#i went to my towns festival on the 14th and it was my old school

[hhat]

in remembrance of cicadas

The noise from the fest was blinding bright

and the crowds of strangers gave me a fright

and I saw faces that I once knew,

but they had become strangers, too.

I tried my best to remain astray,

and so, I went to the field today.

I was witness to a miracle in my respite:

Cicadas sung out their hymns to the night,

with the longing of seventeen and thirteen years

for the warm summer air, I was the first/last to hear.

It was a loud celebration of life before its end

and grief had filled me; I would never hear them again.

The air was filled with a neon-green light;

the empty field had turned a holy site

Fireflies flickered colors all vivid and blest,

unseen anywhere else, rest of nature bereft.

And as dark’s warm embrace was holding the sky

with this mundane beauty ahead, I began to cry.

And I was the only evidence to their life tonight;

Sacred, and glorious, but seemingly trite

I witnessed their only time on this earth:

they were powerful and they were free

and they weren’t the only miracle tonight:

I witnessed them witnessing me.

[finchleaf]

howdy! sorry i've been away for so long; i've been visiting family here in turkey but i'm gonna try to start this blog back up :) for now it'll mostly be journal pics

24th july - would you prefer your summer to be shorter or longer?

honestly? maybe a bit shorter. i feel like the days tend to blur together during summer break and not having school to focus on seems to make my mental health even worse :/ anyways! i'm very excited for senior year as you can tell haha

answering the rest down below!

1st July - What are your plans for this summer?

lots of traveling, working as a camp counselor in august, makin some sweet sweet money to save up for college, playing the new sims expansion pack (!!), and hanging out with friends as much as possible before schoolwork begins to bury me alive again :)

2nd July - Do you have a specific goal for this summer?

i want to study really well for my sat in late august!! (i’ve already made some great progress) also i want to get a lot of college app stuff out of the way (write some more practice essays bc i don’t like my current one, get my letters of rec in place, figure out my major, etc)

3rd July - Do you have a lot of work to do for school, university or your job this summer?

ooo ok we have to read a book and write an assignment for it for ap lit this year (except i think we start that once we get back to school?). also i need to do a bunch of summer hw for ap calc, but that’s pretty much it! and then i have a job for 2 weeks in august (as mentioned above hehe)

4th July - What is the most important task that you need to complete this summer?

probably college app stuff ahhh don’t want to even think about it anymore

5th July -  Do you have any special plans or activities for this summer?

traveling to turkey to see my family!! staying in a couple of villas (there’s a lot of us!) and then my grandma’s old summer apartment for ~5 days

6th July - What do you usually do during the summer? Is anything different this year?

going to turkey! a lifelong tradition since i was a lil baby :) last year we couldn’t go so this year’s extra special. also my first time doin a summer job!!

7th July - What did you do during the summer when you were a young child?

^^^ same as above haha

8th July - What’s your happiest summer memory from your childhood?

ooh probably one of the many from my grandma’s little summer apartment here. i have an 11 yo cousin so we share a lot of memories like running to buy our anneanne her newspaper in the convenience store downstairs, finding fish underwater at the local beach, staying up late gorging on magnum ice cream bars :)

9th July - Do you usually go on vacation during the summer?

yup

10th July - What is the best vacation you have ever been on? (note: doesn’t have to be a summer vacation)

oooh one time after flying into istanbul to stay with aforementioned cousin and my aunt, we all traveled to london for about a week! i loved that so so much, we never could really afford to go anywhere else for vacation so that was super memorable for me.

11th July - What is your favourite vacation memory?

swimming with my family in oludeniz, (called “blue lagoon”) a super pretty beach area. we swam to a little island and then jumped off its cliff :)))

12th July - What is the worst vacation you have ever been on?

oh god ok vomit tw for this one but one time my aunt, cousin, mom, and i traveled back to istanbul after staying at my grandma’s in ayvalik and we had to take a boat for a couple of hours. everyone on the boat (and it was a big one) for some reason started vomiting everywhere. i was i think the only one who wasn’t sick so it was hell haha

13th July - What is your dream vacation?

like a month-long roadtrip around france!!!! i’ve wanted to go there since i was in elementary school

14th July - Would you rather stay in one resort for a month or travel across the country for one month?

definitely travel cross country omg

15th July - Are there any special events for you in the summer? (for example, birthdays, festivals, etc.)

bayram!! bayram is sick you get money for kissing the older people in your family sjfdsjj

16th July - Do you have any summer traditions?

renting a villa with the entire family!

17th July - What is your typical daily routine in the summer?

at home, i usually wake up anywhere from 7am to 10am, take my dog for 2+ walks, read a ton, and avoid work ;)

18th July -  How do you stay motivated during the summer? (for example, to study)

it’s pretty tough! i’m hoping to study daily in my town’s library for my sat once i get back home in august. i think that’ll be pretty handy!

19th July - Do you stay indoors or outdoors more in the summer?

oh outdoors there’s no ac here so we’re constantly heading over to the beach

but at home in the us, probably indoors

20th July - Are you a ‘summer person’?

nOOOOOO i love any season/month that allows me to wear sweaters and pants, so obviously i’m not a big fan of summer

21st July - What is an unpopular opinion that you have about summer?

oh hm i’m not sure... most of the women in my family always wear bikinis when we go to the beach and i just really hate them? idk haha

also i think summer camps are kinda weird but that’s probably because i never went to one as a kid

22nd July - What does summer feel like where you live?

rather cool in the later afternoon. i also love how it smells there-- lots of freshly-cut lawns, grills constantly being used, the hydrangeas in our backyard

23rd July - Would you prefer summer to be hotter or colder than it usually is for you?

oh huh it can get reaaally hot midday so it would be nice if it was a bit cooler 

[clearwillow]

White Day

A/N: Tohru Honda’s sweet personality from Fruits Basket is the way to describe Rin’s kind personality within this one shot. I hope you all enjoy this short story.

White Day By: @kimmigirl9

Valentine’s Day came and went in a blink of an eye. Now today was March 14th, also known as White Day. A day where men return the favor by gifting the girl a sweet treat in return. I wasn’t a man of sweets but I thought about making a sweet treat from scratch. But I forgot I’m not that handy in the kitchen. I would end up burning the treats instead. I just decided to go out and just buy a sweet treat instead. “Maybe chocolate covered strawberries?” Finding a gift for Rin wouldn’t be too hard. She wasn’t picky when it came to gifts. I could pick a single flower just from a branch of a tree and she would appreciate it very much.

Walking through the city I looked through the windows of shops near my townhome. Nothing called to me. Though the sweet gifts were white, they weren’t the exact white I was looking for. Instead of a sweet treat I decided to look at jewelry. I’ve never gifted Rin jewelry before, but I know she would love whatever I presented her. After I walked a few blocks I found the jewelry shop. Looking through the glass window the perfect shade of white caught my eye. The necklace was the perfect white. The silver chained held a plum blossom flower. “Rin’s scent.” The flower necklace was in fact what Rin’s scent was. I knew I had to buy this before anyone else did.

I walked inside and was greeted by the manager I believe. “Good morning to you sir. My name is Jakotsu, how may I be of assistance to you on this fine day?” His voice had a bit of a girly tone to it. He was dressed in a woman’s festival kimono and his hair was pulled back with a hairpin.

I pointed over my shoulder, “the plum blossom necklace in the window. I would like to purchase the piece.”

“Ah, such a fine piece I have to agree.” He went over and picked the necklace from the bust it rested on. “Would you like it gift wrapped?” He asked cheerfully.

“Yes, it’s a white day gift,” I said quickly.

The dude’s eyes lit up like fireworks. “You must have a special girl in your life.” I only nodded to him. He placed the necklace in its proper box and then wrapped it up in shiny white paper and gold ribbon. “Is there anything else I could be of service to you or will this be it?”

“Just the necklace, how much?” I asked as I pulled out my wallet from my back pocket.

He rang me up, “that will be ¥11,000 yen sir,” he said with a smirk. I handed him my gold card to pay for Rin’s gift. “Thank you sir. You have a marvelous day. I do hope the special girl of yours enjoys your gift.” I only nodded my head and left without another word to him.

I looked at the time on my phone and it was almost noon. “I’m supposed to meet Rin at the white day festival at the park.” Turning into a ball of white light I shot towards Ueno Park. She wanted to have a picnic to celebrate today. I wasn’t the one for picnics but I didn’t want to let her down and went along with it.

Arriving at the park the festival was in full swing. Couples young and old were scattered around enjoying the festivities with one another. Vendors lined up and down the walkway selling anything from marshmallow treats, to white chocolates, and jewelry. It’s a good thing I found Rin’s gift in town. I hope she likes it when I present it to her later.

The wind blew around me and I could pick up Rin’s sweet scent not too far off from where I was. “So she’s near the lake?” I veered around the couples and walked down the paved path for a few minutes. Looking to my right, there she was. Rin was dressed elegantly in a long white kimono dress. I never seen her look this beautiful before. She is usually dressed like a tomboy since she plays different sports. Seeing her dressed this magnificent I realized she has an amazing frame. The white fabric wrapped around her body like art. I never knew she had such a delicate figure. Her hair was pulled back and wrapped up tight with a hairpin keeping it in place. While I’m dressed in a quarter sleeve white button up shirt and denim blue jeans. My long silver hair was pulled back in a braided ponytail. I look more like a university student studying to be a lawyer with the black glasses I’m wearing.

I walked over to her as she had her back to me, “Rin?” I called to her softly.

My voice I guess startled her as she jumped a few feet. When she turned around her eyes lit up. “Sesshomaru, you startled me. How are you?” She asked softly and bowed before me. Lifting her head she gestured a hand to sit down on the blanket she had set up.

“The same as always. I may as well ask you the same.” I took a seat across from her as she sat on her knees.

“I am well, thank you for asking,” she smiled brightly. “Are you hungry? I made some fish cutlets and a few other delicious foods?” She pulled out a plate of fried fish, a bowl of mixed fruits, and a plate of raw vegetables. I have to say Rin has a green thumb when it comes to cooking. I nodded to her question and picked up a piece of fish. Bringing the cutlet to my mouth I could smell it was cod. She knows my favorite fish all too well. I took a medium sized bite and chewed it quickly. “Is it to yourself liking?” She asked happily.

“It’s good. It’s very fresh and the cod has a juicy taste,” I let her know. Her chocolate eyes lit up with enjoyment. “Are you going to eat?” She hasn’t picked up any piece of food yet.

“Oh! Yes, I just wanted to ask if you liked my cooking. You know I’m going to get my culinary degree and I need someone’s feedback.” She picked up a small piece of cutlet and took a small bite. “It’s so good. This definitely will be one of the foods I’ll make for my entrance exam.” I know she’ll do well. “After our lunch is there anything you would like to do or go see?” Her smile is what attracted me to her. Though we haven’t hadn’t our first kiss yet and we are technically dating, I just wasn’t ready.

“We can walk around the perimeter of the lake or the festival,” I let her know. Her eyes keep lighting up.

“That would be wonderful and I really appreciate that very much,” she said as she took another bite of the meal she made. Her lips were calling to me. I know I won’t be able to resist them much longer. She picked up a bowl of fruit which had mango, strawberries, and cherries in it. “Here have some fruit and also some veggies.” She picked up the plate of carrots and broccoli. I grabbed a small plate and put a few pieces of each food she held in front of me.

“Do you happen to have anything to drink?”

“Oh how rude of me.” She placed the food down and pulled two water bottles out. “I’m so sorry Sesshomaru. I was so excited for you to try my food that I forgot that I brought water for us.”

“It’s quite alright,” I let her know. She can be a bit of a ditz, but that’s what I like about her personality. “When do you take your exam for culinary school?”

“At the end of the month. I’m a bit nervous though. The school I’m trying to get into, well they expect high results. So since I’m planning the cod cutlets I want to create a sauce to put as a drizzle on top. So far ones I’ve made in the past don’t taste great with it,” she said softly.

“Why not try salsa? Possibly mango?” I hope these ideas brighten her day.

