~Tate Modern, Tate Britain, Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, Westminster Abby, London Eye, Buckingham Palace, the change of guards, National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, St. Peter’s Cathedral… it’s amazing what you can see and experience in just two days~
So London decided to hate us upon landing. The tubes, which are basically unground railways all over the entire city, were closed due to a strike the day we landed. This never happens and the entire city was crazy. Cops were everywhere, people were shoulder to shoulder, busses and cars could hardly move and everyline was miles long. We landed at 8:10am and didn't arrive to Hysung's flat until about 1pm via a train and a bus and some serious walking with Louie. The normal commute would be 30mins-1 hour not 5 hours. Oh well!
So Hysung (a schoolmate turned friend from Australia this summer) took us to her place and it was so cute! Kristen and I left and walked forever... no way I was attempting any more public transportation that day. We were starving and stopped in at a little Italian shop and got the best salami, tomato and cheese sandwich ever! After that we kept walking and walked across the London Bridge (does any one know where that song comes from? London bridge is falling down, falling down?) and went over to the Tate Modern. The art in London deserves it's own blog, stay posted but basically I was in my little kid in tha candy shop state of mind. It was everything i've ever studied in one place... who needs a college class when you have the Tate! It closed at six, like everything does in the city, so Hysung met us there.
We walked along the water to the London Eye, across the river to Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. All of this was during sunset so beyond seeing all of this is real life it was even more unreal. I never really thought I’d be standing on a bridge looking at Big Ben or the next day watching the change of guards… truly unreal and I feel so blessed. Hysung took us to a bus that took us back to Angel Station (right next to her place) and we met her roommate and he was very kind to us. We all went out to dinner and again I got the best food! She took us to an Italian pizza and pasta restaurant and I got stuffed pasta… mmmm!
The next morning we got up and guess what was running!!! THE TUBES! We traveled all over London by tube on our second day and after seeing everyone using them and people getting squished into the doors to barely fit I don’t know how anything functioned the day before! During this day I got to “see” the change of guards at Buckingham Palace. There was hundreds and hundreds of people everywhere. It’s astounding that this big of an event happens every single day. Sure enough it was just like in the pictures; yet, add hundreds of people, the noise of the band, the horse hooves on the ground, policemen yelling and shutters clicking in every direction.
We made our way from the palace down the main roadway next to the stunning gardens and wah-la! National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery! Now this gallery had every painting I had ever studied! I kept telling Kristen oh, I wrote my final paper on this painting! See those curtains drawn in that painting, that means…. Etc. etc. Oh the art and history London has.We went to Tate Britain next, another incredible art gallery. (see next blog) Next stop, Tate Modern for souvenirs and one last look. We went to a few more shops but even just walking around the city is an event. Double decker busses everywhere, rain storms on the drop of a dime (although we had very nice weather most of the time) and people speaking in their British accent (it was so hard to take them seriously, especially the little kids because of their accent! I loved it).
Our last stop was St. Paul’s Cathedral and we arrived right after a rain storm with a perfect rainbow right behind it. We sat on a bench outside the cathedral just enjoying the weather, the people, the city and everything around us. It was dreamlike really. After commuting back north to Angel station Hysung and Quin met us for dinner at an Irish pub. By that time we felt SO poor because the pound just eats huge amount of money, enough to make me sick! So they took us here for a “cheap” meal haha. It was really good too. By the time we got back to the flat, we packed up and jumped on a series of tubes to get to the airport and that was home for the next 9 hours until I flew to Cyprus looking like a zombie. Oh well, I made it and made the most of every waking moment.
Friday, September 10, 2010
Autobahn, Castles & Ausfarht... all things Germany!
So I flew into Frankfurt Germany to visit Kristen and meet her husband and they showed me around in Germany.
The autobahn... is incredible, overwhelming, terrifying, wild, breathtaking. All highways there are autobahns with parts of the roadway having speed limits and other parts it’s a free for all. Ben (Kristen’s husband) has a big truck and let me tell you, Germany is not made for big cars or trucks! Haha the streets and lanes are so tiny. In fact, we rented a car to drive to Koln my last day there. The car was super fast; I think we went over 230 kph, about 150 mph!
Castles! Kristen lives on post just outside of Heidelberg and the actual city of Heidelberg is so adorable and “so Germany”… tiny cobblestone streets filled with people with an occasional Volkswagen trying to squeeze through, huge castle on the hillside, and much more. Heidelberg was by far my favorite place. I will for sure post pictures from here because words don't do justice. We also drove to another castle about 10 minutes away and it wasn’t the like the other one built into the hillside, but rather a free standing huge castle with gardens. There was a car show there that day and we got to see all sorts of cars. Everything from tiny little cars that didn’t even have room for doors (the front just opened up) to the most expensive cars I’ve ever seen in my life and they were all on display in the gardens. Just beautiful !
Ausfarht…. A German word that I found funny for obvious reasons (if you know me at all). I totally thought it was a place until I kept seeing that sign over and over… it means exit haha. But I enjoyed having the experience of being somewhere that spoke a different language. I learned my pleases and thank yous very quickly and learned how to say, do you speak English, please. It was funny, out at a bar air force guys came up to us and said in German, do you speak English? We look at them all funny and say yesss? Nice guys and I had a great night out with Kristen and her two girlfriends that are also married to guys in the army.
Oh and the foods I ate out there, I had Turkish, Greek and German food! Turkish was so delicious! I had some sandwich type thing with the meat I always see turning on a huge rod… wow I need to learn more about this, but hopefully you can picture it. Then I had Greek with Kristen and Ben’s friend from the army and his local girlfriend and she was so kind. I had meat again there and it was fairly good. Then my German food was nasty! Had a German schnitzel… let me tell you, it’s nothing like the Australian schnitzel! I didn’t even eat it all haha it was pretty nasty, like a breaded piece of pork. Regardless, I’m glad I tried different things and I was never starving!
