It's Tuesday of week 2. Yesterday went by really quickly. I guess it's because I only had three classes and then went to bed at 8:30 due to a nasty cold. Hopefully it'll go away soon...

I had a class 1st period this morning, but 20 minutes into the period the room was still empty. It's normal for kids to be late, since there's no built in passing time between classes, but 20 minutes is extreme. Finally, my co-teacher came in and told me that they were taking a class photo or something. It would have been nice if someone told me! On one hand it's nice to have an extra hour off today, but on the other hand, how the heck am I supposed to catch them up to the curriculum? I still haven't truly figured out how serious this school is. Compared to what I'm hearing from other teachers around Thailand, I have a lot more guidance and rules. I definitely appreciate that, but I'm hearing from my co-teachers at my school that there's quite a lot of wiggle room. Do I have to make sure that every single class has grades for each unit, like I was told? It's not my fault if they take away class time for a week or two in a row. Last Wednesday I had no afternoon classes because the students were building krathongs for the holiday. This Wednesday I have no classes. At all. Now they'e two weeks--a whole unit--behind. What do I do about that? Oy..

Anyway. This weekend was pretty spectacular. Even the storm that brought major flooding to my street was a kind of fun, authentic experience. Check it out:

This wasn't even the deepest part of the water

This is the face of unsure positivity. That's the same thumb that got me in the back of this pickup

I made my way to Kanchanaburi where I met up with Katrina, Jade, and Sam; friends from orientation. There were also four boys in our group: Mike x2, Scott, and Seth. The boys were in the other hotel during orientation, so the girls and boys didn't know each other. It ended up working out nicely! The first night we spent at a really charming guesthouse ON the River Kwai. I really mean on--the rooms were on docks. I was oddly lazy about my camera so I don't really have many of my own photos to show. I only brought my 50mm lens with me and I was more focused on living in the moment than capturing it for later. Luckily, everyone else seemed to take a lot of pictures, and one even had a GoPro that caught a lot of footage. Here's a view from our room porch in the morning:

View of the River Kwai from our guesthouse porch in Kanchanaburi

How gorgeous is that?! Our crew went out surprisingly late (for me) on Friday night. The first bar we stumbled in was a really, really awesome reggae bar. I literally didn't even sit down or get a drink or anything for probably about 45 minutes. The live band gestured to the various percussion instruments and microphones and I hesitated not. I even took the liberty of handing out maracas and cowbells to others. It was great fun! We happily ran into two other CIEE/OEG friends, Morgan and Kristen. Here's a video I stole from Sam of everyone loving on each other and singing Country Roads. I, surprisingly, was not on stage at this point in the night:

After the reggae bar, we found ourselves in another bar almost by accident. Katrina and I were looking for some vegetarian noodles (as I've said, it's hard to come by, especially late at night) and finally found a place that would make them. They took at LEAST an hour to bring us our food, so we hung out there for a while. We had fun playing Connect Four and Jenga, with our own There-Are-No-Rules rules. We were also entertained by a very enthusiastic ladyboy with pretty much zero inhibitions. That was fun.

The next morning we woke up pretty early (a little earlier than necessary...boys are bad at getting up in the morning). The plan was to head out to Erawan National Park around 7 or 7:30. Yeahhhh we didn't end up catching a bus there until 10:30 and we got in close to noon. Not to worry! We climbed to I think five or six tiers of breathtaking waterfalls. The water was so incredibly clear. And so incredibly full of fish. If any of you know me well enough, you'll know that I am stupidly terrified of fish. I can look at them and then can be far away, but they sure as hell better not touch me. And these fish were huge. And the ones that weren't huge were the ones that sucked on your feet. No. Thanks. But I ended up facing my fear and getting in the water via the most direct way to a giant rock I could stand on. Friends are awesome and made big splashes to scare the fish away before my entrance. Bless them. I ended up taking a couple jumps off the rock! I'm so glad I did. Thanks, friends, for helping me face my fear and allowing myself to have fun :)

Tier 1 waterfall

FISH. Even just looking at this picture makes my heart rate go up

We found a spot at another waterfall where we sat atop the falls (fish free!) and even set up a hammock! That was awesome. Good call Mr. Spielman on the hammock. Here are six of the eight of us sitting on said ledge:

New friends at Erawan National Park.
Photo by Scott Moll, stolen from Seth Berry

That night we camped out in the park! I'm really glad I brought my own Thermarest, I heard the mattresses the others rented weren't so great. We had a lovely view of the lake, despite the tents practically being on top of each other. Not a whole lot of privacy. I spent a while (definitely over an hour) reading to the crew. That was awesome! I read Ishmael by Daniel Quinn and The Name of the Wind obbbbviously by my boy Patrick Rothfuss. Please read these books if you haven't already. Please. Pretty please. I actually bought copies of Pat Rothfuss' books to send and lend to my friends (that is awesome rhyming right there). I'm sending The Name of the Wind to its first recipient today! Hopefully it makes it to Northern Thailand okay. If you want to be on my loaner list, let me know :)

The school day is coming to a close soon and I think I'm going to take it really easy again tonight. Stupid cold. Maybe try out my new blender and see if I have any smoothie skills. 

