Despite how difficult I found the question, I did come up with a few responses. One major distinction I've noticed between the two is this: I have learned through my interactions with Danes and through my studies that they are taught independence at a much younger age than the typical American. Even in their equivalent to elementary school, the children often decide what it is they want to do for class. Nap time? Take a walk outside? Learn the alphabet? What shall we eat today? Older Danes I've talked to about this tell me they want to give their children space to decide what it is they want to learn about life and how they will learn it. The results I've noticed are adolescents living on their own at a younger age, having the choice to drink at a younger age, less rebellion and less parental influence on their children's chosen path.

I came to realize during my time here that there are socially constructed ideas about one's home culture that is truly taken for granted. Some things I just assumed would be the same in Denmark, like walking down the street for example. At home (Portland, Salem, most places I've been in the U.S.) people seem to be fairly aware of their surroundings and the paths of those around them. When you walk down the street and someone is walking towards you, one or the other moves. When you open a door to walk through, those on the other side wait their turn or for you to hold the door for them. In even better situations, someone will hold the door for you. In Denmark, I walk down the street and I am always the one to move and if not the other will barely move enough for me to squeeze by. I open a door and even if I am halfway through, someone on the other side will just push their way through as if they are oblivious. No one has held the door for me (something I really noticed when I went to Scotland and gentlemen were constantly letting me pass first) and people in grocery aisles will stand in the middle to think about what they want..leaving no room to pass. At first this custom was very frustrating and I felt like everyone was just rude. However, it's now obvious to me that just as our way of moving around people in the U.S. works for us, the Danish way works for them. I can't judge I suppose, but adapt and learn.

These are only a few examples of the difference in cultures, of course, but I'll leave it here for now.
After I used these answers to the question posed, I told the inquirers that I would be more able to answer once I returned home and began remembering the aspects of my life in the U.S....which I will be back to soon! Weird.

Ciao!

Santa and his elves have even come from Greenland for a couple weeks visit. They have set up shop in a little Christmas Village that has overtaken one of the city's plazas along with an ice-skating rink! I am personally very excited about trying this out. After all, I've only been once and I held onto one of those metal bar things to keep on my feet...like training wheels for ice-skates. Also, as a sort of gift to Aalborg residents, public transportation is now free on Sundays until the end of the month. This is actually very helpful considering how expensive a one time bus pass is (16 DKK which is about 3.50).

Most of the long nights here are spent practicing Hygge-- the Danish word for relaxation, snug and cozy or comfort. My friends and I are constantly making big feasts together, having home-spa nights, or playing games like Norwegian Monopoly. I've become a fan of small gatherings, movie nights, sitting around the kitchen table with my roommates and a cup of tea, and even cooking! Yeah, I sound like an old lady...so sue me. While I'm a fan of going out, taking risks and am more than excited for upcoming travels and adventures, I've been learning that the simple things in life, if in good company, can be just as enjoyable.

Besides hygge, I do work. With all of my homework these days, at least really nice warm weather isn't taunting me to come outside and play. However, my workload hasn't been nearly this heavy the entire time I've been in Aalborg. The university system here is very unique but not necessarily in a good way. The first two months of my stay in Aalborg I spent attending classes I didn't have to go to if I didn't want and learning almost nothing. The readings were not mandatory and fairly surface-level and there were no other assignments. I was lucky if I got a professor who sounded engaged in the subject-- though there were a couple who made going to class much less painful. On top of lame curriculum, my program is completely unorganized. In all honesty, we were basically told to "go to school, but let's have a beer first" leaving too many questions and concerns unanswered. While, a more relaxed vibe from a university was welcome on my part, this university is way too relaxed. Even if we pose questions, no one can or wants to answer them. I'm talking relevant questions that should obviously be figured out before launching a program and bringing in students from all over the world to study in it. The response is usually "Hmm, yeah...That's interesting. I'll look into that and get back to you," which usually never happens. I've practically had to corner them in their office with the door locked to get them to even consider my question. That is a little drastic, but it's almost that bad. Needless to say, now classes are over and I am all of a sudden up to my neck in work. At least I enjoy the topics I have to spend so much time researching and writing about, though they have almost no correlation whatsoever with the classes I took.

The university system here has left me thinking a lot about my time at Willamette. I have much more respect for the way Willamette presents itself and encourages students. Even if the "independent student" is what Aalborg University encourages, they don't give enough incentive or motivation to make students interested and ambitious. Here a student can barge in the classroom 15 minutes late, on their cell phone, sit down and start talking to their neighbor. At WU, it's more likely a professor would tell a student who tried to sneak in quietly 5 minutes late to not even bother coming in. Maybe the difference is students here are paid by the government to be enrolled in university, where as we pay an un-Godly amount for education. In any case, even the Danes feel Aalborg University needs to improve it's plan of attack. On top of that, in my experience Willamette's classes are engaging and if the information isn't usually the professor is. We do work that keeps us on our toes and motivated the entire semester, where as here no one does anything until the end when it all hits at once. Another characteristic about Willamette that I've come to truly respect is it's community awareness and engagement-- student community and otherwise. There are always so many events and awareness campaigns going on at Willamette that it's hard to choose between them. At AAU, students are lucky if a speaker comes into town once or twice a semester and they use non-recyclable and non-reusable PLASTIC for everything! I truly wish I had some things to boast about AAU, but the reality is I am not impressed in the least. However, what this university experience has given me is a respect for the "Willamette Bubble" that I think I lost amidst the stress of past semesters. So, my advice to you other Bearcats is take as much out of your time at Willamette as you possibly can and bring it with you into the world, because many opportunities won't be available to you elsewhere.

Excuse the rant. Even though I am here to study and the study is not up to par, I have been enjoying myself otherwise. I learn from the amazing people I meet and the new things I experience everyday. Most of this knowledge couldn't be taught in a classroom anyway and I consider it priceless. I feel like I've been catching up from he lack of "world history" taught in the American education system (in my experience anyway).

For now, I will say ciao. Hygge calls :)

Megan

P.S. There are 2 pigs for every Dane in Denmark.

11/6/2008

Well hey,

The Obama win has left me thinking of home a lot these last couple of days and I decided it's about time I send you all another email. I must say I haven't missed home like I did on November 4th (and 5th for me) since my first few days in Aalborg. I wish I could have been in the midst of election day chaos, passion and celebration. Don't get me wrong, I had a fantastic celebration with my American and international friends. A small group of us camped out at a friend's flat, stayed up all night watching the results of the campaign on a laptop and celebrated every time we moved a little closer to victory. The final results for the presidential race came at about 5:30am and that's when the real celebration began. My American friends and I put on a silly show for the others in the room--dancing, jumping up and down, hugging, laughing, screaming, crying--for about two hours straight. We watched McCain's concession speech, which I was only a little impressed by. But Barack Obama's acceptance speech, as cliche as it may sound, moved me. I have never in my life felt so proud of Americans. I have never felt proud of BEING an American until now, though I have always wanted to be. I completely understand that the change we need isn't miraculously here because Barack Obama is our new president, but the man inspires me and he has obviously inspired so many other Americans. That is what will bring about change. He builds the will in people and the people make the change. He has also--overnight--lifted such a scarred reputation off the shoulders of our country. The world was holding its breath and is now so happy with our choice. People everywhere are celebrating. Kenya even made (Thursday) a national holiday for what Obama has accomplished. I've witnessed it myself. I'm around international students all day long and am constantly questioned about my country's politics. Usually I feel a bit embarrassed or wary of saying that I'm an American, but already (two days after the election) I'm seeing people's faces brighten when they hear it. Anyway, I'm proud of the way he campaigned and I'm proud of Americans for electing him (by a landslide). Though I don't envy the man; he's got a lot of work to do.

