An all-natural way to fall asleep

Good news everybody! I called Starbucks (for about the thirtieth time) today and the Starbucks in Coppell claims that the Venti Cold Cup tumbler I have been vying for will soon be a part of their every day merchandise come September! YAY! She said the warehouse is working extra hard to get them out since they've been sooooo popular! I'll let you know if I get one but if you see one before I do...LET ME KNOW!

In other news I am completely and overwhelmingly exhausted. I worked until 9pm last night and had to be at work at 7am this morning. Yesterday was crazy busy for no apparent reason and at one point I had to work the dressing rooms completely by myself though they normally have 2, sometimes 3 people on the job. It was nuts. Today actually wasn't so bad despite the fact that it was the first day of tax free weekend. My feet and back hate me right now so I walked them down to Brookstone during my break today and sat in a massage chair for about 15 minutes while I watched the store clerks play with their remote control airplanes. They said I could stay as long as I wanted. I said I would be back. I work again tomorrow AND Sunday (which was unexpected) but will finally have a much needed break on Monday. I forgot how tiring standing all day can be.

By the way, if you ever need a quick way to fall asleep get yourself a bottle of Melatonin. It's a vitamin (not a pill) that makes you fall asleep and it WORKS. My mom had suggested it to me because I have been having trouble falling asleep lately. I had to use it last night since I had to go to bed so early and I was perfectly rested for today (aside from my feet/back aches). Plus, it's all natural so you don't have to worry about being a druggie. Of course your other option is to get a job in retail.

Well we're off to watch the Cowboys play their first ever home game in the new stadium! Of course we won't be at the stadium but who wants to pay $50 for parking anyway?

We do. Go Cowboys!!!

Really Starbucks?

So recently Starbucks came out with these new reusable "cups" and my friend Amanda, who works for Starbucks, said they sold out of them in a flash. In fact, they were so popular that many of them are going for $80 on Amazon. $80 for a cup!? You have got to be kidding me.


The bad news is, I really want one. I could care less about the Starbucks logo. The real reason I want one is because I have been searching for a good water bottle to help me drink more water and I just think this cup is perfect. Here's why:

• It fits in my car's cup holder. This is VERY important.
• I don't have to tilt it to drink it. Titling often means spilling.
  
• It's reusable and easily portable.
• The lid screws on AND I love drinking out of straws.
  
• It's BIG (holds 20 oz), which means I have to refill it less.
• It is insulated which is great for 2 reasons: It won't sweat (I HATE sweaty water bottles) and whatever is put inside it will stay warm/cold longer.

I know...it's perfect. Anyway, I write this post because if you happen to see one for less than $20 BUY IT IMMEDIATELY and I WILL pay you back. In fact, if you see a bunch for less than $20, buy them all and sell them for twice as much on eBay. I have seen them for $30-$40 at the cheapest but still...I think that's a little much for a cup. I might change my mind if I can't find one for less than $20...sigh.

I should note that I have been able to find these cups in the Grande size (16 oz) but I really want one in the Venti size (20 oz)...so if you see the Grande sized ones, don't buy one of those...

Amanda and Chris Lee's Wedding

Since we've been on the topic of Oxford, Amanda Steffins, who studied abroad with me, married Chris Lee a couple weekends ago and I was in the wedding. Erin Woolsey was the photographer and just put up pictures on her blog. Here is the link to some of the pictures! They're wonderful!

Make your own Iced Chai Tea Latte

Today was actually pretty eventful for one little day.

This morning I went downtown with mom, Granny and Marsha to pick out some flowers for Granny's house so it will look beautiful for Chandra's wedding. If you ask me the yard doesn't need flowers to be pretty but I'm the planner, not the designer. On our way we accidentally missed our exit and ended up on Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. (which is never a good place to be). One of the morning radio hosts here in Dallas always says "If you're at the corner of Malcom X and Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. you know something's about to go down." Anyway, I was just finishing telling mom how there is without a doubt ALWAYS a homeless person at this particular stoplight when sure enough we pull up and there one is. We decided to pull all our money together and give him what we had (which wasn't much...I NEVER carry cash on me and always feel terrible when I have nothing to give). After mom handed the man the money he said, "Thank you very much!" and then, "Happy Birthday!" We just laughed.

I was also rear-ended for the first time ever today. Nothing exciting really...merely a scratch on my bumper, but we're going to take it in just to be sure. I felt bad for the girl who did it. She had obviously just gotten off work at Chili's and neither her nor I knew exactly what to do. I had to call Preston to see what I was supposed to write down as far as insurance goes and I took pictures though there's not much to see...

See that tiny white scrape on my bumper? Yeah...that's all I got.

Her car was a tad worse.

And this is really random but at Chandra and Derrick's wedding shower, Cole was the bartender and made iced Chai Tea Lattes that London always makes for herself. They were so easy so I bought the stuff to start making my own in the mornings (instead of paying $3 a cup at Starbucks). Here's what you need:

+=

Tada!

Isn't it pretty? Whipped cream, nutmeg and ice are optional. You can also make it hot by putting it in the microwave or on the stove but who wants a hot drink at this time of year?

I got a job!

So remember that job I posted about the other day? The one where I applied with 10 other girls? Well...I got it! Yay! I am employed! I was getting REALLY bored, to say the least. I will be working at my all-time FAVORITE store EVER: Anthropologie. If you know me at all, you know my life would not be complete without it. Now, I can't promise my paycheck will ever make it to our bank account, but at least I won't be spending Preston's paycheck!

Yay for being employed!!!

Oxford: The Last Edition

December 13, 2005

Howdy ya'll! Do you know how great it is to hear those words again? I do. I am home. America home. Texas home. Dallas home. It's good to be here. Every person I have seen from the airport until now (and in the future I'm sure) has asked "So, how was Europe?" Its a valid question... but unless you're prepared to sit down with me for a few hours, don't expect any answer except "good". You guys are lucky you have a head start…unless of course you haven't been reading these emails. Case study #1: A friend of mine asked me what my favorite part of Europe was. I told him there was no way I could tell him a "favorite". After a slight pause he said, "I know. I'm just afraid to ask you any questions because you probably answered them in your emails." At least he was honest. (side note from real time: I'm pretty sure this "friend" was Preston)

This past week has been a whirlwind to say the least. Last Tuesday I was using pounds, today I'm sorting my quarters. When we arrived at our terminal in DFW airport, I proudly flashed my United States Passport at the customs official. He just smiled and said "Welcome back." It was nice not having to justify why, how and with what was I trying to enter the country. On Thursday I went to Abilene to say hello and goodbye to all of my college friends before Christmas break. When I got to my house (in Abilene), my roommates had forgotten to turn off the sprinklers and the water was frozen on the sidewalk. I almost died when I ran up to the front door in excitement. At least it was perfect for the holidays (Home Alone anyone?).

One of my best home moments happened Sunday. We watched the Cowboy game together at my house and delighted in jumping together, screaming together and coaching the game together. At one point Trey said "I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU NEED TO DO BUT NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO I'M GOING TO YELL AT YOU IF YOU MESS UP! I'M A FAN!" I couldn't have said it better myself. One of the greatest parts of American football is the joy in thinking we know what's best for the game and knowing that if only the coach would listen to us, we would win.

As amazing as it is to be back in the land of football, free refills and excellent customer service, I do miss the place I've called home for the past 3.5 months. I haven't lost all of my British habits. If at all possible, I refuse to drink out of a cup, because I don't want to have to wash it (we didn't have a dish washer in Oxford). I still wake up at the break of dawn everyday…don't know when I'll get used to the time change and I haven't gotten used to American currency yet. I still cant believe how skinny it is! Today I was flipping through channels and stopped to watch a little British "football" (soccer), because NOW I know whats going on.