Until next time, friends.

Week 1: Conquered

Woo! It's Friday of my first week on the job and I only have two classes left today. I think I can safely say that I DID IT! I mostly have no idea what I'm doing, but I'm feeling more comfortable just winging it and feeling out each class. The abilities are verrrrrry mixed within each grade and each class. It's tough. Yesterday, I had a minor freak out when I walked into one of my classes. Written on the board was basically the exact same lesson that I had planned for that class. They had just done it with one of the other (Thai) English teachers. Uhhhh.... I went to my coordinator in a minor panic and he told me to just work on speaking, listening, and pronunciation. I had to wing it but it actually worked out! I wish I could meet with all the teachers (I guess we have meetings during the last period on Mondays) and figure out who is doing what. Telling me my unit is "jobs" doesn't really tell me a whole lot about how to work in tandem with their other lessons.

Ooh, I had one class earlier in the week and I was, once again, kind of freaking out because I had no idea what to do with them. I had just learned that I need to teach something other than what I had prepared for. They actually ended up being my favorite class! So clever, quiet, respectful, and fun. And obviously adorable. The topic was jobs, and at the end of class I had each of them stand up and say what they wanted to be when they grew up. I'm not sure how many of them just said something easy and how many were truthful, but all the same, I'm proud of their reportings! A lot of the doctor and engineer responses were from girls (as was ambassador!)

7th grade career ambitions

On Tuesday I showed up to marching band rehearsal. The band teacher who sort of speaks English wasn't there, so it was a bit of a challenge with the other teacher. I thought I would just watch or help with visuals, but it ends up that Tuesday was just a music day. And there is no woodwinds teacher. So I ended up leading the saxophone section rehearsal. Whaaaaat. I'm not really that good at saxophone and the language barrier was hard. But, nonetheless, I had them do some nitty-gritty rehearsal of half a Sousa march. It was kind of fun but also intimidating!

Marching band saxophone section at the end of our rehearsal

This week I hosted my first Couch Surfer in my new apartment! His name is Alan and he's from the Ukraine (though he's been on the road for 4 years). He stayed for three nights. Apparently my couch isn't actually all that comfortable. Whoops. Luckily he'll be in Bangkok for a while (a month, maybe?) and he's on a budget, so he didn't mind that I've been really low-key. I'm getting a lotttttt of Couch Requests... We'll see how many people I actually host. I want to help out but I also don't want to deplete my resources. Couch Surfing is not about being a mooch and I'm scared that some people see it that way.

Full moon on Loy Krathong

Last night was Loy Krathong, a festival of lights (of sorts) celebrating and giving thanks to the water spirits. Traditionally, you make a wish as you cast your krathong, which is a decorative floating "basket" of sorts with lights and candles. It falls on the full moon of the 12th month of the traditional Thai calendar. I went to the riverfront in Bangkok with Alan and my fellow teacher friend, Cassie. She's also here through the same program, but she's teaching at a kindergarten in the city.

Me and Cassie with our krathongs

To be completely honest, the whole experience was a little underwhelming, but I'm glad I did it. I was really special to cast off my own krathong and take part in a special celebration. There were a few performances but mostly just crowds. By 8:30 I was ready to go home and so I did. Though once home, I was able to see floating lanterns and fireworks from my balcony! Next time I'm in Thailand for Loy Krathong I'll have to go to Chiang Mai to be among the thousands of floating lanterns. That looks incredible. Here are a few of my favorite photos from the festivities:

Cassie casting her krathong into the river

Sharing my flame with a krathong that was actually a pastry

My krathong is lowered into the river and catches up with its friends

Today after work I'm heading to Kanchanaburi! I think it'll be my third time there. A bunch of CIEE/OEG participants are meeting up to spend the weekend in nature. We'll go to the waterfalls and hopefully caves and go ziplining! There may also be a night of camping involved. Katrina and I are going together and I'm excited :D I hope I get a chance to sleep in a little bit. I've been waking up around 5:50 am every day. Yuck. Though I have a feeling it's going to be difficult to stay awake past 10:30 pm. We shall see. A relaxing weekend sounds good, but I'm definitely excited to be surrounded by the gorgeous landscapes and a wonderful friend!

