9.29.12
Alright so I know I haven't written about Portugal or Spain yet, but I
will very soon! (I'm honestly waiting because I'm trying to remember
the name of the Palace in Sintre, Portugal that I hiked to, along with
the name of the cross at the very top of the mountain, so if anyone
wants to look it up and e-mail it to me in order to help me out, that'd
be wonderful! [Since I have hardly any internet minutes here!] )
But while I'm still pondering about that, we had Open Mic Night tonight
in the Piano Lounge. Now I didn't go up and talk/sing/play an
instrument, honestly, I wouldn't know what to do had I been up there,
but there was one person who knew exactly what to say. Her name is
Renee and she is one of the RD's here on the ship.
Renee claimed that she went up there not knowing what to talk about, and
while some part of me believes that, her story was so well spoken that
she had to have known what she wanted students to get from her speech;
it was so well thought out!
She talked about the time when she was called a Hero. So at first she
asked us what we thought of when we heard the term "Hero." My mind
wandered to my Grandpa, who fought in WWII, who touched the lives of
several hundreds of people by teaching Drivers Ed. in school along with
coaching football and baseball. I also thought about the soldiers who
daily lay down their lives in order to protect ours. But the more Renee
talked, the more I realized how cliche I thought I was being. Now don't
get me wrong, I still believe that soldiers are heroes, I still believe
that my Grandpa is a hero, and I'm not saying that these people aren't
heroes. I'm simply saying that heroes are much more than just those we
automatically tend to think about.
Renee told her story of when she was a camp counselor one year during
the summer. I'm going to tell Renee's story as if I were her, but a
shortened version. There were 3 main characters aside from herself in
this story. Bobbi, Andrea, and Ryan. Bobbi was the girl who was a
little bit bigger than everyone else (these are all middle-school
children, by the way) and Andrea, a little bit on the tomboy side, was
her best friend. Ryan was the boy who always picked on Bobbi. The camp
was 5 days long, and they were doing everything outdoorsy and
science-like. Everyday Renee would talk about the big rock wall that
they would all climb on the last day. Everyone (especially Andrea) was
excited to climb...everyone but Bobbi.
Well Bobbi had spoken to Renee about how scared she was to climb the
wall, and even thought about not showing up to camp the last day,
despite the fact that meant she wouldn't complete the program and get
her certificate. Renee calmly told Bobbi that everyone would be there
for her, but it was her decision whether or not to show up.
The next day rolled around, and as the time starts passing by, Bobbi
hadn't shown up. Renee explained to her captivated audience how
disappointed she was, but kept going for the rest of the students.
Finally, Bobbi made her appearance. As everyone climbed the rock wall,
Bobbi hung back.
It was Ryan who called her out and shouted that she was the only one who
hadn't gone up. Who knew if he knew that he was actually doing her a
favor, but either way, he put all the attention on her and Bobbi agreed
to climb the wall.
Renee tried to calm Bobbi down as she took one step off the ground, and
then another. Both feet were about a foot off the ground, and Bobbi was
terrified, even shaking. Andrea stepped up to her side and told her
that she was right there for her, and slowly but surely, Bobbi made it
up halfway. Then she looked down. (Note: if you're scared of heights
and are climbing up, don't look down!!) Well that did it, and Bobbi was
frozen in place. tears literally streaming down her face and called out
that she couldn't go any further; Andrea's presence wasn't helping at
all anymore. Who decides to step up? Out of the crowd, you hear Ryan,
who had been bugging her all summer, start chanting, "Bobbi. Bobbi.
Bobbi." And everyone joined in! Up Bobbi went and finally made it to
the top, and was able to ring the little bell!
The next day, after summer camp was over, Renee still had other
students, but Bobbi's time was over. However, Renee found a little
handwritten note on her car the next day from Bobbi, telling her how
thankful she was for Renee, called her her hero, and how she wouldn't
have been able to conquer her fears if Renee hadn't been there.
This story got me thinking about what it really means to be a hero. It's
not just the obvious, the ones who go out of their way to make sure you
can live a free life. It could be the parent who kills the spider for
their child, or gives a kiss when they get a scrape. It may be the best
friend who helps you through a tough heartbreak, or the kid at school
who shares their lunch when you forgot yours. This all comes back to the
title: A Wall, The Power of One, The Power of You.
Renee then challenged all of us to rethink. A wall. This could be
anything physical, emotional, or psychological. Anything that could be
blocking your potential. The power of one. One person can make
someone's life infinitely better. Renee helped Bobbi conquer her fear
of heights. The parent who kills the bug that may be terrifying the
child. It doesn't have to be anything huge, it's honestly the little
things that make the most difference, that are the most noticeable.
Then there's the power of you. You have the power to be someone's
hero. Whether you know it or not, whether they recognize you for what
you've done for them, YOU have the potential to be someone's everyday
hero. How can you make the difference? You could be the one who gives
a daily compliment to someone, and make their day, everyday. You can be
the one who stands up for someone who may be being picked on. You can
brighten someone's day just by smiling at them. Everyone can be a hero.
