Should've been Saturday, 22 november, but hey I'm in school here too, ya know!!
videos coming soon
Let me just start by saying that if a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video leaves me speechless…almost. Basically, what I’m going to tell you now is a true story; no names have been changed to protect the innocent. There is however, a video, which will be available soon so please check back. Until then, in the words of our favorite Russian, ‘please have a pleasure.’
Tonight was epic. I was officially invited to the home of Fabio Sau, my favorite Italian, for an official Fabio meal. Now, there are a few things you need to understand about Fabio. First, he is from the beautiful island of Sardigna, which is apparently the jewel of Italy. Second, he is a creature of habit. Every day he sprints in the morning in the proper manner so that his toes land first and not his heels. If you were an athlete (as Fabio is) you would understand that this is the correct way to run and allows for a short but intensive workout that fully conditions your whole leg. Third, every morning after his run, Fabio enjoys a delightful meal of biscuits (pronounced ‘bisquits’), honey and milk. After a hard day of learning about subsystems engineering or inflatable hab modules at the ISU, he takes a break precisely at 1300 for his daily trip to McDonald’s. Here he enjoys a Chicken Premier and Fish Sandwich complete avec frites et Coca. His company varies daily for his lunch routine. Fabio keeps life simple (???) and his dinner and breakfast are identical.
Several have heard of the sacred breakfast/dinner ritual and many have even watched, but few have intrepidly joined in the feast he assures us is “blessed.” If the Promised Land is flowing with milk and honey, then dinner with Fabio Sau is divine.
When I arrived at precisely 8 pm Samedi soir, Fabio was waiting for me. The ritual begins with Fabio moving all the elements of the meal including milk, creamy honey, fibre biscuits and instant thé lemon mix from the refrigerator (on top or inside as the case may be) to the table. About now Fabio informs me that he never washes his dish or glass because he has no time. Beth (see previous entries, cool Canadian chick, also roommate of Fabio) and I try to convince him that this is disgusting. Since I’m a first timer and he’s trying to be civilized, he gets a new dish. Beth implies that I should hang out more often. J Fabio starts arranging the pieces on the table and mixing up some instant lemon tea that looks like dirt and Fabio tells me smells like dead animal carcass. Lovely!
Finally situated, we begin. Fabio was a gracious host and thorough instructor. Step by step he walked me through the process of applying honey in the proper amounts to the fiber biscuits (which are like huge croutons) to make a perfect sandwich. The first one, I quickly learned is different than the following ones, for during the first snack, we plunge it into the brimming bowl of milk mixed with 2 teaspoons of sugar for no more than ten seconds. After this you scarf it down. Now it picks up pace and the beginners are separated from the experienced. It should be noted that at this juncture we had to each get our own pile of biscuits because as Fabio so delicately informed me, there was no way I’d keep up and would most likely slow him down. Fair enough.
So with our separate stacks, he taught me that the next round comes in threes. Three sandwiches with honey applied more “faster” and all stacked and immersed in the milk simultaneously. Now, with the left hand securing (and sinking) the tri-stack in the milk, I followed orders and destroyed the bisquits into quarters. The game was on. Now it was all about eating. No worries of slurping or spilling or sticky fingers; just eat all your biscuits as fast and as noisily as humanly possible. I’m so sorry to say, but can you imagine? I lost. I could only eat one more of the delicious but extremely sweet tasty treats that Fabio and his little brother were raised on in the beautiful land of Italy. However, despite my feeble attempt at successful completion of my biscuit stockpile, Fabio inducted me into the breakfast club. I am so proud to announce that I was the first one to taste the complete meal of my friend, Fabio Sau.
It was a beautiful night and a beautiful meal with witty conversation ranging from the misguided notions of Van Braun concerning women in the space program, bit torrent and of course Fabio’s favorite topic, America.
Good night all and my sincerest thanks to Fabio for the opportunity to experience such a treat!
Saturday, November 29, 2003
Friday, November 21, 2003
Carlson's Package: Friday Morning
Hope Deferred Makes the Heart Sick,
But When Dreams Come True at Last There is JOY!
So I've been begging the front desk about the so-called package that was promised as having been sent over two weeks ago. Every morning I ask, every morning I walk away empty-handed. This morning my defeat witnessed a new level. After inquiring about my package, the kind receptionist informed me that there was no such package for me, but could I please inform Serina that hers had arrived? Man! Talk about a low blow!
After the letdown, I was hesitant to believe Kelly when she found me a few hours later and quipped, "I heard there was a package waiting for you." Ecstatic, I started to run towards the desk, but then stopped and begged her to tell me this wasn't some cruel joke as I was feeling a little fragile right now. She assured me of the integrity of her intentions and insisted I go and fetch my package. "Just remember me, if there's anything good." Elated to see one box with familiar handwriting waiting on the desk. I jumped for joy and ran back for good measure.
Can I just say that I love Carlson?! Carlson for President! My Hero!
Sending me the perfect package as only one who has lived in Strasbourg can, I was excited to discover a miniature pumpkin, Indian corn, hot cocoa, cheap candy, newspaper articles, M&Ms and other misc. things ONLY a best friend could get away with buying me! The card was beautiful also and I'd being willing to bet that I could guess the downtown shop at which it was purchased.
Ecstatic, I close, saying only this: you are my hero; I love you; thank you.
But When Dreams Come True at Last There is JOY!
So I've been begging the front desk about the so-called package that was promised as having been sent over two weeks ago. Every morning I ask, every morning I walk away empty-handed. This morning my defeat witnessed a new level. After inquiring about my package, the kind receptionist informed me that there was no such package for me, but could I please inform Serina that hers had arrived? Man! Talk about a low blow!
After the letdown, I was hesitant to believe Kelly when she found me a few hours later and quipped, "I heard there was a package waiting for you." Ecstatic, I started to run towards the desk, but then stopped and begged her to tell me this wasn't some cruel joke as I was feeling a little fragile right now. She assured me of the integrity of her intentions and insisted I go and fetch my package. "Just remember me, if there's anything good." Elated to see one box with familiar handwriting waiting on the desk. I jumped for joy and ran back for good measure.
Can I just say that I love Carlson?! Carlson for President! My Hero!
Sending me the perfect package as only one who has lived in Strasbourg can, I was excited to discover a miniature pumpkin, Indian corn, hot cocoa, cheap candy, newspaper articles, M&Ms and other misc. things ONLY a best friend could get away with buying me! The card was beautiful also and I'd being willing to bet that I could guess the downtown shop at which it was purchased.
Ecstatic, I close, saying only this: you are my hero; I love you; thank you.
1st Day Down! (This should’ve been Thursday’s log)
By powers unbeknownst to me I have survived my first day living in Europe WITHOUT CHOCOLATE! It’s unbelieveable, I know, but you see my mom has to quit drinking coffee for health reasons so in the name of teamwork and accountability, I agreed to give up chocolate (HUGE SACRIFICE) for 7 days to sort of try and jump start her abstinence from the cafinated substances. When I first told my colleagues that I (one of the class’s biggest choc-o-holics) would be without chocolate for 7 days, their reactions were mixed. Some expressed concern for my health; others seemed more concerned with the well-being of the class if I were denied chocolate; still others laughed, mocked and taunted even my noble attempts to support my mother’s health! I’ll not mention names, but suffice to say that there were some among the class who felt so inclined as to wave empty chocolate wrappers in my face, tell me of their plans of hot cocoa or bring me candy bars. Yet I prevailed, even making it through a shady moment where a twix bar had to be eaten so I could use the wrapper to make a roll-out party favor blower to simulate the deployment of the space habitat module we had just designed. Fabio, my faithful French-fry munching friend from the beautiful land of Sardigna, came to my rescue and at the candy despite his lack of appetite. So, here I stand at the end of the first day, feeling strong and ready for the next round. To those of you who would doubt my commitment to this cause, I would look to you and say, “Bring it On!”
Despite the epic kickoff of the chocolate fast, life goes on and other things happened today. In the midst of reading through some important material for a friend, I was happened upon by another friend. Rene from the beautiful country of Austria is unaccustomed to seeing me sit quietly alone so he stopped to see if everything was OK. This was one of those unexpected instances that turns into a lovely conversation. As I recall it was the first serious conversation we’ve had one-on-one. It was sweet and his kindness made my night.