A lot of down time

        So, I'm in Thailand now. I'm sitting at my desk at the Rattanankosinsomphod Bangkhunthian School. Or RST. It's my first day as an English teacher here and so far so good. Despite my long hours (7:15 am - 4:30 pm), I'm only actually teaching three 55 minute classes today. I teach four classes each day except for Mondays. The rest of the time is spent sitting at my desk, getting lunch, or maybe walking around the campus a bit. I'm sure as the semester goes on I'll have to be at my desk more so students can come to me if they have questions or need help. I'm going to tryyyyy to not be on the internet as much, as that would be a real waste of time. Getting ahead on lesson plans, practicing Thai, interacting with students, and reading sound like better ways to spend my time. I might have to start using the SelfControl MacBook app (it blacklists certain websites for a set amount of time). Though maybe this all means that I'll actually start writing here once again!

        I taught my first class at 9:05, and I'm about to leave for my second (at 12:45). The first class had 38 students, grade 10. They were pretty decent! I did an introduction activity so they could learn about me and I can see their basic grammatical abilities as well as how confident they are to speak. They're really adorable and I loved them! My biggest complaint was the noise level, but it's hard to control a class of 38 students, especially when I don't know how strict their other/previous teachers are. My class asked me what kind of music I like, and I ended up telling them that I sing. At the end of class I said if no one was talking by the time I counted to three, then I would sing the American national anthem. I did. They loved it. I sang again for my third class and they too erupted in applause.

        I have 19 classes each week, which you may have figured out by my numbers in the previous paragraph. I teach year 7 and year 10 fundamentals. Each class only meets once a week. I'm a little nervous for this for a couple of reasons. Firstly, how are they supposed to learn and practice English if they only have 55 minutes of combined instruction and practice each week? I need to somehow get them practicing outside class. I would love to find them pen pals in the US.... Secondly, I'm hoping I don't get bored teaching the same thing over and over and over again each week. I also feel bad for Monday's classes, they're kind of the lesson plan guinea pigs. By the time I get to Friday I bet I'll have them down pretty solid.


        I just finished teaching my third and final class of the day. Yikes. The students are sweet and lively, but the levels are kind of mixed and the classes are so big. I do, however, feel lots of love from them and that feels nice.

        Ooh there's a marching band here! And a cheerleading team! I want to get involved in both!! I'll talk to my coordinator, Willy, and see how we can get the ball rolling with that. I think that'd really enrich my experience here.

        As for my living situation, my apartment is really nice. It'd be nicer if it had a kitchen, though. I bought a blender and an electric kettle so that'll have to do for now. I don't quite have the budget for a hotplate or toaster oven just yet. I'm shocked at how hard it is to be a vegetarian here. One of the precepts of Buddhism is "don't kill." Oddly enough, this translates usually to "don't eat anything that someone has killed specifically for you." So if it was killed for anyone in general to it, it's fair game (pardon the pun). It's even the Vegetarian Festival and I'm still seeing a LOT of meat and not a whole lot of anything else. Luckily my coordinator is also a vegetarian and he'll help point me in the right direction. So far I've been eating a lot of fruit and noodles whenever I can find some without meat. 

        I have some pictures of my apartment but they're from when I just moved in. It looks a lot more homey now :) I have plates and mugs in the display cabinet, speakers on my desk (definitely wasn't surviving long without a subwoofer and decent sound...) and little postcards and such on the walls.

Oh hey! Send me a postcard!!! I want to decorate my walls with them. My address is:

Jemma Stember-Young
Apt #801
51 Soi Rama II Soi 69 Yak 3 Samaedam
Bangkhunthian, Bangkok 10150
Thailand

Okay this is a really long post. Oops. I guess that happens.

Negev Desert, Israel

Asi River - Nir David kibbutz, Israel

Aliyah and Omry's wedding - Haifa, Israel

As we can see, I've been pretty awful about keeping this up to date. It's really a shame, I love going back through my journals and posts and reading about exactly what I did and how awesome it was. I failed to write about my entire European adventure last year, as well as my time staffing my Birthright trip. Maybe I should just post a bunch of pictures and let them do the talking. I'm having a terrible time putting them in chronological order (or really any order at all)...so they're not. The summer of 2013 went Portugal, Rome, Sardinia, Corsica, Saorge, Switzerland. Then Israel (May-June 2014).