I've then thought about my everyday heroes. My parents for helping me
through all of my life. Dr. Hopfensperger as she has helped me with not
only my education, but with research experience needed for Graduate
School, and how she plans on helping me with my decision of where to
attend. Dr. McIntyre-Miller with helping me reach my goal to go on
Semester at Sea, and had it not been for her, I may not have been here
to hear Renee's story. My friends through the college years as we all
battled through exams, bad professors, and drama. You may not realize
it, but everyone can and will be a hero to someone else throughout their
lifetime. It doesn't have to be just laying down the line for someone,
it's anything that can make them be a better person, feel more important.
I've taken Renee's 3-steps to heart, and can apply them in everyday
life. I know that as I hike up Mt. Teide tomorrow, I will face a
physical challenge, as well as psychological because my body will feel
the burn as I hike, as well as I need to believe that I can make it up.
I know that as I travel with Danielle, Amy, Colleen, Dale, Ann, Michael,
and Peter we will all be encouraging each other as we face the hardship
that lays ahead. I have the power to help them achieve reaching the summit.
Renee made a great point about how every little thing you do can have a
huge impact on someone else. Enough to be considered that person's
hero. So basically, don't ever underestimate the power of what you can
do to help someone overcome a difficult situation. You never know, for
that moment, you too will be a hero!
SH
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Amsterdam!
9.21.12
Alright everyone, I'm able to write about my trip to Amsterdam now! :)
Sometime while I'm in Spain I'll update you about Portugal as well.
I'll have a few more days at sea after we are out of Europe and headed
for Ghana.
Amsterdam-gorgeous city! The first thing I noticed as Zach, me,
Colleen, and Amy got off the train was how many bikes were there. They
had parking garages specifically for nothing but bikes! I would totally
lose my bike if we had anything like that! I definitely took some
pictures because this was just too amazing.
The first thing our group did was find Anne Frank's house. After we
found it, we went to a place called the Pancake Bakery. Their pancakes
are world famous, and are bigger than any pancake I have ever seen
before Not only that, but they had just about anything you wanted on
there as well. Colleen, Amy, and I all got one with bananas, chocolate
sauce and whipped cream. The bananas practically melted on the
pancake! Zach ate one with peaches and vanilla ice cream. I'm pretty
proud that I finished the entire meal haha.
We then went back to Anne Frank's house to get a tour. It was
incredible. The house was extremely eerie because of the fact that
there was basically nothing left; the Germans had raided the entire
home. They had pictures of the house before so we could compare how
much was taken from the Franks. We actually got to walk through the
bookcase that hid the Franks for over 2 years, and I'm shocked that 8
people could live in that small space. There was a room that two people
slept in, but it was also the kitchen and the study room. It was
probably no bigger than my cabin room on the ship, and if it was, it was
only slightly. We were not allowed to take pictures while going through
the museum, and we had to wear our backpacks on our front to make sure
we didn't accidentally hit anything.
There were also some videos and live footage of what occurred in the
concentration camps, and live testimonies from those who knew Anne and
her family. I ended up buying a book that is composed of 6 different
stories from women who knew Anne while she was in the concentration
camps, and it's called "The Last 7 Months of Anne's Life."
The museum was definitely a great highlight of Amsterdam, and I would
highly recommend everyone to visit it, because you learn so much and
it's extremely moving.
We also went on a canal cruise afterwards. That was pretty fun, and the
sight was great as we traveled through the many canals of Amsterdam. We
learned a lot about the architecture and we even saw where the Mayor lives!
All in all, I had a great time, and would love to go back again someday!
I promise I'll write about Portugal too, and some more ship life :)
SH
Alright everyone, I'm able to write about my trip to Amsterdam now! :)
Sometime while I'm in Spain I'll update you about Portugal as well.
I'll have a few more days at sea after we are out of Europe and headed
for Ghana.
Amsterdam-gorgeous city! The first thing I noticed as Zach, me,
Colleen, and Amy got off the train was how many bikes were there. They
had parking garages specifically for nothing but bikes! I would totally
lose my bike if we had anything like that! I definitely took some
pictures because this was just too amazing.
The first thing our group did was find Anne Frank's house. After we
found it, we went to a place called the Pancake Bakery. Their pancakes
are world famous, and are bigger than any pancake I have ever seen
before Not only that, but they had just about anything you wanted on
there as well. Colleen, Amy, and I all got one with bananas, chocolate
sauce and whipped cream. The bananas practically melted on the
pancake! Zach ate one with peaches and vanilla ice cream. I'm pretty
proud that I finished the entire meal haha.