How great of friends do I have. After leaving school, I was followed home by Nick and Cari. Cari showed up with a burrito kit that she and Nick set to making in the Kitchen while I did other things. So, in my own home my friends made dinner for me and it was Mexican to boot! That, too, was awesome and also made my evening pleasant.
Surprise, Surprise! Despite the fact that I never received a call I was anticipating, I did receive a call I was not expecting. My good friend Mr. Kevin I-work-at-a-stinking-ski-resort Thomson (note: no p) called. It was super great to hear from my former Europe-trapsing buddy! Talking with him was great except it made me miss airplanes, friends, and skiing more. I'm also a bit jealous that he's somehow managing to get paid for skiing, fly airplanes in his spare time and live in beautiful stinkin' Seattle! Oh well, guess some guys have all the luck! :) Still, it was awesome to talk with him until the inevitable evil that are cell phones decided we had talked long enough!
The evening wound down to a peaceful finale with an episode of my now-favorite-show “West Wing” thanks to the efforts of my Canadian friend Mark. It’s just another one of those nights when you realize you’ve been blessed with good friends and a neat life. G’nite.
Despite the epic kickoff of the chocolate fast, life goes on and other things happened today. In the midst of reading through some important material for a friend, I was happened upon by another friend. Rene from the beautiful country of Austria is unaccustomed to seeing me sit quietly alone so he stopped to see if everything was OK. This was one of those unexpected instances that turns into a lovely conversation. As I recall it was the first serious conversation we’ve had one-on-one. It was sweet and his kindness made my night.
How great of friends do I have. After leaving school, I was followed home by Nick and Cari. Cari showed up with a burrito kit that she and Nick set to making in the Kitchen while I did other things. So, in my own home my friends made dinner for me and it was Mexican to boot! That, too, was awesome and also made my evening pleasant.
Surprise, Surprise! Despite the fact that I never received a call I was anticipating, I did receive a call I was not expecting. My good friend Mr. Kevin I-work-at-a-stinking-ski-resort Thomson (note: no p) called. It was super great to hear from my former Europe-trapsing buddy! Talking with him was great except it made me miss airplanes, friends, and skiing more. I'm also a bit jealous that he's somehow managing to get paid for skiing, fly airplanes in his spare time and live in beautiful stinkin' Seattle! Oh well, guess some guys have all the luck! :) Still, it was awesome to talk with him until the inevitable evil that are cell phones decided we had talked long enough!
The evening wound down to a peaceful finale with an episode of my now-favorite-show “West Wing” thanks to the efforts of my Canadian friend Mark. It’s just another one of those nights when you realize you’ve been blessed with good friends and a neat life. G’nite.
Thursday, November 20, 2003
Wednesday, November 19, 2003
Perfect Gifts and Riled Rantings
As I lay me down to sleep
I pray the Lord my soul to keep
If I die before I wake
I know the Lord my soul will take
So I'm more concerned with trying to awake!
Today was no exception.
In one of the frequent battles with my cheap travel alarm clock that only gives you three shots at snooze before shutting off completely today's victory lies with the machine. Succumbing to the subtle seductions of sleep I missed not only my first class, but my first three classes. C'est la vie.
Slipping in seemingly unnoticed just before the post-lunch sessions started, I ran upstairs to check email and speak with Cari who had texted me saying she had a present for me. Like an impatient five-year-old I hurried to the TP2 room. She was completely unimpressed with the fact that I had caused her to wait a 4 whole hours to give me the present she just simply couldn't resist buying for me at the outdoor market in front of her flat this morning. I happily obliged by immediately rummaging through the blue plastic bag and the cardboard box to discover her gift. How beautiful! Going along with my excitement about Christmas, Cari had given me the perfect gift. A small porcelain figure of a Christmas tree with Santa, stockings and presents lining the base had been hollowed out and punctured with stars to reveal the light from the rose-scented tea candles that fit snugly inside. What a beautiful way to start the morning! I mean, what a beautiful way to start the day!!! So, on this Wednesday, the 19th of November, the hero of the day award goes to Cari!
Thanks, luv!
The first of today's classes (for me anyways) were the team presentations for the Team Project Status Review. This is kind of a big deal but not really. Basically, the class has been self-selected into two teams, each one undertaking a huge project that is the equivalent to the senior design project for my AE friends in terms of time and grade value. Team 1 (TP1) has been charged to create a truly mobile internet. Team 2 (TP2) has a far more interesting task.
Entitled "A Manned Mission to Titan and Europa: Why Not?" our team's task is to explore the feasibility or non-feasibility associated with sending humans to the moons of Saturn and Jupiter. While both teams did a good job presenting, I was proud to be a part of TP2 as our presenters talked about the implications associated with such a mission. Some things being considered include Spacecraft Design, Propulsion Systems, Mission Design & Architecture (design of the mission itself; what do we want to do?), Business & Management (who pays for it; who controls it?), Human Factors (medical, psychological and sociological), Legal and Ethical (ethics, religious factors and societal effects) factors. I am currently involved with the Ethics portion. At the end of the presentations, in keeping with ISU tradition, the faculty (and any visiting lecturers) usually try and tear us apart with their questions/comments. Today, they were a little bit easier on us since this was just a status report for the literature review portion of the project.
A visitor having a background relevant to the internet project sat in on the review. Understandable. But can you imagine that he didn't really know anything about our project but took a shot with questions anyways? He was wondering why we were even considering sending humans on the mission in the first place.
I really wanted to take this question, but Bhavs did a great job. Still, I'd like to tell you what I would've said, given the chance. I would've said: For one, sir, the entire point of our project is to determine whether or not it is possible with existing and near-future technology to send humans on such a mission. Leaving aside the issue of it being a mandatory aspect of our project, I press on.
Recently, while discussing the ethical and political implications of the one-way ticket philosophy with my favorite Russian, Professor Nikolai Tolyarenko... Wait. Here I should explain that the idea of a one-way-ticket mission. A one-way-ticket is much like it sounds; simply stated, the astronauts would not return to Earth. For whatever of a pluthera of possible reasons, they would understand and value the vision of the mission such that they would sacrifice their lives for the scientific and humanitarian benefits of said mission to all mankind. Believe it or not, people would line up for the dream-shot chance at the adventure of a lifetime and the chance to make a difference for the future of humanity. I’m not sure I wouldn’t be among them.
I digress. One suggested solution is to send a robot crew. To such sentiments, Nikolai responded in this manner: “Excuse me for being rude, but would you sleep with a robot? No! Of course not!” You see it’s not what can be done; it’s about what WE can do.
The vastness of space is nothing when compared with the insatiable drive of discovery.
We don’t do these things because they’re simple, logical or even safe. We do them because they haven’t been done yet. When asked why he felt the need to climb Mt. Everest George Mallory said, “Because it is there.”
I could go on and on. I could talk about JFK’s Rice Moon Speech in which he implored us to go to the moon because it was hard; because it would cause us to combine our best of everything and work toward a common goal; because of the better people we would become on the other side of it. I could talk about the pioneering spirit of mankind. I could talk about great gain hinging on great risk. I could talk to you about the one-way-tickets certain Pilgrims took on a boat called the Mayflower to colonize a new world. I could tell you that they succeeded and settled the east coast of America. I could tell you that the pioneers tamed the Wild West simply by finding, exploring and enduring her environment. I could tell you that thanks to the adventurous spirit of those cowboys, millions of people now live in California.
Spaceflight isn’t about the destination; it’s about the journey. Process vs. Product. It’s about adventure and discovery and the power of the human spirit. It’s about redefining the term impossible to include possible. It’s about daring to dream; crazier still it’s about stepping into the unknown to recognize that dream. You may think these ideas fanciful or ridiculous. I hope so because I didn’t come to The International Space to think conventionally. I came here to dream of space and dream I shall!!!
I pray the Lord my soul to keep
If I die before I wake
I know the Lord my soul will take
So I'm more concerned with trying to awake!
Today was no exception.
In one of the frequent battles with my cheap travel alarm clock that only gives you three shots at snooze before shutting off completely today's victory lies with the machine. Succumbing to the subtle seductions of sleep I missed not only my first class, but my first three classes. C'est la vie.