As for everything else, the Danish life has settled inside of me. I like it here. During the first couple of weeks, as I watched international students trickle into Aalborg, I began to realize that I was not alone in my stresses over adjustment to the new life. The confusion and homesickness I recognized in everyone around me made me understand that it's just a phase you go through when you move away from everything familiar and things do pick up quickly. I learned that I was placed in a very lucky spot--right downtown. The uni is about 5 km from my flat and most people live out there. That means that they have to take the bus into town to do anything, and the busses don't run very late. My four flatmates are all beautiful, warmhearted and fun. One is from Italy (she and I love to exchange recipes..mm Italian cooking), one from Russia and two from Norway. We've grown into a sort of family at this point and are always watching out for each other. I've learned that I can't leave for the weekend without telling them or they'll practically send out a search mission.

I've made great friends from all over the world and have learned much more from conversations with them than I have in the classroom. We are constantly asking about each other's home country, or traditions or even use of language. My Aussie friend has a different word for everything: counter=bench, dinner=tea, hick=bogan, to lift is to hoik and so on; Italians take their food very seriously and the Danish love to drink. I've also learned a lot about the U.S. by simply explaining it to others. At home, when I was surrounded by Americans, I never felt confident that I knew much about the system or the nation's history. I think in the U.S., we aren't constantly discussing or thinking about the everyday aspects of American life. Here I find myself describing the political system, the traditions and history to my international friends who are always inquiring and I realize that I know more than I thought. So, I spend most of my time meeting new people and learning about the world (or taking a walk around the city). One very popular thing to do here among international students is to throw dinner parties. Almost every other day I am invited to or hosting an international dinner for friends. I've had everything from Norwegian porridge to authentic Italian lasagna to moose (my vegetarianism has definitely suffered here) and I've made plenty of dishes for everyone as well. The funny eggs, baked macaroni and cheese, and chocolate chip cookies were a big hit.

The Danes are another story. I found that their community is much harder to breech than expected. The Danes are a very comfortable and content people. When they have found their niche, they don't feel the need to branch out. This isn't to say they are mean or selfish people. They are just shy in a sense and if you take the first step in getting to know them, they are very kind and welcoming. In fact, the Danes describe themselves with the word hygge, which means cozy, content, secure, familiar, etc. About a month ago I was invited on a trip out to a beach cabin that the university arranges for new Danish students every year. On this trip, I got to know many Danes and finally understood the meaning of hygge. Though I am generalizing, it's proved true with all of my Danish friends. They are very friendly, but you have to break into their niche to know it.

I have travelled a bit already. In the beginning I went somewhere every weekend. I don't think I spent one weekend in Aalborg for about a month straight. I went to Germany twice; one story you know, and the other trip was to visit a very good friend (Felice DuBois for those of you who know her). Another friend of mine stopped by on his trip around Europe and we spent a weekend in Amsterdam, which was incredible. We took a tour of the beautiful city and then a night tour of the Red Light District which was my favorite part of the trip. I learned so much about how prostitution works in The Netherlands, and have a completely different perspective on it than I did before. Though the Netherlands have made prostitution an intriguing sort of employment, too many human rights risks exist in that sort of profession for me to be comfortable with the idea of legalization. We also visited the Anne Frank House, the Van Gogh Museum, a Sex Museum and other places. Another weekend I spent discovering Denmark's hip and artsy city Arhus where I checked out a great exhibit called Music To See (a compilation of music videos from famous producers), the Old Town and some great festivals. I also visited the very tip of Denmark, a beautiful coastal town called Skagen, where I climbed in old German bunkers from WWII and stood at the point where the Baltic Sea and the North Sea meet. I didn't expect to actually see two bodies of water colliding, but I swear the waves ran right into each other from either side. For our Fall Break, six friends and I road-tripped through Norway, which at this point was my favorite trip of all. We spent the entire week in little cabins and hiking through magnificent scenery. Picture Glacier National Park in the fall--the mountains were on fire with red, yellow and orange. Norway in a nutshell is mountains, fjords, massive waterfalls around every corner and tunnels. Absolutely beautiful. However, the Norway trip is a long story that would make this already ridiculously long email much much longer. So ask me about it sometime if you're interested. This month I've got way too much school work to be traveling, but I will again in December. I have plane tickets to London where I will spend a day and then take a train to Edinburgh (to see Ian!) for three days. On the 20th I am flying to Prague where I'll be for a few days. Then I'm going to Britagne, France (to see Genna Hall!!) for Christmas and Paris for New Years. Yes, I am excited!

For now, I'm going to enjoy the hygge of Danish wintertime and get back to writing my papers!

One last note..GOBAMA!!!

Ciao.

P.S. my friend made this great joke about Norway: one person says to the other "You going to Norway?" and the other says "No(r)way! I can't afjord it!!"

8/27/08
I left PDX at about 7:30 am Friday morning, after forcing myself to stay awake all night. I expected to land in New Jersey sometime around 3:40pm and catch a flight to Copenhagen at 5:25pm. If any of you know the stakes of traveling you know things can go wrong. Well things went wrong, terribly wrong. My flight to New Jersey ended up having to circle around above Ohio for an hour or so in hopes of avoiding a storm over Jersey. We ended up circling for so long we had to land in Philadelphia to refuel. Every few minutes the captain would say something like "we will be receiving an update in about 45 minutes" over the intercom. Forty-five minutes eventually became about 5 hours. Yes, almost 200 people sat on a hot, stuffy and STATIONARY airplane for 5 hours. However, I was impressed by how patient everyone was with the crew. Eventually we took off again and braved the lightning and turbulence, which there was a lot of. When we landed in Newark I discovered my flight had left a long time before...without me on it. Well, most of the airport was chaotic due to all the delays and since I've never really traveled alone before I was pretty worked up myself. A very nice lady from Camas, WA helped me re-orient myself and find the long line I had to stand in to figure out the next step to take. I ended up standing in that line for about 3 hours and I was near the beginning. It turned out the next flight to Copenhagen didn't leave until 5:25pm the next day. So, they put me up in a fairly nice hotel room and I spent the night in New Jersey. My flight to Copenhagen ended up being delayed a couple of hours, but after everything else that wait seemed like nothing. After 8 or so hours on the plane I took a 4 and a half hour train ride to Aalborg. Considering it's Sunday, I can't check in with the school until tomorrow. So, I used good old couchsurfing.com and found a couple of people to take me in for one night. One of them actually picked me up from the station and is now fussing over me (cleaning his house and feeding me and what not). It was quite a ridiculous journey, but if it weren't for aeroplanes and their ports, I wouldn't be here! Aalborg is a very cool city; quaint might be a better word.

