So I'm in Taiwan. What a strange place to spend Christmas! It's worth it, though, to have my family again.
Christmas was both incredibly different and completely familiar at the same time. Our tree was different - a tiny potted cedar that we brought into the living room and decorated with paper cranes and mini lights - but the presents underneath were the same, from all our beloved friends back home. The weather was different, but since we stayed inside most of the day, we felt the same. We had the familiar tradition of getting Nana's presents on Christmas Eve night, but the presents were different - fuzzy blankets instead of the customary pajamas. And although Christmas morning and early afternoon were the same - opening stockings, eating breakfast, opening presents, then spending the next couple of hours reading our new books - Christmas evening was not: we went to a hot spring instead of the Meeting House and our Christmas dinner consisted of Chinese take-out noodles. Oh well, at least it was memorable.
New Years was likewise very different: we performed Handel's Messiah, which went wonderfully. Mama and Papa sang in the choir and I played in the orchestra. I'd only played the piece 4-5 times before performing, and I hadn't been able to practice it, but I think I pulled it off well. The sound of the choir and orchestra together were awe-some, though. Truly inspiring. Then we went home afterwards and watched fireworks from the roof. It was great, they were popping all around us, and whenever one set stopped, another started. We put up the tent on the roof and slept out there that night, and woke up the next morning to a new and wonderful (though cloudy) day, in which we went to the beach and got rained on and had a lot of fun. A great set of holidays, all around.
Thursday, December 29, 2005
Sunday, December 25, 2005
Winter Break
I'm really sorry for not having written for so long, the beginning of December seemed relatively mundane (relatively) with little time. And then I went on the Street Performing trip and didn't have internet for 10 days.
But oh, what a 10 days they were!!
The General Premise: Elliot, a Hong Kongese second year, organized a trip for the choir (and other interested people) to go to Vienna, Bratislava (Slovakia), Prague, and Budapest and sing on the streets and in concerts, promoting UWC and getting money for the earthquake in Pakistan. I was a part of the choir, and we had a fantabulous time. We started out as 40 people but by the end we were only around 20, because people dropped off in various cities, some people couldn't get visas to Czech Republic and Hungary and some people lived in the places we went and just stayed there when we left.
Vienna is officially my favorite city now.
Perhaps it's because of the glorious (and so un-Italian! Not that Italian is bad, far from it) architecture - everything in that city breathes grandeur, from the shop fronts to the Christmas decorations (think: huge chandeliers of Christmas lights suspended between the buildings of the main pedestrian avenue with stars and bells and banners of light everywhere) to the opera house (gilded and filled with statues and wide, velvet covered stairs) to the museums to the cathedrals. Stefansdome, in the center of the city, is the most magnificent, awe-inspiring, and I'd almost say terrifying, cathedral I've ever seen. You enter and suddenly you feel so small in the face of whatever it was that created or inspired this. I'm assuming that's the intended effect of all gothic cathedrals, but I've never felt it more keenly.
Perhaps it's that, or perhaps it's the music. We stayed there for three nights, and each night I went to a concert. You would think this would have put a strain on my little blue wallet, but no, the most I paid for a ticket was 4 euros. 4 euros to see Tibor Kovak play (on Kreistler's violin) Paganini and Bach and Bartok in a small but ornately carved and painted and gilded music hall. Sure, our seats were above the stage so we couldn't see a thing, but once we moved down the balcony to stand behind a Viennese man's chair (for which he paid 36 euros, I saw his ticket) we had a perfect view.
That was the second night. The first night we (Yusaku(Japan), Sara(Italy), Juan Chi(Argentina), Nidhi(India), Julia(Slovakia) and I) went to see "La Nozze di Figaro" at the Vienna Opera House. To get standing tickets, we
had to get there at 4:00 and stand (or rather sit) in line until 5:30 when they let us buy the tickets (2.50) and then we stood in line to get good standing places (which we did) we tied our scarves around the bar and went out to get dinner (ridiculously expensive! I got a mediocre hot dog for 3 euros, and that was the cheapest thing around.) When we'd finished, we went back in and stood through the opera: Amazing! We had a perfect view, we were eye-level with the performers (though a ways back) and because we were standing there were no heads in the way. And the opera itself was incredibly well done. What voices! Such power, such beauty. The orchestra was wonderful as well, and of course, the music they were working wasn't half bad.
And the last night Juan Chi and I went to see the Vienna Philharmonic. Wow. I have never seen such perfection live. I kept having to remind myself that I wasn't listening to a CD, that this was real, because everything about it was precise and exactly what the conductor motioned for. Of course the surroundings reflected the music glory - the hall was covered in paintings and sculptures of angels and down the stairs were depictions of the nine muses. In the lobby there were statues of great composers and flowers and chandeliers...Wow.
So, yeah. I like Vienna. We had fun there as well, the choir sang in the street and we made 40 euros in half an hour. (I wanted so much to play my violin - I would have made a killing - but it was too cold. Maybe in the spring I'll take a trip north.) We sang in the UN lobby as well, which was cool, underneath all those flags spread out in a circle, and the others talked to some of the people who came to listen.
Then there was Bratislava. That was fun as well, but not as beautiful. We did presentations in an IB school (I did one on American Foreign Policy. Ableaghydug. (a word that pretty much sums it up. It went ok, I guess, but oy, what a subject.)) then sang for them, then went out and toured the town. I went with a Slovak student who showed me (and Marina and Julia) around and took us to a pub to have the "national food" (some sort of mashed and fried potatoes in cheese sauce with bacon on top. Really fatty, but sort of good). That night (at 12:00, we were all really tired) our hosts set up a game for us, in which we had to run around the school in the dark with candles, trying to find scraps of paper ("lost souls") and return them to our bases before the other team caught us and stole our souls. It was fun, but it would have been more fun if we hadn't been dead tired.
The next day we went to Prague.
If Vienna was grand, Prague was mystical. Tall, dark statues of saints and martyrs line the main bridge, one I wouldn't want to cross alone at night. They seem to be watching you as you go, though the effect is somewhat diminished by the souvenir shops and tourists taking pictures (yes, I was one of them. Oh well). The main cathedral is also awe-inspiring, especially as you approach it from a small street: normal houses, normal shops, then ...!?! It rises into the darkness of the night, illuminated from below to fully show its glory. One has to merely stand there for a minute, shocked into silence.
The inside's not too bad, either. It's not as frightening as Stefansdome because it's illuminated by myriad stained glass windows in all different styles. Beautiful, all of them.
Prague's transportation system was the best I've ever seen. It was redone 2 years ago, and there were lots of punctual, frequent, clean metros, busses, trams, you name it. And the metro stations were even nicely decorated (with Narnia posters! I want to see that sooo much, but none of the cinemas showed it in English). Unfortunately, the weather was awful there, so we couldn't really street sing. But we did some nice wandering, and generally had a great time.
We took the night train to Budapest. Big, Big mistake. It was easily the worst night I've spent in years, if not ever. First of all, the compartments were crammed (6 to a room) and the they were little more than padded benches - we didn't even get our own seats. And they didn't recline like the ones to Florence. There was lots of baggage, so we were all really crammed and uncomfortable. That would have been bad enough, but then the heater started going full blast. Now I know what hell's like, I'll start saying my prayers.
Strangely enough, I wasn't actually that tired the next day. Which was a good thing, because we were booked to the gills that day. Budapest was the most organized stop of the trip - we had street performance, a scheduled lunch (that I didn't appreciate, because we'd been fending for ourselves and I'd been doing a lot better than the mildly overpriced mildly tasteless food we got there), a concert, a tour (spectacular, of course. I love Europe), and a Christmas party. The party was for all Hungarian UWC students, past and present, and they had great food, a trivia game (which my group won. Booyah. Cake for everyone!) I had fun talking to an ex-UWC-USA student and we compared campuses and alcohol policies (basically nothing allowed vs. Everything fine and even almost encouraged. Guess which country hosts which policy?)
The grand cathedral of Budapest was very different from the other cathedrals I'd seen. It was warm and beautiful and inviting, all pink and white marble and gold and glass windows placed so that it was filled with natural light that, in once case, streamed in from the window in such a way as to illuminate a sweet little statue of two angels in the corner. I think I like it best, it's so comfortable. I prefer a religion that makes loveliness rather than grandeur, as I prefer a god that welcomes and accepts to one that condemns and judges. Don't get me wrong, I loved those gothic giants, and would gladly return to them, I would merely prefer to worship in the cathedral in Budapest.
The other thing I liked best about Budapest (closely followed by Prague) was its Christmas Market. If anyone's been to Europe around Christmas you'll know hat I'm talking about, they're everywhere, these piazzas (or whatever) filled to bursting with stalls covered in wreathes and selling everything from hats to crepes to candles to glass ornaments to hot dogs to cups to jewelry, you name it. And all around it is music of one kind or another (sometimes performed by us) and people warming their hands on mugs of hot punch and huge Christmas trees covered in lights. Everywhere has at least one (even Venice, as I saw while I was there connecting to Taiwan) and most cities have two or three or five. Budapest's market was the most original - it had brightly colored felt hats and booties and beautifully glazed ceramics and glass candle holders. But they were all beautiful, and each had its trademark - the candles of Vienna, the wood-working of Bratislava, the little painted mugs of Prague, and the pottery of Budapest.
My last night on the trip I went to a concert at the National Concert Hall. Beautiful space, that, very modern, but very tasteful. And the music was great. We saw a Tchaikovsky violin concerto and Mahler Symphony #1, I was sooo happy. Unfortunately, my camera didn't seem to like it as much. We were on the 5th floor (having paid 80 cents to get in) and my bag was hanging over the edge of the balcony. I thought that was a little unsafe, and was moving it back behind the bar and the camera jumped. All I saw was a flash of movement, wasn't sure what it was, and then heard a clunk! far, far below. I thought, "oh, something must have happened down there, I wonder what..." And looked down to see a man waving something black at me. Needless to say, my next word was not particularly suited to the surroundings. This is the last picture of the ill-fated camera.