French Alpes

Sunrise on Masada, Israel

Shavuot celebration with the Freifeld family - Ashdod, Israel

Belem Tower - Lisbon, Portugal

Sardinia, Italy

Theodore at The Vatican - Vatican City

Fete de Geneve - Geneva, Switzerland

Saorge, France

Sardinia, Italy

Beautiful crown made by Angelo

Berne, Switzerland

Saorge, France

Western most point of Europe - Cabo da Roca, Portugal

Sardinia, Italy

Rome, Italy

Corsica

Oops... Oh well

So it looks like I totally fell off the face of the earth when it came to documenting the rest of my Israeli adventures. I also didn't write a single thing about living in Lisbon and traveling to Rome, Sardinia, Corsica, Saorge (France), and then back to Lisbon/Tel Aviv! Maybe I'll give some recaps and pictures at a later date. For now I'm preparing to STAFF a Birthright trip in just two short days! I'm excited and I definitely hope I can keep up with the posts. Maybe it'll be helpful for other future staff members!

Until then :)

June 9, 2013

So I'm behind on posts, and I'm really tired so...can't guarantee that this will be very good.

On Wednesday, we spent all day (11 am-10+ pm) at a mega event for all Birthright groups currently in Israel. It started off really fun and I was really into it, but then it got so hot and the day just seemed super long. Shockingly, I didn't complain! I actually had a pretty good time. I represented our group on the volleyball, basketball, and soccer teams. I also climbed a rock wall, shot a paintball gun, did Zumba, and kicked ass at various army training activities such as monkey bars, parallel bars, and doing those jumping in and out of tires thing. The day ended with a little ceremony of sorts and some music. The ceremony was meh, but there was actually pretty awesome live music that we missed because we hit the road. I was happy to leave, but that would have been awesome! Oh, I brought my hoop with me because I thought it could potentially give my team some extra spirit points (a real thing). A girl discovered me hooping and it turns out she's been hooping for six years...and she's from New York...and we have a few mutual Burning Man friends from the city! Of course, right? At the end of the day I met another hooper girl and she was super good.

Yesterday was an interesting day... we finally went to Tel Aviv, but honestly we weren't there long and didn't do much. I'm DEFINITELY glad to be returning for a weekend in August! The gay pride parade was going on, which we didn't see, though we certainly saw a lot of eccentric people and lots of rainbow flags. We went to Robin Square and then did an activity called "Our Street." We were broken up into groups and had scavenger hunts. Our theme was graffiti. We went around to specific graffiti and had to ask passers-by about their opinions on political statements and blah blah blah. Honestly I wasn't paying much attention. I thought it was unfortunate that we had to go from point A to point B and not discover things on our own. Most people were looking at the ground or talking with each other instead of looking around and exploring. One part that I really enjoyed was our last assignment for the scavenger hunt. We had to tape up a piece of paper, write an issue in the middle, and ask 15 people to write their opinions/draw/whatever on it. It seemed appropriate to choose "gay marriage." I actually really like the way it came out! I have lots of pictures. I love that it's in English and in Hebrew and even has a few little pictures.

After that we were on our own for lunch--only 30 minutes. A lot of people on this trip are really bad about being on time, so we were late to our next activity. I'm talking 40 minutes late. Ridiculous! I managed to find some cheap Brooklyn pizza only two blocks from our meeting spot so I decided that would be delicious. And it was. We then walked about a block (or less) to Independence Hall, where we learned about Israel becoming an independent state. Pretty cool.

After, we went back to the hotel and got ready for our Shabbat "service"/dinner. Let's just say two people were not in an appropriate state for Shabbat and will be sent home from the trip early. That's all I'll say about that... So that definitely caused drama within the group. I ended up hanging out with everyone at night in a room for the first time since I got here! I didn't drink or anything but it was still fun to hang out.

Today I got to sleep in! It's sad when sleeping in is 8:30. Breakfast at 9, thennnnn beach at 10!! My first time in the Mediterranean Sea :) I wanted to go in the water but there were fish and I don't do that... I was happy to lie around and hoop a bit! We were only there for two hours. Now I'm back at the hotel, it's 4 pm, and I've got another two and a half hours before we meet for an "activity." No idea what we're doing. I'm really glad I've gotten to hang out by the pool and relax today. A nap would be great... Maybe I'll do that right now! Tonight we're going out so I'm sure I'll want to rest up.

June 4, 2013

So I've been on the go since noon on Sunday, June 2nd. Tons of traffic on the way to JFK, I ended up getting there an hour after the meeting time. Whoops. Though it wasn't bad because the leaders of the group built in a big cushion for things like that. Blah blah blah, boarded a flight to Vienna and was stuck in a middle seat between an Austrian mother and her son. Not only did they talk to each other every now and then, but they both managed to spill into my tiny little seat. I have never been so uncomfortable on a flight before. I managed to sleep maybe two hours of the seven. Yuck. Our flight from Vienna to Tel Aviv was delayed about three hours, which was a little annoying. Luckily, this time I had a window seat and slept literally the entire four hour flight.

