This Eclectic Life

My special day with Dad!

2009-04-26T21:25:00.007-05:00

Since coming home I’ve been on a mission to get back in touch with my small-town girl roots and, of course, spending more time with my family. For the past year I have been living the big-city and jetsetter lifestyle and now it is time to remember the great times I had growing up in Breese.

My dad recently asked me to go turkey hunting with him in Iuka, IL. At first I was timid about going since I’m not too keen on killing animals for sustainability reasons, but I decided to make the best of it and see my dad in his prime.

The day started off with a nice wake up call at 4:30am, I eagerly jumped out of bed and literally dressed myself to kill. Kate lent me her hunting clothes, so I wouldn’t be out of place in the timber- I wouldn’t want to be an embarrassment. Hunters often act so laid back, but I’ve found that they are just as picky about their clothes and accessories as a high-end fashionista.

Hopping into the truck, dad and I were off for the woods. But first, we had to stop by CC Food Mart for a Clinton County breakfast of doughnuts and coffee. I thought about getting the true CC breakfast (Ski and a doughnut), but I didn’t think my body would be able to handle the sugar overload as I’ve been gone way to long ...that type of intake takes training, ya know!

We made it to the timber just after daybreak – the sunrise was beautiful! Pulling up I was quite nervous, I was afraid I would do the “uncool” thing and scare away all the wildlife. If you know me well, you know I can’t sit still very long and love to chat about anything.

Dad set us up in a pop-up tent in the middle of a grassy field where he believed the turkeys frequented. We sat, made turkey noises, discussed life, took naps, read books, but most of all enjoyed each others company. Although we , excuse me, he, did not shoot a turkey, we did see two deer, a hen (female turkey?), a turtle, and a few frogs. It was a lot of fun. We had to be incognito the whole time…it was so hard for me. I tried so hard, but could hold still. I hope I wasn’t the reason the turkeys didn’t come around.

After our hunting excursion, Dad and I had an honorary Earth and Arbor Day as we planted over 150 tree saplings around his 60 acres. We made such a team - I placed and he dug. Planting the trees was such a refreshing task, especially for a wannabe environmentalist like me.

Observing my dad hunting, walking and four-wheeling around the forest, and planting trees truly reminded me of what I’ve missed while traveling and working in NYC. I am so grateful my dad asked me to go with him, I look forward to more father/daughter excursions.

It's been awhile, but I'm still here!

2009-04-20T13:06:00.003-05:00

Hi everyone,

It has been awhile, but I have been super busy since coming back from Thailand and moving James to Seattle. I know many of you are looking for a closing to our trip and I definitely have it. I am working on a piece for the Breese Journal and plan to post it on here as well. I want to give our trip the justice it deserves!

You may have noticed that there have been a few changes to the blog as I have big plans for it. Be on the lookout for new and exciting posts about my eclectic life, which I know you are going to love.

See you again soon!

Sam

Similan Photos!

2009-02-28T16:32:00.003-06:00

Click here to view our photos from the Similan Islands. We are having issues with photobucket, so they are not all there.

There is definitely more to come about our "wicked" diving adventure with Wicked Diving

It really did happen - Tsunami 2004

2009-02-23T06:45:00.006-06:00

Tomorrow we depart the mainland and will be living on a boat for the next three days. The company we are traveling with, Wicked Diving, specializes in three day liveaboard scuba packages. Hence, we will be diving and completing our Open Water Advanced Scuba diving course. The nine dives will include deep (10o ft), night (yikes), navigation, photography, and hopefully wreck exploration - as well as four fun dives.

Since we are not leaving until tomorrow morning, we had the day in Khao Lak to explore. It was recommended to us to check out the Tsunami Memorial area (Khoa Lak was one of the hardest hit areas in Thailand) and a small beach on the opposite side of town. As you guessed, we did a lot of walking today - getting lost didn't help either.

Since arriving in Khoa Lak we, especially Sam, is having a hard time grasping the severity and damage of the 2004 Tsunami. It is so hard to imagine how it would have been for travelers and citizens. What would we have done if we were here?

The memorial site encompassed a police boat that was washed half a mile inland. The boat has been left as a reminder to all of the horrible natural disaster. The "museum" had an excellent book informing us about the specifics and photos of the event. Laying on the beach today it was hard to imagine seeing a 33 foot wave streaming towards us.

Khoa Lak was supposedly wiped clean because it is so flat and waters flooded over two miles inland. While most of it is clean and rebuilt, some areas off the beaten path are still a mess. The tsunami is considered one of the most memorable natural disasters in history and we all heard about it in 2004. We remember being in high school and having the weekly missions go towards helping Thailand. We never could have imagined being here in the presence of the actual area. Being at home and hearing it on the news causes us to not understand the true aftermath of such an event. Being here and seeing the actual site makes it so much more real. Very similar to seeing the World Trade Center site in New York.

After the memorial, we headed to a small, secluded beach on the other side of town. Even though it took us 4x longer to get there than it should have, the final destination was very rewarding...only five other people we there with us!

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Because we will be on a boat for three days and two nights we will not have access to internet. We will make sure we update you as soon as we get back. We will be diving in the Similan Islands (top 10 in the world) and plan to rent an underwater digital camera. The photos alone will be amazing!

Best,
Samantha and James

James' Skydiving Adventure

2009-02-21T13:55:00.003-06:00

Another day in Railay!

2009-02-21T08:01:00.008-06:00

Waking up in our new found paradise at 8am we set out to make our day even more adventurous and memorable than the last. We located a viewpoint and hidden lagoon on the map and headed out. Little did we know it wouldn't be the nice hike we expected, but more like a mangrove and rock climbing adventure. Neither of us have truly climbed rocks before so it was definitely a challenge. The first portion to the viewpoint wasn’t that strenuous, it was the second hike to the lagoon where we had to depend only on the ropes and not rock. The lagoon wasn’t as nice as we expected, but we had fun climbing the rocks. The pictures below do not serve the climb any justice. If we were experienced climbers it probably would have been a piece of cake....but it was super hard for novices!

After the lagoon we ventured back down the rocks, which was much easier the second time, and headed to another beach that was supposed to be even better than yesterdays. We went sure how this could be true, but we had to give it a shot. At the beach we were greeted by huge rocks and emerald water. On the left was a very high cliff and when floating in the sea it was quite zen. Later in the afternoon we decided to grab a beach side lunch from "street" vendors. It is surprising what three dollars can buy you. We enjoyed chicken satay, sticky rice, corn on the cob, watermelon, and the best coconut doughnut ever.

After the beach we decided to take out the kayaks again because we had such a great time yesterday. We did not take any photos because the waters were much rougher and shallower than yesterday. Don't worry though we still had spectacular views - just many the same as yesterday.

We leave tomorrow for the Similan Islands and Khao Lak where we will most likely be living on a boat for three days while completing our Advanced Open Water Scuba course. We are sad to leave Railay, but we are super excited about diving in one of the top 10 dive locations in the world.

Island Caretaker

2009-02-21T07:34:00.006-06:00

While in Bangkok, my mom e-mailed me a link to a job posted as "The Best Job in the World". The job description included feeding fish, cleaning the pool, collecting the mail, and most importantly exploring the Hamilton Islands in Queensland Australia (spas, resorts, bushwacking, etc) and blogging about the experience. If chosen, they would fly you to Australia, set you up in a multi-million dollar apartment, and give you a salary of $105,000 for six months of work.

www.islandreefjob.com

Sounds just like the perfect job for me, correct? I love to blog, I love to travel, and I'm looking for a job....so I made it my goal to make the required 60 second video application during my spare time while volunteering. After many hours of work and consulting with Hunter Hempen (Breese's very own movie genius), I eventually finished my video and tried to submit it. Like I expected, it kept timing out because of the internet connection at Mirror, so I sent it to my mom who also tried endless times. Finally it went through but within a few days it was rejected.

Rejected? What, why - it was under 90 mb and was definately 60 seconds. Supposedly they moved the size limit down to 40 mb because they received such a response (seriously?). Because of these requirements and there is only one more day left for application, I am unable to fix my video in time. I could set aside time to do it again, but then I would be missing my time in Thailand paradise. My mom has urged me to post the video no my blog for you to view...I hope you enjoy it. I believe it does showcase who I am and I really think I would of had a shot making the top 50. While I am sad I missed out on this opportunity, I am happy I learned how to make an iMovie. I look forward to making one for my Thailand and Australian excurisions.

A Whirlwind Week!

2009-02-20T00:29:00.020-06:00

>Wow – what a week we have had. We have gone from on side of the country to another, both literally and figuratively. We are sorry we didn’t keep you up-to-date daily, but our busy schedule left us exhausted at the end of the day… Besides, we thought it would have more impact if you read the extremes of our week all at once.

Wednesday/Thursday – Feb 12/13

Goodbye Mirror

We knew leaving Mirror Art Group would be a sad, yet important milestone in our two month journey. Since half of the group was leaving the same day as us, all of the volunteers decided to build a campfire to commemorate our time together. It was really great time drinking cheap beer and whiskey while listening to a few people play both self-written and popular songs. Most of the group had started on the same day we did, so everyone got to know each other pretty well. We made some amazing friends from all over the world: California, Connecticut, Canada, England, Wales, Australia, and not to forget Japan and Thailand.

Oh! We should mention that the campfire wasn’t the only way we said goodbye to Mirror… On the 13^th, we were given the opportunity to build a firebreak in a small village. We thought this would be a great way to end our volunteering journey. Little did we know that the excursion would be the perfect way to sum our stay in Chiang Rai. As you probably guessed, there was a miscommunication and we never actually made the firebreak. Luckily it was not an English/Thai miscommunication, but a Thai/Thai one. Regardless, we had a nice time trekking through the hills and a lovely picnic lunch.

Friday/Saturday – Feb 14/15

Chiang Mai, Thailand

After leaving Mirror, we started our long journey to the beaches of Thailand. To break up the numerous trains, buses, and ferries, we decided to stop in Chiang Mai for a cooking class and general sightseeing.

We started off our time by going to the local Monk Chat at Wat Suan Dok. We were able to meet and chat with resident monks and novices, hence the name Monk Chat. Wat Suan Dok is home to the Buddhist University for monks, where many study English and want to practice. During our chat, we learned about the general concepts of Buddhism, mediation, and asked questions. Chatting with the young monks was a great experience that will not be forgotten. Growing up Catholic, it was interesting to learn the differences, but mainly similarities of Buddhism and Catholicism. Buddhists integrate most religions into their own, so many of the monks had a great deal of knowledge of our religion. We would recommend this inexpensive (free) and rewarding experience to anyone.

The next morning we began our cooking class at the Siam Rice Thai Cookery School. Wow – was this an awesome class! While at Mirror we had so many delicious and traditional dishes. The only issue was that we did not know what the dishes were called or how to make them. Alas, we signed up for a cooking class and learned more information about Thai dishes and their ingredients than we ever imagined. We started the day with a lesson at a local market where we had an introduction to Thailand’s herbs, spices, and produce – many of which are special to Thailand. Hopefully we can find them in the States because they make all the difference.

Once we arrived at the cooking school we started preparing an array of dishes. The company we chose was very flexible, so we pretty much made up our own menu and then had the opportunity to taste everyone else’s. Needless to say, we were stuffed by 4pm! Nancy, the owner, also taught us how to carve fruit and vegetables.

James’s Menu
Pad Thai
Cashew Chicken
Spicy Minced Chicken Salad
Hot and Sour Soup
Green curry paste
A green curry dish
Bananas in Coconut Milk

Sam’s Menu
Vegetable Spring Rolls
Coconut Tom Yam Soup
Fried Basil Beef
Som Tom (Papaya Salad)
Red Curry Paste
A Red Curry Dish
Sweet Sticky Rice with Mango

After a marvelous day in the kitchen, we are so excited to go home and test our new recipes. Come over if you are hungry and want to try some new dishes, but don’t expect carved fruit to decorate your plates…

Unfortunately, we thought we forgot our camera, so we do not have any photos to post. Luckily, we went with fellow Mirror volunteers and they took some. Sadly, we found the camera in the backpack later that day….

Saturday/Sunday/Monday – February 14/15/16

Finishing our cooking class, we rushed off to begin our two-day transportation expedition to Koh Tao. The first leg of it was on the night train to Bangkok. This time the night train was roomy and served nice food. The ride was a bit bumpy because we were in the last car and it arrived three hours late, but we made it cheaply! Because we decided to go the cheapest way, we had to spend the day in Bangkok. We had already spent a few days there before and saw most of it, so we weren’t that excited. Fortunately we did not go to Chinatown during the first round, so we went there on the second. The combination of exhaustion and re-culture shock did not allow us to enjoy Chinatown as much as we should have. We spent a few hours wandering around markets and trying Chinese duck soup. The highlight of the day had to be our 10 baht ($0.30), cold shower in the train station.

Arriving in Koh Tao we were greeted with a beautiful view of the island and its beaches. Stepping on the beach, we were whisked away via songhtaew to Big Blue Diving Resort. There was some slight confusion with the room situation, but we had it all sorted out and we were able to start our relaxing and rewarding four-day stint in Koh Tao.

Monday to Thursday – February 16/17/18/19

PADI Open Water Certification and Koh Tao

As we stated, the class included four dives: The first, at Mango Bay, was solely for skill assessment and we only saw sand. Sam was bitten by a fish though – how exciting! The second dive was held at Twins where we dove 12 meters and saw an array of fish. This time the skills were a bit harder, but we managed. We were both successful in fully suiting up in the water and mask removal and replacement underwater.

On Thursday we completed dives three and four, which were at much deeper dive sites. At Chumphon we dove 18-20 meters and saw 1000’s of fish. Our favorites included the barracuda and a grouper the size of James’s cousin, Ian. The site also had limestone rocks/coral beds that housed beautiful corals, fishes, and other sea creatures. Although there was not much color, we enjoyed the big fish and clear water. Lastly, we went to White Rock where we completed our Open Water course. This site was very similar to Chumphon, it just didn’t have as big of fish. While under water we played games that tested our buoyancy. We are happy to announce that we were the winners of the underwater horse race, perfected our Matrix fighting skills, and can break dance (i.e. spin on our heads) underwater.

Unlike the ex-pats in the North, we doubt the ex-pats in the South know much of the Thai language. While volunteering we learned a few key phrases that helped us get around. We were sad we were not able to continue practicing them. James would try to ask a question in Thai and the natives would only answer in English.

In addition to diving, Koh Tao is also considered a party island. While we didn’t go full crazy every night (we were exhausted) we did find some ways to have fun. Whether it was watching the sunset while sipping the best fresh coconut smoothies ever or eating tasty BBQ, watching flame throwers (both old and 9-years old), or having a nice cocktail by a beach campfire, Koh Tao definitely knows how to show its guest a good time.

(Right photo: the boy could not have been more than 10 years old)

Even though Koh Tao didn’t seem as if it was a part of Thailand, it was truly a beautiful island and we were sad to leave. We had such a great experience diving; hopefully the rest of our diving adventures can be just as fun, if not more.

Thursday/Friday – February 19/20

Nightly Travel

Before leaving Chiang Rai we had a general idea of where we would be going after Koh Tao, but it was never set in stone. After learning more about the area we decided to travel towards Krabi for some more island activity. We learned that the cheapest and easiest way to get from Koh Tao to Krabi was via night boat, bus, then water taxi. Our parents will be happy to read that we spent the night on an old fishing boat with 120 other travelers. We will state that we had no clue it would be like this…we were imagining bunk beds similar to that on the night train, instead it was two floors lined with tiny mats and a sheet with people lying shoulder to shoulder. Basically we were packed like sardines in a can and felt as if we were being smuggled illegally into the country. We did have a fan by us, so that was nice. We could not stop giggling during the trip because it was the most random situation. The night boat was truly an experience we will never forget and plan to tell the story for years. We did pack sleeping pills and swiped the eye masks from our Australia flight to help us get through the night. Besides the constant swaying, it wasn’t too bad!

Disembarking the boat in Surat Thani we hopped on a van for two more hours to Krabi town and then on a longtail boat (think fishing boat) to Ralaey Beach. After 15 ½ hours of traveling we finally made it to our room at Rapala Bungalows, where we are finishing this long blog post on the mattress that is lying on the floor. Thailand is definitely about budget, not luxury, which allows us to spend more on activities instead of accommodations we only use for sleeping. The breeze whipping through the room is definitely the highlight.

After a quick lunch at an overpriced resort, we decided to check out the Railay West beach (we are staying at Railay East for budget reasons). Lonely Planet claimed Railay West is their favorite beach in Thailand and boy were they right! This beach is absolutely stunning. We are having troubles finding the words to explain it, so we will let the pictures serve it justice. In addition to laying on the beach we rented kayaks for an hour. Railay also houses some awesome rock islands with tunnels which we could weave in and out. We would like to consider it kayak spelunking because it sounds much more exciting!

Our time ran out with the kayaks just as the sun was setting..as you can see it was breathtaking!

Have a great weekend! We will be thinking of you all while we are lying on the pristine beaches of Thailand.

Best,

Sam and James

Tuesday Night's with P'Moo's Family

2009-02-12T01:49:00.005-06:00

For the past two weeks we were invited to privately tutor three amazing Thai boys in Chiang Rai. The boys are nephews, we think, of P'Moo who is one of the founders of the Mirror Art Group. When we were first asked to tutor the kids we had no clue what to expect, all we knew is that they would feed us and the kids were very bright. Little did we know, our private tutoring lessons would be one of our favorite responsibilities while at Mirror. We are sad it only lasted two weeks.

Uno, Ingvy, and Lavin who are 13, 11, and 10 respectively, are probably the smartest children we have ever met. Not only are they book smart, they are also able to speak fluent English, and possibly Japanese. It was very hard for us to find things to teach them, especially Uno, because their skill level is so high. To compensate, we found games at Mirror and taught them about special topics, such as sports in America. A Mirror volunteer donated a game to Mirror called Headbandz - to play, you choose a card and place it on your head and then ask questions while trying to guess the object. Through this game we were able to evaluate how smart these boys actually were. They often guessed the object within four or five turns with questions such as Am I Alive? or Do you eat me? Sadly, it takes us seven or eight rounds.

While at the boy's home we were treated to the best dinners, ice cream cones, and entertainment. After lessons the boys pull out their musical instruments and perform for us. Not only are these boys smart, they also are musical! Uno plays the piano, Imwee plays the guitar, while Loren sings. The songs range from beautiful Thai songs, which we do not understand, to popular American tunes such as Linkin Park's Numb, Sean Kingston's Beautiful Girl, or our favorite - Love Me Tender.

Even though we had only spent a short time with the boys, it was very hard to say goodbye. We had so much fun spending a few hours a week with such lovely, bright men. They will definitely go far in life. Spending our last night with them is the start to a lot of goodbyes in the next few days, it is going to be much harder than we expected.

2009-02-11T07:11:00.003-06:00

Makha Bucha Day- February 9

2009-02-09T21:41:00.006-06:00

Makha Bucha Day is a religious festival celebrated by Buddhists in Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos on the full moon day of the third lunar month, which happened to be this past Monday. Thai language as Makha (Pali: Māgha). Bucha, also a Thai word (Pali: Pūjā), meaning to venerate or to honor. As such, Makha Bucha Day is for the veneration of Buddha and his teachings. It is customary for Buddhists to go to the temple to perform merit-making activities.

Alm's Giving
To perform our merit-making activity, a group of volunteers woke up at 5:30am to give alms to the monks. Because monk's only source of food is from donations, we packed 100 small bags of garlic, rice, sugar, and salt for them to use. Usually we would be able to pass out the food to all 100 monks, but since there were so many donations, we gave it all to one monk. Women are not allowed to touch monks, so the men of the group had to present the alms. After a special blessing each volunteer received a yellow bracelet from the monk. We are not sure what this bracelet protects us from, but the orange one we received in Mae Chan wards off evil spirits or snakes.

Mae Sai, Thailand
Later in the day we were given the opportunity to go to Mae Sai to assist Child Life - Mae Sai in the building of a new road. Childlife (or "Baan Nana" in Thai) is a grassroots organization, providing direct intervention for children at risk in Maesai, Northern Thailand at the border to Myanmar (Burma). Baan Nana works to prevent the increasing numbers of street children and crime in society through its programs. The organization provides emergency and long term shelter, including education, medical care, food and clothing for 180 children. They are encouraging children and their families to imagine a future beyond a life in the streets, to gain experience working together for a better future.

During the rainy season, the road to Baan Nana is completely impassable because of large ruts that are a foot deep and wide. As a preventive measure, the volunteers put together their money and bought rock and laid it on the road to help prevent the issue come April.

We enjoyed going to Mae Sai and helping another organization. It was interesting to see the differences in NGO's throughout Northern Thailand - the kids were super cute and helpful too! They worked just as hard, if not harder, than the volunteers. They all put on the gloves and carried bags of stones from one side of the road to the other. Too cute!

After lunch we had one hour to walk around the Mae Sai Market. Once you've seen one market in Thailand, you've pretty much seen them all, so it wasn't all that exciting. Although, the gun and hunting selection was far superior than that in Chaing Rai or Bangkok. James claims they were pellet guns, but who knows. It wouldn't surprise us if they were real.