Overall, I am SO happy I got to see Germany and visit Kristen! Then Kristen and I hopped on a plane to London together….. : )
The autobahn... is incredible, overwhelming, terrifying, wild, breathtaking. All highways there are autobahns with parts of the roadway having speed limits and other parts it’s a free for all. Ben (Kristen’s husband) has a big truck and let me tell you, Germany is not made for big cars or trucks! Haha the streets and lanes are so tiny. In fact, we rented a car to drive to Koln my last day there. The car was super fast; I think we went over 230 kph, about 150 mph!
Castles! Kristen lives on post just outside of Heidelberg and the actual city of Heidelberg is so adorable and “so Germany”… tiny cobblestone streets filled with people with an occasional Volkswagen trying to squeeze through, huge castle on the hillside, and much more. Heidelberg was by far my favorite place. I will for sure post pictures from here because words don't do justice. We also drove to another castle about 10 minutes away and it wasn’t the like the other one built into the hillside, but rather a free standing huge castle with gardens. There was a car show there that day and we got to see all sorts of cars. Everything from tiny little cars that didn’t even have room for doors (the front just opened up) to the most expensive cars I’ve ever seen in my life and they were all on display in the gardens. Just beautiful !
Ausfarht…. A German word that I found funny for obvious reasons (if you know me at all). I totally thought it was a place until I kept seeing that sign over and over… it means exit haha. But I enjoyed having the experience of being somewhere that spoke a different language. I learned my pleases and thank yous very quickly and learned how to say, do you speak English, please. It was funny, out at a bar air force guys came up to us and said in German, do you speak English? We look at them all funny and say yesss? Nice guys and I had a great night out with Kristen and her two girlfriends that are also married to guys in the army.
Oh and the foods I ate out there, I had Turkish, Greek and German food! Turkish was so delicious! I had some sandwich type thing with the meat I always see turning on a huge rod… wow I need to learn more about this, but hopefully you can picture it. Then I had Greek with Kristen and Ben’s friend from the army and his local girlfriend and she was so kind. I had meat again there and it was fairly good. Then my German food was nasty! Had a German schnitzel… let me tell you, it’s nothing like the Australian schnitzel! I didn’t even eat it all haha it was pretty nasty, like a breaded piece of pork. Regardless, I’m glad I tried different things and I was never starving!
Overall, I am SO happy I got to see Germany and visit Kristen! Then Kristen and I hopped on a plane to London together….. : )
Είμαι σε Κύπρος! (I'm in Cyprus!)
Hi everyone!!! Thanks for reading my blog and I'm back to it until December, 2010. So I made it to Nicosia, Cyprus yesterday and I'm pretty convinced this is the closest thing to heaven on earth.
If you don't know where or what Cyprus is let me give you some quick facts. Cyprus is a island that rose out of ocean and the entire island is the country of Cyprus. The island is located off the Greek islands, south of Turkey and north of Egypt. To Europe this island is basically their vacation paradise get-a-way. I live in Nicosia, which is the last divided capital in the world. It is divided by the Greek and Turkish. There is literally a huge wall dividing the city and within the last 10 years they opened some walking gates to allowed people to travel north or south for the day and must return by night. Since then, they have opened it up to a visiting period of 3 months. The city basically has three main sections, the modern Greek Cypriot city, the old city that is also fenced in full with culture and history and the northern side that is Turkish. I will post more information on Cyprus later once I read more books and actually visit the city in the next few days. Don't expect many pictures as the guards watch for cameras and will destroy any camera and the film if they see it.
Here is a website with more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyprus
and here are (web) pictures: http://www.google.com/images?q=cyprus&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&oe=UTF-8&rlz=1I7SMSN&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=og&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi
So yesterday I flew in from a 2 day trip in London. We flew over Turkey and soon enough it was all teal blue water and then my island! The plane went over the island and did a teardrop turn over the coast exposing the white sandy beaches just outside of the city. It was absolutely gorgeous and I cannot wait to visit the beaches. We took a bus into the city and the land is fairly desolate and desert like. In ways it reminds me of eastern Washington or Arizona, yet not at all at the same time. The buildings remind me of pictures of Greece and Egypt but still its unique.
We pulled up to our apartments and they are stunning. For anyone who visited my house last year my apartment is as big as that house was. These apartments were built in 2006 and are very modern, clean, and classy. We have huge white tiles for our flooring, big fluffy couches, glass tables, and a huge balcony with a drying rack for clothes and a 4 person glass table with chairs. Pictures to come :)
I was first to arrive so I got first pick at my room and bed which is always nice. Two of my three roommates showed up last night and they are both wonderful. I'm rooming with a girl named Kassidy and she is great! She's from a small school in Missouri and she runs track for them. My other roommate grew up in California (Bay area) and Zimbabwe and now goes to school outside of California.
I got all unpacked and put some pictures up... this is home until December 20, 2010!
Oh some other funny quick stories... I NEED TO LEARN GREEK! Good thing food lables have pictures cause shopping is quite difficult. Also, I saw the most attractive man I've ever seen today, his eyes glowed! Blue, blue, BLUE eyes with tan olive skin... how lovely! haha. However, nasty old greek men = another story. It must not be odd for them to be talking, see you, stop mid sentence and just stare (yes, quite literally up and down), then once I walk past the conversation continues because this has happened multiple times! I have so many more stories but thats enough for now!
(I'll post about Germany and London shorty, sorry its out of order)
If you don't know where or what Cyprus is let me give you some quick facts. Cyprus is a island that rose out of ocean and the entire island is the country of Cyprus. The island is located off the Greek islands, south of Turkey and north of Egypt. To Europe this island is basically their vacation paradise get-a-way. I live in Nicosia, which is the last divided capital in the world. It is divided by the Greek and Turkish. There is literally a huge wall dividing the city and within the last 10 years they opened some walking gates to allowed people to travel north or south for the day and must return by night. Since then, they have opened it up to a visiting period of 3 months. The city basically has three main sections, the modern Greek Cypriot city, the old city that is also fenced in full with culture and history and the northern side that is Turkish. I will post more information on Cyprus later once I read more books and actually visit the city in the next few days. Don't expect many pictures as the guards watch for cameras and will destroy any camera and the film if they see it.
