think I’ll stay here for another minute” nonsense. The scariest part was right as your feet left the platform. It was about 6 seconds of free fall, with the water hurtling up towards you. Once the initial fall was over, I was able to really start enjoying the flying feeling and loved every second! Meg and I have already decided that we want to do another bungy in Queenstown, Nevis bungy which is the highest in New Zealand, almost twice the size of Taupo’s!

Before the jump ^

A terrifying few moments ^

After the excitement of the jump, we decided to take a walk to see Huka falls, a huge channel of white water pounding under a bridge. We ate lunch at a peaceful spot on the riverbank, before heading to the hot springs. The naturally hot water created spa-like pools, some too hot to even put a foot in.

Hot springs, there were all kinds of pieces of vocanic rock or “pumice” floating in the water ^

Then it was back to the hostel after an exhausting day where we took advantage of the hostel’s happy hour and played some poker. Everyone in the hostel was gathered together laughing, eating, playing cards, and screaming at the rugby match on TV. A really good atmosphere for the end of a long day.

Kiwi-as Lingo

Mean- Really good. Ex.) “Happy hour includes $4 dollar beers, mean!”

Sweet-as– Can mean anything from “ok” to “awesome!”. Could also be cool-as, kiwi-as, tired-as, hungry-as…

Bach- small holiday home, pronounced “batch”.

Jersey- Sweater or hoodie.

Jandals- Flip flops. Apparently this comes from “Japanese Sandals”

Kiwi- Person or New Zealand origin, not to be confused with…

Kiwi-fruit- Small, brown, hairy fruit with a green tangy center or with…

Kiwi- Small, brown, hairy, flightless bird.

The person is named after the bird, not the fruit.

Big week of school coming up, so now it’s time to study!

Cheers,

Karen

Location: Lake Taupo, New Zealand

First Week of Uni

The first week of school is in the book, so to speak. This week was pretty laid back because we only had lectures, no labs. Campus is pretty spread out so, it takes almost 25 minutes to walk to the other end where I have a business and Sport Science class a few times a week, it’s a good workout. Tuesday was the hottest day since I’ve been here it was a little humid and 104. When I across the road I still look both ways because I don’t trust myself, its better than the alternative of getting hit by a truck.

I’m in the midst of trying to make mid-semester break plans. Its crazy to think that PSU students are on Spring Break as I write this and we’ve only begun class. Anyway I really want to stay in Western Australia and explore for break I’m not sure if I want to go north or south just yet. I met up with 2 exchange students who were at PSU last semester, it was great catching up with them, and they’re an excellent source of knowledge.

On Saturday me and 2 other guys from Tommy More went to a AFL (Aussie Football) game in Subiaco, a beautiful town about 15 minutes away. If I could live in Western Australia I think I’d live there, its so beautiful and laid back. Anyway the AFL game was a blast, there’s so much action going all the time. We got quite lucky and got 2^nd row seats, for the semi-final preseason game between the West Coast Eagles and the Collingwood Magpies. The home team lost, (Eagles) but the game was so much fun. Everything closes early in Australia, so the busses had stopped running. We thought it was about a 20-30 minute walk back. So we browsed around Subiaco and got some ice cream and milkshakes and started to walk, and walk, and walk, and walk. And walk some more. The 3 men were starting to get close, so they stopped and asked for directions. Turns out we were going the wrong way. We walked and walked some more until we made it to King’s Park which overlooks Perth at night, it was stunning. After the panorama we eventually made it back to Tommy, 10 km (6 miles) and 2.5 hours later.

Now its back to the grind, week 2 of school is in full swing with lectures and labs. On a positive note the weather has cooled down quite a bit, to the mid 80’s. Who knows what adventures will await this week!

Location: Kings Park, Subiaco, UWA

Truffles from Brussels <3

To say that Brussels was a better trip would be an understatement. I can’t describe in words how much I love the city of Brussels. This time, our coach ride there was during the day (it left at 8am); it was not the most pleasant bus ride but it wasn’t horrible either. When we left the station, we heard two little British boys sitting behind us talking to their parents in the seats behind them. At first, I couldn’t help but think how cute they were with their little British accent! However, as the ride went on my frustration grew. The entire ride they were kicking my seat, screaming at each other, and whining about one thing or another. I was most frustrated at the parents because they were both asleep with their face masks on. Oh well, nothing I could do about it!