Slipping in seemingly unnoticed just before the post-lunch sessions started, I ran upstairs to check email and speak with Cari who had texted me saying she had a present for me. Like an impatient five-year-old I hurried to the TP2 room. She was completely unimpressed with the fact that I had caused her to wait a 4 whole hours to give me the present she just simply couldn't resist buying for me at the outdoor market in front of her flat this morning. I happily obliged by immediately rummaging through the blue plastic bag and the cardboard box to discover her gift. How beautiful! Going along with my excitement about Christmas, Cari had given me the perfect gift. A small porcelain figure of a Christmas tree with Santa, stockings and presents lining the base had been hollowed out and punctured with stars to reveal the light from the rose-scented tea candles that fit snugly inside. What a beautiful way to start the morning! I mean, what a beautiful way to start the day!!! So, on this Wednesday, the 19th of November, the hero of the day award goes to Cari!
Thanks, luv!
The first of today's classes (for me anyways) were the team presentations for the Team Project Status Review. This is kind of a big deal but not really. Basically, the class has been self-selected into two teams, each one undertaking a huge project that is the equivalent to the senior design project for my AE friends in terms of time and grade value. Team 1 (TP1) has been charged to create a truly mobile internet.
Entitled "A Manned Mission to Titan and Europa: Why Not?" our team's task is to explore the feasibility or non-feasibility associated with sending humans to the moons of Saturn and Jupiter. While both teams did a good job presenting, I was proud to be a part of TP2 as our presenters talked about the implications associated with such a mission. Some things being considered include Spacecraft Design, Propulsion Systems, Mission Design & Architecture (design of the mission itself; what do we want to do?), Business & Management (who pays for it; who controls it?), Human Factors (medical, psychological and sociological), Legal and Ethical (ethics, religious factors and societal effects) factors. I am currently involved with the Ethics portion. At the end of the presentations, in keeping with ISU tradition, the faculty (and any visiting lecturers) usually try and tear us apart with their questions/comments. Today, they were a little bit easier on us since this was just a status report for the literature review portion of the project.
A visitor having a background relevant to the internet project sat in on the review. Understandable. But can you imagine that he didn't really know anything about our project but took a shot with questions anyways? He was wondering why we were even considering sending humans on the mission in the first place.
I really wanted to take this question, but Bhavs did a great job. Still, I'd like to tell you what I would've said, given the chance. I would've said: For one, sir, the entire point of our project is to determine whether or not it is possible with existing and near-future technology to send humans on such a mission. Leaving aside the issue of it being a mandatory aspect of our project, I press on.
Recently, while discussing the ethical and political implications of the one-way ticket philosophy with my favorite Russian, Professor Nikolai Tolyarenko... Wait. Here I should explain that the idea of a one-way-ticket mission. A one-way-ticket is much like it sounds; simply stated, the astronauts would not return to Earth. For whatever of a pluthera of possible reasons, they would understand and value the vision of the mission such that they would sacrifice their lives for the scientific and humanitarian benefits of said mission to all mankind. Believe it or not, people would line up for the dream-shot chance at the adventure of a lifetime and the chance to make a difference for the future of humanity. I’m not sure I wouldn’t be among them.
I digress. One suggested solution is to send a robot crew. To such sentiments, Nikolai responded in this manner: “Excuse me for being rude, but would you sleep with a robot? No! Of course not!” You see it’s not what can be done; it’s about what WE can do.
The vastness of space is nothing when compared with the insatiable drive of discovery.
We don’t do these things because they’re simple, logical or even safe. We do them because they haven’t been done yet. When asked why he felt the need to climb Mt. Everest George Mallory said, “Because it is there.”
I could go on and on. I could talk about JFK’s Rice Moon Speech in which he implored us to go to the moon because it was hard; because it would cause us to combine our best of everything and work toward a common goal; because of the better people we would become on the other side of it. I could talk about the pioneering spirit of mankind. I could talk about great gain hinging on great risk. I could talk to you about the one-way-tickets certain Pilgrims took on a boat called the Mayflower to colonize a new world. I could tell you that they succeeded and settled the east coast of America. I could tell you that the pioneers tamed the Wild West simply by finding, exploring and enduring her environment. I could tell you that thanks to the adventurous spirit of those cowboys, millions of people now live in California.
Spaceflight isn’t about the destination; it’s about the journey. Process vs. Product. It’s about adventure and discovery and the power of the human spirit. It’s about redefining the term impossible to include possible. It’s about daring to dream; crazier still it’s about stepping into the unknown to recognize that dream. You may think these ideas fanciful or ridiculous. I hope so because I didn’t come to The International Space to think conventionally. I came here to dream of space and dream I shall!!!
Tuesday, November 18, 2003
Everybody's Doing It: The Run-On -Of-A-Lifetime
Today I wrote some emails to my Arizona friends. Two of them whose names both start with Kevin, got a sneak peek at the write-up of the road trip. It was mostly done as a joke, to get the info communicated with no regard for grammer. I sent it to a few kids at ISU and they're now putting it on their blogs. So, I figure since I authored it, I should do it here. Hopefully, Mrs. Langston, my first grade grammer teacher won't see this and assume I've lost all literary skills. It's just for fun...
Yo,
So I went on the most amazing roadtrip, but am still working on writing the story. This trip, this story of a lifetime was one of the cooler things I've ever done. I love telling the story in person, but for now this world's-longest run-on sentence of a thesis statement of my adventure will have to suffice. Just try and imagine me animated, forgetting to breathe and gesturing wildly. Take a breath. Go...
So I'm still working on the official party line, but I will give you the insider's scoop and tell you that we not only drove through 10 countries without international driver's licenses in a rental car that was effectively stolen in Amsterdam during a lunar eclipse before we taught Will to drive stick on the longest bridge in the Netherlands then onto a cruiseship that took us to Norway, onto a towtruck, through the fjords, into sweden across germany clipping austria and into Lichtestien to storm the castle and make "Jackass" (the crazy stunt show) video clips involving a car and people running then busting out of a black tunnel with christmas tunes jamming in the background into the austrian alps hearalded by a crazy deep blue fog that parted as we discover snow is all around us then decide to go to Italy on a whim winding down through the vineyards and castled countrysides realizing that Italians stink at driving and the road sign industry somehow eluded them still miraculously arriving in Venice by nightfall to run (literally) Rocky-style up and over the canals onto private gondalas and markets pausing only to view the lunar reflections on the luminous canals before beginnning our run back to the car that was illegally parked in front of the police station to make our getaway and head back to strasbourg via the Swiss alps getting lost only 3 times enroute due to abandoned roads on which locals feared to tread but the fearless trogdor traversed with ease pausing briefly to drool over the drooping big dipper dangling over icy alps before switching drivers twice and finally breaking into auchan (mall in strasbourg) for fuel at T- 3hours til classtime...
that's just a taste...:)
Yo,
So I went on the most amazing roadtrip, but am still working on writing the story. This trip, this story of a lifetime was one of the cooler things I've ever done. I love telling the story in person, but for now this world's-longest run-on sentence of a thesis statement of my adventure will have to suffice. Just try and imagine me animated, forgetting to breathe and gesturing wildly. Take a breath. Go...
So I'm still working on the official party line, but I will give you the insider's scoop and tell you that we not only drove through 10 countries without international driver's licenses in a rental car that was effectively stolen in Amsterdam during a lunar eclipse before we taught Will to drive stick on the longest bridge in the Netherlands then onto a cruiseship that took us to Norway, onto a towtruck, through the fjords, into sweden across germany clipping austria and into Lichtestien to storm the castle and make "Jackass" (the crazy stunt show) video clips involving a car and people running then busting out of a black tunnel with christmas tunes jamming in the background into the austrian alps hearalded by a crazy deep blue fog that parted as we discover snow is all around us then decide to go to Italy on a whim winding down through the vineyards and castled countrysides realizing that Italians stink at driving and the road sign industry somehow eluded them still miraculously arriving in Venice by nightfall to run (literally) Rocky-style up and over the canals onto private gondalas and markets pausing only to view the lunar reflections on the luminous canals before beginnning our run back to the car that was illegally parked in front of the police station to make our getaway and head back to strasbourg via the Swiss alps getting lost only 3 times enroute due to abandoned roads on which locals feared to tread but the fearless trogdor traversed with ease pausing briefly to drool over the drooping big dipper dangling over icy alps before switching drivers twice and finally breaking into auchan (mall in strasbourg) for fuel at T- 3hours til classtime...
that's just a taste...:)
Monday, November 17, 2003
Kentucky Boys, Muddy Football and Cocoa
Today we went to an English-speaking church with Cari, Ruey, Douglas and Nick, where we met two boys from Kentucky here on a study abroad program. After the perfect set-up from travel buddy, Nick, I got to tell our roadtrippin' story to fresh faces. Ah, man, I love that story! It's so fun to tell; I just go into hyper-Cali mode and have to remember to breathe. Anyhow, after church despite the rain and the mud, we played football at ISU. It was super great: the Kentucky boys got style points for a belly slip 'n slide victory dance and knee sliding catch; Fabio attempted talkin' trash; and the Burninators dominated! It's a Trogdor thing I'll have to explain later... Then we had cocoa and cookies while Mark schooled everybody on the "You don't know Jack" game. Well, whatever; that's all I have to say about that...