Once we got out of the Tel Aviv airport, I exchanged some money and then we had to drive yet another two hours to our hotel in Tiberius. I went to sleep immediately (midnight) but some people in our 40 person group stayed up drinking until 4:30. Pretty stupid, if you ask me. So this morning we were up at 6:30 (not enough sleep!), had a breakfast at 7, a little chat with the director of Yael Adventures, and were on the bus by 8. We went hiking for maybe two hours and it was super beautiful. I forget the name but I'll be back with it later...if I remember to do so. I brought my hoop in case of an awesome photo op on a mountain, but I might save that for later (especially the sunrise hike!).

Next we went to Tzfat and got lunch and shopped around. I bought a really beautiful (c)hamsa necklace, which is the only thing I will be purchasing in Israel that is not a meal. We went into two temples, but honestly it just reminded me of going into so many different wats in SE Asia. Starts to get tiresome... We went to a place called Ascent where we did an activity with biblical text and relating it to modern day issues. We then returned to the hotel, where I was able to shower, take a small nap, then eat dinner! We had a discussion about different aspects of Judaism and how we rank their importance in our personal and collective Jewish lives.

Now I'm desperately trying to go to sleep! It's nearly 11 pm and I'm once again waking up at 6:30. Tomorrow we have another hike and will be kayaking in the Jordan River! Hopefully I'll start posting pictures tomorrow, as it gets a little intimidating when they all accumulate.

September 5, 2011

Last day of my trip. We walked along the Thames and saw some cute things. After that we met up with Matt one last time for lunch. From there we collected our bags and made our way to Heathrow via the tube. It took a while but I fell asleep a few times. Ummm we had quite a hike to our gate, but when I got there I of course saw a rando wearing some Charter Club gear. I go to Europe for two weeks and I meet up with eight Princeton people on purpose, and one accidentally. What the heck?

Our flight was a little delayed but fiiinally we got moving. I watched two movies then passed out for basically the remainder of the eight hour flight. THUS ENDING MY TRIP. So sad to be home...classes now start TOMORROW and I'm totally not in the right mindset. Can't I just travel forever?

September 4, 2011

On Sunday my dad and I made our way to Reading, which was about a 30 minute train ride. There we had a little indoor barbecue (stupid weather!) and I met some family for the first time. I met my grandfather's sister, her daughter, her husband, their son, and his son! Four generations right there. It was really lovely :) They had a springer spaniel (although Welsh, not English like Yodie) and she was cute as well, of course.

Straight from Reading we went back into London and went to my uncle's house for dinner with Matt. I hadn't seen him in a few years so that was good...even though he's a complete pain in the ass. Whoops.

Passed out around midnightish back at the room. Yikes!

September 3, 2011

Well, Saturday had a bit of late start since I was pretty hungover. I was lucky enough to get to meet up with Dave Ralston, a former counselor at Camp Mason! I hadn't seen him in 7 years (seem to be the theme, huh?) We met up for some dranky dranks from about 3-6ish. Then I met up with Lucy, my PU Band friend, at Big Ben. We walked around for a little bit and took a last look around. We ended up meeting up with Chris, an Oxford student who spent the year at Princeton and in the band :) It was brief, as he was waiting in line with some friends for the London Eye. I was not about to spend £18 on that (it's a large, super low moving Ferris wheel).

It started getting cold, so we took a scenic bus ride back to my room so I could get changed. Then we headed off to meet Graham, another former camp counselor! We went to three different bars and had a grand ol' time. We ended up hanging out in one of them after-hours with the two bartenders. Super fun but poor Lucy had a little too much. Graham was a little schwastyface, too. Whooops!

September 2, 2011

I'm guessing these next few posts will be rather brief since so much time has elapsed...whoops.

Hmm let's refer back to my photos to see what Friday had in store for me..

Oh yes! My dad and I walked around London for quite a while. After sitting next to an Australian couple from Canberra (Isaacs, even--where my grandma lives!), we saw the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. It was actually pretty difficult to see anything due to crowds, but I most definitely heard the band playing :) Hilariously enough a lot of them were Frank Sinatra songs. From there we went to the Horse Guards and of course took some silly photos. One of them mumbled to me through his teeth saying, "I wanted to say you're gorgeous". Wowwy, thaaaaanks! The dude looked about 18 haha. Bad boy for talking :P We walked around the Mall and yada yada. We saw St. Paul's and St Martin In The Fields, where we went for tea in the crypt.

