February 25, 2008 in Taipei, Taiwan
So I have neglected to write in this for a month... both because I have been really busy and because I forgot about it haha. So I'll run through the last month really quickly.
After Dublin I went back to Spain for a week to get my Taiwan visa, besides a couple bumps there was no problem getting it and I just feel more in love with Madrid and Spain. Then on January 31st me and Aliyah jetted off to Berlin for two nights. Lucky for us (sarcasm) they had a PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION STRIKE for only the 2 days we were there, which means we had to take taxis which cost a lot. After having fun trapsing around Berlin for a bit we headed off on to Athens, Greece. Our hostel was basically empty so that was kinda boring but we got to see all the fun things like Zeus's Temple and the Acropolis, and also eat some good gyros haha. Then we took a 20+ hour train to Istanbul where we stayed the longest of our trip. The hostel was fun and we met a lot of nice people there. We went all over Istanbul, including the asian side (its on two continents). We went to a lot of bazaaars and saw mosques. We were even allowed into one of them so I could finally see what it is like. After that we took a plane to really really really expensive London. We took the tour bus cuz we had only one day there and wanted to see as much as possible and had fish and chips for dinner. Then we headed back to Madrid and I spent my last night there and headed home via Dublin the next day. My mom and dad picked me up at the airport and we went to dinner. I spent the next couple days in my parents in Crown Point and then headed to Depauw for a night with Carly and then to IU to see all my friends there for a few days. I then came home and packed and headed to Chicago for my flight to LA where I had to change planes in Taiwan. I had to wait about 5 hours in the LA airport, it wasn't that bad. I then got on the extremely long flight to Taiwan at 1130 at night and LUCKILY I got 4 seats to my self so I was able to actually lay down across them all and sleep. Also the service was very nice and I get Malaysia Airlines an A+ and I think they are my favorite now. I was picked up at the airport by a couple of students and then we came back and I was showed my room and everything.
TAIWAN
So my room is a normal size room with 4 beds up in the air and a desk space underneath each of them... so far my roommates are pretty nice so no problem there. The one problem is that my school here is on a mountain... and they decided the male dorms should be at the top. So there is actually a bus that runs from the top to the bottom but it only goes until 11 and and sometimes it doesn't go all the way to the top so I still have to walk a lot which is going to be A LOT OF FUN when it starts getting really really really really hot and humid outside. So far I haven't started classes yet but I did take the placement test today so we will see in a few days how I did on that. So far though I am LOVING Taiwan so much better than China. Its a bit more expensive but a much better experience. Also So far this program is much much much better than my program in China, and the students here are a lot better too and I have already made at least 10 new taiwanese friends that will help me out with my Chinese a lot...
So thats all I have for now, once I get all my pictures posted (Krakow, Prague, Dublin, Madrid, Berlin, Greece, Istanbul, London, IU, Taiwan...) I'll put the links up here that you can see them at. Bye for now
Showing posts with label madrid. Show all posts
Showing posts with label madrid. Show all posts
Monday, February 25, 2008
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Frace, Final Trip Plans, and PICTURES from Taiwan to Morocco finally
January 8, 2008, Aix-en-provence, France
So I have been in France now for a few days with Phil. It's just a tiny little city in the south of France with small winding stone streets and little shops with all the apartments on the above the shops. Phil's apt is like this, its kinda small but its got a lot of character I guess haha. It has 2 bedrooms and a bathroom and a kitchen/living room and there are 3 people living here. Its really nice here but its already more expensive than Madrid I'm noticing and from what I hear you get really sick of it being so small after a while. Also, tomorrow we MAY try and do a spontaneous trip to Monaco which would also be fun, and then we leave Thursday evening for Oslo, Norway :o) And after that I'm off on my own for a week and a half.
