au revoir Paris

On Wednesday we put up our umbrellas and took a Taxi to the Louvre. The line wasn't too bad and we got in with no problems. I was afraid it would be extra busy since the Louvre isn't open on Tuesdays. Nikole and I each got a multimedia guide, but before we could tour around for hours, we needed food. We decided, since it would be our only meal, we'd eat at the restaurant right in the museum. It was a very fancy place and we had a nice meal that filled up for the whole day. We finally started to walk around the museum. It was amazing. I have been to many museums, but I was so impressed with the Louvre. Not only with the works of art inside, but the work of art and architectural design that was the building itself. I really enjoyed it and feel like I've checked something off the 'bucket list' by going there, seeing the works, especially the Mona Lisa. Although I've seen so many replications, there really is nothing like the original. I could have stood and looked at her for hours - just trying to think what would have caused that famous smile. I know that I have a lot of experience and exposure to art because of my family and education. However, Nikole didn't like the Louvre as much as I did and was ready to leave shortly after we saw the Mona Lisa. I, however, wanted to see as much as possible before leaving. She stuck it out and I'm thankful for that. We were then going to walk to Notre Dame, but we discovered it was snowing. And on top of the rain we'd gotten in the morning it was dreadful outside. We tried for HOURS to get a Taxi, but after talking to some locals we found out that the taxi companies decided they'd rather not work than get into an accident. So we took refuge in a wine bar to dry off and get warm. But we did need to get back to our hotel so we waited again for almost an hour at a Taxi stop until one came. Luckily the guy waiting with us was going the same direction and let us split the cab with him, who knows how long we would have waited otherwise!

Thursday was a whole different story. It was sunny and dry, which made for perfect walking weather. We went to the bakery across the street from our hotel, got pastries to go and walked toward the Eiffel Tower. It was a fun walk and we were in much better moods. It only took us about 25 minutes to walk (with plenty of photo ops along the way). The line to ride the elevator was outrageous when we got there. So we decided to do the stairs. This line was short and we go up there in only a few minutes. We also found out that the 3rd/top level was closed because of all the snow from the previous day. So all those people were waiting to go only one small level higher than us. If you know me, you know my fear of heights. I felt sick, like my legs weighed 100lbs and my stomach had left my body. But I made it up to there. Nikole was kind enough to take the pictures on the way up, because I could only look straight forward and hold onto the railing for dear life. Once we reached the level, it wasn't so bad. I enjoyed the views of Paris and learning a bit about the Eiffel's history. We walked around and took views from every side before coming down. We were bombarded by people selling Eiffel Tower junk and scary women holding postcards asking for money.

Across the street was a holiday market where we looked around and split a sandwich. There were lots of cute holiday and Paris crafts and foods. Also, there were children walking around the snow with flippers, it was weird - I have no idea what the value in that would be.

After the holiday market, we took a taxi to Notre Dame. While in the taxi, the driver informed up that the tunnel we passed through a couple times a day was the very tunnel of Princess Diana's accident. That was a little bit of unsettling information. Notre Dame was amazing. I loved the architecture from the outside. There was just so much to look at, my eyes couldn't take it all in at once! I tried to take some pictures, but my camera couldn't capture it all either. Inside the church is just as beautiful, the stained glass, flying buttresses, sculptures - everything. From an art and beauty point of view, it can't be beat. But as far as it being a place of worship, it felt a bit weird with the tourists walking around and souvenirs. Either way, I'm very glad we went and experienced it. Since it was still early, we did a little walking and shopping. Nikole finished her gift list and I picked up one or two things myself.

We got back to the hotel to drop off our goods and were all set to go have a nice Parisian dinner. We walked to a nearby restaurant and were quickly reminded we were in France and not America. They didn't open for dinner until 7:30. We went back and waited until then and had a nice meal in an 'interesting' setting. It was a very modern restaurant with modern art photos on the walls. The photos in our room were of completely naked women. Nothing to encourage ordering the salad like looking at naked French models! The food was good and the waitress was really helpful in translating the menu.

Friday, we went on a few unsuccessful gift getting stops so we called it a morning and checked out of our hotel at noon. The train station was near lots of shops and restaurants, so we had a meal and people watched until our train came. The train from Paris to Cologne, Germany was pretty nice and only a quick 4 hour trip. Once we got to the train station in Cologne, though it was a different story. We saw a woman stealing food from a shop and getting chased, people drunk, barely walking and singing Christmas songs and the bums. Two bums in particular took to me. One guy asked if I'd like to share the salad he had just gotten out of the garbage. Another just stood and stared at me for 10 minutes before coming up behind where were sitting and just looking at me from behind. Thank goodness there was glass separating us, because he was so creepy.

