Three Weeks and Counting

Once classes start up again tomorrow morning, I will have a full week of class and stay in Paderno for the weekend, possibly taking a day trip to Asolo and hitting up a discoteca in Bassano for the weekend. The following week I only have classes up until Thursday. The day before, however, is our last gourmet dinner and my birthday, w00t!! We have then have our last, extended travel weekend and some friends and I plan on travelling to Cinqueterra or the Five Lands. The week after that is finals week and then I leave Sunday, so only three weeks left!! As the old saying goes, time flies when you're having fun. After this program ends, I will be going back to Strasbourg for a week then Joy and I will fly back together to the States. I will spend a week back in Iowa City and then go to California to visit family. Soon after, I will off to London again for my internship!!

Baden Baden

For my last full day in Strasbourg, Joy and I decided to visit Baden Baden, Germany and go to the hot spring spa. The hot springs were built by the Romans when they conquered ancient Germania for a place of rest and relaxation.

As we approached the spa from the city's main road, white steam slowly swirled up into the air and gradually dissipated, a result from the cold air interacting with the outdoor portion of the spa's thermal water. The spa's indoor building was relatively modern-looking. The lobby area was walled with numerous panes of glass, stone pillars extending out into the walk way holding up the awning, and a rotating glass door ushered guests in.

Once we entered, we quickly bought our tickets and followed the crowd of people. It was also easy to figure out where to go by following the direction in which it got consistently warmer and warmer. First entering the main spa and looking to the right, one could see a large, semi-circular pool filled with people. A smaller jacuzzi-like pool sat in the middle of the larger pool, and a few people sat underneath a circular fountain spewing water in its entire circumference, letting the water splash over their bodies. To the left sat the even hotter pool surrounded by stone with a waterfall splashing down into the pool.

With a sigh of relief, I gradually eased my body into the pool. Sitting in the warm, thermal water, I felt so relaxed and calm. Not a worry or thought crept into my mind. I felt at peace with the world. I didn't think about homework, tests, internships, or anything that would place even the tiniest bit of stress on my body. My mind was at ease, caring neither about the past or future, only the now.

A Little Bit of Home Away from Home

I am back in Strausbourg, France visiting Joy for my second travel week. The week so far has been pretty uneventful, just the way I like it. While life in Paderno is comparatively slower and more laid back than in the States, it's still nice to get away from the classes, projects, tests, homework, etc and just do absolutely nothing once in awhile with my girlfriend.

Last night we had planned on staying in and making some home-style burgers for dinner; unfortunately, the burgers, bread, and cheese had all molded over. Instead, we opted to dine at a Chinese restaurant near the city center. The interior decor reminded me much of my time in China two summers ago. When you first entered, you could hear the sound of water trickling from the minature stone waterfall into the koi pond. Numerous round tables made of dark wood filled the large room, and the bar area looked much like an ancient Chinese building. It was constructed with plastic yet realistic bamboo siding and the roof was made of what would be round, cylindrical clay tilings. The roof was then finished at the ends with circular tiles with dragons in the middle. The entire restaurant was dimly lit with candles on every table and smaller ceiling lights. The greatest thing to gaze at, however, was the golden dragon swirling above the largest table swirling around staring menacingly at the people eating underneath it. It looked as if it could detach itself from the ceiling at any minute and begin reaking havoc on the entire restaurant.

The food was delicious. It's been awhile since I've had good Chinese cooking, much like the stuff I get to eat back home. We ordered a beef, pork, and duck dish, along with some rice and fried noodles. Dessert consisted of espresso for Joy and some sweet lychees for myself. When he served us the dessert and coffee, the owner of the restaurant and I started conversing in Chinese. Our conversation lasted for about fifteen minutes, and we talked about everyday stuff like where we were from, what we were doing in France, and the like. I learned that he was originally from the Jiangxu province in China, went to Shangang for culinary school and ended up in Strasbourg after being invited by a friend to run the restaurant. It's nice to know that I can still have a full conversation in Chinese with little to no trouble in understanding. One thing I have always regretted is not consistently speaking Chinese with my parents when I was younger. When I started college I took Chinese up to the end of my sophomore year. This year I felt I didn't have the time to take it again, but hopefully I can pick it up again at some point.

Asolo

Last Saturday some friends and I went to Asolo, a few kilometers away from Paderno. We had heard that there was a bar there where we could play beer pong but long story short, it was a no go. Despite this setback, it was an amazing time. We went to a nearby gelateria, got some gelato, and tasted some strawberry prosseco which was absolutely delicious! The red liquid would bubble in your mouth as the mix of strawberries and wine danced around on your tongue. It was so good we all decided to buy a bottle to ourselves, so you can imagine the look on the locals' faces. A couple of Americans walking the streets cracking bottles and having a good time!