Thank you for you subscription to my emails, even if it was a forced upon you and even though I never offered you the opportunity to stop receiving them. Before I go I wanted to sum up the semester for you into my top 10ish moments in no particular order…

1. The Lice man vs. The Competition in Cinque Terre
2. Discovering my calling as a tourist attraction in Norway
3. The Halloween parade
4. Bum holes…
5. Saving Private Ryan…in French
6. The whole party/Bible study misunderstanding
7. Being rescued from the overcrowded metro in Rome
8. Sprinting to the Eiffel Tower and laughing all the way (ha ha ha)
9. "Grocery shopping" with Emma Watson
10. Normandy
11. Watching the Dallas Cowboy game until 2am. In a bar. WITH MY FAMILY.

I've also attached my favorite pictures…some you may have seen, other you may have not. One of the pictures I attached is phenomenal but I didn't take it so I want to give credit where its due…it's the picture entitled "Lael's picture". Lael took the picture. Fancy that.

I hope to see many of you around now that I am back...or at least once I get back to ACU! Merry Christmas!

Shelbi

Lael's picture...is this not hilarious?! She took this on one of our trips to London.

My calling (Norway)

France

Skiing in Switzerland

Bored in Belgium

Just hanging out in London

Oxford: The Shlistenswiderklien Edition

November 29, 2005
Believe it or not, in less than 10 days, this little Norwegian-American will be back in the beautiful (yes I said it) state of Texas. My dad said he was going to drive me as fast as he could to Salsas in Coppell. There are many reasons I am looking forward to this: 1) Mexican food 2) driving on the right side of the road and 3) riding in a car without having to pay the driver...

This past week was a taste of home for me...my family visited for Thanksgiving! We had our Oxford family Thanksgiving dinner on the Thursday before my real family arrived. It was just like the real thing except there weren’t 20 screaming children running through the house begging me to hold them and swing them and break every valuable in sight. If you don’t believe that’s how thanksgiving is in my family, I invite you to join us next year. And if you don’t believe I really did miss every single one of those screaming children, believe me I did. There was everything that could possibly be at our Oxford Thanksgiving dinner, even cranberry sauce, though it was homemade. I really love the canned cranberry sauce, but no worries, my mom brought me some the next day.

We ate and then watched a recorded game of the Cowboys vs. Philadelphia. The best part was that instead of commercials there were two commentators attempting to explain the American game of football to the British. One of the commentators was British and the other was American...like they needed a translator or something. The British guy would say "well we got an email from Henry and he wants to know what it means when there is a flag on the play" or "so tell us what happened on that last play? What is Drew Bledsoe's role in this game?" and then the American would ingeniously respond with an answer, if of course he had one. I'm sure if he had commented on the game versus the Broncos last Thursday, he wouldn’t have had much to say, but more on that later.

So my dad, mom and sister arrived the next day, which was particularly exciting considering it had been the longest I had been away from them since I was born. They were way jet-lagged so we walked around Oxford a bit and then went to sat in a dark theater perfect for sleeping to watch Harry Potter, since it had come out that day. My mom and dad nodded off a few times, but they survived due to the dragon scene. Luckily, Harry Potter is so good they just couldn’t bring themselves to fall asleep.

On Sunday we met up with my brothers and toured London and then headed off to our first destination: Venice. We arrived in Venice late Monday night. When we got to our hotel, my mom asked the guy at the reception desk where we could go get food. He said "oh you can go that way. It close in 5 minutes." Well "that way" in Venice is more like "this way, then over there, then take a left, a slight right. Cross over the second bridge and make a swift right again and you'll be closer to that way than you were before but I'm not making any guarantees". I don’t know if anyone in Venice actually knows where anything is. I think when tourists ask, they just point in a particular direction because they know that there is no way we will find what we are looking for anyway. Eventually, we found a hidden little pizza place. Our waitress was I think the only person in the restaurant who spoke English, but apparently not well enough. At one point my dad asked her for butter and she led him to the bathroom.

Later that night I had gone to my mom and dad's room when all of a sudden my mom got a call from Cameron (the younger of my two brothers). This is how the conversation went on my mom's side:

"Hello?"
(pause)
"Honey, it will not electrocute you."
(slight pause)
"The door shocked you? Ok...ok. bye."

She then hung up and said "Cameron thinks his room is haunted. The door shocked him, the lights won't work and the TV already spazzed twice. He wants to sleep in your room." Of course by now me, my dad and my sister were laughing so hard we couldn’t respond to her, but I for sure wasn’t giving up my room. I don’t deal well with haunted rooms.

The next day our whole family rode in a Gondola. There were two exciting moments on that boat trip. The first was when a lady accidentally dropped a glass object from her window which came splashing in the water beside our boat. It’s a good thing we don’t understand Italian, because our gondolier had a few choice words for her. Then my mom vows she saw George W. Bush lean out a window along one of the canals. She made us all look at the window but he never did peak his head out again. Morgan informed her that the president was in Asia, but my mom thought he might have taken I nice little trip to Venice with his wife.

Our gondola ride in Venice

The next series of pictures were taken in St. Mark's square in Venice...our expressions (especially Cameron's) are classic. The first picture was our Christmas card in 2005 and it was a hit!

After Venice we took a long train ride to Switzerland. Now, I must remind you that there of 6 of us and that means, of course, that we had 9 pieces of luggage and 6 carry on bags. Now, train compartments aren’t the largest places in the world, so we decided to use up two compartments instead of one. This became a bad idea as soon as more and more people arrived on the train and even more of a bad idea when we figured out we were sitting in the wrong seats. We had reserved seats, they were just elsewhere on the train, so my dad made the man who was taking our seats go with him to help move the people who were in our real seats since my dad doesn’t speak Italian. When my dad and the Italian man got to the compartment, the Italian man said something to the men in our seats and they started to move, all except for two people who looked blankly at the Italian man and my dad. Finally one of the two in the couple said "English?" and my dad said "Oh I speak English!" So then we got the lovely task of taking 9+ bags through the tiny train corridors to our real seats and fitting all of our bags into the racks above our seats in one compartment. At one stop, a woman came by and was looking inquisitively at the numbers of our seats (I assume thinking that maybe one of our seats were hers). Trey shut the compartment door on her and said "We're not moving again." I don’t think she was even paying attention, but she moved on nonetheless.

Switzerland was incredible. I think I say that a lot, but it was definitely up there with Norway. Great honeymoon or anniversary vacation for anyone interested. Contrary to popular belief, the Swiss do not speak Swiss. They speak German…home of words such as hiestleswienn, freundschaftsbezeigungen, and Snuffaluffagus. The language is really just a bunch of coughing and hacking...and when typed looks as if someone fell asleep on their keyboard. I assure you I am still awake. The Swiss also do not use Euros, they use francs. Therefore Germany + France = Switzerland. And now I have three different currencies in my jacket pockets. We went to the ski town of Zermatt and skied in beautiful weather our first day. That day was also the real Thanksgiving day, so we celebrated with dinner at one of the restaurants in town. It wasn’t your traditional Thanksgiving. I had ribs, mom had some sort of fish and dad had a hamburger, but it was good food. We took our time eating, about 3 hours, because we were waiting for the Cowboy game to start. My dad had discovered earlier that day that the bar across the street was playing the game.