Our train could not come soon enough! When it finally was supposed to, it was delayed, but we left and waited outside anyway. There was a mix up in the train cars and we luckily ended up with a bed one! This was great since we had a 11 hour ride. There were 6 beds, bunk style in the room. Nikole and I took the two middle ones and put our luggage on the top and locked the door. Luckily no one else tried to come in or had tickets for that room, so we got the whole place to ourselves. It was actually pretty great (relative to past sleeping on the train experiences.)

Now we are sitting in the dirty Copenhagen train station waiting for another train. But at least it has free internet and somewhere to plug in our computers. We have 5 hours to Stockholm, then an hour layover, and 10ish hours to Umeå. So, we left Paris at 4pm on Friday and will arrive at 6am on Monday in Umeå, what are you doing this weekend? I will be spending it entirely on trains. :)

More Munich

Today we got up early to explore more of Munich. Yesterday (Monday) we walked all over the city and loved the Holiday Market. It went on for blocks and blocks. There were tons of booths with all kinds of traditional German food and Christmas decorations. We stopped by as many as we could, just to check things out. Nikole and I didn't really buy too much, just taking it all in. We did, however, try some German beer, and pretzels the size of my head among other German fare. It was raining, but we did as much walking and sightseeing as we could, after purchasing some umbrellas from the most popular store in town. However, we were really tired after the 15 hour train ride with little real sleep. So we went back to the hotel to nap and shower. Nikole and I then decided to take ourselves out to a nice German restaurant for a real meal. It was great, since it was later it wasn't busy and we were able to enjoy the night of food and German beer.

Today we had a quick breakfast at a little cafe then booked a bus tour. We figured since we only had a short time, this would be the best way to see everything. It was really nice, and it did exactly that. 2 hours showcasing all the high-points in Munich. There is not enough room or time to explain everything, but one thing that really stands out...They obviously have to talk about Hitler and the Nazi party, but way they did it was interesting. They talk about it in an 'unfortunate' tone and don't go into detail about the Nazi buildings like they did the rest. Also, there is a monument that is for 'Victims of Nazi Terrorism' not Victims of the Holocaust, like we would call them. I thought it was an interesting difference. Understandably, it is not something they want to talk and talk about, but needs to be mentioned. It is hard to imagine the Nazis marching through all the streets of Munich as they explained. Aside from all that history, Munich is a very interesting and old city. I learned so much today. Just enough to make us want more! We then did a little shopping for some gifts before it was time to get to the train station.

The trains were nice and new. We had to change trains at Stuttgart, which was close because we only had 6 minutes to transfer. Luckily the 2nd train waited for us and we made it on with no troubles. However, we found out that French men are a lot more forward than Swedish men. A French man that was helping Nikole with her computer/internet issues decided that he would take his 'thank you' from her in the form of a kiss! She did not like it and was surprised to say the least. He and his friend later came to where we were sitting. They were really trying with us, when we were being rude and explained that we were not single. I think after they proclaimed 'the best looking girls come from Wisconsin' and we still ignored them they finally decided to give. Oh boy, I hope this was a one-time, too much beer/wine on the train incident. But we finally made it to Paris! Our train arrived almost on time and we got a Taxi right away. On the way to our hotel we passed the Eiffel Tower and La Grande Roue. We are so excited for the next few days here!

