Ban Ki-moon

So I survived the first week of classes at Wester last week. One of the classes is called Professional Seminars where we visit different government organizations, NGO's, non-profits and others in each city we are studying in. (This was part of the reason why I was so interested in this program.) On the agenda for this term is OPEC, UNODC, IAEA to name a few. I had heard mixed reviews from our first professor Karin. Austrian women are notoriously known for being very serious and less than warm. Must be an Eastern European thing... After sweating through three hours of lecture, I have missed air conditioning greatly, she invited the entire class to a celebration at the United Nations the next morning, which we all obviously enthusiastically agreed to.

(V.I.C. building in the background)

The next morning we all showed up to the UN, about 5 blocks from my apartment building, dressed in the appropriate business attire. I still wasn't sure what we were invited to but assumed something important when I saw the red carpet entrance and news cameras positioned by the entrance. Our Austrian professor, a former diplomat at the UN who knew half the people there, didn't seem to concerned with helping us find our way. However, we ran into the president of Webster Vienna and another professor who kindly showed us around and where to take our seats.

(Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary General)

It was the 30th anniversary of the V.I.C., the Vienna International Centre. There were four speakers, the mayor of Vienna, the Austrian Foreign Minister, Ban Ki-Moon UN Secretary General and finally the Austrian President. Ban Ki-moon is in his first year at Sec. General and was once a diplomat here in Vienna. He told us he had left half of his heart in Vienna, where the president kindly told him he was taking good care of. Such cute government officials :) The program ended with a performance by a group called Voices of Peace. All were from different countries and religions.

(Curtsy with the Austrian Secret Service in the background... )

The morning ended with a reception in the UN rotunda for drinks. There is wine everywhere in Europe no matter the time or occasion. :)

The experience was amazing. Afterward, one of the Webster professors told us she lives in Austria and has never seen the president in person before. I feel very lucky to have gotten to see something like this!

xoxo,

Amy

Pancakes for Dinner and SLOVAKIA

August 23, 2008

After being officially scared to death from Webster professors at orientation with stories of flunking out of the program from alcoholism and death by scooters in Thailand, they took us out to dinner at a cute little restaurant in Leiden. It was a small Dutch restaurant off the city square with PANCAKES for dinner, a custom in Holland. (I can get used to this culture.) I chose the apples and cinnamon pancake and it was delicious. We got some tips from professors about places to visit and what to do in each city we are going to be in. So now I know that the operas are cheaper in Budapest than Vienna and where to find music venues under the U6 Ubon stop. Much needed advice :)


Bright and early the next day my cohort was supposed to fly to Vienna. So around 6:30 in the morning we all stumbled in to the Amsterdam airport looking for a 9:30 flight to Vienna that was not listed. After some research, we discovered that Fly Europe was having landing disputes with Vienna so we were re-routed to Bratislava, SLOVAKIA. Our new flight didn't leave till noon so we got to know each other a little bit more over an intense game of Rumy. We even invited an Italian futbol coach to play a hand with us. So we made our flight and showed up in dreary Bratislava, hoping to find a Webster van waiting for us to take us to a weiner schnitzl and a bed. No such luck. We missed the bus to Vienna and sat outside of the airport for about an hour waiting for another. Finally we made it to the Vienna airport where we were successfully picked up and delivered to our new homes.


(One plus of the re-routing was to see acres and acres of gorgeous sunflower fields in Slovakia... Who knew?!)

And the first stop was obviously Weiner Schnitzl Land! MMMmmm... Delicious!


And after settling in to our apartments, a few new friends and I walked around the neighborhood to try and find a bar for a drink to welcome our new city. We found a tiny bar with old Austrians singing karaoke. Welcome to Austria! One drink and called it a night after the mess of a day, consisting of three countries and three airports!

I almost forgot, that night they had fireworks on the Danube River, 2 blocks from our house, a very nice welcome from Vienna :)


More to come..

xoxo,
Amy

After the drunk priests in Dublin and another flight to Amsterdam, I had made the trek without any major hiccups. My next task was to find my way to Leiden, about 20 minutes by train from the airport. So I lugged my baggage through to the ticket station and hopped on the train. I befriended a Portugese student who was also traveling to Leiden and we started chatting about grad school and Europe v. America. Not noticing the time, the ticket counter showed up and told us we had already passed Leiden and had gotten on the wrong train. Typical. So we got off the train and looked for the next one to Leiden. As we approached Leiden, I was worried about our marked ticket and asked, who I thought was the ticket checker, if our tickets were still good. He said it was fine but didn’t work there and ran away laughing at me. So I made a wonderful first impression in Holland.