Here is a website with more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyprus
and here are (web) pictures: http://www.google.com/images?q=cyprus&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&oe=UTF-8&rlz=1I7SMSN&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=og&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi
So yesterday I flew in from a 2 day trip in London. We flew over Turkey and soon enough it was all teal blue water and then my island! The plane went over the island and did a teardrop turn over the coast exposing the white sandy beaches just outside of the city. It was absolutely gorgeous and I cannot wait to visit the beaches. We took a bus into the city and the land is fairly desolate and desert like. In ways it reminds me of eastern Washington or Arizona, yet not at all at the same time. The buildings remind me of pictures of Greece and Egypt but still its unique.
We pulled up to our apartments and they are stunning. For anyone who visited my house last year my apartment is as big as that house was. These apartments were built in 2006 and are very modern, clean, and classy. We have huge white tiles for our flooring, big fluffy couches, glass tables, and a huge balcony with a drying rack for clothes and a 4 person glass table with chairs. Pictures to come :)
I was first to arrive so I got first pick at my room and bed which is always nice. Two of my three roommates showed up last night and they are both wonderful. I'm rooming with a girl named Kassidy and she is great! She's from a small school in Missouri and she runs track for them. My other roommate grew up in California (Bay area) and Zimbabwe and now goes to school outside of California.
I got all unpacked and put some pictures up... this is home until December 20, 2010!
Oh some other funny quick stories... I NEED TO LEARN GREEK! Good thing food lables have pictures cause shopping is quite difficult. Also, I saw the most attractive man I've ever seen today, his eyes glowed! Blue, blue, BLUE eyes with tan olive skin... how lovely! haha. However, nasty old greek men = another story. It must not be odd for them to be talking, see you, stop mid sentence and just stare (yes, quite literally up and down), then once I walk past the conversation continues because this has happened multiple times! I have so many more stories but thats enough for now!
(I'll post about Germany and London shorty, sorry its out of order)
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Guess where I'm off to next! Deutschland wird die Liebe Kayla Dawn
Hello everyone! Thanks for following my blog, I'll keep it updated until December, 2010. It's time again for me to leave... this time to Europe!
After I got back to Australia and New Zealand it was pretty tough on me. I couldn't get caught up on sleep and getting used to be in the US was difficult as silly as that seems. But 4 days later I got on a plane and went to AZ with my mom and it was awesome. I spent the weekend in Tucson and enjoyed seeing as many friends as possible. I definitely felt different being in Tucson after my travels and nothing had seemed to change, yet I felt so different. Coming back this spring will be real interesting. I then headed back up to Scottsdale for some R&R with my family and even some old college friends. After a few days back in the northwest I'm now ready to head to Europe.
First I travel to Frankfurt, Germany via flights from Seattle to London to Frankfurt. Kristen, a friend from as far back as I can remember, will pick me up Friday afternoon and we'll explore and make our way to her home in Heidelberg, Germany. She has some wonderful plans for me while I'm there including a day trip to Koln, time downtown and some night time fun. I'm so excited to see Kristen and see as much as Germany as possible. I'll have Friday-Tue morning there and then both of us are going to London!
Once in London we'll take a tube to my friend Hyesung's flat that is close to downtown. I met Hyesung at school in Australia and I can't wait to meet up with her again! I also have plans to meet up with a fellow UA Alum! She graduated with her Bachelor of Fine Arts and is starting grad school in London this semester. While in London I want to go to a lot of different art galleries; Tate Modern and Tate Britain, the National Gallery and the Natural History Museum if time and money are still available. I'd also like to check out the London Eye, Buckingham Palace, Tower of London, St. Paul's Cathedral and anything else I can get to. As you can see I have a lot of plans for my short 2 1/2 day visit.
On Thursday the 9th I will finally make it to my home in Cyprus!!! I honestly can not wait to be there and have a home!
To break down my program: I study at The University of Nicosia in Cyprus. I will be staying in an apartment with 4-6 other girls just outside of campus (details to come later on). I will get checked in and the next week we take 10 days to travel. I will go to Greece (Athens- 3 days total), Italy (Rome, Florence & Venice- 5 days), and Spain (Barcelona- 2 days). Also worked into my semester in Cyprus we will take weekend trips to Troodos, Ayia Napa, Larnaca, Limassol and Paphos, popular beaches around the island of Cyprus. I also hope to have classes only Mon-Wed or Mon-Thurs (depending on what classes are available) so I can do some independent travel.
Wish me luck and keep in touch! I'll have skype, email and hopefully facebook... I'd love to hear from everyone at home (wa & az). Also send me your address if you like a special something in the mail!
Ich bin dann mal in Deutschland sehen! Wünscht mir Glück und gutes Trinken!
Ich liebe dich alle :)
After I got back to Australia and New Zealand it was pretty tough on me. I couldn't get caught up on sleep and getting used to be in the US was difficult as silly as that seems. But 4 days later I got on a plane and went to AZ with my mom and it was awesome. I spent the weekend in Tucson and enjoyed seeing as many friends as possible. I definitely felt different being in Tucson after my travels and nothing had seemed to change, yet I felt so different. Coming back this spring will be real interesting. I then headed back up to Scottsdale for some R&R with my family and even some old college friends. After a few days back in the northwest I'm now ready to head to Europe.
First I travel to Frankfurt, Germany via flights from Seattle to London to Frankfurt. Kristen, a friend from as far back as I can remember, will pick me up Friday afternoon and we'll explore and make our way to her home in Heidelberg, Germany. She has some wonderful plans for me while I'm there including a day trip to Koln, time downtown and some night time fun. I'm so excited to see Kristen and see as much as Germany as possible. I'll have Friday-Tue morning there and then both of us are going to London!