“Mango salsa?” She thought. “Oh wow that actually could work. Thank you Sesshomaru,” she bowed to me with gratitude. “When I make it, will you be my first tester?”

“Are you trying to make me your guinea pig?” I asked, giving her an awkward smile.

“Haha, maybe. Besides no one else, even my other friends wouldn’t try my food. So you were the only one I knew would.”

I couldn’t turn her down for that. “I’ll be your guinea pig.”

“Yay! Thank you. I promise this will be a meal you’ll love the most.”

0/0/0/0

Later after we cleaned up our lunch, we went and looked around the festival. The vendors tried to persuade us into buying their products. The items weren’t equally as special as the gift I’ll present Rin later. The perfumes burnt my nose that I had to pull us away from them. “I don’t blame you for wanting to get away from the perfume vendors Sesshomaru. The aroma is too strong for me,” she said softly. “I prefer aromas that are light with a hint of citrus.” I smiled very quickly at her words.

As we veered around everyone dark clouds started to cover the sky. “Looks like it’s going to get bad here soon. Come Rin, let’s get under a pavilion.” I took her hand without asking and I booked us under the closest one near us. I guess others had the same thought. “We’ll wait here till the storm passes.” The rain came down in sheets. Lots of people were getting soaked. It’s a good thing I got us under here fast because we both would have been soaked like everyone else. Plus with Rin’s white kimono, she would be totally exposed and I couldn’t let that happen.

“Okay, let’s take a seat,” she pointed towards the dirty tables. I can’t let Rin get her white kimono dirty. So instead I took a seat and pulled her over my lap. “Umm, Sesshomaru?” She had a look of confusion in her eyes.

“You’ll get your kimono dirty if you sit on the bench. We’ll move here soon.” I can tell the storm won’t last long. Maybe ten minutes at most.

“Okay. Is there anything you want to do later? I know they’re having a fireworks show tonight.” I looked at my phone again and it was almost two-thirty.

“It’s still quite a while till the show starts. We can go get a cup of tea after the storm passes.”

“Tea sounds lovely. Do you want to go to one of the cafes in town or here at the park?”

“In town.” I don’t care for vendors’ tea. They aren’t worth the money. Rin suddenly moved and rested her head against my shoulder. “Are you cold Rin?” I thought I felt a slight shiver from her.

“A little, but I’ll be okay. I enjoy the cool breeze. I’m sorry, I should have asked if it was okay to lay my head against you,” she said as she tried to sit up. I pulled her back against me and released my mokomoko. This would be the first time she would see my tail. I wrapped it around her, not daring to let her go. “Umm…is this alright?”

“It’s quite alright. My tail will keep you warm.”

Her delicate hand slithered through my fur which actually felt comforting. “Your tail is so fluffy and cozy Sesshomaru. Why have you never shown me your true side before?”

“I just never thought about it. Is it something you wish to see?” I’ve kind of debated several times to show her my true form. But fear struck me thinking she would run off.

“Yes, but only if you are comfortable with showing me,” her voice was very smooth when she said those words. “If not today, maybe sometime in the future?”

“We’ll see, for now let’s go and get some tea.” The rain finally came to an end and the clouds started to disperse. Retrieving my mokomoko we both got to our feet and walked out towards the city.

The cafe was right across the street from the park. Inside I ordered us simple jasmine tea. “It seems that all the seats are taken, Sesshomaru. Why don’t we just go for a walk? I know there’s a path in the park that goes a bit into the woods. I heard rumors of a meadow that’s very beautiful and filled with lots of flowers.”

I knew of the meadow she spoke of. “Sure,” without asking I took her hand and we left the cafe and headed for the path. It took us a bit to get through the crowds of people since it was getting a lot busier than it was earlier. But after a few minutes we finally made it under the arbor of trees within the woods.

“I love the smell of the forest after a rainstorm. What about you, Sesshomaru?” She asked as she took a sip of her hot tea.

“Only during the night when the moon is out,” I explained to her.

“I have to agree with you on that Sesshomaru. The way the moon shines on the glistening raindrops has a calming effect,” I didn’t respond. “I love to listen to music during and after the rain,” She said joyfully.

“What music would that be?” I’m kind of curious because I don’t know what she listens to.

“I’m the weird type when it comes to music. But…I love to listen to Frédéric Chopin’s ‘Raindrop’. There’s something about his pieces I love to fall asleep to.” So she’s into piano music?

“It doesn’t make you weird. I too listen to different composers of the piano. The music stimulates the brain in a good way. It helps me focus on studying.”

I guess my response enlightened her. “That’s amazing Sesshomaru. It makes me happy knowing someone else enjoys the same type of music as me.”

I wonder if she’ll let me play some Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata? I’ll ask her at a later date. We both remained quiet for quite some time. We both finished our teas and threw them away in a proper trash can tear the meadow. I could tell we were the only ones that would be there. It was quiet and calm. The only sound of people were back at the park. Since no one else was here, I was now debating to show Rin my true form. “Rin?” I said her name so softly.

“Yes Sesshomaru?” We were now in the middle of meadow. The sun was slowly setting behind the trees with just enough light for her to see my form.

“Would you like to see my form?” I asked quickly.

I looked to see not only her expression, but her response. “I would love to see your true form Sesshomaru. Do I need to stand back? Is right here fine?”

“Right here is fine. Just allow me to step back a few feet. But promise me one thing,” I said as I held up a finger.

Her eyes became like saucers, “what’s that?” She asked quickly.

“Please do not run off under any circumstances. My form will be ten times the size of the normal size dog.”

“I promise. I bet your form will be amazing. Just promise not to chase me, haha,” she said jokingly.

I only nodded and stepped back several feet. Clearing my mind, a white cool wind blew around me and I allowed my eyes to turn red. The markings along my face changed shape and soon my body changed from my human form to my true form. I went from a five and ten inches man to almost thirty-five feet tall.

I never took my eyes off of Rin. I could tell she was holding her breath and she must be a bit nervous. I lowered myself in front of her. But it would be nice if I could talk but it’s one thing I lack in my true form. “Sess…Sesshomaru?” I nodded my head to reassure that it was me. “Wow!” She carefully lifted her hand to the side of my muzzle. “So soft,” she whispered softly. “Is there anything else you can do in this form?”

“I wonder if she’ll allow me to take her on a flight?” I turned my body to the side. Hopefully she’ll understand why I did this.

“Do you want me to get on your back?” I could tell she was a bit hesitant. I nodded my head to her again. “Okay, I’m guessing I’m going to need to hold on tight?” She asked as she climbed up on my back. I could feel she was side saddling.

I nodded my head again and bounded into the air. I could feel her body heat against my back and her head hiding within my neck. I guess I should have explained myself better of what she was about to face. I stopped midway into the air and lightly purred that it was okay to look up.

It took her a few minutes before I felt Rin lift herself up. I heard her lightly gasp, “oh wow. The view is magnificent Sesshomaru.” I brought her high into the sky as she viewed the city we live in from a different perspective. “Sesshomaru why didn’t you tell me you could fly? You’re amazing and very well gifted with such power.” She laid down again and started rubbing the fur along my neck. “I wished you would’ve shown me much sooner. I want to get to know you more, Sesshomaru, each and every day we’re together.”

With those words I transferred back to my human form, grabbed her before she could fall, and pulled her around so I could hold her waist. “You’ll learn in due time. Before you can ask your next question as I can see in your eyes, yes I can fly in my human form.”

Her bright smile turned to laughter, “you can read me like an open book Sesshomaru. Oh!” Her hand went to her head and I could see the tight bun it was in earlier was now a mess. She pulled the hairpin out and allowed her raven hair to fall down past her waist. “Much better. That hairpin has been bothering me all day,” she laughably said.

“Hmm, ready to go back to the festival?” I asked her.

She smiled brightly, “yes.”

0/0/0/0

Nighttime came and the festival was in full swing. The same couples young and old gathered all around the park. The fireworks show would be starting soon and everyone was trying to get the best spot. Rin and myself found a perfect spot on an island in the middle of the lake. We set the picnic blanket back up and took our seats. I left her for a few minutes and flew back with new cups of hot tea. “Just in time Sesshomaru, they’ll be starting soon.” I handed her the jasmine tea she requested. “Thank you.”

We took our seats again and sat there in silence for a few moments when I remember the gift for Rin I still had in my pocket. Placing my cup down I pulled the white box with gold ribbon out. “Here Rin, this is my White Day gift for you. I hope you like it,” I said softly.

She smiled happily, “Sesshomaru you didn’t have to get me anything. You just being with me today was the best gift I could ask for.” She gently took the gift from me and opened it. When she opened the velvet blue box her eyes lit up. “Sess…Sesshomaru, this necklace is beautiful, thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” I wanted to see how it looked on her. “Lift your hair up,” I said as I pulled the necklace from its resting spot. She did as I told her and I wrapped the necklace around her delicate neck and clipped it into place.

She turned around to face me, “so…how does it look?”

Only one word described how it presented on her exposed neck, “perfect.”

Suddenly bright lights shot into the sky across the lake from us. Different colors of white, gold, silver and many other colors lit before us.

“The sky is so beautiful Sesshomaru, I have to say today has to be the best day for us.”

“Indeed,” the only thing that was beautiful was the girl next to me.

As we watched the show Rin turned to face me. Her hair blew with the light wind, “Sesshomaru I want to try something.”

“What would that be?”

She leaned in till her lips were several inches from mine, “allow me to be your first kiss.” I didn’t even respond back. I nodded my head as we slowly leaned into one another and parted our lips. When we contacted skin to skin heat built up between us. It was just as I imagined how our first kiss would be. Her arms wrapped around my neck and I cupped her cheek. I even wrapped my free arm around her waist. Her lips were warm and I could taste her scent of plum blossoms. Abruptly as our first kiss started, it ended. Rin pulled back just a bit, but rested her forehead against mine. “I love you Sesshomaru,” she finally said.

“As do I my dear Rin.” I took her lips to mine again, as we ignored the finale of the fireworks for the White Day festival.

[fangirling-throughlife]

Sant Jordi (World's Book Day)

Summary: Shawn falls for a Valencian girl who's an enormous bookworm.

A/N: as today (well, it's past 12, so technically it was yesterday) is Sant Jordi (a festivity in Spain, specially in Aragón and Catalonia), a day commemorating the World Book Day (because of the anniversary of the death of Shakespeare, Miguel de Cervantes and Garcilaso de la Vega), I thought of this little idea. I'm from Valencia (where the girl is from), so it's just almost 2k of publicity for my city and my language (Catalan). So, if anybody is going to visit or would like to visit the city, I'll be happy to answer any questions. Also, I'm a big bookworm, which is why it's about books and St. Jordi. Anyway, hope you enjoy it!

Word count: 1795 words

One of the first things Shawn learned about Anna was her unending love for books. She didn’t mind when it happened, where she was or in whose company, she always had a book between her hands. She couldn’t leave the house without something to read, and Shawn had learned that the hard way. During Christmas he had flown out to Valencia, her hometown, to spend some time with her, as he would be starting tour soon, so he wouldn’t have the time to see his girl, who was busy with her classes. One night, between Christmas and New Year, he took her out to have dinner and watch a movie. They arrived late to the restaurant, because she realised she didn't have her book with her when they were on their way for 10 minutes.

It isn't surprising, though, considering where he met her. She spent the summer in Toronto, studying English, and she went to a little book shop next to Shawn's building two or three times a week. Shawn saw her one day, roaming the aisles full of shelves and talking to Leonard, the owner, as if she were an old friend, and was intrigued immediately. He noticed she usually was there between 18 and 20, so he went outside around those hours, hoping to see her.

