OXFORD

Tomorrow morning I take off for Oxford! AH! I am feeling much better now, though I have a pretty bad cough. Hopefully it will clear up soon....I am taking some pills for it. I am excited about the next program, but a little overwhelmed! I will write again when I get there!!!! Miss you all!

Fever in Paris

Well I made it safely to Paris, but realized I had been awake for 42 hours by the time I went to sleep. I woke up thinking I was sleeping on a bunch of pockets and realized I had a fever. Thank God I came to Paris because I called Kate and she and Dan took care of me. Today I feel much much better, but still a little strange. The more I sleep the better, so I am trying to do a lot of that.

Paris is not the same without the group, but it is still amazing and beautiful. Hopefully I can get back into the swing of things tomorrow. Miss you all!

Sniffles

Everybody is gone. I am so sad! How can you go from constant contact with 11 other people for 5 weeks and then suddenly have no one? This is definitely hard to get used to.

I take off for a train to Paris in 20 minutes so I better get going. I will never EVER EVER forget this amazing trip.......hopefully my next entry will be more upbeat.

Hiking in the Alps...

I spent today hiking in the most beautiful mountain ever. Zach and I took off on a train this morning and arrived in Sierre after an hour and hopped on a bus for a small town that starts with a V (can't remember). On the bus ride up the mountain a bunch of French kids were singing some really pretty songs in the back. After the pretty French songs they started singing Maroon 5 and the singing all went downhill from there. Once we got to the little town we headed off on a random trail toward St. Luc. Little did we know that the hike we were about to take would last for hours because of detours, but it was sooooooo worth it.

At one point along the trail we came to a little meadow where it sounded like there were sprinklers and we were a little perplexed. The "sprinklers" were actually thousands of crickets that covered the entire ground and leapt up as we walked. We could literally put our hands out and grab them. After walking through the forest for a while we suddenly came across this enormous meadow with a little wooden shack in the middle and when we turned around, our mouths literally dropped at the view of the Swiss Alps. It was so beautiful. We took millions of pictures and Zach took a video of me running in circles like Maria in "The Sound of Music."

After about three hours we started getting worried because our hike was only supposed to last an hour and we had nothing to eat or drink. We began to hear a tiny tinkling of bells ahead of us, which we hoped meant that a village was near. As we wandered forward we realized that it was a group of cows with cowbells around their necks.....they were so cute! The sound of the bells reminded me of reading Heidi when I was 11 and dreaming of living on a farm in Switzerland. It is funny because everything that happens here is like a story book.

Once we passed the cows we heard the sound of water and got excited to cool off from the heat of the hike. The river turned out to be absolutely freezing so we only put our feet in, but it felt good nevertheless. Finally after TONS of walking, we came upon St. Luc and stumbled into the first restaurant we could find. The food there was SO good! I don't know if it was that good because I was starving or because hiking makes you feel like you've earned it or what, but it was sooooooo delicious. We had warm goat cheese on toast and ham and pepperoni and salad.....yum yum yum.

With full stomachs we wandered over to the bus stop and lay out in a field as we waited for the bus to come. What an amazing day. I am the luckiest girl on the planet. I am smiling as I type this because I am still excited by these adventures. Wow. With that, I think I will go to sleep. Love you all! Goodnight.

Flying high!

Today I jumped off a mountain! Yep yep yep. After some serious convincing, I went paragliding with a bunch of the girls and it was so incredible. You are basically strapped on to a guy who is holding a parachute and you run down this little hill and suddenly take off into the air 4,000 feet above the ground. It was so peaceful and beautiful and the sun was setting and ahhhhhhhhhhhhh it was crazy. I took lots and lots of pictures and even a video. Coolest thing ever! Anyway, I have to work on a paper now....only a few more days of the program left!!!!!

Nestle

I just got back from our last site visit...NESTLE! It was the best venue we have been too....hehehehe. They fed us a three course meal! Most places don't even give us water! We got a salad, chicken with mushrooms and noodles and the most amazing sorbets. I haven't eaten that well in a loooooong time. Afterwards we got to shop for any Swiss chocolate that we wanted!!!! So fun! I felt like Augustus Gloop in Willy Wonka.

