A Leap Year Reunion

I think it was on Tuesday when I made the decision to go to Munich for the weekend. It was one of the more spontaneous decisions I had made as of late. The reason for my trip was to visit my friend Jono, a fellow exchange student I had met during my first experience abroad in Norway, way back in 2008. Jono is from New Zealand–North Auckland to be exact. (Apparently the ‘North’ in North Auckland is quite important for clarification purposes.) It’s also been four years since we’ve last had a real conversation.

And damn, how things have changed and happened! Our weekend rendezvous made me realize also that we’ve all grown so much since our year in Norway. Even though it’s only been four years, it’s the difference between high school and adulthood. In addition to sharing our stupidly brilliant exchange stories, grown-up subjects like work also sneaked its way into our conversations. While I’ve been decaying at school, Jono’s been working as a deckhand around New Zealand, Australia, and New Caledonia. (Seriously? I dreamed about honeymooning there…) And in a couple of days, he’ll be on his way to Antibes, France, in search of more nautical work.

It seems that our lives’ paths could not have diverged more, but one thing that we’ve managed to keep in common was that neither of us settled back down to our former lives: I haven’t been in the US since winter 2009 and he’s managed to maintain a pretty mobile life. This of course, makes for some very entertaining stories. (The recipe for that would be: take 1 foreign location, add girls/boys, stir in some alcohol, shake well! )

We spent the entire Saturday chatting to the backdrop of Munich, going from café to restaurant to café to café–Munich has some great eats! I was particularly fond of this one stand by the train station called Sushi Wraps. Oh! And I also had my first German beer! (On a side note: This morning before my flight back to Milan I also had breakfast with my host for the weekend, Chris, at a wonderful little location called Eisbach. Their eponymous breakfast dish is to die for.)

So thanks, Jono, for this fantastic weekend! Vi sees neste gang i Lugano!

My First Published Article!

I have some exciting news! Recently, my article was published on BizCEOs.com. I did a little segment on travel and tourism marketing, and I’m very happy to report that it got picked up.

I was inspired to write an article about travel marketing for my Integrated Marketing Communications course after visiting some of my AFS friends’ hometowns after our exchange year in Norway. During these trips, I realized,
1. What different worlds and lives we come from (and yet we all came together and got along for a year), and
2. They lived in beautiful places!

It was truly an incredible experience to see their original lives–who they hang out with, where they go, what they do for fun. I can call myself privileged to have seen so much with a local (and more importantly–a friend) by my side. I saw these cities in ways normal tourists could never see.

I guess perhaps my favorite thing about these visits was getting to see their “home life.” For some reason it makes me really excited, like when I realized that Jessica used gas burners in her house which she had to ignite with a match…or learning all the different names of Italian crackers and biscuits from Francesco’s mother. (I’ve forgotten all of them, unfortunately…) Or getting to meet Xenia’s dog (which I am convinced is a toddler trapped in a dog’s body). Or even something as simple as going to get morning bread with Balázs in Hungary. Isn’t it strange how these little insignificant moments are often the ones you remember the most?

So I guess I’m starting to realize the sense behind the saying, “once an exchange student, always an exchange student.” Odd to think that my decision to study abroad a one year would still be relevant to my life two years later. None of this wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t been an exchange student. I wonder what kind of an article I would’ve written then…

Budapest!

Sorry! I have been busy! So busy that I haven’t had time to write about R and my trip to Budapest! I don’t think any words I write now will do our trip any justice, so let me try to paint you a picture from my personal daily log and pictures! Enjoy!

Friday, 11 February 2011
1. Flying to Budapest and seeing Balázs again! Meeting his sister Csilla and her friend Balázs. We got along with them amazingly during our trip and they were great hosts!
2. Their place is so awesome. The walls and music made both of us feel very comfortable…I felt very at home.
3. The breakfast Balázs bought was amazing: soft white ciabatta with butter and sausage paste…it was so delicious.
4. Going on top of Gellért Hill and visiting Hero’s Square at night. Oh yes, and we went to a café called Tranzit that used to be a bus stop.
5. Drinking Tatra tea and having some great dinner (pea soup).