Best day of my life: Hey, I can’t help it! There’s just so many!
Roommates
Today I woke up to the smell of one of Ruey’s amazing Saturday breakfast feasts. On random Tuesdays and Saturdays we have an open-air market down the street. Ruey ventured out while I was still sleeping and purchased all the fixings for a great breakfast.
In the time I had showered, dressed and wiped the sleep from my eyes, Ruey had transformed our dining room table to a breakfast banquet. Everything was under cover waiting to be discovered and there was a mysterious box on the far end of the table. Breakfast was revealed to be eggs over easy, sausage, sweet bread, 8 day old goat cheese (you can pick the age of these things apparently), and cereal. I always layer my cereal with some sort of granola/healthy type cereal on the bottom and sweet cereal on the top. Ruey always laughs at me, but there stood my cereal perfectly layered with granola, chocolate frosted flakes and golden grahms. Nice!
Ruey blessed the food and we had a lovely meal. Ruey made mention of the mystery box, but wouldn’t allow me to look until after I had finished my breakfast. Knowing my sweet tooth, he mentioned something about me never eating my breakfast if he showed me. So I ate my eggs like a good little girl. The box contained two slices of homemade pie from the market.
Nick came over shortly for a late breakfast and to do laundry. Homework dominated the better part of the afternoon until we simply couldn’t care anymore about space debris or the committee dedicated to defining it. It was time to venture out to the Monoprix to pick up some butter for cookies, but not before we recruited CanadaUpstairs to come with us.
It was decided in the grocery store that we should have alfredo for dinner, although we had to call it white macaroni and cheese for Nick’s sake. Dinner was yummy despite the fact that 1) none of us had ever made it before and 2) the little initial mishap where we put the cheese in too soon and made a giant cheese pancake instead of a homogenous sauce. Oh well, we figured it out. Made peanut butter blossoms with peanut butter shipped with love from the States.
So it was a fairly mellow day, but wait, it gets better. Ruey and I decorated for Christmas!!! With The Chipmunks rendition of “All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth” blaring in the background we began phase 1 of my ‘vision.’ Ruey was a good sport even if he didn’t know who the Chipmunks were right off the bat. Where do they raise kids these days? Honestly!
With our four strands of garland — two blue and two silver and a small bag of silver blue stars from Auchan; 3 strands of white lights imported from a fair in Amsterdam; and our Christmas tree hand-picked in the Norwegian Fjords we set to work.
Twisting blue and silver garland together with a silver star in the middle proved the mode for decorating both the hutch and the huge picture on the wall. The Norwegian Christmas Tree is pretty tiny so we only graced its beautiful boughs with a solitary star. Simple elegance. Standing and slipping simultaneously on the table and the window ledge, I traced the window with white lights while Ruey provided adhesive assistance and John Farrow-like nervousness for my well-being.
Now came the moment of truth: bringing the lights to life. We killed the overhead lights and while the video camera watched on, ignited the Christmas Spirit in our home with the illumination of the beautiful window with the white lace curtains and the condensation running down the panes like some scene from a movie. Merry Christmas!!!
We decided that even though France doesn’t celebrate Thanksgiving, hence justifying our early holiday décor, we should save the rest of the lights and future decorating for the day after Thanksgiving (but I'm not sure if we'll make it)!
The best is yet to come…
I was beaming. If I could only just get Maria (one of my best friends and former roommates) on the phone then this would have to go into the ‘best day of my life’ category. I called, she picked up. It’s impossible to communicate my joy at hearing the sound of her voice, we used to talk daily; it had been nearly a month. My mind flooded with memories of her friendship, tears came, words did not, just knowing she was there, knowing she knew was all I needed to know. Words finally came as did laughter, stories and heart. “Lichtenstein is my favorite country,” said I. “You’re my favorite country,” said she, “my favorite place to be.” Oh man, how crazy a conundrum this is: to have such precious friends that it kills you that they’re so close to your heart and yet so far from your physical location. But then again, the alternative, that of not having close friends, kindred spirits or friends worth missing is a different kind of pain, a tragedy I am not willing to endure.
Turning to Ruey before disappearing for the night, I said “it was a good day today, Ruey.” But then he already knew that…
Today I woke up to the smell of one of Ruey’s amazing Saturday breakfast feasts. On random Tuesdays and Saturdays we have an open-air market down the street. Ruey ventured out while I was still sleeping and purchased all the fixings for a great breakfast.
In the time I had showered, dressed and wiped the sleep from my eyes, Ruey had transformed our dining room table to a breakfast banquet. Everything was under cover waiting to be discovered and there was a mysterious box on the far end of the table. Breakfast was revealed to be eggs over easy, sausage, sweet bread, 8 day old goat cheese (you can pick the age of these things apparently), and cereal. I always layer my cereal with some sort of granola/healthy type cereal on the bottom and sweet cereal on the top. Ruey always laughs at me, but there stood my cereal perfectly layered with granola, chocolate frosted flakes and golden grahms. Nice!
Ruey blessed the food and we had a lovely meal. Ruey made mention of the mystery box, but wouldn’t allow me to look until after I had finished my breakfast. Knowing my sweet tooth, he mentioned something about me never eating my breakfast if he showed me. So I ate my eggs like a good little girl. The box contained two slices of homemade pie from the market.
Nick came over shortly for a late breakfast and to do laundry. Homework dominated the better part of the afternoon until we simply couldn’t care anymore about space debris or the committee dedicated to defining it. It was time to venture out to the Monoprix to pick up some butter for cookies, but not before we recruited CanadaUpstairs to come with us.
It was decided in the grocery store that we should have alfredo for dinner, although we had to call it white macaroni and cheese for Nick’s sake. Dinner was yummy despite the fact that 1) none of us had ever made it before and 2) the little initial mishap where we put the cheese in too soon and made a giant cheese pancake instead of a homogenous sauce. Oh well, we figured it out. Made peanut butter blossoms with peanut butter shipped with love from the States.
So it was a fairly mellow day, but wait, it gets better. Ruey and I decorated for Christmas!!! With The Chipmunks rendition of “All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth” blaring in the background we began phase 1 of my ‘vision.’ Ruey was a good sport even if he didn’t know who the Chipmunks were right off the bat. Where do they raise kids these days? Honestly!
With our four strands of garland — two blue and two silver and a small bag of silver blue stars from Auchan; 3 strands of white lights imported from a fair in Amsterdam; and our Christmas tree hand-picked in the Norwegian Fjords we set to work.
Twisting blue and silver garland together with a silver star in the middle proved the mode for decorating both the hutch and the huge picture on the wall. The Norwegian Christmas Tree is pretty tiny so we only graced its beautiful boughs with a solitary star. Simple elegance. Standing and slipping simultaneously on the table and the window ledge, I traced the window with white lights while Ruey provided adhesive assistance and John Farrow-like nervousness for my well-being.
Now came the moment of truth: bringing the lights to life. We killed the overhead lights and while the video camera watched on, ignited the Christmas Spirit in our home with the illumination of the beautiful window with the white lace curtains and the condensation running down the panes like some scene from a movie. Merry Christmas!!!
We decided that even though France doesn’t celebrate Thanksgiving, hence justifying our early holiday décor, we should save the rest of the lights and future decorating for the day after Thanksgiving (but I'm not sure if we'll make it)!