Now, in Zermatt, we were 7 hours ahead. So our Cowboy game started at 10pm at night. I must also reiterate the fact that my family, including my mom and 12 year old sister, went to a bar to watch the cowboy game. Once we sat down my dad said we all had to order something, but none of us wanted anything because we had just spent a full 3 hours eating. So my dad ordered tea, Cameron ordered tea, I ordered apple juice, Morgan ordered Sprite, mom ordered sparkling water and Trey got a coke. All 6 of us sat in front of an itty bitty TV anticipating the start of the game. Mom and Morgan left pretty soon because Morgan was tired and my dad left at halftime because he was going to ski the next day, but Trey, Cameron and I stayed for the entire game: overtime and all. In the end we had the bartender attempting to root for the cowboys but unfortunately his efforts proved worthless. The game eventually ended at around 2 in the morning Switzerland time and we headed back to our hotel smelling rankly of smoke and defeat.

It snowed all the next day. I decided not to ski, which turned out being a smart decision since the temperatures were below freezing on the mountain. Trey and dad went skiing and came back as snowmen. The next day I took an all day train to Austria. It was a long ride, but one of the most beautiful scenes I've ever seen. I completely recommend doing that. It was especially beautiful since it was snowing.

Matterhorn Mountain

The slopes at Zermatt

Austria

Unfortunately I do not have many pictures of this vacation. We took most of them on Morgan’s camera and so she has them. Since she is closer to you than I am, I am going to give you permission to drive to my house and look through her digital camera. I have attached a few pictures, though most of them are just scenery.

...I’ll be home for Christmas,
shelbi

Pictures of Venice, Switzerland and Austria pictures: http://shelbirene.shutterfly.com/3970

Oxford: The Legal Edition

November 10, 2005
When I was thirteen, twenty-one was so mature, adult, responsible. Now that I'm twenty-one... I know better.

...kids, I went to a Harry Potter premiere on my 21st birthday. It was all fun and games until I lost feeling in my left foot. Then again it's not like I need my left foot for anything really, except to walk. I guess I should start with Belgium though...

...We went to Brugges, Belgium (because we heard Brussels wasn't worth it) and spent 3 nights there. Brugges is supposedly the "Venice of northern Europe". I guess the difference lies in the fact that Brugges has one canal lined street whereas Venice IS a canal lined street. Basically we ate chocolate, bought chocolate, ate waffles, bought lace and toured. It was beautiful but nothing happened out of the ordinary. Well, except for this one chocolate store we went to. There is a picture that explains everything but I'm afraid you'll have to find it for yourself on my website, because its rated PG-13 and may not be suitable for children...or men. At first it was not funny, but then it was...I hope you get the same impression. Woman of the world: enjoy.

*Belgium pics: http://shelbirene.shutterfly.com/1593


After relaxing a few days in Belgium we took a train back to London on Sunday in order to make it to the Harry Potter premiere "early". I wish I could tell you that as soon as I arrived, Emma Watson was waiting for me with a limo and a formal gown (she somehow figured out it was my birthday) and had personally invited me into the premiere. Unfortunately this was not the case... I knew I should have told her it was my birthday when I got her autograph.

Upon our arrival to the Odeon Theatre in London, I was presented with a dilemma: massive amounts of people, every one of whom had lost their minds. You thought I was a Harry Potter fan...on the contrary. Apparently to be a "fan" you must be between the ages of 18 and 47, dress like a witch (hat, wand, robes, scarf) and have staked your claim at gates of the premiere at around 5:30 in the afternoon the day before. My first reaction to all of this was...well fear. I think I underestimated the amount of Harry Potter freaks that would be there. The good news is, no matter where you stood, you got to stand behind scary people. I don't know why that's good news except that it provided a little bit of entertainment for the 7 hours I had to stand in a single position. I had a relapse back to my days in the Rome metro system...

In our "section" of crowded people, there was a guy who kept us pretty well entertained until the celebrities finally started to show up. He spoke in a British-like accent, but because I am an expert at accents nowadays I noticed pretty quickly that something was fishy. Turns out he was from Minnesota. We figured out soon enough that his favorite actor in the movie is Maggie Smith (this is Professor McGonagill in the movie, or for non-Harry Potter fans, the old woman who plays Wendy in Hook). Mostly because he would yell "I love Maggie Smith" or simply "Maggie Smith" without a doubt, every 5 minutes. Now, every 5 minutes doesn't seem like a lot, but I assure you it is when you have been standing in the same spot for over 5 hours. At first I thought he was the annoying type, but soon enough I realized that he was my only form of entertainment and I was going to have to accept it. At one point he got our section yelling "WE LOVE HARRY POTTER YES WE DO, WE LOVE HARRY POTTER HOW ABOUT YOU!?" Naturally, no one yelled back. Not even the freaks. Pretty much the only response we got was a stern glare from the bobby/police officer guarding our side. Yet Minnesota man continued. He came up with several cheers such as "GIMME AN H! (H!) GIMME AN A! (A)!" And then began a process of yelling out every character in the entire cast to see what kind of response he would get. Now if you are familiar with the cast, you would know what kind of response "Ron Weasley" would get as opposed to "Lucius Malfoy". For those of you who don't know, Ron is good, Lucius is bad. Minnesota yelled most of the main characters, but when he started to lose steam he began to yell unimportant characters like "Peter Peddigrew" and "Crookshanks". I know this is not funny to non Harry Potter fans, but pretend it is, because it was. At one point Minnesota got a particularly stern glare from the bobby (police officer) and so Minnesota yelled to us "DON'T START A RIOT!" Then he yelled "ARE WE CRAZY ABOUT HARRY POTTER?!" And when the police officer turned around with another glare, Minnesota quickly responded "apparently not."
I must unfortunately explain to you my position at this time. I was squished, no crammed, in this crowd of fans/freaks. I had my souvenirs from Belgium between my feet, my backpack on my back and my neighbor's elbow in my rib. There was so little space to stand that at one point my left foot went numb because I had to lean on it for so much support. Lisa was on my left and noted that it if were possible to spoon standing up, she was accomplishing that task. Sarah was on my right and the man behind her kept putting his head on her shoulder. To top it all off...it was raining. Rain brings umbrellas. You can imagine all the people that went blind that day as a result of opened umbrellas. Now, all of this makes it sound like a miserable day, and granted standing was not so fun, but overall I quite enjoyed myself. Then again, I will never do it again so that may tell you something too. It's like pledging (ACU reference)...only good for one go around.
The celebrities finally did arrive and I got to see everyone I wanted to see. here was no point in trying to get autographs. iI don't even know if I can explain that scene to you, but I did make an attempt at getting a few pictures. Please forgive the photography skills, it's hard to take pictures when you're not looking through the camera lens. The newspaper recorded the next day that over 7 thousand people had turned up for the premiere. I will say I had no idea there were that many people there, though my soar hips keep reminding me.

Therefore my 21st birthday was an overall success and because my friends were unaware of the postal delay from the U.S. to the U.K. I am still receiving birthday presents! yay!

*Harry Potter premiere pictures: http://shelbirene.shutterfly.com/1794

Emma Watson or "Hermione Granger" from Harry Potter

"Ron Weasley" from Harry Potter

I know most of you were concerned about Halloween and whether or not we celebrated over here. Fear not, we did. I just didn't want to write you because I had already promised not to until after my next trip. We ended up having a Halloween party the Saturday before Halloween. Everybody from the Chiquita Banana lady to Mary Magdalen showed up to our party, which was pretty surprising considering how creative we had to get with no costumes. I ended up being Alice (in Wonderland) because it was fresh on my mind. At one point Cling Man (Travis wrapped himself in Cling wrap and became a superhero) decided that we should parade around the neighborhood along North Parade Avenue in our costumes. So naturally we all agreed. He led the way while banging an aluminum pail as we all yelled "Happy Halloween!" "Boo!" and "Scary Things!" None of us had ever really participated in a Halloween parade so we didn't really know what to yell. The reactions of the British community were varied though I assume most of them thought we were drunk. (refer to the first line of this email for further reference.) some smiled, many came out of their stores and stared, some ignored us, some were confused, others were annoyed and some were legitimately scared. I walked closely beside Sarah who had decided to be a pile of leaves for Halloween and thoroughly enjoyed the responses to her costume. The good news is, we're Americans so we have an excuse.

