Winter Songs

As some of you may or may not know, I keep an mp3-ish blog at Touch My Clickwheel where I (infrequently) write short posts about music I like. Times are a'changing, and I'll be incorporating music on the Gitnerblog this year.

Here are two Winter/Christmas-themed songs I discovered tonight and am smitten with. First is "Winter Song" by Sara Bareilles ft. Ingrid Michaelson. Find more femme-y songs on the Winter Songs compilation from Hotel Cafe. Next is "Blue Christmas" by First Aid Kit, a Swedish sister duo. Both are a bit melancholy in mood, but they can only make your Christmas better. Enjoy and hope everyone's having a good holiday!

Favorite Albums of 2008

Let me clarify. These are my favorite albums of 2008, but they are probably not the best. I like a lot of them for sentimental reasons, but maybe you'll find something you like too. Click on the links to hear a track on YouTube.

In no particular order...

1. Laura Marling - Alas, I Cannot Swim
I discovered Laura Marling's music in London and was fortunate enough to see her perform live twice.

2. Noah and the Whale - Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down
Closely related to Laura Marling is Noah and the Whale. I saw them play at the ICA in London and couldn't wait for their album to finally come out. While I was unhappy with some choices they made with demo tracks that had been floating in the blogosphere for months, I can't help but love it.

3. Jaymay - Autumn Falling
I saw Jaymay perform at Dingwall's in Camden Town, London. It was my first concert I ever went to all by myself. Jaymay's songs are pleasant and sing-along friendly, and the album is solid all the way through.

4. Kaki King - Dreaming of Revenge
Kaki King is a constantly evolving musician. She's expanded her repertoire of mostly acoustic guitar songs to include some catchier rock songs. Her voice takes some getting used to, but I'm a three concert veteran and am hooked for life.

5. The Magnetic Fields - Distortion
I was disappointed with Distortion at first, because I just couldn't get over the distorted sound that weaves through all the tracks. But clever lyrics and catchy melodies shine through. It just needs a few tries to warm up to it.

6. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
"White Winter Hymnal" took the blogosphere by storm. When I saw them at Black Cat this year, their harmonies blew me away. It's impossible to capture their talent on a recording, but their debut album comes close.

7. Lykke Li - Youth Novels
I was absolutely blown away by the first single "I'm Good, I'm Gone." Her album has about four more songs that are worthy hit singles. Even better are Lykke Li's live performances, which you can find on YouTube. This Swede will stare you down, and you won't be able to turn away.

8. Girl Talk - Feed the Animals
Feed the Animals makes me want to dance in my underwear. I'm sure that says something. Also, in one album, it's a rapid review session of all the rap music I wasn't listening to all year.

9. Aimee Mann - "@#%&! Smilers
I love Aimee Mann. Literally all of her songs. "@#%&! Smilers is no different. She was amazing at the 9:30 Club this fall and even played 'Til Tuesday's "Voices Carry."

10. Sigur Rós - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
I don't know what they're saying, but it doesn't really matter.

Shameless Self-Promotion

Instead of studying for finals, I've created a MySpace Music page for myself. I finally began writing my own songs thanks to a great class at Georgetown taught by the great Bill Danoff (of Starland Vocal Band and "Take Me Home, Country Roads" fame).

Check out my songs here! http://www.myspace.com/jessgitner

Amtrak: Worse than the Chinatown Bus

Apologies for the lapse in posts. I had planned on a glorious post-Thanksgiving recap about sleeping twelve hours each night, hanging with the fam, drinking limitless supplies of Arizona Green Tea, and indulging in an endless supply of music, tv shows, and movies.

I had a blast... until I took a spill on Monday morning on the Amtrak train. I popped up like it was nothing. "Are you okay???" the guy behind me asked. "Yeah, yeah... I'm fine. I'm fine." When I finally found a seat on the packed train to DC, I knew I probably wouldn't be able to stand up in four hours. So I confessed my embarrassing fall to the ticket taker. "I fell down and hurt my leg." I asked for some ice or a first aid kit. He kindly told me to walk my ass to the cafe car.

Amtrak customer service continued to degrade from there. The ticket taker found me in the cafe car again and told me that an 80-year-old woman had fallen between the platform and the train. She didn't cry though. Thanks, asshole. Later when I got up to get some fresh ice, a different Amtrak employee looked at my shoes (my Vans...) and said, "No wonder why you fell. Those shoes don't look like they have much grip." Fuck you too, pal.

There were, however, two nice people on the train. I sat across a Pace University professor who was so kind to me that I mistook her for a Kindergarten teacher. She gave me her magazines to read when she got off the train and talked to me while I sat across from her. Sigh. Then there was one Amtrak lady who got my bags and moved them to where I was sitting with my leg propped up.

All I got was a bone bruise on my shin, but it hurt, man! Maybe I would've been better off on the Chinatown bus. Alright, back to the studying routine. More posts for procrastinating later...

Sr. Helen Prejean at Georgetown

I just saw a reading of The Death of Innocents by Sister Helen Prejean in Gaston Hall at Georgetown University, and it was arguably better than a full-on stage production. Sister Helen Prejean read her own part, and Georgetown undergrads and professional actors served as the ensemble cast.

I had read Dead Man Walking (and seen the play and the movie) in high school, so I wondered what else Prejean could say about the death penalty. She said a whole lot more. The Death of Innocents focuses on two men whom she believes to be innocent and in two emotional acts, she convincingly flaunts the faults of the U.S. justice system. I cried twice, which is actually a first for me with plays.

I still really, really dislike Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Do you remember my post last year after his lecture at LSE? If you happen to read the book or see a performance like this, you'll see why. Read this CNN article on one inmate who was profiled in Act II of The Death of Innocents. Really alarming stuff.

I'll be writing a review of the performance for a class, so I'll cut this post short. Happy Monday.

Haircut Philosophy

Today has been both a lazy and productive day. In accordance with the gods, I'm feeling like I'm coming down with a cold of some sort. Each Thanksgiving I tend to come down with something whether it be the pneumonia + bronchitis + lung infection triple threat of 2nd grade or just a simple sinus infection. But here I am with my sick voice and roll of toilet paper ready to blow my nose.

I'm feeling pretty good though. This morning I biked to Bang Salon on U Street for my pre-Thanksgiving haircut. In the past, haircuts have been mildly traumatic experiences. I'd endure split ends for months at a time just so I could go to my stylist at home. But since I haven't been home in over a year, I decided to buck up and face my fears.

I usually feel out of place and under dressed at salons. My t-shirts and Nike Dunks are out of place among ladies with manicured nails and high heels. I suck it up though, because these are the places where I feel like I can come away with a good haircut. Still, I can tell that the stylists are a little confused by me. They're not sure what kind of conversation to start with me and combined with my initial reservedness, silence inevitably ensues. This problem was solved by stylist at home, who is conveniently the mom of a girl I went to school with since the 4th grade. Ten years worth of talking material!

While at Georgetown, I'd occasionally get a haircut from my sister's stylist. Moshi made me nervous with his shaky hands and I endured some awkward conversation, but his cuts always turned out fine. Then in London, both money and apprehension kept me from the scissors for a bit. The hipster places in Spitalfields intimidated me. I could shop confidently in the cool record stores there, but was not alternative enough for Pimps and Pinups. After all, I was neither pimp nor pinup. Finally I caved in and went to a place in Soho where I paid a small fortune for a trim and peace of mind.