The best is yet to come…
I was beaming. If I could only just get Maria (one of my best friends and former roommates) on the phone then this would have to go into the ‘best day of my life’ category. I called, she picked up. It’s impossible to communicate my joy at hearing the sound of her voice, we used to talk daily; it had been nearly a month. My mind flooded with memories of her friendship, tears came, words did not, just knowing she was there, knowing she knew was all I needed to know. Words finally came as did laughter, stories and heart. “Lichtenstein is my favorite country,” said I. “You’re my favorite country,” said she, “my favorite place to be.” Oh man, how crazy a conundrum this is: to have such precious friends that it kills you that they’re so close to your heart and yet so far from your physical location. But then again, the alternative, that of not having close friends, kindred spirits or friends worth missing is a different kind of pain, a tragedy I am not willing to endure.
Turning to Ruey before disappearing for the night, I said “it was a good day today, Ruey.” But then he already knew that…
Best day of my life: One more time
A Taste of Home: Double Doubles Animal Style & Football in the Field!
During class I emailed my In N Out lady to tell her about In N Out France and the burgers we’d be enjoying today and dreaming of the real deal. Now, you may be surprised to find out that I have an In N Out lady, well I’ll tell ya. I missed it when I first got here so I wrote corporate HQ and told them that France was great, but I really missed In N Out. They sent me some decals and nice letter. I’d like to point out that this was the first letter I received in country (see what happens when you send me letters? I mention them on my blog. Hurry! Send letters and you too can be famous!). Seriously I should be their international marketing manager; everyone here knows “what a hamburger’s all about,” now.
On break time we finally got a football. Go Tyler!
About a month ago Bhavs and I helped Abe (Serina’s Boy) to look like a star on Serina’s birthday by doing a little shopping for her from him. Apparently he wanted to do something nice for us. Serina, being the wise woman she is, told Abe to bring me In N Out. Now the burgers wouldn’t last 15 hours but the sauce did. So we made double doubles animal style and hooked all the Europeans with the ‘off the menu’ lingo.
We followed it up with a pick-up game of American football on the grass lawn in front of ISU. Awesome game. It was invigorating to play football again. Man, I love that stuff!
It was a great day for Americans. (huge beaming smile)
During class I emailed my In N Out lady to tell her about In N Out France and the burgers we’d be enjoying today and dreaming of the real deal. Now, you may be surprised to find out that I have an In N Out lady, well I’ll tell ya. I missed it when I first got here so I wrote corporate HQ and told them that France was great, but I really missed In N Out. They sent me some decals and nice letter. I’d like to point out that this was the first letter I received in country (see what happens when you send me letters? I mention them on my blog. Hurry! Send letters and you too can be famous!). Seriously I should be their international marketing manager; everyone here knows “what a hamburger’s all about,” now.
On break time we finally got a football. Go Tyler!
About a month ago Bhavs and I helped Abe (Serina’s Boy) to look like a star on Serina’s birthday by doing a little shopping for her from him. Apparently he wanted to do something nice for us. Serina, being the wise woman she is, told Abe to bring me In N Out. Now the burgers wouldn’t last 15 hours but the sauce did. So we made double doubles animal style and hooked all the Europeans with the ‘off the menu’ lingo.
We followed it up with a pick-up game of American football on the grass lawn in front of ISU. Awesome game. It was invigorating to play football again. Man, I love that stuff!
It was a great day for Americans. (huge beaming smile)
Best day of my life: 3rd Time’s a Charm
After returning from the European roadtrip of a lifetime at 0530 12 November 2003, I found myself inside my flat wondering what the heck I was supposed to do for two hours until the guys came back to return the car. We had pretty much decided that to go back to sleep would be fatal: it’d be over. So sorry, but we should die. There’d be no chance of making it to class. But then again, what else do you do at 5:30 in the morning? I started to clean my room, but chided myself thinking that I had just gone on the most amazing trip, I couldn’t clean my room now! Maybe if I just slip into my PJ’s and lie down under the covers…Dangerous move. Somehow, though I managed to fall asleep and wake up in time. In the midst of my get ready routine, I noticed a white plastic bag on the table. I peeked inside to see what it was. DUDE! Ruey had bought Christmas lights!!! I had been jabbering away about wanting to get some for the past few weeks. I was estatic but knew I wasn’t supposed to have seen them yet. Stoked, I hurried downstairs to tell the boys about my discovery.
First it should be noted that after 3 solid days in a car, we all looked miraculously transformed after a shower and change of clothes. With a smile on my face and a bounce in my step, I called out, “Guess what? I don’t think I’m supposed to know but Ruey bought Christmas lights! I’m so excited!” This was going to be a good day.
We returned the rental car without event. This was kind of disappointing since we had doubled the odometer and were hopeful for a dramatic reaction from the rental employee when they saw that we had put nearly 5500km on their car. She didn’t seem to notice or care. Man! Nick was even on the phone line from the other end of town receiving live updates. No dice. Ah well, back to school.
Lectures were anything but stimulating, but the breaks…that was the stuff dreams were made of. These provided the opportunities to tell our story. To answer the question we were dying to be asked, “So, what did you guys do this weekend?” Finally, someone asked and the story telling began. My friend Maria always laughs at me and my “it’s all about the story” approach to life. Well, she should’ve been there. All weekend long me and my roadtrip compatriots were scheming about the story that we would tell.
Somehow, one of my friends managed to get a word in edgewise. How, I don’t know because I was in hyper-story-telling-mode. Nevertheless, Serina managed to tell me that her boyfriend had brought In N Out sauce for us and we would be having ‘almost In N Out burgers’ tomorrow. I was so stoked, never having imagined in my wildest dreams that somehow, someway In N Out would ever be in France! Score one for Abe (Serina’s Boy).
Today was a good day. Beth’s mom came through via Tyler (Beth’s Boy) with socks from Canada thanks to random conversations with Beth about the ridiculous price of socks in this country. Gifts from people I’ve never even met before, how awesome is that?
After school, hung out with Nick in an attempt-to-stay-awake-til-8-buddy-program. The fear was that if I just went home or he just went to his place, we’d fall asleep right away, then wake up at an annoying 0300 wide awake. Had some conversations about stuff that matters and stuff that doesn’t. I’m always amazed at the people that you meet and the conversations that you have and how much you can learn from others. How crazy it would be to never hang out with my classmates, there’s so much to learn from all of them. Yet there are so many I’ve still to hang with. Anyhow, we watched a horrible series called “Taken.” Brian, are you reading this? Did you see that I said horrible? I can’t believe you gave me 9 disks worth of this cheese. You’re causing me to consider your future film reviews with a certain caution.
In summary, returning a rental car with double the digits, telling the story of a lifetime, hearing about In N Out France, receiving presents from moms of friends via a boyfriend I’ve never met and chill time with friends…well, to me that pretty much equals one of the best days of my life. I’ll leave you with this excerpt from a real-life conversation with my friend Mark. No names have been changed.
Brooke: “Dude, this is the best day of my life!”
Mark: “You’ve been having a lot of those lately.”
B: “Got a problem with that? Is that bad?”
M: “No, it’s good.”
B: “Ya, I know!”
Life’s a cool thing, guys.
Imagine how cool it would be if every night when you went to sleep you thought it couldn’t possibly get any better than this.
Imagine if every morning you were wrong.
First it should be noted that after 3 solid days in a car, we all looked miraculously transformed after a shower and change of clothes. With a smile on my face and a bounce in my step, I called out, “Guess what? I don’t think I’m supposed to know but Ruey bought Christmas lights! I’m so excited!” This was going to be a good day.
We returned the rental car without event. This was kind of disappointing since we had doubled the odometer and were hopeful for a dramatic reaction from the rental employee when they saw that we had put nearly 5500km on their car. She didn’t seem to notice or care. Man! Nick was even on the phone line from the other end of town receiving live updates. No dice. Ah well, back to school.
Lectures were anything but stimulating, but the breaks…that was the stuff dreams were made of. These provided the opportunities to tell our story. To answer the question we were dying to be asked, “So, what did you guys do this weekend?” Finally, someone asked and the story telling began. My friend Maria always laughs at me and my “it’s all about the story” approach to life. Well, she should’ve been there. All weekend long me and my roadtrip compatriots were scheming about the story that we would tell.
Somehow, one of my friends managed to get a word in edgewise. How, I don’t know because I was in hyper-story-telling-mode. Nevertheless, Serina managed to tell me that her boyfriend had brought In N Out sauce for us and we would be having ‘almost In N Out burgers’ tomorrow. I was so stoked, never having imagined in my wildest dreams that somehow, someway In N Out would ever be in France! Score one for Abe (Serina’s Boy).
