The Land Of Ice Chronicles: Preparing to leave home

My journey to Limerick was just a week away and I was feeling a plethora of different emotions. I was excited and terrified all at the same time. I had studied abroad before and I absolutely loved it but I was unsure that I would feel the same about this country.

Ya see, I studied abroad in South Korea over the summer. That was a magnificent experience; I fell in love with everything the minute I got there and I absolutely had no problem adjusting to all the differences. It was like I was meant to be there. It was like I had found the missing piece I was constantly searching for; I’d found my home. That being said, leaving had me depressed for quite some time. It took a while to readjust to NYC but once I did, it was like I had this newfound appreciation for it. Yet, I also had this urge to explore everything else the world has to offer. I wanted to travel more and the effects of one study abroad trip were so grand, I yearned for more. I wondered if I could feel an even deeper connection in a country where my ancestors have actually been. And, on a whim, I chose to go to Limerick, Ireland and test that theory.

You can see why this would cause me to feel the plethora of emotions that I did. I mean I was building up the experience in my head thinking it would the most amazing experience I would ever have. I was thinking it would beat out Korea for the best trip ever. I was thinking I would have the time of my life and meet the love of my life. I was thinking I’d never want to leave Limerick and that I’d have this strong attachment to the country where magic, wonder, and little mythical leprechauns lurk around.

I was wrong; I was so wrong. 

Curious to see what I mean?

Find out in the next chapter of “The Land of the Ice Chronicles”

Preparing to Go Home

I have loved it here in England, but I am so happy to go home. I have missed my family’s home cooked meals. And our junk food! England’s junk food is healthier than ours. It isn’t as greasy and as yummy. I want New York pizza and bagels and our sweet chocolate! It isn’t just the food that I have missed. I have obviously missed my family, but I just saw them a little bit ago, so I’m still excited to see them, but not as excited as I would have been if I didn’t see them during Thanksgiving. But I am so excited to see my cat. I have missed animal affection so much. I will be hanging out with my cat the entire day I land. I will play with her and hold her even if she doesn’t want it. My room is another thing that I have missed deeply. I miss my bed. Being able to take a nice shower once I get home will be amazing. The shower here is very small and can have its good and bad days.

But even though there are things that I make me wish these last days to pass by quicker, there are a lot of things that I will miss. I will miss being only twenty minutes from London and having the ability to just pop into Central for a day and come back. I will miss being forced to exercise and walk places to get food or to do something that I want to do. I will miss walking down the street and seeing all the houses right next to each other and thinking, this is just like the movies depicted it. No humidity has been great and my curly hair is not ready to go back where it is humid every other day. The weather has been very nice while I’ve been here. It has been low forties yet it hasn’t felt that cold. I will probably get to New York and be very cold, but I am enjoying not having to bundle up so much here. And the museums in London! There are so many that I have gone to, yet I haven’t been to nearly half of them.

I will definitely come back to London, but for vacation. I have enjoyed living in a city that is bigger than New Paltz, but I can only live in a big city for so long. I like the small town vibe. London has been a great experience, but I am happy to be going back to a small town. I will be back London—and Florence, and Rome, and Dublin, and Galway, and Munich, and Bruges.

One Full Week as a Kiwi :)!

So it’s been one full week and a couple days change here in New Zealand, and quite honestly I couldn’t be happier with the way things are. Wellington is absolutely BEAUTIFUL! The city itself feels quite new and modern. My house is adorable, and all of my flatmates are wonderful. We are a house of 7 international students, and we are all from different places! We got England, California, The Netherlands, Cape Cod, Philadelphia, Hawaii, and of course New York all under one roof. Within the first five minutes of arriving in New Zealand, my flatmates invited me out to go to the Sunday farmers market. I literally threw my stuff down after my 36 hour commute, put on shorts, and headed out. The first impression I got of Wellington Harbour actually took my breath away. Being from Long Island, I am not stranger to beaches and water, but this is a new level.

Socially and Environmentally I am in absolute heaven, but I will admit, I had myself a good cry after the adrenaline wore off after the first few days. Coming to a new country, though not all that different than my own, is very over whelming. I have traveled in America, even Canada, and have never felt so disoriented as I did for a couple of days in New Zealand. Yes, New Zealand is an english speaking country, and some things do resemble America. However, there are enough differences between our countries to get a bit frustrating sometimes. Brands are a big thing. As someone who pays very close attention to ingredients in foods and products, it was very scary to not only not recognize most of the brands at the supermarket or the drug store, but also not be able to comprehend nutrition facts. This was very stressful to me, and took me a bit to adjust. I am still not adjusted to it. Another huge stressor for me is traveling while here. Wellington is no joke when it comes to it’s hills. Having no car and not a lot of experience with public transportation yet, I have been walking too and from everywhere. One day I decided to solo explore the city, and ended my day buying a bag of groceries that easily weighed 30 pounds. I got lost for 2 hours, walking up and down hills and hundreds of stone stairs without phone service or any good way to explain where I needed to go. Lastly, and perhaps most crucial to healthy survival here in New Zealand, is the recognition that living so close to the Ozone hole requires sunblock every day. I learned this lesson the hard way. As someone who chooses to fry in the sun without sun protection to get a better tan, you can imagine how sorry I was for not looking into this HUGE known fact amongst the Kiwis.

Adjusting to life here was not hard, it just took a few quick slaps to the face, and now a week later I feel much better. I’ve gotten Skype up and running, so I can see my boyfriend all the time, I’ve gained some navigation, and I am already planning some trips with my flatmates to explore this beautiful country!

Until next time,

Cheers!

American Feet on Belgian Streets

Bienvenue! Welcome to Belgium, the land of chocolate. If I had known how many chocolate shops we would have seen today, I would have started counting at the beginning of todays journey! And it’s only our second day in Brussels. Yesterday, we arrived in Belgium in the afternoon, we met our host mom, Judith (also known as Maman), and her daughter Angélique. Both are wonderful! Ema and I live together in Judith’s house with two other girls: Erica (of Washington) and Domenica (of Ecudor). This morning, we scouted out the grocery stores of our area: fresh fruit, muesli, and chocolate spreads galore! Later, after lunch, Becca (our third European adventurer whom is living with another host mom) found her way to our house and we “headed into town.” We set out around 2pm with the goals of finding our school campus (check), finding our internship locations (no check), and finding the city center — or what is actually known as Grand Place or Market Square (check). By the end of the day, we had found our specific campus building, learned how to use public transportation, and saw the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula and Market Square — so much beautiful architecture!

flowers

The above orange trees caught our eyes.

bike

Tigger, the bicycle.

stmichelcathedral

St. Michael and St. Gudula Cathedral, much larger than its luxurious front entrance.

market square

Not sure about this building yet, but it’s green! We will be given tours later this week.

market square 3

Another beautiful building, not sure again, but we will soon find out!

That’s all for now, there will be more to come from these already sore feet!

Katie

PS. Below are some photos of beautiful Ireland flying above:

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What’s on Your TO DO List?

Packing.

One of my least favorite tasks when embarking on a journey, whether it be for a weekend or four months, is packing.

This upcoming Monday, I will catch a bus down to New York City with Erin (my sister) to stay with Conor (my boyfriend) for a little less than a week before catching my plane with Ema and Becca (my two fellow “European Adventurers” — so we’ve dubbed ourselves) for Brussels, Belgium.

As of right now, I believe I have everything I’ll need, but of course, I’ll never really know until we get there!

Check back in later next week for pre-departure updates (and pictures of yummy food)!

Katie