Flash forward to the present. My stylist has more tattoos than he can count and his flat iron is decorated with a skull and crossbones pattern. Bang Salon has the perfect mix of traditional and hip. Lawyers and rock star types get their hair cut here, and somewhere in the middle is me. I feel comfortable, which has contributed to an unusually high frequency of haircuts since June.

So to everyone that dreads haircuts, for everyone that dreads that awkward mandatory conversation with their stylist, go out and find a new one. That was a long tangent that began with Thanksgiving and ended with haircuts, but I hope it was mildly entertaining. Hope everyone has a good weekend.

Buying Things

It's been a busy, busy week with two concerts (Amos Lee and Kaki King/The Mountain Goats), some meetings, a badminton tournament, birthday pie-making, and work, but I have survived. Even though the events were fun, I'm not quite cut out for the non-stop action.

I'm very much a person that needs her quota of "nothing" time and when that quota is not met, I buy things. Usually I buy things that I need. "Need" is obviously subjective. Last time I bought Season 2 of 30 Rock and a digital voice recorder.

This time I snagged a pair of hot pink ODI Ruffian Lock-On Grips. I know what you're thinking... Why hot pink? I respond to you, why not hot pink? These suckers will hopefully remedy the treacherous grip rotation that I experience when biking up cobbly O and P Streets. More importantly, I'm contributing to the American Cancer Society, and the grips will add quirkiness to my otherwise boring (but highly functional) $70 mountain bike.

Perhaps I've also overlooked another fundamental question. Why am I excited about bike grips? I love , love, love gear, and I blame/thank my dad for it. He advocated "researching" my purchases, subscribed to Consumer Reports, and created the monster I am today. I'll let you know how my purchase turns out but until then, farewell. My "nothing" time has expired.

Whoa Nelly

Whoa nelly. It's been almost three weeks since I've posted. Two housemates' 21st birthdays, three concerts, and a lot of working at Patagonia have taken it out of me. But I'm back and ready to write interesting and compelling things about my modest life as a Senior in college. Things I'm excited about lately...

Barack Obama has been elected the 44th American president! I'm watching John McCain's concession speech now, and I'm even proud of him. His speech is a good one, although his supporters are a bit creepy. For the rest of the night, I'll be keeping my eye on California's Prop 8 and the rest of the state ballot measures banning gay marriage, gay adoption, gay... people. It's not looking good, folks.

I'm now officially double majoring in Political Economy and American Musical Culture! This is exciting for me, because now I can legitimately say music is more than my hobby. Writing cover letters for music and entertainment industry jobs will hopefully be less difficult to swing this spring.

Also, I played one of my songs this past Wednesday at an Open Mic Night. I still remember crying in the 6th grade after my saxophone teacher forced me to play a duet from Aladdin with some older kid during my lesson at The Music Tree, so it looks like I've come a long way in social development. Lots of friends showed up to support me, and I felt especially loved that night.

Finally, I've been to a slew of really great concerts. Ben Kweller played Rock 'n Roll Hotel on Oct. 21; The Magnetic Fields played GWU's Lisner Auditorium Oct. 26; and I just saw Amos Lee at 9:30 Club last night. It was my third time seeing Ben Kweller and his indie twang style suited my lazy mood for the night. Old favorites were twangified, although noticeably absent was "Wasted and Ready." I'm looking forward to his new album Changing Horses set for February release. The Magnetic Fields were absolutely amazing, and I felt so fortunate that DC was on their curiously eccentric October tour. I loved every song they played, including old favorites "I Don't Believe You" and "Yeah! Oh Yeah!" and new favorite "Drive On, Driver." Lastly, I saw Amos Lee yesterday. He played a solid hour-and-a-half set including almost every song from his self-titled debut. His new material is great! It's what I like to call Sunday music for reclining and relaxing. Mmm.

Alright. I've gone on too long, but I will try to post more frequently in next few weeks. I think I'll post about my exciting Patagonia gear soon. I definitely have immense brand loyalty from this job. Happy Election Day! I'm relieved that the world will wake up to Barack Obama as the winner.

1703 Music Series

I've been a little absent from the blogosophere lately and not living up to my "more regular posts" resolution of the new school year, but at least for this week, I can get a note from the doctor to excuse myself. In an impressive rally, my immune system has battled back against what I initially thought was strep throat. I was out of commission for a good 3-4 days but some penicillin, codeine, and a tearful phone call to Mom later, I feel pretty back to normal.

I haven't posted in a while, so a recap of all events seems over the top. But in summary, I saw Kathy Griffin at DAR, Jenny Lewis at Sixth & I Historic Synagogue, and GEMA Rocks at Gonda Theater. Most importantly, I saw Bahfongu in my basement.

We hosted our first house party of the school year with a live performance by American University band Bahfongu. We transformed our basement into a present-day Cellar Door with Christmas lights and some furniture reorganizing. The beer was abundant, dancing was widespread, and of course, the band was groovin'.

I had some reservations about Bahfongu since I had never heard them before, but they were amazing! A well-chosen mix of funky instrumental originals and crowd-pleasing covers (highlight = "Proud Mary") had the crowd in constant motion. The party crowd even cheered for an encore at the end of the set. An encore in my basement? Yes, please. Look for recaps of Part II of the 1703 Music Series in the future. Needless to say, I'll be riding this wave of cool through the rest of the week.

Gaiken

Clay Aiken ("Gaiken" to KG) has come out just in time for tonight's tomorrow's Kathy Griffin show at DAR Constitution Hall. Can anyone say perfect timing? Kathy Griffin is a guilty pleasure of mine, but I emphasize the pleasure over the guilt. I'll let you know how it goes.

Life is good.

Let me give you a peek into my academic life. I'm currently working on an assignment for a hypothetical radio pitch based on an episode of NPR's This American Life. My particular idea concerns interviewing a few of my favorite bloggers and weaving together a story of their lives behind the blog. In my Seminar in Songwriting class, I presented my first assignment in which I wrote a new song around the lyrics to CCR's "Proud Mary." And today in my Computer Science class, I made an animation of a leaf falling from a tree and tumbling to the ground with Adobe Flash. Life is so good. I almost don't want to jinx it.

It's finally starting to cool down a bit here in DC. Coming back from London, I had this false impression that summer lasts forever here. But my refusal to adapt clothing choices to climate is quickly backfiring. Time to bring out the fleeces (50% off...) and put away the flip flips.

In other news, Gitnerblog readership has increased back up to London levels. Thanks for reading everyone!

Blogging High

I'm on a blogging high right now, because Matt from You Ain't No Picasso has just commented on the Touch My Clickwheel blog! More than likely, you're not sharing in my enthusiasm. BUT for some perspective, realize that YANP was my first blog love, my first introduction to mp3 blogs, and the inspiration for the TMC blog. I don't know much about Matt, YANP's creator, but he's my pseudo-anonymous peer role model. Was that too many adjectives?

I'm a Political Economy major with seemingly unrelated career aspirations, and blogging has kept my dreams close to mind. Hence my excitement when one of my favorite bloggers stumbles across my meager website.

At Georgetown, students perceived as ambitious are usually reaching for investment banking and finance... for Lehman Brothers, for Merrill Lynch, for AIG, etc. Idealists and dreamers are seeking their fortunes elsewhere in "less serious" fields. With the sudden collapse and rescue of the aforementioned companies, I feel reassured in pursuing my passions. There's no guaranteed money anywhere anymore, so why not go for what I want?

