I Swear I Haven't Gotten Lazy (Just Busy...kinda)

Week(s) In Review (OR…I wanted to update…but am also too lazy to put pictures up)

EDIT: yea…yet again, I’m back from where I was (Paris), but have been a little too tired to want to type a long post about my adventures/misadventures. THAT, and my allergies that I didn’t know I had decided to literally kick me in the throat and nasal passages the morning I was supposed to leave Paris, so I haven’t been doing too much lately. But I did regain the use of my nose this morning, so I guess that’s good.

A few highlights from Paris: We never got lost on the 14 line metro system (yet helped a group of people from Boston find their way to La Defense), Climbing 300+ meters worth of stairs to get to the second level of the Eiffel Tower, seeing the mini Statue of Liberty on a tiny island (it might have been an outcropping or a peninsula though) in the middle of the river, my first trip to Catacombs since there was no time (or interest from anyone else) to see the ones just outside of Rome, Versailles, Crepes, running across a giant roundabout without realizing that there was an underground tunnel that would get you to the other side much safer…

EDIT EDIT: you guessed it…I’m back from my next destinations…Bratislava and Budapest. It wasn’t exactly a spur of the moment trip, but my friend and I bought tickets on a Monday afternoon, and left the country early that Thursday morning. Which will be coming up as blog updates…I just haven’t gotten that far. Ive done nothing but travel and do homework for the past month. And I still want to punch my allergies/sinuses in the face.

It might help the pain…you never know.

I’m sure that’s more information that any of you cared to know about me…but suck it up and deal with it.

Damn straight.

Some highlights from my weekend though (before I completely forget what happened, and I keep getting Bratislava and Budapest confused in my head): Devin Castle (note: never walk around a mountain that has a castle in flip-flops. That was a bad choice on my part), St. Steven’s Church, the Citadel (another note: don’t walk up a castle taking the route that cars do. We did not find the stairs until we were on our way down from the top), Hungarian food, Memento park (I now know how to effectively search a house for contraband), Budapest metro system (hands down the creepiest one I have encountered while in Europe)…

Ok, So I guess I need to backtrack a bit to my going’s on since leaving Krakow, the Holy Land of Polish food, and JP2.

It took me a few days to recover from being in Poland….so much so that I have yet to send out postcards (ok…to be perfectly honest…I haven’t sent out postcards from Berlin or Rome either…people might be getting them while I’m in the states….which makes getting postcards only half as cool. BUT each stamp is like a dollar, and times are tough.) ALSO….I don’t remember what I did the day after I got back (which I think was a Tuesday). Its not that I had been drinking or anything, I just have no idea what happened. After a while and traveling so much, the days kinda blur together with little beams of memory at the halfway interesting parts of each day. Also, everyday is different and full of all sorts of random shit. That is why I have like 3 different journals/blogs to keep track of everything that goes on here!

But…I guess that as of this past weekend, I have about 4 weeks left here, and I’m not sure how I feel about that, yet. I mean, I haven’t really gotten all that homesick yet, and the only time I get close to that is when I talk to family members in succession on skype. I think it also helps that some of my friends here are from the Chicago area, so I can get my Chicago fix on a weekly basis. Also, I have so many places left to go and so many things to do (or…and homework and finals too) that I’m not quite ready to leave.

But anyways….enough of the sappiness…time to get back to what I assume people read this for…what the hell have I been up to these past weeks that hasn’t gotten me arrested??

Hm…one night the week before I left for Paris, I went to a pub (its actually called The Pub) for some light competitive drinking…but I really went because I heard that there were $8 ribs- which in all honesty, is almost an excuse to go anywhere. The ribs were, as expected, not that great, and really greasy, (like I had rib hands, and had to take a picture of them they were so greasy), but…not bad for the price. As an appetizer, they had one thing on the menu that was bacon-wrapped apricot. My roommate and I saw that, and immediately HAD to try them. They seriously tasted like breakfast. Am I a little closer to dying of a heart attack- probably- But atleast I went eating delicious food.

What else…um, I went to a beer garden the weekend before I left for Paris, which was about I what I expected- beer and sausages and a big screen that was showing a football (soccer) game- and it existed! That’s a small problem when looking for places to go in Prague: you look for a place on the internet because you wind to try something new…and it longer exists. But the beer was cheap, and the food was decent, so I think I’m going to try and go back some point before I leave.