We heard that border control between Burma (Mynamar) and Thailand was pretty tight, but the only thing we could see separating the two countries was this small barbed wire fence and a creek. Supposedly if you want to cross illegally this isn't the place - you cross in the lush northern hills late at night. Emwee, one of the Mirror interns, who is originally from Burma, looks a little nervous standing so close to the border!

Candle Ceremony

After a quick shower and dinner we climbed back into the saungthaew to celebrate another Makha Bucha Day tradition - the candlelighting ceremony at the Emerald Temple. In the evening, each temple in Thailand holds a candle light procession called a wian tian (wian meaning circle; tian meaning candle). Holding flowers, incense and a lighted candle, the monks and congregation members walk around the temple clockwise three times - once for the Buddha, second for the teachings of Buddha, and the third thanking the monks for their service. Not knowing all of the Buddhist teachings - or anything about Buddha - made it hard for us to capture the full experience. Luckily we were able to enjoy the nice scenery, beautiful flowers and candles, and witness yet another Thai tradition that many tourist are not able to.

Sam eats another bug!

2009-02-09T07:32:00.009-06:00

Although we promised ourselves the bug eating was a once in a lifetime experience, Sam found herself not only eating one bug, but multiple this weekend. With each new group of volunteers, there is an unofficial initiation of eating bugs. Sam wanted to join in to video the experience for a project she is working on. She claims the feast of bees, silkworms, and bamboo bugs were much tastier than the large, scratchy grasshopper.

Friday was our last time going to the Chaing Rai Night Bazaar - one of our favorite pastimes while volunteering. It's not only a favorite because of the change of scenery, but the combination of food, music, and most importantly, the people. After shopping, we all come together and sit at the yellow tables order tons of food, tubes of beer, and enjoy each other's company. The music is pretty good too! Being the last "night" in Chiang Rai, it probably was apporpriate to finish with the feast of bugs.

People may ask how we can eat bugs, we honestly didn't think we would do it either...but hey, when in Rome you do as the Romans do - or Thais in this matter!

So we've heard a lot about Mirror, but who are they?

2009-02-08T07:55:00.006-06:00

As the days go on we learn more and more about the ways the Mirror Art Group helps the surrounding communities and how our roles as volunteers contribute.

The Mirror Art Group operates several projects; Hilltribe Project, ICT, Citizenship Project, Anti-Human Trafficking, second hand shop, hilltribe craft store, Mirror Art Guesthouse, and Hilltribe school education.

The Hilltribe Project consists of a group of adults whose main objectives are to help the various hilltribes adjust to life in the modern world while still preserving their cultures and beliefs.
The ICT group, similar to IT in the States, is responsible for maintaining the ebannok website. Not only do they provide technical support, they also design both Thai and English websites.
While all of Mirror’s projects are important, the Citizenship Project is probably considered the most influential. When the borders were redrawn between Thailand and Burma (now called Myanmar), the people who suddenly found themselves in a new country did not have any claim to citizenship, and their previous citizenship was void. Unfortunately this meant these people were not eligible for any benefits provided by either government; mainly healthcare and education. These non-citizens can’t even travel to cities such as Chiang Rai or Chiang Mai, because border patrol stops along the way check all Thai passengers for citizenship cards, while Farangs (literal translation means white westerners) are not even looked at. The process for obtaining citizenship is complicated and requires a lot of paperwork – this is where Mirror comes in. Mirror’s goal is to get at least one family member citizenship because the law states that if one member of a family gains citizenship, any blood relatives will be included as well, as long as the family can afford to pay for blood tests to confirm relationship, but sadly most have a hard time affording such services.

Sadly there is a heavy presence of human-trafficking in Thailand. The anti-human trafficking members work to prevent hilltribe women and children from being kidnapped, shipped to other cities or countries, and then forced to work for no pay. The older women are usually forced into the sex industry or sometimes into the restaurant and housekeeping industries. Children are pushed on the streets to beg for money. Mirror stresses to never give money to begging children, no matter how much they look like they need it because it is only supporting this unfortunate industry. They have done observation studies and found that at the end of the day the begging children are forced to relinquish their earnings to the gang or kidnapper. If you are going to give something to a child, the best thing would be food, although even that might get taken or the child may refuse it all together.

The second hand and hilltribe craft store bring not only support the foundation, but also the community. As you probably guessed, the second hand store sells clothes to local hilltribe people. Many of the hilltribes have a traditional dress but many are started to dress in more modern clothes because of social pressures. Often new, modern clothes are too expensive. The second hand shop give the hilltribe members the opportunity to buy the clothes they want at a reduced rate. The ebannok store sells local handicrafts and gives the money back to the designer. Majority of sales come from online sales to other stores for resale. Volunteers are asked to use our contacts to connect the ebannok store to other store owners. The items available in the store are truly beautiful!

Recently Mirror opened a guesthouse in Chiang Rai, uniquely named the Mirror Art Guesthouse. We usually stay at the guesthouse on Friday evenings. We both love the guesthouse because it is always clean, has a hot shower, and most importantly 10% of the fees go back to the Mirror Art Group, or back into the community. How cool is that? We haven't found a better guesthouse in Chiang Rai yet!

Lastly, Mirror has a heavy presence in the Hilltribe education system in Chiang Rai,. The Hilltribe schools are somewhat primitive, but seem better than the ones in Belize. Mirror has found that the best thing we can do for them is teaching them English because it will help them in the future. For the most part the children, ranging from three years old to sixth grade, seem as if they are eager to learn. Even though it may be more interesting to work with some of the other projects, the education program is generally where volunteers contribute the most. Most of the other projects are run by Thai speaking people, with volunteers just helping out where they can. Teaching English is what we are qualified to do, even if we have never taught before. We also take the time to tutor the ICT workers. Most of them speak fairly good English and know a lot of vocabulary, but English grammar and sentence structure are completely different from the Thai language. Most notable are the absence of articles, conjunctions, and other small connector words that English uses but Thai doesn’t. Words like “a”, “an”, “the”, “but”, etc. aren’t used in Thai and have no direct translation. This is why most people that speak relatively good English here still have a problem forming correct sentences. You can converse with these people and generally have not much trouble getting all points across or from them, but the flow isn’t there. Teaching these adults consists of having conversations with them and improving their skills, usually covering whatever topic the students want. Another group tutors the Hilltribe workers. This group has a lower speaking ability, so most of the time is spent learning new words along with basic grammar and sentence structure. One lesson we did was learning how the words get rearranged when asking questions, such as: “Your eyes are brown.” turns into “Are your eyes brown?” The last option for teaching English is tutoring Top Kids which is an after school program for the children living right around Mirror

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As we have said before, Mirror does so many amazing things for the Chiang Rai community. With meeting we learn about many of the success stories caused by the organization we are helping. Another intern was telling us that the Mirror Art Group was actually voted the best place to volunteer in Thailand. We are so lucky to be paired with them randomly. We would recommend this wonderful organization to anyone!

Best to you all,
Samantha and James

from elephants to bicycles, oh the transportation methods in Thailand!

2009-02-06T02:32:00.003-06:00

Elephant trekking

On Thursday morning we left for our two-night home-stay in the hill tribes, a weekend trip that all volunteers get to do at some point during their stay at Mirror. The 20 of us all piled into a couple of sawngtheaws and headed off. On our way up, we stopped in a town presumably for a snack, but soon found out that we were there for an elephant ride. It was an unbelievable experience to be on top of an elephant, but it was also quite scary. The seat on the elephant was very unstrudy and we couldn’t help thinking what would happen if we fell off! The movement from land to water was probably the worst part. Our elephant was very short and I feared we would fall in the water with all of the elephant poop floating by. FYI, elephant dung is enormous. When it hits the ground it sounds like a brick falling. After the trek we had the opportunity to feed the elephants; I preferred this to the riding.

Banana leaf lunches and waterfalls

After the elephant ride we were dropped off at a nearby waterfall and enjoyed our Thai version of bag lunches; instead of peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches there was sticky rice and fried chicken, instead of yogurt there was chili sauce, and instead of a brown paper bag it was all wrapped in banana leaves. From there we began our 3 km hike up the only road to the first village where we were to stay, which doesn't sound long but, because of the heat and the incredible incline, felt like a serious trek that was never-ending. James has never seen a road this steep anywhere, even in the mountains near Yellowstone. Without exaggerating, the hill probably had a 30-degree incline.

Lahu and Akha Homestays

There are about 7 major hill tribes in Northern Thailand and surrounding countries (as they tend to have more of a sense of tribal allegiance than nationalism). Each tribe has its own language, completely different from Thai, and unique dress and culture. Any Thai that we have learned while at Mirror was completely thrownA major goal of Mirror is to preserve these self-sustaining cultures while helping them to survive globalization. One of the ways they do this is with hill tribe home-stays, which gives more income to the hill tribe families (who sell their hand-made goods to their guests) and gives them an incentive to preserve their way of life.

Lahu New Year

Our first night of home-stay was in a Lahu village and happened to coincide with Lahu New Year, a 10 day festival of dancing and sacrifices. The Lahu believe that every new year they must make sure to give the gods many good things in order to secure a good year - in the center of the village there was a sacrifice altar with different meats and a pig's head for the spirits. The festival didn't start until the night so we spent the day hanging out in the village, trying to communicate with our host, and admiring the houses and roaming animals. Completely made of bamboo, the houses we stayed in were elevated on stilts and we could see (and hear all night long!) the animals, which live below the house, through the floor slats. Each house is made up of one big kitchen/living room/dining room (which is just an empty room with a fire pit inside) and another sleeping room, and the entire thing is rebuilt every seven years.
At night, the festival got started and we all danced around the sacrifice altar to the pounding of symbols and drums. We went to bed at 10pm with the hope that the party would die down soon, but the Lahu villagers continued partying, blasting karaoke and shooting off firecrackers until 7am! It seems as if the real party began after the farang went to bed.

Akha Village

The next morning (an hour after finally falling asleep) we woke up, had breakfast with our host and hiked about 5km to an Akha village, which looked similar, but was slightly more developed than the Lahu village (a few houses were made of cement and cinder blocks and some of the younger women wore jeans and t-shirts in place of sarongs or the customary Akha outfit). Before settling down with our host families, we were taken to a field where we helped (really observed) a few men from the village make a meal of rice, soup, chili and tea for all of us using nothing but nature and their machetes; they cooked all our food in large bamboo shoots over a fire, laid out banana leaves for all of us to sit on, and offered us tea in cups they cut from bamboo.
That night, we all got the opportunity to dress up in the traditional Akha uniforms and follow along in their dances around the fire (of which they have many). In return, we taught them the closest thing we have in our culture: the Hokey Pokey. The Akha women and children definitely had a good laugh.
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Despite falling down the steep hill and not getting any sleep, the homestay was definitely our favorite aspect of the trip thus far. Not only were we accepted into local homes, we were also able to see a different side of Thailand that many “normal” tourists will never experience.

Another fun aspect of the Akha village was that we were able to meet a product of the Mirror Art Group. The male in Sam’s homestay spoke decent English, which we found out he learned by taking classes at Mirror. Although we had never taught him, it was good to know that our organization is truly helping others.

Cycling to the White Temple

We returned back to Mirror on Saturday with the goal of riding bikes to the White Temple. Thellie, one of the coordinators at Mirror, claimed it was a simple 12k bike ride that would take about an hour. Three hours and 25k later, we finally arrived to the White Temple. We must have taken a wrong turn somewhere…

Even though it was a long haul, The White Temple was well worth the sweat and sore muscles. Walking up to the temple it first resembled an ice palace, wandering closer it was actually a huge temple made out of plaster and mirrors. Once inside the temple we approached the Buddha and a fake monk. The Buddha mural was absolutely stunning – turning to exit the temple we were faced with another mural representing all of the evils in the world. Although the White Temple was gorgeous, the Mural of Evil was a personal favorite….or the most interesting. The paintings of Bin Laden, bombs, and war were definitely understandable, but the Matrix, school buses, George Bush, and the NASA space-program were heard to grasp. I wonder who or what standards these were chosen. James also found the painting of the F-22, the plane he will work with at Boeing, on the wall. Perhaps the rest of the world doesn’t find the plane as necessary?

Photos...finally!

2009-02-04T08:13:00.004-06:00

Click here to see our recent photos from the homestay, elephant rides, and tribal dances!

You can help in the kitchen, but bring your own knife!

2009-01-28T18:53:00.003-06:00

Today is a big day at the Mirror Art Group, there will be a party at 5pm (or 6 if you are on Thai time) for all of the interns. Friday is the last day for the interns who have been helping for the last two months.

Multiple groups of people were asked to perform at the celebration - my group did a skit mimicking childcare. I will have to find someone with the video so I can upload it. Other groups danced to popular Thai songs, sang karaoke, or serenaded their favorite intern. All in all it was quite a humorous night. Thai karaoke is the best!! The video below is of the other half of volunteers. They were definitely a crowd favorite!

Rewind a few hours and I’ll explain the earlier portions of the day….

My Hilltribe lesson was cancelled (surprise, surprise) so I was on a mission to find something meaningful to do with my time. You may have noticed I completely changed my blog a few days ago, so I was unable to do that. (I also do not consider updating my blog meaningful) Fortunately P’Aye (our lead) asked me to edit a few documents for brochures. I translated their English into “readable” English. I enjoyed doing this for I was able to put forth some of my knowledge. It was quite difficult at times because I did not know what they were talking about or I did not want them to think one thing and then I change it to another because I didn’t understand. All in all I think the Hmong Clothing portion of the flyer will be interesting!
Around 2pm P’Aye told us that we could help in the kitchen because they had a lot of food to prepare. Super excited I walked to the kitchen to help. Unfortunately this was every other person’s idea as well. Unless you had your knife, cutting board, and could understand directions in Thai you were pretty much unable to help. I was able to peel about six carrots though…wooho! I am determined to get in that kitchen!

Wow – did the selected cooks prepared a tasty meal! Dishes ranging from traditional green curry, som tom (yum), glass noodles, chicken and potatoes, and my personal favorite, fried carrots and broccoli satisfied our big appetites. I know you are thinking how boring – carrots and broccoli! But these were absolutely amazing, and I’m not saying that because I helped peel the carrots! I have no clue what they fried them in or the sauce that was drizzled, but it was definitely a crowd favorite! I went back for more and they were all gone. : ( The food keeps getting better and better here – it’s amazing!

The after dinner entertainment was almost as good as the food. The MC, P’Pan was absolutely hilarious singing, dancing, and imitating farong with her wig and westernized clothing. The Thai’s singing karaoke was probably one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. The songs were in Thai and the dancing that accompanied was very random. Later in the evening they invited all of the volunteers to join in – they got a good laugh imitating us!

Around 9pm the karaoke had to settle down because many of the families had to go to sleep. Fortunately the party didn’t end there and another campfire was built by the dorms. Everyone joined around this huge campfire, listened to the guitar, and once again tried to have conversations with people from different cultures. I am truly amazed to realize all of the differences and similarities between the Thai, Japanese, and Western ways of life. Who knew we would all have such an interest in drinking beer and eating food! : ) Thai’s are really the friendliest people, I wish all people could mimic the Thai culture. There is something about sitting in a circle and passing food and drink around like one big family. It really brings a smile to your face.

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We are going on our homestay this weekend, so once again we will not have access to the internet until Saturday. No promises, but I’ll try to post Saturday afternoon – if not, see you on Monday! I’m sure we will have some amazing photos and stories – we are going elephant trekking, to a hilltribe new year, and learning how to dance hilltribe style!
Have a great weekend – enjoy the snow – it’s in the 70s here! : - )

The Mirror Art Group!

2009-01-27T02:32:00.010-06:00

A partial view of the Mirror Art Group Headquarters

This is the main eco-tours office where we can access internet 24/7. It is amazingly helpful when we want to skype with our parents or update the blog. It gets pretty full after dinner - seating is prime!

Here is where we eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day. Everyone piles onto these mats (without shoes of course) and enjoys the delicious meal. The cooks are Korean and make amazing food! I hope to start helping them more in the future.

Even though there is a resident washing machine, it is often broke, occupied, or takes forever. I have only attempted to do laundry once and I ended up handwashing everything. This photo is of our drying facilities.

James's living quarters consist of a concrete block with a thin mattress. There are currently four males occupying this space.

The male bathroom is not as nice as the women's, but it works. Cold bucket showers and non-flushing toilets occupy the same space. No shoes allowed!

As both James and I have mentioned before, the women's living quarters are much nicer than the males mud hut....although their's is cooler during the day. The twin house currently holds 16 female volunteers in a bunk style setting. My bed is in the way back against the window.

January 26 - campfires and culture

2009-01-26T23:53:00.001-06:00

I woke up very excited for our first day of teaching English only to find that school was cancelled. Supposedly this happens a lot in Thailand; volunteers or teachers will show up to school and be told that they should go home because they decided to cancel.

The Hilltribe lesson being canceled left me with nothing to do today. It was a great day to catch up on my writing and job application. I really hope most days aren’t like this, but I have a feeling they will be. Even though the day may seem boring, it is interesting to talk with the Thai interns or staff.

After dinner a few interns and volunteers built a campfire and enjoyed each other’s company. This was a great ending to the day…the people of Mirror are so diverse and interesting. I had a amazing time listening to other’s stories, culture, teaching each other English or Thai, and listening to Thai, Australian, Japanese, Canadian, and American styles of music all coming from the same guitar. I truly hope more evenings end this way!

A weekend in Chaing Saen, Thailand!

2009-01-26T23:34:00.002-06:00

On the weekends, volunteers have the opportunity to travel. We are able to stay at Mirror on the weekends, but there are no meals prepared. The community is on the outskirts of town, so it isn’t too exciting.

January 24

A large group of us decided to travel to Chiang Saen, Thailand this weekend. Chiang Saen is home to the Golden Triangle, where Laos, Thailand, and Burma/Myanmar meet. Like advertised in Lonely Planet, it was very sleepy town. Before arriving, I was convinced that we were going to be able to stand in all three countries at the same time…similar to the setup in Tennessee. Unfortunately that was not the case and we could only see the three countries at once. Needless to say, I was disappointed. To make up, the other female volunteers and I decided to have Thai massages along the river. I have never had a massage, so I didn’t really know what to expect. I’ve heard that Thai massages are rough so I prepared myself for the worse. The massage was amazing; this lady knew what she was doing! The combination of concrete “mattresses” and long bus rides have made my body feel so old. The massage was definitely needed. She cracked and stretched me in ways I never though possible. I did surprise her and the other ladies when she stretched my back and I bent in half. I’ve always been flexible, I just didn’t know it was that odd. If you ever come to Thailand, you must get a Thai massage! Not only are they cheap (1 hour for 3 dollars) they are very soothing. I was going to wait until Ko Tao to get my massage, I’m so glad I changed my mind. I would like to get one every week! : ) I just need to talk James into getting one now!

My favorite aspect of Chaing Saen was dinner along the river. In the late afternoon, the food stall owners set up squat tables along the boardwalk and serve dinner. Since we were a big group we decided to order many different dishes and try them all. We sampled Tom Yom, fried rice, bamboo chicken, papaya salad, and many other things. I feel as if I am becoming much more daring with my meal choices, so I actually ate the meat! The bamboo chicken was absolutely amazing! They took a hollow piece of bamboo, placed chicken and a spicy sauce inside and threw it on a fire to cook. It was quite spicy, but super tasty. I think this meal was my favorite throughout the whole trip. We thought our bill was going to be rather high, but once we calculated it, it was only 70 baht per person. That’s two dollars per person! We had so much food! I cannot get over the prices here. Do Thais know the meaning of profit?

After dinner we moved to a local bar called 2 b 1. It was a fun setting for there was a DJ and an extensive drink menu. We had way too much to drink the night before at the birthday party, so we stuck to the large Chang pitcher for all of us. All in all it was a low key night, but a lot of fun.
We stayed at the Chiang Saen Guest House…..super sketchy, but oh well. When in Thailand… I have come to the conclusion that the worse part of a sketchy or buggy bedroom is laying in bed trying to fall asleep. During this time I lay there thinking about the dirty sheets or bugs crawling around me. I know most of it is in my head because once I fall asleep I am fine. My bug tolerance has definitely increased!

January 25

Lonely Planet also recommended walking to the Chiang Saen ruins, so of course we had to do it. It seems as if once an attraction is written about in Lonely Planet, then it becomes a touristy area and souvenirs vendors set up shop. The ruins themselves were quite impressive, but the vendors and tour groups took away from it.

After the ruins we ventured back to Chiang Rai for lunch and food shopping for the rest of the week. Dinner is not served at Mirror on Sunday evenings, so we had to find a meal to bring back. The Australian girls were throwing an Australia Day party, so we had some yummy treats with them. They sure know to made rice pudding and roasted bananas with chocolate. I sure do love trying all the different cuisine types here!

The rest of the night was spent planning for our Hilltribe lesson….yes/no questions! Wooho!

January 23 - Night Bazzar, Teepee Bar, and Sketchy Neighborhoods!

