http://epagu.com/blog/ Around the World en-us Nucleus CMS v3.51 © Weblog http://backend.userland.com/rss http://epagu.com/blog//nucleus/nucleus2.gif http://epagu.com/blog/ http://epagu.com/blog/index.php?itemid=112
I am extremely busy with a lot of work this week (approximately 9 hour days), and then there is a lot of stuff I need to take care of for Fulbright too. I really don't have much energy now between these two, so this is probably the last entry I will write from Finland.]]> General http://epagu.com/blog/index.php?itemid=112 Tue, 11 Aug 2009 09:57:59 +0300 http://epagu.com/blog/index.php?itemid=110
After the Reichstag Dror and I went to die Brandenburg Tur, which is used for many symbolic invasions of the city. At this gate there was a gathering for bicyclists for peace, which is a global bike ride for peace, and a man who would pass for a Santa Claus was giving a speech. While walking in the area around the arch, it become obvious that Berlin is an area that is very politically active and culturally aware. We saw groups protesting situations in the Middle East or the copyright laws. Actually the day before we got there, CNN had ran a story about the groups protesting in this area.

After die Brandenburg Tur, we went to the Berliner Dom (Berlin Cathedral). Below the cathedral is the crypt, where the Kaisers are laid to rest. You can view their coffins and see the different members of the German royal family. One thing to really notice is that there was a lot of infant mortality in this family, which I attribute to inbreeding and also a lower standard of health than today. A wedding was occurring on the next level up, and we were able to watch part of the wedding in the beautiful and grand cathedral (see some of the pictures posted from the trip). However they did not take their time with the wedding and it was over before we knew it, probably because of how busy the cathedral is.

Anyone is able to go to the top of the cathedral and go outside on the roof top. From there we could hear people yelling, and then eventually saw a march. It was for Germany's Pirate Party, which is the party that calls for reform in copyright laws, because of the recent Pirate Bay ruling. After we made it back down, we met up with one of Dror's friends for lunch in a Turkish restaurant. There is a large Turkish immigrant population in the area around Dror's flat and in another neighborhood near where he lives. After the late lunch and some resting (watching movies, actually I took a nap, and catching up online), we went out again for the evening. This time a club nearby hosted a Turkish party, so we decided to go to that. It was a lot of fun because we were able to just dance and not get bothered by anyone, so it was kind of like when we went clubbing in Hong Kong, although maybe even a bit better because we were able to dance and have a good time.

The next morning we woke up late and headed over to one of the remaining parts of the Berlin Wall. Since this is really just a concrete structure that actually looks a little ugly, the city has allowed artists to claim plots and then paint on them. There were some nice pictures on the wall, and we took some photos next to these artworks. It is always hard to imagine the city divided because one can easily move between the east and wester Berlin districts today, but the reminders of the wall are throughout the city. Sometimes there will be a brick line that indicates where the wall used to be built, and other times there will still be one block of the wall still standing.

Afterwards we went to an art exhibition about Dali. My roommate from Estonia that I am living with this summer is obsessed with Dali, so I learned a lot about the guy—some good but even more bad. After seeing some of the works that my roommate showed me and hearing stories about how he was a womanizer made me a little uncertain, but this exhibition was extremely satisfying because it displayed many of his lesser known works that are not so scandalous. It showed many of his works that he did to illustrate famous works of fiction like Dante's Inferno or Alice in Wonderland.

After the exhibition we headed over to some of the memorials made for victims of the holocaust that are near the Brandenburg Tur. The one made in remembrance of the Jewish victims is very large but has a powerful effect since it is very simple as well. There are tall bricks that are about the same area as a coffin that are not of even height in relation to each other, and that is all you see until you go into the memorial and then you quickly sink down. It is a powerful message that one cannot forget.

Unfortunately we both had to draw my visit to an end because he has to study for a final German exam and I have to return to work in Finland. However I had a great time seeing an old friend from Hong Kong, and I got to practice German. Dror—I'm holding you to Tel Aviv one day and then Thailand another.]]> General http://epagu.com/blog/index.php?itemid=110 Fri, 31 Jul 2009 14:39:38 +0300 http://epagu.com/blog/index.php?itemid=109
After the doctor helped me find the right medicine brands that would be in the pharmacy and also gave me a sick note, she prescribed warm coffee/tea and one of my favourite prescriptions. She told me I had to eat lots of ice cream--the best prescription of all. She did a better job at prescribing ice cream than Crawford Long. Okay. Time for some more sleeping and relaxing.