He looked at her black hair, her dark-brown eyes hidden behind considerably thick glasses and her tanned skin. He knew her features so well that he saw her when he closed his eyes. At one point, he started feeling like a stalker, but he couldn't stop thinking about her. He noticed that she wasn't Canadian three weeks after he saw her for the first time, when she left the shop one day talking on her phone. He didn't recognize the language, though he was sure it wasn't French (he surely would've recognized some words). All he knew was that it was beautiful and melodic, so it had to be something between French, Italian and Spanish. He realised that she would be leaving soon (he asked Brian when college started generally, as she was giving off some big nerdy college girl vibes), so he decided he had to talk to her before she did. One day, after he checked she was inside, he entered and talked to her, pretending to be looking for a gift for Aaliyah. He asked for her advice, which she gave very excitedly, and, after 30 minutes, he found the courage to ask her out to have a drink.

If Shawn loved the idea of her, after “stalking” her for three weeks, he fell for her the moment she talked to him. He was surprised when she admitted she knew his music, because she was completely cool with the fact that Shawn Mendes himself asked her out. She talked about her dream to become a writer, or, at least, an editor, and he talked about how much he loved writing music. They kept on seeing each other every night after her classes for the last 10 days she spent in the city.

By the time she had to go back to Valencia, the both of them were deeply in love with each other. The only thing stopping him from buying a ticket to go see her were the multiple commitments he had for the next months. The first time he could go see her was end-October, for her birthday. When he got to Valencia and she showed the city to him, he understood her personality. She mirrored the beauty of her city perfectly. He quickly noticed the duality of it: it's got the characteristics of a big city as well as of a small provincial town. It combines century-old history in the centre with a modern and vibrant side more outside. Just like he expected (just by knowing her) the people were nice and welcoming. For the first time in ages, he could enjoy some time without being “the Rockstar” all the time, as people seemed to be very chill about him being there.

As tour started in Amsterdam in March (she didn't have so much work around that time), he made sure she was there for the two first shows. She didn't have any classes for a whole week afterwards, but as she quickly explained to him, “It's Fallas, I can't miss that. Plus, I've already said yes to a billion plans, I won't even be free.”  So, from the 15th till the 20th of March, he would find after every single show pictures of his bookworm girlfriend at parties, in front of statues that, according to her, were “a form of art, and satire” (he would have to see them with his own eyes, and maybe actually understand her language to conceive that very deep meaning she was trying to explain). She sent him awfully long videos of fireworks displays, every night longer than the previous one. Through her camera and his screen he was dragged into the festivities of Fallas, something he definitely needed to experience by himself.

His favourite moment of March, though, was the show in Barcelona. She didn't answer the phone for hours, making him anxious, but she appeared out of thin air backstage, sharing a mischievous smile with Brian. Later, he found out that they had been plotting against his sanity for the past hours. That day he saw her really get into the show and the atmosphere. She was fluent in both French and English, but in Barcelona she could speak her native languages, Spanish and Catalan. She surely didn't notice, but he did: she opened up, she chatted with fans and won them over with her charming personality. After all, she was talking to her people. She freaked out when Aitana came backstage and asked for a picture with her “please, please, please” . That day, he knew that the love for her culture would always be enormous.

She couldn't make it to the final show in London, because she had an exam on Thursday and the combination of trains, flights and busses was simply impossible, so she just watched it from a video call with Brian. She saw her boy be sick and told him to stay hydrated, she told him how proud she was, but she couldn't help but feel awful because she wasn't there, with all his family and loved ones. When he announced, after the show, that he was going back to Toronto in the morning, she couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed. One part of her understood him completely. He had been away for such a long time that he needed to be in his own bed to recharge. He had studio sessions and SNL coming up, so she shouldn't be surprised that he wasn't coming. He still called her every single day and night, he asked about her classes (didn't she tell him they had 2 weeks of Easter Holiday?) and about the city (the weather was awful, so she didn't leave the house).

The one subject he seemed to avoid was the most pressing one considering the time of the year. To Anna, the most important festivity (even though it wasn't a national holiday, it should be, in her opinion) was St. Jordi. She remembered with a smile the story she heard every year at school. And, even though there were two official days to celebrate love in Valencia (the historical one, Sant Dionís, on October 9th, and the globalised one, Saint Valentine, on February 14th), she considered Sant Jordi, on April 23rd, the one true lover's day. The traditional gifting of a rose and a book was, in her opinion, the most romantic gesture in a relationship. Well, she didn't really care about the rose (although she couldn't deny the fact that she was a hopeless romantic and she loved to get a rose), she was always eager to know what the book would be. It was also the first Sant Jordi since she started dating Shawn, so she was terrified. Hadn't she made it clear how important the day was to her? He didn't have to fly over, he could just ship a book, or even send her a gift card so she could buy the books herself.

When midday passed on the 23rd, she decided she wouldn't be waiting for him to call alone sitting on her couch. Even though it was raining (surprise, “En abril, aigües mil” (in April, it rains a lot)), she took her umbrella and raincoat and walked to the book fair. All the stress she had been building for the past weeks vanished when she saw the thousands of books in front of her. She quickly started to look (not buy, that's her strategy: first looking and then deciding on the purchase), and she almost forgot about her boyfriend who'd forgotten about this special day.

But, the same way she kept quiet for the entire day when she went to see him in Barcelona, he didn't talk to her while he was getting to Valencia. Even though he didn't think she'd be at home, he tried, and his suspicions were confirmed by her sister. So, he immediately left for the book fair. With the help of her sister, he found her without attracting too much attention to himself. She was reading the first chapter of a book she seemed to be considering, a second one in her hand to check up on later. He slightly chuckled, because she's the only person who would stop to read the first chapter of a book before deciding on buying or not. He immediately froze, but relaxed rapidly, as his chuckle didn't give away his presence. When she finally was done, she returned one of the books to its place and turned to take her wallet. That moment, she was met with the view of Shawn Mendes with a red rose, her favourite, and a copy of her favourite author's new book. At first, she couldn't believe it, until he walked up to her and whispered in her ear, “it's not that funny to be kept in the dark for so long, isn't it?” She laughed, knowing he was talking about her's and Brian's stunt in Barcelona, promising herself she would never do it again. “It's not. I thought you didn't remember.” She confessed. “That was my whole idea.” She couldn't help but glare at him, but he quickly pressed his lips onto hers, smiling in the kiss. “Feliç dia del Llibre, amor”. (Happy Book Day, love) Shawn said, proud of himself for remembering the phrase completely. She chuckled (he didn't understand why, though, his pronunciation had been excellent), and answered. “Feliç dia de Sant Jordi, amor.” (Happy St. George day, love).

[eagles-translated]

They got the roles in SVT:s new young adult show

Translation of this article: (x)

SVT:s new young adult show Eagles has now filmed its first scenes in Oskarshamn. We've met three of the young actors - Yandeh Sallah, Sarah Gustafsson, and Linnéa Persson.

The filming team with the producer Stefan H. Lindén and director Amanda Adolfsson at the forefront have gathered at a luxurious villa with a fantastic view over the harbor and the Ocean port. Here, they're going to film several scenes with the actors Yandeh Sallah, Sarah Gustafsson, and Linnéa Persson.

- One of the main characters lives here, says Stefan H. Lindén in the sunshine on the villa's terrace. I can't say the character's name yet for SVT, but the character is played by Sarah Gustafsson.

It's one of the first filming days for the young adult show Eagles, and the first day that 22-year-old Sarah Gustafsson is there. She's previously been seen in another SVT-production, the short film Kevlar, and worked with actors on Stockholm City Theatre. The week after midsummer she was told that she'd gotten one of the leading parts in Eagles, competing with over 3000 other auditionees.

- I was very very happy, says Sarah Gustafsson who remembers that she was at the Sluice area in Stockholm when she got the word. I called my mom and then we went out to eat dinner after that. I think I ran home.

One of the other leading roles in the show is played by 20-year-old Yandeh Sallah from Haninge. She got to do a screen test for the part after Stefan H. Lindén and his colleagues saw her in the short film Fuck you, which is right now being shown at the film festival in Toronto.

- There's an incredible talent and presence with Yandeh, says Stefan H. Lindén who tells us that the 20-year old's character in the show dreams of being a musician.

Yandeh Sallah has only been active as an actor for a year. Eagles is the first longer project that she's in.

- It's fun and exciting. Everything is new to me, says Yandeh Sallah. Everybody is really nice and there's a really nice atmosphere, so it feels good.

She will, among other things, sing in the show which she has some experience of since earlier.

- A little bit. I was in a choir when I was little.

23-year-old Linnéa Persson plays one of the supporting roles. She's raised in Helsingborg but nowadays lives in the US. Oskarshamn has made a good first impression on her.

- It's really cozy, she says.

Yandeh, Sarah, and Linnéa are a few years older than the characters they play in the show, which isn't unusual in TV shows and movies. The young adults in the show are 16 to 18 years old.

- I can recognize a lot of the problems and conflicts that you had in that age, says Linnéa Persson.

- The script is very well written. You feel with the characters, says Sarah Gustafsson.

Eagles is described as a show about hockey, friendship, love, and rivalry.

- It's about an NHL-player who moves home with their two children, one of which plays hockey. Friendships, love relations, and rivalry arise on the ice, says Stefan H. Lindén.

Ten years ago Stefan H. Lindén had already started to think about the story, who's grown up in Oskarshamn himself.

- 2008 I started to think about the idea, 2013 I started to write it down on paper and 2015 I felt mature enough to tell the idea to someone.

This someone was Måns Strömberg, CEO at the production company New Stories.

- It was the first project ever we talked about doing together. It feels fantastic that it's become something, says Måns Strömberg who's also one of the show's producers.

He means that Swedish small towns are often depicted in a gray and boring way, but in Eagles they want to highlight Oskarshamn's best sides.

- I see it as a chance to show a smaller town in Sweden in a nice way.

Havslätt, Saltvik, Badholmen, the ice rink, and Oscar's high school are a few places that will be visible in the show.

A big challenge will be to gather hundreds of extras for a scene that will be shot in the ice rink on October 3rd.

- The fictional team Eagles will be playing an A team match against another team. We want you to get the feeling of a packed Be-Ge Hockey Center, says Stefan H. Lindén.

Jimmy Larsson Published September 14th 2018

[type-a-nomad]

weekend feb 25

February 25 Sunday

Alright so this weekend has been crazy lazy.  Before I get into my lethargy and the justification for it, I want to address some of the information I forget to include in my general posts.  