We then went back to Anne Frank's house to get a tour. It was
incredible. The house was extremely eerie because of the fact that
there was basically nothing left; the Germans had raided the entire
home. They had pictures of the house before so we could compare how
much was taken from the Franks. We actually got to walk through the
bookcase that hid the Franks for over 2 years, and I'm shocked that 8
people could live in that small space. There was a room that two people
slept in, but it was also the kitchen and the study room. It was
probably no bigger than my cabin room on the ship, and if it was, it was
only slightly. We were not allowed to take pictures while going through
the museum, and we had to wear our backpacks on our front to make sure
we didn't accidentally hit anything.
There were also some videos and live footage of what occurred in the
concentration camps, and live testimonies from those who knew Anne and
her family. I ended up buying a book that is composed of 6 different
stories from women who knew Anne while she was in the concentration
camps, and it's called "The Last 7 Months of Anne's Life."
The museum was definitely a great highlight of Amsterdam, and I would
highly recommend everyone to visit it, because you learn so much and
it's extremely moving.
We also went on a canal cruise afterwards. That was pretty fun, and the
sight was great as we traveled through the many canals of Amsterdam. We
learned a lot about the architecture and we even saw where the Mayor lives!
All in all, I had a great time, and would love to go back again someday!
I promise I'll write about Portugal too, and some more ship life :)
SH
Paris-Day Two (Finally)
9.22.12
Hey everyone! So I'm finally updating my blog! Sorry it took forever!
I actually have a little bit of time right now. (Not really because I'm
waiting for class to start and then I have 2 meetings and an ice cream
social with my extended family!) But I know I need to update my blog for
everyone so maybe one more tonight and something tomorrow night!
The second day of Paris was pretty great. It didn't really rain until
that night, which was nice while we were all walking around outside. We
started the day off with breakfast in front of Notre Dame. The
breakfast view was amazing, and we hopped onto a walking tour group for
a bit afterwards, and listened to all the Notre Dame facts. Going into
the cathedral was absolutely stunning. There was a lot of stain glass,
which lit up in an awe-inspiring way. There seemed to be a service that
was about to begin as well. I saw a sign that said in 2013, Notre Dame
will have its 850th birthday! :)
We then went to the Eiffel Tower. Danielle and Amy decided to wait in
line while Colleen and I went to the Louvre. (The line for the Eiffel
Tower was extremely long).
The Louvre was quite interesting. I'm not too much of a fan of a lot of
art, and I know all my art friends (along with my dad, for that matter)
are going to kill me for saying this...but Colleen and I spent about 2
hours total going from the Eiffel Tower, to the Louvre, through the
Louvre, and back to the Eiffel Tower haha. We saw the Mona Lisa, the
Colossal Statue of Ramses II, got lost in a Medieval Moat, and more
while there! Colleen and I realized that if we saw the 3 main pieces of
art we wanted to see, and would see just about everything else while
looking for the Exit, which I learned in French is Sortie. I was
wearing my NKU shirt I got on a Black and Gold day, which said "Tour
Guide" on the back...I almost took my jacket off to see how many people
would potentially follow me around. haha!
Then when we got back to the Eiffel Tower, we realized that Danielle and
Amy had gone up in the tower already, because you can't buy tickets
ahead of time...basically you stand in line and then you go up. So the
four of us went to see the Arc de Triumph, though we didn't go up in it,
as well as visiting the Pantheon. Afterwards, Danielle and Amy went
back to the hostel, while Colleen and I headed to the Eiffel Tower.
Like the London Eye, the Eiffel Tower at night was gorgeous. Every
hour, on the hour, the tower would sparkle like a sparkler on the Fourth
of July! Don't worry, I have pictures, which I can hopefully upload in
Spain! The view was absolutely gorgeous. Cities are so pretty when all
lit up at night, and I enjoyed comparing London to Paris at night. I
wish we could have gone to a few more places, but I'll just have to go back!
Hopefully later tonight I'll be updating about Amsterdam! :)
SH
Hey everyone! So I'm finally updating my blog! Sorry it took forever!
I actually have a little bit of time right now. (Not really because I'm
waiting for class to start and then I have 2 meetings and an ice cream
social with my extended family!) But I know I need to update my blog for
everyone so maybe one more tonight and something tomorrow night!
The second day of Paris was pretty great. It didn't really rain until
that night, which was nice while we were all walking around outside. We
started the day off with breakfast in front of Notre Dame. The
breakfast view was amazing, and we hopped onto a walking tour group for
a bit afterwards, and listened to all the Notre Dame facts. Going into
the cathedral was absolutely stunning. There was a lot of stain glass,
which lit up in an awe-inspiring way. There seemed to be a service that
was about to begin as well. I saw a sign that said in 2013, Notre Dame
will have its 850th birthday! :)
We then went to the Eiffel Tower. Danielle and Amy decided to wait in
line while Colleen and I went to the Louvre. (The line for the Eiffel
Tower was extremely long).