The sun is shining as usual here and the birds are chirping and Geneva is still as amazing as it was the first day. Tonight I am doing the most amazing thing on the planet, but I will not give it away for now to keep up the suspense......

Last night we all went out to a pub and had delicious sandwiches and laughed about good times. On the way back to the hotel I jumped into Lake Geneva in my clothes because it was so hot. It was a full moon and the water was so refreshing. I think I have found Heaven.

SO wierd!

Christiana was searching the net and randomly found this picture of our group at the European Broadcast Union....we visited them on Friday!!! Visit this site http://www.ebu.ch/en/union/news/2005/tcm_6-38578.php to see a picture....I am on the left, but you can barely see me. This is so funny!

Kayaking

How do I even begin to describe the day I have just had....? After sleeping in and having a delicious breakfast, I went kayaking on Lake Geneva with a bunch of people from the group. I could not stop gasping at the scenery. There was an enormous tree growing in the middle of the lake so we kayaked over. When I got to the tree (kind of like a willow), I paddled through some of the branches and underneath into this little area where the water was crystal clear and the sun was shining through the canopy..........SO AMAZING. The air was perfect, the water was perfect, the tree was perfect...AHGHHHH! How have I never seen these things before??? After staring at the tree for a good amount of time, I paddled out to the rest of the group and we connected our kayaks and swam around in the cool water. It was so refreshing and surreal. We kept asking each other "WHERE ARE WE?.....oh, that's right.....SWITZERLAND!"

Afterwards we took a bus back to the hotel and ate bread and cheese and cookies outside in the sun with a view of the mountains. I have never been more relaxed in my entire life. Then Michele, Zach and I wandered down to the lake to feed the ducks, but ended up swimming again and chatting on a bench in the fresh air.

Tonight we are going to a popular club in Laussane (do not know how to spell that), which should be fun. I think I will go lounge around now and take a nap....I can't believe I am saying all of this! I am in frikin GENEVA! Miss you all and I hope L.A. is sunny for you too.

Also, happy graduation, SEAN!!!

MONTREUX!

We are here! Our hotel is amazing. We get washing machines, free internet, free breakfast and a deck with a view of the Swiss Alps!!! It is so amazing. Everything here in Switzerland is so green, I love it! I am so tired, so I will sign off, but I miss you all!

Last Leg

Today is our last day in Prague and then we only have Geneva left. To celebrate, we are going on a boat cruise for dinner. It makes me VERY sad to think that this trip is nearly over.

Today we visited Burson Marsteller, a PR firm, and Ceska Television. Prague venues are especially difficult because of language differences and sometimes we have to have an interpreter. I am super excited for tonight....I get excited every night!! We got another homework assignment today though and I really really really don't want to do it. Oh well. Miss you all!

Black Light Theatre

Dobre Den!

I went to a black light theatre last night and had such an awesome time!!!!! It is basically theatre without spoken words performed in black light. All of the acts corresponded with Beatles songs coincidentally, so it was super fun to sing along and hear some familiar tunes. It is wierd how much you end up missing the music back home. Afterwards, Christiana, Zach and I had an amazing dinner. I got a goat cheese salad with cranberries, lettuce and toast.....SO GOOD.

We are about to visit the Prague Post, which is an English newspaper here that was established by some students from UCSB....should be interesting. Tonight we are seeing another black light show...this time it is Alice in Wonderland. Talk to ya'll soon!

Finally got a picture on here!

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This is a picture of some of us eating hotdogs in the freezing London air. I am not sure why I am having so much trouble with these pictures....but this one is pretty good!

Jazz Club...

We listened to some live jazz last night that would make you want to lounge around and listen to music for the rest of your life. The trombone player was drunk though and ended up falling flat on his face and hitting his teeth. It was a bit scary, but the night continued on.

Today we wandered over to the Prague Castle and then walked through a beautiful park that looks over the whole city. We all get along so well! It is great to have 11 new friends. We chatted about funny things we did when we were little and I had a couple of stories to throw in there.

Music is a huge deal here in Prague so we are all trying to take advantage of that and see as many concerts as we can. I think I am going to go to the black light theatre too because that is apparently a Prague-ish thing to do....haha.....should be interesting.

I am feeling kind of sick today so I think I am going to go lie down for a bit. Hope all is well in L.A. and everywhere else (depending on who is reading this). Toods!