Weekend Update

Guten Morgen from Munich! Nikole and I started our travels off Friday night (barely) catching a train from Umeå to Stockholm. The train ride was about 9 hours long, but there was plenty of space to spread out so we slept basically the entire way. We arrived in Stockholm at about 6:30 in the morning. Nothing was open until 8:30, earliest, so we walked back to the train station in the pouring snow, had breakfast and then found our hotel. We were able to check in early, which was great. We unloaded our super heavy backpacks and venture around the city. The snow let up somewhat and we went to the Palace, Holiday Market, a Boat Tour of the City and the Vasa Museum. We finally ate our 2nd and final meal of the day at the museum's nice cafe. Unfortunately, it did not agree with my stomach. After shopping around downtown Stockholm on Saturday night, we went back to our room. Our room did not have a bathroom inside it, nor did our floor have bathroom on it. So we had to go up 2 flights of stairs (which were not heated or lit) to go to the bathroom or shower. As I mentioned before, the meal did not agree with me, so I was running up and down the stairs for the remainder of the night, getting sick! I felt fine afterwards and we called it a day.
Sunday morning we got to the Stockholm train station for our 8:30 train to Lund. We were happy it was on time, considering all the snow. We traveled about 4.5 hours in a nice train down to Lund. It was snowing like crazy when we got there and didn't know exactly where to go. So we found a gift shop, bought some souvenirs and asked for directions. After a filling lunch we went to the University (one of the oldest in Sweden), most things were closed because it was a Sunday, but we did get some good outside pictures and walked around some of the buildings. We found a museum that was open and free to students. It was all on the history of Lund, I of course was very interested and the girl at the front desk thought it was VERY cool, that was my last name. She provided me with some additional history on the city. Afterwards we went to the big Lund Cathedral and made sure to be there by 3pm to see the clock presentation. We saw it and it wasn't as impressive as it was built up to be. We walked around the church a little longer and took some pictures of the outside. Although it was hard because of the massive size, so I bought some post cards to get the whole thing in. After a quick stop for some provisions, we got on a train from Lund to Copenhagen.
The Copenhagen train station was super busy, dirty and full of big scary birds that were not afraid of people. Luckily, we only had to stay there about 2 hours until our next train. This was just enough time to get a Danish hot dog and chocolate milk.
We boarded the big train to Munich. It was so old and nothing like the trains we'd been on before. We were in a room with 6 chairs, one of which was broken. It was completely empty so we thought we'd get to lay down and sleep for the 15 hour ride. Unfortunately, it filled up. We met some nice people and even had a beer with one guy from Nuremberg. But overall it was not so great, sleeping in a chair for that many hours, and of course, I was in the middle.
Now we're in Munich and ready to eat lunch and explore the city!

Last day of teaching

It is hard to believe that today is my last day teaching in Umeå. The time has gone by unbelievably fast. I have learned many different ways of thinking and doing.

Last night we had dinner with Gun and the coordinator of international teaching students. We had a nice meal and talked a lot about education in Sweden versus in America. I really plan on using what I have learned and experienced here in Sweden when I return to America. I know not all of the ways of school life here will work in America. But I am going to do everything I can, at least within my classroom. The things that really have stuck out to me as being different are, the amount of responsibility the pupil has and the way discipline is handled. As I have stated before, the children here are given much more responsibilities and TRUST than our students in America. My suspicions were confirmed at dinner last night that this responsibility and trust translates into more responsible college students/young adults. They have had the confidence and experience of making decisions for themselves for years and know it is their consequence(s). There is a term here, 'curling' referencing the sport - when a teacher or parent work ahead to make everything smooth for the child. This idea is not favored here and they focus on the opposite idea. As far as discipline goes, it is dealt with and dropped a lot more quickly than back home. I have too often seen teachers hold on to a student's bad behavior. In Sweden, they deal with the issue right away, and do not bring it up repeatedly. They don't dwell on things so much, is what I'm getting at. I think the language learning emphasis in Sweden is really great. They begin teaching children English in grades 1 or 2 and really get into depth at the later grades. By grade 8, they are working on their third language. Learning new languages not only teaches the language, but makes the student more well rounded and opens their ways of thinking.

This past week we did some presentations on Swedish school and American schools' differences. The main things that the kids and teachers were interested in were: scheduling - America is so much more structured and rigid, classroom set up - Swedish schools are more streamlined and have less clutter and more efficient, the students were also very interested in the field trips American students take, field trips are not very common in Sweden, after school sports are not very common, they play mostly in club leagues. The teachers were interested in the cars/transportation in America. People in America own way more cars than people in Sweden - Swedish people are more environmentally conscious and maintenance for cars is very expensive. Each year people have to bring their cars to get checked to make sure everything works (not just emission testing), if there is any problems, they must get it fixed and bring the receipt back to the testing place to prove they've gotten the necessary repairs. Public transportation is available in almost every town/city in Sweden and is widely used.

My sister Tara's 5th grade art class made a video asking the Swedish students some questions. The students loved watching the video and were very excited to respond. I thought this would only take a few minutes. But the students are not so confident with their English, so it was very difficult to get them to give responses and ask questions on camera. However, I did get a lot of great shots and videos.

Stockholm tomorrow, then on to Lund and Copenhagen...to Munich and finally to Paris. It will a lot of traveling in a small amount of time, but I think we'll get to see everything we want. Right now I'm just thinking of things to do that will occupy all the hours on the train. :)

So excited for this next adventure!