When we finally got there, I was nervous to see all the signs in French again. I had such a hard time in Paris because no one was willing to talk to me in English and I didn’t want to have to be lost all weekend again! Since there were six of us going, we decided to pay for a triple hotel room and sneak 6 people in. it was genius because we ended up only having to pay 25 euros each for the 2 nights we were there! I forgot to print off the name and address of the hotel, so I had one of the girls traveling by eurostar text me the address. Still, we didn’t know how to get to there, so we went up to the information desk. When the man asked me where I was looking to go, I didn’t even know what the street name was as opposed to the hotel name so he just asked to see my phone. He was so nice; he showed us on a map exactly what we had to do to get there. We had to go into the other line with “his friend” to get our tickets for the metro and when it was our turn, the information guy that helped us took over and got the tickets we needed and asked for the money. He was so nice and helpful I wanted to cry and kiss him (but I didn’t)! The metro itself was actually pretty nice (especially after Paris).

Even though the information man told us to get to the hotel by tram after the metro, we were really confused as to how the tram system worked. We must have looked really confused because someone came up to us and asked us where we were trying to go; all I had to do was show her the text and she said it was within walking distance and then directed us in the right way. I was happily surprised by how nice everyone was! The area that we were walking through reminded me of home in Chelsea (London); it was super high end stores and really fancy shops.

When we walked into the hotel, we didn’t want to make it obvious that we were sneaking people in so as three of the people staying in the room were checking in, the other three took the elevator to a random floor to wait for the room number. We’re so sneaky! The hotel itself was gorgeous; I couldn’t believe we were staying there for so cheap. Since it was already 6pm by the time we were checked in and settled down, we went out for dinner and to a bar near the hotel. Apparently you’re allowed to smoke in bars in Brussels because it was really smoky in there.

Saturday, we headed out with the first destination being the Grand Place. It was only a 20-30 minute walk from our hotel so I suggested that we walk everywhere while in Brussels. As I always say, it’s the best way to explore. To my pleasant surprise, everyone agreed! On our way there, we walked past 2 antique markets and a ton of chocolate places. Apparently, Godiva Chocolates originated in Brussels! As we approached the Grand Place, I could see parts of the buildings from the side road. Once we entered the square, I was speechless. This was the most strikingly gorgeous and breathtaking square I’ve ever seen in my life. The architecture style was Gothic (not sure which era); which is my favorite style. I think that seeing different architecture is one of my favorite things about traveling to different places.

We all stood there kind of speechless for a while before taking a ton of pictures. Since Belgium is obviously known for their waffles, everyone wanted to find a non-touristy place to go for breakfast. We walked a short way from the square and found a little place to eat. I was also told that you had to try the coffee (and beer and fries and chocolate) while in Belgium, so I ordered a coffee for breakfast. Everyone else ordered waffles with toppings and chocolate. My coffee was absolutely delicious and everyone else’s waffles looked so good – and they apparently were!

We walked through one of the markets and then we went into a chocolate store called Chocopolis. It was really expensive chocolate but it looked so delicious. Since I don’t eat dairy, I asked the workers if they had any “dairy free” truffles (when I was in Stratford-Upon-Avon, there was a Belgian truffle place that had a whole list of dairy free truffles!) but this time, the workers looked at me as though I had 7 heads. I walked away thinking that there was no way I’d be having any chocolate this weekend. Bummer. We left there and set out to find the Chocolate Museum. When we got there, I went up to one of the people working and asked them if there was any chocolate that didn’t have dairy in it. They told me that any of the dark chocolates they make are all dairy free (there are 3 different kinds of dark chocolate). They had little bowls all around the museum of the 5 different kinds of chocolate, so I got to sample all of the dark chocolates, yay! The chocolate was extremely delicious. The museum itself was really cool inside because there were chocolate statues, art, and information all over. About 10 minutes after we went inside, we got to watch a demonstration of how the Professional Chocolatier makes the chocolate.