Fortunately, it was the end of the trip, and the card was saved.
And Finally, that's the end of this post. Eru's song, that took a long time. I hope it's worth it.
But oh, what a 10 days they were!!
The General Premise: Elliot, a Hong Kongese second year, organized a trip for the choir (and other interested people) to go to Vienna, Bratislava (Slovakia), Prague, and Budapest and sing on the streets and in concerts, promoting UWC and getting money for the earthquake in Pakistan. I was a part of the choir, and we had a fantabulous time. We started out as 40 people but by the end we were only around 20, because people dropped off in various cities, some people couldn't get visas to Czech Republic and Hungary and some people lived in the places we went and just stayed there when we left.
Vienna is officially my favorite city now.
Perhaps it's because of the glorious (and so un-Italian! Not that Italian is bad, far from it) architecture - everything in that city breathes grandeur, from the shop fronts to the Christmas decorations (think: huge chandeliers of Christmas lights suspended between the buildings of the main pedestrian avenue with stars and bells and banners of light everywhere) to the opera house (gilded and filled with statues and wide, velvet covered stairs) to the museums to the cathedrals. Stefansdome, in the center of the city, is the most magnificent, awe-inspiring, and I'd almost say terrifying, cathedral I've ever seen. You enter and suddenly you feel so small in the face of whatever it was that created or inspired this. I'm assuming that's the intended effect of all gothic cathedrals, but I've never felt it more keenly.
Perhaps it's that, or perhaps it's the music. We stayed there for three nights, and each night I went to a concert. You would think this would have put a strain on my little blue wallet, but no, the most I paid for a ticket was 4 euros. 4 euros to see Tibor Kovak play (on Kreistler's violin) Paganini and Bach and Bartok in a small but ornately carved and painted and gilded music hall. Sure, our seats were above the stage so we couldn't see a thing, but once we moved down the balcony to stand behind a Viennese man's chair (for which he paid 36 euros, I saw his ticket) we had a perfect view.
That was the second night. The first night we (Yusaku(Japan), Sara(Italy), Juan Chi(Argentina), Nidhi(India), Julia(Slovakia) and I) went to see "La Nozze di Figaro" at the Vienna Opera House. To get standing tickets, we
had to get there at 4:00 and stand (or rather sit) in line until 5:30 when they let us buy the tickets (2.50) and then we stood in line to get good standing places (which we did) we tied our scarves around the bar and went out to get dinner (ridiculously expensive! I got a mediocre hot dog for 3 euros, and that was the cheapest thing around.) When we'd finished, we went back in and stood through the opera: Amazing! We had a perfect view, we were eye-level with the performers (though a ways back) and because we were standing there were no heads in the way. And the opera itself was incredibly well done. What voices! Such power, such beauty. The orchestra was wonderful as well, and of course, the music they were working wasn't half bad.And the last night Juan Chi and I went to see the Vienna Philharmonic. Wow. I have never seen such perfection live. I kept having to remind myself that I wasn't listening to a CD, that this was real, because everything about it was precise and exactly what the conductor motioned for. Of course the surroundings reflected the music glory - the hall was covered in paintings and sculptures of angels and down the stairs were depictions of the nine muses. In the lobby there were statues of great composers and flowers and chandeliers...Wow.
So, yeah. I like Vienna. We had fun there as well, the choir sang in the street and we made 40 euros in half an hour. (I wanted so much to play my violin - I would have made a killing - but it was too cold. Maybe in the spring I'll take a trip north.) We sang in the UN lobby as well, which was cool, underneath all those flags spread out in a circle, and the others talked to some of the people who came to listen.
Then there was Bratislava. That was fun as well, but not as beautiful. We did presentations in an IB school (I did one on American Foreign Policy. Ableaghydug. (a word that pretty much sums it up. It went ok, I guess, but oy, what a subject.)) then sang for them, then went out and toured the town. I went with a Slovak student who showed me (and Marina and Julia) around and took us to a pub to have the "national food" (some sort of mashed and fried potatoes in cheese sauce with bacon on top. Really fatty, but sort of good). That night (at 12:00, we were all really tired) our hosts set up a game for us, in which we had to run around the school in the dark with candles, trying to find scraps of paper ("lost souls") and return them to our bases before the other team caught us and stole our souls. It was fun, but it would have been more fun if we hadn't been dead tired.
The next day we went to Prague.
If Vienna was grand, Prague was mystical. Tall, dark statues of saints and martyrs line the main bridge, one I wouldn't want to cross alone at night. They seem to be watching you as you go, though the effect is somewhat diminished by the souvenir shops and tourists taking pictures (yes, I was one of them. Oh well). The main cathedral is also awe-inspiring, especially as you approach it from a small street: normal houses, normal shops, then ...!?! It rises into the darkness of the night, illuminated from below to fully show its glory. One has to merely stand there for a minute, shocked into silence.
The inside's not too bad, either. It's not as frightening as Stefansdome because it's illuminated by myriad stained glass windows in all different styles. Beautiful, all of them.
Prague's transportation system was the best I've ever seen. It was redone 2 years ago, and there were lots of punctual, frequent, clean metros, busses, trams, you name it. And the metro stations were even nicely decorated (with Narnia posters! I want to see that sooo much, but none of the cinemas showed it in English). Unfortunately, the weather was awful there, so we couldn't really street sing. But we did some nice wandering, and generally had a great time.
We took the night train to Budapest. Big, Big mistake. It was easily the worst night I've spent in years, if not ever. First of all, the compartments were crammed (6 to a room) and the they were little more than padded benches - we didn't even get our own seats. And they didn't recline like the ones to Florence. There was lots of baggage, so we were all really crammed and uncomfortable. That would have been bad enough, but then the heater started going full blast. Now I know what hell's like, I'll start saying my prayers.
Strangely enough, I wasn't actually that tired the next day. Which was a good thing, because we were booked to the gills that day. Budapest was the most organized stop of the trip - we had street performance, a scheduled lunch (that I didn't appreciate, because we'd been fending for ourselves and I'd been doing a lot better than the mildly overpriced mildly tasteless food we got there), a concert, a tour (spectacular, of course. I love Europe), and a Christmas party. The party was for all Hungarian UWC students, past and present, and they had great food, a trivia game (which my group won. Booyah. Cake for everyone!) I had fun talking to an ex-UWC-USA student and we compared campuses and alcohol policies (basically nothing allowed vs. Everything fine and even almost encouraged. Guess which country hosts which policy?)
The grand cathedral of Budapest was very different from the other cathedrals I'd seen. It was warm and beautiful and inviting, all pink and white marble and gold and glass windows placed so that it was filled with natural light that, in once case, streamed in from the window in such a way as to illuminate a sweet little statue of two angels in the corner. I think I like it best, it's so comfortable. I prefer a religion that makes loveliness rather than grandeur, as I prefer a god that welcomes and accepts to one that condemns and judges. Don't get me wrong, I loved those gothic giants, and would gladly return to them, I would merely prefer to worship in the cathedral in Budapest.
The other thing I liked best about Budapest (closely followed by Prague) was its Christmas Market. If anyone's been to Europe around Christmas you'll know hat I'm talking about, they're everywhere, these piazzas (or whatever) filled to bursting with stalls covered in wreathes and selling everything from hats to crepes to candles to glass ornaments to hot dogs to cups to jewelry, you name it. And all around it is music of one kind or another (sometimes performed by us) and people warming their hands on mugs of hot punch and huge Christmas trees covered in lights. Everywhere has at least one (even Venice, as I saw while I was there connecting to Taiwan) and most cities have two or three or five. Budapest's market was the most original - it had brightly colored felt hats and booties and beautifully glazed ceramics and glass candle holders. But they were all beautiful, and each had its trademark - the candles of Vienna, the wood-working of Bratislava, the little painted mugs of Prague, and the pottery of Budapest.
My last night on the trip I went to a concert at the National Concert Hall. Beautiful space, that, very modern, but very tasteful. And the music was great. We saw a Tchaikovsky violin concerto and Mahler Symphony #1, I was sooo happy. Unfortunately, my camera didn't seem to like it as much. We were on the 5th floor (having paid 80 cents to get in) and my bag was hanging over the edge of the balcony. I thought that was a little unsafe, and was moving it back behind the bar and the camera jumped. All I saw was a flash of movement, wasn't sure what it was, and then heard a clunk! far, far below. I thought, "oh, something must have happened down there, I wonder what..." And looked down to see a man waving something black at me. Needless to say, my next word was not particularly suited to the surroundings. This is the last picture of the ill-fated camera.
Fortunately, it was the end of the trip, and the card was saved.
And Finally, that's the end of this post. Eru's song, that took a long time. I hope it's worth it.
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Good Bye UWC
And here comes Christmas break. So much to do, so little time, packing and arranging travel and presents...And tomorrow I leave for my grand tour of Eastern Europe: Vienna, Bratislava, Prague, Budapest.
More on that when I've actually been there.
And after that? Family!! Christmas! Yay!
So here I am leaving UWC for the first time. only two more goodbyes and I'll be going for good. Strange, how quickly it passes.
Ciao, Duino!
More on that when I've actually been there.
And after that? Family!! Christmas! Yay!
So here I am leaving UWC for the first time. only two more goodbyes and I'll be going for good. Strange, how quickly it passes.
Ciao, Duino!
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Snow!!!!
Hey, guess what?!?
We got snow!!! And the Bora! phew, that's a lot of wind.
Yesterday it got quite cold, and everyone was complaining about the weather. I went to an amazing production in the evening - two men from Paraguay doing a play about one of the men's experience as a political prisoner, how he was tortured physically and psychologically, and how he and his fellow prisoners used theater games and imagination to retain their sanity for 13 years. It was really good, and very moving. I found it disturbing because when they finished and bowed I realized that they hadn't stepped out of their characters and become just people again as normally happens at the end of a play: these horrible experiences had really happened to this person and he would never step out of a role and become "normal". After the performance, they held a Q&A session, which was very interesting. It turns out that he was released partially due to the efforts of Amnesty International and other organizations, and it was surprising and heartening to actually see a person to whom the efforts of a group that I participated in made a difference.