To be fair, I'm writing this before my potentially epic job search, but I still feel excited about the journey ahead. Alright. I promise my next post will be... less hopeful? Well, I can't promise. Until then...

The Past Week's Summary in Photos

1. A Norwegian visits. Sight-seeing occurs and Newseum volunteer takes terrible (but funny) photo which she deems "great"!











2. Piggy back rides back from 80s Night at the Tombs, a Senior Dis-Orientation Event.

















3. Housemates dressed up for the Super Hero Keg Party at Leo's, yet another Senior Dis-O event.

















4. Jazz Party at DPE House, a much classier event than I'm used to.

Red Light, Green Light, 1-2-3

I was in London for 9 months, an eternity when every year of my life is measured in semesters. But still, I digested it as a very temporary situation in which I should not establish serious relationships. Emotional attachments, I decided, were a bad idea. Well, here I am back at Georgetown and suddenly feeling like that wasn't the wisest of decisions.










See exhibit A (above). No, this is not a Christmas party; it's my housemates and me on our way out to a stoplight party. Available? Wear green. Taken? Wear red. Don't get me wrong. I like green. I love green. But suddenly in this context, green sucks.

London for me was an extreme form of being single. Not only did I lack a special someone, I also lacked friends. Don't cry for me, Argentina, because it had its benefits. I thought about me, what I wanted to do, what I needed, what I wanted to eat. All the time. No consideration of other people and guiltless selfishness are surprisingly liberating. I'm exaggerating, but hopefully you get my point. Living in a self-centered world gets old.

In some ways, it's great that my generation has shifted the life timeline down five years or so. Ten years ago, I would be openly panicking about my single status, fearful of becoming an old maid. Instead, I get to excitedly plan my career, work hard for upward mobility, and focus on myself while fearing becoming an old maid in secret! In this more feminist era, we're taught that these goals, rather than marriage, are what's important. And they are. I'm happy to feel successful and ambitious and interesting as my own person. But damn biology! We're also wired to partner up.

Why can't feminism be more welcoming to discontent about flying solo (maybe it does and I'm just ignorant)? After all, isn't it just biology? I'm a strong, independent woman who would prefer to be a strong independent woman WITH an awesome partner in crime.

So as senior year progresses and fantasies of meeting prince(ss) charming in college fade away, I say (and I'm sure some of my single friends say it too)... fuck green. In the meantime, find me reading books, becoming incredibly intelligent, and being the happiest single person on the Eastern seaboard.

End of Summer

via Darkman's world Flickr

Summer has come to a close and on this occasion, I offer a Best/Worst summary.

Best
1. Visiting the Cape
2. Seeing movies (The Dark Knight, Pineapple Express, Tropic Thunder)
3. Sports (vball, tennis, climbing)
4. Cooking
5. 4th of July
6. 21st Birthday
7. Concerts (Aimee Mann, Fleet Foxes, Tilly & the Wall)
8. Work

Worst
1. Mosquito bites
2. Work

Ay, ay, ay. It was my last summer between school years where I could have hypothetically done nothing at all! It was a good one, but I'm happy the school year is starting. More updates and less lists in the near future. Slowly but surely, I'll be blogging more consistently... and on more interesting topics. Until then, happy hump day.

Gas Prices

via The Gear Junkie.

On Not Owning A Vacation Home

Funny article in Slate entitled On Not Owning A Vacation Home by Timothy Noah. Read in full here.

I do not own a summer house. The summer house I don't own has not been in the family for three generations. It's a simple, shingled affair, weathered and dear, with fishnets not hanging from the ceiling, duck decoys not arrayed on the shelves, and a large, yellowing map of the area, festooned with incomprehensible nautical markings, not stuck to the wall with pushpins not manufactured in 1954. I love the scent it doesn't give off of mothballs mingled with mold.

Gitnerblog Update

I've been neglecting the blog for the past 2 weeks or so, but never fear. While I haven't been updating the blog, I've been thinking a lot about updating the blog. True, actions speak louder than words but I will be blogging on a fairly consistent basis when the school year starts.

Get ready for life updates and commentary on... whatever I feel compelled to write about. It's time to flex the blogging muscles.

Olympics Excitement, Pt. 2

The Chinese do in fact put on a good show, emphasis on the show and not reality. And they're dominating the gold medals race (26), but the US is on top for overall medals count (46). Why do I care? It's hard to tell, but I feel like I have something invested in this Olympics. I screamed at the tv when unlikely Belgium almost won the first set against Misty May and Kerri Walsh in beach volleyball, and I squirmed waiting for Shawn Johnson's scores in the women's individual all-around gymnastics.

It's possible that my interest is simply due to the fact that this is the first Olympics where I'm old enough to really know what's going on. True, I was a "mature" 17-year-old when Athens happened, but that still didn't mean I paid attention to the world. What else was I doing, you ask? Well, neither working nor studying. Not filling out college apps. Not really traveling. Somehow, I have zero recollection.

But I've turned over a new leaf. I'm making up for years of indifference by watching events as obscure as handball, archery, and cycling. So as I sit in my PBS cubicle watching MSNBC on mute, I say, "America, *@$# yeah!"

In non-Olympic news, it's been busy times here in DC. People are moving in and out of our house, and I'm getting steadily more excited for the year to start. It feels like I've been working a lot, but it'll soon taper off after the Patagonia sale. Back to work now.

To close, check out this video of US gymnast Alicia Sacramone knocking a guy out. Badass.

Olympics Excitement

I've never really been that excited about the Olympics before, but times have changed. Being abroad has amplified my American pride, and I can't wait to watch the Opening Ceremonies tonight. After seeing some pictures, my excitement has multiplied a few times. They're... stunning? I never use that word, but I'm compelled to use it now. China may be a questionable host for the Olympics, but they sure put on a good show. The military one creeps me out a little and the excessive red reminds me more of communism than luck, but I'll get over it. Go USA!
Photos from NewYorkTimes.com

Recap: The Big 2-1

Continuing with the recap, I turned twenty-one a few weeks ago. Twenty-one... pretty much the last year to be excited about aging. Besides for the fact that twenty-one is a big deal, this is the first birthday I've actually "celebrated" in a while. Last year I was on a plane to Montana and the years before, I had small low-key dinners, etc.

This year's festivities were slightly more elaborate with a small dinner, a cake/beer get together, and an outing to the Tombs. This might sound weird, but to have a semi-large number of people gather in a room for my birthday was really touching. It just made me really happy to see people I like and who, presumably, like me back all gathered in one place. And it's not like we don't hang out in large groups at other times too; this scenario isn't overly unique. It's just that the visual of this gathering was easier to notice since it was a special occasion.

Jared, my travel pal from London, came down from NJ, and he bore gifts of port and Cuban cigars. Besides his visit, highlights of the day included Indian food at Aditi and of course Carvel Ice Cream Cake (always a coveted delicacy since moving to California). Mmm, good.

Now back to work, land of paper cuts and damaged cuticles thanks to all this filing. Blurgh.

Recap: The Cape

I haven't posted in a while so to avoid summarizing the last three weeks of my life in an overwhelming monster post, I'll slowly post some highlights.

First up: the Cape. Although I'm viewing this whole summer as a vacation, my trip up to the Cape was my only formal vacation of the summer. I flew up to Boston, proceeded to complain about my basement sleeping arrangements, and then realized that the entire thing had been redone during my yearlong absence from the states. Even though I'm "all grown up," these moments always tend to remind me that I am the baby of the family.