Roaming the streets ended as we trekked up the mountain towards the castle. After a good twenty minutes of huffing and puffing, we finally reached our destination. Out of breath, sitting on a wall with our feet dangling, the view was incredible. Italy stretched beyond what the eye could see. Lights of orange, yellow, and light blue littered the dark landscape, and some even appeared as if they were floating in the sky where mountains could only be seen during the day. Quiet was all one could hear except for the occasional car whizzing by on the freeway, I couldn't help but keep silent as I gazed upon the view stretching before me. It felt surreal thinking I as where I was...

(the picture isn't mine...unfortunately my camera couldn't take a good picture so I thought I'd borrow it from online)

Rainy Paderno & Rome....for the third time

The week before Joy came to visit, the sun came out with full force, shining down on the small town of Paderno. A person could just lie in the grass with the sun beating down on them without a care in the world. Right before Joy arrived, the weather decided to show its ugly side. I am 100% certain there wasn't a day that week that wasn't down pouring and dark. Nevertheless, it was awesome to have Joy come visit Paderno del Grappa. She stayed at the local (and only) hotel, which to my surprise, was rather nice. The room was spacious and well kept. The shower had hot water and pressure, and there was even a fridge in the room (I took advantage of that)! The week was pretty uneventful, save the soccer game with the Italian regional team which didn't turn out pretty.

The following weekend was the school's weekend long break. Joy and I had planned to with my friends here in Paderno to Paris; unfortunately, Great Britain decided to not be great but a pain in the butt. I received an alarming email from my adviser back at Iowa, who was helping me with my internship in London this summer, that the UK decided ONCE AGAIN to change their regulations for student visas. So what this meant was that instead of enjoying a weekend in Paris, we had to go to Rome for me to get my biometric scan and turn in my visa application ASAP.

Okay, so it wasn't that bad. We had visited last year during Christmas break, and I had visited prior to arriving in Paderno. As such, there was no rushed feeling of having to see all the sights. We slept in, saw Trevi Fountain, The Spanish Steps, the Vatican, St. Peter's Basilica, and walked around the Colosseum and Roman Forum, a very relaxing trip. We ended the week in Venice Mestre since it was easier to get to the airport from there and ate at a very nice, local pizzeria. Joy flew back to Strasbourg the following Sunday, and I trained back to Paderno.

March of the Penguins

Joy and I took a train to Basel, Switzerland during my travel week, and we went to the local zoo. I haven't been to a zoo in quite some time, so it was pretty cool to see all the animals. We saw elephants, monkeys, giraffes, bears, different birds, and much more. But what was the coolest thing we saw were the penguins!! What made it even better was that the penguin keeper opened the gate and let the penguins loose amongst the crowd of people watching! It was hilarious watching the penguins waddle out and up the road like a parade, glancing at everybody wondering why everybody was making a fuss and staring at them. Joy and I stayed there for the entire afternoon, ate lunch, and went back to Strasbourg. Now that I have been to Germany and Switzerland, albeit for a small amount of time, I have two countries in Europe that I really want to visit: Spain and Greece.

"There and Back Again" - A Traveler's Tale

Two weeks ago, when I visited Joy for my travel week, we did some pretty cool sight seeing. The great thing about Strausbourg, France is that it's right on the border of the country. One day Joy and I decided to take a walk across the border into Germany and check out the city of Kehl. We went to the river to cross the bridge linking the two countries, but before we did so, we got ourselves some crepes covered with chocolate Nutella and whip creme, a very good, warming snack for a cold winter day! After devouring our crepes, we trekked on over to Kehl and when we arrived, we heard some loud music further down the city. We followed the shouting and music and walked into the Karneval celebration for Germany!! It was pretty sweet; there was confetti everywhere and people were running around in funny looking goblin/troll costumes. Kinda scary, but cool at the same time. We decided to sample the local fare and bought some German bratwurst. Not exactly the same as bratwurst back in the States, but delicious nonetheless! We walked around some more, saw some people line dancing to techno music (yeah I don't get it either!), then we made our way back again to France!

Ljubjana, Slovenia

During my time here through the CIMBA program, we have been taught something called Decision Analysis (DA), and it's basically a chart that compares different options for a certain decision. During one of our workshops, we did a DA on what locations to travel to for a hypothetical situation, and one of those locations was Ljubjana, Slovenia. After reading a description of the capital of the country, my friends and I realized Ljubjana seemed like a pretty cool place to travel. So last week we just did that. We took a 4 hour bus ride to Ljubjana for the weekend.