That same night…three of my friends and I wandered around Prague for a few hours. Prague is an awesome city to wander around with (as long as you have atleast one other person with you). There are very few tourists out, only a few homeless people, and its really quiet. AND…there are 24 hour McDonalds and fried cheese stands around…which always make hours of wandering around worth it….

Which gives an excellent segway to the purpose of this post (besides putting off homework and killing time before dinner): food.

I seem to eat A LOT in Europe. And all different types of food…Czech, Italian, Indian, German, Chinese….and English bacon…

I eat PLETHORA of English bacon. Actually, English bacon…spreadable cheese…sliced processed cheese…and chips, all on rye bread (which is another thing I eat entirely too much of but its inexpensive and delicious here). I would take of picture of this culinary masterpiece…but I never think about it until I’m halfway through the sandwich, and I’m afraid that people would yell at me and tell me to stop eating it. But I figure, English bacon can’t be any worse for me than salami, and I can’t help it that the bacon is cheaper than salami- I gotta save money where I can. Also, I’ve seen a lot of lunchmeat in my days, and having frequented European delis in Chicago, I have never seen English bacon…or anything remotely close to sandwich-sized bacon slices. I’m trying to get my fill of it before I never have it again! Which will be a sad day…I’ll have to go back to my salami, cheese, and chips on rye bread. (I know, because that’s SOO much better)

Another food I eat quite a bit of- Mexican. My roommates and I somehow found the best Mexican restaurant in Prague. Its pretty delicious. Sadly its in a tourist area, but the prices aren’t ridiculous…and they make a mean chicken enchiladas. And it also helps to go at random times in the afternoon so you don’t have to wait an outrageous amount of time to have to sit.

Czech food….as good as it can be at times…can get a little boring after a while. Most of it is variations on meat and dumplings- which is sometimes all I want- but very rarely are there vegetables, which are nice from time to time. But…this restaurant across the street from my dorm makes a delicious piece of chicken wrapped around a potato pancake. And I still need to try stuffed potato dumplings… I hear they are delicious.

Another food item I consume massive quantities of is coffee. I think I have fully embraced the idea of sitting around and having coffee…or having it after eating. Its cheaper than a dessert…and sometimes more delicious, and another excuse to have caffeine. I’m very partial to latte machiattos (sometimes just called a latte)…which are I think steamed milk…a shot of espresso…and frothed milk. I also like these things called frostitos…which are like frappachinos….but more delicious. But not delicious when you are accidentally holding it wrong, and it falls to the ground and splashes on your pants- and you now have frostito pants.

Since I’m on the topic of eating and drinking things, this past Friday (May 15th I think) I went to my first Czech micro-brewery. I think I ate venison (it sounded like a good idea at the time…) and tried to (scratch that- 3) of their beers. First I ordered a wheat beer…which didn’t even taste like beer at first because it didn’t have a bitter aftertaste. And then I had a coffee beer- because I had always wondered what they tasted like- and it was about what I expected- if coffee and beer had a baby I think it would taste like that. But it was still good. They brewery has a banana beer….which I might have to try just because I sounds ridiculous to me (as does a vanilla porter which I had over the summer…and was disgusting). I also tried their sour cherry beer that my friend ordered, and it was better than the Cherry Sam Adams…. But I think it was really a beer champagne or something like that (that’s what their brochure said)

The week before I went to Bratislava and Budapest was….um…relatively uneventful. I had to do homework and such. BUT…I did put off some homework for a ridiculously long time so I could see the new Star Trek in a theater in one of the malls here. It was in English with Czech subtitles…and there were about 10 other people in the theater. Granted, it was close to 10.30 in the PM when the movie started, but it had been released like 3 days before that. I thought the movie was well done, and then I felt like a giant nerd when I understood some of the random references in the movie. Not cool.

BUT NOW….sadly… I’m not leaving the Czech Republic til the middle of June because I have finals and I have to finish up the my projects and whatnot so it can look like I didn’t completely waste my time here….but I’m pretty sure I am going to go to Munich around June 22, I’m just waiting to see how many more people are going. And hopefully, I will be able to go one at least one day trip in the Czech Republic to see some of the towns that I have heard are good to visit, like Plzen (where Pilsner Urquell is made).

It’s hard to believe that I have a little more than a month here…and my birthday is in 4 weeks from today!!

