I feel kind of bad for not having written more about my summer in Europe, especially because so much happened, and I kept on saying things like "Will write more on this later." I'm kind of ashamed for not being able to keep this promise to myself and my imaginary readers.
I mean, I've written everything down in my daily journal, clearly, and I guess I haven't written much on my blog because to me, that's been enough. And that's okay. Perhaps I should just write a brief recap of everything that happened after France, with dates and everything, which is gonna be uncharacteristically dry, but oh well it's my blog and I can write what I want.
August 11-14: Hannover, Germany
Rotex Convention! Met people from all over the world, made new friends, explored Hannover, talked about how to keep on contributing to the youth exchange program. Overall a very fun weekend.
August 14: Dortmund, Germany
I met up with Dennis from the Poland program last year. I took a bus from Hannover to Dortmund, and he met me there, and we went to a bar to drink beer and chat and kinda watch a soccer game. We mostly just talked though. Then that evening we drove to his town, Lüdenscheid.
August 15: Lüdenscheid, Germany
Dennis was working so I just roamed around the town by myself. I had this delicious currywurst with bread; it tasted quite different from what I would have in Berlin. But yeah, that was my highlight of the day. It was a cute town and not as small as Dennis made it sound. That evening, Dennis' mom met up with us and we all had dinner and watched Pets in 3D, dubbed in German. The next morning, Dennis drove me to a town named Meinerzhagen, where I took a bus and then a train to Cologne.
August 16: Cologne, Germany
There, I met up with a friend from the city, a girl named Goli I had met in Bolivia last year. We only met once at a party her last night in Bolivia, but had a lot of the same mutual friends and shared a love of the country (she stayed an entire year), so we obviously got along right away. It was so cool to be able to hang out with her and have her show me around her city! We had lunch at the students' quarter, where I had a tasty shawarma for like 2 euros. We also took the cable car that went from one end of the city to another across the river and laughed about how the cable car in La Paz was so much more modern. We sat at the edge of the river and dipped our feet in the water and continued chatting. It was lots of fun being able to talk in Spanish and German, with a little English too. Later that evening, I took the Thalys train to Liège.
August 16-20: Belgium
I was around different places in Belgium with Camille (also from the Poland program last year) and her family. The evening I arrived in Liège, there were fireworks, and we figured they were officially welcoming me to Belgium. I got to taste a lot of authentic Belgian beer, fries, and waffles! We stayed in a cute countryside town by the hills named Aywaille and were able to explore Brussels, Luxembourg, and some caves. I also became good friends with Camille's identical twin, Louise, who also studies anthropology. I really liked Belgium and was glad to have had a family to show my around the country! On the 20th, I took a bus that went straight to Paris.
August 20-21: Paris
This weekend will remain in my mind as "My weekend in Paris with cute French boys." On the 20th, I met up with my first French "friend" ever. We became friends on Facebook in summer 2010 because a friend of mine from school was hosting him, but we never got to meet until this summer. So, six years after we first became acquainted with one another, we finally met in person, and in Paris no less! Julien was an amazing person, and we ended up having lots of things in common. We basically did a little tour of certain Parisian clichés + Starbucks. I had lots of fun getting to know him and am excited to see him again! Then I also met up with Matthieu, a Rotary friend from Parthenay (who went to Oregon for his exchange lol) and who now studies in Paris. From when I first met him he was already one of the most beautiful human beings I had ever seen, and it only became more so because he's actually also a model now. AS WELL AS a great chef. How did I get so lucky to get a French model cook me lunch in Paris one day? I don't know. But it was fun.
August 21-28: The Netherlands
My tenth and final country for the summer, where I was extremely happy to be reunited with my pen pal Jamie! I spent most of this week in The Hague, though there was one day where all the travel finally caught up to me and I got sick, so I stayed at home the entire day. I really needed the rest, though. Other highlights included experiencing Dutch clichés like the rain and riding two-to-one-bike at the same time, the day we went to visit the International Criminal Court and the Peace Palace. It was pretty amazing because there was a hearing happening when we visited the ICC, and the presiding judge was Filipino. So proud!! Jamie and I finally got the chance to spend more time with one another, a lot of it singing, whether in karaoke or spontaneously on the street. Of all the ones I met up with this past summer, she's the friend who's known me the longest. (Not counting my final hosts, Tita May Ann and Tito Gerrit, who were family friends from the Philippines who hosted me my final night in Europe.) I also got to know Ivo's friends and we spent a night out in The Hague. I felt kind of bad not being able to speak Dutch (as usual), but at least their English was really good! So yeah, my last country was also the one I spent the most time in during my month of travel, and it was very fulfilling. On the 28th, I flew back to Boston via Reykjavik and now here I am.
That's a decent summary of what I ended up doing after France. I left Europe not that sad (nowhere near as sad as I was when I left Bolivia last year lolol) because I'm fairly certain I'm going to end up there again in the future. But now that I've written this entry, it's time to get back to the more pressing issues of the start of a new school year. I've got lots of projects to work on this semester, which I'm looking forward to!
