A year in the life of a Travel For Fun major

Wheaton, IL to Metlakatla, AK--2675 miles
Metlakatla, AK to Wheaton, IL--2675 miles
Wheaton, IL to Muskegon, MI--209 miles
Muskegon, MI to Rochester, NY--600 miles
Rochester, NY to Dingmans Ferry, PA--274 miles
Dingmans Ferry, PA to Houghton, NY--270 miles
Houghton, NY to Toronto--159 miles
Toronto to London--3559 miles
London to Toronto--3559 miles
Toronto to Houghton, NY--159 miles
Houghton, NY to Wheaton, IL--600 miles
Wheaton, IL to Houghton, NY--600 miles
Houghton, NY to Torontoa--159 miles
Toronto to Tanzania--7967 miles
Tanzania to Amsterdam--4270 miles
Amsterdam to Paris--267 miles
Paris to Caen--126 miles
Caen to Paris--126 miles
Paris to Amsterdam--267 miles
Amsterdam to Toronto--3716 miles
Toronto to Houghton, NY--159 miles
Houghton to New York City--327 miles
New York City to Houghton--327 miles
Houghton to Wheaton--600 miles
Wheaton to Colorado--894 miles
Colorado to Wheaton--894 miles
Wheaton to Oslo--4058 miles

Total miles traveled: 39,496

Katherine Comes to Oslo

And Emily takes an inappropriate picture

Here on the Periphery of Europe...

The language seems so different since I have begun to turn it inside out--seeing it from a textbook and hearing it from my own mouth rather than my former exposure from Ikea products and the mouths of Minnesotans.

Some City Sites

Vigeland Park



Some cool Scandinavian design

Blindern Dormitory

Arrival

Caved and shut my eyes at 6.

All day I simply floated from plane to plane, from plane to metro, from metro to dormitory. The Underground rarely is, underground, from what I could tell. But the weather was fine as we stepped from the train at Blindern station and found people there to direct us just up the steps, up the hill, and into a bright yellow building they call Blindern dormitory. Room is small, but perfect. With incredible weight we unpacked, showered, ate, explored the campus, and sat beneath a shady tree thinking about the endless daylight and this endless day. At five we came back to our room, swearing up and down we would not fall asleep before 8. Or maybe 7. But there was no internet to entertain, and reading forced our eyelids down immediately, and it took an amazing force of will to even sit quietly conscious. But, like I said, I caved and shut my eyes at 6.
Longest day followed by longest night.
Woke up at 11. No darkness.
And again at 4. Light again.

At breakfast we met a man from Wisconsin. He was eating pickled fish. I'm making it a personal goal to avoid eating pickled fish while here.
And then we registered.
And then had the enormous good luck of getting wireless in our room.
And now we sit until our orientation meeting, after which we will contemplate over the rates of exchange from kroner to dollar, which still seems to confuse us.

the dark continent is, in fact, brilliant

I am not traveling at all. Actually, I am eating a pop tart.
(common occurrence)
And it feels strange that I traveled through Africa uninspired.
Stranger still that I should find this moment, back in this bland room, at the bottom of this bland house, to choose finally to write something.
We took ten seconds of every day ingesting chemicals to repel malaria.
spent hours unconsciously scratching at my ankles.
spent nights on an inch of foam, in a flimsy shelter. we needed nothing more.
sometimes i think that was the ultimate lesson--we need nothing more.
we rode on the tops of cars and felt exhilaration every time as a fine layer of dust collected in our hair and on our skin. turned our faces against the wind, ducked our heads against a sky filled with tree branches.
Can you see the sky filled with tree branches?
Can you see the red earth and the brilliant green forest and the cloudless blue sky?
I would show you, but I didn't have a camera then, and don't have clear memory now.

Quite frankly,

I miss you.

The First

We arrived in Amsterdam with energy, the adrenaline of a late night and of what was before us. Conversely, we stepped out of the plane in Dar and into the thick swelter of the night. My contacts were packed safely in my bag and so i saw it all through the blur of exhaustion and my poor eyesight.
We slept under a veil of mosquito nets. We spent the following day wading into a steaming Indian Ocean.
The next morning we arrived at the Lazy Lagoon Island Resort. We tanned, we swam in the cooler waters, we snorkeled in the reef and woke to the cries of the bush babies.
We drove throgh Mikumi game park and saw animals unrestrained by cages. We, instead, were caged.
And yesterday we arrived on campus. They washed our clothes, which the rain then rinsed clean.

Also, Emily is wearing a skirt.

Canada Likes Me So Much They Tried To Keep Me

I guess this post could also be titled "America Hates Me So Much They Tried To Give Me Away" and if it was it would be more accurate, but I am trying to me a positive person so lets ignore that side comment and talk about my little trip to Canada that almost never ended.

Today The Pops and I decided to go up and see the falls. He hadn't been to Niagara since before him and mom were married and even then he didn't cross the border and see them from the good side so I said "What the heck, lets make a day of it." So after eating a good breakfast and playing ping-pong we left Houghton destined for The Canada. Here is what I learned from this experience.

1. If you get an hour out and realize you don't have your passport, its okay.


2. Canada loves old people so much that they just let you into their country without asking for ID.


3. The falls look cool in the winter, but the ice that is covering the viewing area looks cooler.


4. Cheep batteries might last as long Duracell at 70F but at 25F they lie down on their death bed and moan and complain and go into cardiac arrest ever two to three pictures. Though, once you get them back into the warm car they become more lively than Jenny is loud.


5. US Border guards bark loader than they bite. Lets say two guys only have their driver's licenses with them (which is not enough for crossing the border from Canada according to US Border Law) they will still let you in without even pulling you aside and looking though your car.
6. The Anchor Bar is considered (by one magazine at least) to be the best place to bring out-of-towners. The have good wings, and maybe every out-of-towner should go there, but the fact that a bar is the best thing a "major" city can offer sort of makes you wonder.
   
7. Oh... And Buffalo should stop trying to be NYC.
   
   

Lessons from California

After months of boycotting this blog I am finally writing on here because for the first time since May of 2007 I am traveling for fun. So here it goes...

1. Caitlin is not a bad driver (I would like to see any of you who make fun of her drive in LA)

2. Eating a frozen banana on Balboa Island is everything I thought it would be

3. Fast food really is better in California (In and Out)

4. Peaches is in fact the greatest cat ever...even though she is enormous

5. Sleeping on a street corner in LA is what Dan likes to call "Urban camping"

6. A statue of a raptor is a legitimate lawn decoration if you have millions of dollars

7. Point Loma University is what Houghton College dreams of being

8. Mexican food gets much better the closer you get to Mexico

9. If you have enough money, you can live wherever you want and do whatever you want

10. Finally, no matter what Tilson or Caitlin tell you...Del Taco is nothing more than Taco Bell with a different name