So I close with a quote from this weekend…

Scene: We were in a church in Budapest-
A: So there is a 2 Floriant coin on the floor under a pew. Would it be bad if I took it, but left a 10 (or some other coin that was larger than 2) Floriant in its place? The 2’s are not in circulation anymore.
B: Yes that would be bad. You are stealing from the church.
A: But I would be leaving more money
B: Too bad.

BBBenny and the Jets!!

OH EM GEEZ

I meant to update last week....but too much goes on...and then I went to Rome, and I'm still trying to process the fact that I...was...in...ROME!!

But since I'm going to Krakow later today (mah homeland!!...well, half of it) I should update before this turns into an entry that rivals War and Peace.

EDIT:...yea....im already back from Krakow (krakow will be the next post)...I ran outta time...and was slightly hungover one day

So 2 weeks ago...what happened to me...

hmm...half of 2 weeks ago was spent helping with preparations for our country presentation. You see, every Wednesday there are presentations of all the countries that all the international students come from. Every week there is 2 or 3 countries that present who they are and have some typical dish and such...and each presentation usually involves a drinking game...

so for our country presentation, we decided to make peanut butter and jelly (but we used strawberry jelly...because apparently Czechs have yet to discover the one true jelly...welchs grape. We were also going to make rice crispie treats, but could not find anything remotely close to rice crispies, so we had to abandon that idea. I also helped out in making 200 jello shots! And by helping out I mean I had to figure out how to put 200 little plastic shot glasses into a 3.0 cubic foot fridge; which they did. BUT...long story short our presentation went as well as could have been expected- we started out in high style with beer bongs...and I totally did one! THATS RIGHT....you heard it here first. No one thought I could do it...and I wanted to prove people wrong. I got high fives and shocked faces (and I didn't throw up either by the way)...but needed a moment to myself afterwards. I did not get back to my room til early the next morning though because I wound up going on an extended walk around Prague...and got to see the castle and such at night. Its a different experience to see all the tourist sites when there are no tourists around.

AND NOW....ROME!!!

I went with seven other people to Rome: 2 people from my studio...2 other guys from K-State...one guy from Texas Tech...and 2 guys from MSOE. In retrospect that might have been a few too many people to go on a trip with because its hard to get everyone to agree and even harded to make sure that everyone is seeing what they want to, but it worked out pretty well. (there is a group picture of all of us somewhere...but I dont remember who took it)

There were no complications getting from our dorm to Rome. It was all relatively uneventful...we got to the airport...got our tickets...eventually got on the plane...I kicked someone...you know, normal stuff.

The sign at the airport from where we had to take a train from there to the main train station in Rome- Termini. The train was only slightly akward.

Our hostel was one block over from the train station in the same area as a lot of other areas...but it wasnt...um...lets just say that its not the place the someone should hang around by at night. So everyone got all situated...and then we ate at a place right by our hostel. We all got pizza and a soda for 7 Euro. I got everyone to start saying JP2...and told a joke. The joke: "what do you call Pope Benedict and his College of Cardinals?... Benny and the Jets.

My pizza...I think it has salami on it. It was ok til about 3/4 of the way through...and then the grease got to me.

After that...headed to the first place on our list of Rome sites...the Colosseum. Funny thing though...it kinda creeps on you when coming up the escalator from the metro stop...none of us knew that we would see it...from the metro. I believe the first words out of my mouth were... "holy shit...that's the god damn Colosseum." And it is definitely an impressive site. I wound up walking around the whole thing....and damn...I walked around the Colosseum.

Colosseum

Colosseum

Then...we spent the next hour and a half walking in the direction of the Pantheon. Everyone kept stopping to take pictures of random things. After a while....it all started looking the same to me...so I stopped taking pictures...for the time being. And...I had to concentrate on not being hit by a car. Italian drivers are insane. And...I think that one of my friends pointed out at some point later on during the trip that there are no red lights...its only green and yellow. For instance...say you are crossing the street....and you have the right of way- apparently that means very little to the driver who is making a turn. They will keep turning until they get about 2 feet away from you...and then you have to run across the street to keep from dying.

But moving so...so we eventually get to the Pantheon (which was a Roman temple that was converted to a church in the 300s) ...but we were there too late to take a famous Pantheon picture. The famous Pantheon picture is one where the shadow is just right from the hole at the top of the dome and projects itself onto the inside of the dome. Sad day indeed...but...I did the best I could. The interesting thing about the dome of the Pantheon is that no one is entirely sure how it was built...but the concrete gets progressive thinner and it gets to the top to reduce weight and pressure.

