Blogs from St. Paul, Minnesota, United States, North America

Nearly every sport in nearly every league I have chosen a team to support but Ice Hockey I had none. I don’t hate a team, in fact I don’t know much. Looking for excuses to minimise the options the only team I canned was Vancouver after last seasons end. I also wanted a team that was Middle America not the cliché New York team, Boston or a big city Canadian team. I then heard that Minnesota had a team called Wild. I looked at the map and saw it bordering Canada in the north of the states. I knew a few people living there too so I was going to stay a few days. Plus it gave me the perfect opportunity to support a nonsensical name for a team – Minnesota Wild. I always wondered what ... read more

30/11-09: I midten af november havde EF lavet en tur for nogle udvekslingsstudenter i mit omraade. Vi startede med at tage til Mall of America. Vi er fire udvekslingspiger paa min skole, saa vi lavede en pigeshoppetur ud af det. Det var vildt hyggeligt, indtil det lykkes Marte, norsk, at miste sin pung.. i USA's stoerste mall!!! Saa jeg loeb rundt i MoA med hende i en time og et kvarter, hvorefter vi heldigvis fandt det!! I bussen paa vej hjem fandt jeg 2 danske drenge! Det er foerste gang i 4 maaneder jeg har snakket ansigt til ansigt med danskere! Det var helt vildt underligt, og i starten blev vi ved med at slaa over i engelsk fordi det var 100 gange nemmere! Om aftenen var vi i YMCA-bygningen, hvor de 3 drenge paa min ... read more

Hello all, After a very long day (and night) of flying, I am back home, and in one piece. Although, getting through US passport control proved once again to be the most difficult part of the trip. That Syrian Visa gets them every time, and this particular agent made me state again and again that my travels to 'that part of the world' (meaning, I presume, the Middle East) had nothing to do with my work (as if they know what I do...). In the end, they let me through, although I think it was largely due to the fact that I could clear up a little mystery for them. For, my Immigration Agent also asked me several times if I had any agricultural products that I was bringing back (me, who can't keep a potted ... read more

Again, for those of you who are asking... My travel companion for Jordan is my friend Amil, who currently lives in San Francisco (and works at Wells Fargo, but don't hold that against him...). We met many years ago now when we both were enrolled at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge (UK) and living at Harvey Court (ugh). I could tell you stories of the classes we took together... for instance how the Professor teaching 'Philosophic Themes from Descartes to Wittgenstein (Alan Hobbes) spent most of his time pontificating against women academics ('they spend too much time reading and grading papers and not enough time caring for home and children'), with ancedotes drawn from his rather brief marriage and rather long divorce proceedings, but instead I will leave you only with beautiful images of Cambridge, soon ... read more

The wife and I had a great escape from the heat and concrete views of Houston. We fled to the wonderful Minnesota state fair to see a live broadcast of our favorite radio show live. www.radioheartland.org What a great show. We had lots of food great food. Buffalo bits are my favorite. I’m not sure what they do to them but dang they are good. ... read more