Luckily for me, he was making dark chocolate so when he finished, I got to taste fresh made chocolate. It was unlike anything I’ve ever had before! After the demonstration, we walked through the rest of the museum and then left to go adventure more. I didn’t realize this, but there’s a Royal Palace in Brussels; so we headed in the direction of that. There was a really pretty “garden” across from the palace so we walked through first and then made our way to the road to cross the street to the palace. The road was so incredibly wide! I don’t know how people drive on it without lines; it’s totally beyond me. Before we crossed, we noticed the lions that were “protecting” the gardens and the palace; they looked so scared!

I’ve never seen lions that had that kind of face so it was funny. We didn’t spend too much time there; it really wasn’t all that impressive. We ended up finding a cathedral as we were walking around, so we went into it to see what it looked like. It was really pretty inside; we left shortly after going and walked back to the place where we wanted to try the “frites” right across from where they had breakfast. The thing that’s good about the fries here is that they aren’t gross and sopping in grease, they’re actually potatoes lightly browned (in grease LOL). One of the girls was dead set on seeing the Manneken Pis, so we figured out where it was and arrived there quickly. It was so much smaller than I had imagined!

Seriously, there were chocolate replicas that were bigger. There were at least 6 chocolate stores around the statue so we went into all of them to look at their presentations of truffles and check out the prices.

Everywhere we went, I asked if they had “dairy free” truffles and at each place I was looked at like I was an alien. I found that most dark chocolate bars were dairy free, so I bought them instead. As we were leaving the last store, it really started to rain. I was one of the only people with an umbrella, so we headed back to walk to the hotel and rest before dinner. We left for dinner around 8pm and walked back to the Grand Place; we found a restaurant there that seemed pretty cute. One thing about Europe that I’m finding – waiters usually take pride in their jobs, they don’t always take your order unless you tell them you’re ready to order, and they don’t ever give you the check until you ask for it. I was so amused for the whole of the dinner because they had a food elevator and a phone to ring the kitchen upstairs, place the orders, and then the food would be delivered via the food elevator! I couldn’t help but watch it – I was mesmerized.

Apparently there’s a bar in Brussels that serves over 2500 beers and has 3 floors. Everyone wanted to see what it was all about, but I didn’t stay for very long. It was really late and I was exhausted! I headed back with one other girl and I thought I knew exactly where I was going. We got a bit off course and I started to get nervous because it was late and dark and we weren’t on a main road. Luckily, I quickly saw outdoor elevators that we were standing near earlier in the day so I knew that all we had to do was get on the elevator and go up and we’d be on the street right by our hotel.

Sunday, we had to be checked out by noon. Luckily, we were able to leave our bags at the hotel, which was really nice and unexpected. We headed back towards the Manneken Pis because there were chocolate stores everyone wanted to go into. On our way there, we decided to stop at a chocolate store called Leonidas as we were passing it. I went in and approached the women at the counter in a different way; I asked them if there were any truffles that were free of milk and cream. They looked at me and asked if it was an allergy and I said that “I don’t know if it’s the same word here, but I’m vegan”. The younger girl looked at me and said “oh, yes! Vegan!”! She pulled out a huge binder and looked through everything for me and showed me what I had to choose from that was dairy free. Apparently, I approached the question wrong in the past. I was so happy that I was actually able to get chocolate truffle-like treats!!

Since it was Sunday, most of the shops (other than souvenir shops) were closed. We spent the remainder of the day walking around the deserted fashion district and traveling on the metro to get to places that were further away. Apparently, when there was the “World Fair”, every country had to have a specific site that was theirs; Brussels built an “Atom” was considered the site for Belgium. I think it’s supposed to represent the different countries connecting together in Europe. You can walk to the top and through the connecting bars, but no one wanted to do it.

After that, we went to the area that is the headquarters of the EU. It was so windy and cold but we walked for a while to find the buildings. As it turns out, you can take tours of the buildings during the week but since it was a Sunday, the buildings were all closed. We got to see a part of the Berlin wall and all of the EU flags.

We headed back to the area of our hotel and went into some final chocolate stores.

