en suisse...

hola chicos and chicas...wait, wrong language...

bonjour les garçons et les filles,
i just wanted to let you all know that i am finally in geneva, switzerland! it's cold and rainy here, but i just ate some chocolate so it doesn't really matter!

i start my internship on monday. i have the bus route and my school bag all ready. my #2 pencils, my crayola crayons, and small packet of tissue are all packed safely in my Dora backpack. the crayons are to make a color-code for editing all those articles about public health that WHO publishes.
the Dora backpack is just because i can't let go of the fact that i am no longer a student.

anyway, all of that to say that i am here...and if you want to come visit me, please do! geneva is a beautiful little city...and there is are two starbucks here for those of you who can't let go and refuse to travel anywhere that might not have your life support.

ok, i have to finish putting my room together. then it's off to the fireworks for the fete de geneve. the national swiss day is aug. 1 and geneva has a huge festival for a couple of weeks. tonight is the last night and they have the best fireworks!

au revoir.

In case anyone is wondering...i arrived safely into Geneva.

I will sit down a little later after I get unpacked and settled and my body acclamates.

Upon my arrival, I was a little saddened to leave sunny and warm Minneapolis for rainy and cloudy Geneva...I'm pretty sure I'll get over it!

I just have to eat a little cheese and chocolate to remind myself why I moved here...oh, and something about an internship...I think that's why I'm here.

au revoir

wow, i can't believe how long it's been since i posted something. well, i'll try to do better...this blog isn't really about anything special...it's just so that i can get back in the swing of posting something. sorry for the nothingness. but i do hope that you have a great day...if you are reading this.

So you are back…couldn’t keep you away, could I? Well, I am honored that you chose to come back for a few more moments of silliness. Here we go again for another installment of “Clueless: The Travel Adventures of an American College Student in Europe”…man, no wonder I’ve never been picked up by the networks…my title is too long.

I won’t go into every detail from our trip…that is too tedious and I am not a tedious person. So I will only touch on the highlights. After Lauren and I settled into our hostel, we set out to explore the city. We had a map, a guidebook, money, and a sparkle in our eyes that was just inviting adventure. I must interject here that both Lauren and I are self-proclaimed directionally challenged people…you know, those people who get lost in their own neighborhood …or house, depending on the severity of this incurable ailment…but it didn’t stop us…this characteristic is essential to my story. We were unstoppable. We grabbed a panini and Coke Light (not to be confused with Diet Coke…the American version) for nourishment. Amsterdam was ours…we stepped out into the city with our maps, guidebook, money, and a sparkle in our eyes that was just inviting adventure to wrap its arms around us…basically what I am trying to say is that no matter what we did and no matter where we wanted to go, we got lost. When we knew we had to head left, we were always wrong. When we knew we had gone too far, we hadn’t gone far enough. I won’t even begin to try to calculate how many extra minutes and miles we walked and walked and walked. I especially won’t try to explain how we got where ever we ended up…we were a mess. However…being the eternal optimist that I am…there is always a bright side to everything…don’t you hate those people…I totally do. However, there were so many cute little boutiques oozing with luscious leather boots and warm wool sweaters and tastefully trendy handbags and all manner of material diversions to catch our eyes. We were both so overwhelmed with the beauty of it all. On top of that, there were wonderful little cafés just calling us to have another pan au chocolat and cappuccino! I mean what more could two girls ask for…we had shoes and food…well, a tour guide would have been nice I guess.

So here is a list of things we did and things that we saw:
We took a canal cruise in the evening. It was so beautiful…and of course none of my pictures really turned out. Oh well. Oh, funny story…we saw a man get arrested… interesting thing was that he was posing as our boat driver for the canal cruise. It was pretty intense…he was totally fighting with the policemen and at one point tried to go into a little café but someone pushed him out…then, this was totally like a movie…the café owner locked the police out...we couldn’t figure out why. Then one of the officers tried to kick down the door! I tried to get a picture but it didn’t turn out…it was all very crazy.

We went to the Vincent van Gogh museum…of course we got lost on our way. But he is a truly amazing artist…if you ever get a chance, you should read some of the letters that he wrote to his brother…you will be touched and inspired and surprised. I bought a cute little print that is not well known…I think those can be the best things in life…unknown treasures. And of course we got lost going back into the city center.

We spent some time walking around Dam square…did some souvenir shopping. Got lost some more…this recurring theme is getting kind of old…imagine how we felt!
Oh, we went into the Red Light District…during the daytime of course. My heart hurt for those women. I won’t dwell on this because it is making me sad recalling what I saw. We didn’t stay long…as women, Lauren and I didn’t feel comfortable being there.

We went to a “coffee shop”…and I really did get a coffee…sans the “special” ingredient…if you know what I mean, wink, wink! We didn’t stay there long either, but it was kinda funny to watch all of the stoned people…old and young.