We headed to the town of Brewster the next day, and I set off on a mission to win back (assuming I'd lost it due to absence) the love of my two little nephews. A few frisbee tosses and splashes in the pool later, I had succeeded.

In the next two days, we played some tennis, swam in the ocean, and rode bikes (see picture). Nothing overly elaborate but fun even so. Somewhat strangely, I managed to watch two jearjerkers during my vacation: Brokeback Mountain and Million Dollar Baby. I guess a good cry is always welcome.

That's all for my Cape summary. Hope everyone is doing well and thanks for all the the birthday wishes! Contrary to popular belief, a 3-week hangover is not responsible for being MIA on the blog.

Summer Charm

Photo courtesy of Picture Perfect
Watching Clueless on a Friday night is my idea of fun. In fact, it's a luxury since returning from television-less Londontown. But even though I'm having fun, I didn't necessarily choose my fate of apparent loserdom. Yesterday while playing tennis, in a heroic sprint to answer my cell phone, I ran full speed into the handle of the net crank. A few tears, a Sweet Green sweet flow, and one burrito later, I was happily limping home.

I continue living a charmed life in DC working MWF's and sleeping in on days off. Climbing and the journey to the climbing gym are meditative experiences, solo and wonderful. I listen to my Pimsleur Basic Norwegian audio lessons on the way and mutter phrases to myself on the Metro. And yes, I am learning Norwegian for no reason at all other than I feel like it (and the cds at Barnes & Noble were cheap). Perhaps German is next? Who knows. For some reason, practical languages like Spanish are so discouraging because being conversational seems significantly less attainable than for a seemingly useless language like Norwegian.

Next Friday I head up to the Cape for a long overdue reunion with my sister. I say "the Cape" like I know what I'm talking about, but really, I'm confused and hope it's not over-populated with Vineyard Vines-toting, critter pants-wearing, collar-popping socialites. Is there a hippie/hobo part of the Cape? I'm excited to ride bikes, fly kites, swim, and frolic in the ocean. The ocean! I realized while abroad that it's incorrect to refer to any sea/ocean as the ocean. Before I thought that "sea" and "ocean" were synonyms when in fact, Europeans refer only to the Atlantic, Pacific, and Antarctic Oceans as "oceans" and only to seas, like the Mediterranean, as "seas." Maybe everyone knew this already, but I was enlightened.

I'm all blogged out so for the curious, here are some pictures of my humble abode. No huge plans for this weekend except probably a Nats game tomorrow and my first pseudo-day at Patagonia on Sunday. My foray into outdoor retail continues... happy weekend!

We're Europe's Bargin Bin: Slate article

Here's a really good Slate article I meant to post a while back (long excerpt below):
"We're Europe's Bargin Bin: The Pain of Watching Foreigners Buy Up Manhattan" by Leslie M.M. Blume.

"Thank you for throwing your wedding during the holiday sales," said one, calling me from an uptown department store. "It was good enough getting it all half-off, but now it's like a posh bargain basement."

At the time, I was too busy to feel jealous or left out. And anyway, who could take the decline of the dollar personally, for God's sake? If anything, I saw the situation through the prism of ironic detachment: Wasn't it all so interesting, how the tide was turning? New York City, once a formidable fortress of look-but-don't-touch, was becoming practically kittenish in its accessibility.

But six months later, the joke is wearing thin. Despite some rah-rah rallying this week in response to a pep talk from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, the dollar has fallen 11.5 percent against the euro and 7.2 percent versus the yen since September 2007, and it continues to limp along.

Not that you can blame the Europeans in this equation: They're simply taking advantage of their good luck, as we've done before. Indeed, our country owes a chapter of its most important literature to the dollar's former strength overseas, allowing expats like Fitzgerald and Hemingway to revel in the then-cheapness of Paris and the French Riviera. It's just unfortunate to be part of a generation in which these particular cards have turned on us.

Still, there's truth to the old adage that you eventually grow to resent your benefactors. It's undeniably depressing that we're relying on European tourists to prop up our economy. What makes it worse: Our consumerist benefactors don't even like us. International opinion of the United States and its inhabitants has tanked over the last eight years, practically eviscerating fond memories of Americans as midcentury saviors of the free world.

Yet somehow through the end of the 20^th century, we could hide from any feelings of inadequacy by hiding behind the protective shield of our economy. If, by contrast, other nationals found us ham-fisted and naive, it never really mattered because our country was rich and theirs was usually dependent on ours in some way. When in Europe, we admired their lifestyle and intimidating sophistication, but we never would have swapped our bullish work ethic or earnestness for their double-digit unemployment or sclerotic bureaucracies.

But these days, we're being humbled on a world stage. Perhaps—in addition to our more overt financial and military embarrassments—we fear that our European counterparts believe the dollar's decline is symbolic, that the world really is in a post-America stage and doesn't care about us anymore except as a bargain bin. We're finally being unmasked as the hunky-dory, cultureless brats they've always assumed us to be: that we have nothing left to give.

Procrastination is Making a Cup of Tea

via girl in the green dress.

I have sort of been procrastinating on blogging. Is there such a thing? Procrastinating. On blogging? No, nevermind. Blogging is an instrument of procrastination.

Living in DC has so far been a non-traumatic transition from London, land of the no-schedule schedule. I'm currently working MWF and loving the freedom of my days off. Cramping my style are some unexpected bumps like lost mail and subsequent visits to the post office where I am then redirected to another post office, but I can't really complain.

Despite my easy work schedule, I feel mysteriously busy. This past weekend I watched the Eurocup Final at the Austrian Embassy, which provided free beer and food, with two housemates. We also went to the Crafty Bastards crafts fair in Silver Spring, MD, home of hand-sewn penis and vagina pincushions and other less eyebrow-raising jewelry and clothing.

I joined the local climbing gym and have been going once or twice a week, but I do miss the socialness of The Castle. The crowd is much younger than I'm used to, which is weird for me. I feel old? And possibly worse, the bouldering routes are all hard. I suppose I'll just get better by trying the easier ones over and over again until I get them? Atrophied muscles, be damned! At least tennis is less demoralizing.

Another thing keeping me busy is my summer radio show, Touch My Clickwheel. The first show recorded successfully and we posted it at the TMC blog with pretty good reception. Technical issues ruined the second attempt, which really had me irritated, but hopefully I'll figure out a solution before tonight's show. I'm perhaps too invested in preserving the memories of my college years.

I'll end my epic post here, but look for more posts in the next few days. I'll try to post some pictures of my amazing house soon. Until then... take care.

Gitnerblog Revamp

Hey everyone,

I haven't had much time to play around on the blog in a while and in a semi-frustrating battle between Blogger and me, I succumbed to leaving all "Living in London" Gitnerblog content here and just changing the rest to be less London-specific. So... if you're feeling at all nostalgic, as I'm sure I will eventually, posts will still be here. If not, keep checking back here at the Gitnerblog for updates.

Stay tuned...

Back in the US of A

Hello friends and family!

I'm back in the US of A and in typical Gitner fashion, I've immediately caught a cold. Some cosmic force definitely has a sense of humor. On the bright side, I'm all moved into my room and it feels like home already.

I've got to run some errands, but prepare for a Gitnerblog revamp in the coming days as I'm no longer "Living in London." It's good to be back.

Lived in London

Less than 10 hours until my flight back to the states. I went to a BBQ tonight and basically everyone I've known in London was there. It was tougher than I expected to say goodbye, but it was really nice to see everyone in one place (that wasn't The Castle), ha. Walking down in Angel Tube station on my way home, the busker was playing "Bittersweet Symphony." Surreal music moment? Yes.