We had Tutorial Dinner afterwards, so my group left a little early. I was expecting the dinner to be subdued, after that performance, but when we got out I felt something touch my cheek...I looked up in disbelief - snowing? In Italy? Before Thanksgiving?? No way. But there they were, few and far between, but very clearly drifting down past the streetlights. Eduardo was amazed - he's never seen snow before (even though they have mountains in Peru...) - and we both ran about like maniacs, catching snow and jumping up and down and hugging each other. So the dinner was fun after all.
Today I had my first encounter with the legendary Bora. I went outside in the morning to go to class and was immediately assaulted by a huge wind. I could hardly get down the stairs, but it was fantastic, I ran all the way to class (well, technically I was late, but I would have run anyway...).
This afternoon we went climbing (our leader, coming most recently from Antarctica, doesn't mind cold) and it was Freezing. The rocks were cold, the wind was cold, we were cold, we had to keep our hands exposed to grip the rock and our feet were squeezed into too-small, thin rubber climbing shoes, and we weren't particularly happy.
But I eventually warmed up, and I'm happy about the cold. Who would have ever guessed it would get cold in Italy?? I'm so glad it did.
We got snow!!! And the Bora! phew, that's a lot of wind.
Yesterday it got quite cold, and everyone was complaining about the weather. I went to an amazing production in the evening - two men from Paraguay doing a play about one of the men's experience as a political prisoner, how he was tortured physically and psychologically, and how he and his fellow prisoners used theater games and imagination to retain their sanity for 13 years. It was really good, and very moving. I found it disturbing because when they finished and bowed I realized that they hadn't stepped out of their characters and become just people again as normally happens at the end of a play: these horrible experiences had really happened to this person and he would never step out of a role and become "normal". After the performance, they held a Q&A session, which was very interesting. It turns out that he was released partially due to the efforts of Amnesty International and other organizations, and it was surprising and heartening to actually see a person to whom the efforts of a group that I participated in made a difference.
We had Tutorial Dinner afterwards, so my group left a little early. I was expecting the dinner to be subdued, after that performance, but when we got out I felt something touch my cheek...I looked up in disbelief - snowing? In Italy? Before Thanksgiving?? No way. But there they were, few and far between, but very clearly drifting down past the streetlights. Eduardo was amazed - he's never seen snow before (even though they have mountains in Peru...) - and we both ran about like maniacs, catching snow and jumping up and down and hugging each other. So the dinner was fun after all.
Today I had my first encounter with the legendary Bora. I went outside in the morning to go to class and was immediately assaulted by a huge wind. I could hardly get down the stairs, but it was fantastic, I ran all the way to class (well, technically I was late, but I would have run anyway...).
This afternoon we went climbing (our leader, coming most recently from Antarctica, doesn't mind cold) and it was Freezing. The rocks were cold, the wind was cold, we were cold, we had to keep our hands exposed to grip the rock and our feet were squeezed into too-small, thin rubber climbing shoes, and we weren't particularly happy.
But I eventually warmed up, and I'm happy about the cold. Who would have ever guessed it would get cold in Italy?? I'm so glad it did.
Thursday, November 17, 2005
Sunsets
I know you have sunsets everywhere, but this one was particularly spectacular, and I wanted to share the joy.
Of course the camera doesn't do it justice, but it's close enough.
Of course the camera doesn't do it justice, but it's close enough.
Saturday, November 12, 2005
EE Show
The second years' Extended Essays are done! And so the first years have, according to UWCAd tradition, put on an EE Show for them. We've been working on it for over a month, and it came off fantastically last night. We did it along the theme of a TV station: EETV with a live studio audience. We had all the secondi dress up as TV characters:
James Bond (and his girlfriend, Bondgirl, my seconda)
The Adams family,
Aladdin and Jasamine, etc.
I was greeting people at the entrance with a camera and autograph book and being a classic fan: "Wow! Isaac! I've always dreamed of meeting you. Your last movie was amazing. My friends are going to be so jealous of me. Y'know, I won this place in the Studio audience by calling into the radio...I never expected to actually come and get to meet you guys... Can I have your picture? Your autograph? Wow..." (thus this picture)
Then we started the show. It was so funny - we had everything from STOMP:
To examples of classic EE Friends (The non-existent eefriend, the competetive eefriend, the eelover, the transgender eefriend, etc.)
To the strip show:
note Eilu on the end, our resident firstyear gay guy. (no, Nik (the guy dancing with him) is not gay and Eilu has a boyfriend)
To a great teacher impersonation skit that involved the economics teacher coming up on stage and battling his alter-ego for possession of the name Peter Howe, and the Director of Studies (who's really strict and sort of hard to deal with) dressed up as batwoman.
To the (traditional) strip show:
In between skits there were advertisements like "Super-Cancer-Cigarettes" (Alejandro and Nick smoking and Elad comes in with 10ish cigarettes rubberbanded together and shows off) the slogan was "Everybody gets cancer, why wait?"
Nevin and I did an Arabic song ("Arabian MTV") and it sounded great.
At the end I finally unveiled myself to my EEFriend (Salim) he was so surprised and happy. It was really funny. I gave him Skittles and Milky Way as a final EE present (Thank you Anne!!!) and then everyone went to Micky's (local bar) to party.
Such fun...
James Bond (and his girlfriend, Bondgirl, my seconda)
The Adams family,
Aladdin and Jasamine, etc.
I was greeting people at the entrance with a camera and autograph book and being a classic fan: "Wow! Isaac! I've always dreamed of meeting you. Your last movie was amazing. My friends are going to be so jealous of me. Y'know, I won this place in the Studio audience by calling into the radio...I never expected to actually come and get to meet you guys... Can I have your picture? Your autograph? Wow..." (thus this picture)
Then we started the show. It was so funny - we had everything from STOMP:
To examples of classic EE Friends (The non-existent eefriend, the competetive eefriend, the eelover, the transgender eefriend, etc.)
To the strip show:
note Eilu on the end, our resident firstyear gay guy. (no, Nik (the guy dancing with him) is not gay and Eilu has a boyfriend) To a great teacher impersonation skit that involved the economics teacher coming up on stage and battling his alter-ego for possession of the name Peter Howe, and the Director of Studies (who's really strict and sort of hard to deal with) dressed up as batwoman.
To the (traditional) strip show:
In between skits there were advertisements like "Super-Cancer-Cigarettes" (Alejandro and Nick smoking and Elad comes in with 10ish cigarettes rubberbanded together and shows off) the slogan was "Everybody gets cancer, why wait?"
Nevin and I did an Arabic song ("Arabian MTV") and it sounded great.
At the end I finally unveiled myself to my EEFriend (Salim) he was so surprised and happy. It was really funny. I gave him Skittles and Milky Way as a final EE present (Thank you Anne!!!) and then everyone went to Micky's (local bar) to party.
Such fun...
Thursday, November 10, 2005
why war?
You probably haven't heard about this, because it came out here, (but BBC managed to get it. funny, I wonder if that says anything about American media... ) but Rai, (Italian TV) broadcasted a documentary on the US army's use of white phosphorus (aka Napalm) in the battle of Fallujah against civilians.
If you're into scary sights and Italian, (I haven't had the courage to watch it yet, but my rooma has, says it's really disturbing) you can watch it.
http://www.rainews24.rai.it/ran24/inchiesta/default_02112005.asp
I find it hard to fathom...I had a difficult conversation with my roommates last night, trying to understand how people like the Americans I knew (some of them in the army) could do something like this. I can understand Nevin's friends doing cruel and seemingly insane things in war, or Samari (from Sudan) because they've been brought up in an environment conducive to that sort of thing.
but Americans? god, I'm so naive... How can people do that?
If you're into scary sights and Italian, (I haven't had the courage to watch it yet, but my rooma has, says it's really disturbing) you can watch it.
http://www.rainews24.rai.it/ran24/inchiesta/default_02112005.asp
I find it hard to fathom...I had a difficult conversation with my roommates last night, trying to understand how people like the Americans I knew (some of them in the army) could do something like this. I can understand Nevin's friends doing cruel and seemingly insane things in war, or Samari (from Sudan) because they've been brought up in an environment conducive to that sort of thing.
but Americans? god, I'm so naive... How can people do that?
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
Croatia
I've added two new countries to my list now. Slovenia and Croatia. Technically I never really set foot in Slovenia, but I got the stamp in my passport (which, by the way, I like a lot now, seeing as it gets me everywhere and people like Nevin and Vanessa and Tara can only go to certain countries with theirs) so that sort of counts.
Croatia was fun though, we spent two days there, wandering around.
isn't this weird? They live in the house, but it's half broken down.
we found a nice black kitty and befriended it. Toni apparently really likes cats.
and the 2nd biggest amphitheater in Europe. Interesting to see a normal street dissolve into this - a conflict of eras.
And then I got back to Duino and went trick-or-treating around my residence. Most of the time I had to explain what it was and half the time I got hugs instead of candy, but it was fun, and I got some chocolate and oranges and cookies and gum. A far cry from the hundreds I used to get, but whatever. It's the thought/act that counts.
And long weekend is almost over, a wonderful and relaxing weekend.
Croatia was fun though, we spent two days there, wandering around.
isn't this weird? They live in the house, but it's half broken down.
we found a nice black kitty and befriended it. Toni apparently really likes cats.
and the 2nd biggest amphitheater in Europe. Interesting to see a normal street dissolve into this - a conflict of eras.And then I got back to Duino and went trick-or-treating around my residence. Most of the time I had to explain what it was and half the time I got hugs instead of candy, but it was fun, and I got some chocolate and oranges and cookies and gum. A far cry from the hundreds I used to get, but whatever. It's the thought/act that counts.
