Hi, So, we have 15 days and wanted to see quite a few cities.. Here's our plan. I never realized how much you learn by just planning a trip like this! Between reading all the guidebooks I could get my hands on, watching the travel videos and surfing online, I've learnt so much geography and history of Europe that I never knew before. I was telling Anand that we should generally read these books and watch these videos once in a while even if we're not officially planning such a trip, just to learn about various parts of the world - [View Full Entry]

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Ok so I was looking back over my photos and realised I had a bunch with no journal entry to post them by. It took a little work but I eventually worked out that neither of us had written anything for Thursday. So as not to generate unrealistic expectations I would like to ask you to disregard the fact that I was concerned about missing one day, it is most uncharacteristic behaviour for me, and I don't foresee many future concerns in similar situations. I can assume that for Thursday breakfast we got up and had bagels. I was in touch [View Full Entry]

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And thus has our first day in the U S of A progressed. Well, ok. Before that. Following fond farewells at the airport - from our families and from the toilet at our gate (seriously, it thanked us and asked us to come again, has the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation started shipping toilets to Earth now?) they announced that random bag checks would take place while boarding. Juliet tried for the triple, having already been stopped at two out of two check points, but this time was allowed through. Jenny seriously doesn't recommend sitting next to smelly people on the plane (and [View Full Entry]

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Hi! My first week of work was great, but exhausting! I have a wide variety of students of different levels and abilities, which keeps me on my toes. Now that I've settled back into life in Japan I thought it was time to let you know about my trip to North America. It is strange to think of it as a trip: when I went through Canadian customs they made me check off 'visitor' instead of 'resident'! San Francisco was wonderful. The first five days I was there were sunny and gorgeous (the rain started on the day of the wedding). [View Full Entry]

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Hi folks, been very lazy to update since my last trip to HK in dec...actually that was one of those weird trips that i fell really sick after coming back :( Perhaps it 's one of those things...too much shopping, too much good food, and lotsa walking :) Okay...we'd now at silicon valley - yep - THE PLACE for all IT nerds ...myself included and of course, wee ling (my travelling colleague) - we both "worshiipped" the place where the best, brainest and craziest people on earth are gathered. Yep..now for some pix...to spice up ur lives...hopefully...we are indeed working real [View Full Entry]

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Okay I finally get the chance to get this journal going, it's taken 13 days to find a hostel/internet cafe cheap enough for me to economically type up a very long journal and I have a huge amount of stuff to talk about here, so get ready to be bored. Understand that this blog is very much for me to look back on in 6 months time just as much as it is for people like you to read if you're all all interested. So let's Begin this tale... Friday, the 24th of February at 9am we blasted off from Adelaide [View Full Entry]

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After South America it was nice to get to US to meet some friends. First four days we stayed with Gloria and Andy in Pleasanton. We had great time, visited some wineries and enjoyed the Californian sun and good company. San Francisco is one of our favorite big cities. We had fun even though the weather was colder than what we expected. The wind was freezing, but that's nothing we couldn't handle with :) We visited Alcatraz and walked around the streets and parks of this beautiful city. [View Full Entry]

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So...I thought I would allow you to get to know my girls before we head out on this incredible journey together. Hopefully over time you will get to know us as well as we know us...did that make sense? Anyways, here goes... Dawn Elizabeth Darby and I have been friends since Freshman year at U of I where we not only lived in the same dorm, but joined the same sorority house (sisterly love...heehee). Dawn is a beautiful blend of an intellect/hippy/free-spirit who will blow your mind with her brilliance, and melt your heart with her motherly love. Dawn has taught [View Full Entry]

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Hi all! I've had trouble accessing my "kid's blog" at gringoduck.blogspot.com, so now have a new one. It's found at http://agringoduck.blogspot.com (make sure you don't put any "www" in the address). Please spread the word. [View Full Entry]

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They say that one drop is a contaminant. Just one drop sets the stage. It serves as the facade for the whole, and doesn't relents. It can't be undone. So be it. [View Full Entry]

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