Quick trip to Texas

Originally I had intended to use my blog for more than just traveling; that clearly hasn't worked thus far.  To continue with my travel blog it would only be fitting to write about my recent trip to Texas.

As I had to explain to many people, I do research with the College of Ed designing biology curriculum for 5th, 7th and 9th grade genetics units.  One of the school districts we work with is in Cedar Hill, Texas and we are hosting an event where the national level senator as well as many other politicians come to see the 5th grade work showcased.

Simplified version: I was in Texas for a work trip.

As an undergrad I didn't expect to travel with my job, or at least not anywhere farther than East Lansing Schools.  Everyone on the project was flown down to Texas for PD in the summer but I had a minor schedule conflict of being on a different continent.  After a similar event of hosting Senator Stabenow at a school in East Lansing, the Dean of the College of Ed offered to pay for 4 people to go to Texas for the senator visit there.

I was exchanging e-mails with my boss about a letter of rec when she told me to call her since I was still awake.  It was 11:30pm and I was getting ready for bed so I was offered a spot on the trip to Texas while I was standing in my bathroom attempting to continue my nighttime routine one-handed.  After getting permission to fly out separate on Monday morning (my birthday was on that Sunday and I already had plans) I was good to go to Texas!

Sunrise at Detroit Metro Airport

I landed in Texas at 10am local time and was picked up by the 2 people that had flown in the day before.  I had had layovers at two different airports in Texas but had never actually been to Texas.  I stepped out of the airport to sunshine and 70's; much different from the 3 degrees it was when I left Michigan.

I have a habit of spreading out, not helped by having my own room.

I spent most of the time I was there at the various schools we work with but did have time for wonderful food including Cajun, Chic-fil-a, and authentic Mexican.  We even had a chance to go shopping the first afternoon I was there and I bought a dress.  It's much easier to buy dresses when you have some hope of wearing them in that weather (and when your per-diam is $71 a day and there was no way you are spending that much on food).

Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson talking at the school

The event at the school was Wednesday morning.  Everything went great!  The students did a great job of explaining what they were learning and interacting with the guest.  It was a bit interesting to be thrown into the politics of Texas but there is nothing wrong with interesting I guess.

The students explaining their work to the guests

Our flight wasn't until Wednesday evening so we went to a mall in Dallas where they had an indoor ice rink.  I finally got ice cream which I had been wanting all trip (again, easier when it's in the mid 60's than below 0).

Ice rink in a Dallas Mall

The only downfall of all of this was I had a cold that started Monday morning when I left and continued my entire trip.  Anyone who has flown knows there is always one person around you that you get kinda annoyed with and that person was me this time.  For the flight back I had at stolen the box of tissues from the hotel so I'm sure the guy sitting next to me loved that (and let me tell you; heavenly soft tissues are neither heavenly or soft).

This trip brought my state count up to 33!  I think I'm doing pretty well turning 22 the day before I left.  In 2 days I will be leaving for Kentucky for spring break.  I am looking forward to a wonderful time working with Christian Appalachian Project there.  We will see when I get around to blogging about that trip though.  I should at least get around to packing sometime soon...

Final Thoughts on Europe

It has been a month since I left Europe but with starting a new school year, working and classwork for my study abroad classes it has seemed longer than that.

When people ask me about my trip it is usually either the 2 minute conversation or one long enough for me to  sit down and tell stories.  Most of my 2 minute conversations follow along the lines of "I had a great time in Europe!  It was so much fun!"  "Where did you go?"  "I was mainly in Austria for the study abroad but with weekend traveling and traveling after I went to 7 countries in 5 1/2 weeks."  "Wow, what was your favorite place?"  "London!"
I can't remember the number of times I've had this conversation.  I have it with people and work, at church, and at school.  It's pretty much rehearsed at this point.  My first night back working at the restaurant I was faced with a question I was not ready to answer; "What were your top three things from Europe?"  After thinking some I came up with this list:
1) Harry Potter Studio Tour
I feel bad that this was my favorite thing in Europe but it was absolutely amazing for a huge Harry Potter nerd such as myself.  We went our last day in Europe and it was a great end to the trip.