2009-01-26T23:31:00.002-06:00

As soon as we arrived back to Mirror we had two short hours to repack for our weekend trip to Chiang Saen. On Friday’s, Mirror takes us into town to a restaurant, Big C’s, and then to the Night Bazaar. I find Friday evenings a lot of fun because we are in a different setting as a group. Unlike last week, most of us stayed in town at the Mirror Guesthouse. There was a birthday in the group so we went out to the Teepee Bar after the night bazaar. This was the craziest night I’ve had in awhile. The bar is owned by a crazy local Thai that pretty much caters to anyone who walks in. The décor was probably the most random aspect. There were posters, Barbie doll parts, black lights, anything you can think of hanging around. Wigs were passed out to new comers as the Macarena was playing. This place was great for big groups – we had so much fun dancing the night away. The teepee bar definitely makes a strong drink. James and I evaluated how much we spent and kind of freaked out because it was 1,000 baht. We than started to think how that was only 30 bucks or so. For the amount of drink we bought for ourselves and others, I think it was a pretty good deal. It would have been much more at home!

The funniest aspect of the evening was the ride/walk back to the guesthouse. The Thai interns couldn’t remember the address so they wrote down a different guesthouse that was supposedly near Mirror. Well, the tuk-tuk dropped us off at the Chang house and then told us to walk. The problem was that we walked the opposite direction which resulted in a very scenic tour of a sketchy Thai neighborhood. I’m not sure how we found our way, but we did. It only took us 45 minutes when the walk should have been about 15 minutes total…at least we were a big group!

Samantha's sky diving adventure in Australia

2009-01-26T15:42:00.004-06:00

Mae Chan (1/17 - 1/23)

2009-01-26T10:08:00.002-06:00

As I stated in our last post, we went to Mae Chan to volunteer for the week. Mae Chan was approximately 1.5 hours away from Mirror in the Chiang Rai Province.
The reason we went to Mae Chan was to help P’ Van improve the childcare’s playground. P’ Van is an amazing man that has put forth his good fortunes to help his community. He seems to have a hand in everything or know everyone. P’Van welcomed all of the Mirror volunteers with open arms and provided us housing, food, and entertainment. In addition to his beautiful home he also has guesthouse/volunteer living quarters. (The photo marked P’Van’s house was separate from the guesthouse. I only took an outside photo. I did photograph our living arrangements…so that is what you are seeing the majority of.)

We started out our week improving the playground by mixing, pouring, and smoothing cement for the equipment bases. Although I have not mixed concrete before, this was an interesting process because everything was done by hand. The Thai interns seemed to know what they were doing, so we followed their lead. The aspect James and I found most interesting was the support systems used. Instead of using a re-bar structure, thin strips of bamboo were placed in a lattice formation.

The playground project did not take as long as projected because there are currently a lot of volunteers, which resulted in a lot of down time. Downtime in Thailand is sometimes a bit boring because we do not have the copious amounts of stimuli as if we were at home. Because of this I feel as if I am going to come home a lot more relaxed person. The trip is kind of like internet/Google detox. : ) Fortunately we are a fun group and made the best of the situation. In addition to our books, endless backgammon and chess games, and late night movies, P’Van and the Thai interns had a few other activities planned for us. We had the opportunity to experience the art of basket weaving, trek around and throughout the village, and visit a local zoo/bird-breeding farm.

I enjoyed the trekking the most because the village of Mae Chan is simply beautiful. James and I took a few hikes around the hills and farmland. On one of our hikes we came across bamboo hut grain/corn bins. From this location there was an amazing view of a valley that went on forever. Other hikes we made throughout the village included going to the Mae Chan Winery and bird-breading farm. Both of these hikes included very steep hills with very rewarding destinations. I didn’t enjoy the wine very much because it was Shiraz, but the winery was beautiful. As many of you know, I am not a fan of zoos, so the bird farm wasn’t my cup of tea, although, many of these birds were beautiful. The most stunning peacock resided at this farm; I am not a fan of the color blue, but the combinations on peacocks were mesmerizing.
The citizens of Mae Chan, like every other Thai I’ve met, were very welcoming. I was astonished by P’Van’s hospitability not only towards us, but also the community. It may just be my speculation, but it seems as if the whole community works together. In the morning we would often see the villagers heading out to the farms to harvest the corn, bamboo, and grass for the brooms. The materials collected are then given to someone else to make a product. We would see these men and women go out in the morning and then come back later in the evening with big baskets filled and carried on their back.

Another great aspect of Mae Chan was the food made by P’Van and the interns. While the food is amazing at Mirror, it was fun to taste some different types of cuisine. The curries, soups, and fried rice were so tasty! I was able to hop into the kitchen a few times. One intern, Emwee, taught me how to make a very spicy sauce. I will attempt it in the states, but I know it won’t be as good. In addition to Asian food, some Western dishes were also made. It was nice to have pasta and mashed potatoes…for breakfast! I believe James told you about the dinner for breakfast….he hopes to bring this aspect back to the States.

Popular transportation methods in Thailand include Tuk-tuks, songthaews, and motorbikes. When we travel as a group, Mirror gets us a songthaew and we travel onto our destination. On the way there we had a songthaew and a pick-up truck so we had enough room for everyone. On the way back we had one songthaew for 17 people. I find it interesting the difference in transportation methods from the US and SE Asia. Whether it’s six people in a tuk-tuk, 17 people in a songthaew, or four people on a motorbike, it all seems relatively safe. We really haven’t seen many vehicles with fender benders. Does the US’s strict laws cause us to have more wrecks?
I mentioned the living situation above and how P’Van has an amazing home. I was talking to my mom earlier and she said the photos didn’t seem that nice. The truth is that we did sleep on concrete or wood floors and it was freezing outside, but it was relatively nice. The showers were luxuriously hot! Compared to the guesthouse, P’Van’s home was beautiful with windows, a fireplace, and furniture.

I really enjoyed going to Mae Chan this week, it was absolutely beautiful and we were able to participate in some community development. I look forward to continuing our work within the community.

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Cheers!
Sam

Mae Chan (1/17 - 1/23)

2009-01-26T10:00:00.000-06:00

Hello again. I know it’s been awhile, but there was no way for us to get internet last week. I want to start off by saying that I did not chicken out of eating that damn grasshopper, which I didn’t want to eat anyway. The guy passing them out knew I didn’t want to so of course he handed me the biggest one. I think they must use hormones on their grasshoppers or something. It’s like when you go to KFC and know that no chicken could grow that big naturally. Same thing with grasshoppers here. So I bit off about 2/3 of the thing and chewed a little bit. I didn’t like the texture so I tried to swallow it. Sam said she chewed too long, but I don’t know if I chewed enough. I could feel the hard legs going down my throat. I washed it down and then looked at what was left on my hand, which was basically the squishy end of the insect. After eating the first part I had no need to follow it up with intestines or whatever is in the back end of a grasshopper, so I just gave it to someone else who wanted to try. The taste was nothing to worry about, it was fried so it just tasted crunchy. But the texture was the hard part to get over. Maybe Sam will try again this Friday, but I’m not going to. By the way, I think there are a few pictures of Sam eating it that will hopefully make their way onto the blog.

This week was different than most weeks at Mirror. We went to a small village outside Mae Chan, about an hour and a half away. To get there we loaded up a Song Thaew (truck taxi) and another truck. These people really know how to load a truck, I will give them that. On top of the Song Thaew they loaded as much luggage as would fit. You will see what I mean form the pictures. But miraculously none of it fell off on the bumpy ride, even without strapping anything down. The driver has two people with him in the cab, and then 12 of us cram in back. They put the rest of the bags in the other truck (a regular looking one) along with 5 people in the extended cab and 3 people in back. About 20 minutes from our destination we had to stop so that Me, Sam, and another person could move from the Song Thaew to the back of the other truck. The last part of the journey was up some very steep hills on dirt roads and the Song Thaew wouldn’t be able to make it the way it was loaded. Looking out the back of the truck down the hill, it occurred to me that if they would just import a couple of Chevrolets, we probably wouldn’t need to be rearranging loads and worrying about the terrain. But I guess this is what you get when you rely on Toyotas and Asian-built Fords…. Nonetheless we made it. The village we went to had a daycare that was mostly supported by a wealthy man named Mr. Van. He put us all up at his little “guest village”. The accommodations included one hot shower for us to share, which even worked most of the time. The place was pretty nice except for the fact that there were no mattresses, just concrete or wooden floors. I was wishing for the hard pad that I had back at Mirror, but I got used to it. The first two or three days we worked on a playground, pouring concrete bases for the equipment. The concrete pouring was quite an experience. Mr. Van had someone deliver a truckload of sand, a truckload of gravel, and numerous bags of cement. We mixed ten buckets of sand, eight buckets of gravel, 2/3 bag of cement, and (usually way too much) water together in a big tub. Two people took turns mixing it with crude hoes and shovels while everyone else helped set flimsy bamboo forms. While we were doing this Mr. Van recruited a few old men form the village to cut down bamboo trees. It was amazing to see them climb up the trees to cut off the tops. I also think it must be a requirement for all males in Thailand to become expert machete users. Then they cut the trunks into strips about two inches wide and a quarter to a half inch thick. No one knew what these long strips were for. Mr. Van spoke relatively good English but he was a little lax about sharing his ideas, which meant that the master plan was in his head only, so nobody else had a clue. So we kept mixing concrete and making the forms as he instructed. Before pouring, the bamboo strips were laid inside the formed area, green side up, and nailed together in a grid fashion. At that point I finally figured it out. Where we use re-bar or wire mesh grids for reinforcement, they use bamboo strips. We poured the concrete over this grid just like the wire grids at home, only maybe they were spaced out a little farther. At this point the concrete had to be carried in buckets from the tub to the forms. Only a small amount could be mixed at a time, so this process repeated itself over and over the whole day. I had no way of measuring things, but my guess is that we poured over a yard of concrete the first day, maybe more, and probably equally as much the second. Mr. Van and a couple of the Thai interns apparently do this type of thing often, so they were the ones who leveled and finished off the pads. I should also mention that there was no level involved anywhere in this process; I don’t think there will be water sitting on these pads anytime soon, to say the least. After letting things dry for a day or two we moved the equipment onto the pads, and then the kids could play again.

The rest of the week was occupied with a variety of other things. We learned how to weave large baskets out of bamboo, which we set up in places as garbage receptacles. A different group took turns each day taking care of the kids at daycare. I guess little kids at home are rambunctious and easy to occupy as well, but these seemed especially energetic. At night we usually hung out under the pavilion or watched movies on a laptop in Mr. Van’s house. He is still in the process of building it, so the fireplace didn’t keep us warm until the second or third day, when he got a few windows installed. One of the Thai interns bought some Thai moonshine from a villager. It was made by fermenting Sticky Rice, and you could get a liter bottle for 40 baht; about $1.35. He offered me a little so I tried a sip. It kind of smelled like rubbing alcohol but tasted like really strong vodka or gin or something. I didn’t have much more, but two other guys tried glassfuls of the stuff. I’m glad I stopped with one try, because those two guys felt awful for the next day or so. The one guy must have gotten up in the middle of the night four times to “call Ralph” as he put it. Interestingly I don’t think the alcohol content had anything to do with his visits. What I think happened is that the villager who made it probably used the regular water supply to dilute it for sale. We can’t drink that water, only they can, so that’s probably what happened. I think they learned their lesson though. On the last day we took a long walk uphill to a “zoo”, which was really a small animal breeding facility. Most of the cages had birds in them. There were supposedly larger animals somewhere else, but we didn’t have access to those because the keeper wasn’t in. As far as zoos go I would rate it pretty low, but the scenery on the walk was nice to see, even if walking up the hills was a little strenuous.

That put us back at mirror on Friday night. We went into town for our meal and to the night bazaar (market) like we do every Friday, but instead of going back to Mirror we stayed at a guesthouse in town. One of the Australian girls was having a birthday party, so we went out with them. It was quite an interesting night, but I think Sam covered that part. The next day we headed to Chiang Saen, the heart of the Golden Triangle, where Thailand, Laos, and Burma (Myanmar) meet. Disappointingly, they meet in the middle of a river so you can’t stand in all three at once, but it was still nice to see. We had a great meal along the river and explored the rest of the town. What’s so nice is that the public bus system up here is incredibly cheap. The hour and a half bus ride to get there cost $1 per person. It makes exploring other area extremely easy, even if the buses aren’t as comfortable as we are used to at home.

We ended our weekend back at Mirror on Sunday night. This was the first access to internet we had in a while, and sadly I once again received bad news from home. We are distraught all over again and wish we could be home with our families. I received the news too late to make it home even if we tried, but we are going to continue on here. I’m sorry we aren’t there and hope you all get through this together. We are hoping for everyone else’s safety and that no other tragic events hit our families. We miss you all and love you very much.

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James

Chiang Rai, Chaing Saen, and Mae Chan Photos

2009-01-25T06:46:00.005-06:00

Click here to view our photos!

The majority of these photos are from our recent travels in Chiang Rai, Mae Chan, and Chiang Saen. I believe there is one from Bangkok that I forgot to post earlier. My goal for tomorrow is to post about the last week. The post may help explain some of the photos.

a long awaited post...

2009-01-16T19:28:00.001-06:00

Sawatdee ka! Due to all of the trains, buses, and tuk-tuks we’ve had to take in the past few days, our availability to write kind of disappeared. It has been driving me crazy because I am so far behind. A normal person would probably just start from today and go from there, but a crazy person, like me, would have to go all the way back and fill in all the gaps. It takes a lot of time and effort….but I’ll do it for you guys. : - ) We have done a lot of fun things, so I can’t leave you hanging. It may not be as detailed as before, but I’ll try my best. We have constant internet access at Mirror, so hopefully I’ll be able to post nightly. Hopefully. (Except for this upcoming week, but after that it should get better).

January 12

Tuk-Tuks!

We decided to try another walking tour today but like the last, it didn’t take long until a “local” came and helped us. This time we were directed to the government gem store and the marble wat. The sites were interesting, but the more daring experience was the tuk-tuk. Never have I feared for my life so much. Not while skydiving, scuba diving, or white water rafting, but while riding in a tuk-tuk on the streets of Bangkok. Our driver was insane…we pulled out in front of trucks, motorbikes, cars, people…anything. I closed my eyes most of the time. It was similar to a roller coaster. Although scary, the tuk-tuks are a great way to experience the craziness of Bangkok..just be careful of the ones that want to take care you on a “special tour” of their cousin’s silk shop.

Moon Bar at Vertigo!

If our tuk-tuk ride wasn’t enough, James and I decided to venture downtown and visit the Moon Bar by Vertigo. The bar is located on the 59^th floor of the Banyan Tree Hotel and has the best view of the city. The bar reminded me of something I would go to in NYC, but it was still amazing. Please refer to my photos link for pictures. To get an idea of what the restaurant/bar looks like, go to the website, http://www.banyantree.com/bangkok/facilities/dining/vertigo.html. In James’s post he may tell you we were underdressed. The truth is that we were not underdressed, just our feet. If you ever go, and I encourage you to, men must wear closed toe shoes and women cannot wear flip-flops. I read about the Moon Bar in my Lonely Planet book. There wasn’t much written about it, I believe it was underrated. My only “problem” with the bar is that is was highly Westernized. While the bar was fantastic and a must-see, it is not how I want to remember Bangkok or Thailand. I want the culture experiences that cannot be found anywhere else.

Patpong Market!

After the market, James and I went to Patpong Market. Wow - was this interesting! The market was a sea of knockoff silks, watches, purses, movies, pretty much anything you can think of. I thought NYC had a lot of knockoffs, but it doesn’t hold a candle to Bangkok. The funny thing is, you can’t tell the difference between the real and fake. In addition to the knockoffs, they were selling women’s services left and right. I had been warned about such things, but didn’t think it would be to this extent. To be honest, I think I was expecting to be much crazier based off of movies filmed in Bangkok, but what I witnessed was enough. Sometimes it seemed as if they were targeting women more than men, which I find odd. Regardless of the “red-light” section, I would suggest checking out the Patpong Market if you want to do any shopping or have a true Bangkok experience….just make sure you bargain.

January 13

Damnoen Saduak Floating Market

If you ever look at a Bangkok travel guide you are more than likely to be subjected to a photo of the famous floating markets. After seeing hundreds of photos during our research, James and I decided we must see one for ourselves. We would have liked to of gone on a full day tour to the market and the tiger temple, but we couldn’t because it was our last day in Bangkok. To compensate, we found a half day tour of the Damnoen Saduak Floating Market. In addition to the market, we also stopped at a sugar cane mill, wood carving factory, and snake tourist trap. While I enjoyed the market and took a lot of great photos, this particular market seemed to be more touristy than local. As James says, the photos make the place look a lot better than it actually was. I only say it was touristy because of the paddle boat tour they took us on; the company actually took your photo and put it on a plate and the tour consisted of moving from knick-knack boat to knick-knack boat. I would have preferred more of the fruits, vegetables, and local cuisine boats. If I ever went again, I would check out the Amulet Weekend Floating Market instead.

After our two hour ride back into the city, James and I did some last minute DVD shopping and headed to the train station. The DVD quality was much better this time. On the train we watched the Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons, which is still in theatres. It was a rather different movie, in a good way, just very long.

Overnight Trains!

The overnight train experience was much better than I expected. I slept well on the train and would suggest it to anyone traveling from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, or vice versa. Not only was is comfortable, but economical….much cheaper than a plane ticket. In addition, you don’t have to pay for a hotel or hostel for a night. I am going to let James explain the rest of it to you…aka..the bathrooms.

January 14

Arriving in Chiang Mai around 10am, we hopped on the 10:30 bus from Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai. These past two days were filled with lots of travel time! The bus ride took about three hours and was VERY luxurious. The bus offered better accommodations than JetStar! I personally enjoyed the entertainment.

The Mirror Foundation!

We finally arrived to the Mirror Foundation after 17 hours of travel. It was great to finally be able to settle down after lugging our backpacks around the Australia and Bangkok. I am excited to be in one place for a month. I am initially very intimated by the Mirror Foundation…it is going to be A LOT of work, but I’m looking forward to it! I really want to make a difference and I think this will be the best place to do it.

The accommodations are quite interesting here. I don’t really know what I expected, but I think it is better than I expected. I am living in bunk-style bedroom with about 12 other girls. I think the hardest thing to get used to will be the cold showers.

James is staying in a clay hut with three other guys. His showers are much different than the girls. The girls have actual showerheads where the guys have bucket showers.

The first day may have been intimating, but it will get better. This is going to be a great experience.

January 15

Today was our first full day at the Mirror Foundation. I had a mix of emotions because I did not know what to expect. We were told to be ready for breakfast at 8am. I was so cold last night, so it was hard to get out of bed. Nonetheless, it was freezing this morning too. Unfortunately I did not take a shower yesterday during the day, so I had to take one in the morning. I could not bring myself to take a full body shower, so I just washed my hair.

Breakfast was quite interesting this morning. I’m not quite used to the eating a full meal for breakfast. Thais find it completely acceptable to eat items we would eat for lunch or dinner for breakfast. James loves the concept. I’m still catching on…

After breakfast James and I were asked to go to childcare with two other volunteers. The child daycare consisted 20 children ages 3-6. We practiced the ABC’s, numbers, read books, and completed an art project. It was a fun way to spend the morning. I am not sure if I’ll want to do childcare the entire time, but I may consider it. I think I want to work with some of the older kids because they may get more out of it. The littler children are just having fun. It was a good laugh though. James was so funny/cute with the kids - I think they enjoyed his height.

After childcare we came back for lunch and had orientation. Orientation with Thellie, our leader, was informative but long. It lasted about three hours. The three hours were essential though..there is so much for us to know. I did a bit of Mirror Foundation research before I arrived and was amazed by the amount of things they were involved in. After our orientation I was astonished by the presence they have within the community. I am so glad I joined this group; I know my work will be helpful. I cannot wait to become more involved.

January 16

Woohoo! I am finally caught up - I am not letting myself fall this far behind again!

Today we had a free day because all of the schools were closed for a teacher’s institution day. We had a meeting earlier in the day and afternoon, so I spent a lot of time writing this blog post. We are leaving tomorrow for Mae Chan, Thailand to do some volunteer work. It should be an interesting time since we are staying in local homes. I believe each person is teaching English one of the days and then community development during the rest of the week. I overheard we are putting a in a water pipe and building a playground.

A Night in the City

After a lot of typing and downtime, the foundation took us into town for our Friday outing. I had such a great time! We had dinner at a local restaurant, went to a superstore (basically Thai Wal-Mart), and the night bazaar. We are going to do this every Friday, it will be super fun and useful.

BC’s, the superstore, was very interesting. It was weird how it resembled Wal-Mart. The products, layout, everything was just like in the States, expect instead of English it was Thai. I needed to buy shampoo; it was interesting trying to figure out what it said. I based my decision on the bottle’s photos. Finger’s crossed! I was disappointed in BC’s because they didn’t have any warm clothing. I needed to buy some warm clothes. If it truly were a Wal-Mart, they would have had warmer clothes.

After BC’s we went to the Chiang Rai Night Bazaar. I was super excited because I wanted to buy fisherman’s pants. Everyone wears them here and they look so comfy. They are one size fits all with a tie to make them smaller. I am wearing them now, they are fabulous! I’ll have to post a picture for a better explanation.