Me and Aliyah also finally finalized our trip plans for the last leg of my trip, here they are;
January 31 fly from Madrid to Berlin and stay in Berlin for 2 nights
January 2 fly from Berlin to Athens and stay in Athens for 3 nights
January 4 or 5 HOPEFULLY have no problems getting a train to Istanbul and stay there for a few nights
January 8 fly to London and stay in London for 2 nights
January 10 fly to Madrid
January 11 fly home to Chicago via Dublin
also I finally got my pictures all uploaded, just click on the link to go to them
Taiwan 1
Taiwan 2
Taiwan 3
Manila 1
Manila 2
Thanksgiving Chinese Style
Shanghai, China
Post China/European Adventures 1 (Russia?, Madrid, Barcelona, Marrakesh)
I'll have a chance to post all my France, Poland, Czech Republic, and Dublin pictures after January 23 when I go back to Madrid for a week to get my Taiwan VISA... hopefully no problems there...
leave a comment!!!
drew
So I have been in France now for a few days with Phil. It's just a tiny little city in the south of France with small winding stone streets and little shops with all the apartments on the above the shops. Phil's apt is like this, its kinda small but its got a lot of character I guess haha. It has 2 bedrooms and a bathroom and a kitchen/living room and there are 3 people living here. Its really nice here but its already more expensive than Madrid I'm noticing and from what I hear you get really sick of it being so small after a while. Also, tomorrow we MAY try and do a spontaneous trip to Monaco which would also be fun, and then we leave Thursday evening for Oslo, Norway :o) And after that I'm off on my own for a week and a half.
Me and Aliyah also finally finalized our trip plans for the last leg of my trip, here they are;
January 31 fly from Madrid to Berlin and stay in Berlin for 2 nights
January 2 fly from Berlin to Athens and stay in Athens for 3 nights
January 4 or 5 HOPEFULLY have no problems getting a train to Istanbul and stay there for a few nights
January 8 fly to London and stay in London for 2 nights
January 10 fly to Madrid
January 11 fly home to Chicago via Dublin
also I finally got my pictures all uploaded, just click on the link to go to them
Taiwan 1
Taiwan 2
Taiwan 3
Manila 1
Manila 2
Thanksgiving Chinese Style
Shanghai, China
Post China/European Adventures 1 (Russia?, Madrid, Barcelona, Marrakesh)
I'll have a chance to post all my France, Poland, Czech Republic, and Dublin pictures after January 23 when I go back to Madrid for a week to get my Taiwan VISA... hopefully no problems there...
leave a comment!!!
drew
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
I havent written on here for a while... but a lot has happned!
January 1, 2007 in Barcelona, Spain
I meant to write on this once more before I left China but I slept through my alarm again and didn't wake up with enough time to write on it. But I wanted to talk about my last few days and my finals and what I did. My sociology final went terribly... I might have done really bad on it but I think everyone did so it shouldn't be bad then because if everyone does bad then they will curve it. But the test was imposssssible to do. My chinese final wasnt bad, I think I'll end up with an A or an A- in the class. I packed everything and cut my stuff down to one suitcase and left China early in the morning for Moscow, Russia. I am going to miss China a lot (especially the prices!!) Also even though my roommates got on my nerves at times I'll miss them too. I learned a lot more Chinese than I thought I did though so thats also nice.
I flew to Moscow no problem and got through to my next flight to Madrid which was also no problem except that it was delayed an hour or so. They Russians kinda scared my though, even the stewardesses were mean. But I got to Madrid a bit late and Aliyah and James met me at the airport without Phil becuase he missed his flight haha. We all went to the hostel and had a few days in Madrid to hang out and walk around and we also made Christmas Eve dinner which was also rrealllllllyyy good.
Then we flew to Morocco on Christmas day also with no problems. I LOOOVE Morocco. Since so many europeans go there it has basically been turned into a turist city though so there were high prices and lots of people trying to rip us off. We stayed in a really nice 2 bedroom apt a bit away from the city, but we just hopped on the bus to get into the city. I didn't get to practice Arabic as much as I wanted to though becuase most of them didn't understand me and they all speak French and a little bit of English so I just stuck with the French which kinda made me go crazy after a while because of all the langauges. When I got to Spain it was soooo hard to switch my mind out of Chinese and into Spanish but then once I started getting used to the Spanish I had to switch to French, and then once I started getting used to the French I had to switch back to Spanish haha. We went to the famous square Djemma al-fna in Morocco where they have snake charmers and monkies and clown things and lots and lots of food and teas and juices and nuts and fruits and tradtional moroccon things. We also got to ride camels while we were there which was also one of the main goals of our trip. I tried to write on my blog while I was there but it was blocked or something and I couldn't get to it. It was sad leaving Marrakesh but I know some day I will go back there because there is still so much left to see.
On December 30 we flew to Girona, Spain and then caught a bus to Barcelona and wandered aruond the city until we found our hostel which is on the one of the main streets of Barcelona, so its a really nice location. Barcelona so far is a lot better than Madrid, but they don't speak Spanish much here so sometimes I don't know if I should try and speak Spanish or use English, but a lot of people I have met here so far speak English pretty well.
