Toronto

In ninth grade my English class went to Toronto for a field trip. We stayed right downtown at the Sheraton, so it made it really easy to get everywhere. We visited the CN tower, the University of Toronto as well as just touring the city. When we were there they had large sculptures of moose around the city that were painted in tons of different designs. We would try and take pictures of them when we saw them. Originally we were going to try and get tickets for the Lion King on stage, but the show was sold out well in advance. The show we went to was Mama Mia which features all ABBA music. It was a really fun show and the cast did a great job. I would suggest seeing it if you get the chance. The plot is a little crazy at times, but it's definitely fun to see how they include the different ABBA music. One of the other things that I really enjoyed on the trip was going to one of the Toronto Islands. We just got to wander around the island and amuse ourselves. One of the things that I remember the most, is seeing a sign in the park saying "Please walk on the grass." I don't know, it just puts a smile on my face. Toronto should definitely be on your places to visit, and I'm actually going back there this spring.

Soccer Trips

I have had many soccer trips over the years, but I'll write about a few of the more memorable ones. They were to Toronto, Iowa, Dallas, and Memphis.

The trip to Toronto was a last minute plan. I was asked to play only a few days before we were to leave, but I gave up all of my hours at work so that I could go. I rode with Coach Rogers, Emily, Jill, and Maggie (Emily and Maggie are Coach's daughters). It was July and about half way there, the air conditioning breaks. We were definitely hot, but we had a fun trip playing different games. When we were finally nearing Toronto, Jill told Coach that it seemed like there was a short-cut off the high-way. It ended up not being a short cut as you can imagine, with "single" lanes and people driving on the parallel parking as long as there wasn't a car there. The team stayed at a college, the dorms were actually pretty nice, especially since we only had to be there for a weekend. We played well, advancing to the semi-finals, but we couldn't make it to the finals. Although it didn't end up how we wanted, it was a good weekend.

Iowa was probably my favorite place to play. It was the first weekend in August so it would be ridiculously hot, but we always played our best soccer there. It was a college showcase, so tons of coaches from the Midwest would come to watch us play and try to recruit us. We stayed in the same hotel for both years, and the day before our first game, we would take a run along the Mississippi River to loosen our legs from the long drive. For some reason that showcase brought out the best in us.

Another tournament that we went to was in Dallas. It was a college showcase, but still had a champion. Our playing was definitely not the best part of the trip. We had three games, two of which were against the North Texas State Champs and the South Texas State Champs and we lost 0-6 and 0-3. It didn't help not being able to have our coach with us. But my fondest memory of the trip has going to a steakhouse and squaredancing. We also got a picture of all of us on their two story slide.

Our team also went to Memphis for a tournament. It was strange because it was in the first week of December, so all of the grass was dead, but there wasn't any snow. Since we were in Memphis we went to the home of Elvis Presley; it's pretty insane. We also went downtown Memphis and went to a piano bar for dinner. All of the tournaments that we went on ended up being a great experience.

Road Trip Out West

When I was about 7 or 8 my family (mom, dad, brother, and I) took a road trip out west to visit the National Parks as well as San Francisco where my brother was born. It was the four of us in a full-size van for 17-18 days.

The trip started out in Traverse City, my hometown, and we drove south around Chicago and through the great plains. Both my brother and I played soccer, and we wished we could play on fields that were that flat. We continued through Colorado and into Utah were we visited the Mormon Tabernacle and the Great Salt Flats. The Great Salt Flats were really strange to me. It seemed like it was snow, but it wasn't cold and had a strange texture. I just remember that I got salt all over myself.

We then drove on to Nevada and stayed in Reno for a night. I was too young, so we just walked through a casino to get to the restaurant. After that, we went to Lake Tahoe and spent a few hours climbing on the large rocks that surround the lake. My brother and I really enjoyed that.

Our uncle and aunt lived in California, so we stopped to visit them before we headed on to Yosemite National Park where we stayed in a small cabin that had a view of "Half Dome." It's very pretty and I would like to go back there someday. We moved on to San Francisco where we saw the Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman's Wharf, and the house where my brother was born. Now, we were on our way back east.

On the way home we took a different route, driving north out of San Fran, going through Napa Valley, into Oregon and Idaho, stopping at Big Mountain, Montana. Although it was summer, there was still some snow on the mountain and we pretended to ski in our tennis shoes. From there we drove to Glacier International Peace Park. What I remember from this part of the trip was not being able to walk up a mountain because I was too young and not dressed "appropriately" for the snow. My mother now apologizes for not letting me go. That was the last of our major sight seeing; we drove back home through Montana, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and across the Mackinaw Bridge. It was quite an adventure for just two and a half weeks, and without many reservations.