Saturday, 12 February 2011
1. Discovering more of Budapest by metro, tram, and bus. The city sure has a great transportation system.
2. Bázsi took us to a great fancy café above a bookstore! It’s like he read René’s mind and found the café afterwards…I think he made a Swiss guy very very happy today.
3. We went to the castle and then took the funicolare down the hill. Then, we crossed the bridge from Buda to Pest and walked along Agassi (I know I spelled that wrong) street.
4. René gave in and listened to my stupid idea of bathing in Szechenyi Baths. It was cold and we didn’t have sandals, but I am glad we did it!
5. We went home and the other Balázs made what I would call goulash and spätzli…but they have Hungarian names. It was delicious!
6. Afterwards, Balázs brought out five pieces of cake with a candle in the number 4. He also brought out champagne to celebrate my birthday. It was very unexpected and I was very touched–I will truly remember that moment forever.
7. I proceeded to get drunk off of wine, wine & coke (on Csilla’s advice), and spumanti. We joked and talked into the night about stuff I don’t really remember, but everyone was laughing.
8. I was exhausted when I got into bed…

Sunday, 13 February 2011
1. More amazing breakfast. This day I also got to try Hungarian salami!
2. We got to the airport with some extra time to kill. Bought some postcards and wrote to Mom, Thranes, Kjersti, and Emma & Pauli. It was sad to say goodbye to Bázsi, but hopefully either they will come in August or we will go visit them and perhaps Lake Balaton.

Benvenuto a InterRail Italia!

It’s been a week since my train débâcle, and after some time and distance from it…I can still stand by my original opinion of TrenItalia. Det suger, liksom!
So what happened was this: after an amazing day walking through and getting lost in Venice (which, if I may digress for a bit, is the most beautiful city I have ever visited. I don’t care if people say it’s overtouristy–perhaps it is, but I like it that way; it’s romantic, picturesque, and it’s exceeded my expectations in every way.), I decided to take an earlier train home so I could get back to Lugano by 7PM in order to finish my schoolwork. And here begin my grievances:

They charge me €8 for riding on a different train than I had purchased tickets for. Well, I thought, “Va bene, at least now you know.” However, I didn’t have any Euros on me and asked if I could pay in Swiss Francs. He charged me 30CHF. Only after paying him 20CHF did I realize that he was bullshitting me. (For those who don’t know, €8 is roughly the equivilant of 13CHF.) Trying to stay positive, I had managed to convince myself that paying a little extra was necessary to ensure that I got home early. Little did I know…

My journey courtesy of TrenItalia!

The train that I was on, from Venezia Santa Lucia to Milano Centrale, unexpectedly stopped in Verona. After half an hour of waiting in silence, the conductor announced over the intercom that a man had killed himself sulla ferrovia. (Whether he jumped overboard or hopped in front of the tracks is unbeknownst to me.) So instead of continuing to Milano Centrale, we took a detour–to Bologna.

From Bologna, we slowly chugged our way up towards Milan, with stops in Modena and Piacenza. After six productive hours, we finally reached Milano Centrale. Ironically, I reached Milan even later than I would have if I had taken the train I originally purchased the ticket for. Needless to say, I missed my connection from Milan to Lugano, but was lucky enough not to have missed the last train from Milan to Bellinzona. With almost two hours to kill, I took the time to eat my apple and explore the outside of Milano Centrale and the metro.

In the end, I made it home at around 2AM in the morning. But considering how I did most of my homework on the train, I guess it wasn’t so bad after all.

These next couple of days are very exciting and eventful. Right now I’m still debating whether or not to go to Zürich today. (It’s currently 3:40AM and I would have to get to the train station by 8AM.) Will have a handful of midterms next week, closely followed by the arrival of my Norwegian family on Thursday. Unfortunately, I won’t have the opportunity to be with them for so long because on Monday, I leave for the Czech Republic and Slovakia on Academic Travel.
I’ve also finalized my plans for Thanksgiving! I will be spending the long weekend down in Vailate with Jessica! There are tentative plans to make turkey, which I’m very excited for.
And as for Christmas, hopefully I will be able spend a week over at Marie’s place in either Normandy or Paris before flying home to California.

Wow, I hope all this talk of traveling doesn’t make me sound spoiled rotten. The truth is, I am grateful for every moment of it and am loving life right now. La vita è bella. Ma adesso–devo dormire.