My plan to get over jet lag faster was to stay awake until dark. So I met up with my friend Henok from St. Louis who is also in the program and we walked around Leiden. In the city square there was a big group of people watching around the canal where there were fire trucks and city workers everywhere. There was someone scuba diving in the canal. After ruling out a dead body, a pet fallen in, and a bicycle, we asked the driver of one of the trucks what they were diving for to find out they were simply practicing and everyone was watching because it was such a nice day.



(so Dutch)

After trying to unsuccessfully sleep off my jet lag, the next day all of the other students began arriving in Leiden to begin orientation. That night we went out to a few different bars for drinks and icebreakers. Some of the students would be traveling to London on Saturday but it was still fun to get to know what kind of people were interested in this IR program and their different backgrounds.



(These boys were weighing down their boat but looked like they were having a great time!)

One student had lived in Leiden a few years ago with Webster and knew the city better than the rest of us. He took us to a hole in the wall bar with a pool table and a back smoking room. As many of you know, Holland is known for their laid back culture. So there we partook in the local flavor.



(group from the first night)

The Dutch are very friendly people and most speak English so talking to the locals is fairly easy. I haven’t heard such high reviews about the language barrier from our next country, Austria. I’ll keep you posted. Until then…



xoxo,
Amy

3 Am Central Time - 9 AM Dublin Time

Today I left my parents at O’Hare Airport to begin my adventure abroad. After battling the traffic and toll booths on the interstate, (very fun watching the two debate why there are so many toll booths and where everyone could be going) we finally made it to the airport where I was anticipating crouching in the corner unpacking and repacking my suitcase in order to make the weight requirements. Fortunately, I was only a few pounds over and the attendant didn’t seem to notice. After leaving both my parents in tears, I can say I know how they felt. I guess it’s on a little different level, but a few days ago I had to give up my pup, Marge. I considered putting her in my carry-on for awhile, but I doubt the nice attendant would have let me get away with that.

My flights have been fairly uneventful thus far. I’m loving the Irish accent and sat across from a few priests in the airport earlier. While attempting to read my book I couldn’t help but overhear their stories of horse races and drunk driving in Ireland. Sounds about right for Catholics. I’m not positive that all of them were priests, but it was still a lot more interesting than my required reading.

Until next time…

xoxo,

Amy

Ps. Apologies for my lack of posts... Internet access has been shady and expensive! So you're getting a post from a few days ago. Sorry for the delay!

After my wonderful send-off in St. Louis with lots of friends, wine and tearful goodbyes, I traveled to my hometown of Memphis, MO to spend a week and a half with family before heading abroad.

It just so happened that my entire family (3 brothers and myself) were all able to be home for the week which hardly ever happens. So my mom loaded us all into two cars and we headed to Lake Rathbun in Iowa. My cousins were also there so we camped right on the water. The water was like glass so we skiied and tubed with the lake to ourselves.

We brought my dog Marge along for the ride; she has become a seasoned camper with me this summer. She even got to ride along in the boat! She did have to be tied down because evertime she heard someone in the water she tried to jump in. Her little legs can't hold her up so I'm pretty sure she would sink like a rock if she actually got over the railing.

Until my next excursion...

xoxo

Amy

Goodbye St. Louis, Hello World

Today I say good-bye to my home, St. Louis. In 2 weeks I'll be on a plane headed to Amsterdam to begin my year long journey abroad to earn my Master's in International Relations.
Goodbye St. Louis, Hello World.

Today was the last day of my job. I said good-bye to my crazy boss and all his insane antics. (this is a good thing) Beside my boss, it was still a wonderful send off, with Thai food and a St. Louis style Gooey Butter Cake... my fav.

Tonight a few friends and I have planned do what we always do in the summer, drink wine in the Botanical Gardens and listen to live music. Afterward we're heading to a bar called Amsterdam, (fitting right?) and have drinks outside with some of my favorite people. A little bittersweet feeling.


Leaving St. Louis also means leaving behind a lot of people that have made a big difference in my life. (sad thing) The past few years have been constantly changing for me in this city, with friends moving on, making new friends and losing old ones.




So I'm adding this quote because I like it.
"Nothing makes the earth seem so spacious as to have friends at a distance; they make the latitudes and longitudes." ~Henry David Thoreau



And if you're wondering about the title, it comes from a favorite quote of mine (sorry I really like quotes) by Mark Twain.

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. ~ Mark Twain





Goodbye to my latitudes and longitudes...