Once in London we'll take a tube to my friend Hyesung's flat that is close to downtown. I met Hyesung at school in Australia and I can't wait to meet up with her again! I also have plans to meet up with a fellow UA Alum! She graduated with her Bachelor of Fine Arts and is starting grad school in London this semester. While in London I want to go to a lot of different art galleries; Tate Modern and Tate Britain, the National Gallery and the Natural History Museum if time and money are still available. I'd also like to check out the London Eye, Buckingham Palace, Tower of London, St. Paul's Cathedral and anything else I can get to. As you can see I have a lot of plans for my short 2 1/2 day visit.
On Thursday the 9th I will finally make it to my home in Cyprus!!! I honestly can not wait to be there and have a home!
To break down my program: I study at The University of Nicosia in Cyprus. I will be staying in an apartment with 4-6 other girls just outside of campus (details to come later on). I will get checked in and the next week we take 10 days to travel. I will go to Greece (Athens- 3 days total), Italy (Rome, Florence & Venice- 5 days), and Spain (Barcelona- 2 days). Also worked into my semester in Cyprus we will take weekend trips to Troodos, Ayia Napa, Larnaca, Limassol and Paphos, popular beaches around the island of Cyprus. I also hope to have classes only Mon-Wed or Mon-Thurs (depending on what classes are available) so I can do some independent travel.
Wish me luck and keep in touch! I'll have skype, email and hopefully facebook... I'd love to hear from everyone at home (wa & az). Also send me your address if you like a special something in the mail!
Ich bin dann mal in Deutschland sehen! Wünscht mir Glück und gutes Trinken!
Ich liebe dich alle :)
Saturday, August 14, 2010
“Change is inevitable, growth is intentional.”
(This one is more for me, but I'm happy to share it if you're interested)
July 7 – August 15
• 39 days
• 2 countries & 4 Australian states
• 10 different airports & 11 flights
• 10 different hostels/accommodations
• Traveled by bus, train, shuttle, van, taxi, boat, car and foot
It’s pretty incredible to look back on a series of events that lead me to this point in my life and this trip in particular. I studied hard in high school, ranked in the top 15 of 365 in my graduating class and graduated with honors. I went to community college simultaneously and graduated high school with almost a two year college degree. From there I got into every college I applied to and chose my top choice, The University of Arizona. I was only able to study there because I had earned a generous scholarship and with the funds my mom and dad were able to provide, which I thank both of them, I was confident in my capabilities to go to school, perform well and make enough money working to pay for school and live.
I ended up loving my university and excelled in my program of choice. Working towards my Bachelors of Fine Art, I quickly fell right into the pace of college life and academics. I’ve earned multiple scholarship awards from the school of art as well as independent families that chose to support me. It’s because of the support I’ve received, both finically and mentally, that any of this has become possible.
Last fall, a month or two into classes, I got an email congratulating me on another scholarship (yes, I apply to scholarships like it’s my job). I had already paid my tuition fees and had a budget set out for the fall and was not expecting these extra funds. I had been researching study abroad options because I’ve always wanted to have that experience but it was difficult to find art programs through the UA that weren’t tens of thousands of dollars. I had found a photography program in the outback that was $3,500 and a short course, allowing me to work part of the summer and study a full semester in the fall. At that time it was only a dream, but when I got notice of this scholarship and the financial amounts almost matched perfectly I knew that was a big enough motivation and indication to go for it.
Months later, packets and packets of applications and paperwork later, I was accepted into the Edge of the Outback Photography Course for July 10-Aug 1, 2010. Of course I was ecstatic! At that point I couldn’t believe how everything fell into place, although at times it took some serious work especially dealing with the UA and financial aid, but those are dirty details I don’t want to dwell on.
Paying for my airfare wasn’t easy and I couldn’t justify paying that much money and not seeing the coast, especially the Great Barrier Reef. I talked to a few friends about coming down to travel with me. I talked to Matt, a good friend from UA because he wanted to study down there and then travel which sounded amazing but our timing didn’t match up (don’t worry he still went and had the time of his life!) So I talked to Tiffany about the idea of traveling Australia together towards the end of summer. With budgeting, time management and everything worked out, we booked our flights from LAX to Melbourne, Sydney to Auckland, Auckland to LAX. After more thought and ruling out hiring a camper van and traveling by train, we decided to buy cheap domestic flights and travel that way. As you can see, everything fell into place there.
So you might be questioning how my fall study abroad program came to be? If you didn’t know, I’m participating in a Semester in the Mediterranean program. It’s based out of Cyprus and we travel as a group to Italy, Spain and Greece.
After getting the details settled for this summer it made me want to see what else was out there. My UA credits weren’t lining up perfectly because I couldn’t get particular classes so I was looking at graduating Spring 11, instead of Fall 10. The UA has a great art program in Italy so I was seriously considering that option until I found out they don’t offer studio art classes. I kept looking and looking, was a few days away from signing up for a different Italy program and then I found the one I committed to. This program was way cheaper, offered loan options, I would get to see so much more and study in a different location from most study abroad students.
UA still can’t figure out their details for me and I’ve struggled throughout the entire process of getting this program approved. I refuse to give up and I know I’ll make it happen. With the academic scholarship I was granted from the study abroad program it actually made the cost of UA and abroad the same, the only problem was not all my financial aid could be applied. That’s were more loans came in, but I know this is a once in a lifetime opportunity that I’m not going to pass up, even if I’m paying off student loans until I’m 50!
Kristen, a good friend from, oh, 3rd grade just moved to Germany with her husband and I figured she would like to see an old friend! I wrote her and asked about visiting and she welcomed me instantly! I was looking at plane tickets and I was about to have a 16 hour layover in London which seemed like yet another opportunity to capitalize on. I altered my plans and invited Kristen along and now I’m visiting Kristen in Germany for about 4-5 days and then we’re spending a few days in London together before I fly to school.
Even more exciting, a girl from my program in Australia will be living in London when I visit and she invited me to stay with her. I’m so happy I can keep in touch with her and extend our relationship across the world! So I’ll be staying with Kristen in Germany and then my schoolmate in London and then off to school until December 20, 2010.