Ok...this was a lot longer of a post...but for some reason blogger would not save it...so this is going to a lot shorter...and half as funny as it is supposed to be.

Pantheon

Trevi Fountain....its built into the facade of the building. AND...there has been a fountain in this spot for since 27 BCE.
Our dinner at a restaurant down the way from the Trevi Fountain...it wasnt exactly what I wanted...but it was pretty good.

SOUTHSIDE (of St. Peter's Square) REPRESENT!! We got to the Square at 7 in the morning...and were done seeing what we could by like 8:45...of course about 15 minutes before the entreance to the dome opened up. But it I did pick up some religious souvenirs in some shops in the square.
St. Peter's. The dome of the Pantheon I believe fits in the dome of the church (or its the other way around...either way...its one of the 2) There was a small prayer room off to the side in the church that I visited...but I did more gawking at the interior than actually praying...so as i left...I tripped on one of the pews in the back and almost fell. And of course...I said "holy shit"....im going to hell....
OREOS...i found them in the Vatican Museums...and hadnt had them in over 2 months...they were delicious!...even though I ate them in the museums. One of my friends told me that I was going to be excommunicated now...I was too hungry to care.
One of many hallways you pass through during the 1.5 hour trek to get to the Sistine Chapel. I think this one had tapestries.....or maps...but im leaning towards tapestries
Im guessing parts of the pope's exercise routine...gotta keep your pope hand strong!!!
I never found the Vatican secret archives...another clever rouse on the part of the Catholic Church. Another rouse....gift shop/kiosk areas EVERYWHERE...and they all sold the same things... you could not travel far in that place without seeing one.
The Vatican at night...after that we ate at a cafe...down the street from the Colosseum. One of my friends also got the exercise the use of his Popener. YES thats right...a pope bottle opener. I bought 2 the day before....Its the most awesome pope gift...EVER (or incredibly sacreligious...)

Inside of the Colosseum...It rained like right after this picture...and kept raining...and I stayed soaked...for most of the rest of the day...

Inside of the Colosseum!!

Me in the Roman Ruins...im pretty sure I wasn't supposed to be sitting there...oh well...yet another awesome shot to prove I was in Rome.

Roman Ruins

Delicous Gelato...coffee gelato with a tiny scoop of biscotti gelato on top in a tiny cone...and my friend Lindsay skysharking me from the right trying to take my gelato.
Me drinking a giant bottle of Peroni In front of the Trevi Fountain...because there are no public drinking laws in Rome. (As far as we knew...i bet the asian chicks at the store we were at were lying to us.)
Me being an ass...and stretching out my legs...and showing off my fabulous Puma's at the same time...

The rest of the trip involved a 7 hour stay in the airport...don't ever do that...ever. I was unable to sleep until we got on the plane...and was asleep as soon as the plane took off...and I never sleep on planes.

Next post: KRAKOW!! the land of JP2...and Perogi!!

Phantom of the Opera...Apparently Not An Opera

View of Stage and Row of Boxes Next to Us

View from our box at the Statni Opera Praha. We had pretty amazing seats.

Cool Looking Building Near the National Gallery in Prague...its a large modern-ish art museum...ie massive.

View of St. Vitus (?) or Some Other Old Church in Prague

This picture astounds me...and it actually looks much better here than on my computer...and on my camera...damn technology. But seriously...I believe in the background is a bridge tower (quite possibly St. Charles Bridge)..and in the foreground...a McDonalds. I still cannot wrap my head around the clash/cultural ease between medieval architecture and modern capitalist businesses. Sometimes I forget how comparatively young the United States is in the global scene...geez this trip is expanding my world view...in a good way.

Today I had to visit a church with a supposed gothic interior, but wa build in the late 1370s Today sadly...is not Sunday. More about this adventure later on. Stay Tuned!

Yeppers....I went to the opera

wait...scratch that...it was a ballet

why call it Phantom of the Opera...if it is not a Opera?

To be perfectly honest...I do not have clue what was going on throughout most of ballet. There was not any dialogue...and the dialogue that was included in said ballet (i guess there are letters that are crucial to the story)...were in Czech. It was very interesting and well done though, and I don't think that I had ever seen a ballet before. And the only other ballet that I know I have watched on television was the Nutcracker...but the version with Macauley Culkin.

Yes...he was in a ballet

It also might have helped if I had seen Phantom of the Opera beforehand so I could follow along with the story....possibly.

