terrible blogger

Time flies when you're having...fun? It is almost December, I have been home from Europe for 3 months now (the length of my entire trip to Europe), and I am not in South Korea. I chickened out I guess you could say.

I needed a bit of a break before going back to a land where everyone is staring at me confused, not understanding a word coming out of my mouth, how to help me, as I wonder in circles with a map in my hand, just wanting to know where the closest McDonald's is for a free bathroom and wifi. (Yes, that did happen...several times). South Korea will be different though, since I will at least have a home base.

It seems the tension between the Korean borders is getting pretty bad right now, with sinking submarines and bombings on South Korea islands, with people dying, you can bet I am waiting to see if it all dies down before jumping on a plane over there.

In the meantime I am gaining some valuable volunteer experience in various aspects of my future career goal and paying off that thing I like to call the best summer of my life...I also happened to pick up a long distance university course, to prevent my brain from turning into mush, and keep me on track. I hope to have all this done in time for early spring (my new date of departure for Korea!)...that way I can do grad applications while I am away, and not worry I don't have the volunteer experiences etc. Pheww. It all seems to be working out. My mom did say everything happens for a reason, so I guess this delay has a purpose.

I just pray a full blown war doesn't take place. I have fallen in love with Korean culture from afar. When I first decided to put it off, I was relieved (yay no change for a bit), then sad (ummm why I still sitting in my parent's house?), but I have come to realize I have it pretty good.

Talking to some people post-grad makes me see how put together my little plan is. Sure going to Asia for a year seems like I am "running away" but it's relevant to my ultimate career goal, gives me a chance to save money for school and, since I postponed it and got myself put together back home, I can even apply to grad school, fulfill my year contract there, and be back in time to start school. Mhmmm :)

This is such an awkward phase in life. You want to postpone the "real world", yet you want to join it. I don't know what I want, but I do know I only have 2 continents down, and 5 more to go ;)

Geneva, Switzerland

June 4, 2010

I'm currently sitting in yet another airport - Geneva, Switzerland to Nice, France. Bre and I missed our 4:05pm flight's check in by 5 minutes, so we now have to wait and hope seats open up on the 8:30pm flight.

Geneva was so pretty and a very relaxed city - not busy at all. The weather agreed with us both days, so we saw everything there is to see here! We started our first night here by getting picked up by Jacob and Elise at the airport and heading to his house to drop off our bags. Jacob then took us on a walk along the waterfront at night before going to pick up 4 other couch surfers. Bre and I grabbed a quick dinner at McDonalds since everything else was closed.

After the other four arrived we went to a small bar called Tiki and grabbed beers and got to know each other - they were off to Nice in the morning, so perhaps we will meet again.

The next day Bre, Elise and I went a full day of sightseeing, we saw the Cathredral, gardens, the waterfront, Baby Plage, the UN and so much more. Geneva is an absolutely gorgeous place, although I think would make me restless if I lived there all the time as a young person - it was also pretty expensive.

That night we went out with Jacob and his friends and pre-drank with a wine & cheese on his balcony. The place we went was a lot of fun, and full of locals. There was a wall with a million shots with funny names to choose from.

The next morning Bre and I made a trek up to the UN again to go on a tour of the inside. They were all out of English tours, so we went on a French one, hoping we could understand most of it. After that we rushed to get to our flight in Geneva - yup, we missed it, and here we are now.

MY GENEVA PICTURES:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2338490&id=72610957&l=1063dc9c30

Paris, France (Airport)

June 2, 2010

Yesterday at 9:10pm, Bre and I left Toronto, Canada for our three month Europe adventure -- three planes later I am sitting at Orly Airport in Paris, France, waiting for our last flight of the day to Geneva, Switzerland. The six hour time difference has got us both tired, but I think once we meet up with the people in Geneva, the excitement will take over! Today alone I have been in four countries - Canada, Iceland, France, and in a couple hours - Switzerland!