I just keep going in circles unable to completely comprehend everything I’ve done and where I’m at. I just spent roughly 6 weeks abroad when I never thought that would happen. I spent my first day completely by myself which was so empowering; it allowed time for reflection and made no distractions from everything that was in front of me. I then met the other 19 students and multiple professors, artists and faculty that I would spend the next 3 weeks with. I travelled hours and hours away from any big cities into the middle of nowhere where the kangaroos outnumber the people. I spent days and nights away from white culture and lived in an aboriginal community with a good friend, Peter Peterson showing us around, leading us in songs around the fire and teaching us lifelong lessons. I then worked with some incredible artists and photographers who recognized where I’m at with photography and where I’m at conceptually with my art which was such a compliment if nothing else. I ended my study abroad experience in the best of light and wouldn’t trade it for anything different. Tiffany met me and I got a taste of real traveling. No one picking me up at the airport, no calling friends or family, just us making our way from place to place. We took advantage of what every city had to offer; Adelaide had an amazing wildlife park, Cairns had everything incredible including diving, snorkeling and the best nightlife, Sydney had their classic Opera House and the bridge climb and just a big city attitude. New Zealand wasn’t so nice, the weather hated us and cancelled our Sky Jump and black water rafting in caves, but we were grateful for the money back in our pocket and the experience of diving down south even if it was to eat lunch and turn around.
More than anything else I hope to remember the people. You can visit a city anytime, you can pay to go out in a boat and you can buy a drink in any bar around the world but I can’t replace the people I met. They’ve inspired me to travel as much as possible. They’ve taught me to relax, there is a reason Australia produces so many “No Worries” tee-shirts and New Zealand so many “Sweet As.” products. I hope to hold onto a bit of their relaxed mentality. Meeting people like Peter, you realize there are in fact some people you’ll never forget for the rest of your life. I’ve also realized I will forget some people’s names, but there is no way I will forget the way they made me feel and the impact they’ve made on my life. I’ve met people from literally all over the world traveling these few weeks with Tiffany. I had lined out all the places I wanted to travel realistically for a while but now I know I need to travel to Ireland one day and see much more of the world in general.
I’m so grateful for everything and everyone in my life right now. I fly to the states in about 12 hours after weeks of being gone without a cell phone, little internet connection, a lot of quiet time and it’s made me realize a lot. Thanks to everyone who has supported me in any sort of way. I realize this is an end to one journey but the start of so many more.
Love always and forever,
Me, Myself and I <3
July 7 – August 15
• 39 days
• 2 countries & 4 Australian states
• 10 different airports & 11 flights
• 10 different hostels/accommodations
• Traveled by bus, train, shuttle, van, taxi, boat, car and foot
It’s pretty incredible to look back on a series of events that lead me to this point in my life and this trip in particular. I studied hard in high school, ranked in the top 15 of 365 in my graduating class and graduated with honors. I went to community college simultaneously and graduated high school with almost a two year college degree. From there I got into every college I applied to and chose my top choice, The University of Arizona. I was only able to study there because I had earned a generous scholarship and with the funds my mom and dad were able to provide, which I thank both of them, I was confident in my capabilities to go to school, perform well and make enough money working to pay for school and live.
I ended up loving my university and excelled in my program of choice. Working towards my Bachelors of Fine Art, I quickly fell right into the pace of college life and academics. I’ve earned multiple scholarship awards from the school of art as well as independent families that chose to support me. It’s because of the support I’ve received, both finically and mentally, that any of this has become possible.
Last fall, a month or two into classes, I got an email congratulating me on another scholarship (yes, I apply to scholarships like it’s my job). I had already paid my tuition fees and had a budget set out for the fall and was not expecting these extra funds. I had been researching study abroad options because I’ve always wanted to have that experience but it was difficult to find art programs through the UA that weren’t tens of thousands of dollars. I had found a photography program in the outback that was $3,500 and a short course, allowing me to work part of the summer and study a full semester in the fall. At that time it was only a dream, but when I got notice of this scholarship and the financial amounts almost matched perfectly I knew that was a big enough motivation and indication to go for it.
Months later, packets and packets of applications and paperwork later, I was accepted into the Edge of the Outback Photography Course for July 10-Aug 1, 2010. Of course I was ecstatic! At that point I couldn’t believe how everything fell into place, although at times it took some serious work especially dealing with the UA and financial aid, but those are dirty details I don’t want to dwell on.
Paying for my airfare wasn’t easy and I couldn’t justify paying that much money and not seeing the coast, especially the Great Barrier Reef. I talked to a few friends about coming down to travel with me. I talked to Matt, a good friend from UA because he wanted to study down there and then travel which sounded amazing but our timing didn’t match up (don’t worry he still went and had the time of his life!) So I talked to Tiffany about the idea of traveling Australia together towards the end of summer. With budgeting, time management and everything worked out, we booked our flights from LAX to Melbourne, Sydney to Auckland, Auckland to LAX. After more thought and ruling out hiring a camper van and traveling by train, we decided to buy cheap domestic flights and travel that way. As you can see, everything fell into place there.
So you might be questioning how my fall study abroad program came to be? If you didn’t know, I’m participating in a Semester in the Mediterranean program. It’s based out of Cyprus and we travel as a group to Italy, Spain and Greece.
After getting the details settled for this summer it made me want to see what else was out there. My UA credits weren’t lining up perfectly because I couldn’t get particular classes so I was looking at graduating Spring 11, instead of Fall 10. The UA has a great art program in Italy so I was seriously considering that option until I found out they don’t offer studio art classes. I kept looking and looking, was a few days away from signing up for a different Italy program and then I found the one I committed to. This program was way cheaper, offered loan options, I would get to see so much more and study in a different location from most study abroad students.
UA still can’t figure out their details for me and I’ve struggled throughout the entire process of getting this program approved. I refuse to give up and I know I’ll make it happen. With the academic scholarship I was granted from the study abroad program it actually made the cost of UA and abroad the same, the only problem was not all my financial aid could be applied. That’s were more loans came in, but I know this is a once in a lifetime opportunity that I’m not going to pass up, even if I’m paying off student loans until I’m 50!
