Energized!

I am in full swing of Fall quarter, and am fully excited and energized for my classes! Well, that is my two classes left standing... I admit there was a casualty this quarter, and I the awful class called GIS was the innocent by standard. GIS is a mapping program that involves inputting data and making layers on a map with that information. I am getting bored just thinking about it! So I had to let it go, it was way too time consuming and boring to continue on with that slow and painful death. So, see ya later GIS - and see ya later nerd squad in the dork dungeon (GIS lab)! I'm outta here!

My other classes are going really well, and both deal with economics - but not in the traditional sense. One class looks at community and the other one examines it on the global scale. Both interesting, and both with a couple of my favorite professors. In one of the classes, I am getting the opportunity to do a service option which includes working with the Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with this amazing non-profit and help them with community outreach in educating the public about the vision to clean up the Duwamish River for the future of the community. I plan on extending my work with them to continue an internship in the Winter quarter.

I have been so focused on school, but the thing is - it makes me so happy. I love the challenge, and I love learning about things that I am so passionate about. I feel as though my brain is operating on high levels, and it is so incredible! I hope to one day to see my friends more often, but in the meantime I have made amazing contacts in my Urban Studies program and hope to further those relationships into lasting friendships.

Heart Meter Filled...

This past weekend 7 of us girls went down to Portland to help celebrate Lisa's 30th birthday. We had the most fabulous dinner at OBA (http://www.obarestaurant.com/), They are a Latin infusion high end restaurant located in the Pearl District. A couple of the girls and I got there early and tried their happy hour black bean hummus which was incredible. Then we downed a couple of pitchers of mojitos... they also make pitchers of margaritas (in a variety of flavors) and sangria.

The dinner made me so happy! Homemade guacamole made at our table, coconut prawns, and other cheesy delights! I had the Cuban shrimp fried rice and the ceviche sampler. I can attest that the other girls orders were just as delicious, filled with spices and depth of flavors that we all awed over. My only complaint was that I ate so much I literally thought that I was going to barf!

For the rest of the night, it was just so fun to laugh and enjoy friends that I don't get to spend as much time with. I appreciate those people in my life who accept me for who I am, and who can understand that life is busy. Five years ago we would have been talking on the phone daily and seeing each other twice a week. Although time has passed, it is important to remember that true friends don't require so much attention. They just know that you are there for them no matter what, and time makes no difference in the amount of love you have for them.

Happy Birthday Sweet Liser!

The Sheridans came to the Pacific Northwest for a quick visit. I was beyond thrilled to see one of my dearest friends, Shawna and her family. She is one of the most amazing friends who never judges, and respects everyone. I love and miss her so much - that the little time we share together is so precious to me. It has been incredible to see her grow into a woman, a mother and a caring wife. She has made her life out in New Jersey with her husband Chris and little one Olivia. The big news are they are expecting their second daughter! I am so happy for them, and cannot wait to come visit and meet the newest addition to their loving family.

Till next time dear friend, you are in my heart and thoughts all the time!

Back to Reality

I'm officially back into the swing of things... had my first day back to work, my sleep schedule is back on track, and I am currently working on my 12 page paper due in 3 weeks. This paper has already had a few different paths, but has now evolved into the EU and how they promote "nationalism" within the context where they oppose "Muslim culture" which seems like just their excuse for opposing different cultures and identities. My experience in Europe proved to show a lot of similarities to how we treat minorities in the states. You are allowed to be called, "European" - but the European Identity has strong ties to Christian beliefs and would rather not have anything different representing or challenging those continuation of struggles to keep "western" ideals alive and well.

I am excited to continue my research on this topic as it hits close to home for me... Being multicultural in America has its challenges... although I am certainly more mature and educated than in my youth, I still feel a twinge of anger when people ask me "what I am" or "how long I've been in this country". Let me break it down for you... I was adopted when I was a year and a half years old. I am a U.S. citizen, have no accent and Identify myself as American. So when people ask me "what I am" I find myself now telling them American. Yes, I am not white - but why does that give people the right to decide that white is what Americans are, and any other ethnicity means that you are not actually American - but something else that needs to be explained.

