It seems as if everywhere I turn, there’s a new piece of fascinating history staring me in the face, or just a tram stop away. There are so many things that I want to do here in this great city, and only 6 weeks in which to do it all– an overwhelming thought! On the bright side, I have to realize how lucky I am to be able to live and breathe in the culture of such a beautiful and historically-rich place. The music-culture here is also almost palpable in the air.
“Americans only know Germans for three things: 1. Traditional Bavaria-esque things (i.e. lederhosen, beer, and Oktoberfest), 2. Hitler, and 3. the Berlin Wall.” I’ve heard this statement now twice whilst I’ve been here (there have been other references to American stereotypes of Germans, but this exact phrasing – twice). Once was from a German friend of mine who swims on the Schöneberg Masters Swim Team with me and the other, was from one of my Professors.
After a few months of frequent trips outside of the Netherlands, I was ready to relax in and enjoy Amsterdam without having to readjust again. This is the city I grew to love, and when I love something, I want to share it with people close to my heart. So, I was incredibly excited to show a visiting friend my favorite spots as well as explore new activities and areas with him. He had recently finished his spring semester in Madrid with IES Abroad.
On Packing: the Wet Season
Hola amigos! Welcome to my summer blog, documenting my month-long adventure in San Jose, Costa Rica.
After many hours of reading various lists, blogs, and how-to guides with names like “Costa Rica in 10 steps,” I finally managed to finish packing for a month in the tropics. A month can be a strange length of time to pack for—is it short? Is it long? How many socks do you pack?— and I am a notorious over-packer, so my goal this trip was to keep my belongings light and easy to keep track of.
I have been back in the U.S. for a few days now. My appetite is still trying to adjust to the conventional American meal times and my sleep schedule is a few days away from being back on track. Nonetheless, my body is smoothly and progressively acclimating to America, but my heart and my mind are having trouble keeping up.
These past weeks have rushed by as I’ve been hard at work attempting to remain afloat with all this school work weighing me down. No worries though, I’m still finding time to enjoy everything Sydney has to offer.
Watching a show in the Opera House is a must while in Sydney and because my last show was technically under the Opera House in a theater, this time I made sure to get into the main concert hall. It was so beautiful! I listened to the Sydney Symphony Orchestra perform Strictly Luhrmann. It was music from the movies of Baz Luhrmann, which included The Great Gatsby, Moulin Rouge, Strictly Ballroom, Romeo&Juliet, and Australia. The orchestra was amazing and the sound was so pure.
The second half of the week my mom joined us in Queenstown. We took the gondola in Queenstown up to the amazing view and I did the luge ride up there. The luge was fun, but not really worth the full price if you don’t get discount tickets online. After Queenstown, we drove around the lake to Glenorchy and Paradise. They were absolutely breathtaking. If you go, make sure you pull off the road for pictures at scenic spots. One of my favorite parts of the trip was going horseback riding in Glenorchy.
Many moons ago, I applied on a last-minute whim to be the blogger for my IES Abroad program and was chosen. While that was and is very exciting, I also believe I said that I would be including some poetry in this blog (okay, fine..I definitely know I said that), and I know that that hasn’t happened..so shame on me. And while I found Siena incredibly inspiring for poetry, I never wanted to actually sit down and write a poem, because I would have rather been actually living my life outside in Siena than inside writing about it.