Anyway, I made it!

8/21/08
So, my one night of couchsurfing actually turned into about 5 nights. On Monday, after lugging my ridiculously heavy baggage up 7 flights of stairs (second floor here really means 3rd), I checked into my apartment only to find it void of roommates and without electricity or a working wireless connection. Fortunately, as I was wandering the streets of Aalborg later that day I ran into Martin (one of my couchsurfing hosts) who invited me to stay as long as I needed until things started to settle for me. Since then I have only spent one night in my apartment. Martin and Rahul have been lifesavers thus far. I haven't been able to navigate very well, considering nothing here is in English. So, the two of them have taken me in, fed me, given me tours of the city and the university and as much information about living here as they can muster AND they have helped me with my apartment troubles. Without them I would be severely overwhelmed. As stoked as I am to be living in a foreign country, stepping completely out of my comfort zone has been more trying than I expected. I've come to realize how much I value the company of familiar faces and environments, what homesickness truly feels like and that I've been a bit naive about the fact that I really haven't ever been on my own before. However, I think doing this alone is going to be very good for me. It has forced me to ask for and accept help even if I feel stupid about it and to be extra-outgoing. I met someone the other day who was shocked when I told them I came to Denmark alone and don't know a soul. He told me I am very brave, which in itself was surprisingly encouraging. Yesterday was a better day. Martin showed me around some more and then I met with my "buddy," Kathrine, who was assigned by the university. She was very nice, closer to my age than Martin and Rahul, and not to mention a girl! It's nice to have some female company. She took me to a few places in Aalborg I haven't seen yet like the street of bars and the Aalborg Castle. The castle looks more like the Danish form of a plantation home than a place of royalty, but it was still beautiful. Kathrine also helped me shop for groceries by translating when I couldn't figure out what an item was. I was a little disappointed when I discovered peanut butter is a rarity in Denmark (Kathrine has only tried it once and didn't like it). Later in the evening I made dinner with Rahul, who gave me a cell phone, and then met Kathrine and her friends at an International Students Night event. I still have no electricity or roommates and don't really want to spend much time at my apartment yet, but tonight Martin is hosting a couchsurfer dinner at which I will have the opportunity to meet more people.

Thursday was studying almost the entire day...and by the end, I felt fully prepared to take my exam. I made sure I found the room where the exam would be held on thursday, because I did not want to search for it at 7 am on friday. I had got up early the previous two days to change my sleeping schedule, so when friday morning, 6:30 am came around, I was ready. However, the night before I slept terribly, in and out of sleep, and I doubt I got more than 3 solid hours despite the true need for a rested mind and body. The exam on friday went pretty well, I knew all the answers (nine essay questions, which took 2.5 hours), but what was interesting was the test-taking style. Here at Linköping, you must register for the exam at least 10 working days before the exam (which I almost forgot to due, being an exchange student), and the test is taken in a huge room with hundreds of students (only 13 in my class) taking exams from various courses. You must have your ID card on the table, no bag nearby, sign out to pee, one bottle of water or coffee on the table, and some other strict rules. I was very relaxed before the exam (normally am, and I felt confident), and had a smile on face because I thought the experience was interesting...one girl in my class asked me "why are you smiling?" I said, "I know this sounds weird to you, but I am about to take an exam in Sweden, about biology, in a huge room, in a style never before experienced, and I think its fun". She looked confused.

Oh well, I finished, rode my bike home in nice weather and felt relieved. That night I went out with Sam (intending to go to sleep early because I was leaving early for Stockholm the next day) had one drink, and then, was unknowingly convinced to drink some 10x caffeine espresso. I know, how does that happen, right? Well, it was such a small portion, I thought I was just trying a sip of it, but no, it was a whole portion (thanks Italian guy)...and I realized I was going to be buzzing with caffeine. To put it simply, I feel asleep at 4:15 am, and woke up at 5 am to leave for Stockholm. Hilarious, but not at the time. Me, Arne, Chris and Laura rode our bikes in freezing weather to the bus/train station to catch the 6:30 bus to Stockholm. We all slept on the way, got to Stockholm cold and tired, and just started walking. We found a coffeeshop (not Amsterdam-style) and I downed a double espresso and muffin, then five minutes later a regular cup of coffee and a sandwich...now I was ready for the day. We headed down the right street, it turned out, because it took us to Gamla Stan (old town Stockholm) where the Grand Palace (the King's spot), Nobel Museum, and other beautiful, historic places were. It was a gorgeous part of town, with old houses and buildings, tiny streets and other great sights. Very different from Amsterdam, but European indeed. We watched the changing of the guards (they had funny white boots), saw the Palace and other big buildings, and ventured through the Nobel Museum which held the current exhibit, "Design for Science", which was all about biological enzymes and mechanisms and the fusion with technology (just my thing). I was fascinated to be in the presence (relatively speaking) of great minds and great achievements...it really was inspiring. One quote that was on display stood out to me: "What is Now Proven, Was Once Imagined". I liked that...and decided that I would receive a Nobel Prize someday (we'll see about that :) ). We left old town to walk to City Hall which held the Blue Hall where the Nobel Prize is awarded...we couldn't get in but looked through the windows, took some photos in the courtyard and along an inlet of the Baltic Sea, and, as always, simply took in the sights and experience. McDonald's for lunch, haha.

Then we strolled through downtown towards the Science and Technology Museum, which was boring (the museum), but the was walk to and fro was fun. Arne and I threw lots of rocks and sticks at the frozen water, which sounds stupid, but it was childishly amusing. They tried to get me to walk on the ice, but, no thanks, I'm not interested in wet feet for the next 10 hours. My camera stopped working because it was so cold outside (the batteries quit on me despite a full charge), but we got some good photos. We walked to the southern part of the city to find a place for dinner, and seeing as we had a cheap lunch we wanted something nice. We all had a great dinner and some beer, then followed that with more coffee and chattin' to kill time before the nighttime bus. We walked through the town a bit more, then boarded our bus, upon which I slept the whole time before we had to get off and ride our bikes home from the station. Stockholm was great. Beautiful, historic, large, grand...all the adjectives you would expect, and some others, like strange, cold, clean, packed. I enjoyed our day trip and the group that went a lot. I did nothing that sunday. Really, I don't even have anything on my calendar to remind me except "Relaxation".