2) Dachau
Another odd thing to put in a top three but I absolutely loved having the opportunity to experience Dachau.  (If you want more of my feelings on this, look at the previous blog post.)

3) Attending Operas
This was for class; why did I enjoy it so much?  I think one of the reasons I enjoyed going to 3 different operas while in Europe was because it gave me a different view on the Austrian/European culture than I would have experience just as a tourist.  Plus The Magic Flute was an awesome production (and also talked about in a previous post).

I learned a lot outside of classes in Europe as well.  Two things stand out in particular.
1) Traveling takes planning but also flexibility and patience.  Especially in big cities such as Paris and London there are lines for EVERYTHING.  Get to places early and willing to wait in line.
2)  I'm more independent than I give myself credit for.  I've always considered myself independent and try not to rely on others for much but being on a different continent was harder than I expected.  I have never felt more lost in my life than my first weekend in Europe.  Not only did I literally feel lost since I am terrible with directions and had no clue how to get anywhere but I also had not taken public transportation much in the US so I had to idea how to get anywhere if I was able to figure out where I needed to go.  In times of panic like these I normally would call Joe or my parents and figure out what I was doing.  Being in Europe that wasn't an option, especially since I had limited internet access.  I also have never traveled without someone else organizing the trip so the traveling after the study abroad ended was another learning experience.  Overall, I came back to the US feeling more confident that I can get myself out of challenging situations (but still will avoid figuring out directions whenever possible).

London

The last leg of our trip was London.  Of all the big cities we have been to in the past 6 weeks, London was my favorite.  I loved all of the old, historic buildings mixed in with modern business buildings.  While I was very glad I got the opportunity to do so much traveling.  I was glad that London was our last leg.  A few highlights of my time in London are discussed here.

Warner Brothers Studio the Making of Harry Potter tour was probably the highlight of my time in London as terrible as that sounds.  Being a huge Harry Potter fan I was so excited to see the studio where many of the scenes were filmed.  I was so happy to see everything and the first room we walked into was the Great Hall.  I was so happy it was like being a little kid at Disney World (or for me even being a big kid at Disney World).

 

The Potter's House in Godric Hallows 

The last night in London I got to have dinner with my friend Rae.  It was so nice to see her especially after not being home for almost 6 weeks.  It’s crazy to think that I’ll be living with her in a few short weeks. 

On Sunday we went to a Matins service at Westminster Abbey.  We realized that Westminster closes early for tourists and with our limited time in London the only day we could really go to the Abbey was on Sunday when it wasn’t open for tours.  By going to a service at Westminster we also didn’t have to pay to get in and we could still see most of the Abbey.  Since we got there early we got to sit in the front row which was also very cool.  

Westminster Abbey on the first night we were in London

Taking my Parents’ Advice

I like to think I take my parents’ advice more often than not.  I am very fortunate to have parents that taught me and encourage me to be independent but they also don’t hesitate to give me advice when I ask for it (and sometimes when I don’t as well).  Getting my parents’ advice for traveling in Europe was very helpful since my dad lived in Belgium for 18 months before my parents got married.  Dad traveled quite a bit while in Europe and mom visited a few times so I figured they knew what they were talking about, especially regarding Belgium. 

When planning my post-study abroad traveling I really wanted to go to Belgium since my dad had lived there for a bit.  I don’t remember if it was a suggestion to go to Brugge or just a mention that it was one of my parents’ favorite cities but we decided to go to Brugge for one of the days we were in Belgium.  I’m very glad we did.  It was a very nice little city and was a nice change in pace after spending the day before walking around Paris. 