So I've reached the one month mark. In less than one month I will be home. I arrive in Dallas on December 7th which is weird because we are leaving here on that same day. As a result of the time change and the world turning, rumor has it we'll make it home in "2 hours" despite having an 8 hour flight. I think I am only confusing you, so basically the deal is...we have a time machine. Glad I could clear that up.

shelbs

ps. There are many picture albums to check out this time:
*Autumn in Oxford: http://shelbirene.shutterfly.com/3850
*Halloween: http://shelbirene.shutterfly.com/3874

Oxford: Norway in a nutshell edition with some Italian flava

October 25, 2005
Well I just got back from Norway, which was only a three day trip but last week I was in 3 countries in a span of 3 days with 3 different currencies of money and 2 different time zones, so needless to say, it's been crazy. If you ever want to know how to completely exhaust your bank account though, you just let me know. If you're lucky, I'll even give you advice about how to ignore the exchange rate.

Norway was absolutely gorgeous. I think I say that about a lot of places but really...Norway could be the most beautiful place I have ever been to in my whole life, besides Abilene. I think a lot of you might be wondering why in the world I didn't spend the same amount of money on somewhere other than Norway like Prague...or Texas, and so I will explain. I have Norwegian roots. There. Explained. It turned out to be one of the best trips I have been on and even though I have pictures to prove it, they certainly do not do the place justice.

Remember in the song Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer when "all of the other reindeer used to laugh and call him names?" Did you ever wonder what Santa did to those reindeer? There's a reason they don't include that part in the song. Turns out Santa sells them to restaurants in Norway and one ended up on my plate Friday night. I would apologize except that it was very tasty and frankly I think they deserved it. No wonder Santa is so fat. You can also buy reindeer skins, so Rachel did. She bought it on the side of the road and was walking around a department store holding it when a police officer approached her and questioned her about it. Luckily she hadn't bought it illegally, so now we have a reindeer skin rug on our floor in our bedroom.

Rachel and me under the reindeer skin

I owe Norway much gratitude for helping me realize my calling. We decided to go on a tour called "Norway in a nutshell" that was round trip from the city of Oslo in a span of a day. The tour made the trip incredible and is where 99.9382504 % of my pictures were taken. Part of this trip consisted of a boat tour down a fjord. For those of you who don't know, a fjord is basically a canyon with a river running through it, but the Norwegians decided to name it a "fjord" because they knew Americans wouldn't be able to pronounce it and that's funny to them.

Freezing in the fjords

The boat we were on consisted of 3 decks. We found a nice cozy spot in a "cafe" on the second deck where we had our "base" if you will. The thing about Norway is, it's cold. Therefore our plan unfolded as follows: we would sit in our cozy little cafe seats and observe the scenery from the windows. As soon as something amazing passed, which was about every 2.4 seconds, we would grab our scarfs, hats, gloves, jackets and cameras and head for the 3rd deck. We would snap our pictures until our fingers froze to beyond the point of immobility and then motion to each other that we were heading back down to the cafe, because naturally our mouths were frozen shut as well. On one of these excursions to the 3rd deck, we had the crazy idea to get someone to take our picture from the 3rd deck while we were standing on the 1st deck. This was going to be an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime photo opportunity that we could not miss, so we worked quickly. Rachel and I ran to the 1st deck, where there were 4 Japanese men already there taking pictures, smiled to Jacque on the 3rd deck and then realized that the 1st deck wasn't nearly as cold as the 3rd deck and thus decided to stay and take pictures from there. Rachel left to go get her camera from Jacque and I remained to begin taking pictures of the scenery yet again. The boat lady told us over the announcing system that the cute little town on the left hand side was worth taking a picture of so I began to do so when someone tapped me on the shoulder. It was one of the 4 men who had been on the 1st deck when we arrived. He did not speak English, but was motioning towards his camera and then to me, so I reached for his camera and said "of course I will take a picture for you!" Then to my confusion, he handed his camera to a nearby buddy and threw his arm around me. That's when I realized that I needed to learn Japanese. I did not know that he had wanted to take a picture with me. It didn't bother me, I just thought it was pretty funny that I had misunderstood him. After we took about 5 pictures he thanked me more than once and I turned to take pictures of the scenery again. Before I could even pick up my camera though, I got another tap on the shoulder. This time, the guy's buddy wanted a picture! At this point Rachel had made it to the top deck and asked me what in the world I was doing...maybe because of the line that was forming to take pictures with me. Through a clenched smile I yelled "I don't know!" I felt completely ridiculous and was trying hard not to laugh in all the pictures but it was funny so I couldn't help it. Jacque and a girl we had met on the tour finally came to rescue me and handed their cameras to the men to take a picture of us girls. The men took this opportunity not only to get a picture for themselves, but also to join in our picture and get a group photo. We finally escaped from the 1st deck as the men waved goodbye so much we had to start ignoring them. Once we made it to the top deck, I told Brian what had happened and we were all having a good laugh when I felt an oh so familiar tap on the shoulder...again. Another man wanted to take his picture with me! I obliged and retired to the 2nd deck because by this time I was just plain embarrassed.

When the first guy asked to take a picture with me.

As the tour neared its end, the man who had taken his picture with me last approached me and asked if he could have my email address so that he could send the picture of us to me. I said sure and as he was handing me his business card he said "so you are Norwegian?" It all made sense now. I didn't really know how to respond to this considering half the boat had taken a picture with me assuming I was a real live authentic Norwegian. I mean, I am Norwegian, but not Norwegian Norwegian. I finally just told him that actually I was American...and Norwegian. I don't think he really understood what I told him and he will probably go home and tell everyone I was Norwegian anyway, but at least I'm not a liar. I don't tell you this story to flatter myself but rather to inform you of my calling. As soon as I graduate, I am going to move to Norway and make a killing allowing everyone to take pictures with a not-so-Norwegian authentic Norwegian. If things go as they did on that boat, I'll be able to retire in 5 years.

I wish my pictures were better for this trip because I cant describe to you how incredible it was. There are pictures of Oslo as well as the tour, including the part where we took a train to the highest point in Norway and played in the snow for about 20 minutes. I felt like I was on the Polar Express and had that Josh Groban song stuck in my head for most of that time: "believe in what your heart is saying...give your dreams the wings to fly, you have everything you need, if you just believe..." its on the movie soundtrack. Anyway, you should sing it in your head while looking at the train/snow pictures in order to get the full effect: http://shelbirene.shutterfly.com/484

Also, I had to leave so fast for Norway that I never sent the link for my Italy pictures and so I am making up for it now: http://shelbirene.shutterfly.com/1106

I wont be going on another trip for two weeks, so you should be safe from receiving any emails from me anytime soon...unless I meet someone else from Harry Potter. Until then, warn your kids not to make fun others. Santa's watching.

shelbi

Oxford: Edition Italia

This is by far the funniest of the Oxford emails so far. I laughed out loud at my own jokes, mostly because I had forgotten a lot of what happened. I am SO GLAD I wrote it all down!