Today was a good day. Beth’s mom came through via Tyler (Beth’s Boy) with socks from Canada thanks to random conversations with Beth about the ridiculous price of socks in this country. Gifts from people I’ve never even met before, how awesome is that?
After school, hung out with Nick in an attempt-to-stay-awake-til-8-buddy-program. The fear was that if I just went home or he just went to his place, we’d fall asleep right away, then wake up at an annoying 0300 wide awake. Had some conversations about stuff that matters and stuff that doesn’t. I’m always amazed at the people that you meet and the conversations that you have and how much you can learn from others. How crazy it would be to never hang out with my classmates, there’s so much to learn from all of them. Yet there are so many I’ve still to hang with. Anyhow, we watched a horrible series called “Taken.” Brian, are you reading this? Did you see that I said horrible? I can’t believe you gave me 9 disks worth of this cheese. You’re causing me to consider your future film reviews with a certain caution.
In summary, returning a rental car with double the digits, telling the story of a lifetime, hearing about In N Out France, receiving presents from moms of friends via a boyfriend I’ve never met and chill time with friends…well, to me that pretty much equals one of the best days of my life. I’ll leave you with this excerpt from a real-life conversation with my friend Mark. No names have been changed.
Brooke: “Dude, this is the best day of my life!”
Mark: “You’ve been having a lot of those lately.”
B: “Got a problem with that? Is that bad?”
M: “No, it’s good.”
B: “Ya, I know!”
Life’s a cool thing, guys.
Imagine how cool it would be if every night when you went to sleep you thought it couldn’t possibly get any better than this.
Imagine if every morning you were wrong.
It's coming...
Ok, look, I know there should be this massive update right here about how great my weekend trip to 10 countries was. It's coming, but is a work in progress. This was the trip of a lifetime so I'm puttin' a little effort into it. So just chill, A'ight yo? Anyhow, meanwhile back at the ranch....lots of other cool stuff has happened so I'm going to post those now and the motha' of all stories will be up when it's done. Cool?
Friday, November 14, 2003
JAZZ
Our arrival at the Jazz cafe seemed more an intrusion, yet the awkwardness of the moment gave way to the power of the music as we secured the only seats available - at the base of the stage. A jazz trio played; sax, xylophone and drums. I watched, enraptured by the music, simultaneously lost in both the wholeness of the sound and the intricacies of its components. The drummer's solo. It was like everything in him was trying to express itself at once, immediately, NOW! It had to come out, must be communicated. Crazy. His pace was maddening, but he played on. He seemed to cross a point where it wasn't about him anymore. It was out of his control and yet it was his will. He was controlled by the music, yet happily. In one sense, it seemed almost as if he were unconscious, no longer the manipulator of the music but now he himself the instrument. Yet another look revealed that he was indeed aware; if fact every fiber of his being resonated with the pleasure he received from the music flowing freely through his hands and extemporaneously down the sticks to the awaiting drums.
Switching to brushes, the drummer played on, contacting the snare drum with the innocence of a child drawing in the sand completely mystified by the pattern he has created. Yet this child's play was the intentional work of a master craftsman.
Music is good to my soul. Live, Loud. The kind that blocks out the rest of everything so that only beauty remains.
Switching to brushes, the drummer played on, contacting the snare drum with the innocence of a child drawing in the sand completely mystified by the pattern he has created. Yet this child's play was the intentional work of a master craftsman.
Music is good to my soul. Live, Loud. The kind that blocks out the rest of everything so that only beauty remains.
Thursday, November 13, 2003
Best day of my life: take 2 THE PACKAGE
Ya, so basically my mom rocks! She sent the best package ever and I was the happiest kid in school! No joke, to school my mom sent a full size copier paper box of stuff and it was all - get this - individually wrapped like Christmas presents! Man, I come from an amazing community. The adventure club girls sent me a card and blowpops and Debbie sent Reece's both regular and the latest inside outs (which the europeans loved). Nomes, by far the coolest sister in the world, sent me super cool nail polish and lots of letters and a storybook that is by far one of the most amazing things I've ever been given. Let me just tell you that my sis wrote a book about me and from now on I'm just taking that in for my resume. Seriously, I want to be the woman my sis believes in. So cool! But it didn't stop there. No sir, pictures and cards from Steven and James, letters from Gram, and cards from Mom along with more gifts like peanut butter and taco seasoning. What a great day, there was candy and presents from home enough for everyone, how fitting that tons of candy should arrive the day before Halloween, ie, Dad's birthday. Ask anyone at ISU that day, I was beaming. Thanks mom!
Ok, Here's the Deal...
So, to my friends who are viewing this page for the first time - that's all of you. Scroll down to the bottom and read up. That should fill you in....then I'll be posting regularly... let the good times roll!
Flygirl in Heaven, one of the many 'best days of my life'
Probably one of the coolest things I've done in a while happened
yesterday.
I WENT FLYING!!!!! Go embry-riddle, but let me tell ya, I miss
flight. I started a flying club at my school and we got a deal
through a prior relationship with our school that we could go for
4.5 euro a flight! So awesome! About 24 of us went, nearly half our
class. We crossed the border into Germany and neighbouring town,
Kehl.
Some folks, who were supposed to take the train in had a bit of
trouble. How was I supposed to know that the one day we all need to
get into Germany, they're closing teh main bridge to unearth an
embedded bomb from WWII??? So, needless to say there were some
technical difficulties, but it was glorious to fly and see others
get excited about something I'm into. Many of the students had never
flown small planes, especially gliders before.
We got to do parabollic flight and see our beautiful countryside and
city and the rivers. I got to talk to older German pilots and check
out their fleet. They had a beautiful old, 1947, I think Stampe
Bi-plane, a Yak 2 (Russian) and a Piper Cub.
Ok, now that I've lost everybody except erau kids, I"ll move on. But
you should know, I was stoked!
So in general, life is pretty good. I'm getting to see a lot of
things, hang out with people, learn space stuff and try yummy and
not-s0-yummy foods from tons of different countries... Sam Stime and
Emily Heck have both come to visit and both were good to my soul.
So hope life is good with y'all. Let me know what's up! I miss
everybody a ton, but that's part of it when you care about people
and it beats the alternative, so I deal. Hope this finds you
enjoying the beauty of your environment both the places and the
people!
Love,
Brooke
Probably one of the coolest things I've done in a while happened
yesterday.
I WENT FLYING!!!!! Go embry-riddle, but let me tell ya, I miss
flight. I started a flying club at my school and we got a deal
through a prior relationship with our school that we could go for
4.5 euro a flight! So awesome! About 24 of us went, nearly half our
class. We crossed the border into Germany and neighbouring town,
Kehl.
Some folks, who were supposed to take the train in had a bit of
trouble. How was I supposed to know that the one day we all need to
get into Germany, they're closing teh main bridge to unearth an
embedded bomb from WWII??? So, needless to say there were some
technical difficulties, but it was glorious to fly and see others
get excited about something I'm into. Many of the students had never
flown small planes, especially gliders before.
We got to do parabollic flight and see our beautiful countryside and
city and the rivers. I got to talk to older German pilots and check
out their fleet. They had a beautiful old, 1947, I think Stampe
Bi-plane, a Yak 2 (Russian) and a Piper Cub.
Ok, now that I've lost everybody except erau kids, I"ll move on. But
you should know, I was stoked!
So in general, life is pretty good. I'm getting to see a lot of
things, hang out with people, learn space stuff and try yummy and
not-s0-yummy foods from tons of different countries... Sam Stime and
Emily Heck have both come to visit and both were good to my soul.
So hope life is good with y'all. Let me know what's up! I miss
everybody a ton, but that's part of it when you care about people
and it beats the alternative, so I deal. Hope this finds you
enjoying the beauty of your environment both the places and the
people!
Love,
Brooke
"School, Life & Other Miscellaneous Items" AND
"When Sam Came to Dinner"
As far as school is concerned...we've a few assignments and our
major midterms which have kept us busy and at school on days
starting with Sat and Sun...But it's cool. I'm learning a lot of
info in a short amount of time and that's what I came here for...
In keeping with traditions established with past roommates...I've
been having dinner parties. Cooking with a girl named Cari or by
myself and having friends over to share a meal and a laugh. It's
great fun, especially with all the different countries represented.