I understand that many people are just curious, but what they don't realize is that asking questions and separating themselves from people who are residents in this country by asking questions like where they are from or what's more offensive "what are you" only perpetuates these stereotypes that white is the starting point of how a society can identify their culture. All others are outsiders left to either by too ethnically different for whites to accept or too "western" for people of their own background to accept.

Nationalism and Cultural Identity is something that fascinates me. Growing up as a multicultural person, I've always been interested at labels and expectations of the preconceived notions of what society wants you to be. They want you to be an expert on where you came from, but since we are products of our environments - many of us only know the cultural traditions that our families have made here in the states.

I hope that people will evolve into the next chapter of awareness and can look at all the different types of people in the states as simply North Americans. Some of us transplants, some of us with long historical family tree lines within the states, and some of us who have lived their whole lives as a non-white person but wholly an American citizen.

What does citizenship mean to you? How will you set aside your upbringing filled with propaganda and illusions of what it means to be part of a bigger national citizenship?

GOOD NEWS: one of my most favorite and influential professors has asked me to do paid research for her this summer. I feel extremely honored and look forward to going through this experience and hopefully learning a lot from this extraordinary woman. There goes my summer off!

Bonjour Paris, xoxo

To end my lovely European adventure, I finally got to Paris - a city that I absolutely love! I got to meet up with my friend Ruthy for the weekend before I left back home, and we had such a lovely time! We decided to eat everything that our heart desired and were able to have many wonderful French meals with fabulous wine and interesting conversations. Definitely did some tourist stuff, but mostly just took our time and fully embraced every moment that the Parisian culture had to offer us.

Our last night we met up with some of the guys from my group for dinner and then ended the evening at the park in front of the Eiffel Tower. Had some wine and enjoyed the beautiful night with great company and conversation. It was the perfect ending to my adventure, and am so happy that I was able to connect with Ruthy for this girls weekend out. Love you girl!





Final thoughts on my trip...


One month pushed my comfort levels without having my wonderful partner with me. Americans are pretty impatient and at times can be challenging with all the whining and complaining - but we got through it, and I think that I have made some friendships that will last a lifetime. Freedoms of religion and speech I take for granted living in the states. Although we have our own problems, Europe is dealing with many of the same immigration and racism just like everyone else in the world. Lastly, I am happy to be home - and especially happy to have two months off before my last year of school starts up again!

Gouda, The World Cup & Brussels

It has been awhile since my last posting and a lot has happened! I went to Gouda this past weekend and got to make cheese and visit a cheese farm. I learned a lot, and have to say that cheese is sort of gross - but so delicious! I won't get into the gory details, but let's just say that cheese goes through a process that would make anyone second guess their love for it! Later that day I got to check out a bunch of windmills along the beautiful Dutch landscape. It was a hot day in Holland, and I felt lucky to get to see more of the country and get out of the city.

Holy Holland Hell! The World Cup! Okay, so obviously they lost - but the lead up was incredible! I've never seen so much orange in my life! The singing, cheering and all around love for the game was intense! We watched the game in this corner where there were about 4 bars that had a shit ton of people outside. Our professor hung out with us, and we all just got tipsy off many beers and the energy of the crowd. What an experience to be in Holland while they were in the World Cup! I love the social aspect of this game, and wondered what it would be like if we in the states engaged in more public social events rather than sitting in our living rooms all the time...

Yesterday we got to visit Brussels. It was a short day trip, but got to see the European Parliment and visit a historical museum. The parliment was reallly interesting because we had a speaker who was very knowledgeable on all aspect of this form of government. I really enjoyed the museum because we were exposed to many local artists and had a guided tour with a lot of histrorical references. Sometimes the history of places can be so overwhelming, to know that some of these paintings were from the 15th century just blows my mind.

Okay, got to get back to my studies (yes, I am studying abroad in case you forgot... I did!) and all I can say is I'm happy that Utrecht is coming to an end. I am so ready for a weekend in Paris with my friend Ruthy and then home sweet home!