We met a lady on our flight visiting her "man friend" in Oslo, and she gets to travel a lot for work, and when visiting him. It is nice to see the world doesn't just close its doors once you have "grown up".

It doesn't even feel real yet, though I just finished ordering lunch in French in Paris (2 years of university French = useless!) I am so excited to start this journey. Bre and I have been talking about this since first year - it's a dream come true, and even more amazing that we get to do it together. It's going to be hard being in a place so far from home for so long, but I think these three months will fly by!

Tonight we are going for drinks with some couch surfers and meeting up with a tutor from LSF. We then have a full day of sightseeing ahead in Geneva!

That's all for now!

Brittney xo

PS: Icelandic is a language - definitely didn't know that.

wow, fail.

So, I have been home from Europe for about 19 days now. Needless to say, I did not keep my blog while away. Excuses aside, internet (for free anyway) was VERY hard to come by in most countries, especially in hostels when there is a line up of other people behind you to use the computer. I knew I had to document my trip somehow though, so I got myself a journal and wrote down everything, every chance I got. We were on 6-7 hour train rides enough that I successfully got a chance to keep up to date with most of my travels.

I love the blogging community, as well as the chance to share anything I learned from my three months in Europe, so I have decided to transfer most of my journal over to my blog, as well as add some extra research on the places I have done, now that I am home. The good thing about doing it this way, is that I can now add pictures from my trip to my blog as well!

This summer was probably one of the most amazing, yet exhausting experiences of my life. I learned so much about different cultures, myself, and confirmed that my first true love is travel. As happy as I was to get home, I miss Italy to death (I have a weakness for all things Italian - food, language, culture, GELATO), as well as just the general thrill of getting to see or experience something new each day. When I got home I was certain I would put teaching in South Korea off for a year, but I have already begun interviews, and excited to get on the go again - so this time I will try and keep an up to date blog about that as well.

I obviously won't be able to put up 3 months worth of stories within a week, so be patient, I will do it in order of travels - which means first stop on my blog will be Geneva, Switzerland!

Hope you enjoy!

so much to do, so little time

A few updates regarding our trip!!

I finally got myself a backpack for Europe... it's pretty much the typical backpack one would expect for this sort of travel. It's surprisingly light and has a lot of padding, so I am hoping my grandma-back can handle it for 3 months. He said it was made specifically for women... so I guess that's a bonus? Who knows, I'm not the outdoorsy type, so all the backpacks kind of all blurred together to me. This one opened along the front though and had two removable bags, which were the selling features to me. If I had to dig everything I packed out of my bag everytime I needed something for three months - I'd lose my mind!! The bag was on sale too - only $150! (I know that sounds crazy for a backpack, but it's going to be my life for 3 months)

I also purchased this weird towel thing. Ok it's not a weird towel thing - it is a towel. It folds really small, and super absorbent, so it dries crazy fast, and won't smell up my luggage! It was $28 bucks, which is a lot for a towel, but the guy said I'd thank him later... I guess I'm an easy sale, but it seems like a good idea! I also bough lots of Canada patches to put on my bag so I'm not mistaken for an American ;)

Now to the exciting stuff - FLIGHTS!
The first month of our trip is finalized!

Bre and I booked our flights from Paris, France, to Geneva, Switzerland on June 2 on easyjet.com, and then after two nights there, flying from Geneva to Nice, France! The total for both flights came to I believe 106 Euros, including luggage fees etc. I am so excited! We now have to look around for couchsurfers to stay with in Geneva, but Nice we opted for hostels.

We also booked a flight way, way in advance since we are staying with Bre's family in the UK we had to let them know all the flight details and arrival, so that they can book their summer as well, and be around. So we have our flight leaving August 7th from Amsterdam to London! It will be nice to stay in the comfort of family for a week after 2 months of non-stop travel to get energized for the last couple weeks of our trip.

25 days and many more flights and ferries to worry about! Ahh.