And long weekend is almost over, a wonderful and relaxing weekend.
Friday, October 28, 2005
Halloween
We had a Halloween party last night. Such a small imitation of such a wonderful holiday...
Oh well, at least we had something. It was fun - we dressed up all day and then had a semi-party in the evening. I dressed up as a mermaid - wore my sparkly jeans and my blue scarf as a fakebra and had my hair long and wet. Then in the evening I became Little-Mermaid-as-Princess and went to the party, barefoot but not mute. We came late, Nevin and I, and didn't stay long, but long enough to get some cool pictures.
Michael went as the Hulk. He had a lot of fun flexing his muscles and making scary faces.
My roommates and I. Marta (in the middle) went as a mummy but had lost most of her toilet paper by the time I got there. Nevin didn't dress up because there's only so much you can do with limited supplies and religious restrictions.
Oh well, at least we had something. It was fun - we dressed up all day and then had a semi-party in the evening. I dressed up as a mermaid - wore my sparkly jeans and my blue scarf as a fakebra and had my hair long and wet. Then in the evening I became Little-Mermaid-as-Princess and went to the party, barefoot but not mute. We came late, Nevin and I, and didn't stay long, but long enough to get some cool pictures.
Michael went as the Hulk. He had a lot of fun flexing his muscles and making scary faces.
My roommates and I. Marta (in the middle) went as a mummy but had lost most of her toilet paper by the time I got there. Nevin didn't dress up because there's only so much you can do with limited supplies and religious restrictions.
Sunday, October 23, 2005
Ramadan
I probably should have talked about this before. Oh well, here it is.
I'm doing Ramadan this year, the Islamic month of fasting. It's very interesting, it's changed my perception on a lot of things.
One is levels of hunger; I don't consider myself hungry until I'm truly unable to think of anything else because it's impossible to ignore the pain in my stomach. Where I once said, "I'm starving!" I now notice the feeling impassively and go on with my work - it's not important. Also, the psychological difference between can't eat and won't eat is huge. When, for example, I was in Florence and fasting, I tried to ignore the hunger until 6:30, when I suddenly became ravenous and searched for food like a maniac, and if I couldn't find it, I was furiously frustrated. It wasn't that I was more hungry, it was that I could eat but wasn't.
Another is my take on food in general. Wow. Do any of you know how gloriously wonderful an apple or a piece of bread is? Have you savored every bite of it, reveling in the foreign sensation of something in your mouth? Food is so good! I'm amazed that I've taken it for granted for so long.
There's a strange psychological/physical dynamic about evenings in Ramadan. After one meal, I'm full, but I want to/need to keep eating. It's like my head is hungry but not my stomach. In the beginning, this ended with me having a constant bellyache - in the day because I was hungry, and in the night because I was too full. But now I've figured out a pretty good balance of eating and not eating at night, and so I'm relatively comfortable all the time except the 3ish hours before I can eat again.
My favorite hour of the day is now 5:30 to 6:30 - half an hour before I can eat and half an hour after. It's wonderful to count down the minutes until you can eat, and that moment of finally putting something in your mouth is heavenly. Then the half-hour after is great too, because you can eat happily and heartily without worrying about getting overfull. (after that I have to start controlling myself)
And it's more than half over. I'm enjoying it a lot, but I will be very happy to see it end. I really miss breakfast and lunch, and the weird eating schedule is making me fat. :(
It's really great bonding time with the Arabs, sharing break-fast and late night snacks. My rooma is surprised each day that I fast - she keeps thinking that I'll give up half way through. Ha.
Funny how much impact it's had on my dreams. Nearly every night for the first weekish, I dreamed about forgetting and breaking my fast unintentionally, and I still have those dreams periodically. you'd think the subject would be exhausted by now, but there seem to be endless variations on what food I accidentally eat and when. Very interesting.
And now all this talk about food is making me hungry and I still have 3 hours to go. ug.
Ciao!
I'm doing Ramadan this year, the Islamic month of fasting. It's very interesting, it's changed my perception on a lot of things.
One is levels of hunger; I don't consider myself hungry until I'm truly unable to think of anything else because it's impossible to ignore the pain in my stomach. Where I once said, "I'm starving!" I now notice the feeling impassively and go on with my work - it's not important. Also, the psychological difference between can't eat and won't eat is huge. When, for example, I was in Florence and fasting, I tried to ignore the hunger until 6:30, when I suddenly became ravenous and searched for food like a maniac, and if I couldn't find it, I was furiously frustrated. It wasn't that I was more hungry, it was that I could eat but wasn't.
Another is my take on food in general. Wow. Do any of you know how gloriously wonderful an apple or a piece of bread is? Have you savored every bite of it, reveling in the foreign sensation of something in your mouth? Food is so good! I'm amazed that I've taken it for granted for so long.
There's a strange psychological/physical dynamic about evenings in Ramadan. After one meal, I'm full, but I want to/need to keep eating. It's like my head is hungry but not my stomach. In the beginning, this ended with me having a constant bellyache - in the day because I was hungry, and in the night because I was too full. But now I've figured out a pretty good balance of eating and not eating at night, and so I'm relatively comfortable all the time except the 3ish hours before I can eat again.
My favorite hour of the day is now 5:30 to 6:30 - half an hour before I can eat and half an hour after. It's wonderful to count down the minutes until you can eat, and that moment of finally putting something in your mouth is heavenly. Then the half-hour after is great too, because you can eat happily and heartily without worrying about getting overfull. (after that I have to start controlling myself)
And it's more than half over. I'm enjoying it a lot, but I will be very happy to see it end. I really miss breakfast and lunch, and the weird eating schedule is making me fat. :(
It's really great bonding time with the Arabs, sharing break-fast and late night snacks. My rooma is surprised each day that I fast - she keeps thinking that I'll give up half way through. Ha.
Funny how much impact it's had on my dreams. Nearly every night for the first weekish, I dreamed about forgetting and breaking my fast unintentionally, and I still have those dreams periodically. you'd think the subject would be exhausted by now, but there seem to be endless variations on what food I accidentally eat and when. Very interesting.
And now all this talk about food is making me hungry and I still have 3 hours to go. ug.
Ciao!
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
2 months
It's been officially 2 months since I left home. The longest I've ever been away from my home/family. And yet it doesn't feel like that, I catch myself thinking that perhaps life in the US was just a dream or something, certainly not as real as this.
Sure, random bursts of homesickness are more common, but not as bad as I thought they might be, and on the whole I'm noticing a distinct sense of home radiating from this place.
symptoms include:
1. Being bored with class
2. Dreaming of people here more than people at home.
3. Thinking in broken/accented English. (There's hardly a person here who speaks "normally" but I'm totally used to it.)
4. Having both good and bad days (in the beginning, it was only good days)
5. (Sadly) not being awestruck by the view out my window. (though that might have something to do with the scaffolding that completely blocks the sight)
speaking of scaffolding:
Foresteria (my residence) has been defiled for the sake of its roof. The walls are covered in plastic and metal scaffolding and there are strange men walking about at eyelevel to our 2nd floor bedrooms (sort of uncomfortable...). It's annoying because we can't use the outside stairs, because our view is ruined, and because the bathrooms look right out onto the scaffolding. (or, more importantly, the people on the scaffolding can look right in) Grr. Hopefully it'll go away soon.
I have to do Climbing homework now: find my way to the top of the mountain and back before sundown. Good luck to me!
Sure, random bursts of homesickness are more common, but not as bad as I thought they might be, and on the whole I'm noticing a distinct sense of home radiating from this place.
symptoms include:
1. Being bored with class
2. Dreaming of people here more than people at home.
3. Thinking in broken/accented English. (There's hardly a person here who speaks "normally" but I'm totally used to it.)
4. Having both good and bad days (in the beginning, it was only good days)
5. (Sadly) not being awestruck by the view out my window. (though that might have something to do with the scaffolding that completely blocks the sight)
speaking of scaffolding:
Foresteria (my residence) has been defiled for the sake of its roof. The walls are covered in plastic and metal scaffolding and there are strange men walking about at eyelevel to our 2nd floor bedrooms (sort of uncomfortable...). It's annoying because we can't use the outside stairs, because our view is ruined, and because the bathrooms look right out onto the scaffolding. (or, more importantly, the people on the scaffolding can look right in) Grr. Hopefully it'll go away soon.
I have to do Climbing homework now: find my way to the top of the mountain and back before sundown. Good luck to me!
Monday, October 17, 2005
Dinners
As Mensa food is not high-class cuisine, students tend to plan lots of dinners, where everyone gets together to cook and eat food of a much higher quality. Some of the most noteworthy of these dinners happened this past weekend: Christian dinner, Asian/Middle Eastern dinner, and Nonlatin, American dinner.
Christian dinner was friday, and I decided to go because (despite being a rather reluctant christian) I was hungry. (they noticed that there seemed to be a lot more christians in the college once there was food involved. I wonder why...?) It was well worth it. I was struck by the blessing before the meal, though. It wasn't really like our grace at home, but just the act of holding hands with people around a table before a meal made me homesick for "for health and strength". I wonder what my family is doing without my voice in the rounds we sing? Can McKinley sing strong enough to hold her own? I feel minorly bereft, without that evening ritual.
Asian/Middle Eastern dinner was Saturday, and exclusively for the aforementioned, but I managed to get in.
How, you ask? First I told everyone that I was really close to being Asian, having lived in Japan and all. Then I helped make dumplings with the Chinese girls. Then, in case people still had problems with me joining, I dressed up Middle Eastern: I borrowed Nevin's jacket and she dressed me up in her veil. She loved it, said I looked much better than with my hair out, and proceeded to bring me around to all the Arab guys to get their concurrence that I was "very beautiful". (she got it. yay! :) )
So now it's up to you guys: do I look better with or without a veil?