The next morning (2/18) at 10 am I had a Bavarian Breakfast with the Stockholm group plus one Austrian guy and Jerritt, another German friend. The breakfast consisted of Bavarian sausage, baguette with a cheese/garlic/onion spread and some delicious German beer (yes, at 10 am - I love the Germans). We all fell asleep after the breakfast (could have been the beer, probably was). After my evening Swedish course, I watched "Bucket List" at Arne's with the breakfast group. The next day I bought tickets for tonight's Kravall (woohoo, not really), went on another bike ride with Sam, this time across the river to explore new parts of town, and then rested to prepare for the night (tuesday, HG night, again). I had the Aussie boys over to my place for some pasta and bread for dinner (cooking was interesting), which culminated in a pre-party with more friends in my corridor, after which we headed to the club/pub for our weekly international drunkfest. The next day was a certified hangover and a very messy room (which was spotless the day before), and the desire to do nothing but sleep. However, I was invited to go to a Sauna with some friends (you can book them for free for a few hours, there are three in my area), which was ideal for a hangover. I sweated vodka for the first five minutes. After that I felt great.

The next day I downloaded movies and researched for my biology project, not leaving my room for way too long. I decided I needed to get some fresh air, so I rode my bike to campus for coffee and to put air in my tires. The next day was more research and too much free time (as has been the case lately), followed by a desire for Mexican food...however, there are no mexican restaurants here, so me, Arne, Kayla and Jerrica (two American girls from W. Virginia) cooked up some burritos. It was delicious. We said grace to Wesley Snipes, Claudia Schiffer and a toy gorilla that all resided on the dinner table (why, I do not know, but it was hilarious).

That night I went out to the pub for about an hour, which was a complete bust, boring, useless, etc. I stayed up really late talking to Colleen on skype, booking our hostels and bus rides for our upcoming trip to France and Italy. Saturday I did nothing...well, a little bit of research and a solo bike ride, but nothing much. Sunday (2/24) I took a day trip to Vattern Lake, the second largest lake in Sweden and fifth largest in Europe, with Arne and the W. Virginia girls. The town was dead, as in, we maybe saw 15 people the whole day. But, the lake was nice, kind of cold and windy, but we had fun. Lunch at a cafe, walkin' around, climbing trees and tables and taking random photos. That night I had a pasta dinner with Arne again (the man can cook I tell you), which consisted of homemade carbonara (sp.) sauce and some wine. Delicious. I slept in the next day and proceeded to work on my biology research project. That night was my evening Swedish course, and, when I arrived, I had the pleasure of watching Brody (Aussie) and Matteo (Italian) walk in, coffee in hand, looking dead tired and overall terrible following their 5 day trip to Lapland/Kiruna (N. Sweden) with an exchange group. They said it was a blast; tiring, drunk, interesting, cold, and they had returned (22 hour train ride, plus bus ride) only three hours before, just woken up and came to class. That made me laugh. After class, me, those two guys and Arne had some burgers for dinner from a little place called Andreas' Gatukök nearby that has better food and better prices than McDonalds, hence, we chose it over the golden arches. I worked on my project the next day, fixed up my bike, then went to Tornby (IKEA place) with some of the guys to go shopping at a cheap supermarket. We all loaded up on the essentials (for me: pasta, chicken, bread, cheese, green tea, bbq sauce, and much more) and had one hell of a ride home with full backpacks and tired legs. We all got home, showered (it was raining a lot), ate dinner, then pre-partied before, as usual, HG (three times in one post, granted, three tuesdays have passed). As always, it was fun.

Yesterday I woke up and ate a huge fried egg/cheese/meat sandwich before biology class (three weeks since the last), which was simply a project report/question session with the professor. I am on track to finish on time, due 3/7. We also got our test results back...and yay, I passed with a B+, meaning I don't have to retake it in June (which is good, since I'm leaving June 1). I made myself some delicious chicken pasta after class, watched a movie, cleaned, napped, then around 9:30 the Aussie boys came over so we could glue patches on our overalls/drunksuits for tonight's Kravall. Today I slept in again, made some tea and had a Nutrigrain bar (you don't care, I'm just rambling), and wrote this post. I've realized lately that I've had tons of free time because I only have Swedish class once a week, no bio class because we have independent project work, and am sort of just on vacation...which is really nice. I am still a full time student, and the second half of the semester will be really busy again, but after the first five weeks of intense classes, adjusting to life here, meeting friends and finding my place, its really nice to just live alone, relax and be bored. It's helping me clear my head and get my motivation back, which seems backwards, but it works for me. This summer I will be busy, next year I will be extremely busy, so this study abroad trip is, so far, ideal. I'm learning (in class and in life), growing, having fun and getting a nice break from the past seven or so years (actually, for every year of my education) of working really hard and stressing over schoolwork. Its difficult for me to take a deep breath and say "its ok, this is why you are here, enjoy the free time", because I always feel like I should be working hard, doing homework, studying, etc. But, this is the European study system, I am a student and I am fulfilling all requirements both here and for Willamette U., and I have been preparing myself for summer research by re-reading all the complex journal articles I read last semester. For now, I'll just keep doin' what I'm doin'. I found the balance that I need, I feel comfortable in my environment and think everything will work out just fine. So, that is the last three weeks, in a nutshell. I need some food, and I'm tired of typing. Until next time...thanks for reading.

The great Indian Mahabharata epic (literally: Maha means great, and Bharata means India) overflows with tales of long gruesome battles, gambling addictions and archery competitions, romantic rendezvous between the gods and humans, spells, friendships, and trickery. Through its imaginative allegories that accumulated hundreds of years ago, the beauty of the epic is that it sheds light on the human condition, even today. In one of these tales, a spirit of the forest Yaksha challenges the wise brother Yudisthira to one important question: “What is the most astonishing thing in the world?” In class yesterday, Professor Roy posed this question to his five students- urging us not to think too much, and just to speak from our heart. So before you read on, what would you say is the most astonishing thing in the world? What immediately came to my mind in class were the oceans- so vast that they cover 3/4ths of the world… their shores a playground, yet many of their depths an ancient mystery. Other thoughts that emerged were the intricacies of the human body, the wonder of the sunsets, the intersection of the physical and the spiritual that humans somehow embrace. Professor Roy reveled in all of our ideas, because he believes that no answer to this question can be wrong. In fact, he keeps the answers given by students over the years recorded in a book, in his words “Because you have to recall yourself to the feeling of wonder. It gets lost every day.”

Yes, wonder is indeed present every day. Lately sometimes I’ve seen it submerged as newness melts into routine, but then I blink my eyes as I’m wrestling Nalin or Aakash into their seats to feed them their rice, and I can recall that sense of wonder in their wide-eyed way of exploring the world. That’s what can make class so difficult sometimes… while the other volunteers and I try to get across to them various lessons we want them to know (this week we’re working on opposites!), they’re far too interested in what is going on outside the windows, the dog sleeping across the high fence, the crayon wrapper under their seats, the havoc their neighbor is wreaking on that day’s craft. And it’s the same for me, in my life here. At times I want to buckle down, focus on some linear path in order to get me from point A to point B in my studies and volunteer work. But other times, I get caught up in the wonder, sometimes beautiful, sometimes quite difficult, of being in this place, and it’s hard to stay in my seat.

