Change Your Life
~Danielle Pramick
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Super Cool Youtube Vid
Apparently the guy in the video was tired of his job as a software engineer and decided to use some of the money he saved up to travel the world. He states on his website that he is not rich and has travelled cheaply everywhere he has gone. After his first video (this one), stride gum decided to sponsor him on another trip around the world and another video
I'm jealous.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
The Story of the Art Monster
Posted by Vrinda, Todi, Italy
Euro Techno...Music
My mobile FM radio presets became my constant companion (seeing as I am probably one of the last students in existence without an ipod): I listened to the local Dublin stations on my way to class (a 20 minute walk from my host family's house), I listened to the radio while riding the Dublin Bus into the city centre, and I listened to the radio while I jumped on my 9-year old host brother's monster trampoline. So, while I had always claimed an aversion to techno music, I found myself rather enjoying some of the Top 40 techno singles; many of them were perfect for setting a brisk walking pace, which in turn ensured that I arrived at class in time. Below I have listed a few of my favorite songs to walk to, sing to, and (sort of) move to. Along with addictive beats, these techno singles have some entertaining music videos...
"Let me think about it," by Fedde Le Grand and Ida Corr
"Freaks," by The Creeps
"Like this like that," by SE:SA
"Love is gone," by David Guetta
"San Diego Song," by The Coronas (this one is not so much techno, but it is a local Dublin band's first single, and it was just getting air-time while I was in Dublin, and it grew on me)
I hope you enjoy these songs/music videos as much as I do!
~Jessie, Dublin, Ireland, Fall 2007
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
English Weather: Upliftingly Dreary
As I look out the window of the office today in State College, PA, to the freezing almost-sleet, almost-rain, sort-of-snow, I am immediately transported back to the University of Kent in Canterbury, England. For all the negative images that the word “stereotypes” bring up, I discovered that some of them are really and truly based in reality; England’s weather is one of these. To be frank, it really is dismal.
But I don’t mean dismal in a negative way at all. I spent 6 months on the wonderful island that is England, and I loved every freezing, rainy, cloudy-skied second of it. It took many months before I even realized that I could count on one hand the days that I had seen the sun. The people, pubs, cities, restaurants, accents, and coach bus trips into London took my attention far and away from the weather – but, upon noticing it, I really couldn’t look away.
It snowed once, overnight, leaving about 6 inches of slushy snow in the morning. By late afternoon it had nearly all melted, leaving me freezing, soaking wet, and coming down with the flu. English weather is one of stark contrasts: one second it was raining, the next it was snow, and the next it was mild and, if you were lucky, even a touch sunny. Spring came like a bullet train in March – temperatures rocketed to 50 degrees Fahrenheit and even a little above, the rain and breeze turned warm, and there was a veritable explosion of baby animals all over the rural little Kent Uni campus.
While I was never lucky enough to have beach weather, and while I found myself still wearing my winter coat in May from time to time, it was almost comforting to find at least one thing in England exactly as I had expected it. Predictably and comfortingly dreary, a little bipolar, and in beautiful contrast to a very jolly culture – that’s what the English weather said to me.
Posted By: Marian Hamilton, University of Kent in Canterbury, England in Spring 2007
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Breakfast in Germany
Nougat Bits – the greatest cereal ever. Better than Cap’n Crunch with Cocoa Puffs and Lucky Charms marshmallows. The cereal pieces are chocolate flavored, but each one has an air pocket inside filled with hazelnut nougat. It’s kind of like eating chunks of chocolate infused with Nutella. I killed about 12 boxes of this stuff during the semester. The grocery store was out of stock of it for about 2 weeks at one point, and I felt as if I were dying inside a little more each day that I was without Nougat Bits.
Mini-Zimtos – The German word for “cinnamon” is “Zimt.” These were kind of like Cinnamon Toast Crunch, only they seemed to have found a way to get more cinnamon sugar to stick to the cereal pieces. Although trumped by Nougat Bits, Mini Zimtos held a close second in my book.