One thing I keep forgetting to write down: THEY DONT USE TAPE HERE. My friend Sydney just came over and saw me writing and asked if I had written this down because she pointed this out last week and I totally freaked out.  Because THEY DONT.  It sounds small, but imagine if all of the tape in your life vanished.  WEIRD.  Super fûcking weird.  Instead of tape, they use this sticky white ticky-tac stuff to stick things to the walls.  Tape is better.   Another thing I forgot to write down: I extended and am now staying here until April 14th.  Yay! I came to this decision because the work here is meaningful, and the quality of life is high because I’m by the beach, the people are generally good, it’s a different culture that challenges me, and I am meeting new people almost every day because it’s a hostel so everyone comes and leaves at different times. ANOTHER THING. I talked to Shannon about what the crazy lady screamed at us on Thursday.  It turns out it wasn't all crazy.  The crazy woman mentioned people dying.  When I followed up, she was right.  I did not get a year for when this happened, but probably within the last five years, Shannon said that eight volunteers were walking in the street in the evening.  A drunk driver hit all of them.  Shannon was the first on the scene and one of the volunteers died in her arms.  Two others were in comas for several weeks, and all the others were injured but survived.  I did not press her further on the subject because, obviously, this is beyond a delicate topic.  I can’t imagine the kind of emotional experience that was for Shannon.  Also, she’s an amazing woman.   Shannon is only 28 and basically runs the volunteer program.  She has three adopted kids who she adopted WHEN SHE WAS 24.  Their mother was an alcoholic and a drug addict and I am not sure how Shannon was initially connected with them, but I think she met them all through the volunteer program and eventually interceded.  She is very connected to some of the families of the kids in the program, which I think is a great thing because we meet some resistance from the families sometimes and more communication helps.  It is easy to say that it’s crazy for families to be against their children being tutored, given attention, taught to swim, taken out to play organized sports, and taught to surf.  However, there’s more to the situation.  When you keep in mind the poverty these kids live in and the relatively luxurious lives the volunteers have just because we have couches, a fridge, running water, etc. I completely see why there would be resentment from somebody of that background playing with your kid after school.  Also, I’m sure there is some feeling of resistance against the idea of your kid being a charity case that rich white people use to feel like they're doing good things.  Some of the parents outright tell their kids they aren't allowed to go after school and play with us, that they want them to clean the house and babysit their siblings while their parents finish work.  These kids still come and sometimes they will mention “My mom told me I can’t be here, if she finds out….” and you can just tell that if the parents find out their child came to the program, they might face physical punishment.  That’s how much this program means to the kids.  And that’s how much somebody else offering privileges to your child that you cannot provide them upsets parents.   As for my weekend.  My weekend starts on Friday.  On Friday, it was only kind warm and I went out with Thora to the cafe we found and really like called Melissa’s.  After, I went with her to get her tattoo touched-up, which looked painful.  Then, I went surfing for about 3 hours. My ribs have been sore all weekend since.  I caught a lot of waves, but still haven't ridden any in.  I got the tiniest board and am not practiced enough to handle it.  Hopefully next time I’ll get a long board that isn't as hard to balance. That night, there was a Braai which was nice.  Coll made fantastic butternut squash with spanish and feta.  I almost always eat vegetarian here.  I went out with Thora after we had a bottle of wine with dinner and we checked out a cool bar I’ll probably go back to.   It’s called the boardhouse and it’s very beachy and very South African. Thora is trying to talk me into going vegan and I’m very morally conflicted.  I’ve been thinking a lot about global warming and how hard it is to not feel frustrated and stuck.  I want to just change everything.  I wish I had a billion dollars to buy the amazon rainforest, deploy a fleet of boats to clean the ocean, develop a way of fishing that doesn't destroy entire ecosystems, promote permaculture and make the entire mid-west quit mono cropping, change the meat industry and find more meat alternatives so people stop eating so many cows that pollute horribly, also invent electric airplanes.  I don’t know where to start.  Maybe I need to become God or something and just shake the world with my hands until everything goes back down and fixes itself, like a snow globe.  The permafrost is melting and I’m just sitting here in South Africa, so frustrated I want to scream.  On top of that I am ironically angry at people who just say they can’t do anything and its just too bad.  Like pick up a shovel and plant trees, go vegan, be a better human.  I should definitely lead by example.  I have a lot of ideas and need to start executing more.  I am eighteen and actually realizing my morals in my lifestyle is something that age isn't really an excuse for.  I know how to change things, I just want to change everything and just myself does not feel like enough.  My head is so full.  So is my heart.  

Saturday, Thora was out with this guy named Ramis that she met at a festival.  Ironically, she went to that festival the weekend she got here with that guy who stole money from her.  We decided a good tactic to get over it was to distract herself and just have fun on her vacation, and this guy was nice and interested in being friends/ knew that she was there with somebody else.  Anyways, she was out with him at this really popular food market they have in Cape Town called the Old Biscuit Mill.  I could have done things, but it was cold and rainy and I didn't feel like it.  I ended up spending most of my day laying down and just talking, reading and thinking.  The talking part was first.  I got to call my wonderful boyfriend Mitchell and we talked from 8am-2pm.  You can do the math on that one.  After sitting in bed for that long, the back of my head hurt and I took that as a sign of a level of laziness that I probably shouldn't encourage in myself.  When he went to bed, I got up and ate some pickles and talked to Coll.  Then, I went on a little walk by myself just around a few blocks to stretch my lazy legs.  I got back and made toast with hummus and feta, carrots and hummus, and then Coll was an angel and gave me this amazing pretzel bun that she had bought at a nice market on her way into work.  She loves them and got a few.  She made tomato soup for dinner that night so we got to sample it while eating the obnoxiously large soft pretzels.  YUM.  I took two of these activated charcoal pills that my friend Whitney takes every morning and says they suck toxins out of your body.  Then, I sat in the hammock and read my book.  I am currently reading “A Little History of the World”, which is absolutely fabulous.  It just summarizes everything I’ve learned in history in the past 5 years of my life.  Totally fantastically unpretentious, interesting, and to the point.  10/10, highly recommend, 5 stars on Yelp!, all that.  I can’t say I’ve ever read a book as old as it and feel like I’m talking to somebody right now. I felt kinda weird all day Saturday, but I assumed that it was because I didn't really eat while I was on the phone with Mitchell so I didn't eat until way later in the day.  We had dinner, soup and bread, at 6 ish and after I went almost straight to bed because my tummy was nauseous.  I thought I could just sleep it off.  How I was wrong.  I sat in bed for around 2 hours.  The nausea was so bad that I couldn't sleep and after the first hour I started to think I might puke but fought hard against it.  Firstly, I hate throwing up.  Secondly, the toilets are all the way across the property, and I didn't want to walk all the way over there, puke, and then go back to bed.  Turns out, that’s exactly what happened and it was even worse because I had fought against it.  I ended up running out of my bed, holding my mouth and willing myself not to puke until I got to the bathroom, walking barefoot, past all the other partying residents of my hostel, to the bathroom.  Right before I closed the door to the bathroom, I started projectile vomiting.  All over the floor, doors, wall, toilet, everything.  I spent the next 10 minutes puking and the next hour sitting in my own vomit cleaning it up.  My clothes, face, and hair were entirely covered in puke. It was a lovely experience.  I walked backed to bed covered in vomit and shame.  Then I showered and changed and drank water.  Big mistake.  I got up again and vomited all my water out into the kitchen sink and then went back to bed.   Sunday has been weird because I have been recovering from puking all day.  I dragged Thora to the mini mart to buy ramen and soup-powder to try and trick my body into eating something.  I also got vitamin water and a lemon popsicle.  I sat in bed for most of the day, made some ramen.  Had a really nice and long conversation with one of the interns here named Matt.  He is from Norway and is here with his fiancé Kaia.  We talked about psychology and mental health and the consequences of the stigma surrounding it.  He was feeling sick too so we bonded over our misery.  Today, Thora left and a new girl from New Castle, England moved in.  Her name is Dani and she plays american football.  She’s a linebacker.  She’s very VERY English.  She says “innit”, and “proper” instead of “really” or “super”, and her accent is sometimes so strong it’s hard to understand.  I think she’s nice enough but I don’t think we are going to be that close.  She isn't interested school or news or politics, which isn't the actual problem it’s more of a symptom of how our minds are different.  I need to make some friends but don’t have the energy at the moment.  I want another really cool person to just kinda pop up, like Thora.  Or maybe I won’t.  Being alone is really not that bad of a thing, I just need to stop compensating for it by using technology.  Self-improvement is an ongoing battle.  My ramen was good but I am out of food and just ate my last stuff: half a jar of pickles.  Not sure what I am going to do for dinner, probably just eat my lemon popsicle and some ginger biscuits I also got at the market.  I also hear you can make scrambled eggs in the microwave.  The stove here doesn't work so I made my powdered soup with the water-boiling tea pot thing and can only make my eggs with the microwave.  I’ve seen it done, I just don’t know how I feel about it.  I’ll probably just go to bed.  I was invited to go out to Italian food with Linda, Whitney, and Coll, but I’m not sure if I feel up to all of that.  I’m really tired *yawns*.  I just wish I had some hot pesto pasta already made and my own bed.  Tomorrow I’m going on a wine tour with Thora which will be fun.  She’s staying in Muisenberg for a week and then going back home to Sydney.  It will also probably be good to change out of the PJs I’ve been wearing for about 24 hours now, including to the mini-mart this morning.  

Peace, Q

[decaffeinatedreviewmoon]

WEEK 4 - 10/02 National Policies for Museums

 There were many readings this week, I chose to focus on a few ones.

First, Museums change lives

The title caught my attention, it is quite ambitious. I like how the tone is ‘passionate’: “(Museums) enrich the lives of individuals, contribute to strong and resilient communities, and help create a fair and just society. Museums in turn are immensely enriched by the skills and creativity of their public.” The words are positive and empowering, I think the aim is to give strength to museums, for them to realise their potential.

Cultural places have a social impact by welcoming all types of audience and by encouraging critical thinking. They can choose to tackle any topic and, by doing so, lead to social debate. I grew up in Perpignan, a small town in the very South of France and there is a famous photography festival there— called ‘Visa pour l’image’ — which takes place every year in September. The various exhibitions mostly tackle controversial topics such as war, religion, environment, press freedom or women rights. I remember going to the event with school, as a child it was quite impressive to look at these difficult scenes. However, it sure made me aware of the challenges the world is facing.

The document points at the social responsibility that hangs over museums as they can introduce new ideas to children. “They promote social justice and human rights, challenge prejudice and champion fairness and equality.” Thanks to school, children in countires such as the UK or France visit museums no matter their social background. One of the examples given is the exhibition ‘Kutmaan’ at the Leighton House Museum. I guess most visitors were familiar with the subject:  ‘LGBT people who have been forced into exile because of their sexuality or gender identity’. However, being confronted to it is different, it makes visitors reflect about their own condition and how things can be different around the world.

The example of the Colchester and Ipswich Museums that organised an event which involved “people who had experienced homelessness” illustrates well how any type of audience can be part of a museum’s project.

I also enjoyed how the role of audiences is pointed out: visitors are “creators as well as consumers of knowledge”. Putting visitors in the center is key, especially if museums want them to experience active learning.

GOING FURTHER, The ­­­National­ Strategy­ for­ Scotland’s ­Museums ­and ­Galleries

Even though I selected a few readings from this week’s list, it would be too long to be as detailed as I just did with Museums Changes Lives I will try to be more succinct in order to avoid repetition as the ideas tend to echo each others.

The Going Further document develops The National Strategy for Scotland’s Museums and Galleries. The main idea is to ‘bring cohesion and a shared framework’. These cultural places must be non-profit organisations, opened to everyone and exhibit heritage for “purposes of education, study and enjoyment.” I was pleased to find the mention “enable participation at different levels” as it is something new for many museums. This point was raised by the chapter 3 “Museums and Education Purpose, Pedagogy, Performance” from the first week’s readings and the chapter 5 “Museums and Lifelong Learning” from the second week’s readings. The National Strategy also puts an emphasis on the importance for museums to welcome any type of audience and to do their best to improve their visitors’ wellbeing. The National Strategy also underlines the great variety of ressources — such as collections in universities — which are too often unknown to the public.

Creativity Across Learning 3-18

The Creative Across Learning document focuses on the space of creativity in schools’ curriculum. As explained by Lynn Dierking during her lecture, adding creativity to the learning process helps children to be more motivated and ambitious, to earn new skills, to be more confident and to work in team. Creative projects are also a good way to introduce topics such as technology or environment. Be creative is not that easy, specially if you have never been used to practice your creative skills as a child. The curriculum for creativity leads teachers to organise many activities with ‘personnalisation’ and ‘open-ended enquiry’. It makes me think of the ‘idealist’ approach in museums mentioned in the second week’s documents as this type of exhibition encourages visitors to follow the route they want and to interpret in their very own way the artworks. The curriculum also points at the importance of ‘collaboration’ and discussion, this is why many museums now add spaces with sittings were people can chat and share their thoughts.

I remember making a cartoon in school, we made all the characters with modeling clay, the voice over and the storyline. We also learned how editing works. It was good fun and I was so proud to show the final results to my parents. I now realise how much work that must have been for my teachers and all the people who took part in the project.

What is creativity?

In the What is Creativity document, the part on how Scotland was planning to support artists caught my attention. It is difficult for most artists to get started in their professional life as fundings are often missing. It is wonderful that these people can find support in Scotland!

My Primary School is at the Museum

This video shows how in practice things go with children doing a creative project. It seems to be rewarding for the children as well as for the museum. Many children made incredible progress thanks to the project My Primary School is at the Museum. During our visit to the Maritime Museum, Lyndsey -- the curator -- told us how she enjoyed guiding children through the museum, she finds it gratifying, specially when they come back with their families and show them around.  