Brugge, Belgium 

There were a good number of tourists in Brugge but locals were still present.  One adorable old lady old lady saw Sarah taking my picture and stopped to ask if we wanted her to take our picture.  Since Belgium doesn’t seem to have one language that is more common than the others she listed 3 or 4 different languages so she knew which to use to talk to us.  She also pointed out the oldest house in Brugge which was right on the main square. 

Picture taken by the adorable old lady

While in Brugge we got waffles because you have to when in Belgium.  I got a delicious waffle drowning in delicious chocolate syrup.  After that it was time to move on to the food and beer suggestions from my parents.  We had fries with curry sauce which were delicious (we ended up getting more today in Brussels).  The first night we were in Brussels we got some beer at the hostel bar (yeah, the hostel had a bar which was pretty great and not nearly as creepy as the bar at the Paris hostel) but they didn’t have either of the kind my parents suggested.  We made sure to find a place for dinner that served both kind that my parents suggested and my goodness, Belgian beer is good.  I ended up getting more beer at the hostel that night.  Of the 6 kinds I tried, the raspberry and peach beers were the best. 

From telling Joe he was impressed that I had started liking beer.  I told him that I liked good beer.  I may just be my father’s daughter after all.  Maybe after getting back from Europe I’ll be more likely to try different kinds of beer but I’m sure they won’t compare.  (Really there is only one way to find out, right?) 

Paris

The first leg of our post-study abroad adventures landed us in Paris.  After having been to various big cities throughout Europe I was still impressed with how many people there were in Paris.  I don’t need to give you a day to day what we did because if you really want to hear you should just talk to me in person when I get back or look through my pictures when I finally get them up.  Here are a few highlights from my time in Paris. 

Mass at Notre Dame:  As Sunday was our first day in Paris and the day we had set aside for sight-seeing I wanted to go to mass at Notre Dame.  We went to the international mass which was only international because the readings were printed in multiple languages and a one minute part before Communion was in English.  It was my first time going to mass since being in Europe and they opened with a song that is commonly sung at Blessed Trinity so that made me very happy.  I then listened to a mass in French but being Catholic I knew what was going on so that was nice.  I thought it was interesting that in the French and English parts of the Order of Worship they printed a note about if you are not Catholic please do not join us in Communion but in the Italian and Spanish sections it was not printed.  Yay for countries that have essentially universal Catholicism!

 

Before Mass

The Louvre: As noted while I spent 4 hours walking around the Kunsthistorische  in Vienna, I wore tennis shoes so my feet wouldn’t hurt too much.  This was a very good call as we spent about 6 hours in the Louvre.  It was very crowded which was unsurprising.  The number of people crowding around the Mona Lisa and taking pictures of it was astounding.  We didn’t see everything because we were past the point of enjoying looking at art.  It was the most recent in a long line of art museums since we have been in Europe so 6 hours was more than enough.      

 

The view from the line to get in

The Eifel Tower Light Show:  I am such a tourist.  I absolutely loved the Eifel Tower light show.  It was literally just 5 minutes of the lights on the tower flashing but it was really cool to watch.  It reminded me of how excited I get during the light parade at Disney, which last time I went I was 18 and still enjoyed it as much as when I was 6.   

“Done” with Study Abroad and onto Traveling!

Our study abroad program is officially over.  After four weeks in Bregenz, everyone is off their separate ways.  The last few days in Bregenz were filled with class, homework, swimming in Lake Constance and The Magic Flute on the lake stage. 

The Magic Flute was very interesting.  I had been using the internet at the stage since I had gotten to Bregenz and three weeks before the opera was starting they were still finishing the painting.  Our backstage tour the day before we saw the opera revealed they were a bit crunched for time but enough got done and everything was going well.  We were told to think of it as a well done children’s show which I think was the best mentality going into it.  There were stunt people, divers, and explosions as well as elaborate costumes and various “boats” that came around the stage. 