A Notable exception included when Sam came to visit and the guy from
the robotics division of the Canadian Space Agency was over for
dinner with others, mostly folks who have worked for NASA or at
least very much so engineers. Dinner conversation was a lively mix
of NASA and CSA acronymns, what should've been the name for the
Canada Arm, and when they got all crazy - Star Trek. Sam and I
nearly shot ourselves in the head! :) I wanted to leave but it was
my house!!! Smile, but it was funny in its own way and I think
people were just trying to impress the guy so He'd give them a job.
Understandable. The next night, I made a no schoo, no space rule for
the purpose of dinner. :) Mostly, we have a blast, though.
"When Sam Came to Dinner"
As far as school is concerned...we've a few assignments and our
major midterms which have kept us busy and at school on days
starting with Sat and Sun...But it's cool. I'm learning a lot of
info in a short amount of time and that's what I came here for...
In keeping with traditions established with past roommates...I've
been having dinner parties. Cooking with a girl named Cari or by
myself and having friends over to share a meal and a laugh. It's
great fun, especially with all the different countries represented.
A Notable exception included when Sam came to visit and the guy from
the robotics division of the Canadian Space Agency was over for
dinner with others, mostly folks who have worked for NASA or at
least very much so engineers. Dinner conversation was a lively mix
of NASA and CSA acronymns, what should've been the name for the
Canada Arm, and when they got all crazy - Star Trek. Sam and I
nearly shot ourselves in the head! :) I wanted to leave but it was
my house!!! Smile, but it was funny in its own way and I think
people were just trying to impress the guy so He'd give them a job.
Understandable. The next night, I made a no schoo, no space rule for
the purpose of dinner. :) Mostly, we have a blast, though.
Mount St. Odile
Next up: Well we went hiking a few weeks ago in the Vosage Mountain
Range up here and they're beautiful and breathtaking views of
Strasbourg, Germany and the surrounding areas. I got to climb on
ancient walls and castles and effectively won the Canadian Castle
Challenge to make it to the highest point on this castle. Oh, ya,
that was me baby. Not the highest point of the castle, but higher
than anyone in my class while nervous British professors looked on.
Later at the end of the day, on the way to wine testing event our
school scheduled for us along the Route du Vin(Famous road along
lots of vineyards in the Alsacian region, gorgeous now in the fall)
anyhow, the prof was like,
"Yes, Brooke, if you could not climb in the wine vats, that'd be so
great." Nice, so I come to the most sophisticated snobby country on
the planet and I"m the class monkey at the space school. Oh well,
maybe they'll send me into space! The wine tasting was fun and I
decided that I like the Pinot Blanc the best.
Next up: Well we went hiking a few weeks ago in the Vosage Mountain
Range up here and they're beautiful and breathtaking views of
Strasbourg, Germany and the surrounding areas. I got to climb on
ancient walls and castles and effectively won the Canadian Castle
Challenge to make it to the highest point on this castle. Oh, ya,
that was me baby. Not the highest point of the castle, but higher
than anyone in my class while nervous British professors looked on.
Later at the end of the day, on the way to wine testing event our
school scheduled for us along the Route du Vin(Famous road along
lots of vineyards in the Alsacian region, gorgeous now in the fall)
anyhow, the prof was like,
"Yes, Brooke, if you could not climb in the wine vats, that'd be so
great." Nice, so I come to the most sophisticated snobby country on
the planet and I"m the class monkey at the space school. Oh well,
maybe they'll send me into space! The wine tasting was fun and I
decided that I like the Pinot Blanc the best.
My First Jaunt into the country-side (ie. the country beside France, LUXEMBOURG)
So Ruey and I had a few days to kill while waiting for classes to start and since I had been in Strasbourg nearly a week before Ruey showed up, it was time to travel. The plan was to go to Paris, see Emily and have fun. But the plan never stays the plan for long. I started reading the lonely planet guidebook to Europe (which Ruey, God bless him, brought over for me) and there's this little country Luxembourg. Ten minutes later when Ruey came back, I had a plan. Sold it to Ruey and we were going to Luxembourg.
After a late train causing us to miss our connection which in turn caused the train station to have to pay for a taxi to take us the rest of the way to Luxembourg, we were there!
Luxembourg is beautiful. The bus taking us to our hostel wound (unbelieveably so) around tight turns on windy roads past the downtown into the castle area of town. Crazy beauty with old castles and green hillls, winding roads that lead down to tiny villages with incredible churches and of course signs for the Limp Bizkit concert.
Also in Lux, the FAIR WAS IN TOWN!!! How cool was that!!! I hadn't been to
the fair in YEARS! Ruey and I (though mostly him) even won the big white
tigger stuffed animal, so I got to be the girl that walks around the fair
with the prize no one ever wins! YES! Childhood dream come true!
Silly, but
know it'll make you smile. EVERYone else at the fair was so jealous! ;)
GET THIS! I found a 2nd hand store in luxembourg and they had Armani suits
there!!! There was this one, man, armani chic tux, satin pants, cool sort of
quilted jacket for 189 euros. it was cool. however, I did get a very cool
jacket there with fur lining and suede outside for 30 and it looks new. it's
perfect since i brought my trench coat and a very thin one with no sort of
middle ground. but now i have to try not to eat for like three days! ;)
So Ruey and I had a few days to kill while waiting for classes to start and since I had been in Strasbourg nearly a week before Ruey showed up, it was time to travel. The plan was to go to Paris, see Emily and have fun. But the plan never stays the plan for long. I started reading the lonely planet guidebook to Europe (which Ruey, God bless him, brought over for me) and there's this little country Luxembourg. Ten minutes later when Ruey came back, I had a plan. Sold it to Ruey and we were going to Luxembourg.
After a late train causing us to miss our connection which in turn caused the train station to have to pay for a taxi to take us the rest of the way to Luxembourg, we were there!
Luxembourg is beautiful. The bus taking us to our hostel wound (unbelieveably so) around tight turns on windy roads past the downtown into the castle area of town. Crazy beauty with old castles and green hillls, winding roads that lead down to tiny villages with incredible churches and of course signs for the Limp Bizkit concert.
Also in Lux, the FAIR WAS IN TOWN!!! How cool was that!!! I hadn't been to
the fair in YEARS! Ruey and I (though mostly him) even won the big white
tigger stuffed animal, so I got to be the girl that walks around the fair
with the prize no one ever wins! YES! Childhood dream come true!
Silly, but
know it'll make you smile. EVERYone else at the fair was so jealous! ;)
GET THIS! I found a 2nd hand store in luxembourg and they had Armani suits
there!!! There was this one, man, armani chic tux, satin pants, cool sort of
quilted jacket for 189 euros. it was cool. however, I did get a very cool
jacket there with fur lining and suede outside for 30 and it looks new. it's
perfect since i brought my trench coat and a very thin one with no sort of
middle ground. but now i have to try not to eat for like three days! ;)
Brussels, the place where stereotypes come true!
Last weekend, 5 of us went to Brussels, Belgium. It was one of the few
places where the cliches are true. There really are belgian waffles-- which
are amazing, belgian chocolates are so far the best I've ever had, and then
there's this thing about mussels in brussels. So we did. We had mussels in
brussels and i'm sure those were the first and best mussels i've likely ever
had! We managed to get lost right off the bat after leaving the train
station, allowing us to take the "ghetto tour." My friend Serina and I were
glad to have teh guys around. Frustrated with the situation and the
surroundings, we almost got back on the train to a different town, but our
desire for waffles let us stay the course. When we finally found the
downtown area, we were not disappointed. It was beautiful and there were
some random festivals going on in the promenade area. Our hostel was located
near a stone wall thought to have been built in the 12 century! I can't
comprehend something that old! Apparently Brussels is also famous for a
fountain of a little boy peeing. it's the most random thing ever, but we saw
the fountain and paraphinelia for it everywhere. It's got soemthing to do
with the Belgians likeing to drink a lot, but I think it's ridiculous. Who
wants their city characterized by such a statue? I dunno.
So that's a bit of what's going on with me. I'd love to hear what's going on
with you. Much thanks to those who have already been in contact. Your emails
or calls have brightened my day or nite as the time change goes! Again,
thanks! As I come upon my 5-week mark, I'm feeling a little bit homesick bt
am glad for friends here who speak English! Last Friday I happend to call my
friend Maria while she was at XA, my college group from Arizona. I could
hear everyone in the background and at that moment I would've given anything
to be there, just for a few hours! Yet, I know that this is where I'm
supposed to be and am thoroughly enjoying the ride. Sending you all my best
and love!!!