Then, on Sunday evening, I had my first triumph: I successfully arranged a Nonlatin American (US and Canada) dinner, because this week is Latin week, so we needed some North American Pride to tide us over through the onslaught of Latinness. :)
We had a lot of fun, I made Banana bread, donuts, and pancakes, three people made chicken of some sort, we had French fries and fried rice putine (aka heart attack in a bowl) and spinach dip/bread. And Ayanda made chocolate cake and Deanna made the most heavenly apple pie...
By the end I was bursting with way too much food. It was fantastic, but not particularly healthy - of course, it was american. And the next day I was just as hungry as I would have been without it. It almost seemed a waste to eat all that food.
Christian dinner was friday, and I decided to go because (despite being a rather reluctant christian) I was hungry. (they noticed that there seemed to be a lot more christians in the college once there was food involved. I wonder why...?) It was well worth it. I was struck by the blessing before the meal, though. It wasn't really like our grace at home, but just the act of holding hands with people around a table before a meal made me homesick for "for health and strength". I wonder what my family is doing without my voice in the rounds we sing? Can McKinley sing strong enough to hold her own? I feel minorly bereft, without that evening ritual.
Asian/Middle Eastern dinner was Saturday, and exclusively for the aforementioned, but I managed to get in.
How, you ask? First I told everyone that I was really close to being Asian, having lived in Japan and all. Then I helped make dumplings with the Chinese girls. Then, in case people still had problems with me joining, I dressed up Middle Eastern: I borrowed Nevin's jacket and she dressed me up in her veil. She loved it, said I looked much better than with my hair out, and proceeded to bring me around to all the Arab guys to get their concurrence that I was "very beautiful". (she got it. yay! :) )
So now it's up to you guys: do I look better with or without a veil?
Then, on Sunday evening, I had my first triumph: I successfully arranged a Nonlatin American (US and Canada) dinner, because this week is Latin week, so we needed some North American Pride to tide us over through the onslaught of Latinness. :)
We had a lot of fun, I made Banana bread, donuts, and pancakes, three people made chicken of some sort, we had French fries and fried rice putine (aka heart attack in a bowl) and spinach dip/bread. And Ayanda made chocolate cake and Deanna made the most heavenly apple pie...
By the end I was bursting with way too much food. It was fantastic, but not particularly healthy - of course, it was american. And the next day I was just as hungry as I would have been without it. It almost seemed a waste to eat all that food.
Thursday, October 13, 2005
Florence
I spend my 1st long weekend of my UWC career in Florence.
Great fun, many surprises.
1st of all, it was a heck of a lot of money. Wow. 130 euros for 3 days, and I was on the low end -Toni says he spent 250 - where did it all go?? Food, (gelato...aah) and sleeping and transportation. It's so different when it's your own money you're spending.
I went with Raisa, Nick, Alejandro, Artemis, Shahar, Evita, Umberto and we met other people in other groups. We all pretty much hang in the same place: around the Duomo.
He tried to offer me beer and talk to Evita, but none of us could understand him - it sounded like he was making a language up. It sounded a little like Hebrew, so Shahar had a long pretend conversation with him before we left. We all laughed superhard about it, but then again, everything's funny when you've been up all night.
(interesting, the parallel between going and returning, this is how we got to Florence:
maybe we just like sleeping.)
Great fun, many surprises.
1st of all, it was a heck of a lot of money. Wow. 130 euros for 3 days, and I was on the low end -Toni says he spent 250 - where did it all go?? Food, (gelato...aah) and sleeping and transportation. It's so different when it's your own money you're spending.
I went with Raisa, Nick, Alejandro, Artemis, Shahar, Evita, Umberto and we met other people in other groups. We all pretty much hang in the same place: around the Duomo.
It's so amazing to be walking around a city and then look down a side street to see this fantastic structure, and watch people passing by like it's nothing special... Everything there is like that: even the mundane is spectacular. That was one surprise.
My favorite surprise was how we were greeted: the first night we were there, we were met by fireworks on the river. An amazing show of lights and music, they were some of the best fireworks I've ever seen.
Another shock was how we spent our time after dark. We stayed out until 3:00 or later every night exploring Florentine nightlife. Bars, discos, we did it all. It was really fun, and strange, because I'd never encountered this kind of culture before. I'd always thought that it was somehow only in movies. Wrong. I've officially partied all night long in Florence now, and it was very entertaining. We had a train to catch at 5:30 am, so we slept in the train station:
He tried to offer me beer and talk to Evita, but none of us could understand him - it sounded like he was making a language up. It sounded a little like Hebrew, so Shahar had a long pretend conversation with him before we left. We all laughed superhard about it, but then again, everything's funny when you've been up all night.
(interesting, the parallel between going and returning, this is how we got to Florence:
maybe we just like sleeping.)
Thursday, September 29, 2005
Nuova Rooma!
I have a new roommate!!
She's finally come, and I'm so happy. She came late Monday evening, and we've been showing her around ever since. She's picked up things quickly, and I really like her. She's so sweet, she showed me her Koran today (not letting me touch it) and read me some of the beautiful words (no idea what they mean) and talked to me about Islam, the fundamental principals behind it and how it relates to other religions... I was late for college service because of it.
She covers her hair (a shame, it's so beautiful) and it's interesting how the veil changes her face, she looks so different with and without it. I'm excited to be able to talk to her - of all the cultural differences, I think this will be the biggest/most important.
I watched her pray this afternoon, she donned a white veil and skirt and spread out her carpet, faced the wall and knelt down...I've heard of it so often, but never seen it done. I guess it'll be common to me by the end of the year.
And I have to be careful about when I bring guys into my room now, because she takes her veil off inside, so I have to knock and check if I'm getting something or showing someone music or anything. It's so strange.
She's finally come, and I'm so happy. She came late Monday evening, and we've been showing her around ever since. She's picked up things quickly, and I really like her. She's so sweet, she showed me her Koran today (not letting me touch it) and read me some of the beautiful words (no idea what they mean) and talked to me about Islam, the fundamental principals behind it and how it relates to other religions... I was late for college service because of it.
She covers her hair (a shame, it's so beautiful) and it's interesting how the veil changes her face, she looks so different with and without it. I'm excited to be able to talk to her - of all the cultural differences, I think this will be the biggest/most important.
I watched her pray this afternoon, she donned a white veil and skirt and spread out her carpet, faced the wall and knelt down...I've heard of it so often, but never seen it done. I guess it'll be common to me by the end of the year.
And I have to be careful about when I bring guys into my room now, because she takes her veil off inside, so I have to knock and check if I'm getting something or showing someone music or anything. It's so strange.
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
Friends
Just to prove to you that I'm not hanging out with mutant semi-humanoid creatures, here are more pictures of my friends.
Toni, from Finland. The one who taught me my favorite word so far: blue in finnish "sininen". He's the only one here who can outdo me in constant sarcasm. He's fun to talk to, though all our conversations tend to end up with America Bashing. Funny, that...
Vanessa (singapore) and Eitan (Israel) They're also posing for another camera. Nessie (as I call her to her giggling annoyance) lives right next to me, if we knew morse code, we could communicate, but it's just too much work right now.
Eitan provides endless entertainment for us northerners when it gets cold - he puts on two shirts, a sweatshirt and a down parka when the thermomiter dips below 55. I still grin at the memory of the first time I saw him like that. I'll get a picture as soon as he does it again.
Tara (Sri Lanka). She's standing in front of the Bridge of Sighs - where the prisoners take their last look at the sea before their excecution. She's got the prettiest hair here, thick and rich and black. I'm just itching to get my hands on it sometime. She's also really sweet and calm, a good contrast to some of the more energetic friends.
My co-years. Nik, Elad, and Leah. Elad's nicknamed "The Lion King" and because Nik's always with him, and is smaller and has less hair, he's called Simba. I knew I'd be friends with Leah even before I met her, so when she got here on the 3rd day, I overheard her saying something about America to someone and jumped on her - "you're here!! I'm Anika!" and we've been friends ever since.
Michael (Canada) and half of Eitan. Michael is holding the only sugary thing I've ever seen him eat (but he sure went all out this time!!) He's crazy-buff and a little obsessed with health/muscle mass, but he says it's perfectly normal where he comes from. I never knew the Maritimers were so crazy...
He's a fellow fantasy lover, and we have fun on the nights when the moon is partly obscured by clouds by telling each other stories about what could be in that band of moonlight: a pirate ship? a sorceress? a procession of elves making their way to the otherworld?
And finally Bilkan (my International Show date;) ) who returned last week from Moscow where he'd won 4th place in an international physics competition. (I feel so small...)
Toni, from Finland. The one who taught me my favorite word so far: blue in finnish "sininen". He's the only one here who can outdo me in constant sarcasm. He's fun to talk to, though all our conversations tend to end up with America Bashing. Funny, that...
Vanessa (singapore) and Eitan (Israel) They're also posing for another camera. Nessie (as I call her to her giggling annoyance) lives right next to me, if we knew morse code, we could communicate, but it's just too much work right now.
Eitan provides endless entertainment for us northerners when it gets cold - he puts on two shirts, a sweatshirt and a down parka when the thermomiter dips below 55. I still grin at the memory of the first time I saw him like that. I'll get a picture as soon as he does it again.
Tara (Sri Lanka). She's standing in front of the Bridge of Sighs - where the prisoners take their last look at the sea before their excecution. She's got the prettiest hair here, thick and rich and black. I'm just itching to get my hands on it sometime. She's also really sweet and calm, a good contrast to some of the more energetic friends.
My co-years. Nik, Elad, and Leah. Elad's nicknamed "The Lion King" and because Nik's always with him, and is smaller and has less hair, he's called Simba. I knew I'd be friends with Leah even before I met her, so when she got here on the 3rd day, I overheard her saying something about America to someone and jumped on her - "you're here!! I'm Anika!" and we've been friends ever since.
Michael (Canada) and half of Eitan. Michael is holding the only sugary thing I've ever seen him eat (but he sure went all out this time!!) He's crazy-buff and a little obsessed with health/muscle mass, but he says it's perfectly normal where he comes from. I never knew the Maritimers were so crazy...
