16 Wednesday Jan 2013
Posted in Photography, Traveling
A few months ago, I wrote a post about a trip I took to the Mission of San Juan Capistrano. I thought I would follow it up with several photographs of the various doors at the mission.
09 Wednesday Jan 2013
Posted in Life after College
Hey all,
A few months back I posted about what I should do about my dual identities – eurolinguiste and sksaxgirl. My decision was to keep both but to shift focus towards sksaxgirl since music was becoming more prominent in my life again. Instead, I found myself completely focusing on sksaxgirl and leaving eurolinguiste without a regular posting schedule.
That’s not to say I’ve stopped studying language! In fact, it’s quite the opposite. I’ve recently invested more time studying language recently than I had before. That might be why I don’t have as much time left for blogging!
So, to get to the point, I’m going to officially take a break from eurolinguiste. But don’t worry, I’ll still write about language and all that fun stuff over at sksaxgirl. Plus, I’ll post my photography there too since most of it is taken on tour anyway…
If you haven’t already, I would love it if you followed me over at sksaxgirl!
20 Thursday Dec 2012
Posted in Life after College
16 Sunday Dec 2012
Posted in Life after College
Today is the one year anniversary of the Eurolinguiste blog and I thought I would celebrate by creating a “round-up” of my most popular posts from the year. For kicks, I will also list my least popular post and a few fun search terms.
Fun search terms:
list of things to do to feel accomplished – Dear whoever you are, I hope reading my blog made you feel like you accomplished something… If not, that’s cool.
like crazy themed wedding invitations – I’m really not sure what that means…
expectations are a funny thing – why, yes. Yes, they are.
shannon kennedy married – really? people are googling my wedding… okay… thank you?
i will like to spend time studying – me too
saxy images – this just makes me giggle
why are there so many french in dublin – I was actually wondering that too! If you found the answer, please let me know!
eurodicshanary – Ugh! Why didn’t I think of spelling it that way? I didn’t even realize I could have fit my name into it! I guess I’m not as clever as I thought!
diy jacques cousteau – I’m not sure if this is possible…
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Top 3 Most Popular Posts
1. The Ultimate Paper Flower Bouquet DIY Tutorial
3. French Onomatopoetic Expressions
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Top 3 Least Popular Posts
1. Just Plain Rude (it was a rant about common courtesy, so I get that no one wanted to read it. ha)
2. Yea, I had a Jewelry Making Phase (not a diy, just pictures, so that might explain it)
3. 49 Days and Counting (not sure on this one…)
14 Friday Dec 2012
Posted in Life after College
Tags
Besançon, doors, doorways, Europe, France, photography, Strasbourg, travel
This gallery contains 11 photos.
13 Thursday Dec 2012
Posted in Life after College
12 Wednesday Dec 2012
Posted in Life after College
11 Tuesday Dec 2012
Posted in Life after College, Photography, Traveling
Earlier I wrote a post on a difficult travel experience, but this one definitely wins by a long shot – especially since the first was by my own doing while this second one was not in my control.
Snow is evil and it is not my friend. Yes, I am anthropomorphizing the weather, but in this case, I think it is absolutely suitable for me to do so.
My journey home started with a nice 6am walk to the bus station through a foot of snow with a large suitcase, a saxophone, my flute and whistles, and a backpack full of books for at least a mile. The combined total weight of everything probably exceeding my weight. By the time I arrived at the bus station, my arms and legs were not only frozen, but completely worn out from carrying so much weight.
As I waited at the bus station, I nervously watched the clock. Due to the weather and resulting driving conditions, the bus to the airport was just over half an hour late and I had scheduled it so that I would have been on the bus that got to the airport exactly on time – the half an hour put me behind schedule and with check-in and the slow drive, quite possibly late.
But as it turned out, it didn’t matter. By the time I finally checked into the airport, walked all the way down to the terminal (which was extremely far), I only had to wait half an hour to find out that the flight had been delayed. We were told that they would let us know what was going to happen at 2pm (my flight was supposed to be at 11am).
So, expecting to hang out at the airport for quite some time, I walked back to the Starbucks to get a coffee while I waited. I then paid £10 for a day of internet only to be told an half hour later that the flight had been cancelled and that I needed to go to baggage claim to collect my bags. They decided to shuttle us on buses to the airport in Dublin so that we could get on a different flight.