//459]]> General http://epagu.com/blog/index.php?itemid=109 Mon, 27 Jul 2009 20:03:05 +0300 http://epagu.com/blog/index.php?itemid=106
So now I need to just continue to work around vacations and change my procedure again. Oh well, just a little while longer and then everyone should be back.]]> General http://epagu.com/blog/index.php?itemid=106 Thu, 23 Jul 2009 09:12:58 +0300 http://epagu.com/blog/index.php?itemid=105 I met Anne-Leena's nephew at the Mariehamn ferry terminal, and from there I went to Pommern during his first training session. The Pommern is a museum ship that is also the best preserved cargo sailing ship. I was extremely impressed with this because I easily spent over an hour here (I think close to two) and I could have spent even more. Åland's economy depends on shipping, so this museum went into details not only on the ship, but also on shipping in general and a little into how it affects Åland. There was also a museum of shipping next door that was very small and had many artifacts. It was to the point of being overwhelming, but this illustrated the importance of shipping on the economy.

From there we went to a Reggae night at a club, which has drunk Finnish people (of course). Åland is small enough that I was told that the same people go out so everyone kind of knows everyone. Right now during tourist season there are some tourists who will go clubbing as well, though. However I woke up early that day so the clubbing was not the highest priority.

The next morning Kim took me to see Bomarsund Fortress Ruins and Kastelholm Castle. Bomarsund ruins were built by Russia in 1832 (during Russian occupation—remember Finland was occupied by Sweden and Russia during most of its history) and were destroyed in the Crimean War in 1854. The ruins were mostly destroyed so Russia could rebuild and then take over the fort again, but the ruins are in pretty good shape, considering that. There were also extremely heavy cannons at this site as well, although now they are there for people to look at rather than for shooting. Kastelholm castle is much bigger than I expected and we had to breeze through it so that Kim would make his next training. But it was also very well restored and there were a lot of items there, so one could spend a long time there looking at everything.

We then went out on a boat trip to one of the other islands. The one we went to had excellent smoked salmon and chocolate cake. People could swim, hike, or just hang out (on the boats or on the ground) and we made it a leisurely afternoon. Of course going on the Baltic is always fun, and even more fun when going by small boat. When the weather is good in Finland, then one should just go and be lazy in the sun and relax.

After dinner we went to the Maritime quarter to see what was going on there. They had some sort of polka dancing—think Helen, GA's Bierhalle during the tourist months—so we decided to go adventure golfing. I need to say that this adventure golfing course was very difficult, more so than ones in the United States that I have been to. It was also cool because it had a pub/cafe part added onto the golfing part so that one could have a beer and sandwich or even a full dinner before or after golfing. Although people were even going to this place to have dinner or a beer and not golf. Just a cool concept.

The next day was a rest day before work started again. On the Vikingline boat I took my third practice GRE (more on that probably in a later entry) and read my book. Some Finnish grandmas decided to sit next to me. Despite their ability to only say “speak English not good,” they were determined to teach me some Finnish words. So I learned “lippo” (island) “laive” (boat) and “vasa” (water). They were nice and it was an entertaining way to spend about 2 hours of a 6 hour journey.

My coworkers told me that I would have a very peaceful weekend on Åland; although they were partially teasing because Mariehamn and Åland are small and have low populations. However I enjoyed the peaceful weekend because it was a break from other possible hectic travels. The weather was good and I got to enjoy the warmth, but I also was able to relax a bit at Åland too, since these next few weeks will be much more hectic.

//614]]> General http://epagu.com/blog/index.php?itemid=105 Tue, 21 Jul 2009 09:21:25 +0300 http://epagu.com/blog/index.php?itemid=104
-Get some results, hopefully
-Go to Åland
-Go to Berlin
-Go to Budapest
-Take the GRE
-Buy gifts for people--yes this one still needs to be done
-Relax and recover from this summer before one of the toughest semesters yet starts
-Make it home, which will be an interesting journeyBut yeah, hopefully the weather stays nice here these next 4 weeks so that I get to enjoy the sun a bit before I return. These 10hrs/day weeks finish after today! The scary part is that there are 19 more working days left, including today...

734]]> General http://epagu.com/blog/index.php?itemid=104 Thu, 16 Jul 2009 08:32:11 +0300 http://epagu.com/blog/index.php?itemid=101
So I'm not worried, because I have medicine and the doctor didn't seem concerned. So just rest, relax and enjoy my time traveling and working. That's all I need to do.]]> General http://epagu.com/blog/index.php?itemid=101 Tue, 14 Jul 2009 13:21:40 +0300 http://epagu.com/blog/index.php?itemid=99
The most central place that we went was Connaught Place (or CP for short). Here is a note of love from Spiegel: Chicken hot dogs outside the US are gross. When we went to CCD for a small snack, her hotdog was more of a salted sausage rather than a hotdog, so we had to go to KFC instead. Inside the US KFC is awful. However, like Hong Kong, KFC is really good in India (well good in the fastfood sense). Other notable times in in CP were seeing Terminator in the movie theater and also getting lost on the way to a store that Esther and Spiegs had been to before.