I mean, I've written everything down in my daily journal, clearly, and I guess I haven't written much on my blog because to me, that's been enough. And that's okay. Perhaps I should just write a brief recap of everything that happened after France, with dates and everything, which is gonna be uncharacteristically dry, but oh well it's my blog and I can write what I want.
August 11-14: Hannover, Germany
Rotex Convention! Met people from all over the world, made new friends, explored Hannover, talked about how to keep on contributing to the youth exchange program. Overall a very fun weekend.
August 14: Dortmund, Germany
I met up with Dennis from the Poland program last year. I took a bus from Hannover to Dortmund, and he met me there, and we went to a bar to drink beer and chat and kinda watch a soccer game. We mostly just talked though. Then that evening we drove to his town, Lüdenscheid.
August 15: Lüdenscheid, Germany
Dennis was working so I just roamed around the town by myself. I had this delicious currywurst with bread; it tasted quite different from what I would have in Berlin. But yeah, that was my highlight of the day. It was a cute town and not as small as Dennis made it sound. That evening, Dennis' mom met up with us and we all had dinner and watched Pets in 3D, dubbed in German. The next morning, Dennis drove me to a town named Meinerzhagen, where I took a bus and then a train to Cologne.
August 16: Cologne, Germany
There, I met up with a friend from the city, a girl named Goli I had met in Bolivia last year. We only met once at a party her last night in Bolivia, but had a lot of the same mutual friends and shared a love of the country (she stayed an entire year), so we obviously got along right away. It was so cool to be able to hang out with her and have her show me around her city! We had lunch at the students' quarter, where I had a tasty shawarma for like 2 euros. We also took the cable car that went from one end of the city to another across the river and laughed about how the cable car in La Paz was so much more modern. We sat at the edge of the river and dipped our feet in the water and continued chatting. It was lots of fun being able to talk in Spanish and German, with a little English too. Later that evening, I took the Thalys train to Liège.
August 16-20: Belgium
I was around different places in Belgium with Camille (also from the Poland program last year) and her family. The evening I arrived in Liège, there were fireworks, and we figured they were officially welcoming me to Belgium. I got to taste a lot of authentic Belgian beer, fries, and waffles! We stayed in a cute countryside town by the hills named Aywaille and were able to explore Brussels, Luxembourg, and some caves. I also became good friends with Camille's identical twin, Louise, who also studies anthropology. I really liked Belgium and was glad to have had a family to show my around the country! On the 20th, I took a bus that went straight to Paris.
August 20-21: Paris
This weekend will remain in my mind as "My weekend in Paris with cute French boys." On the 20th, I met up with my first French "friend" ever. We became friends on Facebook in summer 2010 because a friend of mine from school was hosting him, but we never got to meet until this summer. So, six years after we first became acquainted with one another, we finally met in person, and in Paris no less! Julien was an amazing person, and we ended up having lots of things in common. We basically did a little tour of certain Parisian clichés + Starbucks. I had lots of fun getting to know him and am excited to see him again! Then I also met up with Matthieu, a Rotary friend from Parthenay (who went to Oregon for his exchange lol) and who now studies in Paris. From when I first met him he was already one of the most beautiful human beings I had ever seen, and it only became more so because he's actually also a model now. AS WELL AS a great chef. How did I get so lucky to get a French model cook me lunch in Paris one day? I don't know. But it was fun.
August 21-28: The Netherlands
My tenth and final country for the summer, where I was extremely happy to be reunited with my pen pal Jamie! I spent most of this week in The Hague, though there was one day where all the travel finally caught up to me and I got sick, so I stayed at home the entire day. I really needed the rest, though. Other highlights included experiencing Dutch clichés like the rain and riding two-to-one-bike at the same time, the day we went to visit the International Criminal Court and the Peace Palace. It was pretty amazing because there was a hearing happening when we visited the ICC, and the presiding judge was Filipino. So proud!! Jamie and I finally got the chance to spend more time with one another, a lot of it singing, whether in karaoke or spontaneously on the street. Of all the ones I met up with this past summer, she's the friend who's known me the longest. (Not counting my final hosts, Tita May Ann and Tito Gerrit, who were family friends from the Philippines who hosted me my final night in Europe.) I also got to know Ivo's friends and we spent a night out in The Hague. I felt kind of bad not being able to speak Dutch (as usual), but at least their English was really good! So yeah, my last country was also the one I spent the most time in during my month of travel, and it was very fulfilling. On the 28th, I flew back to Boston via Reykjavik and now here I am.
That's a decent summary of what I ended up doing after France. I left Europe not that sad (nowhere near as sad as I was when I left Bolivia last year lolol) because I'm fairly certain I'm going to end up there again in the future. But now that I've written this entry, it's time to get back to the more pressing issues of the start of a new school year. I've got lots of projects to work on this semester, which I'm looking forward to!
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