He's a fellow fantasy lover, and we have fun on the nights when the moon is partly obscured by clouds by telling each other stories about what could be in that band of moonlight: a pirate ship? a sorceress? a procession of elves making their way to the otherworld?
And finally Bilkan (my International Show date;) ) who returned last week from Moscow where he'd won 4th place in an international physics competition. (I feel so small...)
Venezia
Ah, the joys of Venice on a sunny day.
We went on a school trip on Saturday: all of Venice for 5 euros: good deal, except we had to get up at 6 am. And it was Saturday morning so we'd been partying all the night before. Life is so harsh sometimes... But we managed, and I spent the two hour ride sleeping on Eitan who was sleeping on Michael who was sleeping on the window.
We got to Venice and spent the boat ride there taking pictures of each other:
We went on a school trip on Saturday: all of Venice for 5 euros: good deal, except we had to get up at 6 am. And it was Saturday morning so we'd been partying all the night before. Life is so harsh sometimes... But we managed, and I spent the two hour ride sleeping on Eitan who was sleeping on Michael who was sleeping on the window.
We got to Venice and spent the boat ride there taking pictures of each other:
That's Jale, Leah, and Hanne.
Then we went into the real deal. First thing we did was look at the Basilica St. Marco and learn about its history, that it took 400 years to be fully decorated and that the Venetians stole St Marks body from the Muslims in Istanbul and smuggled it out by covering it with pork so the customs officials wouldn't look too closely. Then they brought it to Venice and made a mosaic about it:
I had been disappointed with the Basilica last time I went. It was darker out, and more people, so I didn't really get a good impression. But this time was amazing - the combination of light to make the golden ceiling sparkle and a fantabulous teacher to bring the art to life was enough to set the Basilica in my memory forever.
Then we had free time and went to have lunch. Picture this: A Ukrainian, a Guatemalan, 2 Russians, a Latvian, and an American sitting in a Cuban-themed pizzeria eating Italian pizza and listening to Salsa music. crazy.
This is us:
Iryana, Rinato, Anna, Bulat, Me, and Evita.
Then we went on another art/church tour. It was amazing. This is Henry Thomas talking about the bubonic plague and the church they built to commemorate the salvation of the city when only 1/3 of the city died of a disgusting and painful disease instead of all of them. 
Can you see the passion and interest radiating off of him?
Then we went to a Scuola that had been decorated by one (very good) painter who worked on it for 25 years of his life. w.o.w. It was fantastically beautiful. I wanted to stay in there a month, but we only had a few hours.
I managed to sneak a picture of it before they told us cameras weren't allowed.
And that was about it, except that I managed to be exactly on time for the boat home (i.e. they were just leaving and saying, "we can't wait for the late people, we have to go. Peter, you stay behind and take them back on the train." but we squeaked in just in time) and if it weren't for me Michael and Eitan wouldn't have made it. yay.
I'll leave you with the last image I saw of Venice. No more need be said.
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
A Room with a View
I bet none of you can top this bedroom window view: 
And someone asked for pictures of my friends, here are the ones I could find (Bilkan's still not back from Moscow yet)
This is Michael (Canada)..And Voytec (Poland) and Julian (Swiz.). And Alahandro(Venezuela) And you can sort of see Ayanda (South Africa)
There are lots more, these are just the people who are in the computer room with me now.
And I'm being a good ee friend, look what I did for Salim:
I'll deliver it this evening.
Ahh, Mensa calls again. I must fly.
And someone asked for pictures of my friends, here are the ones I could find (Bilkan's still not back from Moscow yet)
This is Michael (Canada)..And Voytec (Poland) and Julian (Swiz.). And Alahandro(Venezuela) And you can sort of see Ayanda (South Africa)
There are lots more, these are just the people who are in the computer room with me now.
And I'm being a good ee friend, look what I did for Salim:
I'll deliver it this evening.
Ahh, Mensa calls again. I must fly.
Monday, September 19, 2005
Classes
It's been a weekish of classes (though not a full cycle-it's crazy, we have 8 day weeks) and I think I can definitively say things about my classes.
World Cultures: My favorite. We spend the entire class time looking at slides of African sculptures and discussing where and when they could have come from and why they were made and what kind of culture was behind them... It's fabulous. The teacher is so passionate about it, and he engages us all to be really involved too.
Italian: second favorite. I don't know why, because it's really hard, but I love it. The teacher speaks solely in Italian, and makes us speak Italian too. It's hard to understand and we do a lot of work, but I feel so stimulated and smart when I get something right. I'm learning tons and tons.
Music: Third favorite. Once again, it's hard to understand the teacher, because his English is not so good, but it's really fun and I'm learning a lot. There's a huge range in our class - from people who know everything (virtually) to people still not sure which note Re relates to and unintroduced to a minor third.
Environmental Systems: Hmm, a hard call between 3rd and 4th. It's science, so I have a natural aversion to it, but it's useful science, and the teacher's great. She's really funny and a master at self-deprecating humor and teasing. A woman after my own heart. And the people in the class are cool too.
Math: Boring. We're learning about the magic of exponents. yay. I've been spending my time writing little stories in my everything book. So that part's fun. What's weird is that he went around the class, asking if we had graphing calculators and only I and Tara (from Sri Lanka) had one. It's so strange; everyone has a calculator at home, and here, half the people haven't even seen them.
Health Watch: Absolutely useless. But we have fun anyway, talking about nothing. It's basically a slacker-block. But Bilkan's in the class... ;)
English: Sigh. Boring. Disappointing. Annoying. Daze-inducing. We're working on The Outsider, and I seem to leave every class with the mentality (or lack thereof) of Meursault: a nothing-matters-what's-happening-I-don't-care kind of mood.
So those are my classes. On the whole they're pretty nice, I'm quite happy. Besides World Cultures, my favorite block is my free block, which I have every day (yay!) because I'm a native speaker.
I'd post pictures of my friends and the views from my window, etc. But I'm on the wrong computer. Later, then.
World Cultures: My favorite. We spend the entire class time looking at slides of African sculptures and discussing where and when they could have come from and why they were made and what kind of culture was behind them... It's fabulous. The teacher is so passionate about it, and he engages us all to be really involved too.
Italian: second favorite. I don't know why, because it's really hard, but I love it. The teacher speaks solely in Italian, and makes us speak Italian too. It's hard to understand and we do a lot of work, but I feel so stimulated and smart when I get something right. I'm learning tons and tons.
Music: Third favorite. Once again, it's hard to understand the teacher, because his English is not so good, but it's really fun and I'm learning a lot. There's a huge range in our class - from people who know everything (virtually) to people still not sure which note Re relates to and unintroduced to a minor third.
Environmental Systems: Hmm, a hard call between 3rd and 4th. It's science, so I have a natural aversion to it, but it's useful science, and the teacher's great. She's really funny and a master at self-deprecating humor and teasing. A woman after my own heart. And the people in the class are cool too.
Math: Boring. We're learning about the magic of exponents. yay. I've been spending my time writing little stories in my everything book. So that part's fun. What's weird is that he went around the class, asking if we had graphing calculators and only I and Tara (from Sri Lanka) had one. It's so strange; everyone has a calculator at home, and here, half the people haven't even seen them.
Health Watch: Absolutely useless. But we have fun anyway, talking about nothing. It's basically a slacker-block. But Bilkan's in the class... ;)
English: Sigh. Boring. Disappointing. Annoying. Daze-inducing. We're working on The Outsider, and I seem to leave every class with the mentality (or lack thereof) of Meursault: a nothing-matters-what's-happening-I-don't-care kind of mood.
So those are my classes. On the whole they're pretty nice, I'm quite happy. Besides World Cultures, my favorite block is my free block, which I have every day (yay!) because I'm a native speaker.
I'd post pictures of my friends and the views from my window, etc. But I'm on the wrong computer. Later, then.
Sunday, September 18, 2005
EE Friends
The thing that's taking up most of my time right now is this: EE Friends.
Until November 2, all the secundi are stressed out about their Extended Essays, a requirement for the IB. So us primi help them out a bit by sending them chocolate, encouraging notes, flowers, coffee, and generally make their lives more interesting and happy. Each one of us chooses a second year to play secret-admirer to, and there is much intrigue and plotting among the secundi to find out who we are, and among the primi to keep it secret.
I, crazy person that I am, chose two, because I was feeling altruistic at the time. So I'm EE-friending Salvo, the boy who picked me up at the train station, and Salim, a guy from Afghanistan. It's great fun (they both think I'm someone else, which is quite interesting) but expensive - chocolate (and flowers and toys, etc) for two people every couple days adds up. And there's a toll on my imagination too, to make it exciting and interesting for both of them in completely different ways is hard mental work.
But I'm managing. I'm going to lead Salvo on a treasure hunt around Duino, and I'm working on a painting of the cliffs for Salim right now. And Trieste has lots of stuff I can get for them.
And they send me chocolate back, which makes it all perfectly fine by me.
Until November 2, all the secundi are stressed out about their Extended Essays, a requirement for the IB. So us primi help them out a bit by sending them chocolate, encouraging notes, flowers, coffee, and generally make their lives more interesting and happy. Each one of us chooses a second year to play secret-admirer to, and there is much intrigue and plotting among the secundi to find out who we are, and among the primi to keep it secret.
I, crazy person that I am, chose two, because I was feeling altruistic at the time. So I'm EE-friending Salvo, the boy who picked me up at the train station, and Salim, a guy from Afghanistan. It's great fun (they both think I'm someone else, which is quite interesting) but expensive - chocolate (and flowers and toys, etc) for two people every couple days adds up. And there's a toll on my imagination too, to make it exciting and interesting for both of them in completely different ways is hard mental work.
But I'm managing. I'm going to lead Salvo on a treasure hunt around Duino, and I'm working on a painting of the cliffs for Salim right now. And Trieste has lots of stuff I can get for them.
And they send me chocolate back, which makes it all perfectly fine by me.