In Class

In class, Liz presented us the Curriculum for excellence which is used in Scotland. It gives guidance to teachers and cultural places, but nothing is set, specially for primary schools. There is still free choice left to each teacher or curator. However, in secondary school, teachers have to stick to a program as pupils have a national exam at the end.

Several words can be used to describe the learning process and understand the plurality of facets it involves: identity, contestation, places, personal, memories, challenge, meaning-making, objects, social. Unfortunately, I do not think these words are part of every learning process that is taught nowadays. For instance, 'contestation�� refers to critical thinking which was almost nonexistent in my schooldays (in France). Places may refer to trips, indeed, coming upon the great variety and complexity of your own culture as well as discovering other cultures is fulfilling. I have always been very lucky as my parents took me on many trips from a very young age. Because not every child travels with his own family, it is important that children go on school trips, even if it is only for one day and in their region. Indeed, outdoor learning can be found in the Curriculum for Excellence as it has social and cultural benefits and improves students’ wellbeing. Finally, the words ‘identity’, ’personal’ and ‘memories’ refer to the learner himself, we remember better when what we learn echoes our past experiences and our interests. I then found interesting how the Curriculum for Excellence emphasises the inseparability of pedagogy and epistemology. The ‘how’ in learning is as important as the ‘what’. I remember struggling with my lessons in school as they were hard to swallow, it was only about the knowledge and the pedagogy was missing.

Then, Liz mentioned several initiatives which illustrate well the Curriculum for Excellence’s objectives. I specially liked the intergenerational project which gathered children and elderly people. The latter tend to be scared of teenagers, this is why children had to ask old people questions about their childhood. This activity got rid of the stigma around young people and led the community to band together.

We also did a group activity. We had to ‘organise’ important elements of the learning process in museums, among five Generic Learning Outcomes categories. It was a good way to understand the complexity of creating programs for visitors, curators (and any other involved person) have to think about many issues. The exercises also highlight how much learning in museums can be fulfilling, visitors do not get ‘one single type’ of knowledge.

Visit at the Toolbooth Museum

On Friday the 14th of February, we went to the Tolbooth Museum. We followed a school tour through the museum. It was interesting to see how the curator adapted her language and what she said so children could understand. I enjoyed watching her work, however I did not really liked the museum. I was pretty excited to go as I thought I would enjoy going to an old jail and learn about its history, however I found the organisation a bit ‘old-fashioned’. The fake man talking in the top room honestly scared me, the curator explained many people and most children feel uncomfortable in that room as the prisoner model is quite disturbing. I was surprised to see smoething so special and which ‘divides’ people. I wonder if the museum thought about removing the model. I guess they did not as there is a lot of work behind it and that it is interesting from an historical perspective. But I do not know enough on the subject to assume anything.

Also, the inclusive issue is quite complex in this museum. Because of the building’s architecture, it is impossible to add an elevator and the stairs are numerous and dangerous. The museum offers the possibility to watch a movie -- which shows the upstairs exhibition -- on the ground floor. I completely understand it is impossible for the museum to find a better answer here. It is great they thought about a solution, I just think this must be quite disappointing to stay on the ground floor and watch a movie. I cannot criticize this ‘plan B’ as I cannot think about a better way to allow disabled people to visit the museum. I am just pointing at this problem, which is often raised by old buildings, and unfortunately, there is not always a solution. 

Visit at the Maritime Museum

On the same day, we visited the Maritime Museum. The curator Lyndsey gave us a short talk about her work and how she welcomes children in the museum. She explained that some museums hire enablers to adapt visits according to people’s disabilities, difficulties or particularities. However this position does not exist in any of Aberdeen’s museums so curators have to work on that themselves.

As mentioned several times through this blog, it is essential that museums are free and public in order to welcome any type of visitor. The curator emphasised how rewarding was to have school groups over because children come from a great variety of social backgrounds. It is important to make them feel welcomed in cultural and public places from an early age so they will not feel excluded from this places as adults. It is a way to assert people’ citizenship and make them feel part of society. I think this makes sense in Scotland as most museums are free, however, in France this is rarely the case. Cultural places are free or cheap for children and students, but they tend to be very expensive for adults.

Among other topics, the curator also talked about the activities based on active learning that are available for children in the Maritime Museum (self-guided tours, object handling, quizz sheets or treasure hunts). She mentioned the challenges of having school groups over: mostly security and money issues. I was pleasantly surprised to hear that the museum adapts its collections according to the audience’s requests, for instance, a collection of objects on the Titanic theme. 

_______________________________________________________________________

Creative Scotland. (2013) What Is Creativity.

Education Scotland. (2013) Creativity Across Learning 3-18.

King’s College London. (2016) My Primary School is at the Museum.

Museums Association. (2013) Museums Change Lives.

Museums Galleries Scotland. (2012) Going Further: The ­­­National­ Strategy­ for­ Scotland’s ­Museums ­and ­Galleries.

[steelopus]

Easter will always remind me of this story...

First, some relevant family history: my brother is 13 years older than I am. He is solely responsible for getting me into good music, inspiring and teaching me to play guitar, and taking me to my first concert. I was 15 in 1995 and just a sophomore in high school. By this point in my life he had already ignited my love for music and guitar; I was in a band and I was writing songs, but I had never been to a live music event. On the other hand, my brother was 28, seven years removed from a Cornell education that saw him end up with a business degree. After college he worked as a desk jockey for a few years at Chase before deciding that he had missed his calling in life to be a writer. Eventually he quit Chase and moved to Boston to pursue a Masters in writing at Emerson College.

Periodically I'd receive packages from him in the mail that contained magazine clippings and guitar tabs, cassette tapes with demo songs he'd been writing, etc., all kinds of stuff that 15-year-old-me thought was fantastic. At some point in late March I received another one of these packages; one of the enclosed snips of paper was this:

As a 15 year old with few friends and no social life, it wasn't difficult to clear my schedule.

April 14th, 1995 was Good Friday. He had driven home from Boston to celebrate the Easter holiday with the family. I was always especially happy when he would visit. He often came bearing musical inspiration and musical gifts (guitar strings, cassettes, picks, etc.). But what could possibly be so important that he made me reserve Holy Saturday? Friday night arrived and I went to bed, still completely in the dark about the plans for the next day. He woke me on Saturday around 10am and told me to get dressed and to meet him out front. I hastily threw on some clothes and grabbed a slice of toast as I ran out the front door to an idling car. "Get in!" he shouted through the drivers window, "We've got to get going!" I opened the door to that old teal Ford Escort and slid into the seat. Before I knew it we were on the road - destination: unknown, at least to me.

My memories of the trip itself are vague, but I remember that as a 15 year old, I didn't know much about the roads besides "I've been in this car long enough to know I'm not in Rochester anymore." I noticed signs indicating we were on the NYS Thruway, I-90, heading eastbound. "Where are we going? Where are you taking me?" I asked repeatedly. It may as well have been "Are we there yet? Are we there yet?!" Surely I was driving him insane, but he was a rock and gave me no indication of what was in store. We continued driving east for quite a while. Hours and mile markers passed by. I was no travel buff, but I knew my geography, and I understood that heading east on I-90 would be sending us towards Albany, New York City, Boston, and other assorted points east. Eventually I noticed a sign indicating a major split in the roadway: keep left to continue towards Boston, keep right to head towards NYC. "This is it," I thought to myself, "this should answer my questions." Sure enough, and not entirely surprisingly, he kept to the left, continuing on I-90 towards Boston.

At this point it became pretty clear to me where we were headed. I had never been to Boston so that prospect alone was totally awesome. Soon though, my mind turned towards my mom, and home, and Easter, and "Holy shit! Tonight is the Easter Vigil at church. Mom's gonna be so pissed if I'm not there!" I continued to beg him to tell me what was happening, but still, informational silence... that is, until we stopped for dinner at a rest stop on the Mass Pike between Worcester and Boston.

After scarfing down some McDonald's, we returned to the car to continue our trip. We were close enough to Boston at this point that the car radio could pick up some FM stations. He had tuned into WFNX and just as I was buckling my seatbelt, I heard the DJ say it... "We're gearing up for the big show tonight down at Axis; we'll be on location. Slash's Snakepit is in town! I hope you've got your tickets because this show is sold out!" Did I hear that correctly? My face must have lit up like a Christmas tree. I turned to him: confused, excited, sheepishly grinning.

Slash stood tall above all other influences on my music and guitar training (still does). My brother had weaned me on a steady diet of Guns N' Roses as I was learning to play, and when that band imploded I discovered the first Slash's Snakepit album after reading a review in Rolling Stone. As far as I was concerned, Jesus had already returned to Earth: he let his hair grow wild, smoked cigarettes, shaved his chest, drank heavily, wore assless chaps and a tophat, he could fucking shred, and now... now I was only miles from The Savior himself. As I begged my brother to tell me what was happening, he pulled two tickets out of his pocket. We were going to the show. I have no idea what happened between that moment and the moment we arrived on Lansdowne Street. I only remember pulling onto the street - a long row of bars on my left and the towering walls of Fenway Park on my right - and seeing tour vans parked in front of Axis. We parked somewhere nearby and made our way toward the club.

We were a bit early and had beaten the majority of the crowds; only a few people were standing outside the club waiting to get in. We stood at the end of the line and I don't think I uttered a single syllable for a few minutes while I stood there and took everything in. This was all so new to me: my first time in a big city, my first time near a real baseball stadium, my first time standing outside a rock club, and ultimately, my first concert. Then I felt Sam tugging on my shirt. I looked over and he was pointing up the road... pointing at a group of people walking towards us. At such a great distance it'd be nearly impossible to identify any mere mortal, but what I saw standing in the middle of that group was no mere mortal. Rising above the head-line I saw a little black tower, a smokestack of sorts. Before I knew it, we had sacrificed our place in line and were walking towards the group; we met them half-way. There before me stood Slash's Snakepit, including ex-Gunner Gilby Clarke, and the messiah himself, Slash.

Was I starstruck? You have no idea. I'm fairly certain I didn't say a thing. I probably didn't even look him in the eye. I mean, what are you supposed to do for royalty of this sort? Bow? Genuflect? All I know is that my brother had slyly pulled an index card and a sharpie from his pocket and handed it to Slash for an autograph. He signed the card, kept the sharpie, and continued walking towards the club. I stood there dumbfounded as my brother handed me the autograph. "What do I do with this?" I wondered. This belongs behind glass, perhaps behind an altar somewhere. He took it back from me and carefully put it in his back pocket. We ran back to the club and got back in line.

Eventually they opened the doors and let us in. I remember entering and being completely baffled by the whole scene. I'd never been inside a bar like this. If you've never seen Axis - it's a truly tiny club. To think that just a few years prior Slash was performing for hundreds of thousands of people at festivals internationally, and now I was going to see him in a bar barely bigger than my parents' garage - it was simply overwhelming. We pushed our way towards stage left, where Slash always stood, and took up a defensive position right at the front of the stage. I couldn't believe this was really happening. If you had told me it was all a dream, I might have believed you. In actuality it was a dream come true.

The band came out, and they fucking rocked, and they rolled, and they grooved... but mostly they rocked. I distinctly remember them performing a cover of Magic Carpet Ride. Eric Dover (who I would also enjoy a few years later as the singer for Imperial Drag) had a true rock voice and enough charisma to stand on stage and not be completely dwarfed by Slash. The band was clicking on all cylinders, but most of all, it was Slash. It was Slash standing right in front of me. It was Slash flinging sweat on me while he furiously strummed his Les Paul. It was Slash redefining, in an instant, what I defined to be cool. It was Slash setting the tone for the goals of the rest of my life.

After the show, we went back to my brothers apartment and I called home. Repentantly... "Mom, I'm in Boston. Sam took me to Boston to see a concert. It was amazing... sorry we missed the Mass. We're driving home tomorrow, but I don't think we'll be back in time for dinner... I'm sorry." (To this day I struggle with overcoming my Catholic Guilt. My mom is so dedicated to the church that I joke to people about how she is next in line to be the Pope.) It wasn't until many years later that my mom confessed that she knew about the trip the whole time. The next morning, Easter, we drove back to Rochester. Along the way we heard the news about the Oklahoma City bombing. We got back to Rochester late Sunday afternoon, in time for Easter dinner, and the next day my brother packed his things and drove all the way back to Boston - ultimately he made two round trips to between Boston and Rochester in 4 days.