Amsterdam

Finally made it to Amsterdam two nights ago, and boy did we have a good time! There were four of us and we went in the late afternoon/early evening, so weren't able to see any of the famous museums. Although we did get to check out the "sex museum"which was pretty funny! Natasha was our unspoken tour guide since she had been able to check it out one day, and led me, Tim and Andrew around the city center. It was just like I had pictured, canals, cool tall skinny buildings, and of course lots and lots of "coffee"shops and sex shops.

We walked through the red light district, and not exactly knowing what to expect - I was shocked on how beautiful the women were. Although I have seen prostitutes before, these women were in clean rooms, looked fairly clean (whatever that means), and were just hanging in the doorway almost naked waiting for some action. I think that it's cool that they are regulated and I assume are in safe situations. Although I could not imagine what it would be like to have that as my career!

We drank lots of beers, partook in some coffee shops and mostly just had fun hanging out in a new environment. We caught a late train back, and didn't get home until 2:30a.m. So for embracing my inner old lady!

I finally rented a bicycle!!! It is so fun, and a girl in our group found a place that rents them for 25 Euro a week! I cruised around all afternoon, and a friend Trae and I went to meet our professor (Pendras) for beers. It was just the 3 of us, and we had a great time just talking and debating about different topics. It is so nice to have a professor who is willing to spend time with you and just open up about ideas and opinions. Thanks Mark!

Embracing My Inner Old Lady

Last night the Netherlands played in the semi World Cup game... it was going to be crazy. It was going to be fun. It was going to be something not to miss... yeah, I went to sleep at 8pm while everyone was out and slept for 9 hours. It was incredible! Ha! All I can say is that I am at a point in my life where I know good and well if I can go out and "have a good time"- and last night, I knew that it was time for me to take advantage that everyone would be out late, and I could finally get some peace and quiet for a full night's sleep. Guess what? I did, and it was great!

Obviously I missed out on a pretty amazing experience, but at least I can still check it out this weekend when the stakes are even higher! Maybe I'll even get an orange shirt? Maybe not. I've never been much of a "fan"of any kind, and although I am excited to check out all of the shenanigans this weekend, I still don't think I'll give a crap if they win or lose. Hey, that's just me.

Other than being an old woman, I had a nice walk into town this morning watching all of the residents biking and walking into work. The small shops in my neighborhood where we're staying were just getting started - putting out all of their produce and arranging their goods for display. I had a good quiet walk that felt like one of those experiences that you will always remember, but no one will quite know what you mean. I love observing and having silence, and it was wonderful to have that this particular morning.

I met up with my professor, Dr. Pendras this morning. He has taken the time to meet with us all individually to speak about observations, feelings and topics for our papers due when we get back home. It was really refreshing to have that one on one time, and he is such a nice and intelligent person. He discussed with me the multicultural citizenship and identity issues that Europe vs. the U.S. may have in common. It was really interesting to have him point out that I told him that we were in a segregated neighborhood, he asked, "why do non-white neighborhoods have to be labeled segregated?". I understood his point, although there are plenty of good reasons why non-white neighborhoods are called segregated, to always point that out just perpetuates those stereotypes. Meaning, to start off with "white"being the starting point for where "good"standards begins isn't necessarily helping the situation.

Okay, enough for now... time for class and perhaps Amsterdam this afternoon.

xo

Utrecht University

Back in Holland and had our first day at Utrecht University summer course of "European Culture and Identities" today. Just an in ital introduction, but it was cool to see all the other students in the course. We are made up of 3 schools from the states and a couple of schools from China. There were a group of really cute tiny girls from Hong Kong sitting next to me, and were very sweet!

Student housing is good, not great - but decent. We at least get our own room, and it seems like the dynamics of our group are going well. I think that there was at one point a moment or two that we were going to hurt each other, but we made it through and celebrated the 4th of July on the rooftop with beers and blunts (hey, it's legal here!).

Thoughts so far are that my feet are very mad at me, I currently am working on 4 blisters and a mother of a blister. Thanks flat Asian feet, you suck! Also, study abroad is tougher on my body physically and emotionally than originally anticipated... but I guess I sort of expected that. Lastly, I will not go out of the country again unless I can share it with Greg. He is the best travel partner (and partner in general) ever, and I miss him so much!

Other than that, GO NETHERLANDS!!! World Cup Baby!