Ljubjana is probably one of my more favorite cities I have visited during my times in Europe. And I was surprised by how much I liked it when we visited because of the common stereotypes you hear about Eastern Europe. But as a brief little history lesson, Slovenia entered the EU some time around 2004, and in order to join the EU, the country has to be economically stable which means little inflation, lower interest rates, and the like. All in all, we had an amazing time in Ljubjana. Our hostel was really nice and cozy and relatively cheap. We began our day by going to the city center and grabbing a bite to eat. Unfortunately, we didn't speak Slovenian, so we couldn't eat at a local restaurant. We resorted to eating a nearby vendor. We had what was known as "burek" which to me was kind of like a hotpocket. It was absolutely delicious, filled with sausage, and really greasy. Some friends in my group and I then bought a bag of grapes for dessert. These grapes were huge. I mean, they were about the size of a golf ball and they were amazing. So as we made our way up the mountain, we munched on grapes, spitting the seeds out as we went.

For dinner, we went to a famous Slovenian style restaurant called Sokal. We stayed there for about two hours ordering more and more drinks and causing a ruckus playing games and singing songs. I'm pretty sure the locals cleared out because of us. That night, we first went to a bar called The Skeleton Bar, and it looked like something from Tales from the Crypt. It was all haunted house style with skeletons hanging from the ceiling, bookshelves, and on the floor. The bathroom itself was hidden behind a fake bookcase. While we were there, we drank Slovenia's most alcoholic drink called "wikki wakki wu." It was a mix of various alcohols and a splash of cranberry juice. It was good, so good that it was dangerous. If you weren't careful you would end up drinking a lot of these and pass out way before midnight. Fortunately none of us made that mistake, and then we eventually made our way to the three-story club, Bokus. The top floor was a VIP section and of course we weren't allowed up there. The main floor was the bigger bar area where you just kicked back and relaxed, listening to oldies and rock. The basement was the main dancefloor and that's where the techno and rave music were playing. My group and I stayed on the dancefloor till around 4 in the morning, finally making our way back to our hostel. Gotta love Ljubjana :)

Classes, LIFE, Florence

I once again apologize for no new blog for a long period of time. A mix of me being lazy, busy with school, LIFE, traveling, and slow internet has made it difficult to update my blog, but that's neither here nor there. So let's begin!

For the past two years, during my time at University of Iowa, I have taken 18 semester hours every semester. As such, class assignments, tests, and studying took up an enormous portion of my time at Iowa, and I was constantly tired, busy, and tired. This semester here at Paderno, I decided to take a break and only take 13 semester hours or 5 classes. They are: Intercultural Communication, International Finance, International Marketing, Entrepreneurial Strategy, and Directed Readings in Management and Organizations (this is a 1 hour course which is extremely easy). I am enjoying all my classes so far, especially Entrepreneurial Strategy which surprises me because I never thought I would when I signed up for the class, but I thought it would be useful in the field of consulting. I found out at the beginning of classes that there will be no multiple choice tests, all essay & case based. Well...I guess I can't have it to easy, right? :) But all in all I am not swamped with work which is a nice change for me, I have more time to work out, meet people and just relax. I even started swimming again!

The first weekend here in Paderno seemed like an eternity. Friday I started the LIFE (Leadership Initiative for Excellence), which is a program designed essentially as a leadership development seminar. Going into it I was quite skeptical. I have been through previous leadership seminars, programs, and lectures, and I didn't get anything out them. They were all lecture-based and had no practical experience whatsoever. So I thought to myself, "This is probably another waste of my time, but it's free and here, so I mind as well try it." But....I was wrong.

Now, I was a swimmer in high school, and I thought that was tough, both physically and mentally. Not only is swimming one of the hardest physical sports out there, but it takes a lot of mental fortitude to push yourself to keep going even though you're tired (also this prevented you from drowning). Along with swimming, I was an avid tennis player, and it also took a lot of mental capacity to be successful. But both sports combined could not compare to the mental pain I felt during LIFE. I have NEVER EVER been pushed as badly as I was out of my comfort zone. I would be lying if I said I didn't think about quitting after only the first night. I was yelled and shouted at, ridiculed, belittled, and torn down. By the end of the program, I was exhaused both physically and mentally. But despite the fact that I hated the entire process up until the end, never have I been so happy to have gone all the way. All I could think about was how the trainers were out to get me, but what I didn't realize was that I was being pushed to break down my barriers and excel. In the beginning I could only think, "God, I could be in Venice right now." But I have absolutely no regrets missing out on that weekend, because I have definitely experienced a change in myself for my own benefit. In my mind my future goals and priorities are painted in a much clearer picture. Because of LIFE, I am without a doubt a better person.