I hope my baggage makes weight.

List

A few things I've come to appreciate in London:

1. Phone calls and texts: Every text, every call is like an affirmation! You feel good that people are actually willing to pay upwards of 20 cents a minute/text to speak to YOU.

2. Solid deodorant: Solid roll-on is vastly superior to liquid roll-on.

3. American television/movies: This one comes with a little bit of shame, as I must admit that Gossip Girl has been a constant companion while abroad. Other favorites of the year are movies Stranger Than Fiction and Something's Gotta Give.

4. Reading: Who woulda' thunk? Semi-notorious as a non-reader among friends, I actually had time to read for pleasure here in London. Favorite reads of the year? Giovanni's Room and The World According to Garp (re-read).

5. Podcasts: The "commute" to school had a large role in my slow but steady addiction to podcasts. Favorites include the Savage Love Podcast and NPR's Bryant Park Project.

6. Buses: Much more enjoyable than the tube, the bus is a scenic and usually pleasant journey from Point A to B with unlimited people/things to stare at along the way.

7. Google Reader: This blog aggregator is my own personal newspaper each day.

8. Tea: I became a tea-drinker due to laziness (the preparation of coffee is slightly more labor intensive) and budget constraints, but I continue to drink tea for its own merits.

9. Pubs: Relaxing, social, and often ornate in decor.

10. Pounds sterling: No, not the exchange rate. I'm particularly fond of the pound coins.

11. Local music: "You know that band you read about on that blog?" -"Yeah... they're playing at Rough Trades. I'm seeing them for free."

12. Free time: Do anything you want. Anytime you want. All the time.

Alright. One more to go!

USA

Forcing people to study continuously for 4 weeks is cruel and unusual punishment, so I need to vent.

I don't carrrrrreeeeee anymore. Just let me come backkkkkkk!

Yeah, yeah. I'm leaving in four days, but the closer the day to leaving comes, the more excruciating each remaining day is. On the bright side, I've got a concert and BBQ to look forward to.

One to Go

Hey friends and family! I blog to you today from the King's College library while eating an over-priced but delicious yogurt/granola combo.

I survived my exam double header and celebrated with a walk along South Bank and a small trip to Greenwich. We walked from Waterloo Bridge to London Bridge along the river, drinking up the scenery on the first sunny (and warm) day in a long time. It's really hard to believe it's June, because temperature-wise, it seems like I've been suspended in April for the past two or three months.

Highlights of the walk were the massive street art displays on the outside of the Tate Modern building and then of course... food. We arrived to London Bridge right around noon and just in time to slip into Tapas Brindisa, a Spanish specialty restaurant that is always completely packed with a huge wait outside. Even though Jared and I didn't exactly know what the hell a tapa was (our general idea was proved wrong when the first dish was brought out), I have always wanted to eat there. It was some good eating and reminded me of the days of living it up gastronomically in Croatia. I had some steamed mussels and a pork fillet dish, Jared had mackerel and chorizo on toast, and we shared some goats cheese with grapes. And to end the meal, in Eurotrip fashion, we finished up with a shot of espresso with brandy! Mmm.

Enough about food. We then went to Canary Wharf to check out all the fuss about the other financial center of London. Big buildings, investment banks, lots of people rushing about in suits. Not much to write home about overall. But it did remind me a lot more of the United States. Streets were wider, more people were driving cars, and there was that nasty urban sprawl feeling that I get when I'm walking around San Jose, CA.

From there, we walked to Greenwich where we headed to the Great Royal Observatory. Greenwich was really pretty and had a lot of charm and its university (or some university) seemed so luxuriously campus-like compared to the schools in London. We walked past a music school and we could see a flutist standing in the window while hearing violins and drums from other directions. Surreal. These students looked a lot more happy carrying their violin bows around campus than the London students with their noses buried in the Financial Times.

We made our up the hill and walked through the exhibits, most of which were time-keeping-related. Who knew that keeping accurate time was such a complicated process? I didn't even know how my digital watch worked until I read a little blurb. Then we finally made it to the part that everyone cares about: the Prime Meridian Line. We queued up, straddled it, took a picture, and went on our merry way.

That's enough recapping for now. My next exam is on June 11th and until then, I'm studying and preparing for departure. I'm currently packed up for the most part and living out of a suitcase but more disassembling of my room will soon be underway.

Check out some pictures from South Bank, Greenwich, and the state of my room post-exam here.

Exam Seclusion

For the past two weeks, I've been one of two places: the library and my room. After two terms of slacking off, I can't really complain. But is 7 months of freedom worth 1 month of seclusion? Yes, yes it is. But I still think that I prefer the good ol' balance of work and play at Georgetown.

So far I've taken one exam and have three left to go. June 3rd will be an excruciating six hours of test-taking and after that, I will feel more or less liberated despite having one to go. I have a nasty feeling of being trapped in school while everyone else's summer has started, just as I had that idle feeling about starting school so late in October. My inbox is less full, friends are online less often. God, my reliance on the internet for happiness is alarming. Ha. (I deactivated facebook for the next 2 weeks, fyi).

One major cling to my sanity is Kate over in Lyon, France, but she leaves Europe on Monday and I know that I will have to combat the feeling of rising anxiety about being stuck alone on this continent without her. Ahh. What happened to Jared and the other Gtown crew? They're still there... exuding masculinity and testosterone in full force. And let's just say... I've reached my limits. I love them, but I am a girl god dammit. Sometimes, I want to watch The Notebook with a tissue box, or in my budget-constrained state, with a roll of toilet paper.

I'm ready for the estrogen-fest that will be my house in Burleith. Perhaps I will be singing a different tune in a few weeks. But until then... 6 girl-friends. Living in a house. I can't wait! I somehow predict that I will take one step in the house and burst into tears of joy. But this is possibly my imagination running wild with dramatic homecoming scenes.

In good news, I've seen more climbing people thanks to actually studying around LSE. That's one benefit of this exam period. Alright. Back to studying. Back to reading. June 3rd will be a good day once its over. Send me emails if you are inclined. Hope everyone is well!

Wasting Time

Sometimes... this is what I look at on the internet instead of sleeping or studying or doing anything else useful or productive.






(and about 10 other versions of this)

Final Exam Attire

You know... if I had known about the King's College Maughan library earlier, I would've been a hell of a lot more studious this year. My little bedchamber is crippling to motivation and conducive to laziness, so it's pretty essential I finally found a better study venue.

Finals exams makes me think of sweat pants, hoodies, glasses, coffee. Yet I show up the library fairly well-rested, at least wearing jeans and wondering if I even need a cup of coffee. Other people are wearing dresses and skirts and heels and are looking normal. Where are all the chain smokers that look like they haven't slept in days? Where are the people who haven't showered or brushed their hair since their last final?

I've been wearing my Pres(entation High School) sweats to at least one final since my freshman year of high school. I guess this'll be the year where I break from the trend.

Knackered and Ready for DC

I'm knackered, as the Brits say. Knackered from work and knackered from nothing. It's strange how within a week, I've gone from feeling like my time in London is too short to feeling like I desperately want to be back in Georgetown. My change of mood happens to coincide with the nearing of my first exam, which obviously has influenced my feelings. Also, the weather has returned to normal: overcast and 55 degrees Fahrenheit, which is fine, except when I know there's something better (SUMMER) awaiting me an ocean away.