We met up with Matt in Shoreditch for some dinner, then I went to Matt's flat to hang out and pregame before going out. We went to two places, ultimately ending up at a gay bar (of course). It was a pretty wild night, actually. Passed the eff out as soon as I got back to the flat (which was around 3:30 or so)

September 1, 2011

Ewww, September. Cold weather (which is new at home, at least), school, and blehh.


Today was yet another somewhat uneventful day. I left Matt's flat around 11:30 to meet my dad at the hotel that he booked. The two of us went to Piccadilly Circus, Carnaby Street, Westminster Abbey, Westminster Bridge, and took a peek in the National Gallery. I know it sounds like a lot but it was mostly just walking around for a while. My dad is jet-lagged and generally exhausted from traveling...so he's basically been sleeping since 5 pm (it's 10:11 right now). I was supposed to go to some sort of gallery walk with Matt tonight with free alchy, but that was canceled for some unknown reason :[ So only about 3-4 hours of my day were actually spent doing things.

I feel so isolated in this random hotel! I want to be in the middle of the action, meeting people and going out for drinks and such. Hopefully tomorrow night will be fun? I'm planning on seeing some friends on Saturday and I'm looking forward to that. There's supposedly a bar here in the hotel but hotels are used by families and old people.

This stupid hotel has the nerve to charge £10/day for WiFi. What the effffffff. So I'm here on the lobby computer. It's free but it'd be nice to have my own computer...upload photos, use my own crap, whatever.

I've also only had one meal today. I'm not incredibly hungry but I know it'll hit soon. I don't want to go to bed quite yet because it's still pretty early, plus I took a nap for about two and a half hours. Whoops. Maybe I'll bring my backpack down here and sew on a patch or two. And read? Ughhhhhh so bored! :[


***

Okay so now it's 12:26 and I realize that this computer's time is stuck on 10:11...so I'm not actually sure when I wrote that first bit. Couldn't have been too far off, I suppose. I just went out to Piccadilly Circus with my dad for some food. There we met a Canadian couple sitting next to us and had a bit of a nice chat. I'm reeeally hoping I can see Les Mis while I'm here.

August 31, 2011

Well, waking up at 7:15 this morning was easier than I thought it'd be. Making my way to Gare du Nord was pretty simple, only one quick transfer on the metro. I took the Eurostar high-speed train for the first time to London. I slept pretty much the entire ride. Luckily no one sat in the seat next to me so I was able to spread myself across two seats. Win.

I got to London and met up with my cousin Matt. I was able to drop my bag in his office woooo. I then got the idea to fill my extra day with a West End musical! I took the bus to the half price tickets booth and got a ticket for the only musical matinee of the day: "We Will Rock You". I had never heard of it (rightfully so, it's not in New York). I went back to Matt and got lunch with him. That was nice. Then back to the theater! Honestly the show was ehhhhhh. The dancing was great, the singing was great...but the story was SUCK and the choreography was meh. Not something I'd see again...but at least I saw something I can't catch at home.

Now I'm back with Matt in his flat..we ate dinner, watched the news, and shared many a YouTube video. I'm pretty sleepy.

August 30, 2011

Today was another low-key day but I enjoyed it! Honestly not really much to say about it at all. I tried to go to a CouchSurfing picnic in some obscure little park...took the bus and wasn't really able to find it. But not to worry, I made my way to Jardin du Luxembourg and it was really pretty. I got some lunch and ate it there, then proceeded to lounge in a chair for nearly two and a half hours. The sun was so nice!

I then took another bus then a metro to Boulevard de Clichy--the Red Light district. I wanted to see the Moulin Rouge, even if just from the outside. That took about two seconds, so I continued my way to Sacre Coeur. On my way, a guy outside of some sex show asked me (in French) if I was looking for work....uhh no thanks!

Sacre Coeur was nice. I ended up juggling a soccer ball with a bunch of people for maybe a half hour? I seriously was just enjoying the sun and was in no rush to get back. I ended up eating a yummy dinner with Devan's parents before meeting Quentin, Bluey, Elodie, and Scott for a drink in the Marais.

Now I'm back at the apartment and stupidly have to wake up at 7:30 am. I booked my train to London a day early....now I'm going to be all alone for an entire day, as my dad arrives on Thursday :[[ I'm hoping to meet someone on the train or in the train stations or at leeeast shortly after arriving. Blah!

August 29, 2011

I think I could get used to living in Paris...just saying (ignoring the fact that the US Dollar totally SUCKS). I seriously want to try to work in a hostel next summer or at Disneyland Paris!