In 2008 I read Slash's autobiography. He talks about how that first tour with Snakepit was an almost therapeutic experience for him. After dealing with the stresses of touring arenas and stadiums while a member of GN'R, and putting up with Axl's bullshit night after night, he described the Snakepit tour as a return to what he loved most about being a musician: the experience of standing on stage and performing for a roomful of people that genuinely care about the music itself, rather than all the pomp and excess associated with major tours. I couldn't stop smiling while reading that chapter of the book; to know that Slash himself enjoyed my first concert just as much as I did is a truly great feeling.

[memsmedic1]

Thwarted mission and new opportunities. 03/30/17-05/02/17

Now I was back at our apartment headquarters in Yangon where I would stay for the next month and I finally had time to get caught up on paperwork and some behind the scenes duties.

Our apartment is four stories high and is built out of unreinforced concrete. We live in a large development of houses and apartments on the northwest side of Yangon.

To the west of us behind our apartment it is very quiet and peaceful because the developer poured foundations for more apartments and then ran out of money, so we have a buffer between us and the rest of the already quiet housing area we live in.

To the east on the front side of the apartment there is a broken down sheet metal and bamboo fence and then directly past that is the constantly loud and active shantytown of bamboo huts and shops and markets and apartments that makes up the majority of residential Yangon.

On our first floor we park our van and also store whatever supplies we can that aren't affected by rats or flooding. The second floor is the kitchen and living room, and the top floors are the bedrooms.

Being back in Yangon also meant that I was back in the mosquito capital of Myanmar! Even now in the hot dry season we are always being attacked by the diurnal Aedes mosquitos that can carry dengue fever and every evening and morning we get swarmed by Anopheles mosquitos that will carry more and more malaria as the rainy season approaches.

Like the rest of the country we don’t have beds and sleep on a bamboo or plastic mat on the floor shrouded by mosquito nets. We also don’t have air conditioning, a washing machine, oven, microwave, hot water, or clean tap water- all the water we drink and cook with has to be purchased since our tap water comes out of the faucet as brown and turbid as river water (I have my suspicions that it may actually be river water from a tributary of the Irrawaddy a mile and a half away).

Handily for us however, we do have electricity, although it fluctuates in strength and there are regular power outages. Even more amazing is that cell service is available although it’s about as reliable as our electricity.

So after getting unpacked and organized I began working on my first priority project of developing and putting together an EMR program syllabus and also starting on the EMT program syllabus. I was also assisting in writing an EMS training proposal to take to the Ministry of Health along with our fully developed EMS program.

The Ministry of Health is trying to raise the standard of prehospital care in Myanmar and wants to initiate a mandatory, uniform, country wide training and certification program to help regulate EMS and hold rescue and ambulance responders accountable to a higher standard of care.

During our last EMR training in Myawaddy one of the students had a question for us. He said that they picked up a patient at a local hospital who was being transferred to Thailand where they might be able to do something to help him. As usual, the hospital staff rush-rushed the crew and wouldn’t give them any of the patients paperwork or even a verbal report. The student said that the patient had a “tube” going down his throat and a nurse was using a BVM on him. After they loaded the patient however, the hospital refused to leave the BVM with the patient (yes they reuse everything over here) and the ambulance crew did not have one or have the ability to get one. So, they just put a NRB over the tube and went on their way. The question was “why did the patient start shaking and foaming at the mouth and bleeding from his nose and go into cardiac arrest?”

So that’s what we’re up against over here- and that’s what the government wants to stop. The Ministry of Health is asking for EMS program drafts and implementation plans from any interested parties and then they will decide which plan they want to use.

We have also started editing, translating, and formatting our EMR textbook into Burmese so our future students will have additional resources to make learning easier.

One week after we finished modifying the Land Cruiser and had it driven north we received word from one of our team members who lives in that area that it had arrived safely at its destination! With that confirmation, we sent a two person team north as well to make another attempt at purchasing property for an operations base/ambulance station. They would be gone for several weeks meeting with state and local officials and searching for land or a building to purchase.

This relative lull in activity compared to the last several months gave me an opportunity to give team-specific medical training to the six other team members that were with me in Yangon.

Every day we would meet on the floor in the living room (the only furniture we have is a stair chair and the bench seat we pulled out of the Land Cruiser) and I would talk about emergency medical responder or remote EMR level topics for a couple hours or so and then we would practice all the applicable skills.

I also started making a dedicated effort to learn Burmese during this time. My translator Khin Chaw Kyi is an excellent teacher and tutors me for a couple hours every day. Unfortunately Burmese is the hardest SE Asian language to learn after Thai so the going is slow.

After the first week of April we began preparing to withstand the siege that is Thingyan, the Burmese water festival that culminates in the celebration of the Burmese New Year. We stocked up on enough food and water to last us for a couple weeks.

Because Thingyan is a national holiday, all businesses are closed. In addition, it’s basically a country wide water fight with singing, dancing, face painting, and everyone except the monks joining together in throwing, squirting, spraying, or dousing as much water on as many people as possible! Anything that can hold water is used such as cups, bowls, buckets, bamboo squirt guns, water balloons, and fire hoses!

This water throwing is a metaphorical washing away of ones sins from the previous year as well as an offering for the spirits, who are unable to drink all year.

Thingyan festival started on April 13th this year and officially lasted for 4 days culminating in the New Year, but the entire rest of the month of April is usually an extremely challenging time to get anything productive done if it requires traveling or going outside. This is because school is out, people are traveling a lot more this month, and the festive spirit from the water festival continues long after the festival is over.

With the water festival starting on the 13th, the first monsoon rains of the rainy season decided to start on April 14th! It was a pleasant change to have clouds and cooler temperatures than we had been having recently, but the first rain of the year also turned into the first cyclone of the year.

Cyclone Maruttha made landfall on April 16 200 miles northwest of Yangon at Thandwe, Rakhine State. It brought powerful winds, storm surges, monsoon rain, and tragically it killed at least 10 people. ————————————-

When our northern team returned to Yangon, their news was far from encouraging; for one, fighting has recently intensified significantly in the region, and the government, afraid that foreigners may give aid to the rebels or be killed in the crossfire, has shrunk the less-restricted area to smaller than the town limits that we would be living in. To get into the area at all, you have to submit for permission, and if granted it is only valid for the length of your visa.

So we would only be able to operate within the town itself which completely cuts us off from the villagers who actually need the help and defeats the purpose of the mission, plus there is no guarantee that we would be allowed to stay if we bought property there.

For another thing, the local group that was interested in working with us and being trained so they can operate on their own if needed, started pulling the old Burmese trick of seeing how much they could get from us for free. When they saw our ambulance (which looks awesome) they asked if we would donate it to them so they could start their own ambulance service, and then they still asked us to come up and give them (free) training so they would know what to do…😑

If that wasn’t enough, this last month the Myanmar government just passed a new law that requires all ambulance personnel to be licensed in order to work on an ambulance. There’s just one problem: Myanmar does not recognize any prehospital medical licenses. The only two medical licenses at all are Doctor and nurse, and of course none of them would be interested in taking a pay cut to work on an ambulance. Because there’s no possible way to certify at the present, Burmese citizens are being allowed to continue working with their foundations and rescue organizations, but foreigners would be a prime target, so at the present we are unable to provide medical care to Burmese citizens unless specifically requested ahead of time.

All of this is terribly disappointing news, we have overcome so many obstacles already in order to accomplish our original goal of operating a remote ambulance service, that we don’t want to give up on the idea and would like to keep pushing ahead. But right now we would just be banging our heads against the wall and getting nowhere, so we are going to focus more on the other projects that have presented themselves, and for the time being just keep our original project in the back of our minds as a possibility for sometime down the road.

So now I am in charge of drawing up another proposal for the Ministry of Health, this one proposing that Myanmar accept paramedics and EMT’s in good standing and with valid medical licenses from certain countries with high training standards and verifiable registries, in the same way they allow foreign doctors to work in the country.

Because of our possible dealings with the Ministry of Health I was also tasked with looking into the possibility of becoming affiliated with an accrediting agency of some kind that would allow us to offer a truly international certification to our students who successfully complete one of our trainings instead of the “international level” training we are currently able to give.

In addition to hopefully giving us an advantage with the government, offering an international certification would make our training courses valuable to anyone who wanted to attend- not just Burmese citizens, and it would allow our trainings to stand out from other, local foundations who also engage in “training” (one group offers a four day EMT class) and have started copying our “international level” wording when they have no such thing.

After some research I came across the AREMT- Australasian Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians, which is currently the sole registry of emergency medical licenses for Australia and is accepted in over 20 other countries. Upon finding that they do not yet have any affiliate accrediting agencies in Myanmar I contacted them and after countless emails back and forth set up a meeting with them to see if they were interested in working with us and vice versa.

Through a mutual friend, I was also put in contact with a medical logistics company that I began talking to and feeling out the possibility of a mutually beneficial relationship with. It went so well that we scheduled a meeting for next month in Bangkok to discuss our options in person.

We also took some time off from all of our own duties to help our friends from Z-Rescue teach their first basic first aid class here in Yangon. They had about 60 students and appreciated having us on “their team” to help teach and make them look good!

Afterwards we had a meeting with the Home Minister and talked about our ideas for Myanmar training and our EMS program in development.

One evening we were hanging out in the living room as supper finished cooking when I heard an unauthorized sound in the kitchen. Sneaking over I found a giant sewer rat sitting on our counter eating our food 😡. Until now I had led myself to believe that because there’s a giant swampy abandoned lot behind us and all kinds of open sewers and drainage ditches in front of us, we were a virtual island and that any neighborhood rats would leave us alone in favor of easier pickings. Sadly I was mistaken, but I managed to kill the offending individual by thwacking him on the head with the handle of a reed broom as he sailed past me off the counter towards the door!

April and May are usually the height of the hot season and this year Myanmar took the prize for hottest country in Southeast Asia! We had temperatures that rose to 45 degrees Celsius or 113 degrees Fahrenheit for a few days! And of course the humidity is usually above 90% as well which makes it all the more oppressive.

On April 29 I took the night bus from Yangon to the border and crossed into Thailand again. I had wanted to leave Yangon a couple days sooner so I could visit the orphanage on my way to my meetings in Bangkok but because of all the extra travelers returning home from celebrating the water festival the buses were booked out for two days longer than usual.

I spent a couple days in MaeSot where I happened to run into my friends from Sunshine Orchard anyways completely out of the blue! On May 2 I took a van down to Nakhon Sawan, Thailand where I would transfer to a bus for the rest of the ride into Bangkok.

I knew the van wasn’t going the whole way but when we got to the end of the van route I didn’t realize that we had arrived at where I needed to get off. So, unknowingly I started riding north again back towards MaeSot! Fortunately the driver knew where I was going and after a couple blocks noticed that I was still on board so he kindly took me back to the Nakhon Sawan station where I was supposed to catch my bus.

When I arrived at the counter to pay, the ticket agent wasn’t worried at all about me being a few minutes late but when he walked with me out to where my bus was supposed to be it was gone!

That suddenly made him a lot more energetic and we ran back inside where he had his assistant give me a lift on the back of his motorbike to run the bus down! It hadn’t made it out of town yet so we were able to catch it without any problem, and after getting settled in, the rest of the trip went according to plan.

[thegrassisaalwaysgreener]

EuroTrip 2016

Friday March 11, 2016:

         Yay for trips! I was pretty pumped about this trip as I had only been to Europe once and that was over ten years ago. For this trip, I was teaming up with my aunt who is a retired teacher and had been  going on trips with EF Tours for years. Accompanying us was one of her ex students’ siblings who was excited to head to Europe with us. I decided that it was much easier to just park and fly my car (which is magical). I flew and met them in Montreal before boarding the longer flight to Frankfurt. I am all about sleeping on planes normally, however this plane ride was not the best as I was sitting beside someone who thought that sharing my seat was ok. Even with the squish-y ness and turbulence, it was a decent flight and we arrived first things on Saturday Morning.