After finding my pants and a sweater (wooho for second-hand 80 baht ($2 USD) sweatshirts!) we sat down at the stage area and had a few drinks and local delicacies with fellow volunteers and Thai interns. The beer pitcher was intriguing; I’ll have to take a photo next week. It was a tall cylinder with a nozzle and an ice cylinder in the middle. It was much more efficient than the pitchers we have at home.

While at the table we started talking about eating insects in Thailand. The next thing I know there was a plate of grasshoppers on the table. I told myself before that I wanted to try them while I was here, but I didn’t think I was ready. Well, tonight I tried one along with the rest of the table. It didn’t taste bad; it was just hard to chew knowing what it was. I had issues because I chewed and chewed and didn’t swallow it. I should have just taking two bites and been done with it. Beer has never tasted so good! I feel obligated to tell you that James chicken out half way and only finished half of the grasshopper. Maybe we will have to try again next week. : )

Tonight was such a great time because of the people. I love meeting new people, especially the locals. Everyone is so inviting and I cannot wait to get to know them more. Without them I probably would not have tried the grasshopper. It is something I will never forget.

The combinations of the work, culture, and people will result in a beautiful experience. I am so excited.

James’s Wisdom

Hello everyone. It’s been quite a change of scenery since we last posted. The floating market, while slightly touristy, was nice to see. Sam was able to get some really good pictures, which will hopefully be up by the time I post this.

Also the Moon bar had spectacular views, but may have been a little out of our league. I kept telling her I thought we would be underdressed, and she kept saying we were fine. When we got there we found out that only closed toed shoes were allowed, which I didn’t have since this is a backpacking trip. Not to worry. Similar to how some nice restaurants have house dinner jackets for its “uncivilized” guests, this one had house shoes. I put on the shoes they gave me (although my feet stuck out the back slightly), and started to pick up my sandals to put them in the closet. The lady sort of shouted “No, no” at me and reached for my sandals with a pair of tongs. I forgot that feet are considered lowly here. But after all that we made it up to the bar and the view was amazing. After the drinks, we decided that since we were in such a swanky hotel, we should make use of the facilities before leaving. The bathrooms were immaculate, complete with flushing toilet, TP, and nice smelling soap. I will even forgive them for not having any means to dry your hands in the men’s room.

Sam had commented to me on the rooftop that she didn’t feel like we had experienced enough of the crazy part of Bangkok that gets shown in the movies most of the time. To make her happy I agreed to go to Patpong Market, which is basically a bunch of shops set in Bangkok’s red-light district (as if other parts of the city aren’t red-light enough). As soon as we stepped out of the cab we were bombarded with people wanting us to go upstairs to see one of the many “shows” they had to offer. I’d like to keep this blog at least R rated or lower, so I won’t even go into a description of what they wanted us to see. Anyone interested or curious can probably find out on the internet, or if you want you can ask me privately when we get home. It will probably blow your mind. Aside from that and the strip clubs (with open doors trying to lure you in) there is so much for sale that we might make a trip back on our last day to buy souvenirs. I guess it was a good way to spend our last night in Bangkok.

The following evening we got on the night train for the 14 hour trip to Chiang Mai. Overall the train was pretty nice, especially for the $25 each it cost us. It got a little cold sleeping but I was still impressed, which is a good thing since we will probably be on this type of train 3 more times while we are here. As I promised I will comment on the bathrooms in the train. I don’t even know if anyone cares besides me, but this is my portion of the blog so I call the shots, and you all just have to either listen to me or skip ahead. It was slightly larger than the size of an airplane bathroom, but only because they needed to allow plenty of room for you to squat over the hole (I did not find out until later from Sam that a stall on the opposite side of the train had a seat). But there was no need to worry about flushing or sluicing, since anything that went into the hole (or the bowl) went straight down to the tracks. You could actually see the tracks and feel air coming through the hole as the train moved. Thailand train tracks must smell awful. I should also mention that the bathrooms were 6 feet 2 inches tall. I happen to be 6 feet 3 inches tall; I’ll let you guys work out the math on that one.

After getting off the train we caught the first available bus for the 3.5 hour ride to Chiang Rai, where the volunteer site is. The bus service was quite first class, with more snacks and drinks than some of our flights in Australia. They even had a few Thai shows on TV screens, which Sam constantly laughed along with even though we couldn’t understand anything. Then we caught a ride on a Satong, the Thai version of a rural taxi, which is a truck with a roof over the bed and a metal cage around it, with benches to sit on. We will try to get some photos to help convey the picture.

Arriving at the foundation was a bit of a shock; I don’t think either of us was sure what to expect. The living arrangements are comfortable enough but slightly more basic than I had originally thought. The pad I sleep on doesn’t do a lot to soften my concrete mattress, but hopefully I’ll get used to that. It is much colder here than we had planned for. It’s winter so it gets to around 50 at night and 70s in the day. That doesn’t do much to warm the water in the trough that we use for our bucket showers. I took my first one this morning and it was a little rough. Other people suggested waiting until the afternoon, and then taking a long jog before you take your shower. Once again the women’s bathroom is far superior. They have an actual shower head and one flushing toilet; the men’s is the sluice method.

But all in all it’s going fairly well. We went to a daycare this morning and played and did crafts with 3-6 year olds. They can sing the ABCs and practice letters, but I don’t know how much they comprehend other than associating letter names. It was fun being there. The daycare was for a small village, with 15-20 kids. They have limited supplies but make good use of what is available. We are still getting settled so I will have more to tell later about what kind of work the foundation does. Usually during the afternoons we will go to schools and teach older children, but tomorrow is a school holiday so I’m not sure what we will be doing.

The breakfast concept Sam mentioned is something I really like. How amazing to be able to eat whatever you want for any meal of the day. Could you imagine eating a cheeseburger for breakfast, then maybe a steak for lunch, and finishing off the day with bacon and eggs??? I think this is a great idea. I’m going to try to implement it when I get back, but I don’t think it will really catch on.

One thing I’ve noticed at Mirror Foundation is that we seem to get tired early here, so I might head off to bed soon. We are doing great and both of us look forward to our time here. I hope my family members know it was difficult for me to decide to stay here instead of coming home. Sam and I are both very saddened by Nita’s death and wish we could be there with everyone, but I feel Nita would have wanted us to stay. We are grieving in our own way and want Peter and Rachel to know how sorry we are. We miss you all and will see you when we get back; 6 weeks will go by quickly.

I know I said I wouldn’t let myself go this long ever again, but as I stated earlier we are leaving this week to volunteer in another village. I will not be bringing the computer, so I’ll have to update you all when we get back. If all goes as planned, look for our next post on Saturday.

Have a fabulous weekend and a joyous week! Like we are here, push yourself to try something new, it is so rewarding!

Best always,

Samantha and James

Bangkok Photos!

2009-01-15T07:51:00.003-06:00

Click here to view our photos from Bangkok....there are a bunch!

Enjoy

-Samantha and James

Sting Rays, Massages, and Silk oh my!

2009-01-11T20:40:00.002-06:00

January 11

Reading about the great markets in Thailand, James and I set out to witness the biggest of them all today. The Chatuchak Weekend Market in Bangkok is home to over 10,000 stalls and offers anything from live chipmunks to knockoff clothing to gorgeous Thai silk. While the whole place was insane (over 200,000 people visit daily) I am mainly going to discuss the “pet” section for I was blown away. If the chipmunks, dogs, various fish (many of which we saw while diving in Australia), or tropical birds were not to our fancy, we had the option to purchase sting rays in a bag, snakes, turtles, and monkeys. We did not see any monkeys or snakes for they were hidden because some of them are endangered. I do believe I saw one snake that was bundled in a sack. I cannot be sure because the sales lady did not speak English when James asked her. All I know it was moving around and was very eerie….I did not stick around too long.

The weekend market was an interesting place; you could buy just about anything. I wish I made more room in my backpack because I would have bought so much more. I fell in love with so many home furnishings. I still cannot get over how cheap everything is. We shared a taxi with a couple that moved from Oregon to Zambia, Africa, for work. They were explaining to us how expensive everything was in Zambia. (i.e. cheese for 10 dollars a block or gas for 12 dollars a gallon) They are in Thailand for an HIV convention and were going to the market to buy things for home. They were going to buy all of their clothes, dried foods, and home furnishings. I asked how they would get it all home and they said they only brought 10 kilos of items with them for this reason. I wish I could bring stuff home with me….

After the market, James and I decided to take the skytrain to the river and then hop on a longtail boat. The couple we shared the taxi with told us to take a private longtail versus the commercial because they were cheaper and would take us on a “back roads” tour. During our tour we saw many local homes, wats (temples), and floating markets. I could not believe some of the “homes”; think of the worst looking home you know and triple it. Not only were these shacks falling apart, they also were along the river and probably smelled horrible. The longboat tour definitely gave us a preview of another side of Bangkok. I thought Bangkok was a pretty rough place with the tailless cats, children begging for money, general appearance, and bathrooms…this was even worse.

For our evening activities, we decided to check out KhoaSan Road since we didn’t make it there last night. It was early, so we grabbed a drink at a restaurant and played cards with some other travelers. I say a drink as if we could order whatever we wanted, but it is not true. It is Election Day in Thailand so there is no selling of alcohol. Many of the restaurants/bars are breaking the rules by not selling beer or drinks that look like they could have alcohol. It is funny because James couldn’t order a whiskey and club, but he could have a whiskey and coke. Our hotel restaurant got around this by putting beer in cups instead of clear glasses. The other travelers we met were very interesting. They were both from Canada and had met earlier in the day. One of them is actually an ex-pat is living in Thailand for three years and works for Haliburton (sp). My cousin Brad works for the company in Oklahoma. It is funny how it is a small world. Blair was telling us how he has also lived in Africa and the States with his position. What an exciting life he lives!

After a few hours of playing cards, James and I moved up the road in search for dinner. We stopped by one of the street food stands and shared Phad Thai. I have had this many times in the states, but it was never as good as this. James and I were both blown away. My stomach was feeling better, so it tasted even better. I am still on the search for banana pancakes. When I’m not in the mood I see them everywhere, but when I want them they all disappear.
After our outstanding dinner, we walked into a long market. I found so much, but didn’t get anything…we have so much more time in Thailand. James, however, found a really nice pair of Billabong swimming trunks. The tags and everything were still on them. They are listed at $49.95 USD and bought them for 400 baht (13.50 USD). He wanted to try them on, so we asked and she said of course. We looked around for a dressing room, but she said you do it right here, it’s ok. Next thing I know, James is trying on the swimming trunks in the middle of the market. Only in Thailand….

After the market we ventured to a movie/DVD stand. I fell for this in New York, so I was skeptical, but James kept on saying ‘it’s Asia, it has to be better!’. James wanted the movies Australia and the new James Bond movie, so we bought those…two movies for 160 baht (5.33 USD). The man said they were in English, but when we sat down to watch, they were in Thai with English subtitles that did not translate well. The video quality was amazing, just like watching it on a real DVD. James thinks he will be able to bring them back tomorrow, I think he is crazy. We shall see…

It was another great day in Bangkok, I look forward to continuing our trip and seeing what tomorrow brings. Who knows, maybe we will see the lady boys…the possibilities are truly endless. : - )

Now a few words from James...

Well Sam has given you the run down on what we have been up to. Bangkok is fun even if it is a little hectic. The weekend market was crazy, but Sam forgot to tell you about the “rooster” section. We passed hundreds of cock fighting roosters in wicker cages. The cage looks like a smaller version of an upside down papa-san chair, except smaller in diameter and maybe a little taller, with more wicker going around to keep it from getting out. We even passed the pit where they fight, and it look like last night’s losers weren’t doing so well. We should have taken some pictures but I think we were both trying to walk through without getting pecked from either side. Some of you may know my feelings about PETA, but this place was 10 times worse than anything you would ever imagine in the states. Walking through the pet section first shocked us a little bit, but the rest of the market was better. It would be nice to buy a lot of stuff here and take it home, but it’s just not possible. Maybe towards the end of the trip we can throw out some clothes or something that we don’t want to take home. In regard to the movies, the quality really is amazing, I’m just mad because he assured me they were in English. I’m going to go back there and ask him why he lied, and just see what he says. I don’t really think I will get anywhere, but maybe some potential customers will hear me asking and not buy.

That covers everything we wanted to tell you about except for one major thing: the toilets. I think Sam is more fortunate than I am because the women’s are sometimes a little better than the men’s. In our hotel it’s not too bad. It looks like a regular toilet, you just can’t throw any paper products in it, there’s a little trash can for that. But speaking of paper I should say that Southeast Asians do not use toilet paper, they use bidets or possibly the bucket (I will tell you about that in a minute). We knew this ahead of time and brought some TP with us. When you flush it the water rushes in and it fills up to the top. Then gravity takes the water level slowly back down to where it started. This isn’t very efficient since you will need to go through this process a few times. But really that’s not too bad. Public toilets, or toilets that are anywhere besides the “nice” hotels, are where it really gets interesting. The first one I tried to use had a small bowl with a low water level in it, about a third of the height of a regular toilet, but no seat. There were two foot pads that you are supposed to stand on to hover over the bowl (I saw a similar setup once in Europe). When you are finished you can’t flush, you have to sluice it yourself. If you aren’t sure what that means I’ll try to explain it, or maybe if you are feeling energetic you can Google this process yourself. There is a faucet to the side with a large bucket underneath it. In the bucket is another smaller bucket and water that has dripped from the faucet. You take the smaller bucket, turn on the faucet, and fill it up. Then you dump this in the toilet, the water level comes up, and then gravity causes it to very slowly settle back down to the original level. This is even slower and less efficient than the toilet in our hotel room. It's almost like watching water leave through a partially clogged shower drain, although I don't think DRANO would help at all... I don’t know where everything goes after it leaves the bowl, but that really isn’t my problem so I’m not going to worry about it. Sam said that the one she used actually had a seat, but I guess men aren't afforded such luxuries. She did say that the next time she used one it was similar to mine, so I guess it depends on where you go. I should also mention that if you want to wash your hands you better bring your own soap and towel; we carry hand sanitizer with us everywhere. So basically I use the hotel bathroom and try to avoid anywhere else. But that's what it's like, so maybe we will get used to it. I don't know what the bathrooms will be like when we are volunteering, but maybe they will at least be a little cleaner. Two people have told us to prepare ourselves for toilets on the train when we travel up north. They must be even worse than what we have already seen. Don't worry, I'll report back after we get there :).

That's it for now. Keep the comments coming, although it would be nice to see that someone other than our immediate families are still reading (even though we appreciate their support!).

From Austalia to Thailand

2009-01-10T20:53:00.002-06:00

As I stated before, we have been looking for interesting ways to spend our time in Australia. I know you are thinking, shouldn’t Australia itself be memorable? Yes, it is - the 14-hour flight alone was memorable, but we wanted something a little more crazy or audacious…something we would look back on and not believe we did. Well, these last few days included some of the most wild things in my life…things I never thought I would have done before….events that would have driven my mom crazy.
:-)

January 5

Entering our hotel on the first day, we came across tons of brochures. I believe this is where all of the madness started. The flyers planted ideas in our heads that we probably never would have thought of. For example, white water rafting. I’m not going to lie and say I was all excited about this idea….I was extremely nervous. But like a good sport, I decided to partake just for the pure enjoyment of saying I did it…and everyone else was doing it as well, including Robin.
Our bus finally came and I was starting to become excited, but as we started moving I became more nervous for multiple reasons. First off, our bus driver was stoked because the rapids hadn’t been this big in ages. Second, I thought the water was going to be clear, hence the name WHITE water rafting, instead it was mud brown..worse than Carlyle Lake. Lastly, it was pouring rain. The last wasn’t as bad because we were going to get wet anyway, but it did not add any excitement.

Starting off towards the water, the rapid looked gigantic. They were churning in all directions, just like my stomach. We hopped in the raft and our guide, Cindy, explained all the maneuvers, rules, and things to expect. Things like falling out and flipping the raft. YIKES – I did not want this to happen. I believe Robin may have even threatened Cindy’s life if she (Robin) fell out.
Needless to say, my expectations of the rough waves were correct. We made it past the first three rapids safely and they were actually a lot of fun. As we approached the fourth (I think) it was much bigger than the last few. Andrea and I were in the front, so we could see everything before everyone else. It was a lot of excitement and fear combined. Passing the rapid, I turned around to exclaim how much fun that was and then realized James was hanging onto the side of the raft for dear life…he fell off. The same thing happened to Robin on the next rapid, then Andrea, then myself. It was a domino effect. Each time the guide got us all back in safely.
The rapids were so rough today that we actually had to “export”, meaning we had to walk around four different rapids. Once we hopped back onto raft we had to pass a level four rapid. The rapid was usually a three, but the high water made it a four. Cindy told us what to expect and how to handle it. About half way down, we flipped and everyone went flying. I really do not remember a lot of it, but do I remember doing a few flips underwater, losing a shoe and paddle, running into Andrea, almost drowning James, and being saved by random kayaker.

Unnecessary to say, the rest of the river was not that exciting for we all stayed on the raft. I have to admit white water rafting was one of the highlights of the time spent in Australia; everyone enjoyed it, even Robin, enjoyed it. She may not admit it, but we all know she did. Unlike my newfound love for diving, I’m not sure I’ll want to go white water rafting all the time but I’ll keep my options open.

January 6

I didn’t think it could get any better after our scuba diving adventure on Sunday, but the coral we saw snorkeling today was absolutely outstanding. I have never seen so many vivid colors of coral, fish, and sea turtles. The water was a bit choppy today, but it was so much fun. We experimented more with the camera, but it broke around the ninth photo, so we are unable to develop them. Luckily the photo shop exchanged our camera and we have so much more diving to complete in Thailand.

January 7

Today we went on a tour of the Kuranda Rainforest. The tour included a skytram/gondola ride, wildlife park overview, boomerang throwing and didgeridoo lessons, Aboriginal dance demonstrations, and a scenic train ride back the mountain. The day was interesting only for the fact that we could look back on it a laugh at all of the staged events.
Once refreshing up after the muggy ride on the train, we ventured to Trinity Beach for dinner. We ate at Blue Moon and had the best meal. If you ever travel to Cairns, you must try this place. The menu is innovative, tasteful, and filling. I tried the barramundi spring rolls and was absolutely amazed.

January 8

As if white water rafting wasn’t enough excitement, James pressured (wink, wink) me into skydiving today. Unlike white water rafting, I was not nervous, only excited for the thrill of a lifetime. The only time I was scared was after the first girl was sucked out of the plane. The plane was super small and carried a total of 16 people crammed in like sardines. I was sitting by the door, which they kept open durning the flight and was probably the scariest part of the whole experience. My fear wasn’t the parachute not opening, but not being attached to my tandem partner.

James and I both opted to have a video and photos taken. I have sent my video home with Robin and hope my mom will be able to upload it to the blog….prepare yourself for a big laugh.
After skydiving we traveled to Port Douglas for dinner with the rest of our travel group. Port Douglas was about 45 minutes away from our hotel and included a very scenic drive…similar to Route 1 in California. I would advise you not having James as your chauffer for you will feel ill. J

January 8…our last day in Australia

Today is a sad day because we are leaving Australia. While I am excited to move on towards Thailand, I had a great time in Australia and will miss the great attractions the country has to offer. I never expected this two-week trip to include white water rafting, skydiving, or many of the other experiences. Not only have I pushed my limits this trip, but also grown into a person that love adventurous activities. I look forward to integrating a smidgen of these daring behaviors into my life in the States.

James’s final thoughts of Australia

I’m not so sure about Sam’s confidence in my ability to explain Bangkok accurately, but I will give it a shot anyway. But first, I would like to refute the erroneous statements she made up above. I am an excellent driver and adapted to left side driving very well. Sam doesn’t like riding in vans to begin with, and the winding road wasn’t my fault. Secondly, I absolutely did NOT pressure her into skydiving. When we talked about doing it she thought it would be fun, and we said we would look into it. After that she kept bugging me to call and make the reservation, so really she was the one who pressured me. Either way, I’m really glad we did it. Skydiving is amazing. I thought I would be able to move to the edge of the plane, get myself mentally prepared, and then jump out. That’s not how it happens at all. Strapped to my instructor (a woman about 5’5” and 130 pounds), we were the second last group to go. We scooted to the edge, I dangled my feet out of the plane, and then we rocked back once or twice and “fell” out of the plane. I wasn’t ready at all so I think I closed my eyes just before we jumped. I thought if I looked straight down it would make me want to back out. That first second out of the plane I’m pretty sure my heart rate at least doubled. Then everything was great; I loved the free fall. 9000 feet with a max speed of about 125 mph was the most exhilarating 60 seconds I’ve ever had. When we fell through a cloud I felt the mist and cold air on my face. After the chute opened the harness dug into my hips a little hard, but steering the parachute was pretty cool. No matter how scared you think you will be, I think everyone should skydive at least once. However, something a little ironic did occur to me on the glide down. After 4 years of college learning how things fly, 1 month after graduating I jumped out of a perfectly good airplane.