Today Devan and I walked to the Eiffel Tower again, where we made a new friend! I met Claire, 24, from Australia when she asked me to take a photo of her in front of the tower. We started chatting and, realizing that we were both traveling alone, decided to pair up for the day. We walked around quite a bit, unsuccessfully visiting both the fashion museum and the museum of modern art. We stopped at a cafe for lunch which was pretty nice. We really just ended up hanging out in front of the Eiffel Tower all day. The sun FINALLY came out here and there and it was nice for a bit! We saw this Michael Jackson dance group at one point and it was pretty good. I miss dancing :[ I joined them for Thriller hahah. I stopped off at the apartment to grab a jacket (I'm definitely going to miss borrowing that tomorrow and once I get to London..) then headed to her hostel to grab hers. We then went to an Irish pub for a drink.


The two of us met Valentin for dinner near his apartment. Super yummy food! We then went out for wine and cheese. So French! I took a somewhat amusing video on the hunt for cheese. Now I'm back in Devan's apartment and ready for bed!

August 28, 2011

Geez, I have to look through my photos to remember what I've been doing these past two days!


Yesterday I woke up and walked down the street a bit with Devan and her dad to buy a chicken and some breakfast items (croissants mmm). After a delish brekkie, Dev and I went to Parc des Buttes-Chaumont and met Quentin, Bluey, Scott, Gracie, and some others for a picnic! It was super cute and French. After that we were pretty tired and came back for a nap. I ended up sleeping nearly three hours, whoooops! Yet another scrumptious dinner ensued before taking a walk on the Champs-Élysées. I saw the Eiffel Tower sparkle on the hour from the Trocadéro, which I hadn't seen before :) I came back to the apartment but at 11 pm I got in touch with Valentin and we ended up meeting for a drink! I hadn't seen him in SEVEN years. Good ol' Camp Mason.

So overall it was a pretty low-key day but I'm more than happy to just relax and enjoy the mere feeling of being in Paris again.

August 27, 2011

Meeeeep! I woke up super, suuuuper tired this morning and possibly still a little drunk. 7:30 is not a fun time to wake up after a long night out. Luckily all of my stuff was ready to go and leaving Sara's apartment was quick and easy. I really had a great time with her :)

I managed to find my way to the Eurolines stop without any hassle! Go me. I slept almost the entire four-hour trip. I made a friend as I left the bus, Jed, from Australia. We kept each other company as we got confused about the station. We wandered around like idiots for about an hour (although I FINALLY got to put credit on my phone and he found some WiFi in McDonald's) and then we were on our way to our respective destinations.

I'm staying with Devan and her parents in the 16th quarter. Super beautiful! The apartment is magnificent. I have my own little room. I took it pretty easy today; showering, washing clothes, and doing things of the like. We had a really nice dinner and then Devan and I met up with my friend Quentin and some of his friends for some drinks. I met Quentin last summer in New York! It was such an international group of people: me from the US, Devan from Canada, Quentin from France, Gracie from England, Bluey from Australia, Scott from Zimbabwe, and some other randos showed up from Italy. Crazy! I had a really good time with them. They were all continuing on to a gay club that Devan and I didn't feel entirely up to. I was hoping to meet up with my new Aussie friend Jed but for some reason or another he didn't respond to my last text. Oh well!

Tomorrow we're planning a picnic! That should be nice. The weather is supposed to be warmer (but still cold!!) and sunny. Hooray! I'm not really looking to do touristy things while I'm here--I did that stuff in 2004. I'm sure there are some things I'd like to see and didn't get the chance to, but for the most part I'm happy just to walk around.

Also I seriously packed for the summer. I even checked the weather before I left! It's so cold here--it's definitely Fall weather. I feel dumb for not having my cute Fall clothes with me. Siiiiigh. Oh well. I'll just wear jeans every day....




Sidenote: The amount of unread items on my Google Reader is frightening.

August 26, 2011

What a long day yesterday was!

I woke up at 7:20, made sure I had all of my stuff together, then hopped on the tram to the Eurolines office. Well...ends up the office =/= where the buses go out of. Should've realized that before but the website was pretty ambiguous. Dumb. I ended up having to take the 10 am bus once I got to the correct site, but that wasn't so bad. I slept for a bit on the bus and got to Brussels around 2 pm. I managed to find my way to Sara's apartment. Sara's a CouchSurfer whom I contacted a few weeks ago about meeting up. She was super awesome about letting me stay the night so last-minute.