Eat some mexican food for me,
;) Brooke
Last weekend, 5 of us went to Brussels, Belgium. It was one of the few
places where the cliches are true. There really are belgian waffles-- which
are amazing, belgian chocolates are so far the best I've ever had, and then
there's this thing about mussels in brussels. So we did. We had mussels in
brussels and i'm sure those were the first and best mussels i've likely ever
had! We managed to get lost right off the bat after leaving the train
station, allowing us to take the "ghetto tour." My friend Serina and I were
glad to have teh guys around. Frustrated with the situation and the
surroundings, we almost got back on the train to a different town, but our
desire for waffles let us stay the course. When we finally found the
downtown area, we were not disappointed. It was beautiful and there were
some random festivals going on in the promenade area. Our hostel was located
near a stone wall thought to have been built in the 12 century! I can't
comprehend something that old! Apparently Brussels is also famous for a
fountain of a little boy peeing. it's the most random thing ever, but we saw
the fountain and paraphinelia for it everywhere. It's got soemthing to do
with the Belgians likeing to drink a lot, but I think it's ridiculous. Who
wants their city characterized by such a statue? I dunno.
So that's a bit of what's going on with me. I'd love to hear what's going on
with you. Much thanks to those who have already been in contact. Your emails
or calls have brightened my day or nite as the time change goes! Again,
thanks! As I come upon my 5-week mark, I'm feeling a little bit homesick bt
am glad for friends here who speak English! Last Friday I happend to call my
friend Maria while she was at XA, my college group from Arizona. I could
hear everyone in the background and at that moment I would've given anything
to be there, just for a few hours! Yet, I know that this is where I'm
supposed to be and am thoroughly enjoying the ride. Sending you all my best
and love!!!
Eat some mexican food for me,
;) Brooke
Beginnings: Life in France
I'm still enjoying the French culture, especially when I have time to cook
because it's amazing what you can find at the grocery stores here (and what
you can't- baking soda for example). We live in the Alsace region which is
especially noted for its wines and more german cuisine. There are several
vinyards withing 30 or so km of the city. It's harvest time now, so we're
planning on taking a trip to the area called the Route du Vin soon, it's
supposed to be gorgeous.
I don't think I could ask for a better set-up for traveling. I'm centrally
located in France, so I can go travel on the weekends, then come home, sleep
in my own bed, do something academically stimulating for a week, and travel
some place new again on the weekend if I so desire. Awesome.
I'm still enjoying the French culture, especially when I have time to cook
because it's amazing what you can find at the grocery stores here (and what
you can't- baking soda for example). We live in the Alsace region which is
especially noted for its wines and more german cuisine. There are several
vinyards withing 30 or so km of the city. It's harvest time now, so we're
planning on taking a trip to the area called the Route du Vin soon, it's
supposed to be gorgeous.
I don't think I could ask for a better set-up for traveling. I'm centrally
located in France, so I can go travel on the weekends, then come home, sleep
in my own bed, do something academically stimulating for a week, and travel
some place new again on the weekend if I so desire. Awesome.
Initial Impressions of ISU
As far as academics are concerned, it seems like we've just began, yet at
the same time feels like we've done so much. Today saw the completion of our
first team assignment cumulating in a 10 page written report about the space
policies and laws of South Africa followed by semi-formal presentations. As
one of the primary presenters for my team, let me tell ya that I'm glad
today is over! But seriously, it wasn't that bad and was interesting to
learn about the material. Interculturally, the team project was, well,
interesting. Differing defintions of personal space, gestures (Indians shake
their heads left to right to mean yes) and the logistics of formulating a
report made for a learning experience to say the least!
I dig my classes! Everything is about space - go figure, but still it's
cool. Although, sometimes I feel a bit overwhelmed to try and grasp orbital
mechanics, astronomy, and biomedical factors in space all before the lunch
break! I feel like I know nothing!! Yet, that's why I'm here, to learn.
The focus on relationships here is unreal to me. I've never been in an
academic institution where your relationship with your peers, other alumni,
faculty, and guest was so highly emphasized and facilitated. It's amazing
really. After we defended our presentation today, one of the profs talked
with 2 of us for like 20 min about a detail we hadn't been sure of, our
possible internships and life goals. All this after he made a note to shake
our hands and congratulate us on our presentation. It's almost like a
parenting relationship -- i.e. sometimes they have to be a bit hard on you,
but they're checking back to make sure you know they care and have your
back. It's really quite impressive. Also, the students are a pretty tight
group and I've already had several real conversations about life or beliefs
-- other topics than academics which can sometimes be rare in the more
technical fields.
The Bible talks about Where there is no vision, the people perish (Proverbs
29:18)
It's so true in all of life, if we've got no vision, no plan, no goal, no
inspiration, then what's the point??
That's another aspect of my program that I love. They inspire us. Through
pictures, quotes, personal interactions, planting ideas, inspiring us to
creatively solve the problems with innovative solutions, showing us amazing
pictures of the universe, basically lighting a fire under us so we get it
together and can go out and make it happen. But my point is that they appeal
to the heart of the issue beyond the academics, reminding us of why we want
to explore the universe, beckoning us to come and play among the stars. On
this same level, I long to be daily inspired in my life and faith and be
such a source for others as well...
As far as academics are concerned, it seems like we've just began, yet at
the same time feels like we've done so much. Today saw the completion of our
first team assignment cumulating in a 10 page written report about the space
policies and laws of South Africa followed by semi-formal presentations. As
one of the primary presenters for my team, let me tell ya that I'm glad
today is over! But seriously, it wasn't that bad and was interesting to
learn about the material. Interculturally, the team project was, well,
interesting. Differing defintions of personal space, gestures (Indians shake
their heads left to right to mean yes) and the logistics of formulating a
report made for a learning experience to say the least!
I dig my classes! Everything is about space - go figure, but still it's
cool. Although, sometimes I feel a bit overwhelmed to try and grasp orbital
mechanics, astronomy, and biomedical factors in space all before the lunch
break! I feel like I know nothing!! Yet, that's why I'm here, to learn.
The focus on relationships here is unreal to me. I've never been in an
academic institution where your relationship with your peers, other alumni,
faculty, and guest was so highly emphasized and facilitated. It's amazing
really. After we defended our presentation today, one of the profs talked
with 2 of us for like 20 min about a detail we hadn't been sure of, our
possible internships and life goals. All this after he made a note to shake
our hands and congratulate us on our presentation. It's almost like a
parenting relationship -- i.e. sometimes they have to be a bit hard on you,
but they're checking back to make sure you know they care and have your
back. It's really quite impressive. Also, the students are a pretty tight
group and I've already had several real conversations about life or beliefs
-- other topics than academics which can sometimes be rare in the more
technical fields.
The Bible talks about Where there is no vision, the people perish (Proverbs
29:18)
It's so true in all of life, if we've got no vision, no plan, no goal, no
inspiration, then what's the point??
That's another aspect of my program that I love. They inspire us. Through
pictures, quotes, personal interactions, planting ideas, inspiring us to
creatively solve the problems with innovative solutions, showing us amazing
pictures of the universe, basically lighting a fire under us so we get it
together and can go out and make it happen. But my point is that they appeal
to the heart of the issue beyond the academics, reminding us of why we want
to explore the universe, beckoning us to come and play among the stars. On
this same level, I long to be daily inspired in my life and faith and be
such a source for others as well...
Hey Everybody,
So apparently this bloggin thing is the latest and greatest of ways to keep people updated of what's going on in your life. Thought, I'd give it a go. I'm a little late in the game here for my trip to Europe, so I'm gonna do a little back post, get right on schedule and try to keep up with it after that. My friend Carrie is about to issue me into the 21st century and show me how to publish pictures on the web, so soon there'll be a link for pictures of the awesome adventure called life I always seem to find myself in the middle of. Happy reading!
So apparently this bloggin thing is the latest and greatest of ways to keep people updated of what's going on in your life. Thought, I'd give it a go. I'm a little late in the game here for my trip to Europe, so I'm gonna do a little back post, get right on schedule and try to keep up with it after that. My friend Carrie is about to issue me into the 21st century and show me how to publish pictures on the web, so soon there'll be a link for pictures of the awesome adventure called life I always seem to find myself in the middle of. Happy reading!
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