But enough about that. Australia was great and I had a lot of fun, especially white water rafting. Falling out on the grade 4 rapid was a little touchy but we all made it fine. I did my best to point myself in the proper floating position and then just tried to gulp air whenever I surfaced. When I finally got through the worst of it I was able to realize that instead of facing downriver like I was supposed to, I was completely turned around. It surprised me how disorienting the water could be. I saw Sam a little in front of me and swam over to her before we made our way to the edge. After all that we found our boat back and then the trip was almost over. It sounds scary but I had a great time. The beer winner has to be Carlton, they make several styles including draught, cold filtered, midstrength, and light. Overall I think it was the best brand. The only other thing left to say about Australia is that I was unable to find a Crocodile Dundee knife. Someone will have to inform Jerry, Gary, and Kenny that I couldn’t get them one. When I asked around about it they said I might be able to find one in Melbourne or Brisbane, but not where we were. Sorry guys.

January 9 and 10….our first days in Bangkok!

After 12 hours of travel, we finally arrived in Bangkok, Thailand. So far, it seems as if it is going to be a great trip. The most random things I have seen include the truck that was carrying at least 16 passengers and the motorcycles that had three to four riders. I am looking forward to experiencing this vibrant city; it all seems so fascinating!

While I have so much to say about today, I am going to let James explain for I believe he has not only a better memory, but very developed thoughts about the things we experienced or witnessed. However, I will tell you about my favorite part of the first full day. In conjunction with ne of the walking tours we stopped by the Monk’s Bowl Village. Monk’s bowls were originally ceremonial bowls used to collects alms from the faithful every morning. Today a half a dozen families create these bowls by hammering the bowls together from eight separate pieces of steel said to represent Buddhism’s Eightfold Path. The joints are then fused together with melted cooper wire, and the bowl is beaten and polished. We were able to witness this process and hardships of the producers. I could not believe what I was seeing. The little children laying around crying, old men slaving over a pots of fire, and women begging people to walk into their “store”. The Monk’s Bowl Village was definitely an eye opening experience that I will remember forever. The small bowl I purchased will not only look beautiful on my desk, but will also remind me all of which I have to be thankful for.

Bangkok…according to James

Now we are in Bangkok, which is still fun but completely different. The biggest difference I notice is in transportation. First off, our taxi from the airport had no seat belts, except for the driver. I feel I should explain the truck Sam mentioned earlier. It was a small Toyota single cab, probably about 15 years old. There were 4 men crammed in the cab, and 3 rows of 4 men each squatting in the bed, with the truck driving down the Thai version of an Interstate. On the side roads the most common form of multiperson transportation seems to be a dirtbike or moped. It looks like the men on these mopeds get on the seat and sit their smallest child in front of them by the handlebars. Then they look for the largest woman they can find and sit her behind them. After that they take their older child and squeeze him or her between the man and woman. So in all I’d say there is over 400 pounds on what looks like a 90cc moped. I think you would be arrested and have your children taken away if you tried anything remotely like this in the U.S., but this is how it is. After being awake for 22 hours I don’t know if we fully appreciated all of this on the drive to our hotel, but we made it to our room safely. The room is interesting, being about 100 sq feet including the bedroom and bathroom. The A/C kept it mostly cool so I can’t complain, but we did choose to sleep in our sleeping bags instead of directly on the sheets. I don’t think my mom would walk within 100 yards of this guesthouse, but for $20 US per night it’s pretty decent.

So that brings us to our first real day in Bangkok. We consulted our books and found a few things we wanted to see; a temple not too far away, a shopping district, a market, and a restaurant we wanted to try. Walking down Kho San road (the main backpacker district) was pretty much what I thought Bangkok would be like. Lots of shops, weird street food all over, and a bit of general mayhem. It wasn’t really that bad since it was still 9 am, but after we write this we are going to head back to that road this evening to see what’s out there. A Scottish man we met in Australia told us Bangkok is like Disney World for single men and soldiers, and some of the stories we have heard are pretty bizarre, so who knows what we will see. After Kho San we started walking in the direction of the temple. Along the way a random guy started talking to us, asking us where we were from and where we were going. I should mention that although many people speak very little English, when they hear where we are from the first words out of their mouths are “Obama!, yeah?!”. Not to get into politics on this blog, but give me a break. I’m on the other side of the world and I still have to hear about the "Chosen One"… as well as see his face on T-shirts everywhere. Another thing that makes the language barrier interesting is Sam’s attempts to make small talk with people that don’t really speak English. When I talk to them I take out most non-essential words and just try to convey what I mean, but she asks them questions which they have no hope of understanding. They give her a funny look and I just laugh, but at least she’s trying.

I realize at this point that what I’m writing probably sounds like rambling, but that’s kind of how Bangkok is. The random guy we met up with took our map and started circling all the sights we should see today that were free because of a public holiday. He was extremely nice, and even flagged down a tuk-tuk driver for us. Now all of the books and people we have talked to told us to avoid the tuk-tuks, which are three wheeled motor powered carriages, kind of like motorcycles. Sometimes these drivers don’t take you where you want. Instead they go to their cousin’s store and try to get you to buy something. We were kind of caught up in the confusion, so we got in anyway and just hoped it would get us to where we wanted. The tuk-tuks make New York cab drivers look cautious. There seems to be no right of way in Bangkok, if traffic is backed up a little and there are no cars coming, they swerve into the other lane and drive over there for awhile, sometimes not even getting back into the right lane even when oncoming traffic starts coming. They just squeeze between the stopped traffic and the oncoming traffic until they find a spot to get over again. And making turns in front of on coming traffic also looks to be standard procedure. I was looking around and the cars are all in good shape, so I guess they don’t have many accidents, which is reassuring. Our tuk-tuk driver was just as fearless as everyone else but he got us to the places we wanted. Per our helpful stranger’s instructions, the driver took us to Big Buddha, Lucky Buddha, a Thai clothing shop, and lastly the Great Mount. At each place he would wait outside and tell us to take our time. The whole trip lasted around 3 hours, and at the end of it the charge was 20 baht, or around 75 cents. It is not normally that cheap but for the holiday the government gave the tuk-tuk drivers free gas. The driver tried to get us to go to a government shop or something before our last stop, which we refused, so I think maybe there was some agreement between the government and the drivers. Instead of the 20 baht I gave him 50 to include the tip, but even so the whole thing cost us $1.65 or so. To go from Baht to dollars you divide by 10 and then divide by 3 again, which gives you roughly US dollars. The 40 minute cab ride from the airport cost 360 Baht ($12). Even cheaper than transportation is the food. For breakfast I had 2 eggs, toast, bacon, some fruit, and orange juice. (side note from Sam: surprise, surprise! We travel how many miles around the world and he still eats bacon and eggs. I had to beg him to not order a cheeseburger or steak for breakfast!) Sam had pineapple pancake and tea. The whole bill was about $5. We were also able to eat lunch for around the same price. After our tuk-tuk experience we did a walking tour out of a guidebook we had. The best sight was Wat Suthat. A Wat is a Buddhist temple. The outsides are very ornate, which you should be able to see whenever the pictures get posted. In each Wat there is always a Buddha. You have to take your shoes off before entering, and feet are regarded as the lowest part of the body, so you have to make sure your feet are never pointed towards a Buddha when you sit down in the temple. Wat Suthat was supposed to be one of the most beautiful Wats in Bangkok, and I can believe it. It’s hard to describe the inside without seeing it, so I will let Sam do that when she posts photos. At this Wat there were several other buildings in the same complex. One of these was the Ordination Hall, which I think is the place where the monks pray most of the time. We went in after they all came out, trying to make sure that Sam wasn’t in any of their ways. We were told that women should not get in the way of a monk. If Sam wanted to give something to a monk she would have to give it to me first, and then I could give it to them. We thought we were out of the way, but a big old monk came up to me and slapped me on the shoulder, said something in Thai, pointed over to the front of the temple, and then just laughed at us. These monks are really intimidating, mainly because we just don’t want to do something wrong. But I think this one saw that we were nervous and was just telling us it was ok to move towards the front. Either that or Sam was standing in front of his umbrella and he wanted us to move, I don’t know. The Wats are very interesting and the people praying take the religion very seriously. So far I don’t think we have disgraced anything or anyone, so we are doing good. I know I’ve left a lot of things out, but it’s all I can describe at the moment. In the next post I’m sure there will be more, and I definitely want to explain the bathrooms in Bangkok, but that will have to wait. I hope all is well at home, and any comments you want to post are appreciated. If there’s something you want to know then ask and maybe we can answer.
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Despite our lengthy post, we have so much more to tell you. A combination of exhaustion, forgetfulness, and loss of words contributes to the gaps. Not to worry, we will continue with our next post. I promise to contribute more next time, but I have to say, James’s post are much funnier and informative in regards to the backside of Bangkok.

Best,
Sam and James

2009-01-04T20:23:00.001-06:00

These photos are from our bridge climb in Sydney and our scuba diving trip in the Great Barrier Reef. As stated in the last post, the scuba photos aren't the best..we hope they improve with each dive.

Enjoy!

Scuba diving and night markets!

2009-01-04T19:28:00.000-06:00

January 3

Since we were advised to not go into the ocean by our hotel, we decided to have a pool day. The surrounding beach is probably why our hotel has a really nice pool area. Today and Thursday are the only days we do not have something planned in Cairns, so it was nice to sit back and relax.

Later in the evening, we went to the Cairns Night Market. I have been reading about the night markets in Thailand, so I was really excited to experience one in Australia. I’m not going to lie, it wasn’t what I expected – it was touristy and cheap. I was hoping it would be more fruits, vegetables, seafood, etc., but it was more fake boomerangs, knockoff UGGS, and Kangaroos skins. Let me know if you want me to pick up a skin rug for you!

January 4

Today is the day I have been waiting for since arriving to Australia….we are going to scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef! The company we went through was extremely precautious, which made me happy for I feared being left behind like in the movie Open Water. A consequence of the extreme precautions was Andrea’s asthma. We had to fill out a large health questionnaire and then they consulted a doctor based on our responses. They even questioned James and I’s malaria medicine. It was unfortunate for Andrea because she hasn’t had an outbreak since she was a small child. Fortunately the company offered snorkeling, so her and Bret could do that.

James and I went on three different dives and each was better than the last. Within our dives we saw reef sharks, gigantic clams, huge fish, and many different types of reefs and coral. The reefs and coral were not as colorful as I expected, but they were still beautiful. I’m thinking we will see more color on our snorkel trip since it is shallower water.

James and I were fortunate and were placed in a small group…we always had less than four people. It was even just us at one time! It was great being in a small group. Our guide took us to some neat places and allowed us to touch a few things. We touched three different types of sea cucumber, a coral, and starfish. It was very interesting because you could feel them sucking on your hand.

We had the option to rent a digital camera, but we decided to buy a reusable underwater camera that we could use in Thailand as well. Today was a practice run and as you can tell, the photos are just mediocre. I hope to edit them more when I get home. The underwater photography is definitely a learning curve...hopefully the photos will get better with each dive.

Photos!

2009-01-02T21:28:00.003-06:00

Our photos are finally up! Unfortunately I am unable to embed them into my blog since we have so many. The photos are a combination of mine, Robin, and Andrea's....that's why there are a ton. They are all mixed up, so there is no particular order date or photographer wise. I am sorry some are sidewise and there aren't any labels. I had troubles with photobucket. It will hopefully get better over time.

Simply follow the link and you should be able to view them. E-mail me if you have troubles.

http://s290.photobucket.com/albums/ll268/samyjo4/Sydney%20Australia/?albumview=slideshow

:)

Dec 29 - Jan 1

2009-01-02T20:04:00.003-06:00

I know it has been awhile since our last post, but the days go by quick here and do not leave much time for writing. We are currently on a plane going to Cairns, pronounced cans, so I finally have time to sit and write. I sure am glad James brought his laptop!

From the past few days, I have realized how fun and beautiful Australia is. Not only physically, but the citizens as well. It is hard to find an unhappy or unwelcoming person.

The world…according to Sam..

December 29

After our exhausting day in the city, we decided to have a beach day. Unfortunately the weather was not ideal for it was extremely windy and cloudy. Being in Australia for over 48 hours, James was disappointed we had not gone into the water yet. Regardless of the weather, we had to take a swim. Needless to say, IT WAS FREEZING! My skin was numb. I didn’t last long, but James and Bret did. The waves were huge and they had a great time bodysurfing, or attempting to.

After it started raining, we hiked back to the hotel where James and I got ready for dinner at North Bondi Italian. We decided to dress quickly and grab a few drinks at a local pub. A few days ago we noticed a fun hole in the wall (literally) Mexican restaurant/bar. The Beach Burrito Café was such a fun place with really good drinks and mango salsa. Before we left the US, my dad said we had to come back with a drink recipe. I guess he doesn’t want James claiming his coveted Markarita recipe anymore. J Remembering this, we decided to order something we never heard of before, the mojada. A mojada is a mojito made with tequila instead of rum. It was delicious. Like my parents do when they find a fun drink, we asked the bartender for the recipe. We are excited to try it when we arrive home, the only issue is that the measurements and ingredients are a bit weird. I’m sure we will manage or make it better.

I know you are wondering how we could go to a Mexican bar in Australia, but the truth is that the cuisine assortment in Australia is similar to that in the States.

Needless to say, today was not that exciting. It was nice to relax and catch up on some of the time we had lost in the past few days. In addition, my legs were spent from the climb last night!

December 30

Today we went took an all-day tour of the Blue Mountains. I have been looking forward to this day because Jessica Cooper, a friend at MU who studied abroad in AUS last year, raved about the mountains and their greatness. Little did I know, today would be one of my favorite days, and not only because of the sights.

The tour consisted of traveling to multiple sights within the Blue Mountains, a wildlife park, and an amazing lunch at a local restaurant. We were picked up in Sydney by a large 4x4 semi truck. Being the first passengers to be picked up, our tour guide, Mark, asked us if we wanted to sit in front. I jumped up and volunteered James and I because it was a much better view and we could pick Mark’s brain. It took about two hours to get to the mountains, but it was well worth it.

Our first stop was to small area where wild kangaroos frequent. I think they are around often because of the campers. The “wild” kangaroos were quite tame and were not scared off by humans. It was interesting though and we snapped a few pictures. Looking back at the photos, it is funny how they look like deer.

After the wild animals, we traveled to the Pulpit, an extremely high lookout within the mountains. The view was absolutely beautiful and it comparable to the Grand Canyon. From the pictures you will see an array of levels. The ones from a distance are Robin’s. Her and George didn’t climb down, so you will be able to see what we climbed. Looking back, it is kind of scary. In addition to the height, it was extremely windy. I thought I was going to blow right off the canon, seriously!

We then traveled to a quaint local restaurant that served authentic Australian food. The smorgasbord included a beautiful pumpkin soup, roast, vegetables, butter chicken which tasted like curry, and fish. My favorite was the pumpkin soup. I am going to find a recipe and try to remake it.

After lunch, we went to a lookout to view the Three Sisters. The Three Sisters are a cluster of three stones that were supposedly three daughters that were turned into stone by their father when a witch was chasing them. It seems as if there are a lot of random stories like that in Australia.

After the three sisters, we moved on to the Wildlife Park where we could pet koalas, wallabies, and kangaroos. I have come to the conclusion a “wildlife park” is a fancy name for a zoo. I hate zoos. I feel horrible for the animals because they are trapped in small stalls. How can these animals be happy? Don’t birds need to fly in large spaces? The animals, especially the koalas, looked so sad. Even though I hate zoos, I did give in and fed some animals and had my picture taken. I wasn’t happy, but I decided that I had to since I came all this way.

After the tour, we took a ferry to Manly Beach and had dinner. Mark, who grew up on Manly Beach, said the fish and chips at Manly were the best. James and I both love fish and chips, so of course we had to try them. I’m not going to lie and say they were the best ever, but the quality of the fish was outstanding. I have had pretty good fish and chips in my day, but the actual fish was never this good. We are looking forward to trying more fish and chips in Cairns.

After dinner, the rest of the group headed back to the hotel. James and I decided to stay back and check out Manly. We wanted to go out, but we were exhausted. The wine at dinner didn’t help much either. Instead of going out, we stopped for some local ice cream and sat on the beach. It was a great ending to an outstanding day. It may have been the fabulous company, or the freshly made coconut ice cream, I can’t decide…

As I said earlier, today was one of my favorite days. It was such a great day because of our tour guide, Mark. Because James and I sat in front most of the time, we were able to talk to Mark for the duration of the trip. We picked his brain about everything. Him and James had a lot to talk about because Mark has his pilot’s license, and as most of you know, James is an aerospace engineer. They went back and forth about flying, Boeing, and the like. My favorite conversations were the ones about Australia and Mark’s travels. He seems to have gone everywhere. He’s lived in South Africa, Atlanta, Thailand, Australia, and so many more. In addition to his knowledge about those areas, we spoke about the differences between the US and Australia. He spoke generally about Australia’s views towards the US, our president, and lifestyle. It is so interesting hearing another perspective.

Something I’ve noticed while in Australia is that many people take the time to travel instead of worrying about being “on track” like in the US. Why can’t we be like this also? I want to travel and live life. This trip has definitely caused me to re-evaluate my career path. (Don’t worry mom and dad, you didn’t waste your money...my background is very flexible! J) I am going to look for a job in the tourism industry, everything else just seems mundane to me now.

December 31

It’s New Years Eve on Bondi Beach and there is definitely a buzz around the city. There are a variety of festivities going on, so it was hard to choose what to do. It is odd being so far ahead of everyone, hard to believe we will be experiencing the new year 17 hours before everyone else.
To start off the day, we took surfing lessons. There weren’t many waves today, so I thought it wouldn’t be that hard or rough….boy was I wrong! I was manhandled by the waves. I have never been so tossed around. Just when I thought I was safe, I would be knocked over by my board. All in all, surfing was a lot of fun and work. My arms hurt badly...we had to paddle so much! According to our instructor, I was the only one who stood up and stayed up for awhile. But I think Bret stood up a few times also. I look forward to attempting surfing again, but boogey-boarding may be more my style. I did notice a lot of the motions were similar to yoga, I feel as if that may have helped me…a little bit.

The weather was outstanding today so we had another beach day. Knowing that my body has issues with sunscreen, I pretty much showered in sunscreen before leaving the hotel. Sadly, that did not save my body and I have the wildest sunburn. Ever since Mexico in 2005, my body burns so easily and sunscreen doesn’t help much. I am hoping to tan over before the beach action in Cairns.

To celebrate the New Year, we went out to eat at a beautiful restaurant called Nick’s Seafood. The restaurant is located along the water and had a great view of the sunset. I tried a new drink called a Pimm’s Cup. It was delicious for it had a mixture of Pimm’s (gin), lemonade, ginger ale, apples, cucumbers, and oranges. YUM-O!

After dinner we went to Reviess’s, a swanky bar on Bondi beach’s strip. The bar was nice, but it could have been better. After the New Year countdown came and went, we went back to the hotel and enjoyed our complimentary bottles of champagne. There was a concert on the beach, with tickets at $200 each, but we could listen to it from above. We had a great time sitting on the beach, enjoying champagne and mimosas and discussing the wild rave music below. It was a great way to spend New Years Eve in Australia. Sure it could have been a bit more wild and crazy, but it was nice to to sit back, relax, and spend time with friends and family.

January 1

After our late night, we had a later start this morning. After getting started, James and I took a hike along the beach line. The path led to three other small beaches and rock paths. The views were amazing. The combination of the water splashing against the rocks and beach, the sun, and scenery contributed to a great ending in Bondi Beach.

Tonight we went into the city and ate in the Sydney Tower’s Rotating Restaurant. The restaurant was as high as the Eiffel Tower and rotated 360 degrees. The view was impeccable and the food was mediocre. I would suggest doing the observation deck and skipping the dinner.
After dinner we walked to Darling Harbor. We didn’t stay too long for we had to pack for tomorrow’s flight.
January 2
Today we leave Bondi Beach/Sydney and travel to Cairns. Cairns is located about four hours by plane from Sydney and is home to the Great Barrier Reef. As I stated earlier, I initially started writing this post on the plane. I am now crammed in the back of our rental van with luggage falling on me….obviously our travel mates didn’t pack as light as James and I. I must be going now….George is driving and it is a bit crazy for he has to drive on the other side of the road….say a little prayer for us..

…Well, we made it to our hotel safely – George did an amazing job driving on the opposite side of the road. We are staying at the Rockford Mercure Grand Esplanade, which are actually condos, so we have a full kitchen and laundry room! I’m excited because we can wash all of our clothes before Thailand. Robin was reading through a book on the table and it warned people about creatures in the water. I did not know crocodiles frequented the ocean, I thought they were only found in fresh water. Realizing this, my fear for sharks rose also. James kept promising me there were no crocodiles or sharks in this area, but I did not believe him. To compensate, I walked down to the lifeguard to ask a few questions. He told me there were sharks and crocodiles in this area and that they are a problem but I should be more worried about jellyfish/stingers. (He was in full stinger gear) The water was actually closed today because of the jellyfish – this area is home to deadly jellyfish….you will actually die. So, the combination of killer jellyfish, crocodiles, sharks, and stingrays has helped me decide that I will not be swimming in the water by our hotel.