When we got to the coach station, there was hardly anyone in there. I double checked that our bus was coming at 10:30 (it was about 9:45 at this point); it’s a good thing we looked because the coach was coming at 9:45. The bad thing about taking coaches everywhere is that they leave at whatever time you’re ticket says whether you’re on the coach or not; they don’t announce boarding or check in either. When we got out to where the coaches were waiting, we saw that a coach to London was already sitting there. Apparently, you have to check in at the Eurolines office; we didn’t know that so literally at the last few minutes, we checked in and ran to the bus 2 minutes before it left the station. Talk about lucky! When I woke up from my attempt to sleep, I was really confused because we weren’t at the train station; we were driving into the waiting lot of a ton of ferries! They were huge and I was scared at first because I thought you just drive on and then sit in the coach. Well, apparently that’s not how it happens because when we parked, everyone got off. We followed and went inside; holy crow it was like a cruise ship! There were 7 floors total and 2 of them were filled with shops, a restaurant, a caf� and bar, toilets everywhere, and an outside deck.

It was so incredibly nice! I wasn’t expecting it at all. The ferry ride probably lasted a total of 2 hours and 30 minutes and it was a relatively smooth ride. We were back in London around 5:30am and it was so lovely to hear Camille’s voice (we named the voice that speaks over the loudspeaker on the buses). Even though I love to travel and adventure, I am so glad that I’m living in London. It is such an amazing city and I hope there comes a day when I can actually live and work here.

Location: Louise, Brussels, Belgium

Having a jolly good time!

There is absolutely no way that I’ve been here for a month already. Would it be alright is I just never came back home?

One club I think everyone should experience when they come to London is Fabric. It is one crazy place! When we decided to go, it was a student’s night called the Refresher’s Rave (it was meant to be a “refresher” from exams). I didn’t know how literal the “rave” part was going to be, but there were definitely a lot of people there on drugs! Fabric itself was really cool; there were 6ish different dance rooms and one main room where the DJ was. Each room had different music and different lights flashing. We spent most of our time in the main room because it was the best place to dance. I only stayed for about 2 hours because I couldn’t handle the amount of other people’s sweat and drinks that were all over me and I was truly afraid that I was going to be vomited on. Aside from the gross parts, it was really fun!

A few weeks ago, I got in touch with the PSU Alums living and working in London and they invited me to a social gathering this past weekend. I decided it’d be a great opportunity to meet people that work here from Penn State, so I dragged one of my PSU friends along with me. The people that were there weren’t all from the US and full time Penn State students, a lot of them were either international students or study abroad students. It was really cool to meet all of them and talk to them about Penn State and the places they live and work. Meeting other people that live near me in London and knowing they’re from Penn State made me realize just how small the world is today. It’s pretty crazy to think about!

One thing I love about the surrounding areas I live near is that there are so many markets! This past Sunday, I went with a few friends to the markets off of Liverpool Street. It was about a 45 minute bus ride from the dorms in Chelsea and then a 5 minute walk. The first market we went to was covered by a huge roof but wasn’t enclosed. It had a ton of clothing and jewelry vendors and some food vendors. We walked around all of it and then went to check out another one. I can’t remember the names to either market, but we’re going back so I’ll get the names then. The second market we went to was amazing (and enclosed)! When you first walk in, the very first thing that’s there is the food vendors. There were literally 4 rows of any type of cuisine you want. There was even an Ethiopian stand that was veg/vegan!

I didn’t eat there but I am definitely going to when I go back to the market. It was really cold that day so walking into the heat and aroma of all the different cuisine was perfect. We walked around that one and looked at all of the clothes and jewelry; this second market was definitely more affordable. One thing about London – they don’t believe in public restrooms. And if I’m lucky enough to find one, I have to pay to use them. It is rather aggravating! But anyway, it got incredibly freezing outside so we headed back to the warm dorm rooms.

This week has been really eventful so far. Monday, I went with a few friends to Stratford-Upon-Avon. They’re all very interested in Shakespeare, which is why this trip came about. I’ll never turn down a chance to explore, so I of course went with them! It is a very cute town; I really enjoyed walking around the market street and circling around the residential part. We found this old looking tavern and decided that it’d be a good place to eat. It was phenomenal; and definitely had an old English feel about it.