This was my second to last weekend working at EB. Work is a good distraction and it's a nice time to chat with people, but it definitely tired me out. A 7:45AM wakeup is not how I prefer to start my Saturday mornings... so I rewarded myself with Starbucks. Vanilla latte... mmm. I can't remember the last time I had one.

After standing for 8 hours at work on Saturday, I went to stand for another 2 hours at a Kaki King concert at the University of London Union. You can read my little review here at the Touch My Clickwheel blog. I felt a little sentimental about the United States while watching Kaki perform, because I remembered seeing her live for the first time a year and half ago at the State Theater in Falls Church, VA. It's not so far in the past, yet I know I've changed a lot since then. Not for better, not for worse; I'm just different. I had some of those "surreal" concert moments that I like to have at concerts where I feel a song is really applicable to life or where I feel a little moved. What can I say? I'm a sap underneath it all. Kaki King was probably my favorite show of London and funny enough, the last song she played was "Jessica."

So... this entry was a little more of the sap of earlier this year. Bear with me. I'll probably be on a roller coaster of emotions in this last stretch to the last exam.

Here's one of my favorite Kaki King songs. Check it out if you're curious what she's like.

Ice Climbing!

London weather continues to be beautiful and almost too hot. And to think, a few weeks ago, I was thinking that it was a waste that I brought my flip flops here. Unfortunately, with better weather comes final exams and by final, I mean the only exams I will have had all year. My countdown to exams in my planner informs me that I only have 10 days to my first final. Bollocks, as they say. Studying has not been coming along so well, but with a new venue, the King's College Library, I think I should be making some hefty progress in the next week.

Enough of that "school" business. Let's get to the real interesting part which is ice climbing. As I've mentioned before, I work at a store which has an 8-meter indoor ice wall. Today, I finally got around to climbing it. As a rock climber (or someone that attempts to rock climb), I wondered if I'd have any advantage over a pure climbing novice. The answer is... probably not. Climbing ice like rock is not the best way as I learned in my first ascent of the wall. I chopped away at the ice, used crap footholds, and dangled from the rope while Francy told me to stop climbing it like rock.

The second climb, I redeemed myself somewhat. I made it up while only losing hold of the wall once or twice, and it probably took me half the time as well. My hands were so tired though that I almost dropped one of my axes; luckily, I caught it as it was falling and didn't kill Francy, my trusty belayer.

Ice climbing in London? Who woulda thunk? My elbow/forearm is a little busted from climbing last week and ice climbing didn't help it, but carpe diem right? Taking Jared and Stefan climbing with me was really fun, the most fun I've had at The Castle in a long time. But the competitive spirit in me, awoken by Jared, pushes me to climb harder and in some cases, past my limits. After not climbing for over 3 weeks, my muscles were a bit weak and so here I am, with a touchy joint but with more 5a's under my belt. To be old and rickety, ha. Anyways. Social obligations call.

Check out more ice climbing photos here or click on the picture above.

Booze Culture Good, Booze Ban Bad

The weather is amaaazzzing here in London. There's a little breeze and it's sunny, so I'm busting out the Rainbow sandals and Ray Bans (does that make me a brand whore?). London has really come alive with the great weather. I took the bus home from The Castle today and people were out in swarms walking home or to the tube from work. The after-work pub crowd was spilling out onto the sidewalks pints in hand on every street. Soooo nice. One thing, among many, that I will miss about London is this casual attitude toward alcohol. People enjoy the beer. They have a conversation over a pint or two, whether it be at noon or nine. It gave me a warm and fuzzy feeling to see everyone so relaxed and happy on a Wednesday afternoon.

Then... I opened the London Paper. Newly elected Mayor Boris Johnson has announced an alcohol ban on the Tube, bus, tram, and train in an effort to reduce "small crime," which he says will reduce "large crime." God damn. This is infringement on the culture that I have come to love about London! Unless they can stop drunk people from using the tube or bus, they can't prevent the type of crime that they're targeting. In my experience, the passengers drinking on the tube are having their Stella like a cup of coffee: casually sipping while reading the London Lite. They are not behaving aggressively or violently.

I suppose that in time, we'll see if the booze ban leads to any positive results. But until June 1st, find me sipping a Kronenbourg on the Northern Line with the other sexy people, haha.

"Sexiest Passengers" Travel Northern Line

Ahem, I travel on/live on the Northern Line. So this article is absolutely factual and appropriate for posting. Eat your hearts out, Central Line snobs!

Here's the article from the Londonist or read it here.

Between Morden and High Barnet travel the sexiest passengers on the network according to the results of Qype's Love on the Tube survey.

About 300 people completed the cheeky survey and the prevailing wisdom is the Northern Line's where it's at for ‘spiky-haired indie kids’ and ‘hot City types’. Unsurprisingly, no mention of the swollen handed alcoholics or the billion tourists who get on between Waterloo and Leicester Square.

Dowdiest is the Hammersmith and City line, which seems a little unfair considering it also has its share of 'hot City types' and runs through to uber-cool and good looking Ladbroke Grove.

Still, half of the respondents claim to have tried to jump someone underground, which is something to be proud of, although 90% admit to a totally loss of balls in such a situation and lament 'missed moments'.

Saddest of all though, are some of the truly terrible chat up lines that people have heard on the tube, including “Stand back honey, I would hate to see you get hurt” and “Would you like to ‘get off’ here with me?”

Um. No.

Smiles and Some Doom

Living on a tight schedule of school and work is a tough adjustment following 6 weeks of flying by the seat of my pants. It's not so much that I have a lot of classes or lectures... I don't. It's just that the sense of urgency and anxiety about revision is creeping up and days are just going by. Combined with the impending doom of exams, I really want to savor this last month and a half in London by hanging out with people who I potentially will never see again for the rest of my life. That's dramatic, yes, but also a real possibility. I haven't seen some high school friends for a few years because we're on different coasts. Different continents could prove an even greater obstacle.



That's all gloom and doom, I know, but I've been almost all smiles since coming back to London. I returned to work today for the first time in 2 months and was unfortunately greeted by a notification that I need to have over 100 pounds deducted from my salary for running a credit note incorrectly through the system almost 3 months ago. Yes, I am pissed. And no, I have no real idea how to accept a credit note at the till. And that's why, as a part-timer (and an irregular part-timer at that), I always ask someone else to do it for me. And now... here I am in the red and owing the damn company money. So for the next three days I work, I am paying off debt. Bollocks, as they say. Bollocks, bollocks, bollocks.

Still, the day turned out to be good. Selling spring merch is far from the hassle of eager ski-loving shoppers. I could relax a little bit more and have fun with co-workers. Anyways, work again tomorrow. Afterwards, I'm heading to Waterloo with an LSE climber/co-worker (yes, my two worlds merge) to check out the Cans Festival. It's a street artist exhibition featuring Banksy and other artists. Oooh, I walked by one of Banksy's newest pieces (shown above) the other day while walking to a friend's flat on Essex Road... cool stuff.

Another thing. I've learned that in situations where you can grin and bear it OR complain, you should always complain. When my showers were perpetually lukewarm, I just accepted it and took cold showers. Then I complained and I had warm water. But still, my water pressure, even water volume, was sub-par. Only now with a month and a half left did I complain. And now I have amazing water volume. You can actually hear water running now when I take a shower. Soooo glorious. Lesson learned: complain. Always complain. Haha.

Alright. That's all for now. Take care everybody.

