Blogs from Des Moines, Iowa, United States, North America - page 4

Travel destinations often have their genesis in very modest settings, and so it was that I was sitting with a friend on a public bus in Ottawa, talking about the San Diego Zoo, when I saw a sign for a special fare for bus tickets within North America. As my mind drew together two related threads I began to work the logistics of the possible journey. As every traveler knows the two most essential things for a journey are time and money. My summertime contract was about to run out, leaving me with both of these things in excess. But after a little bit of research there was nonetheless one daunting aspect of this journey - the trip to San Diego would be over three days spent continuously on a bus. As a frugal traveler ... read more

That's my new motto. It's been brought out this year in response to the way in which the Christmas sleigh has overrun the Thanksgiving turkey. Now, I like Christmas as much as the next person, but I happen to believe that Americans should spend equal, if not more, time and effort towards preparing for and celebrating Thanksgiving than they do for Christmas. Why, you ask? Because Thanksgiving is truly a national holiday, available to celebration by every single American. Christmas, in contrast, is a religious holiday celebrated by only part of our population (albeit the majority). Thanksgiving should be the time when we come together as a nation and celebrate our common experience of being American, our common stuggle (either by us or by our ancestors) of learning to survive in and find a place in ... read more

Here I am, back in the U.S.A.! It's very strange trying to adjust back to my own culture. My stomach doesn't like the food, my mind is on language overload, and even after 3 weeks, I can't get over how terrible American television is. Seriously. I'm quite excited that I'm back in Iowa for the autumn. I haven't been in Iowa at this time of year for 11 years. I had forgotten how beautiful everything is during harvest season. I really do live in a Grant Wood painting. When I first arrived, everything was still very green. But, one week later, it all started to change. The corn turned golden brown, the beans turned mustard tinged with purple, some of the fields have been harvested so they are the black of good Iowa nutritious soil (a ... read more

I have a little over two days left before I board my flight for Italy. My flight leaves at 10:00 a.m. from Des Moines. I will have two lay-overs. One in Chicago and another in Munich, Germany. My girlfriends mom, Bobbi, will be joining us for a week. We decided to go over a week before classes start to get used to everything! I have got almost everything all packed up. I plan to spend the next two days going through my long lists of supplies and neccessities. This is a little different than going on a weekend trip!! ... read more

I am back, in one piece. On the last flight home, Wayne Co. Detroit airport lost my luggage, which was a less than jubilant return after a long, long flight. Fortunately, after some discussion, it was returned later that night. Good deal. I was scared of my own bad luck, and had packed everything important but dirty laundry in my carry on, so it wasn't a huge scare. Without waxing weary, wiser traveler... the airports in the United States were disturbing because of how rude they were to foriegners. When we flew in China, no one knew any words past hello & a garbled thank you, but everyone was so kind & polite even if they had no idea what we were saying. The attendents in the states were rude, condescending, and curt almost across ... read more