Tuesday, I had a ballet to go to for my Performing Arts in London class. When I heard that it was going to be the American Ballet Theatre I was a bit upset. It ended up being a great show! Wednesday, I had a (free) tour of the Tower of London for my Historic London class. I loved it! Even though it was extremely cold, the tour was really cool. Our professor is a registered guide of London so she walked us around the outside of the Tower of London and then told us “Well, our time is up but you got in for free so stay as long as you’d like”! So with that in mind, we decided to stay and wander around. Luckily, some of the towers were heated. I got to see the crown jewels; wow was that unreal. After I was able to scrape my jaw off the ground, I realized where all of the tax money here goes HAHA. I also got to see the torcher chamber, the prison where people engraved their names and sayings before they were executed, and the displays of different aspects of the Royal Army inside the White Tower (main tower).

This weekend I’m heading to Edinburgh with some friends! I’m so excited to travel to Scotland!! I will definitely be blogging all about it.

Looking back over the last month, its mind boggling to think about how many different things I’ve been exposed to. It’s so true that no one could ever go back home the same person after doing a semester abroad. The biggest lesson I’ve been learning (and still working on) is trying to live every day for that day. Before I came here, and for the first few weeks I was here, I constantly planned for the next thing/day/event/etc. When I realized how quickly time passes here, I thought about it. I don’t want to spend this whole trip planning and looking to the next thing because I’m going to go back home in April and think “Oh my gosh, where did those 4 months go”. I don’t want to get home and realize I didn’t take the time to stop and smell the roses, wander around London, and maybe even get lost some times (or a lot!). I am really pleased that I’m learning how to relax and “life for today”; even if it’s at a slow pace.

Location: London

Don’t call it a tube, you’ll sound far too American.

Here’s a picture of our dorm room (like I promised)!

Hey everyone! Sorry it’s been so long since the last blog – this past week and a half has been packed full in an attempt to prepare for the start of classes and adapt to life in London. Since it’s been so long and I have so much to blog, I’m making it into 2 parts!

Last Tuesday morning we had a free day so some of us decided to wake up and meet downstairs around 10am to journey over to City University. Our plan for the day was to find our way around the campus, go to a 99 pence store (comparable to a dollar store – “pence” is their change), and find the closest ASDA (Wal-Mart). The weather that morning was actually nice; it began as partly sunny. However, I knew that I was in London and I took my umbrella with me anyway. We took the underground and got off right near City University. When we arrived, we got our bearings and headed to the University; it only took us about 5 minutes to walk to the campus. When we got there, my initial thought was “it’s a lot smaller then Penn State”! We walked around the small(er) campus and to the back side of the buildings where we entered the student building. When we got inside, there we’re very pleasant receptionists sitting there so we decided to ask them where the closest 99p store is. It turns out that it is located in the beginning of a shopping market right by the underground station. The market had a lot of great shops and stands with great prices! We took a walk to the end of the market and then finally found the store. We were able to buy a lot of necessary things in there; I ended up getting most of my toiletries and soaps there for only 12 pounds! From there, we found a cute panini caf� that had a lot of options at a very low price. The panini’s were really good! We got back on the underground and headed for (what we thought) was the right direction to ASDA. We found out after arriving that we went in the wrong direction. I was perfectly fine with that – it’s all part of the adventure! We hopped right back on the underground and went in the right direction. We arrived at our destination after about a 45 minute underground ride. We then had to get a bus to take us the remaining distance (this was one of the first times I was on a double-decker bus). Once we got to Clapham Junction (location of ASDA) we were ecstatic to finally be there! As we were walking up the hill to get to ASDA, I spotted a Whole Foods!! I was so happy! I didn’t go in that day because I wanted to see what ASDA offered so we walked to ASDA and spent about 2 hours in there. This store is not even comparable to Wal-Mart back home; it is amazing! There are so many organic brands there; ASDA even has their own organic brand which makes buying organic much cheaper. I was in heaven. I picked up most of the staple items I needed and after a long while spent roaming through the store and a long time in line, I was finally at the register. I was scared to see how much I was going to be spending; to my surprise, I spent under 40 pounds! The prices were great; even though it is much more expensive when converting to dollars. Collectively, we had so many bags to carry back to the bus stop. It was incredibly entertaining and I’m sure hilarious to watch but it was quite challenging. Nonetheless, we arrived to the bus stop and were able to get off at the stop right in front of our dorm building. Later that night, a few of the girls wanted to go to a pub for a light meal and some drinks. I’m not a fan of beer or hard liquor so I decided to have a rose wine. It was fun just hanging out and talking with the girls and getting to know everyone. Only one other person that came out was from PSU, one of the girls is from Wagner and another is from a small school in Minnesota. I was pleased that I was at least meeting people from somewhere other than Penn State.