Unfortunately, Sara had to give a presentation that she was supposed to do the day before, so she was unable to show me around the city. Althoughhhhhh this other CouchSurfer was in town and she arranged for us to meet. His name is Fernando and he was with his Belgian friend, Bruno. The three of us walked around a liiiittle bit (honestly didn't see too much of the city, apart from one area and what I saw on the bus) and got some drinks.

Later, Sara, Fernando, and I went to her friend's apartment for a bit of a pregame. Then it was off to a local bar! There was a funk DJ and that was pretty fun. I got to try some Belgian beers that aren't available in the US. Not bad at all! We ended up moving on to another bar. There miiiight have been some felafel in the mix :]
I think we got back to her apartment at 3:30 am or something. Which sucked because I only got about 3 and a half hour of sleep or so.



So although I didn't really see much of the city, it was definitely fun to meet local people and make friends. I'm sure I'll be back in Europe again and I'll have more time to really see Brussels.

August 25, 2011

Ahh, must write this quickly..I'm waking up at 7:20 tomorrow morning!!

Let's seeeeee. Today Judith took the day off from work :) We managed to get out of the apartment by noon, which isn't so bad. I rode on the back of her bike, just above the back wheel. I'm basically a total pro at hopping on, now. I remember the first time I sat on a bike like that...I was scared completely shitless in the middle of New York City at night. Ahh! Luckily I feel very safe on a bike in Amsterdam and I've learned that it's actually pretty easy to not fall off.

We got into the center of the city and topped off the credit on Wouter's phone (he is AWESOME for letting me borrow it these last two days--bless his little heart), then got some fruit to eat on a bench. We went to the Cat Boat!!!! We're kind of joking about being suuuper excited for it--like it's the highlight of the trip. But actually of course it was awesome. Just a bunch of stray cats on a houseboat. Awesome! Meow. We then went for a touristy boat tour. Very pretty!


After that we stopped at a little cafe along the canal and had some wine. Judith unfortunately wasn't feeling too hot so I ended up at the Anne Frank house alone. I managed not to shed any tears but it was pretty heavy stuff. I actually ran into Allan as I was leaving. I didn't get to see the guys again (besides that, obviously) but I'll see 'em in a few weeks on campus, duhhhh. When I was done with the Anne Frank House, Judith decided to head back to the apartment :[ Wouter took me around a bit and we grabbed some dinner on the way home.


I'm now about to make sure that I'm completely packed up before I go to Brussels in the morning! I decided to stay a night. It doesn't make sense to rush around and then get to Paris at a sketchy hour of the night. I'd rather not waste day time and leave early in the morning for Paris on Saturday :)

August 24, 2011

If we haven't noticed by now, the dates in the titles reflect the day I'm writing about!

Hmmm yesterday..let's see. I woke up to a cute message on the white board from Judith telling me to have a great day. Too cute. I got to borrow Judith's bike and that was pretty cool. Although scary..Needless to say, I got lost trying to get into the center of the city. Nothing too bad but still a little stressful. I was looking for the Van Gogh museum but ended up at the Rijksmuseum instead. Not to worry! I had a nice time looking at all of the really historical Dutch paintings and artifacts. I then managed to get in contact with the HCrew boys: Chris, Alex, Gustav, Allan, and Turner. We all met up at the Van Gogh museum, which ended up being just down the block.

Then we headed over to the Heineken place. They don't actually brew the beer there anymore, but it's been turned into a bit of a museum/"experience" (as they call it.) The boys managed to get free tickets from some ridiculous connection through some Princeton frosh. His mom controls the shares of Heineken or something crazy like that. We saw her in some pictures and videos which was pretty amusing. They also managed to swindle some more beer token things (everyone has two to use at the end). Win.

I headed back to their hotel (they called it a hostel but it really wasn't) with them for a bit before checking out the Red Light district. It was definitely something to see all of the prostitutes in their little windows and the red lights. Bangkok has hookers and wild shows but Amsterdam is just a little different. Got some dinner and dranky dranks. There also might have been some sketchy things that my eyeballs witnessed but let's not go there. It was an early night and everything was really said and done by 1 am.

Here's a miracle and a half: I managed to bike my way back to Judith and Wouter's apartment without getting seriously lost. I only missed one little turn (by one block) and stopped to make sure I was on the right path ermmm twice. Not bad, considering how freaking confusing Amsterdam is. The roads loop and bend and nothing is clearly marked. Also I literally have the worst sense of direction. Fun times were had. I'm glad I got to meet up with the boys so I didn't have to spend the day all by my lonesome. I do feel kind of bad for crashing their brofest, though (I mean they had already been together for like twelve days or something but still).



As always, refer to my albums on Facebook for details through photographs.