 

Back stage of the Lake Stage

We also learned that we were experiencing the most advanced sound system in the world.  The audio was tracked based on people’s movement not only from side to side but also depth from the audience as well.  Another interesting thing was that the orchestra was inside and mic’d to be heard outside but with the various instruments amplified different amounts as if you were sitting in the pit.  The best part of the performance was that it didn’t rain!  When we check in the morning, there was a good chance of thunderstorms at the time of the opera which changed to a good chance of rain and ended up being absolutely gorgeous. 

I mentioned there was fire, right?

The week included lots of homework as we were trying to get as much done as possible before the program ended.  I ended up with 4 short papers left to write in the next 3 weeks which isn’t too bad.  I did most of one on the train today but currently don’t feel like editing it.  Hopefully I’ll have more motivation before I get home to do some more work. 

Sarah and I are currently en route to Paris.  We have been stopped for over half an hour at some small train station as bad weather blew a tree onto the train tracks.  We were informed that the train has been removed but we haven’t gotten the approval to go.  Oh well, we don’t have a connecting train to catch and the hostel is open 24 hours so we will get there eventually.  I will spend the rest of the time on the train reading, contemplating how I’m going to get all of my stuff home without having an overweight bag, and trying to ignore the very odd sounds the cat kitty-corner to us is making. 

I’m looking forward to all the traveling we are going to do but also am looking forward to being home.  I don’t know if it feels longer than 4 weeks because I’ve done so much or if 4 weeks really is a long time.  Either way I am looking forward to everything we will do in Paris, Belgium and London.  

Dachau

Visiting Dachau was something I had been looking forward to since before our trip started.  It was such an interestingly eerie experience that I will never forget.  We had to write a reflection for class so I will be resourceful/efficient(/any other nice word for lazy) and use parts of that for this post. 

Having the opportunity to experience Dachau was an opportunity I will never forget.  Since I have an odd fascination with WWII I was aware of most of what happened at various concentration camps.  I knew the conditions that prisoners lived and worked in, the way they were mass murdered, knew that some were tortured and that they were used as human subjects for medical experiments.  Having seen many pictures from the Concentration Camps and going to the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC when I was twelve, I was very familiar with what happened during that terrible time in history. 

            Being at Dachau was different than I expected.  I wasn’t expecting most of the buildings to be gone, but rather was expecting row upon row of bunkers complete with beds and straw mattresses.  Walking in to Dachau and seeing the square where they had roll-call was very interesting as that was the main point throughout the tour where I felt in the shoes of the prisoners.  Seeing that giant, dusty patch of land gave me an eerie feeling and made me think of all the people who saw that square when entering the camp. 

            The rest of the camp was more of a museum than I expected.  I enjoyed seeing all the artifacts and reading all of the information but feel it would have had a greater effect on me if it were in more of its original state and not renovated.  For example, I feel that I would have been more impacted if the shower heads were still in the first room where the prisoners were washed and shaven before being registered.  I had the same feeling with the bunk houses.  It was eerie being in that building but I also felt removed from the past, like everything had been taken away and rebuilt for the public to see. 

            The crematorium and the gas chambers had an odd feeling to them.  The build-up of trees around the area made it feel disconnected from the rest of the camp, like it wasn’t supposed to be there.  In a way it was nice that the place where the bodies were burned was treated like a cemetery but it also emphasized a jarring difference from the way it used to be.  The crematorium was the only spot throughout the camp that I didn’t want to take pictures.  I felt like I wouldn’t be respecting those who had died in the camp if I did so.  With so many un-named individuals being wiped out of existence in that place, I felt the need to give it silent respect and not turn it into a photo opportunity. 

After we left Dachau our guide showed us some places of resistance in Munich.  It was very interesting to hear about some of the ways that people resisted the Nazi Regime in the area where they were most powerful.  While my classes were primarily about art and opera, we focused on art specifically around WWII and how it was viewed by the Third Reich.  I learned a lot about Europe during WWII and the trip to Dachau was a powerful reminder of everything that has happened.