Take last Tuesday, for instance. A dawning walk around the misty, bleary-eyed block. Two hours of hoarse-throated bliss with antsy three-year olds who endured a twenty minute lesson on “empty-full.” Later, Bethany and I took the Metro to Loreto College (where we’ve just started having classes on Indian Leadership, Morality, and Ethics twice a week), where fast-talking British/Indian accented young women in jeans and salwars discussed equality for women as prescribed in the finer points of the Koran. Back at home, Maashi Molina whisked us into blue sateen and red, gold-encrusted saris and we were off to a wedding!

My first Indian wedding deserves much recounting. Indian wedding ceremonies usually take place over three days: the actual ceremony takes place with the brides’ very extended family and the grooms’ close relatives, the next day the bride cooks a ceremonial meal for her new parents-in-law whom she will be living with and caring for, (and I don’t remember the 3rd!). Anyway, we were there for the day of the actual ceremony, and Uncle and Auntie were close relatives of the groom- a chemistry professor who’s been studying in Canada. He met his wife through his studies, and she’s currently doing master’s work in L.A., but of course they came back home for this momentous occassion! Bethany and I, along with Auntie, Uncle, and their daughter were greeted by a gorgeous corridor of stringed lights leading to a large open-aired patio. It was dark by then, but the place was lit not only by the lights gleaming off the ceremonial gazebo and the platters of food awaiting us, but also by the animation and excitement of the many friends and family members present. We went into a side room where the bride sat awaiting the ceremony. I thought she was so beautiful- covered in a dozen silver streams of necklaces, tiny flowered soft-yellow paint on her hands and forehead, clad in a traditional red wedding sari, with a coy, anxious look on her face that said “Yes, I know I’m the queen… let’s get this thing started!”

The whole ceremony seemed to jot around from setting to setting, and people in general seemed more concerned with chatting and milling about than watching the actual ceremony, although they clustered around for the important parts! This meant that I got pushed to the front in order to get a great look at what was going on. I saw females of the family walking around the groom seven times (a symbolically lucky number) presenting him with fruits and other blessings, before the bride emerged, veiling her face behind two leaves. She too had to walk around the groom seven times (although the Roy’s daughter said that it’s often humorous for the parents to make her walk around impatiently many more times than that) before unveiling herself and meeting her husband “as if for the first time.” It may seem foreign but I caught a few parallels to wedding ceremonies I’m more accustomed to, like the idea that the bride and groom aren’t supposed to see each other on the wedding day until they’re on the altar. Another funny parallel was that during the ceremonies, the father of the groom really didn’t have much of a role!! It was really the bride’s parents who participated in much of the religious rituals that followed, such as symbolically tying a knot between the bride’s sari and the groom’s cloak. It symbolizes the eternal knot and cannot be untied for a year. I could go on and on, but I’ll fast forward to the food- it was almost just too much! Every meat you could think of (except beef, of course!) including fancy fish rolls and patties, spicy corn with fried chipati, a delicious boiled many-times over sweet milk dish, yum! Bethany and I enjoyed just sipping through our desserts and people watching… at the end, we even managed to take a picture with the bride (which I will certainly post soon). :)

So you can see, the wonder, and the “astonishment” during my time here goes on. But what was Yudisthira’s answer? To that great question posed to him by Yaksha: “What is the most astonishing thing in the world?”

He answered: Humans are mortal, but we feel like we’ll never die.

Sound pessimistic? Ideally, the internalization of this simple truth should give us much freedom. The true realization of our limited lives gives us a sense of what’s really important. Of course, we need not be paralyzed by fear of death. We can find great joy in and in fact necessity in living in the world of today, planning for our future tomorrows. But embracing the fact that we live amidst radical uncertainty of tomorrow allows us to go about our plans with a sense of both heightened purpose and purposeful detachment, which keeps us from wanting more and more in this life we are being given.

Thanks for that thought, Yudisthira, and thank you India! :)

This last weekend has been absolutely packed full of amazing things. I attended the CUPA visit to the Loire Valley where one finds some of the most amazing old castles in the world. We started with Chenoncea which is famous for its base- a series of arches forming a bridge across the river. Essentially the castle is built on this bridge so that it is sitting in the middle of a river. Fantastic to say the least. Amazingly enough, this wasnt the highlight of the trip. The next castle was Villandry which is world renowned not for the castle itself but for the gardens. Hundreds of workers have clipped and prunes acres of hedges into amazing patterns that can really only be appreciated by looking down at them from the castles tallest tower. What is interesting here is that they have remained loyal the the middle ages-- the gardens are useful-- they produce hundreds of kinds of fruits, vegetables, herbs, and medical remedies which we were able to take away for free because they dont have the right to sell them. The apples and pears from this garden were not only perfect but tasted fabulous. After being out in the sun for so long I guess CUPA decided we needed some refreshments. They took us to the caves from which the rock to build the Chateaux was excavated. The caves were then (and still are) used to store wine while it aged. A guide showed us how the wine had to be turned so that sediment did not build up on any one side of the bottle, and then opened at just the right angle so that the sediment didnt remix with the wine (we are talking white wine here). Then he showed us how to stack bottles so that you can take out any one of them without the others falling. The best part was that we got to taste it! We learned how to sample a wine by looking at its color, its dripping speed, its smell, and its "longuer en bouche" (the amount of time the taste lasts in your mouth). Sipping wine and eating goat cheese and pork (fried in fat, the regional specialty) in a cave in France was a strangely appealing way to pass the time before dinner. And what a dinner it was. They took us to a restaurant more known for its guest book than its food. Past visitors include Churchill, Edison, Kipling, Hemingway, Townsend, Rockafeller, and of course Napoleon himself. The food really wasnt that great but it did come with an interesting lesson in culture. When the waiter started to pour me wine I tried to tell him that I had had enough, only to be told by the CUPA staff that a women in France doesnt really have the right to refuse wine. What??? What century are we living in???? I asked. It turns out that in order to be polite I have to let him fill my glass and then just not drink it. What a waste of wine.
The next day we hit another big chateau called Chambord. Famous for its fabulous spiral staircases made of white marble, this is a place of dreams. Oh to be a princess. Many of the castles towers (it seems like there are hundreds) are no longer safe to visit because they are build on other towers to add to their splendor. We spend an hour and a half exploring this place but I could spend an entire day just marveling at the carraiges (out of a fairy tale) on display in the museum. To give you an idea of how fantastic these castles are, here is an interesting fact-- it was a castle in the Loire that inspired Sleeping Beauty. After this we headed to Blois, a slightly less visited castle but charming all the same. We had lunch in the Organgerie there and it was AMAZING. Hands down the best fish and chocolate cake (filled with pistaccio cream) that I have ever had. After all this we took the TVG home in time for dinner. All in a weekend, I know it is hard to believe.