I then continued to ask about the Great Barrier Reef and sharks out there. He said there are sharks and I will probably see them. Most of them are reef sharks, which are not dangerous, but BIG ones are sometimes there as well. I am not sure how I feel about this, but it will prevent me from diving. The lifeguard said he would not swim at our beach, but would recommend diving.
Regardless to say, Cairns’s beaches aren’t what I expected, but there are a lot of other things to do in the area. James and I are considering skydiving. :)

The world….according to James

A lot has happened since the last post, but Sam has taken care of telling you about all that. I would like to say that surfing is both difficult and exhausting, but if we went back out at low tide I think I would be able to do it better. It was still fun to learn and maybe I’ll get a chance to rent a board and practice on my own. If you ever get the chance to try you definitely should.
My beer search has yet to yield a winner, but all of the beer tastes good and I haven’t had a bad one yet. Most of them are Lagers so that’s the main difference between Australian beer and the beer at home. Per Dis’s suggestion I did try VB. It was good, but not something I want to drink every day. They do have a few good rums to choose from; both Bundaberg and Coruba are nice. The best drinks have been the extra dry beers, which taste more like pilsners than lagers, but I’ll keep trying new ones when I can.

The only other thing I have to tell you that Sam hasn’t already mentioned is my near death experience. Now most of you are probably wondering whether it involved some poisonous spider or snake, or maybe a shark or crocodile, or one of the many other ways to endanger yourself in a place like Australia. But you would all be completely wrong. This has nothing to do with Australia, or even any other location in particular. It could happen on any beach to anyone at any time, so I feel I should warn you all. We had all been lying on the beach catching some sun. Sam went up to McDonald’s to use the internet, and Bret and Andrea went up to the room to get cleaned up, which left me out on the beach by myself. Well, not exactly by myself since there were probably a couple thousand other people on this beach. I had noticed earlier that if you lay your head down on the sand you can hear the footsteps when someone gets close enough to move the sand within a few feet of your head. As I was lying there with my eyes closed I suddenly heard so many footsteps all around me that I sat up to see what was happening. I had enough time to grab the beach bag and the other towel and pull them in close to me before I was surrounded by a stampede of people. There must have been several hundred people all moving in a group down the beach, directly over where I was sitting. I kind of felt like a Wal-Mart greeter on the day after Thanksgiving, so I just sat there hoping they would all step around me. The herd managed to avoid trampling me, but they did step all over the towel I was sitting on and get sand everywhere. Just as quickly as they were there, they moved on down the beach, probably scaring their next unsuspecting sunbather. I had an idea what had caused the crowd, but I asked someone anyway. This massive crowd of people swarming all over the beach and ignoring anything in their path were all trying to get a glimpse of a famous celebrity. A star worthy of such adoration by hundreds of people; one that could cause them to run around holding their camera phones up in the air in failed attempts to get a picture of this “goddess”. You may have guessed it already, but I’ll tell you anyway; I was almost trampled to death by a crowd following Paris Hilton. Yeah, all for freaking Paris Hilton. She was doing an event in Sydney for Versace or something like that, and on this day she decided to take a stroll down the beach. I would have understood if some screaming teenage girls or maybe a few young boys had been following her, but this group included every type of person imaginable, from what I could see of their legs and the tail end of the hoard after it passed me. Maybe next time I can get almost trampled by a crowd following someone who is actually interesting; I didn’t even know people still cared what Paris Hilton did every day. I was pleased to find out on the news later that she cut her beach day short when someone threw sand at her. Maybe it was just an unruly fan, but personally I think it was someone seeking revenge after almost getting trampled and having sand thrown all over them. I wish I could find that person and buy them a beer….
So let this be a warning to you. If you are out on the beach always be aware of the dangers from sun, riptides, jellyfish, sharks, and massive crowds following “celebrities”. I guess if this is the worst thing that happens to me on this trip I should consider myself lucky. At least they didn’t smash my hat, she would have definitely gotten sand thrown at her then. That’s all for now, we are off to Cairns to do some snorkeling, scuba diving, rainforest tours, and who knows what else, so I’m sure we will have a lot to talk about next time.

---
I am hoping to publish photos soon. It takes awhile to upload them and internet isn't as available here.

We hope you had a great New Year!

With love,
Sam and James

We made it!

2008-12-28T21:49:00.002-06:00

The world…according to Samantha

I’m bacccck – and this time with a whole new outlook on life and the world. It is funny because when I moved to New York I thought all of my perspectives were turned upside down and it wouldn’t happen to that extreme again. Little did I know, the combination of my final semester at Maryville, planning this trip, and re-evaluating things, my views have changed completely and my thought process is exceptionally different. I truly believe the changes in my life, whether you can notice them or not, are going to make this blog better than the last. I know you are all thinking how much you loved the ‘Big Apple Blog’, but ‘The World…According to Sam and James’ will be – I hope – not only an overview of our experiences, but also viewpoints from around the world. Sounds the same as last summer’s, but how can you compare New York to Australia (well, maybe) and Thailand (maybe Bangkok)? Move over city nightlife, enter cultural experiences.

I am a little bit confused on my days, for we left on December 25 and arrived in Australia on the 27^th, so I am not really sure where to begin or go about my post. I know it is going to be confusing when you read this because I am 17 hours ahead of most of you. It is currently 9:45 am on Monday in Sydney, while it is 4:45pm on Sunday in Breese. I received a new watch for Christmas with the capability to see two time zones, I love it! I have never worn a watch, so this is an exciting time in my life.

Packing was interesting for the trip. James and I decided it would be best to use backpacks since we will be moving around often. I never thought I would be able to pack for two months in a backpack that is entirely too small, in my opinion. My dad was so surprised when I walked out. He recalled an instance where I took three bags for one weekend…I’m not sure I believe him, nor do I remember this instance. I would like to note that I packed lighter than James. He claims his clothes are bigger and need more room, but it is funny how he is quick to forget that the REI backpack we bought came in both men and women styles and then men’s is bigger by cubic volume. Don’t fret, I reminded him. J

December 25, 2008 (USA)

Our travels began with a flight from STL to LA around 7pm on Christmas Day. It was so hard to say goodbye to my family. I absolutely love how I have had the opportunity to experience so many different aspects of life, but it is hard to leave my parents and sisters. I wish they could come with me. It breaks my heart to see all of them sad. I fear they think I am trying to get away from them, but the truth is I just cannot stay in once place. I heard on a movie, I believe Into the Wild, where the main character said something along the lines of, once you find out what’s out there, you cannot sit still. I am embracing this thought. The flight from LA to Australia was 14 hours. The flight was not bad at all, especially if you sleep for 10 hours. So, if you ever decide to go to Australia, do not be scared by the flight. It is manageable.

December 27, 2008 (Australia)

We arrived in Sydney on the 27^th at 9:30 am and had a full day. We were pretty much up for 24 hours. Once we arrived to our hotel, in Bondi Beach, about 45 mins by bus from the city, we had lunch (James will fill you in later) and walked along the beach. Nothing to exciting for the first day, but it was nice to settle in. James and I promised ourselves we would not take a nap, for we have heard it throws you off even more. Not surprisingly, we made it til 9pm. Wohoo – party animals!

December 28, 2008 (AUS)

We ventured into downtown Sydney today and explored The Rocks area. The Rocks is an area by the bay that overlooks Sydney Harbor, the bridge, and Sydney Opera House. The weather is very comfortable here, nothing like STL or Breese. Sorry guys!

We ventured around the area for a while, had lunch at The Rocks Cafe, and went to a market. The Rocks was an interesting combination of locals and tourists. Sydney is a welcoming city, it is fun to meet other people. Despite James, I enjoy asking random locals or tourist about their favorite things to do. He was very knowledgeable about the surrounding areas.

Tonight we climbed the Sydney Harbor Bridge. The highest point was 440 feet and the view was amazing! The company offers tours throughout the day, but we decided to do the night climb at 9pm. I love city lights, so it was perfect. We have pictures…they will be posted later.

Here is James!

The world…according to James

Hello everyone! As some of you know I’m not much of a writer, so don’t expect my portions of the blog to be anywhere near as insightful or lengthy as Sam’s. But nevertheless I will try to write something most of the time, although it might just be some small tips or things I think you guys should know. I would like to first point out that yes, my clothes and my bag are slightly larger than Sam’s, so it makes sense that my bag is a couple of pounds heavier. What she forgot to point out was that we brought a third bag to hold some of our Australia clothes that we won’t be taking to Thailand, and that she has A LOT more in that bag than I do, but I just let her think that she packed smaller than I did….

Anyway, I guess I will explain to all of you my experience with Foster’s beer, and give you a little tip if you are ever in Australia. Tim Droege told us that as soon as we got here we should have a Foster’s for him. We landed about 9:30 am local time, but by the time we got to our hotel and everything it was close to lunch time. We found a place right outside the hotel and looked over their beer menu. Foster’s wasn’t listed anywhere, but when we asked they had it, so that’s what we had with our lunch. The meal went well and we spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out around the beach. That evening we went to a bar/restaurant for dinner. You had to order your meal at one stand, bring the number to your table, and then go up to the bar for your drinks. I decided to ask the bartender for a suggestion, since I wanted to see what the locals liked to drink. She asked me what type of beer I usually drank, so I told her the usual American beers like Bud and Bud Light, and that I had a Foster’s for lunch that was pretty good. She immediately got this look of disgust on her face and this is what she said to me, “Oh no, take it back! I can’t serve you unless you take it back! NO ONE LIKES FOSTER’S!!!” So I took it back. She recommended Toohey’s Extra Dry, which was pretty good. Needless to say that was the last time I will be ordering Foster’s on this trip. I’ll wait until I’m back in America to have another one. I’ve been trying different beers at every meal since then to find one I really like, I’ll get back to you all on what I find. But my advice to anyone going to Australia would be to order something besides Foster’s, unless you want to upset the bartender, or at the very least it will label you as a tourist pretty quick. I guess that’s the reason it wasn’t on the menu at lunch, and this bar didn’t even serve it. That’s all I have for now. I’m sure Sam will have much more to tell you about everything else we do, but I’ll try to keep posting as well.

Well, the McDonald’s free wifi is about to run out, so I must get going. I am sorry the post is kind of random..we have been having issues with the website. They will be better with time. I look forward to your e-mails or comments. Have a great day!

Cheers!

Sam and James

2008-12-28T18:27:00.000-06:00

The Best of NY....according to Sam

2008-08-14T13:00:00.003-05:00

Best way to Spend a:

Monday dinner or drinks with friends
Tuesday Brooklyn Bontanic Gardens (free)
Wednesday Hudson River Flicks
Thursday Gallery Openings
Friday Free MoMA from 6-8pm
Saturday Union Square Market in the AM
Sunday Central Park

Only in NYC

Best thing to buy from a vendor: Halal Food
Best View of the City: Hoboken Ferry
Broadway Show: Tie between Spring Awakening and In The Heights
Craziest thing to do in NYC: Having 16 family members visit
Luxury: Taxis and pedicures, not together of course
Muesum: Cloisters
Music: Olivas
Must Try Once: Rice to Riches and Pinkberry
Neighborhood:Union Square
NY for Free: Brooklyn Bridge and Staten Island Ferry
Outer Burrough: Brooklyn
Park: Brooklyn Bridge Park
Shopping: SoHo
Sketchiest thing to do in NYC: Chinatown purse shopping
Street Performers: the ones on the trains, 34th/Herald Square Station/Times Square Station
Tourist Trap: Top of the Rock
Weeknight Evening: DUMBO Outdoor Movies

NYC Resources

Directions: www.hopstop.com
Food Delivery: www.seamlessweb.com
Groceries: www.freshdirect.com
Menus: www.menupages.com
Nightlife: www.murphsguide.com

Nightlife

NY hotspot: Ono
Outdoor Drinks: Bowery Bar (B Bar)
Place to get a drink: Pipa y Tapas
Rooftop: Martha Stewart's Roof :)

Food

Coffeshop: anywhere in Union Square
Dessert: Chikalicious
French: Bar Martentti
Greek: Anywhere in Astoria
Late Night Eats: Moumons
Mexican: Rosa Mexicano
Outdoor dining: Boat Basin Café
Pizza: Grimaldis
Restaurant: New Leaf Cafe
Sushi: a place on 24th and 6th
Take Out: Curry Curry

Thank you for reading my blog throughout the summer. I hope my experiences have inspired you to go out and try something new even if it seems crazy at the time.

If you ever have any questions about NY or need a suggestion, please contact me. I love talking about my experiences in NYC. =) Be aware, I may talk for a few hours....

Thanks again!

-Sam

signing off...

2008-08-14T11:43:00.003-05:00

Today is my last day in NYC. I cannot believe it. I had a few last minute things to do before I left, so I got up early and finished packing/cleaning, shipping items, and picking up a sweatshirt for Grace.

I cannot believe how fast this summer went. I feel as if I just moved in and here I am packing up to leave. It will be really nice to go home, but this city will be greatly missed. I have such an emotional connection to the city, I have learned and experienced so much. I have grown as both a student and individual. Someone e-mailed me in the beginning of the summer asking me if my life will ever be the same. After the past three months I've come to realize it really won't be. New York pushed me to move outside of the bubble I grew up in. I saw so many things that made me realize how fortunate I am to of had this amazing opportunity. While in NYC I strived to live each day to the fullest. Why should that change once I move back to Breese/St. Louis?

During our meeting with Martha, she explained her mantra of wanting all of her employees to learn something new everyday. While I think a lot of it comes naturally throughout life, I am really going to push myself to be in new situation each day. Instead of laying around my apartment at school or house in Breese, I want to get up and enjoy life. I have lived in both St. Louis and Breese for a long time now and I still haven't done everything possible. Even though NYC, STL, and Breese cannot be compared, they all have something great to offer. I look forward to finding appreciation in the small things in the Midwest. =)

I had a lot of issues getting to the airport today. They were so frustrating they aren't even worth me telling you about. Today was the day I really had the most issues in NYC. I am very fortunate they occurred on my last day while going home.

As the plane was taking off, I started to look out the window and realized we were flying right over Manhattan. As we flew over I started thinking, how did I do it? The city really is insane. Andrew from work once told me he thought I was crazy for leaving everything and moving to NYC alone. It really didn't hit me until I was on the plane was looking over the jungle that I played in for 3 months. The concrete mass looked so intimating and here figured it out all on my own.

As we flew over IL and MO it was crazy to the see different surroundings. Andrew and I once compared our homes on Google maps and I didn't think much of the difference then. Now seeing it in real time, there was a huge difference. Breese really is a different world. St. Louis even looked different and it is a city! I hadn't see that much green in three months. Even though it is different and I absolutely fell in love with the city, I am looking forward to moving back home.

Mom and Dad picked me up at the airport. I was so happy to see them. I missed them so much! I asked if I could drive home, but they looked worried. I was just kidding! =) I did get to drive my car home from Jean's, so that was interesting. The roads were so open..and quiet

The noise levels are the main differences I've seen so far. I went out to the golf course with my Mom and I couldn't figure out what I was wrong. I finally realized I was walking by about 100 cars and it was so quiet. This is going to take a lot of getting used to. I am used to a constant hum along with jackhammers, sirens, taxis, and horns. Going to bed should be interesting tonight....will I be able to sleep without any noise?

Well, I guess this is it. New York will truly be missed, but I look forward to finishing up school and figuring out where to go next. While away I made many good friends, learned so much, and created memories that have change my life forever.

-Sam

Photos from the Timmermann Girls Extravaganza!

2008-08-12T11:44:00.001-05:00

Since so many people were here I decided to not take so many pictures. I know I'll get copies from them. Here a a few I did take. Some are actually from grace. Enjoy!

The Timmermann Girls's New York Experience

2008-08-12T09:40:00.003-05:00

Wow. Did I just have a wild 6 days! Sixteen of the Timmermann girls came to visit me this week. I'm not going to lie, I was really nervous about them coming since we were going to be such a big group, but it turned out to be one of my favorite weeks in NYC. We had such a great time... at least I did!

I'm not really sure what their first reactions of the city were. Some of them have been here already, but majority had not. I think they thought it was going to be like Times Square everywhere, so i think they were surprised to see that some parts of the city are really nice. When James came to visit I made the mistake of taking him straight to Time Square. I think it really freaked him out. This time I took my visitors to Chelsea first. I think this move really helped our trip. The views towards the city were much better.

We did a lot throughout the trip. Much more than I ever expected. We took the subway everywhere, walked miles upon miles, took hundreds of photos, created inside jokes that will be around forever, and had the best time.

Since we did so much and I was too exhausted at night to update, I am just going to list what we did each day with a few comments. I hope the list gives you an accurate vision of our experiences. We did so much fun!

Wednesday

Entire Group

Chelsea Market for lunch
Fashion Institute of Technology Museum - Chelsea

Visited my apartment - Herald's Square

Checked into hotel - Koreatown

Boat Basin Cafe - Upper West Side

Rockefeller Center - Top of the Rock - Midtown

Thursday

Jill, Sam, Jeanie, Marcella

Martha Stewart Office Tour - Chelsea

Kathy, Karen H, Julie, Grace, Kate, Kelly, Jessie

Century 21 and Wall Street - Financial District

Karen T, Nancy, Brittany, Erica, Elizabeth, Victoria

Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island tours

Jill, Sam, Jeanie, Marcella, Kathy, Karen H, Julie, Grace, Kate, Kelly, Jessie

Ground Zero and St. Paul's Chapel - Financial District

Jill, Sam, Jeanie, Marcella, Kathy, Karen H, Julie, Grace, Kate, Kelly, Jessie

Staten Island Ferry - free and fabulous view of the Statue of Liberty and city skyline - Battery Park

Entire group

Walked across the Brooklyn Bridge from Manhattan to Brooklyn
Joque Torres - chocolate stop
Movies with a view

watched Pleasantvile under the Brooklyn Bridge and enjoyed Grimaldi's Pizza

Sam and Kelly

Coffeehouse Lounge - Union Square

Friday

Erica, Brittany, Elizabeth, Victoria, Karen H.

Today Show - Midtown - Erica was interviewed!

Grace, Sam, Julie, Karen H, Kathy, and Marcella

Jonas Brothers Concert - Bryant Park - Midtown

Jill, Sam, Jeanie, Marcella, Kathy, Karen H, Julie, Grace, Kate, Kelly, Jessie

Yankee Stadium - Bronx
New Leaf Cafe - Fort Tyron Park - Harlem
Cloisters Muesum - Fort Tyron Park - Harlem
Central Park - walked around the lower half
Tavern on the Green
Central Park Summerstage Concert

Karen T, Nancy, Brittany, Erica, Elizabeth, Victoria

Bloomingdales
Saks 5th Ave
Tiffanys & Co.
Tavern on the Green
Mustang Harrys

Sam, Karen H., Kathy, Jill, Jeanie

Me Bar - Koreatown

Saturday

Entire Group

Union Square Market
Chinatown - purse shopping!
Lunch in Little Italy
Finished shopping in Chinatown/Little Italy

Sam, Karen T, Brittany, Kelly, Kathy

Buying tickets to Broadway for the evening - tkts stand - Times Square

Jill, Karen H, Marcella, Jean, Kate, Grace, Erica, Elizabeth, Victoria, Jessie, Julie

Hotel/Shopping around Herald Square

Entire Group

Times Square

dinner at Heartland Brewery Chophouse

Jean, Julie, Karen H.

Mamma Mia

Jill, Kate, Grace, Marcella, Erica, Nancy

Legally Blonde

Sam, Kelly, Kathy, Jessie

In the Heights

Karen T, Elizabeth, Brittany, Victoria

Phantom of the Opera

Entire Group

Hershey's Store - Times Square

Sam, Kelly, Erica

Me Bar - Koreatown

Sunday

Karen T, Nancy, Erica, Brittany, Victoria, Elizabeth

SoHo shopping

Kathy, Karen H, Julie

Statue of Liberty tour

Sam, Kelly, Jessie, Kate, Jean, Jill, Marcella, Grace

Hell's Kitchen Antique Market
Annex Antique Market

Kathy, Karen H, Julie, Sam, Kelly, Jessie, Kate, Jean, Jill, Marcella, Grace

Lunch at Rogue - Chelsea
Chelsea Antique Market

Sam, Julie, Jessie

tkts booth Times Square - hoping for STOMP tickets - it was not a success
STOMP Box Office - St. Mark's/Lower East Side
Bubble Tea!

Jill, Kathy, Karen H., Marcella, Kelly, Katie, Grace, Jeanie

SoHo shopping

Kathy, Karen H, Marcella, Kelly, Katie, Grace, Julie, Jessie

dinner at a BBQ restaurant
STOMP off-Broadway show

Jill, Jeanie, Sam

Mystique - shopping
Hotel/Apartment
Rosa Mexicano - Union Square

Erica, Brittany, Elizabeth, Victoria, Karen H., Nancy

The View Restaurant - Times Square

Jeanie, Jill, Sam, Kelly, Erica, Brittany

Me Bar - Koreatown

Monday

Karen H, Kathy, Julie, Jean

Today Show

Kelly, Jessie, Kathy

attempted going to The Metropolitan Museum of Art - closed on Mondays =(

Jeanie, Karen H., Julie, Marcella, Sam, Kate, Grace, Jill

Martinque Bar - lunch - Herald Square

Jeanie, Karen H., Julie

Empire State Building

Entire Group

various shopping throughout Herald Square

5pm - goodbyes until Wednesday!