Oh geez...so what has been going on with me more or less the past 2 weeks....

Well first off...this weekend I am going to Dresden with my international student club, and then Im going with some friends to Berlin for a few days!! I'm uber excited. I have always wanted to go to Berlin. There is a lot of great architecture there...and a shit ton of history. And german beer...and legit german food...and a chance to see one of the most recognized symbols of communism...and a literal translation of the "iron curtain"...if you substitute concrete for iron in the previous statement. but you get the idea.

So last week while trying to find a cafe near the Jewish Quarter in Prague...which probably did not exist...2 friends and I stumbled upon a restaurant/cafe called Pastacaffe. It was a mainly white interior...which much of the color coming from its modern hue primary color logo and seating. I would have taken pictures...but getting thrown of of cafes was not necessarily on my list of things to do while in Prague. AND if i were to get thrown out of a place of establishment...I want it to be for something awesome (like a knife fight or something), not me taking pictures where I wasn't supposed to It was one of the coolest interiors I think I had been in up until that point. I ramble about this place because I ate Tirimisu there for the first time ever. It was really good; it wasn't too sweet...and had an interesting texture. I want to try some again....now would be nice...but its almost midnight...so no delicious dessert for me.

Last week for my contemporary architecture class we went to the National Gallery...which I think was a massive modern art museum for Prague. We looked at an exhibition from the Bata shoe company. The founder of the company created a little compound in the town of Brno (its in the eastern part of the country)...and believed in collective working...but separate living. Bata commissioned architects to design duplexes that workers could live in. I looked at some of the plans they had displayed...and they seemed small...but very functional. So kind of like socialism...but not really. Of course that changed when communism hit and massive housing blocks were developed...but it was an interesting concept. I really wish I had taken pictures...but yet again...my camera was locked in a locker with my purse and jacket, which was not where I was. A part of the exhibit was also a showing of different instructional videos related to the Bata shoe company and their manufacturing process. They showed a ten minute video about how the factory made a shoe to perfectly fit a person's foot. It was in German...but you could still understand what was going on.

Oh man...so on monday in Studio...my studio professor told us about a Gothic interior that we were supposed to visit and sketch because the last one he told us (located in the Prague Castle) is currently being renovated. I had to go today because I would not be able to go there til atleast next thursday because I'm going to be in Germany so my roommate and I made the trek this afternoon...which was a bit of a struggle after a bit of a long night. But moving on...so the closest metro stop is i guess almost half an hour away...and on the other side of a bridge that stretches over an enormous park. The bridge had to be close to .25 miles long...and we had to walk across it...and then back again to get back to the metro. Well when we crossed the the bridge there was a chuch immediately to our left. It didn't look Gothic...so we kept walking. And walked pretty much to the next metro stop without realizing it. So then we had to backtrack...a lot. In our defense...the street we started walking on after getting off the bridge was really long...and we could not figure out how cross the street and go left so we could turn around. So we back track...and end up at the church we passed like half an hour before that. So we get into its little courtyard...and stop at a sign in it that has the history of the church...and as im quickly scanning it...my eyes stop on the part that says that church is only open on Sunday...between the hours of 2 and 4. My roommate and I were PISSED. We more or less walked around for 45 minutes in an area of Prague that I am almost positive tourists have no business being in...just to discover that going to the church was an epic fail.

NOT cool...i think i punched the sign...but only out of frustration...and not very hard.

I guess the other highlight of the week is that I booked my trip to PARIS!!! I'm going to go for 4 days in may with one of my friends because he leaves for an internship in the beginning of June...and I want to leave June open to go to other places that are closer...and therefore cheaper. I'm pretty excited. All we have planned so far is the tickets and a hostel...which is enough for now.

well...since this post took 3 days to write...and I am exhausted...I give up on this post.

til next time...when I ramble on about Germany...and hopefully I will have pictures

as long as my camera stops being a douche and quits going through batteries like I'm made of money....grr.