Oh, then we found this really cute little hole-in-the-wall restaurant that served fondue…it was INCREDIBLE! This has a funny but scary story to go along with it. Neither of us had enough cash to pay the bill so Lauren went to the ATM right next door. She came back and said that there was a homeless man and a crazy woman asking her for money so she came back a little shaken up. I told her I would go, but wanted her to watch me from the door of the restaurant. Well, sure enough, as soon as I stepped up to the ATM, the crazy lady literally ran up to me and stood right next to the ATM. From the restaurant door, Lauren was yelling at the woman to get away from me…the woman started yelling at Lauren that she was going to burn in hell and in the same breath asked me for money. When I didn’t pay attention to her she started yelling at me…I was shaking like a leaf…but I glared at her. She didn’t like that very much…I grabbed my money and pretty much ran back into the restaurant wondering if all that had really happened. Ya, it was scary…but we made it out.

The next morning we went to a market…but of course we got lost getting there. It wasn’t a very interesting market, but it was fun…lots of good people watching. Lots of smells…body odor, marijuana, egg rolls, cheese, mothballs, musky perfume…a feast for the nostrils.

We stopped by the Anne Frank house…didn’t go in because we both decided it would be way too depressing. But, by this time, we had figured out the maps somewhat…so we actually got to it without getting lost…yes! On our last day we finally figured it out…we did a little victory cheer…hi-fives and all…people probably thought we had spent too much time at the “coffee shops.”

Those were the main highlights of our short trip. Having seen what we wanted and being lost more times than we could keep track of, we decided to get on the train back to Brussels.
Well, again, I have written a largish amount of words. I apologize for the diminishing interesting-ness of this blog…in the middle of it I lost what I wrote. My computer lost my words so I lost heart but decided to press on…for you, my loyal readers…all three of you. I will have to conclude the trip in my next blog…it will be shorter, I promise. So, please tune in again…I’ll appreciate the company.

Well, here I am again. This time I have a really funny story to tell you. Actually, I have a trip that consisted of so many laughable mishaps that I am ashamed to attach my name to the following events, some of which were entirely my fault. Before I continue, I must make this one disclaimer: for those of you who know me, the events of this trip will not surprise you in the least…it’s just the way I am, and for those of you who do not know me…ya, I really can be this naive…but I promise, it is totally unintentional…I really don’t know how I got this way.

Last Saturday, my friend Lauren and I left for a four day weekend trip to Amsterdam and Brussels. We started at 5 in the a.m. with a cab ride to the Waterloo station to catch the Eurostar. Right off, nothing makes sense that early in the morning, however, we made it to the station and on our train without any glitches…well, we came close to almost missing our train (if that makes sense). We realized that we were waiting in the wrong area about 30 minutes before the train left…we made it with about five minutes to spare…

After several moves from seat to seat, we finally got comfortable on the train headed to Brussels. We went through the “chunnel” and frankly, I was disappointed. I was looking forward to going through the “chunnel” and seeing the aquatic life of the English Channel…you know, like in an aquarium where you walk through and the fish are swimming all around you…but no, all I got was uninteresting darkness. Oh well. The trip continued without any major occurrences…until we reached Brussels…

The way we organized our trip was to go to Brussels and right away get a train to Amsterdam, spend two and half days there and then go back to Brussels for another day and a half…then back to London. So we got on our train to Brussels. Neither Lauren nor I had any idea how many stops the train would make until we reached Brussels…that mixed with how tired we both were was a formula for disaster. Going in and out of sleep, I woke up suddenly hearing “Amsterdam Central” over the intercom. My eyes bugged out of my head and I woke Lauren. We had to hurry and get off. We were there. We stumbled off the train. It was cold. The train station was smaller than I expected…first clue that went unheeded.

In order to get to our hostel, we needed to take tram No. 1,2, or 5. When we went to buy tickets, our stop wasn’t listed on the map…second clue that went unheeded. We got on the No. 2 tram anyway. We went a couple stops and weren’t recognizing any of the street names, so I asked the driver where our stop was…she had no idea what stop I was talking about…third clue…I was starting to get worried. We showed her the map…she started laughing…not a good sign. In a big toothy grin she said “Dis map ees off Amsterdam. You are een Rotterdam!” I looked at Lauren who was as confused as I was. There was no way we could be in Rotterdam…the woman on the train intercom said “Amsterdam Central.”

We got off the tram and tried to gather our muddled thoughts, another tram came by. Poor Lauren by this point was completely flustered so she looked at the newly arrived tram’s driver and said very slowly and deliberately “Is this Amsterdam?” Again, we got laughed at. He threw his head back and said, rather lovingly, “No, dis ees Rotterdam!”