The Louvre was quite interesting. I'm not too much of a fan of a lot of
art, and I know all my art friends (along with my dad, for that matter)
are going to kill me for saying this...but Colleen and I spent about 2
hours total going from the Eiffel Tower, to the Louvre, through the
Louvre, and back to the Eiffel Tower haha. We saw the Mona Lisa, the
Colossal Statue of Ramses II, got lost in a Medieval Moat, and more
while there! Colleen and I realized that if we saw the 3 main pieces of
art we wanted to see, and would see just about everything else while
looking for the Exit, which I learned in French is Sortie. I was
wearing my NKU shirt I got on a Black and Gold day, which said "Tour
Guide" on the back...I almost took my jacket off to see how many people
would potentially follow me around. haha!
Then when we got back to the Eiffel Tower, we realized that Danielle and
Amy had gone up in the tower already, because you can't buy tickets
ahead of time...basically you stand in line and then you go up. So the
four of us went to see the Arc de Triumph, though we didn't go up in it,
as well as visiting the Pantheon. Afterwards, Danielle and Amy went
back to the hostel, while Colleen and I headed to the Eiffel Tower.
Like the London Eye, the Eiffel Tower at night was gorgeous. Every
hour, on the hour, the tower would sparkle like a sparkler on the Fourth
of July! Don't worry, I have pictures, which I can hopefully upload in
Spain! The view was absolutely gorgeous. Cities are so pretty when all
lit up at night, and I enjoyed comparing London to Paris at night. I
wish we could have gone to a few more places, but I'll just have to go back!
Hopefully later tonight I'll be updating about Amsterdam! :)
SH
Friday, September 21, 2012
Morocco
Hey everyone, just another quick little update. I promise I'll write
about the rest of Belgium and Portugal very soon!
However, I have some bittersweet news. Semester at Sea is no longer
going to Casablanca, Morocco this semester. It's a bummer, but I
understand why the decision was made. Safety is definitely the most
important, and here makes the first piece of advice I have for future
SAS students: Be flexible. Whether it's in port or where we're going,
don't let it bother you and know it'll be alright in the end.
Like I said, it was bittersweet. Since we are no longer going to
Morocco, we now get two more days in Spain. That means at least another
day visiting my friend in Madrid! Aside from that, we also get 2 days
in Santa Cruz, Canary Islands. It's going to be a gorgeous time!
Anyway, that's all for now!
SH
about the rest of Belgium and Portugal very soon!
However, I have some bittersweet news. Semester at Sea is no longer
going to Casablanca, Morocco this semester. It's a bummer, but I
understand why the decision was made. Safety is definitely the most
important, and here makes the first piece of advice I have for future
SAS students: Be flexible. Whether it's in port or where we're going,
don't let it bother you and know it'll be alright in the end.
Like I said, it was bittersweet. Since we are no longer going to
Morocco, we now get two more days in Spain. That means at least another
day visiting my friend in Madrid! Aside from that, we also get 2 days
in Santa Cruz, Canary Islands. It's going to be a gorgeous time!
Anyway, that's all for now!
SH
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Quick Updates!
9.19.12
I promise I'll blog more about my time in Belgium/Paris/Amsterdam either
tonight or tomorrow (it's been really hectic with school and traveling!)
But first of all CONGRATS DR. MCINTYRE-MILLER!!!! :) Her and her
husband just had their first son, Walton Knox Miller! So happy for both
of you!! :)
Right now I'm in Portugal! I went to the palace yesterday, and tonight
I'm either going to the Portugal soccer game or to the beach! I promise
I'll actually update though as soon as I can!
SH
I promise I'll blog more about my time in Belgium/Paris/Amsterdam either
tonight or tomorrow (it's been really hectic with school and traveling!)
But first of all CONGRATS DR. MCINTYRE-MILLER!!!! :) Her and her
husband just had their first son, Walton Knox Miller! So happy for both
of you!! :)
Right now I'm in Portugal! I went to the palace yesterday, and tonight
I'm either going to the Portugal soccer game or to the beach! I promise
I'll actually update though as soon as I can!
SH
Thursday, September 13, 2012
DISNEY PARIS!
9.13.12
It's getting harder and harder to remember dates and days haha.
Anyway, I spent the last two days in Paris, but it definitely needs to be broken up into two different blog posts because of everything we did!
Well we made it to Disney Paris, with a few minor setbacks. (We had to buy train tickets [we bought the wrong ones] and Danielle, Colleen, and Amy had to buy Disney Tickets, while I had accidentally forgotten mine on my bed on the ship..)
But, it was definitely worth it! It was raining a little bit, but honestly, we didn't mind because it was on and off, but only terrible downpour once! (We just went into a store for 10 minutes and it stopped!) The only downside to the rain was that we only found one character outside! The lines were literally less than 20 minutes each, so we had plenty of time to do everything we wanted! The Rockin' Roller Coaster wait line was only 10 minutes, while the Space Mountain ride was only 5 minutes!!! (I have video to prove this!)