Saturday March 12, 2016            It took us a while to find our lovely guide Nik. He was to be our guide for the whole trip however, he had to wait around the airport for the group joining us from Vancouver. We hopped in a bus and got on with the 2 ish hour drive to Rothenberg. Of course we got to drive a bit on the Autobahn (which in a van wasn’t nearly as cool as I had thought) and through lights that went from red to yellow and then green which I found so strange. We arrive in the quant town of Gattsattal where we were staying for the night. We unpacked our bags and headed into town to see the historical, medieval town. Rothenberg is known as Germany’s Fairy Tale Dream town and is located on a plateau just over the Tauber river. We checked out many of the picturesque sites including the Gallos Gate, Town Wall (which is elevated around the city and has a walkway almost the whole way around the town), St. James Church, The Christmas Museum (which was magical), Historical Vaults of the 30 years war and of course Plonlein. Plonlein is the classic photo of Rotherberg and is seen in many books and post cards. We really enjoyed wandering around the small, adorable town. We enjoyed greek food (random) at the Taverna Marathon and Schnaeballen- which is a delicious dessert along with coffee before making our way back to our hotel. We met up with the group from Vancouver and had an amazing traditional German dinner of Spätzle and beef. We were all super tired and jet lagged so we went to bed early to get ready for Munich!

Sunday March 13th, 2016             Rise and shine was early this am! We grabbed a very European breakfast of buns, meat and cheese before hoping on the bus for the 2ish hour drive , south to Dachau. Dachau was the first Nazi concentration camp in Germany. It was said to be a “work camp” originally where political prisoners were to be housed as early as 1933. It is believed that over 25,000 prisoners died from illness or suicide and over 32,000 were killed. The camp saw as many as 200,000 prisoners. We did a walking tour of the property which was very challenging to see. There was also a 20 minute video in the museum that was very graphic. The museum houses memorials, barracks as well as the old gas chamber and crematorium. The various religious memorials are visited by thousands of people each year as well.            After the enlightening visit to Dachau, we made our way to Munich.  Munich is the third most populous city in Germany (behind Berlin and Hamburg of course) and is know for its beautiful, century old buildings and of course Octoberfest. We started our day in Munich by wandering around the stunning English Gardens. The first thing we saw were people surfing on an arm of the Isar River at one of the entrances of the Gardens. It was magical! It was so cold but they have one area where the river makes a 1 metre wave that many locals come and surf  on. I was freezing just watching them! As we wandered around the English Garden, we learned more about it’s history (how it used to be hunting ground for the royal family until the late 18th century when it was opened to the public).  We visited the Theatiner Church where there was a large pre St. Patrick’s day Festival going on. We caught a glimps of City Hall as well as the Cathedral Church of our Lady (Frauenkirche). This Cathedral is a landmark in the city and is known as the symbol of the Bavarian Capitol. It stands at 99m tall which makes it the tallest building in the city centre and has the infamous “Devil’s Footstep”. We wandered around the city square (Middlespaz) and had a small lunch as we wandered. Unfortunately, much of the shops and more touristy things were closed as it was Sunday.  One super cool thing that we did see in the Marienplatz was the Glockenspiel (google it, it’s cool). We did manage to check out the three known “Tours” as well as the magical Hopfbrauhaus. While we didn’t stop in for a beer, we did enjoy all of the excitement and festivities inside.  We had a lovely dinner at franziskaner in der au, just outside the city centre of sauerkraut type salad, pork and pasta before heading back to the econtel for the night.

Monday March 14th, 2016              I was super excited about the plan for today! We were driving to Neuschwanstein Castle! Neuschwanstein is a nineteenth-century Romanesque Revival palace approx. 1.6 km walk uphill in the village of Hohenschwangau. The castle was designed by King ludwig the second. He had designed it and lived in another castle (Holschwangow) on the property while it was being built (for almost 13 years). King Ludwig was a complex man who enjoyed Wagner (which was listened to Valkyrie on the way to the castle), literature and fine woodwork. There are various stories of his bizarre behaviour, “different” interests (homosexual tendencies which were not accepted at that time) among other things. He was declared insane and admitted to a hospital where he was found dead in the river only 2 days after admission. He had gone for a walk with his doctor and was found in knee deep water, with no water in his lungs. His death was rather mysterious and unfortunate, as he never go to see his masterpiece of a castle fully built. The castle itself sees 1.5 million visitors a day. It is massive and magical- especially the Throne room with its 2000 lb chandelier made out of fake gem stones and 1.5 million stone floor that illustrates plant and animal life. The walls and ceilings are also very interesting with paintings of Jesus and 6 canonized kings. The tour itself wasn’t anything to write home about and was not overly informative. It was definitely a magical place to visit and the views in and around the castle were worth the steep hike.

             After the castle, we watched Sophie School (great movie) as we headed back into Munich for a guided bus tour of the city by our guide Barbara. She gave us the background of the city (which I won’t bore you with but is quite interesting as Munich is considered a “young” city for Europe and much of it was destroyed in WW2 and rebuilt). We drove past many important/interesting landmarks including the House of Kunz Art (german art that Hilter built), many universities (which are free in Germany) including the one that Sophie School went to, the Olympic Park (of the 1972 Olympics) and many other iconic streets/parks. Munich is a very fast growing city becauose of its high quality of living. There are many parks, lakes and mountains in the area along with lots of jobs which means the cost of living is increasing by approx. 5-10% each year. It is much cheaper to rent than to buy in the city and there are many young families living in 900 sq. feet and paying approx. 1500-2000 euro a month (crazy!). We stopped at one of my favourite places of the trip and that was the Nyphenburg Palace. Again, I won’t bore you with the details but it was the summer residence of the former rulers of Bavaria of the House of Wittelsbach. It is now a series of museums and has beautiful grounds to wander and explore. We had dinner at a former monastery turned Brewery called the Augustine. We had a very traditional dinner of beet, bratwurst and potato salad with their home made apple fritter for dessert. We continued the tour of Munich after dinner by seeing the Hofbrauhaus at night along with the Opera House that was one of the first in the 17th Century. The Opera House has been rebuilt multiple times after varies fires/wars and features approximately 300 shows per year.   We headed back to the hotel for a good nights sleep before another exciting day!

Tuesday March 15th, 2016            Today we would be driving through 3 different countries! We left Germany and passed through the Town of Garmish. Garmish is small town, much older than Munich on the trade route known for its ski hills and Winter Games. We headed through Germany and made our way into Austria. We learned that there are not borders in Europe which is pretty neat. Everyone in the EU may come and go as they please and may live/work whenever they would like.  We were heading into Innsbruck for the afternoon. Austria itself, is known for its delicious meat. Austria is home to approximately 8.4 million people and its main industry is tourism (24 million a year approximately) but its scenery is like none other. 60% of the country is covered in mountains who’s peaks are almost 4000m high. The biggest palace in Europe can also be found in Austria- in Innsbruck and was home to the Royal Family (who’s monarchy ended in 1918). We spent a few hours exploring Innsbruck. We visited much of the old town (which is quite small) and saw some tourist landmarks such as the Golden Roof House built by Maximilian, The Innsbruck city tower, and of course, the Swarovski Flag Ship Store. We saw many old, medieval type buildings along with some beautiful churches. Other than the beautiful mountains, St. Jacob’s church was my favourite building- it had a beautiful marble alter with large lit up cross and massive black organ. We hopped back in the bus and took the Brenner Pass through the amazing alps. The Brenner pas was originally used by the tribes men many years ago and is still known as an important trade route between Austria and Italy. It was a magical drive through the mountains with many old castles and places to stay. We made our way south to our hotel which was just outside of Venice near Treviso. The hotel (Park hotel villa fiorita) was so tacky and Italian- I just loved it!! We got settled into our rooms (where we would be staying for two nights) and then made our way down to the dining room for a traditional dinner. The dining room was very Roman inspired with beautiful (but strange) paintings all over the walls. Our dinner of pasta, turkey, veggies and apple crumble was delicious! I was super excited to hit the hay this night as Venice was one of the cities I was most excited to visit.

Wednesday March 16th, 2016            As always, breakfast was early (but delicious with the classic euro spread along with pancakes and croissants for the carbs lovers out there) but worth it to hop on the bus to head down to Venice. Nik gave us a brief history lesson on the country (including The Kingdom of Italy being found in 1861, the end of the Monarchy in 1919 along with the Black Chapter that was Moussilini’s take over in the 1922). I really do enjoy learning about all of the history- I make all of these half ass attempts at typing it all out as he is talking and then make short forms that a year later, I don’t understand. Ah well! That is what google is for isn’t it? ANYWAYS. Venice! So exciting. Venice is a unesco World Heritage site but has seen its fair share of destruction and sadness, including floods and plagues (also the starting point of mask where and carnival somehow). Venice is actually made up of 117 small islands  that are separated by many canals and linked by bridges. They are located in the Venetian lagoon which is an enclosed bay that is found between the Po and Piave Rivers. There are approximately 265,000 people that live in Venice, 55,000 who live in the historical city part.  Once we arrived at the port, we took a 20 min boat ride over where we watched a glass blowing demonstration- which is super Venetian. There are about 35 companies in Venice that make glass but only a handful that do it by hand. The glass (Moreno) is beautiful, made out of sand, salt and colours that are created by other minerals.             After the glass blowing demonstration and some shopping (of course), we had a walking tour with our guide Alysio. He explained much more of the cities history and pointed out a few beautiful landmarks. He also took us on a tour of the Doge’s Palace (Palazzo Ducale) which was very beautiful. It was originally build in the 1300s and then rebuilt in the 1500s. There is a massive, golden staircase because, more was always better in the Venetian world. Each wall had something on it- gold, paint, murals, mosaics etc- no wall caould be empty.  We came out of the Palace in St. Marc’s Square (Piazza San Marco) which is a landmark in the city. It has many restaurants, shops and famous places within the square. We visited St. Marc’s Basilica which is said to actually house the remains of St Marc below the alter. The  Basilica is quite dark but still very beautiful with many old features. We wandered around the city of Venice- getting lost in all the small walkways, canals and bridges. It was magical! We hopped on a gondola as well and took a beautiful ride in and around the city through the canals. We checked out many of the high end shops (all of the designers were found in Piazza San Marco) and also did some bartering for souvenirs and such. The Rialto bridge was sadly under construction, but we still managed to get a few great photos and see some of the stores that can be found on and around the bridge. We stopped for some traditional food (the most amazing pizza, cannoli AND gelati) before grabbing some vino on route to the boat back to the bus.  Dinner was back at the hotel – pasta of course with some veggies, beef and of course rum cake for dessert. My aunt and I wandered around the hotel- they had an interesting Hemingway exhibition and bar in the basemen which was rather odd in my opinion.  The mix of the music/bar seen with the hemingway info lead to some pretty bizarre dreams that night that’s for sure!

Thursday, March 17th, 2017            This morning we headed on the Brenner Pass to Verona- which funny enough cost about $35 since all of the highways in Italy are toll routes. The highways are privately, not state owned so the rate per highway can change which is neat. In Germany, the highways are free, in Switzerland, you pay for a pass each year and in Austria, you can pay for a week, month or year (similar to the 407). I was very excited today because it was 15 degrees and sunny!! We were headed 2 hours from Treviso to Verona which is a very old city, approx. 100 years BC. Verona is heavily fortified, especially around the river and is also a Heritage UNESCO site due to its Roman Empire/Medieval/Renaissance architecture and preserved monuments and squares. One of our first stops was the Arena of Verona (their version of the Coliseum) which is about 80 years older than the Coliseum. (making it almost 1186 years old!!!) At this time, there is only one wing left of it as an earthquake ruined ¾ of it in 1117. We stopped to visit Romeo and Juliet’s house (sadly not the real one) as well as Juliet’s Balcony (which is very popular place to visit). I was very impressed with Verona- it has beautiful landscapes of not only greenery and a beautiful river, but amazing mountains and old, maintained architecture.  We stopped by the market which had amazing fresh fruit, vegetables and sandwiches near the Ponte Pietra. We checked out the Cathedral Di Verona before hopping on the bus to drive from Verona to Switzerland.