Fruchte-Müsli – Müsli is a mix of oats and other stuff (in this case, fruit pieces). While it isn’t loaded with sugar like Nougat Bits and Mini-Zimtos, Müsli is really tasty, and is even better for you.
Schoko-Müsli – Same concept as the previous one, but replace the fruit with chocolate pieces.
There also were equivalents of American cereals, such as Frosted Flakes and Smacks knockoffs. They weren’t too bad.
That’s mostly what I ate for breakfast. Europeans don’t value breakfast as much as Americans do, so while I was having my cereal-fest, my roommates would usually have cold cuts on a few pieces of bread.
Weekends meant no class, and thus sleeping in and having the time to make a big breakfast. If I was feeling particularly cereal’d out, I’d make eggs, sausage and cheese. The Germans make great sausage (Bratwurst, Bockwurst, Weisswurst, Würstchen, Currywurst…and the list goes on).
Now I’ve gone and make myself hungry…bah…
--Posted by Dave Hardison, IES EU Program, Fall 2007Thursday, February 7, 2008
The Furthest East I've Ever Been
Estonia’s capital city, Tallinn, is about 3 hours away by car from the border with Russia and about 2 hours away by boat from Helsinki, Finland. I was expecting a cold, barren place (think Bratislava as depicted in “EuroTrip”) when we traveled to Tallinn, Estonia, but what I found a neat, quirky little city.
I was very impressed with Tallinn. We stayed in the “up-town,” the older section. The city’s medieval walls and town hall still stand. There is a town square with neat little alleyways and streets jutting off of it. The downtown area was just as modern as any other major city though. Sure enough, there were McDonalds’ and 5-story shopping malls. What impressed me most about Tallinn, however, was how many people spoke English and how well they spoke it. I was quite glad that they did, because I could not understand Estonian at all. Imagine a few common English words, then double up on the vowels and add a few extra syllables, and you’ve got something that resembles Estonian. For example, a souvenir store is called “suuveniiridid.” Streets bore names such as “Toompea” and “Rahukohtu,” while signs advertised things such as “Kohvik-Restoran Merevaikus Patkuli Vaateplats.” Don’t ask me what it means. You’d think “Pood” would mean “food,” but it doesn’t.
The country made the news most recently when it knocked down a Soviet memorial from one of Tallinn’s parks. There’s also a museum of communism, featuring lots of memorabilia from the Soviet era. Some friends and I went to a palace that formerly belonged to Peter the Great. What was once one of his summer palaces was turned into an art museum. Right next door, however, we discovered the official residence of the Estonian president. On account of the building’s color scheme, we named it the Pink House. Oh, those wacky Estonians...
Estonia is not a backwards country. Their foreign ministry is housed in an ultra-modern building, and the club scene is comparable to those of other European countries (complete with lasers and smoke machines). However, the country maintains a certain degree of charm.
So, taenan for stopping by!
- Posted by Dave Hardison, IES EU Program, Fall 2007
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Todo bom
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
American-style football club
Among the many popular cultural exports of America in Japan, which are so vast and include things from Pizza Hut to Mustang convertibles, I found it odd that American Football hadn't quite been popularized yet. The differences between a big 10 school to a private foreign language university are stark and revealing when it comes to intercollegiate athletics.
At school, I would see the "American Football Club" practicing on the dirt field behind the student services center almost every day after class, but I never once heard if or when they were playing a game.
So I asked my host mother, seemingly unaware of Kansai Gaidai's football club, who speculated that maybe they weren't very good and they didn't want anyone coming to their games.
This puzzled me. Who wouldn't want to go and cheer on their school's football team? Maybe Penn State Football culture and being at a division 1 school had made me unwaware to the fact that there are some people in this world to whom football is not life.
So, I never did find out if the Kansai Gaidai American Football Club ever played games with other schools. Being a "club" I assumed that they did compete, but on their own time and money. It was refreshing to be at a school that actually had a non-existent athletic program, but instead, a large body of self-supporting student organized clubs and circles, that benefited the students academically and socially.
I really kind of ended up enjoying life minus big-time collegiate athletics, and I learned way more Japanese without football hoopla getting in the way.