Since I didn't get to go travel the weekend of LIFE, my friends and I that bonded during our experience with LIFE decided to treat ourselves a trip to Florence!! The city of Florence is roughly 4 hours away by bus from Paderno del Grappa. We left Friday, 4 in the morning! Fortunately I was able to sleep on the bus, and when we arrived we had no trouble finding our hostel, PLUS Florence. The hostel was amazing. It was well kept and clean, had outstanding service, the rooms were nice and we had our own showers. Not only this, but in the basement, there was a dance floor and bar as well as a restaurant should we feel to save money.
During the same day, we decided to take in the sights. We first went to the Uffici, a large museum of art and sculptures. I am not too much of an art person, so I didn't really enjoy my time there, but it was all right. Next, we went to the Duomo, an extremely large cathedral with an amazing view. Much like St. Paul's Cathedral in London, you have to take a long, treacherous climb up to the zenith of the cathedral. By the end of the climb, my legs were on fire, but it was worth it. The sun was gleaming, not a cloud in the sky, and the view was breathtaking. I think we stood there for about 45 minutes before we decided to go down (we were still recovering from the climb :P).
The next day we took a bus to Siena, the city nearby. The Tuscan countryside was gorgeous, but I didn't do much in Siena except eat and chill. But the following night, we went to club Space which was a lot of fun, but there were too many Americans. On our last day in Florence, we made a quick trip to the Academia which houses Michaelangelo's Statue of David. The statue was cool, but the museum was extremely small. This next weekend, some friends and I are going to Lubiana, Slovenia! All in all, I am really enjoying my time here in Paderno del Grappa. I enjoy my classes, and everyone here is friendly and we all get along nicely. But next weekend I get to go on my week long break and visit my lovely girlfriend, Joy!! Whoopee!!!!

Paderno del Grappa

I am running on two hours of sleep. Joy and I woke up at 4:30 in the morning and booked it to the metro that would take us to the train station. I was really starting to get worried I would miss my train to the airport, thus missing my flight to Italy. Fortunately, I made it with a few minutes to spare. Unfortunately, I didn't get to have a thorough goodbye with Joy which was sad. I made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare, got through customs with no trouble, and was on the plane to Lyon for my layover. Normally I book an aisle seat so I can have some leg room and be comfortable, but this time I was in the window seat. I normally don't get airsick but for some reason, the fact that I was scrunched up into a ball uncomfortably made me sick for the first time in awhile. The major turbulence didn't help neither. But I touched ground without upchucking and then I got on the plane for Marco Polo airport in Veniza!

After arriving in Venice, I took a long bus ride to Mestre Train Station where I was met by a resident assistant who helped me buy my ticket for the train to Bassano del Grappa. I met up with some fellow classmates and we had an amazing time piling all our luggage into a cramped train. I am sure the Italians are loving us Americans already. After an hour long train ride, we arrived in Bassano del Grappa where we boarded the bus that would take us to our final destination: Paderno del Grappa.

Upon arriving in Paderno del Grappa, I received my room key and headed up to my single room, luckily on the first floor of the dorm. I know I may seem introverted in getting a single room, but being one of few U of I students here, I didn't want to take the chance of getting a lousy roommate. My room is quite nice, small but nice. In my opinion, the bed is smaller than a twin size, but I have all the accomdations I need and I get my own bathroom which is nice not having to share. And I don't have to worry about anyone complaining about the messiness. After settling in and getting situated, we had dinner at the cafeteria which was pretty good for cafeteria food, but I am sure I will get sick of it soon enough as I did with Burge my freshman year at Iowa. We then had orientation which only lasted about forty-five minutes which was good for all the people who were jet lagged to hell. Fortunately for me, I have already been in Europe for about a month, so I am through with my jet lag :)

I felt alone here, being one of the only Iowa students, so I forced myself to meet some other studnets. I've learned that the majority of the students here are from Kansas University. But that makes sense since CIMBA, the program I am studying abroad through, was based in KU until this past fall semester when they moved to U of I. The guys I met were all from KU and all pledged together in the same fraternity. But instead of being cliquish, they were really friendly and we started hitting it off smoothly. We all went to the local bar and got a few drinks along with all the other students which was pretty fun. But with an 8:30 class tomorrow, I figured I better lay low and head back to get some rest.

So tomorrow I start classes, and we have more orientation meetings for the week. Next week we do CAP which is a leadership training camp kinda thing. I've never done anything like it before, so we will see how it goes!

