On Friday I leave for 12 days in the Arctic - think polar bears, not penguins. I am traveling as a Grosvenor Fellow which means this is a gift from National Geographic and a great company named Lindblad travel. When Gil Grosvenor turned 75, Sven Linblad gave him these trips as a gift.
The trip is going to be so exciting and I look forward to all I will experience. You can see the amazing ship and all that Lindblad puts into their environmental travel experiences at www.expeditions.com
I'm hoping to post during my trip when we have connectivity. I'll fly to Oslo and meet up with the rest of the people on the trip. Sara from Texas, a middle school teacher and I will be travelmates. From Oslo we fly to Svalbard/Spitzbergen. We then board ship for seven days of exploration of the region. I'm looking forward to learning about the environment and getting up close and personal with kyaks, zodiaks, and fjords.
I'd love to have you follow my posts!
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Wangfujing and Tiananmen Square
Beijing was a fun experience. While not spending much time there it was a great way to be introduced to China and I wouldn't have wanted to visit and not see the sites that are "so China."
The Long Wall
The Great Wall at Mutianyu was built to keep out the nomadic tribes from the north. It was great to get to see this wonder after studying about it and seeing so many pictures. It made being in China real.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Blog for Wednesday, Aug 5th
It seems the last part of this Chinese adventure has passed quickly. I'll share some of the highlights. Friday we watched a movie called Yellow Earth which tells the story of a soldier who, during the Communist Revolution is sent to collect the folk songs of the people. He finds the songs are sad and the lives of the peasants are even sadder. It was a very interesting movie that personalizes the promise that communism offered.
This movie and our lectures were in preparation for our trip to Yan'an, which is considered to be the birthplace of the communist revolution. It was interesting to see the buildings actually built into the hills. It was also interesting to see so many tours from all over China making their pilgrimages to this place. I read Mao's little red book on the bus and he really was a smart man who loved to put forth the rhetoric.
Many of us went across from our hotel in Yan'an for the best massage. My feet were tingling from all the pressure, but for the first time in two weeks I didn't have cankles : )
Monday we visited the Women's Museum; Tuesday we traveled to a Huxiam peasant painter's village and got to watch a master peasant painter. Wait till you see the picture I purchased. I even got to have my picture taken with the artist and his grand-daughter.
Tuesday night all-American group treated all our Chinese students to a night out for dinner. We went to a Muslim Restaurant and you can imagine our surprise when one of our pots of food had, yes, a chicken foot and head. Oh, yeah, we let that rest in peace (or in this case grease!)
The Chinese students have been so wonderful. It has really been a win-win situation. They sang a song for us, made us all CDs and had a banner for each of us. It was sad for all of us to say good-bye to them.
Today was a very full day. The morning was our last 7 AM Tai Chi with the master. We have learned all the moves and today he shared much of the essence of tai chi. I have really enjoyed the class and may look for one in Fargo to continue with this discipline. Today also marked our last Chinese lesson. I am really going to miss our sweet teacher, Jessica. She has been so wonderful that we have really looked forward to our conversations and dialogues. Our lecture today was Dean Chen Xuechao, who talked about calligraphy's history and he also demonstrated. He is a world-class calligrapher and his work is very spendy worldwide.
From there we had our graduation ceremony. It is strange thinking of leaving this place. When I shared some of the fun of having somewhere so foreign begin to feel so familiar, Megan said I was having a "semester abroad" experience. I can't imagine what this experience would have been like at 19.
While I will miss many things from here, there is much I am taking with me. Most importantly, there is much I am returning to and I only wish I could blink my eyes and be back home with all those I miss so much.
See you soon!
This movie and our lectures were in preparation for our trip to Yan'an, which is considered to be the birthplace of the communist revolution. It was interesting to see the buildings actually built into the hills. It was also interesting to see so many tours from all over China making their pilgrimages to this place. I read Mao's little red book on the bus and he really was a smart man who loved to put forth the rhetoric.
Many of us went across from our hotel in Yan'an for the best massage. My feet were tingling from all the pressure, but for the first time in two weeks I didn't have cankles : )
Monday we visited the Women's Museum; Tuesday we traveled to a Huxiam peasant painter's village and got to watch a master peasant painter. Wait till you see the picture I purchased. I even got to have my picture taken with the artist and his grand-daughter.
Tuesday night all-American group treated all our Chinese students to a night out for dinner. We went to a Muslim Restaurant and you can imagine our surprise when one of our pots of food had, yes, a chicken foot and head. Oh, yeah, we let that rest in peace (or in this case grease!)
The Chinese students have been so wonderful. It has really been a win-win situation. They sang a song for us, made us all CDs and had a banner for each of us. It was sad for all of us to say good-bye to them.
Today was a very full day. The morning was our last 7 AM Tai Chi with the master. We have learned all the moves and today he shared much of the essence of tai chi. I have really enjoyed the class and may look for one in Fargo to continue with this discipline. Today also marked our last Chinese lesson. I am really going to miss our sweet teacher, Jessica. She has been so wonderful that we have really looked forward to our conversations and dialogues. Our lecture today was Dean Chen Xuechao, who talked about calligraphy's history and he also demonstrated. He is a world-class calligrapher and his work is very spendy worldwide.
From there we had our graduation ceremony. It is strange thinking of leaving this place. When I shared some of the fun of having somewhere so foreign begin to feel so familiar, Megan said I was having a "semester abroad" experience. I can't imagine what this experience would have been like at 19.
While I will miss many things from here, there is much I am taking with me. Most importantly, there is much I am returning to and I only wish I could blink my eyes and be back home with all those I miss so much.
See you soon!
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