Posted by Jessica E Fox at 12:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

2/25/07

Well, I originally forgot to post this in the last blog and then decided that it deserves its own post. But keep in mind this may possibly be the biggest highlight from the week. Also, I apologize in advance for the TMI, but trust me, it’s worth it for the story…

First, remember that in France toilet paper is colored and each color is a varying degree of softness. Normally we have pink, the softest (and it honestly puts anything in the States to shame, Quilted Northern has nothing on pink French TP).

Before going out of town, my host mom stocked the bathroom with quite a bit of paper, but I didn’t really pay much attention to what she had bought. That is, until I was in the bathroom and needed a new roll of TP. I reached for the package she bought and was pretty sure that it didn’t look pink like the rest (but the lighting is weird so I wasn’t positive). I opened it and grabbed a roll that was definitely more of an orange than a pink. “Oh, well…”

Pretty soon, I got a whiff of something that smelled really good. Like peach or mango or something. I was confused…the grandson wasn’t up – so it wasn’t any shampoo smell or anything like that coming from the bathroom (as opposed to the water closet/toilet). You have no idea how confused I was at this point, the smell permeating the room…. I tentatively looked at the roll of toilet paper in my hand; “No. There’s NO way.”…. “Well, it does look orange…” So I gingerly gave it a sniff. And YES! My thoughts very much along the “What the…?” lines and still in disbelief, I grabbed the package to confirm: “Parfumée exotique” – exotic perfumed.

IT’S PERFUMED TOILET PAPER!!

So there I sat, laughing, and putting this at the top of my “things I’ll just accept not understanding in France” list.

I’ve since seen more at the store, and apparently there are a few different scents. I had doubts about whether it was such a good idea to use perfumed products in such a sensitive region, but so far so good… And it does make the whole bathroom smell like peaches/mangos/oranges. I may have to investigate the other scents next time I’m at the store. I’m not sure if they have varying degrees of softness as well, or not. This stuff definitely isn’t as soft as the pink stuff, but maybe it’s worth it for the smell (and the laugh every time I use the bathroom). Seriously, freakin PERFUMED TOILET PAPER…!

Posted by Stacy A Michaelson at 03:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

This is the last week of my Human Ecology & Maritime Societies class. Everyone from the politics and biology strands are in this class together, and Diego, our professor, is one of the directors of GAIAS. The class is hard, but interesting. There is a ton of reading for it and we have midterms each week, plus a final and a paper. The first week was almost all about anthropology, which made me realize why I’m glad I’m an environmental science major. Last week got a lot more interesting. We talked a lot about fisheries and aquaculture, which are things I’m very interested in. This class is also making me realize how much I miss studying the ocean. Marine biology and oceanography were my favorites in high school, and I haven’t done any of that since then. This week I think we’re going to be talking specifically about fisheries in the Galàpagos, and we might go on a fishing trip, if the boats can get the right permits.

Last week we went to Isabela for a field trip. We left on Wednesday and got home Sunday afternoon. We left at 7:00 on Wednesday, after getting a full warning the day before about how rough the seas are and how to not get seasick. Our group was divided on to two boats. My boat was the Galapagos Osprey. We rode for about three hours, almost to the island of Floreana. The ocean was super rough, and we were bouncing around a lot. As we got closer and slowed down, they let us go up to the bow of the boat. It was so nice to lay up there in the sun with my friends! We went to a rock called Devil’s Crown and jumped out of the boat to snorkel. It was very beautiful there. We saw rays, lots of pretty fish, but the most exciting thing we saw was a white tipped reef shark! It was at the bottom and swam away, so I didn’t get to see it that closely though. I got to lay out on the bow of the boat and dry off in the sun until we got to Floreana.

On Floreana, we went up to the highlands. We went to the Galapaguera, which is the tortoise reserve. There were huge tortoises, and we watched some of the eating. It is so interesting to watch them move around and eat. Then we saw the little trickle of water that is the only freshwater for the island. The limited amount of freshwater is the main reason the population of the island is so small (around 100, I think). We hiked up to these walls that were carved probably by water. They were really beautiful also, and there was one place that reminded me of Fern Canyon! From there we ate lunch, and then went back to the dock to go the next two hours to Floreana. At the dock I saw huge marine iguanas! These ones had a lot of red on their bodies. The rest of the ride was fine also, very bumpy again. I also got all wet the whole boat ride, sitting in the back, there was so much spray; luckily it was warm enough. We got to the hotel quickly, in our truck taxis. I was in a room with Annie, Megan, and Kristen, my standard trip roomies.

On Thursday we went into the highlands. We rode horses to a volcanic crater. The horse I rode had foal that followed us the whole way. It was very cute, but sometimes got in the considering there were 26 of us riding up there. The crater is HUGE! The inside is all hardened lava, but there are a few steaming vents. We got off the horses and hiked for a couple of hours near the crater. We looked at different types of lava (pahoehoe and aa!) and the landscape was very beautiful. There were lava tubes, and we saw the different layers and colors difference in the lava from different flows. There were a few places along the trail where the guide stopped and told us to feel by rocks, and it was warm! There were a few huge pits, and I can’t remember what formed them, but the colors around them were beautiful! The whole landscape was so different, and very beautiful!

On Friday we went out with local fishermen to see the lava tubes on another part of the island. Going with local fishermen helps to support them when they can’t be fishing a lot. The boats were small and the ocean was very rough! We were crashing up and down with every wave. We got to this super beautiful place with lots of lava tubes and bridges. On the rocks there were blue footed boobies and penguins! We also saw sea turtles swimming by and there were mangroves growing on the rocks. We walked around a little bit on land, but then went snorkeling. Diego warned us to be very careful snorkeling as to not get lost. Annie and I went by ourselves, quietly, so we could hopefully see more. We saw an octopus and saw it change colors! There were also lots of pretty fish. Then we went with Diego and another student, Kristen, to go through some of the lava tubes. On our way, a lobo decided to join us. He really wanted to play and it was funny and scary. He kept swimming right to my face and then swimming under me suddenly. Diego also brought up a sea cucumber so we could look at it. We got back on our boats and went to another place to snorkel. There we saw a penguin swimming and lots more beautiful fish. When we got back to the harbor, we went over to these tiny islands. There are channels there where you can see lots of white tipped reef sharks. We also saw a little baby lobo on the beach. There were marine iguanas everywhere! More than I’ve seen anywhere else. A lot of them were pretty small, but then there were huge ones. It was so much fun to watch them move around.

Saturday was our free day (and time to do some of the huge amount of reading for Monday’s midterm). In the morning I went to Isabela’s galapaguera. They actually breed tortoises there. There are also different species and an interpretation center. It was a really nice facility with cute baby tortoises, and some huge old ones. Then we hiked to look for flamingos. There were three at the lagoon. They were bright pink and so pretty! Some of us hiked further down the trail to a lava tube. They whole hike was very pretty and it was just nice to be outside and hiking around. We walked the whole way back on the beautiful white sand beach.