Back in the Groove

I'm finally back from my 2-week romp through Austria, Hungary, and Croatia. School is upon me for the first time in 6 weeks, and there's definitely a readjustment period that I need to get through. Still, I can't help but enjoy it since it's my last month and a half in London.

Now down to business. I'm not sure if I can actually summon the will power to summarize the happenings of the trip in one go. So, as they say, a picture says a thousand words.

Go to my Picasa to see all the albums or click individually below.

Above is a picture of Jared and I as we got a little picture happy at the ruins in Dvigrad, Croatia. As it said in our guide book, you can really let your imagination run wild. There are no signs, no gates, no fences, no educational information of any kind. All we knew is that it was abandoned due to plague in the 16th century. We walked on walls dating back to the 15th century and we actually climbed into the church of St. Sophia. We were the only people in Dvigrad at the time (hurrah for low season!), which made it even more surreal. Ok, enjoy the photos.

Salzburg photos

Vienna photos

Budapest photos

Istria photos

Pula photos

Scervusc from Pest

Hello all. I'm currently in an internet café on the Pest side of Budapest. The Hungarian currency, the forint, has been very kind to us and has been a large factor in redeeming Budapest after arriving on the first discouraging night. As is usual, darkness makes everything look a little bit sketchy and the fact that we had zero money due to no ATMs and almost no ability to communicate upped the stress level.

That said, most everything else has been flawless. Well... besides a lot of stuff being closed due to a transit strike on our first full day of exploring, ha. Spring has sprung in Hungary! It's the first place I've traveled to where I can really just wear a t-shirt and jeans. The food is great and it's nice not to have to sell a kidney to support a diet including meat other than tuna from the can.

Walking around is, in one simple word, pleasant. Just walk. With my handy post-it from my friend Gabor, we've managed to try Hungarian dishes. Soft cabbage stuffed with pork, venison stew, and goulash. We still need to try the bean soup. Butttt we bought some Hungarian wine to try later at our flat. Our hostel is no hostel... it's a full-fledged apartment with kitchen, bathroom, breakfast nook/bar area, and bedroom. All ours! So nice to have our own space again.

Alright. I'm having a great time and overall, it's practically zero stress. We're heading to Zahgreb in 2 days and I'm not sure if I'll have internet there. Haven't had much access so far. Hope everyone is well. Vislat!

...And We're Off

A week back in London, while academically unproductive, was at least socially productive. Time has flown and with 2 weeks left of my 6 week break, I'm off to Austria tomorrow.

Just for all you curious folk, I'll be traveling to Salzburg tomorrow, followed by Vienna, Budapest, Zahgreb, Rovinj and surrounding areas, and Pula. I might update on the way to avoid a 2-week summary post when I get back, so check back in if you want to know what I'm up to.

Hope everyone is doing well.

Family Vacation! (With the Medveds)

First, a bit of business. I have reached the limits of a free Flickr account and rather than upgrade to a pretty account, as pretty as they are, I'm switching to my dormant Picasa account. Shockingly, I encountered a fair amount of problems uploading the web albums and had to resurrect my troubleshooting skills. Who knew there was any flaw in Google at all?

So now I'm in the process of organizing albums from past trips. Here's Sardinia and the Amalfi Coast in pictures and from a while back, Amsterdam, Paris, and Gtown's Spring Break in London.

Now onto the Amalfi coast vacation. Much like Sardinia, this trip offered an experience that differed from the typical student travel that I've been doing and will be doing for the rest of break. There weren't really museums to visit, although we did visit the Archaeological Museum in Naples. Never before have I been surrounded by so many phallic images. Penis pendants on necklaces, penis earings, flying penis statues WITH penises, penis wall adornments, and of course erotic frescos and statues, all from Pompei. Naples was the only real city we went to on the trip, and I think we were all glad that it was a brief visit. Besides for the garbage on the streets, check out this TIME photo gallery to get the full and shocking picture, I was a little taken aback by the traffic. Never before have I heard sustained honking and beeping for such a duration of time. It was a fun experience though.

Naples was only one day out of ten, but it's hard to recap where I've been. Most of the towns on the Amalfi coast are very small and vertical with windy roads connecting them and they tend to blend in my mind unless I have a certain restaurant or villa to distinguish one from the other. We stayed in two villas in a town called Positano, supposedly the most vertical town in the world? In Italy? Facts are fuzzy. Right outside our door (literally) was a hike to Ciello (I think), an extremely small town directly above us. 2000 steps later, we were there and having lunch in a small trattoria where we could see the three famous rocks of Capris. Ok, I won't go through everything and everywhere I went, but highlights include Pompei, the small hike up and around Mt. Vesuvius, the stair hike, and the drive around the island of Capri. Food and gelatto were another major highlight. I was constantly well fed, tummy well-stocked with local seafood, pastas, tomatoes, and mozzarella.

The Medved's know how to vacation and have a good time, and I was lucky enough to be along for the ride. I've got to say, I haven't laughed that hard on a daily basis since I've been back at Georgetown and that was a good feeling to have again. It was also nice to be around "family" again; they weren't mine but I felt adopted for the time being.

So now... I rest for a week and sort out my business. In good news, I will be back in DC by June 16th and semi-employed. Alright. A picture says a thousand words, so check 'em out. Hope to talk to everyone while I'm back in London.

Sardinia (and more) Recap

Hello loyal readers (aka immediate family, select Gtown friends, and facebook stalkers)!

I'm back from my week in Sardinia and following a 15-hour sleep, I'm ready to discuss. Let me start with the week leading up to Sardinia, which was a bit of an adventure in itself. Only four days after the hospital visit, I took the Eurostar to Paris with Jared. I know what you're thinking. Questionable decisions in the wake of sickness. BUT Jared and I had already bought tickets weeks earlier and I was feeling okay to eat, so there was no sense in wasting our tickets. We hopped the yellow tour bus for convenient site-seeing and hit up Notre Dame, Sacre Coeur, Monmarte, Musee D'Orsay, and the Arc de Triumphe. We did drive-bys of the Champs Elysee (walked it a little), the Paris Opera House, the Louvre, and lots of things that I would butcher the pronunciation of. We witnessed a fun little scuffle between what I think was a gypsy and a French couple. Unfortunately, the only word I could understand was "Fuck" but fisticuffs nearly erupted. There was wrist-grabbing and fist-shaking and purse-pulling and money-thrusting... all you can really ask for as a spectator. Our French breakfast was top notch. Bread with more bread and coffee. Mmmm.

We met up with a Gtown friend, fellow D6-er Reed, who's studying in Science Po for the semester. We went to dinner with him... and then we missed our Eurostar back home, the last one leaving for London that night. After running through the streets of Paris to find a cab and rushing to the platform, I was a little flustered and disheartened. But my sad face plus Jared's earned some French sympathy and they did some magic with our tickets so that we wouldn't have to pay for new ones the next morning. We made the most of the unexpected night in Paris, catching the Eiffel Tower as it sparkled and squeezing another crepe into our bellies. But... I will say that I was completely exhausted the next morning arriving to London at 8AM. Whew.

Onto Sardinia. I don't necessarily know what to say about it, because the anecdotes come as naturally when the setting is nature versus cities. But it has definitely been my favorite trip of this year abroad. The other cities have been good, but it was nice to not have any sites that I was obligated to see, etc. Also, the whole trip was kind of arranged for me and I didn't have much thinking to do. I got in the car when I was told and followed the leader when we hiked to climbs. Other flatmates did the cooking (whew) and I tried not to be a bum with cleaning and other helpful activities.