Pictures!!
Ok. so I finally figured out how to get pictures here. Yay!
This is the castle I can see out my window. It looks really cool in the nightime.
This is my quarter of the room. As you can see, I've tried to make it as blue as possible.
These are the flowers Bilkan gave me. (aren't they pretty?) When I manage to track down the pictures of us, I'll post those too.
These are my co-years, Elad and Nick (the blond ones), on 80's night. Eru save us all.
This is the castle I can see out my window. It looks really cool in the nightime.
This is my quarter of the room. As you can see, I've tried to make it as blue as possible.
These are the flowers Bilkan gave me. (aren't they pretty?) When I manage to track down the pictures of us, I'll post those too.
These are my co-years, Elad and Nick (the blond ones), on 80's night. Eru save us all.I'd go around taking pictures of the landscape, etc, but it's crazily windy and rainy and gray today, and Duino deserves a better setting. So those will come later.
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
One Week Later...
So it's been a week.
wow.
It feels like eternity. How could it not? An eternity of sunshine, sparkling seas, adventure, consternation, and parties.
We'll address each issue in a linear order, as I'm officially in school now, and that's how we do it.
Sunshine. Weird. So, I'm used to sun, like all weather, it happens. But for an entire week straight? No rain, no clouds, no anything imperfect (except a bit of heat, and even that wasn't that bad). It was ... Unnerving to have it be such perfect weather for so long. Maybe I should get out of the "top ten cloudiest cities in America" more often.
Sparkling seas. beau-tee-ful. Especially out my bedroom window. We get the gentle sound of waves all night long and I make a point to look out at the fantabulous view every morning and evening. Unfortunately, not quite so spiffy to swim in. I don't know what all the hype is about seas, I'm really not partial to them (and never have been - ask anyone who went to cape may with me when I was a little. I was a sandbaby) they're salty!! You get it in your eyes and your mouth and all over your body and it's ick. And not only that, they have nasty creatures residing in them like jellyfish and sea urchins. I haven't encountered a jellyfish yet, but they're around. And I have had close, personal contact with a sea urchin. It's funny, when I wasn't allowed to go in the water it was all I wanted to do, and when I was allowed, (having passed the swimming test) I never want to go in again (sort of). I was walking out to go swimming, and I was mid-thigh-deep in the water, just about to kick off, and I slipped and landed straight on an urchin. I look down into the water to see black spikes sticking out of my heel. Ow. I went back, obviously, and to the nurse, who couldn't pull them out, and so walked on tiptoe for the next two days, until she said they weren't dangerous and I could walk on my foot normally. I still have little black spots.
Adventure. I went climbing on the cliffs near the sea, which was amazingly cool, or rather hot. It was the hottest day yet, and the rocks were scalding to the touch. But we had fun, and I did some crazy cool rockclimbing moves, like maneuvering the corner that half the people (including the leader) fell from (into the sea, no problem. We actually wanted to fall, it was so hot) I was so proud of myself that I jumped into the sea. It felt great, and there were no urchin problems, but I was insanely thirsty by the time I got back. Oh well. And now I'm officially doing climbing as my physical activity. Starting tomorrow. yay!
And there were some other adventures, like the 20-some-odd people who got caught by the Carribinierri (police) for singing too loudly and drinking at 2:00 in the morning. drinking was no problem, but singing made people mad, so they had to write down their names and they're all not so happy. I, of course, was innocently minding my own business in Pala (one of the residences) singing yellow submarine and playing pingpong.
Consternation. Oh, I guess that is summed up in the phrase, "help! What classes should I take??" and other variations. I ended up dropping philosophy and taking world cultures, math, environmental system, English, Italian, and music. All classes but one are going to be cool. Some more than others, like World Cultures. Wow. I can say no more, I'm in too much awe. Maybe later. And music is cool too.
But -*gasp*sob*- English is awful. The teacher is no good and the reading material is all previously covered. I've read everything from Waiting for goaded to 12th Night to The Stranger. Poor me, I've been spoilt for the past ever-so-many years by fabulous English teachers, and now I get a normal one, I can't stand it. Sigh. I guess y'all will have to send me care packages of great classics. I'm requesting Dickens, Tolstoy, Shelley and some really great poetry. email me if you want to take up the job. I'll send you something cool and Italian back if you want.
Ah, Parties! This is great. We seem to have them for no more reason than someone has a laptop and speakers. It's great. Not only that, but I've lost my phobia/selfconsciousness for dancing. Now I'm the one telling people to let go and have fun, not the other way around. It's cool, I like it.
The secondi put on a great show for us primi Saturday night. It was really funny, they did everything from an abbreviated version of the coming year (unnerving) to a stripshow (male) to a modern dance piece (really beautiful).
And I had a date! =) The secundi assigned us all partners for the show, to make it more interesting. We knew about it all day, but weren't sure how it was going to work. So while we were on our excursion to Trieste (on a treasure hunt in which our team won a huge jar of Nutela: ambrosia-for-mortals) Bilkan, a Turkish primo, asked if I would be his partner. I said sure, and we left it at that until we got back. I found a card on my desk saying I was going with Marco, so I went to Bilkan and said I was, unfortunately, taken. He asked if we could switch, and I said, "I dunno, why not?" so he talked to Marco and it was all arranged. He came to "pick me up" at my room 5 minutes beforehand, and when I opened the door he presented me with a bouquet of roses "for a lovely lady" !! Hey, guys! What's with that? You all warned me about Italian men, but you never said anything about Turks!! ;)
Anyway, we descended the stairs to flashing cameras and jokingly jealous comments: "Hey, Bilkan, you were supposed to be my date!" I'll try to get some of the pictures of us and upload them when I figure out the camera-computer connection (along with all the other pictures I've taken so far). And the show was great and the dance after was wonderful and yay.
And gosh, it's time for mensa and I've written a crazyhuge amount. I wonder if any of you are still reading...
More posts (and pictures, I swear.) coming.
wow.
It feels like eternity. How could it not? An eternity of sunshine, sparkling seas, adventure, consternation, and parties.
We'll address each issue in a linear order, as I'm officially in school now, and that's how we do it.
Sunshine. Weird. So, I'm used to sun, like all weather, it happens. But for an entire week straight? No rain, no clouds, no anything imperfect (except a bit of heat, and even that wasn't that bad). It was ... Unnerving to have it be such perfect weather for so long. Maybe I should get out of the "top ten cloudiest cities in America" more often.
Sparkling seas. beau-tee-ful. Especially out my bedroom window. We get the gentle sound of waves all night long and I make a point to look out at the fantabulous view every morning and evening. Unfortunately, not quite so spiffy to swim in. I don't know what all the hype is about seas, I'm really not partial to them (and never have been - ask anyone who went to cape may with me when I was a little. I was a sandbaby) they're salty!! You get it in your eyes and your mouth and all over your body and it's ick. And not only that, they have nasty creatures residing in them like jellyfish and sea urchins. I haven't encountered a jellyfish yet, but they're around. And I have had close, personal contact with a sea urchin. It's funny, when I wasn't allowed to go in the water it was all I wanted to do, and when I was allowed, (having passed the swimming test) I never want to go in again (sort of). I was walking out to go swimming, and I was mid-thigh-deep in the water, just about to kick off, and I slipped and landed straight on an urchin. I look down into the water to see black spikes sticking out of my heel. Ow. I went back, obviously, and to the nurse, who couldn't pull them out, and so walked on tiptoe for the next two days, until she said they weren't dangerous and I could walk on my foot normally. I still have little black spots.
Adventure. I went climbing on the cliffs near the sea, which was amazingly cool, or rather hot. It was the hottest day yet, and the rocks were scalding to the touch. But we had fun, and I did some crazy cool rockclimbing moves, like maneuvering the corner that half the people (including the leader) fell from (into the sea, no problem. We actually wanted to fall, it was so hot) I was so proud of myself that I jumped into the sea. It felt great, and there were no urchin problems, but I was insanely thirsty by the time I got back. Oh well. And now I'm officially doing climbing as my physical activity. Starting tomorrow. yay!
And there were some other adventures, like the 20-some-odd people who got caught by the Carribinierri (police) for singing too loudly and drinking at 2:00 in the morning. drinking was no problem, but singing made people mad, so they had to write down their names and they're all not so happy. I, of course, was innocently minding my own business in Pala (one of the residences) singing yellow submarine and playing pingpong.
Consternation. Oh, I guess that is summed up in the phrase, "help! What classes should I take??" and other variations. I ended up dropping philosophy and taking world cultures, math, environmental system, English, Italian, and music. All classes but one are going to be cool. Some more than others, like World Cultures. Wow. I can say no more, I'm in too much awe. Maybe later. And music is cool too.
But -*gasp*sob*- English is awful. The teacher is no good and the reading material is all previously covered. I've read everything from Waiting for goaded to 12th Night to The Stranger. Poor me, I've been spoilt for the past ever-so-many years by fabulous English teachers, and now I get a normal one, I can't stand it. Sigh. I guess y'all will have to send me care packages of great classics. I'm requesting Dickens, Tolstoy, Shelley and some really great poetry. email me if you want to take up the job. I'll send you something cool and Italian back if you want.
Ah, Parties! This is great. We seem to have them for no more reason than someone has a laptop and speakers. It's great. Not only that, but I've lost my phobia/selfconsciousness for dancing. Now I'm the one telling people to let go and have fun, not the other way around. It's cool, I like it.
The secondi put on a great show for us primi Saturday night. It was really funny, they did everything from an abbreviated version of the coming year (unnerving) to a stripshow (male) to a modern dance piece (really beautiful).