October 19, 2005

If there is one thing I have learned in Oxford so far it is that there is no such thing as a vacation. I kept telling myself I was on "vacation" last week as I overpaid for a taxi and a hostel, tried to decipher the ancient art of Roman public transportation, and attempted to make everybody happy in my traveling group (not possible). All the while we kept saying "this is our vacation" but I have decided that I don't believe it. Vacations only happen when other people plan it for you. Like my mom. Which is why I am tagging along with the family during Thanksgiving Break and maybe the rest of my life...

Oh Italy. Michelangelo's David, check. The Sistine Chapel, check. seeing the real live Pope, check. The Colosseum/Ancient Rome, check and check. Unfortunately Italy got off to a bad start and when I say bad start I mean Rome. Let's just say that when I threw my coin into Trevi Fountain the first night we were there I thought about jumping in and getting it back (throwing a coin in Trevi Fountain means that one day you will return to Rome). I wont spend a lot of time on Rome but I will sum it up in one sentence: If Rome ever pulls a Bethlehem and there is nowhere to stay except Happy Days Hostel, just don't go to Rome. You'll be happier knowing you will not wake up to 3 strange men in the beds beside you and Italian construction workers on the scaffolding outside your window. I will say that there were good parts of the first 24 hours in Rome and that the second day in Rome wasn't really all that bad, especially since we left that day. The metro in Rome (which I highly advise NOT taking if you ever go to Rome) provided us with one of my favorite experiences in Italy. We were on the metro headed towards the Spanish Steps and Hannah, Karen and myself had been separated from the others and were standing together near an exit at one end while Brent, Josh and Amanda were at the other exit. When the metro got to our stop, we began to try to make our way out but realized that this was going to be a bit more difficult than normal. The metro in Rome isn't like the metro in London or Paris. It closes at 10pm every night and consists of barely enough trains to make it from one side of the city to the other. Therefore, everybody in Rome was trying to get on the train at our stop as we were trying to get off. This did not work. I have never been more squished in my entire life and we COULD NOT get off! Well somehow Brent, Amanda and Josh had pushed their way through the masses on the other side of the train and were helplessly staring at us from beyond the doors on the outside. Hannah kept saying "me excusa! me excusa!" but she was ignored. No amount of pushing and shoving or yelling was getting us off of this train! finally Brent stepped in and started grabbing and pushing people away from our exit yelling "you can take the next train!" While Amanda and Josh pried open the metro doors so that they couldn't close. Then Brent grabbed Hannah, Hannah grabbed me and I grabbed Karen and we SQUEEZED through the masses barely making it out of the doors before they shut and the train sped away. Hannah and I were laughing so hard we could hardly stand up. Despite the fact that I loathe Rome's metro, I did enjoy that one moment with it.

The bedroom at our hostel in Rome...sick.

The scaffolding outside our window at our hostel.

The bathroom at our disgusting hostel.

The Pope

The Colosseum

The Mouth of Truth seen in Roman Holiday with Audrey Hepburn

Inside the Sistine Chapel (illegal picture)

Needless to say we were overjoyed when we finally reached our Florence hostel and were greeted by kind Americans whom we knew we could trust because they are friends with our host family in Oxford. I loved Florence. It looked just like I thought Italy should look and wasn't as dirty as Rome. Plus it had amazing gelato. The first night we were there we ate dinner at a typical Italian restaurant and had a waiter who pronounced his "t" sounds with a "th" sound. when he asked us whether we wanted "nathural" or "sparkling" water, Amanda replied that we would like "nathural" water...she thought it was a brand name or something.

Our first full day in Florence was Amanda's birthday, so that night we went to another typical Italian restaurant to celebrate. The problem with typical Italian restaurants is that you have typical Italian waiters who typically, do not speak much English. This was a problem because we wanted them to do something for Amanda for her birthday but we didn't know how to tell them. I tried to pull out my pocket translator and figure out how to say "birthday" but it had run out of batteries, so I leaned over to Rachel and told her that my batteries were dead. She said "I'll take care of it" and left our table. Next thing I knew our waiter was walking in with a cake and a lit candle singing "Happy Birthday to you" (he only knew the first line, we had to pick up the rest). He was followed by a man from the streets who handed Amanda two roses and then expected us to pay him for them. In Italy there are guys who roam the streets selling flowers hoping you will want to buy one. We thought this particular guy was all part of the show until he wasn't leaving our table. That's when we realized we were supposed to pay for the roses he had so conveniently just handed to the birthday girl.

We found out later that when Rachel had gone back to talk to our waiter about Amanda's birthday, she hadn't had the easiest time trying to talk to him. He finally grabbed a cook who spoke English and Rachel asked the cook if they did anything for birthday. The cook told her they had a cake, but it was 55 Euros because it was handmade (still not worth 55 Euros) so Rachel opted for 2 slices of the cake instead. Then she asked if they sang "Happy Birthday" and after the cook had translated this to the waiter, the waiter said "sure." This is probably why "Happy Birthday" only lasted for one line.

Happy 21st birthday Amanda!

Amanda's "55 Euros" cake

After Florence we stopped to see the leaning tower of Pisa for about 5 minutes before heading out to Cinque Terre. Cinque Terre, or 5 Towns, is...well 5 towns situated along the coast of Italy. We decided to spend our last 2 days relaxing on the beach rather than in another city. We had not come to Cinque Terre with a hostel reserved because we had been advised to check them out once we got there. When we arrived in Riomaggore (the first of the 5 towns) we began to walk up the street to find a place to stay when all of a sudden we found ourselves between two different apartment owners vying for our attention. Naturally, we split up and began investigatng each of the lodgings. I walked into the one Jordan was talking to just as he held up a sign that read "LICE" and pointed across the street to the other hostel. He also began to itch all over, indicating that this is what would happen to us if we chose to stay at the hostel across the street. I found this amusing, Jordan did not. Eventually we had all agreed to stay at the hostel with no lice until that man across the street yelled "15 Euros!" Well this was 5 Euros cheaper than the non-lice hostel and so we were all thrown off and began "discussing" that matter all over again. Finally, Rachel marched over to the "15 Euros" man and said "I am NOT paying for your hostel if I get lice!" The man looked at her funny so she picked at her hair a little and said "LICE! I am not paying if I get LICE!" We knew that he had understood what she was saying this time because his wife gasped and he began to yell profanities at the other man while yelling "Competition! It is competition!" We ended up choosing the 15 Euro/"Lice" hostel but no worries...I'm not itching...yet.

Pisa

Cinque Terre

Overall Italy was enjoyable. I wish I could have brought a gelato store home with me, but RyanAir only allows 10kg of luggage per passenger.

Upon returning to Oxford this time, I have found it much easier to call it home, mostly because I have realized that they do not in fact skip holidays like Halloween and Christmas (with the exception of Thanksgiving). Everytime I see a store window with pumpkins, witches, goblins, Christmas trees, blinking lights of any kind... I am reminded that even on the other side of the world, holidays are not forgotten. Amanda and I have already begun to sing Christmas carols. We thought about standing on the streets of Oxford and collecting money for our next vacation. We haven't completely ruled out the idea yet...

Tomorrow I head to Norway, the land of my ancestors. Yes, I got back from Italy yesterday and yes I am leaving again tomorrow, but that's what I'm here for isn't it? It's supposed to be the total opposite weather in Norway than it was in Italy, so I am crossing my fingers for snow. Until then, ciao!

shelbi

Pictures from Italy: http://shelbirene.shutterfly.com/3363

Oxford: l'édition en français (The French Edition)

This one made me cry when I read it again though it is extremely long because this was one of our only week long trips. There was an essay attached to this email that I just added to the bottom.

September 28, 2005
This email is really long, so I divided it into sections. That way, you can either a) pick and choose the sections you read, b) read a section a day for the next 800 years, or c) all of the above. I guess you could also just read it all in one big helping, so that'll be answer d). You will be tested on this later.