I Bet I Could Have Gotten Them to Make Us Cookies

Hard to believe, but I have now been in Prague for a month. A quarter of my time here is already gone....sadness

But...the amount of stuff that I have done and places I have been to (just in the Czech Republic right now) is astounding. I broke down and started keeping a journal of sorts to keep days and events straight. and...to remember the shit that I cannot write about here :)

I went to a hockey game last week. One of the Prague teams, Sparta Praha, was I guess in a semi-final game against Zlin (Zlin is a town somewhere in the country...i want to say its east of Prague). It was the first hockey game I'd ever gone to and I went to the game with 5 guys. It was one of the more interesting professional sports events I have seen. The tickets cost 100 Kc (which is 5 USD) and our seats were back and to the left of one of the away team's goal. This meant that I only saw one goal being scored...and missed 2 other ones because I got text messages during them....I was pissed. The stadium was f'in cold; it started out ok...and then got progressively colder. my toes were numb by the end of the game. AND...this game had the most successful rendition of "The Wave" I had ever seen; it went around the whole stadium 3 times! The Prague team won 6-1...and there was a fight!! and the goalie got knocked out...but finally got his ass up like 5 minutes later and the game resumed. After the game, we went to a Subway that was right off one of the Metro stops...because we all were starving. We all agreed that going there was a little slice of America; the only difference though was that the menu was in Czech...and the bastards didn't have any cookies. That's what we get for going at like 8 at night though. But ever since going to the Subway...I have wanted a damn chocolate chip cookie!! its not like they are stellar there...chocolate chip cookies are a food that I think might be strictly American....which blows.

hmm....what else happened last week of note...?

Oh...I went bowling the day before the hockey game! There were like 30 international students sharing 5 lanes, which averaged out to about 7 people per lane. It was a good time, and it turns out that I suck at bowling all over the world. The bowling alley was at like the last stop on the bus....and I'm convinced that we weren't in Prague anymore at that point.

OHEMGEE!!! I booked my trip to Rome this week!! Im going to go to Rome the weekend after Easter!! I will be traveling with 7 other people, which sounds like a lot...but I'm sure it will be fine and we will all have a good time. What are we going to see?? I don't know yet- at least the Vatican...and one of my friends wants to shake hands with the pope. anyone got any ideas? besides the usual architectural wonders/masterpieces/places im lucky I still remember the names of and random facts about??

This week I also visited a house that I did a project for one of my classes over the summer. My contemporary architecture class went to the Muller Villa designed by Adolf Loos. Its a house that was built in 1928-1930, and Loos thought that it was one of his greatest Architectural works. Its slightly surreal to see a house/building that i had spent weeks studying. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures...which kinda sucked.

hmm....so my thoughts on the first month here...Prague is definitely not the United States. People here stare A LOT more. And I'm the one that always gets watched by security whenever I go into stores with people. It's getting slightly annoying. Either I look more American than everyone else does...or I look like the type to steal shit. I'm not really sure which one it is- my guess would be both. Its still surreal here to be walking down a street and on one side see a building from the 21st century...and on the other side see a building from the Baroque era. The cobblestone streets are definitely an experience...I don't know how people with heels can walk on them...I almost fall and I'm wearing gym shoes! Somehow I think i have gone to restaurants and had more Italian and Mexican food than I have Czech Food. I don't think that I could have Czech food every day...my arteries would fall out. Yes...I know that arteries are connected to veins and the heart...but mine would somehow find a way to be separated from my body because of the amount of bacon and grease I have consumed. Speaking of bacon...I had quesidillas with bacon and jalapenos in them!! They tasted like camping and deliciousness. I have had a lot of meals with bacon in them; bacon is to the czech republic like onion are to k-state's dining centers- you never know where its going to pop up in a meal! And the amount of PDA here is astounding...especially on the Metro....it makes me want to gag, and take a long walk off a short pier (well...not literally...its not something you want to see...when you aint getting any) yea...i have a problem with saying exactly what I mean...

do I miss home? well...not really. I've gone months before without seeing my family, so that's not too big a deal. I do miss American television...watching stuff online becomes a hassle after a while. I also surreptitiously miss listening to other people's conversations on public tranportation (because I don't have a clue what they're saying). And don't tell me that you don't do the same thing; its not like I'm trying to listen...its just captivating background noise. BUT...your ears perk up as soon as you hear someone speaking english...even if it's on the other side of the train. I also kinda miss Chipotle...and Bluestem...and oreos...and grilled cheese...and chili...and sonic...and ice in general. For some reason...it is not common to use ice here; I've only seen it at McDonalds, and a cafe i went to in a cultural center. I guess everyone's parents banned them from using ice because they don't know how to fill up the trays...

oh wait...maybe that was just me.

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."...motto for the semester...that...and "holy shit this has bacon in it too?!?"