Kristen, a good friend from, oh, 3rd grade just moved to Germany with her husband and I figured she would like to see an old friend! I wrote her and asked about visiting and she welcomed me instantly! I was looking at plane tickets and I was about to have a 16 hour layover in London which seemed like yet another opportunity to capitalize on. I altered my plans and invited Kristen along and now I’m visiting Kristen in Germany for about 4-5 days and then we’re spending a few days in London together before I fly to school.
Even more exciting, a girl from my program in Australia will be living in London when I visit and she invited me to stay with her. I’m so happy I can keep in touch with her and extend our relationship across the world! So I’ll be staying with Kristen in Germany and then my schoolmate in London and then off to school until December 20, 2010.
I just keep going in circles unable to completely comprehend everything I’ve done and where I’m at. I just spent roughly 6 weeks abroad when I never thought that would happen. I spent my first day completely by myself which was so empowering; it allowed time for reflection and made no distractions from everything that was in front of me. I then met the other 19 students and multiple professors, artists and faculty that I would spend the next 3 weeks with. I travelled hours and hours away from any big cities into the middle of nowhere where the kangaroos outnumber the people. I spent days and nights away from white culture and lived in an aboriginal community with a good friend, Peter Peterson showing us around, leading us in songs around the fire and teaching us lifelong lessons. I then worked with some incredible artists and photographers who recognized where I’m at with photography and where I’m at conceptually with my art which was such a compliment if nothing else. I ended my study abroad experience in the best of light and wouldn’t trade it for anything different. Tiffany met me and I got a taste of real traveling. No one picking me up at the airport, no calling friends or family, just us making our way from place to place. We took advantage of what every city had to offer; Adelaide had an amazing wildlife park, Cairns had everything incredible including diving, snorkeling and the best nightlife, Sydney had their classic Opera House and the bridge climb and just a big city attitude. New Zealand wasn’t so nice, the weather hated us and cancelled our Sky Jump and black water rafting in caves, but we were grateful for the money back in our pocket and the experience of diving down south even if it was to eat lunch and turn around.
More than anything else I hope to remember the people. You can visit a city anytime, you can pay to go out in a boat and you can buy a drink in any bar around the world but I can’t replace the people I met. They’ve inspired me to travel as much as possible. They’ve taught me to relax, there is a reason Australia produces so many “No Worries” tee-shirts and New Zealand so many “Sweet As.” products. I hope to hold onto a bit of their relaxed mentality. Meeting people like Peter, you realize there are in fact some people you’ll never forget for the rest of your life. I’ve also realized I will forget some people’s names, but there is no way I will forget the way they made me feel and the impact they’ve made on my life. I’ve met people from literally all over the world traveling these few weeks with Tiffany. I had lined out all the places I wanted to travel realistically for a while but now I know I need to travel to Ireland one day and see much more of the world in general.
I’m so grateful for everything and everyone in my life right now. I fly to the states in about 12 hours after weeks of being gone without a cell phone, little internet connection, a lot of quiet time and it’s made me realize a lot. Thanks to everyone who has supported me in any sort of way. I realize this is an end to one journey but the start of so many more.
Love always and forever,
Me, Myself and I <3
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
2:45am wake up call, Hello New Zealand!
After still going to bed early, 2:45am still came way too early. We caught a cab and headed out to the airport with Louie and everything else. It was weird actually leaving Australia, pretty sad but I don’t think it really hit me because we were jumping right over to New Zealand. I should have slept on my flight but for some reason I chose to stay up, watch a movie and eat the free breakfast they served us. I watched Chloe, which was kind of a weird movie, and then some of Exit Through the Gift Shop.
I don’t think I wrote about this movie, Exit Through the Gift Shop, A Bansky Film, was a movie we went to in Mildura and I loved it! If you didn’t know, Bansky is a street artist that hides his identity and is known for some pretty outrageous stuff such as hanging his own art in the Louvre and illegal street art all over the world. It’s a completely ridiculous movie and not what I was expecting but I loved it and recommend it to everyone.
Anyways, should have slept and I didn’t… whoops! We got into the city via the bus right before a parade started. We got checked in and our place which is pretty nice (for a hostel of course). Hot shower and warm room, not too much to complain about minus the fact the light doesn’t work in the shower… thanks for that flash light grandparents! Haha
We dropped off our stuff and hit the streets on foot by 11:30am or so. We walked all over the city and into some shops. Auckland is much smaller than the other cities have been and it didn’t take long for me to wish I had more time here and more time to travel to the south island. New Zealand has so much to offer outside of its cities, so much adventure and outdoors stuff. By oh, 3pm we were wondering if it was acceptable to go to bed yet. Instead we walked a little more, did our grocery shopping (meals are way too expensive out) and took our showers… I’ve officially made it to 8pm! However now that I’ve written my last three blogs it’s time for me to sleep! Goodnight everyone, see you soon enough ; )
No longer our Aussie traveler (sniffle sniffle),
XOXO
Kayla
I don’t think I wrote about this movie, Exit Through the Gift Shop, A Bansky Film, was a movie we went to in Mildura and I loved it! If you didn’t know, Bansky is a street artist that hides his identity and is known for some pretty outrageous stuff such as hanging his own art in the Louvre and illegal street art all over the world. It’s a completely ridiculous movie and not what I was expecting but I loved it and recommend it to everyone.
Anyways, should have slept and I didn’t… whoops! We got into the city via the bus right before a parade started. We got checked in and our place which is pretty nice (for a hostel of course). Hot shower and warm room, not too much to complain about minus the fact the light doesn’t work in the shower… thanks for that flash light grandparents! Haha
We dropped off our stuff and hit the streets on foot by 11:30am or so. We walked all over the city and into some shops. Auckland is much smaller than the other cities have been and it didn’t take long for me to wish I had more time here and more time to travel to the south island. New Zealand has so much to offer outside of its cities, so much adventure and outdoors stuff. By oh, 3pm we were wondering if it was acceptable to go to bed yet. Instead we walked a little more, did our grocery shopping (meals are way too expensive out) and took our showers… I’ve officially made it to 8pm! However now that I’ve written my last three blogs it’s time for me to sleep! Goodnight everyone, see you soon enough ; )
No longer our Aussie traveler (sniffle sniffle),
XOXO
Kayla
Art! Art! Art! Art! And nick?