We also had class on Isabela. Not a lot of fun after a full day, but the history of fisheries on the island is pretty interesting. This is one of the islands with the most illegal fishing. Something called shark finning happens; they catch sharks, cut off all their fins, and then dump the bodies back into the ocean. Then they go out farther on the ocean and sell the fins to, usually, Japanese merchants because they consider them to be a delicacy. There is also lots of illegal harvesting of sea cucumbers, also a delicacy in Southeast Asia. There is a huge amount of controversy between the national park and fishermen on this island.

Posted by Rebecca L Ryan at 09:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The elections in Ecuador were this weekend. Elections were on Sunday, but election preparation took the whole weekend. They had a "cooling off" period with no propaganda, so it was very quiet without all of the music that has been modified to support candidates. (Shakira, "hips don't lie," which is already very popular here, was changed to support Cynthia.) Most nights there has been loud reggaeton music all night at parties for candidates, or as I said, modified to support candidates. Starting at midnight Friday, the whole town was also dry for elections. This lasted until midnight Monday.

I honestly don't know all the much about the elections or the candidates, so I don't know what was being voted on, besides president. There were 13 presidential candidates. To win the presidency in this election, a candidate would have had to get 50% of the votes. If not, the top two have a run-off, I think in late November. Obviously with so many candidates, there will be a run-off. The two candidates to the run-off are Noboa and Correa. Correa had a lot of support here on San Cristobal. Cynthia was promising drinkable water to all of the Islands, making her another popular candidate here. I don't know what other positions were being voted on, but last night the 6 party, Cynthia's party, had another parade through town. Around 10:30pm we heard a bunch of honking and yelling. We went outside to see what was going on and they were driving around, waving their flags, and yelling. I'm not sure if Cynthia won the Galapagos or if their party won other seats in the government. I also fell asleep to election music. Correa used to be a professor at USFQ, the university in Quito that GAIAS is based out of.

Since I don't know much, I am putting in link to two articles about the election.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/americas/10/15/ecuador.election.ap/index.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6052370.stm

Posted by Rebecca L Ryan at 07:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

We only stayed in Suzhou for two days and one night, but we had a great time while we were there!

First of all, Suzhou stands in stark contrast to most other cities that I've seen in China (especially Beijing). Old canals run through the city, and are lined with carved marble/stone barriers. Suzhou's urban planners deserve credit too, for most major roads have not just concrete dividers - but dividers complete with trees and greenery. It is a beautiful city, and has a great garden-city atmosphere. However, I would have enjoyed it alot more if it weren't so crowded :-( Since it is one of the premier tourist destinations in China, it is also PACKED (especially its gardens). And we didn't think about this before setting out to Suzhou, but Chinese New Year is peak tourist season since most people get alot of time off from work...It was alot more crowded than usual just because of that.
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Ildi and I infront of the Panmen Gate fortress tower.
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The first day we were there, Ildi and I set out to find some good, cheap clothing. Neither of us can be considered fat, or overweight. However, whenever we find pants we like,

1) the salesmen tell us they don't have our size without even looking 2) they make an obvious glance at our waists and then tell us they don't have our size or, 3) ask us if we'd like to try on mens' pants. ...:-( Both of us have stopped trying. Luckily for Ildi (she only packed two pairs of pants, planning on buying a completely new set of clothing in China), we did find one store with stretchy jeans in our size. However, ALL of the jeans there are high-waisted and go up to our belly buttons. It seems that low-rise jeans have yet to reach China. However, given that it took several days to find pants that fit, that didn't matter much. We each got a pair, and at 175yuan (~US$20) it was a pretty good deal.
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Me and Ildi on the rampart leading up to the Panmen Gate fortress.
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The next day, we went on a tour of Suzhou's attractions. It was only 185yuan, started at 8am, and ran until about 5pm. On the tour we visited the Lion Forest Garden, The Lingering Garden, Han Shan Temple, The Three Scenes of Panmen Gate (a fortress, old buddhist pagoda, and bridge), a silk factory, and took a boat down the Great Canal - hand-dug hundreds of years ago between Hangzhou and Beijing (wow!)

Some History:

[The Lion Forest Garden] This garden is unique because it houses the oldest man-mad stone and rock formation in Suzhou (14th century I believe...). You can walk amongst the rocks, along the water, through caverns and on to precipice-like ledges. It is called the "lion forest" garden because you can supposedly see dancing lions in the jagged rock formations.

[The Lingering Garden] This garden was originally built during the Ming Dynasty (over 400 years ago), is one of China's four famous classical gardens, and is on UNESCO's list of cultural heritage sites. It was stunningly beautiful, and flawlessly done. Enough said.
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Another picture of Ildi and I, at the Lingering Garden...again :-P
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[Han Shan Temple] This temple has its history in the Tang Dynasty. I didn't find it unique, but I thought the various stories and legends attached to the temple really interesting.

[The Three Scenes of Panmen Gate] This site is on the Great Canal. The gate itself has a history of 2,000-3,000 years. The Auspicious Light Pagoda was built during the Three Kingdoms period, and is the second-oldest pagoda in the Suzhou area. The bridge is the longest one-arch bridge in the Suzhou. The fortress' buildings and gates have been rebuilt and restored many times, but has never changed locations. Throughout China's history, it has been a key defensive point. Being there in person, it is such an imposing structure. Its just so incredible that something so old can still stand so solid.

It was a fun, but exhausting day. Again, the gardens were so crowded that we could barely move through some parts of it. I enjoy gardens because natural settings like that are incredibly calming. However, when trying to push your way past crowds of people, and trying to avoid being shoved out of the way yourself, it is hard to fully enjoy Suzhou's gardens. It was none-the-less incredible. The gardens we saw were so well laid out, full of beautiful rocks (sometime transported there from across the country), and their halls full of beautiful Chinese antiques.

I am definitely going to try to get back, for one day isn't nearly enough time to enjoy all of those sights, especially the gardens.

It gets difficult to get by in Vienna with my limited German - I always feel bad when I can´t get my point across so the other person has to switch to English, or even worse, when they switch to English automatically. For this reason I was very excited to be in Spain, where I can finally speak the language. Imagine my surprise when I arrived and realized that in Barcelona, they speak Catalan. Well, that´s what I get for not doing my homework. It´s no problem, though; because Catalan is sort of a mix of Spanish and French, I can read it pretty well, although I can´t understand much of it spoken. Also, everyone speaks Spanish as well.

My trip here was quite an adventure. I ended up taking a train to Bratislava in the middle of the night, and when I got to the train station, I was the only living soul in it so I decided I would be safer waiting outside on the benches by the taxi drivers and night buses. However, all the doors to the station were locked so I had a very hard time trying to get outside! Being locked inside a Slovakian bus station alone in the middle of the night is not an experience I want to repeat, but I eventually found a policeman and things worked out fine. And I learned two words of Slovakian out of the deal: ´letisko´ means airport, and ´taxi´ - well, I´ll let you guess.