We also went to Toy Story Land while there and we rode the Green Army Men Parachute Drop, as well as the RC Racer ride! Everything made us feel so small because the toys were huge!
I broke down and bought a Little Green Alien stuffed animal, and I'm glad we went because it's the 20th Anniversary year! They had this awesome show right as the park was closing! (It wasn't just fireworks, there were several characters talking and you could see them on Sleeping Beauty's Castle).
One ride that I really enjoyed was the "It's a Small World" Ride! It was fun to go through and see all the different countries, and we loved saying "Oh! We've been there!" or that we're going there!
Whoever said this, clearly hadn't discovered SAS yet... :)
The parks were also much closer together, so we could dart really quickly from ride to ride. I'm not quite sure how to relate this one back to my Vicarious Voyagers class, but I hope they like the pictures! :)
Can you believe it's only 10 minutes??
It was raining, as you can tell from my jeans haha!
Sleeping Beauty's Castle!
Love this picture at sunset!!
SH
It's getting harder and harder to remember dates and days haha.
Anyway, I spent the last two days in Paris, but it definitely needs to be broken up into two different blog posts because of everything we did!
Well we made it to Disney Paris, with a few minor setbacks. (We had to buy train tickets [we bought the wrong ones] and Danielle, Colleen, and Amy had to buy Disney Tickets, while I had accidentally forgotten mine on my bed on the ship..)
But, it was definitely worth it! It was raining a little bit, but honestly, we didn't mind because it was on and off, but only terrible downpour once! (We just went into a store for 10 minutes and it stopped!) The only downside to the rain was that we only found one character outside! The lines were literally less than 20 minutes each, so we had plenty of time to do everything we wanted! The Rockin' Roller Coaster wait line was only 10 minutes, while the Space Mountain ride was only 5 minutes!!! (I have video to prove this!)
We also went to Toy Story Land while there and we rode the Green Army Men Parachute Drop, as well as the RC Racer ride! Everything made us feel so small because the toys were huge!
I broke down and bought a Little Green Alien stuffed animal, and I'm glad we went because it's the 20th Anniversary year! They had this awesome show right as the park was closing! (It wasn't just fireworks, there were several characters talking and you could see them on Sleeping Beauty's Castle).
One ride that I really enjoyed was the "It's a Small World" Ride! It was fun to go through and see all the different countries, and we loved saying "Oh! We've been there!" or that we're going there!
Whoever said this, clearly hadn't discovered SAS yet... :)The parks were also much closer together, so we could dart really quickly from ride to ride. I'm not quite sure how to relate this one back to my Vicarious Voyagers class, but I hope they like the pictures! :)
Can you believe it's only 10 minutes??
It was raining, as you can tell from my jeans haha!
Sleeping Beauty's Castle!
Love this picture at sunset!!Brussels-First SAS field trip!
Soo here's a short blurb about my first day in Belgium! I was really excited because I thought I was going to be getting a tour of the European Union and then have someone come talk to us about environmental issues that they're focusing on now.
What really happened?
We walked around a couple parks for about 3 hours, and then we didn't get a tour, but someone lectured at us for about two hours...it was pretty awesome...
The guy who was talking to us didn't even know much about the environmental issues that we were asking about, he focused more on how the E.U. works, and what could happen if it falls through. Which is a pretty important topic, but that wasn't what I paid money for, you know?
The night was pretty fun though! Danielle and I decided oh about 20 minutes before I left for Brussels to switch our Europe plans...which meant I had to pack in a record time, because I ended up spending the night in Brussels with my friends Brett, Jake, and the girls they were traveling with.
We did get an amazing view of Brussels as we walked to our hostel, and unfortuantly, I left my camera on my bed in my cabin on the ship so I didn't get any pictures. :/
Anyway, the next morning at the crack of dawn, Brett was nice enough to get up and walk me to the train station so I didn't have to go in the dark by myself. (I say he was nice enough because we all went out and got back to the hostel around 1ish? And we left around 5:45 am haha).
Well Brett and I walked to the train station, only to find out that we're at the wrong one. This wouldn't have been a problem if I wasn't meeting up with Danielle, Amy, and Colleen at the Paris train station before 8:30am. (They were supposed to sleep at the train station in Paris because it was a late train and we were all going to Disney the next morning!!)
Well, Brett and I get to the train station that we now know to be the right one, and are looking around for an info station, when suddenly I hear "SARAH!" And see Colleen running at me!
I was like "oh hey! Wait-what are you doing in this country?!" hahahha. Only SASers :)
But we made it and then we went to DISNEY PARIS! Post about that next :)
What really happened?
We walked around a couple parks for about 3 hours, and then we didn't get a tour, but someone lectured at us for about two hours...it was pretty awesome...
The guy who was talking to us didn't even know much about the environmental issues that we were asking about, he focused more on how the E.U. works, and what could happen if it falls through. Which is a pretty important topic, but that wasn't what I paid money for, you know?