(I know I normally have a picture posted, but my camera is dead, and I am still figuring out how to get my battery recharged without blowing it up, but I will update this blog with a pic at some point).

New Years Eve, Vinapolis, and Italy Bound

I apologize for not writing on the blog for quite some time, but I have been busy with class (I have also been extremely lazy). So for this blog I will have quite a bit of content. I will start with New Years I guess!

New Years Eve here in London was a blast! A large group of us began the night by going downstairs and playing card games. When 10:30 rolled around we decided it would be best if we started to head towards the fireworks before it got too crowded on the tube. After a short ride, we started our trek towards a bridge nearby the London Eye to get a better view of the fireworks to come. I had never seen so many people gathered in my life going in one direction. It was as if we were just a herd of livestock with something mysterious pulling us towards one direction. Needless to say it was very interesting and exciting with all the people. Eventually many of us, myself included, had to stop and use the restroom; however, we had a hard time to actually find a place that would let us use their bathrooms. A few of us ended up going to a pub, and when I reached the doorway I was stopped by the doorman and asked how old I was. Note, this is the THIRD time I have been asked my age. Apparently I don't even look eighteen yet! By that point I was tired of being ID'd and my bladder was close to exploding, so I just looked at the doorman dead in the eye and said I was twenty in a very serious tone. I proceeded to reach for my wallet and asked if he really wanted to go through the trouble of checking. He then said that I was an honest guy and let me in. Yeah that's right...I'm a total bad ass. After using the restroom, we turned the corner and behold: portapotties and urinals (for the men). Everybody else did their duty and then we got on too the bridge. It was packed really tight but at least we weren't cold. A pair of huge speakers hung overhead by some cranes, so we were all able to listen to music while we waited for the new year to come. I think a lot of the locals thought us Americans were pretty strange for the dancing we did. For example, when some song came on telling us to jump came on, only us Americans jumped. But by that time we were too pumped to care, so we continued. An hour later the fireworks finally started, and it was absolutely amazing. I unfortunately forgot my camera so I couldn't take pictures. But trust me they were pretty sweet. After the fireworks we made our way back to the flats and continued the party into the morning. It was a great way to start the new year here in Europe!

The day after new years, a group of us went to this place by the Thames River called Vinapolis. It was a winery/brewery/stillery (don't know if the third one is right..). We were given the chance to do some wine tasting as well as taste some rums, whiskies, and absinthe. They gave us some tickets to taste a variety of the above. We first started with the wine. An employee there gave us a demonstration on how to properly taste wine (the picture is of us all at the lesson, I'm at the top middle). It was a lot more complicated than I thought it was, truly a form of art! After our wine tasting lesson, we entered a room where we were given numerous varieties and options of wine to taste. I myself had some Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, and a very delicious Port. After the wine, we made our way into the area where we could taste some Bombay Sapphire Gin. I normally don't like gin, but I selected a drink where the gin was mixed deliciously with some grapfruit and pineapple juice into a martini glass. The drink was good, but I think I was more interested in the machine where you used your hand to make a virtual model of your own martini glass. Unfortunately, my glass looked more like an ashtray. After the gin, we sampled the absinthe and whisky. Now, after watching the movie Eurotrip I must say I was quite excited to taste my first shot of absinthe. However, what we drank wasn't pure absinthe. When drinking absinthe, you're supposed to take a spoon of sugar, set it on fire, and put it into the absinthe as it carmelizes and add water. This dilutes the absinthe from being around 70% alcohol to like 17%. That was a downer but it was still exciting to drink it. It tasted a lot like black licorice, not my favorite. Next was the whisky which I am not a fan of either. We then moved on into the rum room and sampled some pretty good rum. It burned, but it was good. That concluded our tour of Vinapolis, and then we made our way to a pub to finish off the night and went back to the flats. I think Vinapolis will definitely be my favorite moment here in London. It was a great time to spend with all my friends, got to learn how to properly taste wine, tried my first shots of absinthe, and tasted some fine rum. A very successful night if I do say so myself!

I only have one more full day here in London, and then I will be flying to Rome with some fellow DSPs for three days. I will leave Rome Monday and fly to Strasbourg, France. I will, after a long two weeks, finally get to see my lovely girlfriend. It's been a hard two weeks not being able to be with her but being able to talk to each other through Skype has made it easier. This will be my last blog for my time here in London. Being back in London brought back many memories of my time here last year with Joy. I got to see some of my favorite sites again and some I didn't get the chance to last year. Overall, it has been an amazing time. I got to take a very interesting class with a well-respected professor, saw some great sites, and spent time with my friends from school whom I may not see again for quite a long time. I'll miss em but it's been fun! Italy, here I come!