So, I go downstairs, get my bags, and then wait for another half hour before I am herded into a line for the buses which was outside. After 45 minutes of standing in the snow (ill-prepared mind you because I thought I would be in warmer weather and not Belfast during a snowstorm), I finally get onto the last bus. Four hours later, we arrive in Dublin only 45 minutes before our now 6pm flight to Newark.
We check in, go to the terminal, get on the plane and head to Newark. The runway freezes over, so we are forced to sit on the plane while we wait for them to clear off the ice. Fun times. Fast forward, 9pm we land in Newark, and guess what, my flight is now 9am the next morning. So what am I going to do that night in Newark? Sleep in the airport… Why? Because the airline won’t comp us hotel rooms even though they flew us to Newark knowing we would have no place to stay. So, after being up since 6am Belfast time (that’s 1am Newark time, 10pm LA time), now 2am Belfast time, I am forced to stay awake all night in the airport because I do not feel safe sleeping while I am traveling alone. So, I go to McDonald’s, get a large coffee and sit down to work on my homework.
At 4am Newark time, the check-in opens (that is now 9am Belfast time and I have officially been awake 27 hours), so I check in and head over to my terminal. Four and a half hours later, 8:30 (1:30pm Belfast), we get on the plane. Of course, we arrive late in LA – noon LA time (that is now 8pm Belfast). It is pouring rain, and takes over 2 hours to drive home! There ends up being company at my house, so I stay up socializing to be polite. I go to bed around 11pm (that is 7am Belfast time – I’ve been up 49 hours). That’s my story. Not to mention I had to get up at 6am the next day to play at church.
The moral of this story is: don’t try to fly home when there are freak snow storms. It sucks.
10 Monday Dec 2012
Posted in Life after College
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02 Sunday Dec 2012
Posted in Life after College, Photography, Traveling
It’s hard to believe that it was already two years ago that I visited Dublin during the holiday season.This is my second Christmas in California since moving from Ireland.
I thought I would post another archive blog entry (from my former blog I kept while living in Ireland). Here is a post from my Christmas in Dublin.
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Yesterday, I went to Dublin with my friends – I had a lot of fun and it was our most successful trip so far! We had a failed trip to Scotland – we intended to go to Edinburgh, but didn’t have time, so instead we spent all but four hours of a 24-hour travel day on buses and ferries. We had four hours in Glasgow, see post on pictures from Scotland, which was beautiful, but by the time we arrived, it was dark so I was not able to take very many photos. Our second trip, was even less successful.
We wanted to visit the Marble Arch Caves, and did a great amount of research to try to find out how to get there. After spending at least $80, we arrived at the Marble Arch Caves only to discover that they were closed for the winter season! So, we were stuck in a small town with only one street, one restaurant open, a 7/11 like store open, and a pub. We ended up staying in the restaurant (which was also the hotel) and eating shortbread cookies because we had nothing else to do! For lunch, I had a red onion and lettuce sandwich because they were not prepared for a vegetarian. The good thing is that third time really is the charm – our trip to Dublin was far more successful! It was also one of the least planned trips thus far.
We arrived in Dublin with a map, made it to the hostel where my friends were staying, and then decided where to go next. Each time we made it somewhere, we would decide where to go rather than planning the whole day beforehand. It was probably the best way to do things because there was less stress over what we would do and how we would feel if expectations were not met.
Although, I have to admit that I’m not 100% sure we were in Dublin – I think we might have been somewhere in France, because everyone there was French (including our group). I don’t think I heard English at all throughout the day. Even when we were at the café on a brief break, the man who sat at the table next to us was French. We joked about how there were French people partout. When the man sat next to us in the café, someone remarked that he was French based on mannerisms and presentation. So I leaned over and asked “Vous êtes français?” And of course the response was, “Oui”.
One of the cool things about being in Ireland is the fact that I can find things with both my names everywhere! They were all sorts of signs with Kennedy and Shannon written on them. I even found a pub called Doyle’s! We went into the Temple Bar district, I was kind of hoping to see Glen Hansard (no luck), but it reminded me quite a bit of some areas in Paris and it made me happy (maybe that is why there were so many French there!).
We don’t have any more trips planned before I come home, but it is probably better because it will force me to spend my weekends in the library working instead (which I need to do). My goal is to avoid bringing home a bunch of school books – that would really weigh my luggage down. And because they would be library books, they would be in my carry on (not an exciting idea) so that I would not have to worry about them being lost.