Well if you haven't heard, I went to France so...bonjour! I am so good at the French language now that today (we are back in Oxford mind you) I said "merci" (thank you in French) to the lady at the sandwich store on accident, which doesn't make me French or American, it just makes me stupid. Oh well.

Section 1: The Introduction...in the beginning
It all began on a dark and misty Wednesday morning. We woke up so early that most of my friends at ACU weren't even asleep yet from the night before. I got online to check my email before we left and noticed that everybody from home was online too, which I thought was odd. Then I remembered that it was almost midnight at home (and for all you old folks, that's early in college time). So I got to talk to my roommate before I left that morning, which threw me off but was pretty cool. It was like time travel only it wasn't.

The "Night Bus" (Harry Potter fans) picked us up outside our house on Canterbury Rd. and we headed to the train station. A lot of time later we arrived in the beautiful city of love. We didn't have much time that night to explore but the time we did have was well spent. First we went to Sacre`-Coeur which is an amazing huge church that overlooks the city of Paris. If you ever go to Paris please go there. The inside was incredible. We couldn't take pictures and it's indescribable so I am just going to tell you to go see it. Ironically, after Sacre`-Coeur we walked to the Moulin Rouge. Walking was a bad idea. Lets just say we walked down the red light district of Paris. That's bad. If you don't know what I mean by "red light", look it up. Actually don't, that could be bad. Ask your neighbor. Anyway, so we walked to the Moulin Rouge and took a picture in front of it (if ever you were wondering, it is about $100 to go to the cheapest show at the Moulin Rouge...not that we were going to go...we were just checking) and then the boys really wanted to leave that area...for obvious reasons...good boys. After there we headed off to, you guessed it, the Eiffel Tower. I'm not going to lie, I was so impressed. I thought it was shorter and less...impressive. It was amazing. Everything I ever dreamed it would be. AND it turns into a blinking light spectacle every hour that is magical to watch. I took a billion pictures. We didn't go up that night because...well you'll just have to wait and see...

Our group outside Sacre`-Coure

Inside Sacre`-Coeur (illegally taken picture)

The Moulin Rouge

On our way home we ran into an ordeal because the metro trains decided they hated us and stopped going to our hotel. So we ended up taking a billion trains to get home, which was particularly amusing. Then Rachel and I fell asleep in our room to a European soccer game on tv in French. I felt like the McAllister family in Home Alone 2 when they go to Paris and are watching that french tv show in their hotel room...anybody? Great movie.

Section 2: World War II and D-Day...the serious section
The next two days were spent in the Normandy area. For all you history buffs, especially my dad, Granddad and Grandpa Paul, I wish you could have been there. Honestly this was one of my favorite parts of the trip and in all seriousness really gave me a different perspective on the war, France, Europe, America, patriotism and even the Germans. If you would like to read my thoughts concerning the days we spent in Normandy, I have attached a copy of an essay I had to turn in for a class here in Oxford. It's a reflection of my reaction to everything we experienced in Normandy and comes directly from my heart, if you don't mind the cliche`. It is not finished because it isn't due until Friday but I will let you read my paper on the condition that you will not judge my ignorance...

A few points of reference if you are going to read the paper: The Caen Museum is a museum in the French town of Caen that is devoted to the World Wars and the Cold War. We went to the Caen Museum the first day and then to Normandy beaches the next. Dale is our tour guide on the day we went to the Normandy beaches.

I cannot express to you everything we did and saw, but I will briefly attempt to do the Normandy Day justice. We visited each individual beach of Normandy, as well as other particular sights of interest and Dale told us about stories of individual soldiers rather than general and factual information as a whole. Thus the day was a lot more effective. I honestly cried periodically throughout the day. We started at the bridge depicted in Saving Private Ryan. Here, Dale told us a story that I will never ever forget. All of you should go to this place and hear Dale tell this story. We were all in tears when he finished. I will not do it justice, but I will tell it to you anyway: (part of this story is taken from the actual story as told briefly by the historian, but I added new information that Dale told us last week)

About a year ago (2004), a historian was interviewing World War II veteran Dick MacDonald. In his last question he asked if MacDonald had ever considered going back to Normandy. MacDonald said he couldn't. When the historian asked why, MacDonald told him that he could not go back to the place where he had seen so many of his friends, including his best friend, die. You see, he had been a member of A/507th (Parachute Infantry Regiment) along with his best friend, a guy named Mike Hanley. They did everything together. They both jumped in Normandy near the La Fiere causeway (the bridge).

Dick MacDonald and Mike Hanley attempted to make the suicidal crossing at LaFiere bridge but Hanley was shredded by MG fire and killed in action. A mortar round struck MacDonald's foxhole location on June 6th knocking him out cold. MacDonald woke up with all his ammo missing, bloody eyes and ears...and his dog tags in his mouth...he policed up some ammo and regrouped with his unit near the La Fiere Manor...the rest of the unit thought he was dead. MacDonald made it across the bridge...and was severely wounded by a mortar round a week later...When he woke up he realized that his best friend was dead.

The historian offered to bring Dick MacDonald back to Normandy, but MacDonald said he did not think he was ready to go back...as he was troubled for years about all the death he saw...and did not want to see his best friend where he died.

So, while in Normandy the historian looked for Hanley's grave in order to pay his respect in honor of MacDonald but had no luck finding it. Then he checked with the US Military cemeteries...no luck. So...he emailed a friend who had a particular knack for WWII veterans.
The historian's friend told him that Hanley showed being WOUNDED in action, not Killed In Action. He provided two names of Hanleys in the Chicago area (where he was from) and another number in Arkansas which seemed to match Hanleys information.

The 1st number the historian called in Chicago....a woman answered the phone. The historian asked if she knew a Mike Hanley. She said she did, he was her father-in-law. He asked if he had been a member of A/507th Parachute Infantry Regiment in Normandy. She said he had. He then asked if by any chance he was still alive. She said yes he was. She then provided the historian with Hanley's phone number in Arkansas...

The historian called then number and when Mike Hanley answered the phone the historian asked if he was part of the A/507th Regiment in Normandy...he said that he was. He asked if he knew a guy named Dick MacDonald...he said that he had been his best friend but that MacDonald was killed in Normandy after he, Mike, was wounded, losing his arm at La Fiere....
Five minutes later the historian had two dead men talking to each other on the phone....60 years after they thought the other had been killed....

The sad part of the story is that both men suffered much turmoil of losing their best friends in the war and had they done a little research would have saved themselves the nightmares. The good news is that after the phone conversation, Mike Hanley and his son planned a surprise trip to visit MacDonald. The day of the visit, the MacDonald family was having a cookout. When the doorbell rang they sent MacDonald to the door because they knew who would be on the other side.When he opened the door, he came face to face with his best friend who he had not seen and had thought dead for 60 years. At this point Dale showed us a picture of the two men laughing and crying together....Needless to say we were all in tears by this point as well.