And I had a date! =) The secundi assigned us all partners for the show, to make it more interesting. We knew about it all day, but weren't sure how it was going to work. So while we were on our excursion to Trieste (on a treasure hunt in which our team won a huge jar of Nutela: ambrosia-for-mortals) Bilkan, a Turkish primo, asked if I would be his partner. I said sure, and we left it at that until we got back. I found a card on my desk saying I was going with Marco, so I went to Bilkan and said I was, unfortunately, taken. He asked if we could switch, and I said, "I dunno, why not?" so he talked to Marco and it was all arranged. He came to "pick me up" at my room 5 minutes beforehand, and when I opened the door he presented me with a bouquet of roses "for a lovely lady" !! Hey, guys! What's with that? You all warned me about Italian men, but you never said anything about Turks!! ;)
Anyway, we descended the stairs to flashing cameras and jokingly jealous comments: "Hey, Bilkan, you were supposed to be my date!" I'll try to get some of the pictures of us and upload them when I figure out the camera-computer connection (along with all the other pictures I've taken so far). And the show was great and the dance after was wonderful and yay.
And gosh, it's time for mensa and I've written a crazyhuge amount. I wonder if any of you are still reading...
More posts (and pictures, I swear.) coming.
Saturday, September 03, 2005
My First Day
I'm at UWCAd!
I got here yesterday, and was overwhelmed by introductions. I can't count how many times I said, "hi, I'm Anika from America" and got a name in response (which I promptly forgot) I seem to remember countries better: I've talked with Chinese, Japanese, Polish, Palestinian, Venezualen, Canadian, Sri Lanken, and, of course, Italian students, but I can't remember their names at all.
I got to the train station at 5:00 ish, and saw a group of teenagers with big bags. I introduced myself, and got a list of names and countries back: Finland, Italy, Singapore, and Vietnam. Then we got on the bus and came to the school. When we got off, I was surrounded by people shaking hands everywhere I turned. I would introduce, shake hands, and turn away, not remembering a thing about the person because I was meeting someone else. One introduction stood out though: One of the second years shook my hand and said, "hello, I'm __, from Iraq." I introduced myself normally, but thoughts and emotions were flying. "so here I am, meeting a guy from the country my country just decimated. wow. maybe I should say 'Anika from Vermont' I don't want to be known as an american. Does he hate me? I hope not. I want to disappear..." I felt awkward and guilty and excited - I wanted to be able to talk to him and learn what his life is like. (still do: I haven't been able to find him again)
My roommates are Italian (second year) Polish (arriving today) and Palestinian. She was supposed to arrive at midnight last night, so I stayed up to welcome her, but I went to bed at 1:00, and she never came. Now they say she had visa trouble and can't come until the middle of the month. oh well. Julia, the Italian, is very nice. she's shown me around Foresteria (our dorm) and talked to me about school and life and given me advice. Most of the second years' advice consists of this: life is good for you now. you have no work, no worries. enjoy it while it lasts. in a couple months, you will go crazy.
So here I am, enjoying it. There's a lot to enjoy. The view from my window is exquisite; we look out onto the ocean and on one side are cliffs and the lights of Trieste, and on the other side is the Duino Castle. There's a beautiful mountain behind us, and the houses are so picturesque - yellow walls and red tiles. There's a trail up over the cliffs beginning right at my doorstep, and it has great views. I want to hike the entire way, but I haven't gotten to that yet. The people are wonderful, all as excited as I am, and really fun to talk to. Last night, the Italian who picked me up (Sergo, I think.) took me and a group of other people down to the "Porto" the port, and we sat on the rocks, looking at the stars and the sea and the lights across the water (it reminded me of New York, and I had to keep reminding me that this was a sea, not a lake that I was looking out onto) and talking. It was beautiful, wonderful, relaxing.
And, of course, I sent my mother off this morning. It wouldn't be right not to mention it - it was important; now I'm all alone. But I don't want to think about it. There's so much else to do, I don't want to be caught up in homesickness the second day.
And now: off to meet more people!!
I got here yesterday, and was overwhelmed by introductions. I can't count how many times I said, "hi, I'm Anika from America" and got a name in response (which I promptly forgot) I seem to remember countries better: I've talked with Chinese, Japanese, Polish, Palestinian, Venezualen, Canadian, Sri Lanken, and, of course, Italian students, but I can't remember their names at all.
I got to the train station at 5:00 ish, and saw a group of teenagers with big bags. I introduced myself, and got a list of names and countries back: Finland, Italy, Singapore, and Vietnam. Then we got on the bus and came to the school. When we got off, I was surrounded by people shaking hands everywhere I turned. I would introduce, shake hands, and turn away, not remembering a thing about the person because I was meeting someone else. One introduction stood out though: One of the second years shook my hand and said, "hello, I'm __, from Iraq." I introduced myself normally, but thoughts and emotions were flying. "so here I am, meeting a guy from the country my country just decimated. wow. maybe I should say 'Anika from Vermont' I don't want to be known as an american. Does he hate me? I hope not. I want to disappear..." I felt awkward and guilty and excited - I wanted to be able to talk to him and learn what his life is like. (still do: I haven't been able to find him again)
My roommates are Italian (second year) Polish (arriving today) and Palestinian. She was supposed to arrive at midnight last night, so I stayed up to welcome her, but I went to bed at 1:00, and she never came. Now they say she had visa trouble and can't come until the middle of the month. oh well. Julia, the Italian, is very nice. she's shown me around Foresteria (our dorm) and talked to me about school and life and given me advice. Most of the second years' advice consists of this: life is good for you now. you have no work, no worries. enjoy it while it lasts. in a couple months, you will go crazy.
So here I am, enjoying it. There's a lot to enjoy. The view from my window is exquisite; we look out onto the ocean and on one side are cliffs and the lights of Trieste, and on the other side is the Duino Castle. There's a beautiful mountain behind us, and the houses are so picturesque - yellow walls and red tiles. There's a trail up over the cliffs beginning right at my doorstep, and it has great views. I want to hike the entire way, but I haven't gotten to that yet. The people are wonderful, all as excited as I am, and really fun to talk to. Last night, the Italian who picked me up (Sergo, I think.) took me and a group of other people down to the "Porto" the port, and we sat on the rocks, looking at the stars and the sea and the lights across the water (it reminded me of New York, and I had to keep reminding me that this was a sea, not a lake that I was looking out onto) and talking. It was beautiful, wonderful, relaxing.
And, of course, I sent my mother off this morning. It wouldn't be right not to mention it - it was important; now I'm all alone. But I don't want to think about it. There's so much else to do, I don't want to be caught up in homesickness the second day.
And now: off to meet more people!!
Thursday, September 01, 2005
Italy's Finest
Doing the mini-grand tour here - venice and florence, and then to school.
Venice was spectacular. we skipped the major tourist traps and wandered around back alleys and had much more fun. I think, when I have free internet (this one's 1 euro for 15 min. bleah!!) I'll devote an entire post to it.
Florence is nice too, but hotter and much more expensive: all the muesums cost waaay too much. so we've been biking around and gazing at the river and the pretty houses.
And tomorrow I go to school for real. I can't belive this, maybe on, like, sep. 28th it'll sink in. oh well.
more later, the countdown's on for my internet.
Venice was spectacular. we skipped the major tourist traps and wandered around back alleys and had much more fun. I think, when I have free internet (this one's 1 euro for 15 min. bleah!!) I'll devote an entire post to it.
Florence is nice too, but hotter and much more expensive: all the muesums cost waaay too much. so we've been biking around and gazing at the river and the pretty houses.
And tomorrow I go to school for real. I can't belive this, maybe on, like, sep. 28th it'll sink in. oh well.
more later, the countdown's on for my internet.
Sunday, August 28, 2005
Weeeee're Off!!
In the minute left before the airport internet guy kicks me off the computer, let me just say:
I'm off!! in 15+ hours I will be in Italia and in a couple days going to school. Aaaaaaaa... (help?)
I'm off!! in 15+ hours I will be in Italia and in a couple days going to school. Aaaaaaaa... (help?)
Saturday, August 20, 2005
A New Home for the Jameses
My family's found a house! It's huge: 3 stories and lots of rooms. They have no idea how they'll fill it all, it doesn't have much furniture, and what it does have is not fully functional. But it's a lot better than the other options, and it has lots of potential for future coolness. They're moving in today, after the cleaners come and make it spick&span, and the first thing they're installing is an air conditioner, closely followed by a fridge. (it's blue! I helped choose it. :) ) And beds. But the rest is going to come from Ikea (there are 4 in Taipei, the capital, (yay!!) so we'll get stuff there and drive it down with their new car) It's so hard to write they instead of we. I still can't believe I'm not really part of this all. That I don't have to make every appliance blue because I won't be able to see them... But it's fun to watch and help and I'm glad I know where they're staying. We're checking out of the hotel now, so I've got to go, and there's no internet for a while. Oh well.
Friday, August 19, 2005
The Voyage Begins
I'm sitting in a hotel in Taitung, Taiwan, having left my home for good. Yesterday (sort of - it's all so complicated with time zones...) we flew up and away from Vermont through cotton-candy clouds that peppered the sky, making the departure almost magical in its perfection. We fulfilled our family description once again and got to the plain in the nick of time: 30 minutes before the flight left. (I hope to cure this addiction to lateness, but I'm not sure how much success I'll have) After that, though, most things went well.
Have I gone over the general plan yet? It's this: I'm going to Taiwan for 10 days with my family, who are spending the year there to give my 8-year-old sister, McKinley an international experience (their blog: adventurejames.blogspot.com). I'm helping them find a house and make it a home and see their schools (my dad's a teacher and teaching English in 5 schools in Taitung) and get a car, etc. Then my mother is flying with me to Italy for a few days to do the same (minus the car part...sigh)
I'll write more later, I'm really tired.
Have I gone over the general plan yet? It's this: I'm going to Taiwan for 10 days with my family, who are spending the year there to give my 8-year-old sister, McKinley an international experience (their blog: adventurejames.blogspot.com). I'm helping them find a house and make it a home and see their schools (my dad's a teacher and teaching English in 5 schools in Taitung) and get a car, etc. Then my mother is flying with me to Italy for a few days to do the same (minus the car part...sigh)
I'll write more later, I'm really tired.