Wednesday morning, we had to get to City University at 10am for our first day of orientation so we left the dorms around 8:50. My commute takes about a total of 45 minutes, but I am the type of person who needs to get to my classes early so I usually leave an hour and 15 minutes before I have to be on campus. When we arrived at City, we realized that we had 10 minutes to get to the room and no idea where it was! We ended up finding our way, but we were about 5 minutes late. The orientation lasted from 10am-4pm (16:00) and then at 4pm, we met for a Cheese and Wine welcome social. That was really fun because we got to meet other people in our program that were living at the University dorms. When we got back, I had to put together my timetables for my classes. Timetables are pretty much equivalent to schedules at home. There is one huge difference here; they don’t make you schedule the class time you want to attend, just the class name. I thought that was pretty odd; however, I was reminded that attendance for European students is very unimportant and class time usually doesn’t mean much to them. Thursday was a tough day for me; I celebrate Russian Christmas on January 7^th and Thursday was my Christmas Eve. This year was the first time I have ever been away from my family for Christmas. Thankfully, our meetings at City were mainly about our academics at the school and didn’t take too long. That night I was able to come home and skype my whole family; it still boggles my mind that I can video skype my family internationally (with no fee)!! Later on that night a few of us were sitting around trying to figure out what we could do so we took the bus to a place called Piccadilly Circus for a while and walked around. This area is more or less a smaller version of Times Square in New York City. It was pretty cool to see all of the nightlife and shops around there. There was also this really cool frozen yogurt place called Snog’s. It was so cute; the ceiling changed colors and it was very trendy. We didn’t walk around for long because it was close to midnight on a Thursday so most places were getting ready to close. Friday morning, I found where a Russian Orthodox Church that my uncle recommended was located. I went to the Russian Orthodox Cathedral of the Dormition and All Saints which was only about a 15 minute bus ride/walk away from my dorms. I had a bit of trouble getting to there because I got lost when I started walking but I eventually made it to church (and only 5 minutes late). I like to think that I have a pretty good sense of direction but I was still very happy when I found it. It was a beautiful church and a familiar service but there were so many people there! The church itself is pretty small so it was a tight squeeze. It was very calming to be in a familiar setting for Christmas morning; although, I was really upset that I was away from my family. This was a weird feeling for me because it was the first time ever that I was truly homesick. By the end of the service I was calmed down and confident that I was alright; this is all part of the experience. After the service, I traveled back to the dorms and met the girls downstairs. We decided we were going to spend the day at Harrods, Top Shop, Zara, and H&M. Harrods was unbelievable! The size of this department store was enormous (an entire block!!!) and it included every single designer you could think of, cars, a grocery store, a bakery, a restaurant, a (Harrods) gift shop, and a cafeteria. I was in awe! We left there after about 2 hours and went to Zara, Top Shop, and H&M. We then left our shopping extravaganza and journeyed home in the pouring rain. It was already dark when we were heading back but it was before 5pm (17:00).

This week really threw me right into life in another country. I was thinking about it and one of the reasons I like traveling so much is because I get to be somewhere that is different from what I’m used to. Although London is probably the closest thing to an American city, it is definitely still a change from home. British products are different, people are different, different words are used, and so on and so forth. Like I said, I love that about traveling to new places. Something that is going to take me a while to get used to is military time. If you noticed, throughout my blog I converted the afternoon to military time in parenthesis because that’s how they tell time (I probably missed a few spots in my blog). Hopefully, within the next week or so I’ll be using military time too. Also, everyday life and college life here is going to take some getting used to. So far, London has been very good to me and I love living here!

(The continuation blog should be posted tonight) 🙂

Location: Chelsea, London, England

a busy weekend

After a week of mid-terms, I celebrated a lot this weekend and had a pretty busy schedule.