The most beautiful city in the world!!!!

Another city, another completely different keyboard. If for some reason you see a z where there should be a y, it is because this keyboard is sooooooo wierd. Anyway, I am in Prague! After a long travel day (always frustrating because we have to keep 11 girls together for extended periods of time) we arrived at our hotel. The hotel is actually kind of scary because everything in it is so sterile and uniform. I am used to it now though. My new roomies are cool.....I am rooming with Christiana, Mom!

Today we went to Radio Free Europe and the U.S. Embassy. The Charles Bridge is so amazing. I took a million pictures from every angle...wish you had been there Ann! Tonight we are going to a jazz club. AHHHHHH I have to go!!! Talk to you later!!!!!

Nooooooo!

Ah! Everything is so hectic!!! We are leaving for Prague in a few minutes and I have been rushing around like a crazy person! Paris went by WAY too fast! I didn't even get a chance to shop at all. Yesterday I caught a pigeon though...very exciting. My bag is literally exploding with stuff and I haven't even bought anything. In each city I get progressively messier about how I pack.

I spent my last day here in venues and then went to Notre Dame and a boat ride on the River Seine (now I know how to spell it) with some wine and good friends. I am so sad to be leaving. Ah! I really have to go!!! I want to write more, but nooooooooooo! Love you all!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIKE!!!!!!!

I haven't been able to get online to say happy birthday to my 20-year-old brother!!!! Hope things in Washington D.C. are going well Mike!

Paris is a blast. This leg of the trip is passing by so fast! It felt like we were in London for so long and now our time in Paris is flying by. Yesterday I went to the Louvre to see the Venus de Milo and Mona Lisa (and LOTS of other things!) with my friends Zach, Michele and Lizzy. After that we wandered over to Napoleon's grave and stopped at a cafe on the way. I ordered THE most disgusting sandwich ever and pouted about losing 10 Euros for it, especially since the food here is generally so good. After Napoleon's grave we lay down in a nearby garden and soaked in the sun until it suddenly started raining. We started to walk back to our hotel and proceeded to get extremely lost. I don't know what we did so wrong, but it took us a good 2 hours to find our way back home...we even ran into Christen again!

Anyway, by the time we got back we were hungry again so we got some gelatos. Oh my sweet God they were so delicious. Mom you would die for the gelatos here! There was a guy in the gelato shop though who was from Los Angeles and he was hitting on Michele. He was wearing rollerblades and made everyone uncomfortable. He gave Michele his card and he is apparently a lawyer.....kinda like DAD...hehehehe!!!!! Michele is half Japanese and for some reason the French are very perplexed about her ethnicity. People always come up and hit on her and ask her where she is from and call her "China Lady." It is pretty awkward for all of us.

Well, I am off to Versailles for the day!!!! OH, I haven't been able to figure out how to put pictures on here, but I am working on it....no worries though because I am taking tons and tons of pictures!!!!! BYE!

Bonjour!!!!!

I am going to weigh a million pounds at the end of this trip!! The crepes and baguettes are so delicious!!!! We eat about a thousand times a day too. Today we went to BusinessWeek and then we chatted with a man who works at a communications firm in Belgium. Afterwards we had dinner and I met up with Christen Faltermeier!!!! It was so fun to see her!!!! We wandered around and I marveled at her fluent French. Tomorrow we are having a picnic under the Eiffel Tower and then we are going on a boat ride down the Sienne. I can't believe that I am even typing these places!!! I gotta run to bed! J'taime!

The Eiffel Tower

Please excuse any typos that may occur in this blog, the keyboards here in France have the letters in different places and I am finding it very hard to type. After a fun ride in the train today, the group arrived in Paris. Our hotel is adorable and very French. I only have one roommate while all of the other girls have two. This is especially good here because the rooms are incredibly small.

In the afternoon a bunch of us went to the very top of the Eiffel Tower. France is amazing!!!! I know I say that everything I have seen is "amazing," but it really truly is!!! All the buildings here are so old and intricate. Afterwards we all got ice cream and wandered around the town. The weather is absolutely perfect. It is just the right amount of hot and cold. Tomorrow I hope I can shop around because there are such great shops around here. Anyway, I gotta run and unpack some stuff for tomorrow. Toodles!