So Tuesday morning started off horribly. I wanted to stomp all the way back to Arizona to yell at the University of Arizona for being absolutely horrible at everything they do. Well not everything, just their office of financial aid and registration. Long story short, they keep giving me false information about this fall, important dates and many other things that it making my life very difficult while I’m trying to figure out my study abroad details for this Fall while I’m abroad. It didn’t help the people in this ‘Free WiFi McDonalds’ were not of best health, again to say the least. It was a long quiet walk back to our place to drop off my netbook but our next stop was the Art Gallery of NSW (New South Wales).
Within 5 minutes of being in the art gallery I was so happy to be there I let everything else go and just focused on everything around me which was stories and room after room of art! They had 4 levels with all kinds of art such as: contemporary, aboriginal, 15-19th c European, 19-20 c Australian along with many more, but mostly importantly the Alfred Stieglitz and the Abstraction exhibitions! Tiffany was a sport and wandered through all the free areas with me and then I headed into the Abstraction, Paths to Abstraction 1867-1917exhibition alone.
I saw some of the first purely abstracted works that were exhibited in Paris at the Salon d’ Automne exhibition in 1912; James Abbot, McNeil Whistler, Walter Greares. I saw many pieces from the Nocturne series including Black and Gold – the Fire Wheel, 1875. All these painting were extremely abstract and singular toned. These artists were drawing attention to aspects that were typically overlooked such as color (or colour as they spell it), tone, shape and composition. Picasso’s work was also on display in this area. It was his early works such as Seascape 1896. Others that accompanied this work were Piet Mondrian, Georges Seurat and Alvin Langdon. I even got to see an Edward Steichen photogravure from Camera Work (a popular journal back then) Arp/July 1911; I was excited even though I still had his show to see upstairs!
The next part was work from the impressionists. They were the first to reject the absolute value of painting and no longer saw the relationship of objects but simplified it to the relationship of tones. Claude Monet, Sailboats on the Seiner, 1874, was the first painting I saw in the room. There was a lot of Monet and Cezanne works, as well as works by Denis and Vullard. They all had beautiful tones and a lot of color. Some were oil paintings and others were color lithographs.
Nabis, started around 1888 Paris, was next on display. These works had a frank use of non-naturalistic color, emphasis on design and the picture plane. This was where everyday scenes were becoming harder to extract but you could still makes sense of what the artist of portraying, such as “The Convalescent Women”, Henri Matisse, 1899. Kandinsky, Picasso, Mondrian and others spent time working in such a style, although it was ever changing.
They had an interesting section of woodcuts as well. Paul Gauguin did some primitive woodcuts that he showed saying they were rough, rudimentary but interesting and sure enough many other artists took interest and began expanding.
The fauvism section was interesting. “Fauves loves of color”; all the paintings were so bright and full of color. I got to see a lot of Matisse’s and Derain’s work. Others working during this time, early 1900’s, were also on display.
One of my favorite works was in the cubist section; Woman with a Mandolin, 1910, Picasso. It was so beautiful in real life. At times the cubist works are so abstracted that some people disregard or view it as controversial art, as if this entire movement as a whole wasn’t, but seeing it in real life made me appreciate the work so much more than I ever had. There were other artists, more contemporary, working in the same style and it doesn’t compare.
This exhibition ended with “1912-1917 Limits of Abstraction”. It listed information about the 1917 publication of De Stijl in a Dutch Magazine and in March the first Dada exhibition, both important events for abstract art. Hey, I even got to see a Duchamp ready made! It wasn’t The Fountain (which I plan to see in London in less than a month) but it was his “Bicycle Wheel” 1913.
This exhibit was such a good one for me to see in person. I got a chance to see a lot of the art I study and the information presented was at par with a college art history class, imagine that (HA!). I met poor Tiffany at the café on that floor as she was watching a movie and waiting for a hot sandwich, quite the trooper. Since she was waiting for food I went to the other paid entry exhibition….
Alfred Stieglitz! For those who don’t know he is one of the first American photographers and worked since the 1890’s to further the cause of photography as an art form. There were 4 huge rooms dedicated to photograph after photograph of his work. One of the highlights was definitely The Steerage, 1907, photogravure on Japanese vellum.
I saw some of his earliest works up into some of his lasts when he just decided to stop photographing. I saw photogravures, platinum prints, gelatin silver prints, palladium prints, toned prints and even actual Camera Work journals. I was such an excited person, it was kind of ridiculous. I found it really funny though, most (if not all) of the works were from all of our, meaning the US, main photography institutions such at MoMA, the George Eastman House, the Getty, the National Gallery of Art and so on. It’s pretty amazing an Australia museum was able to show these works and even more ridiculous I was actually here!
Something I didn’t realize and I wonder if my peers back in AZ do, Stieglitz and Georgia O’ Keeffe were great friends. They met in 1916, shared a studio starting in 1918 and it was in 1917 he started photographing her. The portraits were absolutely stunning and ranged everywhere from a standard close up to more abstracted close up of her hands to nude photography.
The 4 main grouping of his work was his earliest works, portraits of mainly O ’Keeffee, Clouds and Lake George. He was a pretty amazing person it seems and he no doubt did a lot for photography. Oh! And there was even a blurb about his using his 4x5, yey for 4x5 photography! : )
After keeping Tiffany waiting long enough, I left the exhibit to find her movie almost over and we were ready to go, after oh 4-5 hours there! We went a found a chicken parm in a very safe pub by the bridge climb, which was delicious, and then met Nick (same friend from Cairns). We adventured all over Sydney by foot in the pouring rain. Nick bought a cheap umbrella and explained how he was having a tough day and then the crappy umbrella he bought kept flipping inside out as he tried to walk and right as he was explaining it did it and I was laughing so find I couldn’t even stand up. I think we all know what those moments are like and it was hilarious…. For us!