The night was pretty fun though! Danielle and I decided oh about 20 minutes before I left for Brussels to switch our Europe plans...which meant I had to pack in a record time, because I ended up spending the night in Brussels with my friends Brett, Jake, and the girls they were traveling with.
We did get an amazing view of Brussels as we walked to our hostel, and unfortuantly, I left my camera on my bed in my cabin on the ship so I didn't get any pictures. :/
Anyway, the next morning at the crack of dawn, Brett was nice enough to get up and walk me to the train station so I didn't have to go in the dark by myself. (I say he was nice enough because we all went out and got back to the hostel around 1ish? And we left around 5:45 am haha).
Well Brett and I walked to the train station, only to find out that we're at the wrong one. This wouldn't have been a problem if I wasn't meeting up with Danielle, Amy, and Colleen at the Paris train station before 8:30am. (They were supposed to sleep at the train station in Paris because it was a late train and we were all going to Disney the next morning!!)
Well, Brett and I get to the train station that we now know to be the right one, and are looking around for an info station, when suddenly I hear "SARAH!" And see Colleen running at me!
I was like "oh hey! Wait-what are you doing in this country?!" hahahha. Only SASers :)
But we made it and then we went to DISNEY PARIS! Post about that next :)
Paralympics Videos!
Saturday, September 8, 2012
Southampton/London
9.8.12
First off, I would like to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY ABBY! My phone stopped
working, so I can't call, but I hope a shout out on my blog can do
justice :)
Secondly, I just got back on the ship after spending a few days in
London! I wish we could stay a few more, but I felt that way about
Ireland too, and I think I'm going to feel that way about every country
I visit!
The first day in Southampton (9.5.12), a few friends and I went to
Stonehenge! (Nate, if you're reading this: real-life civ and I went
there first, so does that mean I "built" it first? haha!) Stonehenge was
absolutely amazing! It was awesome being able to see such an
awe-inspiring sight! I ended up getting a hoodie from there that says
"Stonehenge Est. 3,000 BC" haha :) Anyway, it was out by some farms, so
it was interesting to realize that yeah, people live right next to it!
On my dad's birthday (9.6.12), we booked it to London! Colleen and Amy
were at Harry Potter World, but Danielle and I walked around for quite
some time. That night we all went up into the London Eye. I was
surprised it only took a half hour to go around because of how slow the
Eye was moving, and how big it is too. But the city was gorgeous at
night all lit up, and I would definitely recommend it to everyone!
Yesterday was our day mainly for sight-seeing. We started off going to
the Paralympics! Colleen and Eugene had tickets already bought before
our voyage, Danielle managed to buy one off someone else, and when we
asked an official if there was anyone else looking to sell tickets, they
gave me and Amy tickets for free! I'm glad we all got to go because it
was quite something! We saw wheelchair fencing, table tennis, and
sitting volleyball.
Wheel chair fencing was interesting because they couldn't move; the
wheelchairs were strapped down. I don't know much about fencing, but
from what we saw, they had to hit a certain part on each other to get a
point, and every 5 points they would switch out people from their team.
Table Tennis was cool because one hand stayed on the wheelchair while
the other was using the paddle. The most intense match we saw was
between the Chinese and the Germans.
Sitting Volleyball was probably my favorite event, and hardest to
describe. It wasn't for those who were in wheelchairs, either, and
sometimes we saw players using their feet. It was interesting to see
the size of the court and a few of the different rule changes as well.
After that, we attempted to go to Abbey Road...apparently, there are
two. So we went to Platform 9 3/4 first, and then hit up Baker Street
(unfortunately, without Jon Watson), and then went to the real Abbey
Road since it was close to Baker St.
As we got off the Tube and were walking back to our hostel, we finally
found a Tardis. (sp?) Amanda, I had been looking for one the entire
time we were in London and couldn't find one anywhere! It would be right
outside the Tube station in front of our hostel, because that's the only
place we weren't expecting to see one haha. Anyway, I have a bunch of
pictures to show everyone, but since I'm on the ship, it'll have to wait
a week or two.
We're off to Belgium tomorrow, and I'm not bringing my laptop around
Europe, just an FYI! So from the 11th-15th don't expect me to e-mail or
write anything!
Plans for Belgium:
10th-Head to Brussels, visit the EU!
11th- DISNEY PARIS!
12th- Paris sight seeing
13th- Luxembourg/Germany
14th- Amsterdam
15th- Head back to Antwerp!
If anyone has any questions for me, I'd suggest you e-mail me before the
10th! :)
SH
First off, I would like to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY ABBY! My phone stopped
working, so I can't call, but I hope a shout out on my blog can do
justice :)
Secondly, I just got back on the ship after spending a few days in
London! I wish we could stay a few more, but I felt that way about
Ireland too, and I think I'm going to feel that way about every country
I visit!