Barcelona is a great city. I don´t have much to compare it to in terms of European cities, but a lot of the buildings remind me of Vienna, although the streets are much wider and it´s much more pedestrian-friendly, with lots of street performers. It´s beautiful and warm here. Today I walked down to the ocean (Mediterranean) in my shirtsleeves to go to the aquarium, which is in a big building on the water. I love aquariums! Especially the octopus.

My friend Felix from Willamette is studying here, so he has been showing me and Randall, who´s studying in Granada, the way around. As an added bonus he´s an excellent cook, so he made us grilled veggies and fish and chicken tortillas in the hostel kitchen, and crepes with cheese and prosciutto and spinach the next night. I´ve been eating well, I promise. Randall left yesterday, but I had a chance to meet his friend Shanti from Singapore, so last night I went to her flat and her friend Gordan, from Croatia, cooked us mussels and calamari and shrimp spaghetti. Shanti´s roommate Heidi from the Dominican Republic rounded out our very multicultural dinner party.

I´ve been brushing up on the three most famous Barcelona artists, which has been a lot of fun. My first full day here, Randall and Felix and I went to the Picasso museum, which was very cool because we could see his different styles throughout the years, as a child when his father taught him art, to when he went to art school and hated it because he was forced to copy other artists, to when his best friend committed suicide and he went into his famous blue period, to the surprisingly pornographic paintings inspired by his time in Paris, to his cubism and pottery at the end. My favorite part of the museum is Picasso´s more than fifty different interpretations of Diego Velasquez´ original painting ´Las Meninas´.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a4/Velazquez-Meninas.jpg/526px-Velazquez-Meninas.jpg

Second, Randall and I went to the Dali museum yesterday (he was the guy who did the melting clocks). That was totally bizarre and kind of crazy, but the guy was a genius - he produced so much work, in so many different styles and media. A lot of his stuff borders on creepy.

Third, I´ve been checking out a couple of Gaudi buildings. During the turn of the century there were a lot of new architectural movements going on all over the world, particularly in southern Spain, where they were reviving the Arab style. Catalunya, where Barcelona is located in the north, wanted to do do something different because they felt that they were not very culturally similar to the South, and there was much less Moorish influence in their history and culture. Gaudi developed his own style hoping that it would catch on and become a distinctive feature of Catalunya, but it never really did, it was too wierd. The only Gaudi-style buildings were those that he himself designed. This morning I toured las Pedreras, an apartment building commissioned by a rich wierd guy who wanted something very different. The building itself is probably not one of Gaudi´s more flamboyant works, but it was still very interesting and I learned a ton about some of his other buildings. His most famous is the Sagrada Familia, a cathedral that remains unfinished, and I hope to go there tomorrow.

I really wish I knew more about art and architecture so I could understand all this art better. I feel it would be much more meaningful if I knew the context behind it.

More updates to come!!

Posted by Amy Holthusen at 08:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

So, it's been a few weeks since I have written about my adventures. I got all moved in to the correct room, went on the excursion with the Willamette group, went through all of the orientations and started classes. There have been a lot of ups and downs, but I am so glad to be here. Our excursion was great. We set off in a 22 passenger van with a guide/driver to travel down south. We went on a boat that took us out to swim with the dolphins in the Indian Ocean. It was so great because we saw a lot of wild dolphins and we hopped in the water to see if they would come over. It seemed like every time we got in they swam in a different direction. Apparently this isn't how it usually works. We were told that about 70% of the time people are able to touch the dolphins and about 40% of the time people can actually play with them. The best part is, the dolphins are in no way coerced. They come over because they are curious and love people. Some dolphins did swim under us and get within about 10 feet of us. Even though we didn't get to touch them, it was still a great experience....

We stopped at a lot of scenic areas along the way and even saw several kangaroos and a group of emus crossing the street. We went to this huge wooden jetty that had glass windows at the end that extended deep into the ocean. We were able to see all of the coral and fish that live under the jetty. It was really beautiful out on the jetty and we were blessed with gorgeous weather. We went on a canoe trip on the Margaret River which was so much fun, but an extreme workout. Once we got to the end, we took a bush hike up to a cave. We also ate kangaroo, emu, bush turkey and lots of wild fruits that grow in the bush. We also climbed up this huge tree to an observation tower and went on a tree top walk. There were huge metal suspension bridges so that we were able to see down through the canopy. The view was spectacular. On our trip we also took a tour through Mammoth cave. We visited a lighthouse and a museum where they used to catch and slaughter whales. We were going constantly from beginning to end for four days, and it was so much fun. I felt like we really got to know each other as a group, and it was great to see some areas of Western Australia that are more rural than Perth. I guess if there was one downside to the trip, it would be that I got sick. I had been travelling for a month, so it was inevitable that I was worn down and going to get sick eventually. I got a really bad sore throat the first night on the excursion and it's almost completely gone now. It was one of those sore throats that makes you want to cry if you have to take a sip of water. So, it makes you feel really far away from home when you think you need to go to the doctor and noone is there to take you. Luckily, I fought it on my own and didn't need to go. Since then, we have had a ton of orientations. We had St. Catherine's Fresher orientation, international student orientation, etc. During all of that, I was frustrated because I felt like we were getting a lot of information but I was stil really lost as to how to enroll and other important processes. Luckily, we asked a lot of questions and got it figured out. After that, we had a lot of free time. I met some great girls from college, some American some Australian and some from other countries like Singapore and Malaysia. We have spent a significant amount of time at Cottesloe beach which is just a short busride away. We've also gone shopping in the city, out to dinner, to pubs and clubs. I've really enjoyed the times that we've gone to pubs, but the club scene is out of control. I seem to get hit on by the sleeziest of guys and they all seem to think that American girls are easy. Anyway, I prefer something a bit tamer.
Classes started yesterday and they are going to be a breeze. For one of my classes, the professor said we have about 80 pages of reading all semester. I almost fell over - I am used to doing 80 pages of reading between each class! So, I'm certainly not worried about school stuff. Some of the classes I'm taking seem interesting. I'm taking a politics class on Parties, Elections and Mass Media in Australia, U.S and U.K. The Prof. is American and I think he and I have very different views on politics in America. I'm taking Aboriginal Ways of Knowing which most of the Willamette students are also taking. It's a revisionist class on history from the Aboriginal perspective. I'm really excited about it. I'm also taking Middle East Economies and the prof is the sweetest old man. I haven't gone to my women's studies class yet, but I'm really looking forward to it. It's called something like Sex, Bodies, Spaces: Gender and Pop Culture. Anyway, classes will give me something to keep me occupied, but I'm not going to overexert myself. I don't know if I've ever spent this much time relaxing in my whole life. I love this laid back life style, and I'm planning on spending my entire semester this way.

Posted by Erica H Morbeck at 07:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)