He took us over to Darling Harbor and we got some last minute souvenirs, which I might add I did a good job on not over purchasing nicknacks and things I don’t have room for but a few special things were a nice addition. We said see ya later to Nick as we’ll probably see him in Auckland again and headed back ‘home’.
Within 5 minutes of being in the art gallery I was so happy to be there I let everything else go and just focused on everything around me which was stories and room after room of art! They had 4 levels with all kinds of art such as: contemporary, aboriginal, 15-19th c European, 19-20 c Australian along with many more, but mostly importantly the Alfred Stieglitz and the Abstraction exhibitions! Tiffany was a sport and wandered through all the free areas with me and then I headed into the Abstraction, Paths to Abstraction 1867-1917exhibition alone.
I saw some of the first purely abstracted works that were exhibited in Paris at the Salon d’ Automne exhibition in 1912; James Abbot, McNeil Whistler, Walter Greares. I saw many pieces from the Nocturne series including Black and Gold – the Fire Wheel, 1875. All these painting were extremely abstract and singular toned. These artists were drawing attention to aspects that were typically overlooked such as color (or colour as they spell it), tone, shape and composition. Picasso’s work was also on display in this area. It was his early works such as Seascape 1896. Others that accompanied this work were Piet Mondrian, Georges Seurat and Alvin Langdon. I even got to see an Edward Steichen photogravure from Camera Work (a popular journal back then) Arp/July 1911; I was excited even though I still had his show to see upstairs!
The next part was work from the impressionists. They were the first to reject the absolute value of painting and no longer saw the relationship of objects but simplified it to the relationship of tones. Claude Monet, Sailboats on the Seiner, 1874, was the first painting I saw in the room. There was a lot of Monet and Cezanne works, as well as works by Denis and Vullard. They all had beautiful tones and a lot of color. Some were oil paintings and others were color lithographs.
Nabis, started around 1888 Paris, was next on display. These works had a frank use of non-naturalistic color, emphasis on design and the picture plane. This was where everyday scenes were becoming harder to extract but you could still makes sense of what the artist of portraying, such as “The Convalescent Women”, Henri Matisse, 1899. Kandinsky, Picasso, Mondrian and others spent time working in such a style, although it was ever changing.
They had an interesting section of woodcuts as well. Paul Gauguin did some primitive woodcuts that he showed saying they were rough, rudimentary but interesting and sure enough many other artists took interest and began expanding.
The fauvism section was interesting. “Fauves loves of color”; all the paintings were so bright and full of color. I got to see a lot of Matisse’s and Derain’s work. Others working during this time, early 1900’s, were also on display.
One of my favorite works was in the cubist section; Woman with a Mandolin, 1910, Picasso. It was so beautiful in real life. At times the cubist works are so abstracted that some people disregard or view it as controversial art, as if this entire movement as a whole wasn’t, but seeing it in real life made me appreciate the work so much more than I ever had. There were other artists, more contemporary, working in the same style and it doesn’t compare.
This exhibition ended with “1912-1917 Limits of Abstraction”. It listed information about the 1917 publication of De Stijl in a Dutch Magazine and in March the first Dada exhibition, both important events for abstract art. Hey, I even got to see a Duchamp ready made! It wasn’t The Fountain (which I plan to see in London in less than a month) but it was his “Bicycle Wheel” 1913.
This exhibit was such a good one for me to see in person. I got a chance to see a lot of the art I study and the information presented was at par with a college art history class, imagine that (HA!). I met poor Tiffany at the café on that floor as she was watching a movie and waiting for a hot sandwich, quite the trooper. Since she was waiting for food I went to the other paid entry exhibition….
Alfred Stieglitz! For those who don’t know he is one of the first American photographers and worked since the 1890’s to further the cause of photography as an art form. There were 4 huge rooms dedicated to photograph after photograph of his work. One of the highlights was definitely The Steerage, 1907, photogravure on Japanese vellum.
I saw some of his earliest works up into some of his lasts when he just decided to stop photographing. I saw photogravures, platinum prints, gelatin silver prints, palladium prints, toned prints and even actual Camera Work journals. I was such an excited person, it was kind of ridiculous. I found it really funny though, most (if not all) of the works were from all of our, meaning the US, main photography institutions such at MoMA, the George Eastman House, the Getty, the National Gallery of Art and so on. It’s pretty amazing an Australia museum was able to show these works and even more ridiculous I was actually here!
Something I didn’t realize and I wonder if my peers back in AZ do, Stieglitz and Georgia O’ Keeffe were great friends. They met in 1916, shared a studio starting in 1918 and it was in 1917 he started photographing her. The portraits were absolutely stunning and ranged everywhere from a standard close up to more abstracted close up of her hands to nude photography.
The 4 main grouping of his work was his earliest works, portraits of mainly O ’Keeffee, Clouds and Lake George. He was a pretty amazing person it seems and he no doubt did a lot for photography. Oh! And there was even a blurb about his using his 4x5, yey for 4x5 photography! : )
After keeping Tiffany waiting long enough, I left the exhibit to find her movie almost over and we were ready to go, after oh 4-5 hours there! We went a found a chicken parm in a very safe pub by the bridge climb, which was delicious, and then met Nick (same friend from Cairns). We adventured all over Sydney by foot in the pouring rain. Nick bought a cheap umbrella and explained how he was having a tough day and then the crappy umbrella he bought kept flipping inside out as he tried to walk and right as he was explaining it did it and I was laughing so find I couldn’t even stand up. I think we all know what those moments are like and it was hilarious…. For us!
He took us over to Darling Harbor and we got some last minute souvenirs, which I might add I did a good job on not over purchasing nicknacks and things I don’t have room for but a few special things were a nice addition. We said see ya later to Nick as we’ll probably see him in Auckland again and headed back ‘home’.
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