The first day in Southampton (9.5.12), a few friends and I went to
Stonehenge! (Nate, if you're reading this: real-life civ and I went
there first, so does that mean I "built" it first? haha!) Stonehenge was
absolutely amazing! It was awesome being able to see such an
awe-inspiring sight! I ended up getting a hoodie from there that says
"Stonehenge Est. 3,000 BC" haha :) Anyway, it was out by some farms, so
it was interesting to realize that yeah, people live right next to it!
On my dad's birthday (9.6.12), we booked it to London! Colleen and Amy
were at Harry Potter World, but Danielle and I walked around for quite
some time. That night we all went up into the London Eye. I was
surprised it only took a half hour to go around because of how slow the
Eye was moving, and how big it is too. But the city was gorgeous at
night all lit up, and I would definitely recommend it to everyone!
Yesterday was our day mainly for sight-seeing. We started off going to
the Paralympics! Colleen and Eugene had tickets already bought before
our voyage, Danielle managed to buy one off someone else, and when we
asked an official if there was anyone else looking to sell tickets, they
gave me and Amy tickets for free! I'm glad we all got to go because it
was quite something! We saw wheelchair fencing, table tennis, and
sitting volleyball.
Wheel chair fencing was interesting because they couldn't move; the
wheelchairs were strapped down. I don't know much about fencing, but
from what we saw, they had to hit a certain part on each other to get a
point, and every 5 points they would switch out people from their team.
Table Tennis was cool because one hand stayed on the wheelchair while
the other was using the paddle. The most intense match we saw was
between the Chinese and the Germans.
Sitting Volleyball was probably my favorite event, and hardest to
describe. It wasn't for those who were in wheelchairs, either, and
sometimes we saw players using their feet. It was interesting to see
the size of the court and a few of the different rule changes as well.
After that, we attempted to go to Abbey Road...apparently, there are
two. So we went to Platform 9 3/4 first, and then hit up Baker Street
(unfortunately, without Jon Watson), and then went to the real Abbey
Road since it was close to Baker St.
As we got off the Tube and were walking back to our hostel, we finally
found a Tardis. (sp?) Amanda, I had been looking for one the entire
time we were in London and couldn't find one anywhere! It would be right
outside the Tube station in front of our hostel, because that's the only
place we weren't expecting to see one haha. Anyway, I have a bunch of
pictures to show everyone, but since I'm on the ship, it'll have to wait
a week or two.
We're off to Belgium tomorrow, and I'm not bringing my laptop around
Europe, just an FYI! So from the 11th-15th don't expect me to e-mail or
write anything!
Plans for Belgium:
10th-Head to Brussels, visit the EU!
11th- DISNEY PARIS!
12th- Paris sight seeing
13th- Luxembourg/Germany
14th- Amsterdam
15th- Head back to Antwerp!
If anyone has any questions for me, I'd suggest you e-mail me before the
10th! :)
SH
Friday, September 7, 2012
Ireland (Dublin!)
Hey everyone, sorry that this has taken forever to write (I've been
crazy busy since we only had one day between Ireland and England! And
the hostel we are staying in doesn't have free wifi, along with the fact
the little cafe we sit in to get the wifi doesn't work all the time :/
Anyway, Dublin! It was pretty fun! I got to eat at Captain America's
Bar and Grill! (I've been waiting about a year to do that! :D ) I took
a ton of pictures, and splurged by getting this really amazing oreo
drink thing. That day we basically walked around Grafton Street, and
just shopped (we spotted the Disney store from about 2 blocks away haha).
The next day, Danielle and I went to the National Leprechaun Museum!! It
was so cute, and not at all what I expected! It was pretty much like a
story we walked through-we went through a magic tunnel that made us grow
into giants (like Alice and Wonderland!), and also walked through their
version of The Giant's Causeway. We made our way to the Giant's room,
and there the furniture was so large, that we felt like the size of
Leprechauns! (Pictures to come, promise!) We also learned about
faeries and great heroes, and at the end of our tour, our guide made us
draw pictures for the gallery (even the adults! haha)
That's about it for Ireland, we didn't get to do too much in Dublin, but
that's alright, because I loved every bit of Galway! I'll admit I had
chicken more in Ireland than I expected, but the food was great!
I'll be posting soon about England!!
SH
crazy busy since we only had one day between Ireland and England! And
the hostel we are staying in doesn't have free wifi, along with the fact
the little cafe we sit in to get the wifi doesn't work all the time :/
Anyway, Dublin! It was pretty fun! I got to eat at Captain America's
Bar and Grill! (I've been waiting about a year to do that! :D ) I took
a ton of pictures, and splurged by getting this really amazing oreo
drink thing. That day we basically walked around Grafton Street, and
just shopped (we spotted the Disney store from about 2 blocks away haha).