On Friday, I went to a micro-brasserie (micro-brewery) with a group organized by the university. This micro-brasserie offers 8 different bi�res (beers) every night, with flavors that rotate from week to week. I was lucky enough to try multiple flavors (at the expense of the university, which was a bonus), and I really liked rousse l�g�re et fruit�e (loose and fruity redhead) and pale ale lime et framboise (lime and raspberry pale ale). The group I was with was really great and it was definitely a cool experience (again, even cooler because it was gratuit- free).

After the micro-brasserie, we went to see Cirque du Soleil together. Cirque started in Qu�bec and every summer a portion of one of the troupes has a permanent gig in the city putting on free shows, as a way to thank the city for its support. It was set up under an old highway overpass, with all the visual and audio effects of a traditional theater performance. It was really really cool to see it so close. I had gone to see Cirque at the BJC fall semester of my freshman year and that was cool, but being literally right in front of the performers to the point that I could hear them breathing (not to sound creepy) was something else entirely. They had a really cool portion where acrobats were doing tricks on poles that I suppose are the most similar to a balance beam, except that the poles bend under their weight and are being held up by two men on either end. At one point, there were three poles parallel to each other and the acrobats were bouncing from pole to pole on their stomachs like it was nothing more than a trampoline. That was really impressive to see but it did make me wonder how these people don’t get sick…

On Saturday, I went to the village of Tadoussac to see baleines (whales). Tadoussac is about three hours away from Qu�bec, near the mouth du fleuve (of the river) St. Laurent. Several different species of whales travel down into the river for a bit because it has, at that point, a high enough salinity level to sustain their lives (thank you GEOSC 040). We saw des b�lugas (beluga whales) baleines bleus (blue whales!), as well as phoques (seals).

It was seriously an amazing day, I never imagined that I would be seeing whales while I was here. Our captain said that it was only the second time this season that he had seen any baleines bleus, so we were tr�s chanceux (very fortunate). The closest came probably within 8 feet of the side of our little zodiac bateau (boat) and it was really really cool. We also got to see 3 tail fins, which is trickier because the whales only show them when they are going to plonger (dive) into deeper eau (water).

The picture below is of me holding les dents de la baleine (whale teeth), for lack of a better word. They filter all their food through the fibers that hang down.

Today, I went to Ile d’Orl�ans (Orl�ans Island) with some friends, The �le is in the middle of the St. Laurent, and is completely charming. It’s an island known for its natural products. There are fruit orchards all over the place, and I was chanseuse (again, fortunate) enough to get the chance to stop at one and pick des framboises (raspberries, yummm). It wasn’t too expensive and the cartons available were big enough that all three of us split one. I think I ate more than I put into the carton but they were too good to pass up.

After framboise picking, we went to a cidrerie (a cider house) and paid a measly $3 CAD to try 6 types of cider, about 10 different moutardes (mustards), and as many confitures (jams). It was a delicious afternoon. The cidrerie makes both ap�ratif ciders (for before dinner) and just regular cider, with some interesting mixes. There was one that was framboise et pomme (raspberry and apple), another that was fraise et pomme (strawberry and apple), which tasted a little like robitussin, but their specialty is cidre glac� (ice cider), which is made from pommes harvested right after the first frost, when they are sweetest. It was the sweetest alcoholic cider that I’ve ever tasted, and although tasty, it was a little much. The experience in the cidrerie was really cool though and I’m glad we got the chance to experience it.

The rest of the afternoon we explored other parts of the island and just took in the natural beauty around us. The inhabitants of the island are adamantly against too much commercialization- my host mom told me that about 25 years ago there was talk of putting in a centre commerciale (mall), but everyone freaked out so they decided against it.

That’s it for my weekend adventures. I have less than two weeks left here in Qu�bec, which is very sad, but I’m sure there are lots of other exciting things to come before I leave for home.

merci � tout le monde qui lit ce blog, c’est vraiment un plaisir 🙂

p.s.- to give credit where it’s due, all the pictures except the framboise ones came from other students in the CIC program with me. Thanks for letting me share, mes filles!

Location: Tadoussac, Canada

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