Spain: León to Santiago

I'm going to talk about my experience in the Global Intercultural Experience for Undergraduates (GIEU) which I mentioned before. GIEU provides a way for students to go abroad without having to study. There are several different field sites each year, and mine was to Spain. (For more info on GIEU)

The group was made up of 14 students and 2 instructors, and we hiked part of el Camino de Santiago, or St. James' Way, an old pilgrimage route. We started in León and hiked to Santiago, which is about 300-320 kms. The whole trip was amazing. We met so many great people and it was so beautiful. When we finally reached the end, I didn't want to stop.

To give you a little more info about thepilgrimagee. The cathedral in Santiago is supposed to contain the remains of St. James, one of Jesus' disciples. Many people would journey to Santiago in order to be absolved or to be healed.

There are some many great experiences from my trip, so I will just tell you a few of them. As I said, we met many great people, but one in particular was Machi. He is a doctor from Chile and he did the whole camino barefoot. The first time we met him, he was coming in to the albergue (hostel for pilgrims) while we were having dinner. He looked so exhausted and sore. We offered him some of our food and talked with him, and he became our friend. It seemed from then on, we would stop in the same places as him. One of the students even visited in Chile when he was studying abroad. He is a great person and will always be remembered.

Another person that we met and befriended was Luis. He ran the albergue in Tricastela. After we had eaten, he gave us a tour of the city and we learned a lot of its history. We also invited him to eat with us for dinner, which he accepted. I guess the easiest way to build a friendship is to eat together. After dinner, Luis prepared queimada for us. Queimada is aalcoholicc drink in Galicia (a province of Spain), but is only made a few times a year. This was a very unique experience, because it is not something he did for any pilgrims that stayed with him. This is another experience that I will never forget.

There are many more stories like this that I will never forget. If you think that this is interesting here is the official website:
El Camino de Santiago
You can also check out our blog from the trip.

The group in front of the Cathedral in Santiago

Spain: Madrid

Between my Freshman and Sophomore years of college (Summer 2004), I traveled to Spain as part of the Global Intercultural Experience for Undergraduates (GIEU). I'll post later about my experience with the group, but I flew into Madrid a week before the program started, so that I could see more of the city.

I traveled around Madrid with Yasmin, who was also part of the GIEU group. We stayed in a hostel on the Gran Ví­a, which is the major tourist strip, and it was still really cheap. When we first got there, we didn't have any set plans, which I think is a good thing. Each day we picked out one or two things that we really wanted to do and after that we would normally wander around and take in the city. We did do some of the main tourist things. We went to the three main art museums: Prado, Reina Sofia, and Thyssen-Bornemisza. We also made it to the Royal Palace, although they were not giving tours because of the upcoming wedding of Prince Felipe and Letizia Rocasolano. Yasmin and I made it to many of the famous plazas as well, sometimes by accident.

This is me at the Plaza Mayor

One of the most memorable experiences happened when we were just wandering around. We came across a small plaza and decided to take a break. Some small children were kicking a ball around (it was more like a kickball then a soccer ball). I tried to join in, but it didn't work out to well. Then, Yasmin saw a group of college-age people and she really liked how they were dressed, so she asked if she could have a photo with them. That is how our encounter began, but we ended up going with them to a student hang-out where we celebrated one of their birthdays. It was a lot of fun, and i think you should definitely try and interact with natives wherever you visit.

Yasmin (far right) with our Spanish friends

Japan

Between my junior and senior years of high school, I went to Japan for two weeks in July as part of the Michigan Dept. of Education's Shiga/Michigan Cultural Exchange Program. Shiga is a province in Japan; it's most famous attribute is Lake Biwa, which is the largest lake in Japan. I stayed with a family in Hikone, Japan where I went to school with their daughter and was able to gain a larger understanding of their daily lives.

Japan is a very interesting country with a lot of history. While I was there, I visited the Hikone Castle which was built in the 17th century. It was very pretty and you are able to go inside the castle which was interesting. I also visited Kyoto during one of their festivals. One of the stories that was the most interesting to me had to do with the wishing tree. Each year people attach their wishes to a tree of branch as part of the festival. The story behind it is that there were two lovers who were not supposed to see each other (read the story Tanabata). In the end, they became the two stars Altair and Vega, and are only allowed to meet once a year, on July 7th, when the stars face each other. If, however, it is cloudy and rainy, then the lovers can not meet, and if this happens, your wish will not come true.

While in Kyoto, I also visited one of the shrines which is called Kiyomizudera ("Pure Water Temple"). The temples were very elaborate, but the main feature at this temple was the fountain of water, which is how it got it's name. It is supposed to have healing powers and anyone who visits can take a drink from it.

I would definitely recommend visiting Japan and especially Kyoto and Hikone. Here are some websites where you can learn more about Japan:

• Hikone
• Kyoto
• Photos