It's a jet setting life...

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I know I have been a bit slowing getting this up, but I have actually been quite busy these past few weeks. There are more photos to share once I get Bethany's but I do want to share my most recent adventure…

My trip with Bethany was fantastic. We had a great time everywhere we went. Edinburgh was first and we both agreed it was our favorite. We went on a nighttime City of the Dead tour and learned about the grim history of Edinburgh (torture, ghosts, war stories) and what a great city! I wish we had had more time to spend there but I hope to get back before I leave. Amsterdam was our next stop and the travel there was an adventure in itself. We took a ferry across the north sea and it was everything you expect a cruise to be. Hilarity in cruise entertainment (thinkthink Donnie and Marie Osmond types with lights and dancers) and we were in the stark minority being under 50. Once we got there we soaked up a lot of culture. We did a canal tour, saw Van Gogh and Anne Frank museums and rode bikes around the city. The biking was my favorite part. I love that they have bike lanes everywhere and that people can get around so easily that way. It was also funny to see little dogs riding in baskets on the front of bikes! The red-light district was eye opening and interesting. I was actually surprised that the ladies of the night were at least minimally covered up in their windows. I was expecting to be more shocked than I was when we walked though. I supposed we are fairly anestizised to anything that may have shocked another generation. We did notice a change in people in the district that in the rest of the city. We were warned and did pick up on people looking us up and down in that area. As if your presence implies you as commodity too. We didn’t feel threatened or uncomfortable per se, just noticed. It’s interesting and got me thinking about the very liberal laws and policies in the Netherlands that make the sex trade viable there. Something for future research perhaps…
London was great as well. Since it was my second visit I was able to hit up some other areas of town besides the typical tourist sites and found that I like the city even more. We did have an adventure with the Night-bus system. It took us 2 and a half hours to get home one evening so we decided that it was a blessing that we didn’t get into the nightclub so that we didn’t have to get frustrated and lost in the wee hours, but I now have a better idea (maybe even a vague understanding) of how to navigate London buses, a very good trick to have in your pocket.

Back in Newcastle, my internship is coming to a close this week. I have turned in my final draft of my report and am finished with my full time work at CPP but I am fortunate that they are allowing me to stay on during the semester. I’ll be going in periodically, mostly to do my own work and studies but I’ll be able to help out occasionally if they need me.

Classes start on Wednesday. I have two classes, both in the evenings so two days a week will be set aside for school but I have a feeling based on what I have seen so far that I will be very busy reading and preparing. We had an induction last week where I met some of the other students. As it turns out, one course only has four students and the other seven. It should make for some very interesting and intimate learning experience but there is also no room to hide in a group that size. I’ll have to be on top of it although not working should make that doable.

So for now…

Cheers!

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Photos

On the Royal Mile
in Edinburgh

Ferry ride
And we met an interesting crew...

Bethany and I
On our romantic evening Canal tour

Bethany
Preparing to hit the streets