Phew. What a trip! I think I may have a future in tour guiding! This trip definately caused me to pull out my project and event management "knowledge" =) I think I would call my business Liberty Tours. lol.

I look forward to your comments on this one. It would be great to see the comments/thoughts of the other 16 visitors. My blog doesn't do justice for their experiences!

Enjoy!

-Sam

familiar faces!

2008-08-05T10:19:00.002-05:00

Per Sally's suggestion, I met up with her assistant, Christie and another ad sales assistant, Christine for lunch. We enjoyed lunch and listening to each others experiences at Brasserie Ruhlman in Rockefeller Center. The food was really good, i'm just not sure about the service...

After lunch I headed to the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens. This was my third attempt going to the BBG. I finally made it today. The gardens were really nice, I just think they would have been better earlier in the spring.

Jan Deiters, Joanne Lampe, and all of their sisters, aunts, cousins, etc are in NYC for the next two days. I tried meeting up with them at the Brooklyn Bridge, but there was a lot of confusion. I wasn't able to meet up with them at the bridge, but I did later in the evening at the W Hotel Time Sqaure bar and lounge. My friend Marissa and I enjoyed a few drinks with them at the bar. Jan introduced us to the St. Genieve drink. It was so tasty! Champagne, club soda, and St. Genvieve(?) liquor. I had a really nice time with them tonight. They are a bunch of crazy ladies... and I mean that in the nicest way! They are all great!

Meeting with these ladies was my first encounter with people from home. It was really nice to see familiar faces. I guess I will be seeing a plethora of familiar faces tomorrow when 16 of my family members arrive! I must go to bed and prepare mentally....

-Sam

and the countdown begins...

2008-08-03T23:47:00.000-05:00

Even though Friday was my official last day at MSLO, I went to the 42nd office for an interview with Human Resources today. I think it went really well. Hopefully it will pay off in December/February. She told me to stay in touch, so I guess that is a good thing.

After the interview, I ran to the store to get some milk and then had lunch in my apartment. After lunch I went to Central Park to read a book, but it was so nice out i just laid out in the sun and listened to my iPod.

From Central Park, I wondered around the Upper West Side and eventually made it back to my apartment. At my apartment I worked on the Timmermann Girls New York Excursion itinerary and picked up the apartment....it definately needed it!

Tonight I met my friend from work in Astoria for dinner. Since Astoria is the greek neighborhood, we enjoyed Greek cuisine at Olavia. It was so tasty, especially the poma-tini. :)

I enjoy going to Astoria, it is nice to escape the city...sometimes!

While I was on the train going back into the city, there was an annoucement about an injury at the 34th-Herald Square stop. Getting off the train at 34th, since it is my stop, i am surrounded by tons of police officers, a stretcher or two, and EMTs. I was directed the other way, so i'm not sure what happened, but they were taping off a large area and the train was out-of-service just sitting on the tracks. It was very odd....maybe it will be on the news tomorrow or something.

Well, off to bed. I have a busy day lined up tomorrow!

-Sam

so little time...

2008-08-03T23:16:00.002-05:00

Today I really wanted to go to the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. Unfornately I got half way there and had some major train difficulties. There was supposedly a power outage and caused some re-routing. It would have been really hard for me to get there, so i decided to opt out.

Instead of the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, I met up with Andrew from work in SoHo. We went window shopping in all his favorite stores. This kid knows so much about fashion. I seriously felt like the boy while he was the girl shopping. I was completely clueless.

Andrew has worked for Tommy Hilfiger, Kenneth Cole, and recently was accepted into an internship program with the Fairchild (?) group with Conde Nast for Fashion Week.

I've asked him to help me...but he responded, " i don't do women's fashion." ohhh AJW...

After parting with Andrew, I sat in Greely Square again and listened to my iPod. It was nice to just sit outside for awhile.

I then when back up to my apartment, chatted with Liz and Alexis, ate dinner, and tried to configure a plan for this week with the Timmermann girls. Nothing too exciting..

I am feeling overwhelmed with all of the things i want to do and see before I leave. I seriously only have 3 days left without my family. So much to do and so little time! This only means I'll have to come back to finish it all! =)

-Sam

this calls for a special post!

2008-08-03T12:03:00.004-05:00

The day has finally come where I am on Martha's blog! It was a few weeks delayed, but who cares! We are finally up!

Martha's Blog - Let's hop on the MSLO shuttle bus!

The first photos are from a random day when I was at 42nd and the blog photographers wanted to do a special post on the MS shuttle. It just so happened I was there.

Mom was telling me how someone commented on me holding a plate in this picture since I love food so much and always seem to be eating. Well, the plate was full of sandwiches for Mindi, Cheryl, and Audrey. Here at MS, we look out for each other when it comes to food. Would you be passing up food from Martha Stewart test kitchens?? No, I didn't think so. =)

The very last photo is from the presentation/cookies with Martha. I wish I was sitting next to her, but I could be way in the back like a few other people. I am going to print the picture out and frame it i think! Dorky I know, but hey, I am in a picture with Martha Stewart! She is one of my favorite people! After working for the company and listening to her speak..you would think so too!

2008-08-02T11:56:00.000-05:00

Today was a much lower key day than the past week or two. I actually slept in and didn't do anything for work!

I did attempt buying Broadway tickets for my family. I was somewhat successful, but not 100%. I still have some researching to do.

I met with Amy today in the subway to pick up my 1001 ideas book. I left it there while James was here. I have been missing it so much. I figured it would probably be a good thing to have for when the Timmermann gals are here.

After getting the book, I sat in Greely Square outside of my apartment. The weather was kind of rainy this morning, but it ended up being such a nice day. So sitting outside in a "park" was relaxing. Now only if it had grass and wasn't in the middle of Herald Square...

Tonight I had dinner with Carter at Bar Marinetti. We had dinner around 11pm...only in NY, right? She is leaving tomorrow, so it was nice to see her before she left. At the restaurant i had the best mac and cheese. It is funny how restaurants are now offering mac and cheese as a "gourmet" meal.

Our dinner lasted til about 12:30 and I was exhausted after, so I just went back to my apartment. I know it isn't the most exciting Saturday night, but after this week it was really nice. I guess I can consider Thursday night my Saturday evening. =)

-Sam

the final day...

2008-08-01T11:39:00.000-05:00

Well, this morning it was hard going to into work. Staying out til 3:30 am makes it hard to wake up in the morning. Oh well! we were all there with smiling faces at 9am!

I cannot believe today was my last day at work. I feel as if I was just walking to my first day. Today was spent tying up loose ends, finishing my rug sales (woohoo), making one last sales board (wouldn't be a last day without doing this), and having lunch with Cheryl, Carter, Andrew, and Audrey at 'witchcraft.

Around 4pm, Cheryl, Audrey, Carter and I left the offices to go to Mindi's apartment in Hoboken. She invited us over for a thank you/goodbye party. She has such a nice apartment. She actually had a backyard garden! GRASS!! FLOWERS!! BUGS!! Wooho!

It was nice to see each other outside of work. I am going to miss these ladies. They truly made my summer special. I wish I would have stayed longer, but I felt bad if Carter had to find the ferry by herself. I didn't have that hard of a time saying goodbye, because I am going to the offices on Thursday to give my mom and Aunt Jeannie a tour. This is when it will be hard and I will realize it is all ending.

After getting back into the city, I met with with Kathryn for a drink at Me Bar. It was nice to see her, I enjoy chatting with her about everything. She is such a great listener and always has great advice. I am going to miss her so much!

After leaving Kathryn, I met up with Andrew from work in the Union Square area. We sat around and reflected on our time at Martha. He was extended for another week, i think he is really bummed I'm not going to be sitting next to him. Boy he is going to be bored!

While we were reflecting, he told me how crazy he thinks i am. He didn't mean it in a negative way, he meant it as he couldn't believe i left everything, moved to NYC by myself and worked for MSLO. I guess I really never thought of it that way. I guess it was kind of random. I really don't think it has all hit me yet. I think i am going to have to remove myself from the situation to realize i what I all did this summer. I can see it now, I'm going to be laying in the pool and I will just be like oh my goodness, i just living in NYC for the summer, work for martha stewart, and did so many amazing things. I can't even remember what i've all done currently. It is going to take awhile.

I can't believe it is over. Only two more weeks...

-Sam

The BIG day!

2008-07-31T10:57:00.000-05:00

Today was the day most of the interns have been preparing for since the beginning of our internship. There was such a buzz around the office, interns...avps...svps..everyone was busily preparing for the presentations this morning.

I arrived at work around 8:30 to finish a few things on my powerpoint. Once everyone started to arrive, we began practicing in front of each other. Audrey helped Carter and I reword a few phrases and then sent us on our way.

I guess I really didn't realize it on the Outlook invitation, but the presentations were in the executive conference room. It may not seem like a big deal, but once i realized it...it was so exciting! The exec conference room is right next to Martha's and they are fishbowl style. It made the presenting to the CEO aspect so much more legitimate. :) Here are a few photos of Martha's offices. If you look in the background, there is the exec. conference room. The first link has a few photos of my building.

Martha's Blog - Starrett Leigh
NY Mag article - Martha Stewart's SL office

After we sat down, Robin Marino, co-ceo and president of merchandising, introduced herself gave a short speech about the company and the importance of what we are doing. She is a very busy lady, so we had a very strict schedule to tend to. She asked if anyone would like to start. Something I have learned through school is to always volunteer to go first. Since it was also one of Audrey's final words to us, I stood up and said I'll go! It was a combination of I do not know what I am thinking and complete confidence. I wanted to set the tone.

While preparing for my presentation, i wasn't nervous about presenting, i was nervous I was going to put people to sleep. So it was another thought if I went first it would actually seem interesting.

I'm not going to lie, I do not remember a lot of my speech, it was a whirlwind standing in front of 12 interns, the CEO, and all the interns SVPs and AVPs. I think I did a pretty good job based on reactions. I'm not sure if I mentioned it yesterday, but my presentation proposed pricing our home decorating products at a lower price to be truly competitive in the market. Once I was finished, Robin completely agreed with what I had to say and said thank you, it was very well expressed. This comment meant a lot to me because I have looked up to Mindi and Theresa, the SVP, and how they are so well spoken about everything. I was so pleased Robin thought somewhat the same of me.

Everyone did such a great job with their presentations. During lunch, Carter, Theresa, Mindi, and I were talking and they seemed so proud of Carter and I. I think that was what I truly wanted. I wanted to impress Mindi and Theresa. While everyone else matters, they were the really important ones. I wanted to prove to them I could do it. Once we got back to our desks, Theresa came up to us again and told us we rocked it. You have no idea how happy I was. Theresa and Mindi were super excited Carter and I were two of the first three to present. I didn't realize this at the time, but when Robin asked if anyone wanted to go first, they must have been looking at Carter and I to stand up. Boy, am I glad I did!

The rest of the day was filled with the excitement of our presentations and computing rug sales. wooho! I really couldn't believe what I just did. Who knew I would be presenting to the CEO of MSLO? Any presentation I do now will be a breeze. Can it get much harder than what I went through today? I prepared for pretty much anything now, at least i think so....

After work, Carter, Marissa, Chase and I went out to eat to celebrate. Per Carter's suggestion, we went to Mexican Radio in Nolita. We had soo much fun here. We were seriously there from 6:30-11:30. Who knew a dinner would turn into a 5 hour discussion about MS, our summer, and anything under the sun. Of course the margaritas and mojitos were flowing. And I tried telling everyone how much better margaritas are on the rocks versus frozen. I think Chase finally agreed, but no one else did. Thanks dad! =) Around 11, Sarah, another intern, arrived with her cousin and we moved to another bar called Firefly.

I wish more interns would have came out, but we had such a fun time. We were out til 3:30am or so. I am really going to miss these guys. I wish we would have done more things outside of work together. I feel as if I did something with one or two interns every week, but we never all went out together.

Today was such a whirlwind day for me. It is hard to believe it all happened in the same day. Even though I have tomorrow still, it was a great way to end it all.

-Sam

Tuesday and Wednesday

2008-07-30T22:44:00.002-05:00

hi everyone! i am sorry I haven't been updating too much lately. I have been consumed by work. I have gone in early, worked through lunch, stayed late, and worked from home all week. I seriously feel as if it is exam week or back in February when I was working on my John Foppe event.

The only exciting thing i have to report on is my Lunch and Learn today with Wenda Millard, co-ceo and president of media. She was amazing! She mentioned how Cathie Black, the president of hearst magazines, was her mentor. I enjoyed that story because after reading Cathie's book, Basic Black, I was so moved and inspired. Her book caused me start shaping my future by taking risky steps, like moving to new york, be proactive about my future, and being different.

I could definately tell Wenda had been mentored by Cathie, her stories and tidbits of advice have encouraged me to keep moving forward with my career and do what is truly best for me and what makes me happy.

I seriously could have listened to her all day. She has been so successful, driven, confident, everything, everyone hopes to be. Wenda has worked with companies such as Yahoo, double-click, adweek, so many, too many to even remember them all. After listening to her, I cannot understand why all of the "experts" are thinking MSLO is going to fail with co-ceos. With Robin and Wenda, it will only get better!

Carter is having lunch with her on Friday, I am so jealous. But good for her, she is so excited! I too will have high-profile meetings or lunches in the future. =)

Well, off to bed. Tomorrow i the big day. I am presenting to the other co-ceo, Robin Marino. I am worried my presentation is too boring, but oh well..i'll try to make the best out of it.

think of me from 11-2 tomorrow! =)

-Sam

early morning, late night

2008-07-28T22:53:00.002-05:00

This morning started off bright and early when I went to the office around 7:45am. I have so much work to do before this week is up. I cannot believe it is almost over!

I saw Martha today twice, it is so much fun! Sometimes we see her and she is really dressed up and professionally beautified. while she still looked great, she definately looked more normal today. I enjoyed seeing this side of her. She really is a normal person that has been uber-successful. Only if others thought that.

I stayed late at work tonight. I am preparing an analysis for my manager for a presentation to Martha on Wednesday. The analysis was so extensive, it seriously took me until 9:30 pm to complete it all. I haven't even started printing it yet....

Well, off to bed, i have to go in early again tomorrow. sigh.

-Sam

Take me to Shea Stadium

2008-07-27T22:45:00.000-05:00

Today is Andrew's birthday, so of course we had to go to a Cardinals vs. Mets game at Shea Stadium. It such was such an interesting adventure traveling from mid-town to queens. It was kind of a long train ride, but well worth it.

I bought the tickets sometime last week, so the decent cheap tickets were all sold out. Our seats weren't too bad though. They were actually conveniently placed since our seats were covered and it started raining.

Sadly, the Cardinals lost 9-1, but we had a good time. It is much different watching a game from the visitors point of view. People look at you crazy! The guide told me to "fly" to my seat since i was a cardinals fan.

After the game, Andrew and I went to a Thai resturant in Hell's Kitchen. I was able to make a dinner and a lunch out of it, so I am excited!

Eventually making it back to my apartment, I spent the evening working on my MSLO project and applying to a few internships in St. Louis for the fall.

-Sam

2008-07-25T17:42:00.000-05:00

Today I had a meeting with Gayle Lambert, the associate publisher of Everyday Food. I met her the day I met Sally, so I thought it would be appropriate to meet with her as well.

I missed the 10am shuttle, so had to take a cab to the 42nd office. I don't know what it is, but i got in another accident. I asked some people at work and they said it never happens, what is this??? It has been two times for me now. This time wasn't as bad as the last, but still.

Once i got there, we discussed entry into the ad sales industry, traveling, the industry in general, etc. She has a lot of valuable information and advice!

Yesterday all of the interns were invited to go to the Modern Museum of Art (MoMA). I didn't get to go because I had so much work to finish. I was really excited about going, but oh well.

Since there were a few other interns that we unable to go on Thursday, we decided to go during the free hours tonight. There was some confusion on the subway (not my doing =]) and didn't really know where we ended up. We saw a sign that said MoMA, so we walked in. The place we walked into was free and had some interesting and modern art. There was an exhibit outside, so we asked how to get there. The guide said, oh that is a part of the MoMA. All of a sudden it struck me that we were at the American Muesum of Folk Art.

This was probably the funniest moment in my NY experience. It was such silly mistake. We even talked about the tickets and the tambourine with the logos of the Folk Art Museum and it didn't even occur to us we were in the wrong muesum.

It only took us an hour to view the Folk Art Museum, so we walked to the MoMA and looked around until closing. We didn't get very far because it was huge, but it was entertaining.

After the MoMA, we grabbed dinner at El Azteca in Hell's Kitchen. We were seriously there for 3 hours because the service was that bad. Among a grocery list of bad service aspects, the worse one was after waiting probably 45 mins for food, our server came up and said they lost our order. I may have understood if the place was busy, but it was only half full. At least the margaritas were good..

After the restaurant we met up with more interns at Olivias for awhile and then moved to the St. Marks Area. There we went to a Korean bar and enjoyed Watermelon Yugo. It was a mixture of fresh watermelon and Korean vodka.

I really like the St. Marks area. It reminds me of University City, a bunch of randomness. =) Oh St. Louis...I'll be back soon!

-Sam

2008-07-24T22:48:00.003-05:00

I became very overwhelmed today at work. I met with Mindi to discuss my project and presentation. I have so much to do before next Thursday. It is going to entail early days and late nights. :(

The interns at work have been wanting to go gallery hopping since the beginning and it finally happened the second last week! Every Thursday new exhibits open and have open showrooms with complementary drinks. All of the galleries are in Chelsea and our office happens to be on the street many of them are located.

It was so much fun walking out of work and from gallery to gallery. I stayed late tonight at work, so when I left, I walked to meet up with other interns. Unfortunately there was a long line outside the White Box, but we could see inside. It looked so cool, they had prints of this naked lady and then real tattoo arists were painting them in front of everyone. It was so neat! We then walked to two other galleries, but they weren't as cool as the first.

After the galleries we walked about 30 blocks to Restuarnt Row in Hell's Kitchen. We ate a Uncle Nick's, a Greek restaurant. The food was decent, the Greek beer Aris was interesting, the service was terrible, but the company was amazing. We had so much fun sitting around, chatting about work, funny stories from home and college, and just enjoying each others company. I am definately going to miss these guys when i leave. It is all ending so fast!

-Sam

it's tea time!

2008-07-23T23:42:00.002-05:00

For our speaker today we had Gael Towey, the Chief Creative Officer at MSLO, speak to us about "Building the MS Brand." It was very interesting to look at the different photographs and realize how special this brand really is. I really enjoyed her presentation.

After work I went to a MediaBistro event with Marissa. This event was sponsored by Lipton PureLeaf Iced Teas. They had free apps and drinks from 6-8. We didn't make it there til 7:30, so we caught the tail-end of everything. We both tried the Basil infused mo-TEA-os. They were surprisingly good. i would have liked to try the other drinks, but we didn't get there in time. I think the marga-TEA-ta would have fun interesting! They had recipe books to give out, but I forgot to grab one. I'm sure they have the recipes online.

I really like attending events like these in the city. We didn't do much networking because we got there so late, maybe next time. This event was different than Monday's because at the ed2010 event it was all interns. At the MediaBistro event there were established professionals attending. I saw an editor for LexusNexus....semi-interesting

I tried to see if they ever had events in St. Louis, but I didn't see any listed. Oh the opportunities in NY that aren't as available other places. I'm sure there are some in STL, i'll just have to look harder.

-Sam

confused..

2008-07-22T21:49:00.004-05:00

I can't believe my internship is almost over. I feel as if I am working like a mad woman trying to get all of my projects done. I have so much to do!

After work I met up with Elizabeth Lewis at Bamboo 52 for drinks. I met Elizabeth a few weeks ago at a birthday party with Kathryn. I noticed on facebook she used to work at St. Louis Magazine, so i thought it would be nice to meet up and hear about her experiences there. I am interested in applying for a fall internship there, it's always great to have a connection!

Elizabeth is so energetic and fun, I am fortunate to have met her. I hope to see more of her in the future. =)

Instead of taking the subway home, I decided to walk since it was nice out. It was nice to look at all the buildings and lights, but i really thought about my future and what is going to happen. I just wish i knew....i can't believe is graduate so soon. I'm so excited, but so scared. I feel as if my life is about to go in 32 different directions...

-Sam

best day of my life part II

2008-07-21T20:31:00.002-05:00

A few weeks ago I blogged how I went to a meeting with Sally Preston, the publisher of Living and just had an amazing time. Well today, I actually met up with her for a one-on-one meeting. It was everything I could dream of. Sally is so inviting and said she would help me in any way possible. She even offered to be a reference for me! How cool is that!? I really wish I was already graduated...