So tonight is our last night in Barcelona and we are off to Madrid again tomorrow for a few days. Ill try to go ahead and update this sometimes before I head off to France with Phil but if not I'll be sure to do it while I am in France. Also I have not head back from Egypt people so I don't know what is going on with that yet. Leave a comment!!
I meant to write on this once more before I left China but I slept through my alarm again and didn't wake up with enough time to write on it. But I wanted to talk about my last few days and my finals and what I did. My sociology final went terribly... I might have done really bad on it but I think everyone did so it shouldn't be bad then because if everyone does bad then they will curve it. But the test was imposssssible to do. My chinese final wasnt bad, I think I'll end up with an A or an A- in the class. I packed everything and cut my stuff down to one suitcase and left China early in the morning for Moscow, Russia. I am going to miss China a lot (especially the prices!!) Also even though my roommates got on my nerves at times I'll miss them too. I learned a lot more Chinese than I thought I did though so thats also nice.
I flew to Moscow no problem and got through to my next flight to Madrid which was also no problem except that it was delayed an hour or so. They Russians kinda scared my though, even the stewardesses were mean. But I got to Madrid a bit late and Aliyah and James met me at the airport without Phil becuase he missed his flight haha. We all went to the hostel and had a few days in Madrid to hang out and walk around and we also made Christmas Eve dinner which was also rrealllllllyyy good.
Then we flew to Morocco on Christmas day also with no problems. I LOOOVE Morocco. Since so many europeans go there it has basically been turned into a turist city though so there were high prices and lots of people trying to rip us off. We stayed in a really nice 2 bedroom apt a bit away from the city, but we just hopped on the bus to get into the city. I didn't get to practice Arabic as much as I wanted to though becuase most of them didn't understand me and they all speak French and a little bit of English so I just stuck with the French which kinda made me go crazy after a while because of all the langauges. When I got to Spain it was soooo hard to switch my mind out of Chinese and into Spanish but then once I started getting used to the Spanish I had to switch to French, and then once I started getting used to the French I had to switch back to Spanish haha. We went to the famous square Djemma al-fna in Morocco where they have snake charmers and monkies and clown things and lots and lots of food and teas and juices and nuts and fruits and tradtional moroccon things. We also got to ride camels while we were there which was also one of the main goals of our trip. I tried to write on my blog while I was there but it was blocked or something and I couldn't get to it. It was sad leaving Marrakesh but I know some day I will go back there because there is still so much left to see.
On December 30 we flew to Girona, Spain and then caught a bus to Barcelona and wandered aruond the city until we found our hostel which is on the one of the main streets of Barcelona, so its a really nice location. Barcelona so far is a lot better than Madrid, but they don't speak Spanish much here so sometimes I don't know if I should try and speak Spanish or use English, but a lot of people I have met here so far speak English pretty well.
So tonight is our last night in Barcelona and we are off to Madrid again tomorrow for a few days. Ill try to go ahead and update this sometimes before I head off to France with Phil but if not I'll be sure to do it while I am in France. Also I have not head back from Egypt people so I don't know what is going on with that yet. Leave a comment!!
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Getting ready to leave China and start my European adventure!
Wednesday December 12, 2007
Only 10 days left here!! I'm kinda excited to leave this craziness but I know that after a week or two away I will start to miss it a lot. Tomorrow I have to give my presentation for my research project and then next Thursday I have 2 finals and thats basically what I have left to do here. Nothing much has happened since I lasted posted, just a lot of studying like usual and a lot of travel plan making. I ventured to Qipu lu again to buy a coat which I did but of course I paid more because I am a foreigner... but it still wasn't that expensive. I figured it would be a good idea to have something warm while I am in eastern and northern Europe. I also have to decide what I can send home and what I can throw away because I have to cut my luggage down to about 30kg, or as close to it as I can...
I leave Shanghai at 1145 am on Saturday the 22nd on Aeroflot and I have a quick 3 and a half hour layover in Moscow, and then I arrive in Madrid, Spain at about 1000pm on the same day. I didn't get a chance to get a Russian transit visa... so hopefully nothing bad will happen to me while I try to transfer planes in Moscow. I tried twice to go to the consulate here to get one but for some reason they are only open 915 am to 1215pm... and even though I was waiting two hours and there was no one else in line, they wouldn't take me at 1215. I also bought my tickets home and to Taiwan. So I will come home on February 11, 2008 and will be home for a few days and then hopefully visit IU, then my flight to Taiwan leaves February 18. So thats all done.