SO that was the first part of our day. I know that was long but that story was so worth telling. Next we went to Saint Mary's and saw the church which was depicted in the movie "The Longest Day" (when the American paratroopers land in a church courtyard and one paratrooper gets caught on the steeple of the church). Then we headed to a small town which was another particularly meaningful part of my day, but I can't tell the story because it would make my email way too long. We headed to Utah beach for lunch and then headed to Point De Noc. Point De Noc was particularly interesting because the grounds were littered with bomb craters. When we walked up to the site we saw massive holes that looked like...well massive holes I guess. There is a funny story that goes along with that, but you'll find it in the next section. We are trying to stay serious in this section. After there we headed to Omaha beach. Flash back to the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan and that's where we were. Being there felt very eery. I cant explain it. It was such a beautiful scene, yet you couldnt help but picture the scene on D-Day 60 years ago. Last we went to the American Cemetery. It had started to rain when we were at Point De Noc but by the time we gotthe the cemetary it was coming down a bit harder. Perfect weather for the scene. It was so hard to walk through the cemetery. I found a few gravestones that were particularly interesting: the two "original" Ryan brothers whose names are acutally Preston and Robert Niland. I thought there was another that had died, but he was not in the vicinity of the other two. All in all, the scene at the cemetery was as solemn and memorial as it could possibly be. Especially after hearing so many personal stories throughout the day. I could talk for hours about this day but I must move on. I will say that I am not much of a history buff, but that day was worth the whole study abroad trip...
Again, more on this section is in the attached essay.

All of us at Normandy

French and American flags flying together

Section 2.5: The funny parts of the serious section, that I didnt mention in the serious section because they were funny and they would have ruined the mood.
The night before we went to the Normandy beaches I decided that I wanted to see Saving Private Ryan (because I hadnt seen it yet.) I know I know, I should've already seen this movie but when it came out in theatres I was too young to watch such violence. So there was a VHS of the movie in our hostel...the only problem was that it was in French. I would like to say we found some way for me to watch it in English through subtitles or another copy of the movie, but this did not happen. So I watched the whole movie for the first time ever in French...lets just say I had another flash back to Home Alone 2.

In the middle of the movie we ended up being pestered by a few 16-year-old drunk French boys. Bryan and Kyle were sitting next to us and attempted to tell the boys that they were our boyfriends and to back off, but apparently boyfriend means nothing to a French boy. Amanda was propositioned several times and after we finally got the boys to leave the room they stood at the glass windows and just watched us watch the movie. Bryan said he felt like he was in a zoo. I said HE felt like he was in a zoo?! After the movie Bryan and Kyle walked us to our room to assure that we would be safe. Turns out that while they were still in our room, the French boys showed up and opened the door to our room to let themselves in. This did not make Bryan happy. It also did not make Kristin happy. She said she was not afraid to take`em. We instead just locked our door and made sure it couldnt be opened from the outside. The good news is that I was able to insult the French boys a few times in English and they just smiled and laughed. One of the only pluses of language barriers.

Another funny story regarding the serious section happened when we were at Point de Noc. Upon arriving to the site we saw our first crater all by its lonesome self. At this point we didnt know where we were going or what we were about to see so Rachel asked Dale if "that big hole was a bomb hole." To which Dale began laughing quite hard and said "A BUM hole?!" He then suggested that perhaps we should call them bomb craters and not bomb holes as a result of the language confusion.

The "bum" holes

Section 3: Paris ala mode (ala mode actually means "with fashion"...not "with ice cream"...that was free)
The night we returned to Paris we decided to take a boat tour down the Seine. Notre Dame, the Effiel Tower and the Louvre were great to see, but it was just as fun to watch the other boats on the water. It was like...water shopping. Our boat was just a tour boat, so every time a dinner cruise boat drove by I decided that THAT was the boat I wanted to go on one day. And then another boat would drive by that was bigger, better and had prettier table cloths and I would change my mind. Then there were club boats...like a club on water. There was a disco one that looked fun. We wondered if our boat would notice if we happened to "fall" overboard and swim to the other boat. But then we'd be wet, so we decided against it.

On Sunday I think I abused the priveledge of having feet. By the end of the day I thought I would never recover. In the morning we woke up bright and early to attend morning church service at Notre Dame. This was an interesting experience. First of all, the whole service was in Latin/French. Duh. Its France. I followed along pretty well considering I took latin in high school, but it didnt really matter if I were following along or not...there were too many distractions during the service. When I say distractions I mean tourists. Notre Dame allows tourists to walk through and around the church during mass. This wouldnt be so bad if not for the invention of the digital camera. With a normal camera, you just take the picture and move on. Ah but not the digital camera. You see the digital camera has a flaw: it allows the photographer to take the picture, look at the picture, decide he hates the picture, retake the picture, look at the picture again and decide he hates it again and he continues to do this until finally he decides that he is a terrible photographer and that no matter how many times he pushes the button, the picture isn't going to get any better. It's a vicious cycle and it happened many a time during service. I was ashamed to call myself a tourist, but of course I took advantage of the opportunity to take pictures...at least after service was over.

Inside Notre Dame

Next we went to a small French market. I would love to go on for days about the market because it was loads of french culture all piled into one baguette, but it's another one of those things you just gotta experience. (The pictures of the market are wonderful and are included in the album.)

Next we visited Versailles where Louis XIV lived. Also where the Treaty of Versailles was signed. The palace was great and all, but I felt like I was at Six Flags because there were so many people and so many lines. You had to pay a Euro to use the "toilets" too and I certainly did not approve of that. At least at Six Flags the bathrooms are free.

Versailles grounds

We left Versailles in order to meet Kyle at the Arc de Triumph by 5pm. The Arc de Triumph is a huge arc in the middle of the city that was put up by Napoleon. The Nazi's marched through it when they invaded France before WWII. Anyway, we were supposed to meet there but apparently there are two "arcs" in Paris and we of course ended up at the wrong one. On the metro map, there was a stop for the "Grand Arch". Well Napoleon was pretty grand so we figured his Arch would be too, but it wasn't. Apparently "Arc de Triumph" is not the French translation for"Grand Arch". The Grand Arch is a modern business sort of high-rise building. I attached pictures of both to show the difference. Therefore if you are ever in Paris, do not get your arcs/archs confused or you will be 40 minutes late to meet Kyle.

The Wrong Arch
The real Arch de Triumph

After the arch we met up at the hostel and decided to head to dinner at a French restaraunt. This is where it all gets crazy. We sat down to eat at a quant little restaraunt near the river at about 8:30pm. Our plan was to have a nice dinner, get dessert, take our time and then go to the top of the Eiffel Tower to overlook the city. Its at about this time that I remembered that the night before Lisa had come in and told us that if you want to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower, you have to make it there by 10pm. No problem, we thought, we'll just have a quick dinner, get our tabs by 9:30pm and make it to the Eiffel by 10. I should probably tell you now that the French are known for their 3 course, easy going, drawn-out meals. So at 9:43pm we are scribbling on our checks and sprinting out the door towards the metro station. Amanda, Rachel and I ran to the trains first, hoping that we could get on and make it to the Eiffel in time to buy tickets for Bryan, Todd and Kristin. We ran down the stairs of the metro and were trying to decipher the map when we heard Bryan behind us yell "We dont have time to look at a map!!! Just pick a direction!" So we did. As soon as we were down the stairs, we didn't even have time to see if we were going the right direction, because the train showed up. So we hopped onto the train. Luckily we did end up in the right direction, but let me tell you a little story about how the metro works. You dont just hop on a train and "viola!" you're at your destination...oh no...not so fast my friend. Once we got on this train we realized we had to get onto two other trains before we could make it to the Eiffel Tower stop. We all pretty much lost hope at this point, but for some reason that didnt keep us from trying. Todd gave us the countdown: we had 17 minutes to get to the Eiffel Tower. When the train stopped, we hurled out of the doors and sprinted to find the next train. You know in the movies when they're trying to get somewhere quickly and there is always something in the way: like an old lady crossing the street with her walker? Well for us it was a hunch-backed old man with a cane, barely moving and directly in our path. We zipped around him one by one and I didnt even turn around to see if he was still standing, but I imagine he was spun around a few times and then waved his cane at us and yelled something at us in French because thats what happens in the movies. We made it to our next train and caught our breath once inside. We had 10 minutes now. At the next stop we again ran to our next destination and got on a train: 7 minutes. Our plan for our last stop was to let Bryan and track-star Todd sprint to the Eiffel Tower while the rest of us got there as quickly as possible (I had my flip flops on as well as a purse and my camera, the other girls were in about the same condition. At this point I am also prohibited by the fact that I am laughing so hard I can hardly breathe. So as I run, half my energy is being used up trying to compose myself). When the last doors opened we again flew from the train as quickly as possible. By the time we arrived at the Eiffel tower it was 10:03pm. We were late. Rachel and I ran up to the ticket windows panting (the boys had been ahead of us but we couldnt find them. Kristin and Amanda were still behind us). We put on our American "we dont know any better" begging faces and pleaded that the lady let us go to the top. She said "10.70". Rachel asked her again,"To go to the top, we want to go to the top." the lady said "10.70." So i said, "To the very top?! The top?!" And she looked at me like I was an idiot/American and said "10.70 Euros each. Do you want two?" Needless to say there was much rejoicing. We found Todd and Bryan who had gone to a different ticket booth and had been rejected from buying tickets to the top. By that time Kristin and Amanda showed up as well. So we got to go to the very top of the Eiffel Tower, we ran the whole way to get there, and you better believe it was worth every minute of it.