I think I'll let the pictures speak for themselves (I'm the climber in the picture above). I did 5 days of climbing with 1 rest day, but some days I literally sat around the whole time and climbed only 1 route. One day we had to hike uphill for an hour and a half... and I huffed and puffed the whole way up but it was good for me. I was away from the internet for the longest time in a while and it was refreshing, for the most part, to have other things to do and think about. It softened the blow of the Hoyas loss to Davidson in the Tourney, because my heart wasn't in it for the whole thing.

I just enjoyed hanging out and eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner with people again. It felt good to have that kind of community feeling again compared to the daily isolation of life at LSE. The group that came on the trip was really international. In my flat alone, there were two Norwegians, a Polish girl, and a French girl. Other climbers were Finnish, Colombian, American, Canadian, German, Belgian, Chinese, and British. You definitely don't get this in the states, as "international" as Georgetown is.

Alright, so enjoy these pictures if you feel like looking. They're not in order somehow... but you'll get the idea. Also, if you can't recognize me from behind, I'm always wearing khaki or grey trousers with a brown-ish chalk bag and yellow shoes; my helmet is blue. Next stop: Positano, Italy. Ciao for now.

Sardinia Pictures

Sardinia

Hello all.  I am (I would type I apostrophe m but Norwegian keyboard gives me iæm) leaving for Sardinia tomorrow morning and will be gone for a week.  I am a little nervous about it for some reason.  Even so, I am really excited to see how it is.  I hope everyone has a good Easter.  

Recap

The Georgetown invasion of London is over and I'm recooping before the craziness of my 6-week Easter Break. That's not a type-o. 6 weeks. I'll be traveling for approximately 4.5 of those weeks, not quite consecutively (thank god).

So as usual, in anticipation of all the excitement of visitors, I got sick. After a trip to the local clinic doctor and several days of feeling worse, I headed to the hospital. I've got to hand it to the NHS. I was only in the waiting room for 1.5-2 hours. Then I was in my own little room for 45 minutes. And then I felt pretty taken care of by doctors and nurses. Also, lucky for me, Kate and Andrea were there for essential moral support.

I've seen many sides of the NHS and I'm really fortunate that all of its services are free. But if you dare to open a little pamphlet about how it is funded, you'll notice that the NHS consumes roughly 1/3 of the entire budget for England. With VAT and high income taxes, is it worth it? I'm going to say... overall, no. Had the doctor at the clinic been more thorough and less efficient with my initial visit, I feel like I wouldn't have had to go to the hospital. Or if I had more faith that a GP could do something for me if I went back, I wouldn't have bothered to go to the hospital. But because efficiency is the main goal of the GPs, I knew it was a dead-end and hence diverted to the hospital. Still, care at the hospital was top notch. They took an X-Ray of my stomach/intestines, a urine sample, and two blood tests all without the hassle of me worrying how much it would cost.

Maybe a smidge of social medicine mixed with private care? That'd be a happy blend. Easier said than done. I'm more than rusty with my knowledge of health care issues in the U.S. so I will stop here. When all is said and done, I'm doing well now. I'm eating normally and am back to attending class. Some class teachers were a bit more understanding than others . You drop the word "hospital" in an email and expect a little sympathy. Unfortunately, only human beings can exhibit such emotion.

I'm glad to be back in good health, because trips are rapidly approaching. Hopefully my body will hold up for me, although I'm confident it will since only 2 of the weeks will be tiring movement from place to place. The rest will be relaxing in what I hope is Italian paradise. Sardinia, however, is not the island I thought it would be unfortunately. I think "island" and I think warm and sunny, but Sardinia's high looks to be in the low 60s this time of year. Yet my the climbing club email for the packing list included both down jacket AND bikini. Hmm. So do I wear my bikini underneath my thermals to go for a "refreshing" swim after climbing? Interesting.

Starting Sunday, March 16th, I will be out of contact until the following Sunday (Easter). Then I am back for two days before having limited email access for the next week and half, but hopefully, I'll be checking in. Hope everyone is doing well.

Kate, Amsterdam, Gtown, etc.

Quick update for anyone that's wondering what I've been up to. It's been a little crazy lately with frequent visitors and other commitments. I'm on hiatus at Ellis Brigham due to friends and travel. Last Thursday, Kate came to visit and it was an amazingly relaxing time spent touring London. We went to some not-so touristy things... like the Apple Store in Brent Cross (Zone 3, man) to fix Kate's constantly afflicted Mac. Although the computer received a bad prognosis, all wasn't lost. We stopped at Camden Town on the way there and explored the markets and checked out the part that burned down. The British really freak out about fires, because I expected a huge part of the market to be gone after all the news it got. But when I looked, there were only 2-3 structures that looked destroyed, including the famous Kate Moss and Amy Winehouse watering hole, The Hawley Arms. Other highlights of Kate's visit include the Annie Leibovitz documentary at ICA. Maybe it was Kate's presence or just seeing a bunch of American icons on screen, but I loved it. So... if you have the opportunity, see the documentary Annie Leibovitz: My Life Through a Lens.

What else... I've been struggling to make time for climbing in the midst of visitors and trips. I've been practicing lead climbing to prepare for Sardinia and took my first fall (on purpose) on Friday to overcome my fear. I'm not going to lie... it was not glamorous and I spent a few minutes clutching the wall as my calves shook from fatigue trying to get the nerve to just jump. But hurrah, now I did it and I'm less scared and will look less stupid in the future!

Some quick thoughts about Amsterdam... so many canals. I'm really ignorant about world cities to the point where I did not even know that Amsterdam was famous for tulips. Of course, we strolled through the Red Light District, both during the day and at night. The first time I saw a prostitute in the window, I was immediately sad. But then I got over it because if seeing a prostitute caused sadness, then I'd probably be sad for the majority of my time in Amsterdam. What else... museums. We went to the Van Gogh museum and the Rijk museum. Thumbs up to the Van Gogh museum, although Jared and I both felt a little guilty/proud that the MoMa in NYC had Starry Night. Fun facts: Van Gogh painted a lot of Japanese-influenced pieces... lots of trees with cherry blossoms or other flowers and even imitations of Japanese woodblock prints. I wasn't that impressed with the Rijk museum, mostly because I'm not a huge fan of Rembrandt or Vermeer. It was also really small. Quickly... we used the trams a lot, even though city was really walkable. Finding genuine Dutch food proved to be a challenge, as Argentine Steakhouses dominate the culinary landscape in Amsterdam. I'm not complaining because the steaks were amazzzing. Maybe it's just because I've been deprived of quality beef for 5 months (U-S-A!). One last comment on Amsterdam since I've kind of gone overboard. The Dutch are extremely friendly and speak impeccable English. We walked into a butcher's shop and asked if she spoke English to which she replied, "A little." And then she proceeded to give us directions to a Dutch restaurant in what I would consider to be fluent English. Anyways. Amsterdam in a nutshell... not morally corrupt and actually quite quaint. It's more metropolitan than Prague and holy hell, do they ride bikes there.

Alright. I'm pretty behind on work and am set to head to Brick Lane in an hour. Still, life is good. I watched Georgetown beat Marquette at Bodeans BBQ in Soho with newly arrived Gtown friends (Claire, Nathan, Ashley, and Lauren) who are here for Spring Break. J-Wal saves the day... yet again. Ok, hopefully I'll be posting a little more frequently leading up the end of Lent Term but until then, I hope everyone is well.