Now all I have to do before I leave is try and get as close to finalizing my Europe plans as possible. Right now this is what my trip looks like
Madrid, Spain December 22-25
Marrakesh, Morocco December 25-30
Barcelona, Spain December 30- January 2
Madrid, Spain January 2-4
Aix-en-Provence, France January 4-10
Oslo, Norway January 10-12
Krakow, Poland January 12-15(?)
Prague, Czech Republic January 16(?)-18(?) (by train)
Bratislava, Slovakia January 20(?)-23(?) (by train)
Madrid, Spain January 23(?)-31
Paris, France January 31-February 3
Athens, Greece February 3-5(?)
Istanbul, Turkey February 6-8(?) (by train)
Sofia, Bulgaria February 8-10(?) (by train)
Madrid, Spain February 10-11
Chicago, U.S.A. February 11
Half of the trip, with the ?, are all not for sure yet cuz I haven't booked anything but that is what I think is going to happen as of now. I'll probably have a few couple more posts before I leave here...Leave a comment!
Also... I might have finished applying for my Egypt program over the summer... but I don't know for sure because they don't ever like to answer e-mails... even when they get 4 or 5 of them... but anyways that is going to be a whole nother issue trying to get there from Taiwan... but I guess I don't have to worry about that yet.
pictures!
Nanjing pics
Taiwan pics Pt 1
Taiwan pics Pt 2
Only 10 days left here!! I'm kinda excited to leave this craziness but I know that after a week or two away I will start to miss it a lot. Tomorrow I have to give my presentation for my research project and then next Thursday I have 2 finals and thats basically what I have left to do here. Nothing much has happened since I lasted posted, just a lot of studying like usual and a lot of travel plan making. I ventured to Qipu lu again to buy a coat which I did but of course I paid more because I am a foreigner... but it still wasn't that expensive. I figured it would be a good idea to have something warm while I am in eastern and northern Europe. I also have to decide what I can send home and what I can throw away because I have to cut my luggage down to about 30kg, or as close to it as I can...
I leave Shanghai at 1145 am on Saturday the 22nd on Aeroflot and I have a quick 3 and a half hour layover in Moscow, and then I arrive in Madrid, Spain at about 1000pm on the same day. I didn't get a chance to get a Russian transit visa... so hopefully nothing bad will happen to me while I try to transfer planes in Moscow. I tried twice to go to the consulate here to get one but for some reason they are only open 915 am to 1215pm... and even though I was waiting two hours and there was no one else in line, they wouldn't take me at 1215. I also bought my tickets home and to Taiwan. So I will come home on February 11, 2008 and will be home for a few days and then hopefully visit IU, then my flight to Taiwan leaves February 18. So thats all done.
Now all I have to do before I leave is try and get as close to finalizing my Europe plans as possible. Right now this is what my trip looks like
Madrid, Spain December 22-25
Marrakesh, Morocco December 25-30
Barcelona, Spain December 30- January 2
Madrid, Spain January 2-4
Aix-en-Provence, France January 4-10
Oslo, Norway January 10-12
Krakow, Poland January 12-15(?)
Prague, Czech Republic January 16(?)-18(?) (by train)
Bratislava, Slovakia January 20(?)-23(?) (by train)
Madrid, Spain January 23(?)-31
Paris, France January 31-February 3
Athens, Greece February 3-5(?)
Istanbul, Turkey February 6-8(?) (by train)
Sofia, Bulgaria February 8-10(?) (by train)
Madrid, Spain February 10-11
Chicago, U.S.A. February 11
Half of the trip, with the ?, are all not for sure yet cuz I haven't booked anything but that is what I think is going to happen as of now. I'll probably have a few couple more posts before I leave here...Leave a comment!
Also... I might have finished applying for my Egypt program over the summer... but I don't know for sure because they don't ever like to answer e-mails... even when they get 4 or 5 of them... but anyways that is going to be a whole nother issue trying to get there from Taiwan... but I guess I don't have to worry about that yet.
pictures!
Nanjing pics
Taiwan pics Pt 1
Taiwan pics Pt 2
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