Japan (days 1-3): Tokyo
After an unfortunately long hiatus I have finally had the opportunity to travel again. This time I was lucky to be able to accompany my girlfriend on a business exchange to Japan. I long thought I would never make it to this distant island of a country but I am so glad the opportunity presented itself because I am really enjoying this beautiful and clean country as well as it’s polite and super friendly culture. And I’ll be honest–I don’t mind the sushi either! Our first stop was the country’s...
read moreBoston, Massachusetts
Between living in Austria and moving to Bowling Green I got to have a weekend away with a special person. I had never been to Boston so I was really looking forward to exploring this new city. Unfortunately my allergies had been acting up ever since I got home from Europe and they chose this weekend to turn into pink eye. The weekend therefore went a bit different than planned as I needed to go to a clinic to get medication for my eyes that were nearly swollen shut. BUT I have to say that there were still many good times had. The piers were...
read moreQuedlinburg and Thale, Germany
The one day excursion to Quedlinburg and Thale was unfortunately our last and as our luck would have it, it rained AGAIN. Luckily not the whole day though. We had a nice morning and early afternoon in Quedlinburg touring the city and having a lazy lunch. That night we went to Thale and took a chairlift up to see the famous Rosstrappe (hoof print in English). The Rosstrappe itself was less than exciting to me but the view from that spot was pretty spectacular. We ate at a restaurant up top as well and of course we had to have another flaming...
read moreKoblenz, Germany
After 2 years I was finally able to see my “German son” again. I call him that because he lived with me for a year between 2008 and 2009 while taking part in the Congress Bundestag Youth Exchange or CBYX Program. I had taken part in this program in Germany back in 2005- 2006 and wanted to be a part of providing that opportunity for someone else. Now back to the trip. The seminar in Leipzig afforded me the chance to visit Thomas in Koblenz, where he is currently living and studying. I was also excited about meeting his parents for...
read moreDresden and Meißen, Germany
Our first official excursion of the conference was to Dresden and Meißen, Germany. I had been to Dresden before but this cold, rainy, windy summer day made the city seem foreign to me. We had a brief city tour for about as long as we all could take it. The wind rendered my “travel” umbrella broken and useless which led to me buying a new expensive cheap “travel” umbrella that may or may not make it through its next trip. Having said that we still saw some neat sites and had a lovely dinner including a flaming liquor!...
read moreLeipzig, Germany
After my year abroad in Austria I decided to attend a conference in Germany about foreign language testing practices and standards. Admittedly I really wanted to get home already but since I was selected to participate in this 3 week conference at no cost outside of some meals and transportation to and from, I figured I could handle getting home just a little later. My host mom in Leipzig was about the same age as my 86 year old grandmother and this woman is still living it up I gotta say. She told Sylvia (another participant from the...
read moreAuf Wiederschauen Salzburg, Austria
One whole school year has now gone by and I must bid my home in Salzburg adieu. There were many moments that I felt like the year wasn’t going by fast enough but now that it’s done it seems like it did go by fast after all. I can’t say that I miss living in a shoebox but I had adapted. What used to be a nerve racking 15 minute walk to the doener stand at the train station across the street from my dorm is now no longer possible and therefore my doener cravings will not be fulfilled. Although it was a tough load I will...
read moreBerlin, Germany
Since our school program’s trip of the semester this year was Berlin I made my third appearance in this very large, diverse and historically very interesting city. We went on a long weekend during the public holiday of Christi Himmelfahrt (also known as Ascension Day). My religious beliefs are questionable but I sure wish we had this holiday in the US! Anyways, we went to many museums as well as spending nearly 4 hours on a river tour. I definitely could’ve gotten off after 2 but I’m sure it helped my tan to stay the extra...
read moreWerfen and Halstatt, Austria
As much as I wanted to go from the moment I heard about this excursion through the university, I truly didn’t think I could make it happen with my crazy end of the school year exam preparations. But at the last minute it all worked out. The trip consisted of a nice loop starting in Salzburg and going south to Werfen to see the ice caves and castle, then to Piesendorf for a great hostel in the mountain-filled countryside experience, and last but not least to Halstatt (in the Salzkammergut region) to see the world’s first salt mine...
read moreJenner(berg) am Königsee, Germany
For my birthday I decided to take my first full day off of schoolwork in…I don’t even know how long. Quite possibly since the semester started? I didn’t sit around and watch TV though. Oh no. I went hiking with my friends Josh and Brandis. Brandis traveled all the way here from Milan, Italy where she is studying so I had to make sure to show her a good time. Seeing as how I didn’t quite make it the last time I tried to climb a mountain, I thought this time I would just try to descend one. 6 hours later I realized that...
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