The next day, Danielle and I went to the National Leprechaun Museum!! It
was so cute, and not at all what I expected! It was pretty much like a
story we walked through-we went through a magic tunnel that made us grow
into giants (like Alice and Wonderland!), and also walked through their
version of The Giant's Causeway. We made our way to the Giant's room,
and there the furniture was so large, that we felt like the size of
Leprechauns! (Pictures to come, promise!) We also learned about
faeries and great heroes, and at the end of our tour, our guide made us
draw pictures for the gallery (even the adults! haha)
That's about it for Ireland, we didn't get to do too much in Dublin, but
that's alright, because I loved every bit of Galway! I'll admit I had
chicken more in Ireland than I expected, but the food was great!
I'll be posting soon about England!!
SH
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
All About Ireland! (Galway edition)
9.4.12
Hey everyone! Last night we just left Dublin, so I have a lot to talk
about the past four days!
I'll start with Galway!
First, it was so exciting to get off the ship for the first time in a
week and be able to actually walk without the potential ability to get
tossed! I didn't get much sleep the night before, mostly due to the fact
we were so excited not just about land, or that we wouldn't have school
for 4 days, but because we were going to be in Ireland!
So once we got there, we had to take a tender boat from our ship to the
docks (I'll show you a picture of what this looks like next time I can
get online!) The day seemed somewhat dreary, but we wandered around
until we found our hostel, the Kinlay. It was a really nice hostel! We
had our own room, free breakfast, free wifi, our own towels and
blankets, etc. Well that day, it started to clear up just a bit, so we
decided to catch a bus to the Cliffs of Moher.
It was about a 2 hour drive, but our bus driver was really nice and we
met some other SASers as well! Halfway through the bus ride, our bus
driver stopped to let us take some scenic pictures. My favorite picture
(which I'll put up when I can) is one of me, Colleen, Danielle, and Meg
sitting in the road with our backs to the camera, and the scene before
us is all green and farmland, and just so gorgeous.
Then we made another stop to these burial grounds (I don't remember the
name off the top of my head, I'll put that up when I put the picture up)
but the burial grounds are older than the pyramids!!
Finally, we made it to the cliffs. The sight was so serene, and I'm
glad we went the day we did, because it was a little bit foggy, but you
could still see everything. The fog just made the scene more surreal
and calm, and just mesmerizing.
That night Meg and I met up with some SASers, and we all went to a pub
crawl. It wasn't what I was expecting, because it was pretty much just
a socializing setting for tourists, and the one time any band played an
Irish jig, it was because we requested the song.
The second day in Galway, we basically walked around and shopped. Galway
is a cute little town, and it only takes about ten minutes to get
everywhere walking. Then we were hanging out at a pub, and we ran into
a family who was celebrating their family member who was getting married
next weekend. So while talking to them, they invited us out with them
to help celebrate their family. We went out, and it was a great time
and we ran into a some other SAS students as well. All in all, Galway
was great and I had a fantastic time!
I'll write about Dublin after class!
SH
Hey everyone! Last night we just left Dublin, so I have a lot to talk
about the past four days!
I'll start with Galway!
First, it was so exciting to get off the ship for the first time in a
week and be able to actually walk without the potential ability to get
tossed! I didn't get much sleep the night before, mostly due to the fact
we were so excited not just about land, or that we wouldn't have school
for 4 days, but because we were going to be in Ireland!
So once we got there, we had to take a tender boat from our ship to the
docks (I'll show you a picture of what this looks like next time I can
get online!) The day seemed somewhat dreary, but we wandered around
until we found our hostel, the Kinlay. It was a really nice hostel! We
had our own room, free breakfast, free wifi, our own towels and
blankets, etc. Well that day, it started to clear up just a bit, so we
decided to catch a bus to the Cliffs of Moher.
It was about a 2 hour drive, but our bus driver was really nice and we
met some other SASers as well! Halfway through the bus ride, our bus
driver stopped to let us take some scenic pictures. My favorite picture
(which I'll put up when I can) is one of me, Colleen, Danielle, and Meg
sitting in the road with our backs to the camera, and the scene before
us is all green and farmland, and just so gorgeous.
Then we made another stop to these burial grounds (I don't remember the
name off the top of my head, I'll put that up when I put the picture up)
but the burial grounds are older than the pyramids!!
Finally, we made it to the cliffs. The sight was so serene, and I'm
glad we went the day we did, because it was a little bit foggy, but you
could still see everything. The fog just made the scene more surreal
and calm, and just mesmerizing.
That night Meg and I met up with some SASers, and we all went to a pub
crawl. It wasn't what I was expecting, because it was pretty much just
a socializing setting for tourists, and the one time any band played an
Irish jig, it was because we requested the song.
The second day in Galway, we basically walked around and shopped. Galway
is a cute little town, and it only takes about ten minutes to get
everywhere walking. Then we were hanging out at a pub, and we ran into
a family who was celebrating their family member who was getting married
next weekend. So while talking to them, they invited us out with them
to help celebrate their family. We went out, and it was a great time
and we ran into a some other SAS students as well. All in all, Galway
was great and I had a fantastic time!
I'll write about Dublin after class!
SH
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