However I need to say that the most impressive place that we went [in my opinion] is the Bahai Temple, for the Bahai faith. The faith is rather all-inclusive, and they have many followers and a few famous temples around the world. The architecture was very impressive in this temple because it is a concrete structure that is influenced by the appearance of a lotus flower. If you look at the pictures that we took of it, you can definitely see this structure. What really made this visit to this temple special is that we came at exactly the right time to see a prayer session take place. The service was in English and other languages, since the faith is all-inclusive and it was interesting to observe. It was hot in the temple though because there are no fans or air conditioning. The pools around the temple cool it, but not that much in the hot Delhi weather.

We also went to a handicrafts market after fighting with or driver over and over again that we could not afford many of the items in the shops he took us to. The market switches out its vendors every 14 days so there is a variety of items on sale throughout the year. I didn't find anything of interest there, but there were more scarves, so Indian home remedies, etc that were elsewhere, but it was nice to go there. We also went to a marketplace that sells items that have imperfections and cannot be exported from India. It was not too busy since we went on a Monday and most of the shops were closed, but it was a nice way to spend some time.

Getting around Delhi is pretty crazy, although often you just hire someone else to take you around places. The Metro system mirrors that of Hong Kong's in many ways, so I know there is influence coming from that as this system grows and becomes more prominent. The Autos and rickshaws are also good ways to get around from place to place, because walking is often more dangerous than just paying someone to drive you. I mean this city is pretty crazy!]]> General http://epagu.com/blog/index.php?itemid=99 Mon, 13 Jul 2009 10:17:43 +0300 http://epagu.com/blog/index.php?itemid=98
So of course I saw the Taj Mahal! It is very beautiful and a national pride of everyone who is there (maybe it's to get tourists to go there?). However cars can only get so close before one has to take a camel, rickshaw, bike, etc so on our entrance the only way to get to the Taj is by rickshaw. Spiegel and the girls were approaching from the east gate so they were able to ride camels to the Taj. The Taj is known as a symbol of a man's love for his wife, since he built this tomb to hold her after life. And it is indeed a very grand symbol of love for the record.

I also went to see the Agra fort for a few minutes, which was also very beautiful. I got a picture of myself outside of it because it is red and busy. When I did that a lot of people were staring (more so than usual) before the people trying to sell me trinkets again tried to catch my attention. These people drove my guide crazy throughout the day, but I think he is slightly used to it because he takes many Westerners on tours of Agra every year.

I know I disappointed my guide because he took me to some shops as well, but I didn't purchase much. Typically when you hire guides or go on tours, your guide or bus will stop along the trip at stores and restaurants. More often than not these places are more expensive and the guides get a small part of the profit from the sales. Unfortunately this guide did not know he had a student who had just been shopping a few days before with the Guptas, so I was set and didn't get anything but some tea.]]> General http://epagu.com/blog/index.php?itemid=98 Mon, 13 Jul 2009 10:17:00 +0300 http://epagu.com/blog/index.php?itemid=97
However now is when I start missing everything much more than the beginning part of the trip. This is mainly because I am starting to think about how life will be after my return. A lot has occurred during these past few months, and I haven't been part of it. Now that the return is approaching extremely fast, I have to think about how life will be when I get back. Of course I have fallen in love with my mobile phone never ringing (it's a really nice feeling), so I know I will have an adjustment to actually using it for more than laundry. But there are many other things that have changed or that I have become used to over this summer; usually I cannot name them as easily until after I depart.One thing that I really want to make clear to everyone is that I am never "homesick." I never miss home or Atlanta. Not in the same way that I miss Hong Kong. I have learned over these two trips that I really just miss the people who live at home. I miss my family, friends and other people who have a large influence on my life. I have done pretty good keeping in touch with people who do mean a lot, although this summer is has been more difficult than I initially imagined. The visits are nice, but after people leave I spend about 1-2 days in a cloud--usually a mix of elation and sadness. So now that I have met amazing people, what will happen this next year?

However I have had to determine that if I have one more small health issue I will have to go to the doctor for a mass appointment. Whether that doctor is here or in the US is up to the insurance company. Right now they are declaring that I can either go to Helsinki (2 hours, 40 USD one way trip) or go into the Turku ER (500 USD). For that reason I have avoided going to the doctor when my foot pulled or when I first noticed some aphthous ulcers. However both conditions have not really healed themselves, so now I have decided that is one more thing happens over these next 5 weeks I will consider my options for medical care. So currently accessible health care is something I miss too.

Don't get me wrong--the healthcare in Finland is accessible. Just not to me because my health insurance company has never heard of Turku/Åbo, Finland. But I'll be fine. I already removed the SLS from my toothpaste so the ulcers will hopefully go away.

Just a few more weeks and I'll be heading home. In a way it's comforting, but in a way it's also scary.

So next entry I'll try to write about Delhi. Have a good evening.]]> General http://epagu.com/blog/index.php?itemid=97 Sun, 12 Jul 2009 21:30:21 +0300