        Our drive through the alps was magical! We drove through  Como which is an amazing area (George Clooney has a house there which we saw!) along with Lugano which is very Swiss meets Mediterrean. Of course, Nik gave us our daily history lesson on Switzerland and including some interesting facts. Switzerland, is one of the safest places in the world. All of the entrances can be closed (literally with a bomb to close it physically) if there was any concern for the Swiss’ safety. Since Switzerland is a very “neutral” place, politically, I don’t think they would have many issues.  We heard many interesting folklores and fables about the country during our drive (which I won’t bore you with). We made it to the town of Giswil(population 300) which is just outside of Lucerne. Dinner was soup, salad and a meatloaf-esque burger with traditional fries and gravy (haha) It was an early to bed tonight – other than my early morning wake up call to facetime with the lovely Jess so I wouldn’t miss the Open announcement!

Friday March 18, 2016:          My aunt and I decided to get up a bit early to wander around the quaint town. It was a bit chilly but we enjoyed the rolling hills of the area and the beautiful fresh air. After showers and a basic European breakfast (meat, cheese and bread of course), we hopped on the bus for Lucerne. The first stop with the famous Lion Monument which was created for the Swiss guard who died in 1792 in defence of King Louis XVI, his fine Marie Antoinette and their kids. The Swiss guard is known for their loyalty and this monument is a sign of strength, power and loyalty. The monument is actually much cooler than I had anticipated as it is carved into a larger rock/mountain side. We had plenty of time to wander around the magical mountain city and check out Lake Lucerne which can be seen from almost everywhere in the city. We saw the glacier gardens, Friti Fountain, Chapel Bridge, Water tower and did some hiking on the fortification wall to check out the view from a higher vantage point.  We enjoyed some delicious (and expensive!) Swiss Chocolate and learned about the various historical events that had taken place in the city. We met up with the grup at the Schwanplatz (city centre) and headed back to the hotel for dinner (salad with random curry chicken and ice cream) before settling in for our last day of the tour.

Saturday March 19, 2016:            Today we were going to visit the largest waterfalls in Europe!! I was pretty stoked about this since I expected them to be similar to Niagara Falls. While the Rhine Falls are beautiful (they truly are) they are nothing in Comparison to Niagara Falls. The Rhine Falls go back to the last ice age about 2000 years ago and are 23 meters tall and 150 meters wide and found in the town of Schwafassen. We got some great photos before heading back on the bus to take the drive through the Black Forest. The Black forest got its name from the narrow trees that make is very very dark and brings out lots of legends and myths. The Grimm brothers wrote all of their stories based on the Black Forest and there are many stories about trolls, dwarfs and other mythical creatures. We made our way to the Hofgut Sternen – a family run shop where they make cuckoo-clocks which was actually a lot more interesting than I had thought. We saw one of (if not the) largest cuckoo clocks and then saw an informative demonstration about how the clocks worked. The cuckoo is made out of wood and cotton and is basically the music box, mechanism (from Switzerland) and the cuckoo. They are all the same here in Black Forest except for the design in which there are 120 different types of clocks that all tell a story. I didn’t realize how intricate and different they could all be! We enjoyed some delicious Black Forest Cake before jumping back on the bus to head north to Heidelberg.             Heidelberg is the oldest university town in Germany and the second oldest in all of Europe. It is known for its literature and philosophy along with its castle- Schloss Heidelberg. We went and saw the castle ruins (and saw a random fox on a leash..) while enjoying some pretzels and checking out the worlds largest wine barrel (heaven!). The town was super cute and was filled with old buildings, small streets and even the longest pedestrian walkway in Germany.  Nik told us a lot about the extensive history of the city (the good and the bad) and we stopped into a few other small museums and stores. The one thing I didn’t get to do that I would’ve loved to have tried in the city was the Furnicular (basically a gondola) but the line was super long and we wanted to explore more- ah well! There is always next time!             We made it to the hotel Exelsior around 7 and wandered around it for while. It was very modern from the outside but had many touches of its old charm. The lobby was super cute and inviting. The bathrooms were super retro but really big and fitting for the hotel. We had an amazing buffet dinner of zucchini boats, rice. wedges and schnitzel which was all delicious along with fruit and pudding for dessert. We ended the evening as a big group talking about our favourite part of the trip and then singing Oh Canada which was pretty special. Everyone hugged good bye (and exchanged social media accounts of course) before heading to bed for the flights home.

Sunday March 20th, 2016           Sadly, I was the first one to leave in the am as my flight was the earliest. Originally the company wanted all of us (meaning the three of us) going to Ontario to go to the airport at the same time but that sounded just silly! Nik called me a cab at 0600 and had a great spread for breakfast to go ready for me. The drive to the Frankfurt airport was about 45 with little traffic and I managed to learn a bit more about the area from the cab driver. My flight home was just under 8 hours and was average with plenty of movie options and snacks. All in all, this was a great mini EuroTrip. While I have many other places I would like to visit (and maybe even return to) it gave me a taste of the continent and made me eager to see more! Until next time!

[tyleroakley-obsessed]

Ed Note: Wondering what to expect at the 2017 Memphis Comedy Fest headliner shows on Friday and Saturday nights (March 10 and 11)? Contributor Kate Schnack has you covered Q&A with Baron Vaughn Black Nerd Power Comedy Hour – if the name alone isn’t intriguing enough for you, the man performing should be the the extra kick in your pants needed to check it out. Baron Vaughn is taking the stage for this headliner show at Memphis Comedy Festival this Saturday. Baron, most recently known for his role as Bud on Netflix’s popular Grace and Frankie, and was also on the USA Network’s Fairly Legal, and been in films like Black Dynamite, Cloverfield and The Other Guys. He has been showering the world with his hot jokes just about everywhere – Conan (twice), Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and Comedy Central’s The Half Hour. He also is the self-proclaimed “Master of Festivals,” most notably performing in the HBO U.S. Comedy Arts Festival, SXSW and countless others including our very own this weekend. Baron has a new comedy recording, Blaxistential Crisis, so be sure to check that out. All this adds up to one thing: Baron is awesome, and you need to go see the Black Nerd Power Comedy Hour. He was gracious enough to answer a few of my questions, so read away for more: Katie: Welcome to Memphis! Have you been here before and what are you most excited to do while in town. Baron: I’ve been to Memphis a few times. FIrst time I came there was when I performed at Rhodes College many many years ago. After that it was probably when I moved from NYC to LA and drove across the country. Drove down south first and then took I-40 across the country. Stopped into Graceland and found out that I want my own Jungle Room. Katie: Grace and Frankie is an awesome show. What is it like playing Lily Tomlin’s son? Baron: Luckily she laughed when I called her Lily Momlin. What can I say besides all the rumors are true? She’s great. So fun to work with. Fun to improvise with. It fills me with joyous insanity when I make her laugh. She’s the best. AROUND. Nothing’s gonna ever keep her doooooown. Katie: You also co-star with Jane Fonda. How is it working with her, and does she ever make you exercise on set? Baron: Jane is also great. Her own version of great. It’s like hanging with benevolent royalty. As for the exercise, I feel embarrassed. She’s more fit than I have ever been.   Katie: Tell us about your stand up style – what can people expect. Baron: Well, to me the point of stand up is to discover that style. It’s an ongoing experiment to push oneself to the next level. My style is hard to explain because it’s my style. It’s just the way I know how to do things – characters, voices, songs, one-liners, stories, puns, absurdity – I use everything to get my point across. I talk about everything under the sun. I also talk about things OVER the sun. And by that I mean space. I think about comedy like it’s jazz – word jazz. Katie: What projects are you working on right now and where can people find you next? Baron: Season 3 of Grace and Frankie comes out March 24th. Also, I’m the new voice of Tom Servo on the upcoming revival of Mystery Science Theater 3000 (season 11) which comes out on Netflix April 14th. I made a documentary about reuniting with my biological dad called Fatherless out on the Fusion Network on April 2nd. I have a stand up showcase co-hosted by Open Mike Eagle called The New Negroes which we do monthly here in LA. I’m movin’ and shakin’. Especially the shakin’ part. — The Black Nerd Power Comedy Hour is Saturday, March 11 at 9 p.m., Theatreworks. $25, 21+ Find more on Baron at his website, and send him a welcome to Memphis tweet on Twitter. Q&A with Dominic Dierkes When you are laughing at some of your favorite TV shows, you may just be laughing at the creative genius of someone who once roamed these very streets. Dominic Dierkes, one of the headliners at this year’s Memphis Comedy Festival, grew up right here in town and got his start doing stand up as a teenager in Overton Square. He has since moved to Los Angeles pastures where he is killing it as a writer, actor, and of course, stand up comic. He’s done the whole late night talk show thing – check out his great Conan set here. As an actor, he has appeared on Community, Parks & Recreation, House of Lies, Mad Men, Weeds, and Workaholics. But the goodness doesn’t just end there – the has written for the Peabody award-winning Onion News Network and many TV shows including Ash vs. Evil Dead, Workaholics, The Grinder, The Mick, and Making History. (Side note – If you haven’t checked out The Mick yet – it’s one of my faves.) I was able to connect with him to just learn a little bit more about the man behind the microphone. Read on, friends: Katie: Word on the street is you are a native Memphian – give us the details! Dominic: The word on the street is correct! I was born and raised in Memphis. Lived in Collierville until I was about seven. Then we moved to Bartlett where I lived until I moved to New York for college. I spent most of my grade school years at Holy Rosary and then went to high school at Christian Brothers. I’m definitely a product of the Memphis Catholic School System. Katie: What do you miss most about Memphis when you are in Los Angeles? Dominic: Well, I’ve lived in either New York or Los Angeles for the last fifteen years so it makes it harder to keep in touch with friends and family. I have a lot of extended family in Memphis since my parents were both born and raised here so I’d say I miss seeing them most. Them and the giant mirrored pyramid that houses a Bass Pro Shop. Seeing that thing always makes me feel at home. Katie: When you were living in Memphis, did you do any comedy? Was anyone here an inspiration to you in choosing this career? Dominic: I did! I started doing stand-up comedy in 1999 when I was fifteen years old. I performed at the Loony Bin Comedy Club that used to be in Overton Square. At first, I was just doing their open mic nights and then eventually I started touring around on the road a little bit. When I was coming up at the Loony Bin, there was already a pretty established community of local comics. I remember looking up to guys like T.R. Degraw, and Mo Alexander for how hilarious they were doing such dark material. They have a real talent for making an audience laugh at something they consciously know they should be offended by. Having spent so much time on the road, they were both kinda bulletproof. I’m grateful for that whole group of comics at the Loony Bin during that time. It was a very welcoming community and being around that scene only made me want to get more and more into the comedy world. Katie: Give us the gist of your comedy style – what can people expect at your show? Dominic: I guess I’d say my comedy style is “observational,” but mostly I just try to do the funny type of comedy. Katie: What projects are you working on right now, and where will people see you next? Dominic: I just finished writing for the first seasons of two TV shows, The Mick and Making History. They’re both on FOX and the Making History episode I wrote is on this Sunday at 7:30 p.m. CT after The Simpsons. It’s a half-hour time travel comedy starring Adam Pally and Leighton Meester. It’s a great show with an awesome cast and I hope people check it out. — Make sure you go see Dominic at the Don’t Be Afraid of the Comedy showcase this Friday, March 10, 8:00 p.m. at The Hi Tone. Tickets are $10, 21+. Also, say him to him on Facebook and Twitter. More details on Memphis Comedy Festival can be found here, and at http://ift.tt/1EHvUHj.   Are you a home owner in Memphis, with a broken garage door? Call ASAP garage door today at 901-461-0385 or checkout http://ift.tt/1B5z3Pc

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