We only had to be told…well, twice. We booked it back to the train station. There was another train leaving for Amsterdam in four minutes…we made it, but just barely. Obviously, in my half awakeness, I misheard “Rotterdam Central” for “Amsterdam Central.” But the whole thing turned out to be somewhat of a serendipitous nature…the new train was nicer…it was purple and warmer. I told Lauren, who, bless her, was ready to either scream or cry, that my whole intention for getting off in Rotterdam was to get a nicer train…she laughed.

Goodness, I have written a lot…and only covered the first several hours of our trip. I’ll stop here and continue my story later. But just so you know, we got to Amsterdam Central finally…and in one piece…we triple-checked to make sure it was the right station. Unfortunately, our mishaps didn’t end that day. So, tune in tomorrow for another installment of “Clueless: The Travel Adventures of an American College Student in Europe.”

Word of the day: serendipity: the faculty or phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for
(Courtesy of www.m-w.com)

Spoonerisms: none of distinction

Alright, here goes my first real blog. It’s going to be long…maybe…but worth the read…I hope.
Anyway, I am in London studying at Queen Mary, University of London for the fall term. I am having an absolute blast! I got here on September 9...wow I can’t believe it’s already been a month. Well, I won’t write down everything that I have done since being here…that would be too much work to type it all out and too many little letters for my poor reader…if there is a reader. However, I will write about some significant things that have happened thus far.
My classes…wow, I love my classes…well all but one. It’s not that I don’t love it, it’s just that it is really easy…hasn’t gotten terribly interesting yet either…patience Alina, patience. Queen Mary has one of the top ten English/Literature programs in the UK…that’s precisely why I chose it. Anyway, I am taking a Shakespeare class…I had to since I am in London…and I LOVE it. We just finished covering Romeo and Juliet…now it is on to Henry V. By the way…here is a fun fact to know and tell: the way in which an audience would emotionally respond to a sonnet in Elizabethan times is the same emotional reaction we have to the modern musical ballad (i.e. that cheesy medley of love songs in the movie Moulin Rouge which makes us feel all giddy…ya, you know what I mean!). Anyway, another of my classes is Postcolonial Literatures in English. This is a really powerful class. Just last week, we had a visit from the man who is considered the “father of the African novel.” He was truly inspiring…he wrote his first novel over 50 years ago…he didn’t know what he was doing…and he became the father of a whole new genre…just amazing. His name is Chinua Achebe…read his novel Things Fall Apart sometime. One of the most incredible moments of the lecture was when he read the most powerful part of Things Fall Apart in Ibo, his native tongue. It was stunning and musical. Later on in the term, we will be having other author visits…I’ll be sure to post highlights. My next class is European Novel: Readers and Rogues…haha…it’s fantastic! We just started reading Don Quixote which is terribly funny. We have a special lecturer for this text…he has the most unique mustacheI have ever seen. It reaches all the way down to the sides of his chin and is quite thick…imagine chops, but as a mustache…just don’t think on that too long. Anyway, my normal lecturer looks like Dr. Green from ER…the resemblance is crazy. My last class is the one that is really easy. It’s called European Culture and Society. It basically asks the questions “What is Europe?” and “How can Europe be defined?”. I’m sure it will get better.
Well, how about that, I have only written about my classes and have filled up all this space. You, my poor reader, are probably begging me to lay my fingers to rest. I will do exactlythat…for now. But don’t think that I won’t be back with some more witty and interesting thoughts to share with you. I hope that you at least enjoyed somewhat the things I have penned …I mean typed…here.
Side note: I apologize to the grammarians who will read this…I know, I should be ashamed of my lack of grammatical correctness -- especially considering the fact that I am an English major. Well, fortunately for me, a whole genre of writing has developed in which punctuation is no longer used for semantic and syntactic clarity, but as a means of expression through which the writer may establish his or her own style and meaning. Hence, you will see a lot of ellipses (…) these guys…for the grammatically challenged…which I am rather fond of...in order to establish my own style. Please accept my apology also, for not writing on a wider range of subjects this time. I will, from here, do my best to not take up a whole blog just on my classes.
Alright then, having all formalities dealt with, I will say goodnight and goodbye. And in the words of Cervantes: “…having said this, may God grant you health and not forget me. Vale.”

Word of the day: ellipsis 1 a : the omission of one or more words that are obviously understood but that must be supplied to make a construction grammatically complete b : a sudden leap from one topic to another2 : marks or a mark (as ... or · or --) indicating an omission (as of words) or a pause
(definition courtesy of www.m-w.com/)
Spoonerism of the day: Diccapilly Circus for Piccadilly Circus…that one made me laugh! I will try to add any spoonerisms that happen to fly out of my mouth when they are noteworthy.

well, this is the first time i am attempting something like this. janelle, this is for you my friend!
once i am able to navigate this system more fluidly, i will write something truly scintillating. until then, please bear with my amateur-ness at blogging.