A "glittering" Eiffel Tower

We were thrilled to be at the top of the Eiffel Tower!

Section...I've lost count and I dont feel like scrolling up: The last day
I woke up the next morning and my feet still had not forgiven me from the day before. We headed to the Louvre where we saw the Mona Lisa and many other famous works of art. If you have never heard much about this museum let me just tell you that it is so massive that if you were to spend 10 seconds at every work of art every day for a week, you still would not see everything you wanted to see. Most of the time we didnt even know where we were going, we just followed our eyes, which pretty much sums up what we normally do anyway. I will warn you that if you browse through my pictures you will discover that we are not as mature as you might think...especially when it comes to the statues.

After the Louvre, Rachel and I headed to Champs-Elysee, which is the French version of 5th Avenue or Rodeo Drive. I bought a shirt/dress that I really did like, but also just so I could say I went shopping in Paris and actually bought something. So there you go. I went shopping in Paris. I was totally in my element on that street though...I just wish my mom could've been there. We would have loved that street together. Then we headed to the train station and off to London we went!

Section Last: The end.
Well I know you wanted this to be longer but I just cant afford to spend any more time writing emails. Dont worry though, there will be a sequel. This is only, what? Email 4? Something like that. There are many more to come.

Thank you to all of you who have replied to my emails. I do get them and appreciate them more than you know. It's comforting to know you all haven't forgotten me. I promise I haven't forgotten you! I love hearing your thoughts and knowing that people are actually reading my novels. I do understand if I dont get many replies to this one though, seeing as I have alotted time for it to be read every day for the next 800 years...

I am working on putting up my pictures. Yahoo has decided to rebel against me. Its ok though, it does this sometimes. Some of the pictures are up, but certainly not all of them. In fact, Paris might have to be divided into two albums...I'll send you more on that later. Also, for some reason the camera I have doesnt rotate digital picutres automatically, so I apologize for the incovenience of having to turn your head. If you have a laptop, I suggest you just turn it instead. If you have a desk computer, you can turn it if you want to. I wont stop you.

Au revior!
shelbi

France pictures: http://shelbirene.shutterfly.com/2631

War and Memory

I can honestly say that though this paper is required, it is not difficult to write. The days we spent at the Caen Museum and in Normandy moved me more than I ever expected. I cried periodically throughout the entire day in Normandy because I could not help think of how I have known of World War II but hardly known about it. The individual stories of the soldiers’ and events made everything a reality for me and not only made me recognize how blessed I am but also allowed to me to decipher the relationship between my home country and Europe as well as how I feel about being an American citizen.
The Caen Museum opened my eyes to a side of the World Wars that had never been presented to me before. My prior education to the war focused mainly on the Holocaust than the actual war itself. As I began to learn more throughout the course of the museum, I began to realize how ignorant I actually was. It is not that the Holocaust is not important, because it is, but I felt blinded to a bulk of history that contains great importance. Of course I can not completely put my school to blame, for I never looked into the matter myself, but I was disappointed that the idea of there being more to the story had never crossed my mind.
Before the Caen Museum, I was not quite sure how the Second World War had even come about. Furthermore, I had a misconception that the French were apparently bitter at the U.S. for some reason and had not the slightest idea why. This leads me to the next day of our tour. The single most important thing I learned about regards America’s current relationship with France, as well as with Britain and the rest of Europe. I have never actually pinpointed how I felt about our countries’ relationships to one another because I did not have enough information to accurately judge my opinion. As Dale laid out the facts on Normandy day, I began to grasp the gap of misunderstanding into which our countries so often fall. First of all, on the way to a tiny French town, I came to the realization that the French do in fact appreciate our services from the wars and do not in fact, hate Americans. On the bus we began discussing how our preconception of the French had certainly been skewed. We came to this conclusion based on the fact that we had not met one unpleasant individual on our trip yet, whereas we had assumed that as Americans we would be treated poorly. Once we arrived to the town and Dale told us about the $6,000 monument set up by little over 50 civilians, I was convinced of our conclusion. Dale asked us to reflect upon our time in France and to generalize how we had been treated by the French. He said that he also had to do this when he first moved to France because he had come expecting a fight. He said that it was then that he realized that “we are all people.” On my trip to France I came to that exact realization. I began to understand that though we may think differently politically and though we may be in war right now and they are not fighting alongside us, it is not because they have abandoned us or because they hate us. It is because we have different abilities, policies, beliefs and so forth. Whether or not they want to join the fight is not up to us as Americans to judge. We will do our part, and if they feel they need to have a part then they will. I am blessed to have been given the opportunity to come to such an understanding of another country, but I am afraid that not every American is allowed the same opportunity and I therefore cannot even judge my own country.
After hearing both sides of the story, I felt a mixture of feelings about my American citizenship. At first I felt shameful for my country and for the judgments that are so often aimed at the French and Europe in general. As an American I can say that we are too quick to judge other countries simply because they may be more vulnerable. Germany is often targeted, even outside of the World Wars, as unstable and evil. Dale reminded me that though there were indeed evil soldiers in the wars, not all the Germans or German soldiers were evil. Many of the men joined the army either out of force or because they felt a duty to their country. He spoke of individual accounts of men who had surrendered to the Allies because they were frightened. He also spoke of soldiers in the German army who were barely 16. I had always generalized the German army as being ruthless and cruel, particularly as a result of the Holocaust. Though of course the cause as a whole was cruel, I feel ashamed that as an American I have generalized my judgment of men whose stories I do not even know.
On the other hand, I also felt a great deal of pride towards my country for its devotion to the liberation of France in the Second World War. As we traveled from beach to beach in Normandy and saw the American flag rejoicing with the French flag atop every flagpole, I could not help but feel so proud of my country. One of my first thoughts reflected back to the movie “The Longest Day” when, on D-Day a French man is pictured rejoicing at the site of American, British and Canadian troops. It made me realize how blessed I am to be a part of a country that will come to the rescue of another country if ever it is needed. I was also proud that my country fought alongside the British, Canadian and essentially the French, for a single cause. Unity is always a positive influence in the midst of turmoil.
My perception of my country and of European countries is completely different than it was before I visited France. This is a particular reason I chose to study abroad, because I hoped that I would be presented with views other than those that I have been used to my whole life. Ironically, I now feel more patriotic towards my own country after visiting another country.