We discussed so many topics, including traveling since I graduate in December, grad school, my opportunities, life in general, MSLO, pretty much anything. I seriously could not have asked for anything more.

I was really nervous going into the meeting, but after she gave me a huge hug, I knew I'd be OK. I had a list of questions prepared, but didn't really ask any of them, I was so absorbed in what she had to say, I didn't really see the need to. I feel comfortable enough e-mailing her at anytime, so I'll do that if anything comes up.

She was telling me how one of the other publishers from my "perfect" day said I was a great person with great opportunities but the real test would be if I sent a handwritten thank you note. It is funny to actually hear that is how people judge you. We hear it time after time in school, but really don't think it has an impact. Liz truly thought it was a deal breaker. I am so happy I wrote a thank you note, I feel as if it really helped them realize I am so serious about getting into this industry. THANK YOU MARYVILLE for drilling thank you notes into our heads!!

Tonight after work I went to an ed2010 happy hour at Red Skies Bar. ed2010 is an organization for aspiring magazine professionals, mostly interns are members. I think majority are on the editing side, but oh well. It is great to meet new people.

Before going, Sarah and I ate a brgr, per a recommendation from my mentor from the Regional Business Council in St. Louis. He has done business with them commercially, so it was fun to kind of see the end result of his job. The burgers were really good. I feel as if I haven't enjoyed a burger in a long time. They supposedly they were voted best shake in NYC, but we didn't try them since we were going to have drinks later in the evening.

Today was a day full of new contacts. I had a great opportunity with Sally and I met some great people at the happy hour. I love this networking thing! I have so many informationals to set up!

-Sam

2008-07-20T00:49:00.002-05:00

Tomorrow is a really big day for me because I am meeting with the Publisher of MS Living. It is going to be such a great experience. I keep thinking a how when I was in NY last year during this time, I had no clue I would be doing what I am doing today. Who knew I would be having an informational interview with the PUBLISHER of MS Living. I can't believe it!

Since it is such a big day, I definately needed a new outfit. So, I made the trek outside and stopped at a few stores. Surprisingly I found a few things at Old Navy. While my outfit is a little bit more professional than I'd like, it will definately look nice. Better to be over dressed than under.

Getting back to my apartment I started doing research on Sally and updated my resume. I completely revamped my resume last semester and I was in love with it. It was a functional resume focusing on my M-PACT scholarship. Now that I have a substantial position to put on my resume I decided it would be good to change my resume back to the chronological form. It took my awhile to do it, but i think I have it looking pretty good. I'm going to have Mindi look at it in the morning, but I think she'll like it.

I've thought of some pretty good questions to ask. I'm just not sure what to expect tomorrow. I really do not know much about the industry, so I hope I do not make too big of a fool of myself. I can't believe I actually have this opportunity! Soooo excited!

Well, I've put a lot of hours on my computer today, i'm going to bed. Have a great week!

-Sam

2008-07-19T00:37:00.000-05:00

Since I was out late last night, it took me awhile to get started today. Never in my life have slept in so much. It kind of irritates me.

Finally getting up, I met Marissa from MSLO in Central Park. We laid out on the Great Lawn. We were hoping to catch some sun, but it doesn't look like either of us got any. I'm not quite sure how that happened because it was so sunny and hot. New York had a heat wave this weekend, it was like 95+ degrees all weekend.

Earlier this week Marissa told me about a music festival on Coney Island. When she asked to lay out, I kind of expected to go back to my apartment. Instead, we went straight to Coney Island. I felt like a mess in my swimming suit and cover up. Oh well, you can wear anything in NYC.

While waiting for her roommate, we ate at Pax. It is probably an equivalent to St. Louis Bread Company or as some call it, Panera. Once her roommate arrived, we took the train all the way out to Coney Island to the Siren Music Festival. It was such a long ride out there. I wonder if people do it all the time.

The music festival started earlier in the day, we only went out there for the last concert around 8pm. It was fun to see the island since they are rebuilding it next year. We even rode the Cyclone. Marissa and I were in the second last car, so our car kept coming off the track.....scary! Once we were off the ride, Chase, another intern, met us at the exit. It is fun seeing people outside of the MSLO walls.

Marissa's roommates wanted us to see the boardwalk, so we walked along the beach on the boardwalk. The moon and island looked so nice. Within the craziness it isn't very inviting, but from the boardwalk it looked peaceful and fun. I've also thought Coney Island was a family place, but after my visit, I'm not sure it is.

I really enjoy hanging out with Marissa. She is so motivated and passionate about getting into the magazine industry. She has definately been an inspiration to me throughout this internship. She is an amazing networker, she is definately pushed me to go out and make any connection possible.

-sam

2008-07-18T00:36:00.000-05:00

We had a big meeting at work today, so I had to be in the office by 8am. While we didn't get to attend the meeting, Audrey, Carter and I helped out with the preparation, set-up, and take-down.
It would have been great to see everything in action, but oh well. It was a really small room.

Since it was a big meeting, they catered breakfast and lunch from All About Food. They have so much good food. It seems as if no one really has ever eaten at the actual establishment, but only the catering. I'm not even sure where it is.

Since we were in the office early today, Mindi let us all leave early. After work I went to get a pedicure. Man did i need it! The city is destroying my feet. I think the lady was actually disgusted. I'm not really sure of the spas name, but I pass it every day going home for work.

Tonight I went out with some MSLO interns. We went to Barna with some of Sarah's friends. I liked these guys, they bought us bottle service! I enjoyed Barna, it was a bar with a club flair. It wasn't overly crowded and played decent music. It was great dancing with all of the girls. We even danced with one of the Beck's beer family members and his friends. Oh the random things that happen in NYC..

-Sam

a fun, random night

2008-07-18T00:08:00.002-05:00

Work today was spent setting up for a big meeting tomorrow and working on my final projects. I have been enjoying my projects, but it gets confusing every now and then. I feel as if I have to contact so many people to get one thing done. I feel as if I am so unproductive. There are so many moving parts to my project. I have started to receive e-mails back, but I have so much to do before my time ends at MSLO.

After work I went out to eat with AJ and Chase from MSLO. We went to Spice, a thai restaurant in Chelsea. It was so good. I ate the chicken pad Thai and enjoyed a delicious lychee mojito. They were both so good. The mojito was a little bit different with the lychee, but it was nice to try.

After Spice, we randomly saw Joyce, another intern, walking down 8th avenue. She decided to join us on our post-MSLO excursion. After a bit of walking and confusing bars with weird happy hour times posted, we made it to Heartland Brewery where Chase, Joyce, and I split a six beer sample platter. We rated all of them and then did a blind taste testing. It was a lot of fun to hang out with these guys out of the office. We eat lunch every day together in the cafeteria, it was nice and different to see each outside the great walls of MSLO.

Leaving the Heartland Brewery in Union Square, Chase and I wanted to stay out a little bit longer. Instead of spending an outrageous amount of money at a bar, we decided to go to Trader Joes and buy a bottle or two of wine and sit in Union Square Park.

Sadly, Trader Joes was out of two-buck chuck chardonnay. We had to settle for a $4 bottle of wine. It was still really nice, so the night was enjoyable. It was a lot of fun sitting in Union Square Park. First of all it is my favorite neighboorhood in the city and secondly it was great to people watch. There were so many random people in the park, they were so amusing. Chase and I had a great time people watching and analysing all of their body language and turning it into our own mini stories.

Like the outdoor movie, sitting in the park is one of my favorite things to do in NYC. Chase and I were sitting in the serene park, but still knew we were in the city for we could feel the subways beneath us.

Chase is from Brooklyn, it was so interesting listening to how he grew up in the city. It is remarkable how different "city kids" lives are from small-town kids. While I think it would have been very interesting growing up in the city, I am grateful for where I came from. Clinton County diffently puts life into a different, but amazing perspective that not many people experience throughout life.

-Sam

2008-07-16T22:59:00.001-05:00

Since it is Wednesday, we had weekly Lunch and Learn session. Today Christina the Associate Publisher and Graham the VP of Marketing Solutions spoke to us. They were a humorous duo. They had a wealth of knowledge to share with us. One of Martha's mantras in life is to learn something new everyday and then pass it on to someone else. This mantra was something they incorporated into their discussion. They mentioned taking this mantra and spreading it out to business people, interviewers, etc. It will make you stand out. I completely agree with this statement. I need to differentiate myself as much as possible, knowing something big or small that the other person doesn't will definitely help me out in the long run.

Christina does a lot with ad sales, so I really enjoyed her stories and excitement towards the industry. She has been with Living since the beginning. Every time I hear someone speak about this department I am in awe. I don't think I would want to do it forever, just a few years. I think there is a lot of turnover because it is such a hectic job.

Before hoping on the shuttle we had our pictures taken for the blog. I just can't wait for the post!!!

In the shuttle on the way back to my building I kind of dazed out. I wasn't really paying attention to my surroundings and was just listening to the music in the shuttle. There are a few songs that remind me of home when I hear them. I believe the song playing today was Sweet Home Alabama and I was just picturing driving around Clinton County, being at a party with friends or family, or something random activities that happens at home. It was kind of nice to escape and just think about home and all my of friends and family that I really miss. Then, I came back to reality when a fire truck's sirens started blaring and taxi horns and tires were squealing. I was back in New York. Gotta love it. At least it was nice for a few minutes..

At the last minute at work today some other interns and I decided to go to the River Flick held on Wednesday nights. This week they showed Almost Famous. It was such a nice night out, so it was perfect with the movie and then New Jersey and the Hudson River in the background.

I am so glad we decided to do something. I have been going crazy staying in every night this week. I have less than a month left and have so much to do still. Sitting in my apartment is not acceptable.

Going to events like the Hudson River Flick are what makes me love New York so much. There are so many random events every night that thousands of people attend. I wish STL was more like this. At the movie there were so many people that acted as if they did this every Wednesday. They had a big group, take out sushi, pizza, wine, or whatever they could find. How much fun is that!? I will definitely miss the free entertainment of New York come August 13th.

=)

-Sam

2008-07-15T08:19:00.000-05:00

I'm sorry--I just realized I went to bed last night without blogging.

Today at MS I worked on my project and then showed parts of it to the SVP of Licensing. She said I did too much and only needed part of it. She did say if the project goes through then they will need my research. So that was uplifting.

After work I did some light shopping. I feel as if I have been relatively good considering the location of my apartment. I stopped by Gap and found a really cute dress. Unfortunately it is black like everything else in my closet, but I love it. I'll lighten it up with some accessories.

I then went to my apartment for dinner and then to Macy's. It is so frustrating going there. They have so much cute clothes and it is all out of my price range. I did find some really cute Jessica Simpson shoes though. They were on the sale rack for $50, originally $70. I went up to the register and they were $24! Wooho! Probably the highlight of my day...sad, I know.

I know I said I would try to have an interesting post today and this isn't really that much of one, but I tried. I wish I was doing more at night, but it comes back to me being exhausted from work and not knowing too many people here. Hopefully I'll find something fun to do tonight.

Happy Wednesday!

-Sam

a normal day

2008-07-14T00:00:00.000-05:00

To be honest, I think I experienced what a true New Yorker would call a normal day today. I woke up, went to work, worked through lunch, stayed late, walked home, worked on my project, and went to bed. It was great!

You may think I worked a lot today, and I did, but I am in love with my new project. I couldn't stop working on it. The information is going to be presented on Monday, so I want to do really well and knock their socks off.

I'm sorry I do not have much to post....they can't all be crazy days and/or nights. While I enjoyed working today, I hope something exciting happens tomorrow. Andrew asked me to do something with the All-Star games, a parade maybe? Tomorrow will be a better post, I promise.

-Sam

life in new york is just a day in the park.

2008-07-12T23:51:00.000-05:00

Today I went to Central Park since it was such a beautiful day. While it was very crowded, I found a quiet corner that was perfect for laying around and listening to my iPod.

After the park I decided to go grocery shopping. I have been buying lunch at work way too much lately. Grocery shopping was definately something I needed to do. Once I arrived to Union Square, I decided I did not want to go shopping right away. I decided to call AJ, another MSLO intern, since he lives in the area. We grabbed coffee at a local shop, discussed the greatness of our internships, and then he showed me around the Union Square area. Before the tour I loved the area, now I'm obsessed with it.

I had a great time with AJ, he has been so much fun to work with. We sit by each other everyday at work, it was so nice to see each other outside of the office. He mention he was confused because I was wearing nike shorts and a tank top and not heels and nice clothes. He never says anything, but I know he judges my outfits everyday I walk into the office. He is really really really into fashion. I asked him what he did all day and he said he watched all the Milan fashion shows online. Oh brother.

After our coffee, I went to Trader Joes and bought so much good stuff. I think I'm good until I leave. I really enjoy going out to eat, but sometimes it is nice to make my own food. I made lunch for tomorrow, I am so excited. Flax seed fusilli, sun-dried tomato chicken sausage, and pomodoro sauce. YUMMMMY!

Have a fabulous week!

-Sam

2008-07-12T22:50:00.001-05:00

Since I didn't make it to a stationery store last night, I went to Kate's Paperiere today in the Upper East Side. They had a lot of fun things there, I just don't get how it can be so expensive. It's paper! Anyways, I bought some really cute note cards that a sales lady helped me pick out.

After the paper store, I walked to The Metropolitan Museum of Art. I haven't been to any museums yet, so I decided it would be a great day to go. My ultimate goal was to walk wander around to most of the exhibits, but met some random people in the Modern Art section and walked around with them for awhile. We actually started talking because I had my keffiyah on and he commented.

I really enjoyed the Grecian Art and Modern Art sections. I think I like the Grecian art because I've been really into Greece lately. Alexis studied abroad in Greece a few semesters ago and it sounds amazing! The photos within the exhibit were phenomenal!

I also liked the Modern Art exhibit. With modern art there isn't much need for interpretation. For the most part, what you see is what the artist intended. With most art throughout the museum there are 25 different ways it can be interpreted many of which the artist did not intend.

After watching Factory Girl last semester, I've really enjoyed Andy Warhol's work. It was awesome to see some of his original pieces at The Met. Supposedly there is a Andy Warhol museum in Pittsburgh, hopefully I'll make it there sometime.

The rooftop exhibit was absolutely amazing! The view of New York and Central Park was the best ever. I hope to go back sometime during the night.

I was told a few days ago that it was $20 required admission to the museum. At the ticket stand I found out it is suggested. The suggested admission for students is $10, but you can pay whatever. So that is my tip to any museum or exhibit goers, make sure you look out for suggested prices. You have to pay something but not the full amount. I paid five dollars today.

After The Met I went back to my apartment and took a nap. The Met took it out of me. It was so big! Mom sent me some flops and while they are really cute, they are so flat and hard. Not good for walking..

Tonight I met up with Andrew and Kathryn at Lunasa Bar for Kathryn's roommates birthday. It was a lot of fun there. There were so many people within the publishing/advertising industry there. It was great to talk to people that are just starting out in their career. Most of the people at the party were from WashU, so most of them have heard of Maryville. Woohoo!

After Lunasa, we went to this amazing fafel stand called Mamoun's Falafel. They had the best hummus I've ever had and it was only $1.50. Andrew had the falafel sandwhich.....it was good, but not as good as my hummus! This place has actually won best cheap eats in NYC since 2005.

I had a really good day, I think my favorite part was receiving my networking cards. They look soooo good! I'm super excited to hand them out!

-Sam

2008-07-11T22:15:00.003-05:00

Each year MSLO submits furniture pieces to the Pinnacle Awards. Mindi asked me to take over the submission process this year. It has been interesting to see how projects flow through the channel at MS. A few weeks ago we met with the designers to dicuss which pieces they liked, then we had to set up a meeting with Kevin, now we have to go back to the designers, and then sometime I will be able to start the submission process.

Today was the meeting with Kevin, it was very interesting learning experience. I prepared a lot of photos, informational supplements, etc. we got there and it was a whirlwind experience. I think I kind of froze and Mindi took over. I don't think she took over because of my brief moment of overwhelment, but because she really knows what she is talking about and didn't want me to dilly dally around the point with some really important people present.

Since Cheryl, the assistant of the row, left for vacation today, Carter and I are filling in. Carter worked this morning and I did the afternoon. Before Cheryl left she made sure we knew how to handle the phone if Robin called, one of the new co-CEOs. She said to answer it on the first line. Unfortunately I am a dimbat and cannot work a phone properly. Let me say this first, she did not call from her office, she called from her cell phone and it did not pick up her number. Therefore I did not know it was her and it was urgent. After I a lot of confusion because I did not know where Tod was or the second person she asked for, I eventually was able to get someone else for her. Sadly I did not know how to transfer someone correctly and made Robin wait for a really long time.....a major no-no. Ugh. Cheryl is amazing at what she does, she needs to come back. I need to stick to my excel worksheets.

I think I mentioned before that Carter and I are both doing competitive research. Today Carter had to "present" her project to all of the designers and Kevin. I say "present" because none of her 200+ page binder was shown, nor did she say anything. Theresa the SVP of our group spoke throughout the whole meeting. She such a well spoken person. She can explain things in a way I can only dream of. Kevin was also there. I just love the meeting processes with all the higher up people. It amazes me. I truly enjoyed the content of the meeting as well. I cannot wait to see how it all happens. I wish I could be here to see it all.

Mindi gave me a really interesting project to start working on. It will be a lot of work, but I'm super excited.

Since I live so close to Macy's, Mindi sometimes asks me to go to the store and look around at our displays. Today I had to go look at frame photography and see if it was all up. Unfortunately it was not, but at least I'll have something interesting to report to Mindi other than "yes, it was all there."

While at Macy's I witnessed a robbery. I was walking out the door and all of a sudden the alarms started going off and a guy ran out the door beside me. Three huge men dressed like gangasters ran out and tackled him on the streets. Talk about getting your heart moving. It all happened so fast. These security guards were quick! The funny thing about it all is that the security guards looks just as rough as the thief. They all had dread locks, baggy pants, hats, tattoos etc. I was so confused when they were chasing him down, i thought they were his accomplices. Surprisingly they were security guards with walkie talkies, ear pieces, and all. Macy's is so smart.

I received texts today from my roommates that they were all going to be out of town this weekend. It also seemed as if all my other contacts in NY had previous plans as well. My night was going to virginally be going to Papyrus to get a thank you note for Martha and Sally and then back to my apartment to work on my intriguing new project.

Papyrus is located in the Times Square area, as I was walking down Broadway I decided to take Dr. Kilgore's advice he gave me earlier in the summer. I asked him for suggestions of things to do in NY, he said "never stay in if you have money to go to a show." While I may not have the money to go to a show, I couldn't fathom the idea of staying in on a Friday night. So I bought a half price ticket to Spring Awakening. AJ from MSLO suggested it to me for when James was here but we never made it. At first I was kind of bummed out about going by myself, but really it was nice. I actually had the whole row to myself, so i moved to a better seat.

The show was amazing, I would highly recommend it. It was quite provocative, but in a tasteful way. I think it is considered a musical, but I would almost think it is a hybrid. There were a lot of songs, but also a lot of acting. The show didn't even end in a song. Spring Awakening won a Tony for Best Musical in 2007, I completely understand why...it is so different than anything else on Broadway. After tonight, I think I'm going to start going to more shows with or without people. It is such a great experience.

After the show I did one of my favorite things, walk down Broadway at night. While there were a lot of people around, it seems so peaceful with the lights. You just have to block them all out. On the other hand, I also enjoy watching others reactions to the city.

and it keeps getting better!

2008-07-10T22:50:00.000-05:00

Today was the day I've been waiting months for....the intern meeting with Martha! It was the most amazing day ever. Around 2pm today she met with us in the executive conference room for a presentation. She spoke about how her life, the company and how it has evolved over the years. I was so inspired today. She has such an amazing story. I love working for this company. She was so funny. There were so many little comments or bloopers that were hilarious and it was because she made fun of herself. Martha was so pretty and spoke so well, it was like watching the tv show, minus the cooking.

After her presentation there was a question and answer session. Of course I had been thinking of a question for days, so I asked one. I asked "What do you think the world would be like today without the Martha Stewart empire?" While she was answering she looked directly at me the whole time, it was just amazing.

As a part if a part of her presentation, she requested cookies and iced tea. All of the cookies were from the new Cookies cookbook. She even said she helped the in-house chef make them yesterday. I enjoyed a raspberry cookie sandwhich. She told the intern next to me that the raspberries were from her personal garden. They were so yummy! Everything at MS is yummy. I feel horrible about eating all these sweets all the time, but i keep thinking the MS test kitchens are going to go away in August. Why would I want to pass up amazing MS worthy food??

As some of you may know, MS has a blog she writes everyday. She actually takes all the photos on it. Sally said it is funny how she goes to meetings or on vacations and just asks people to take photos of her with her personal camera. As soon as she walked in, she said smile, you are going to be on my blog! We had our photo taken with her and will be featured soon. I'll post the link when it is up.

There was a rooftop honey party tonight. Another reason the day was the best ever. I am a complete honey freak. Jolyn, Andrea, and Kelly make fun of me all the time at MU. We enjoyed honey drinks and appetizers on the MS roof. The weather was absolutely beautiful. You could see so far. Usually it is so hazy, but tonight it was crystal clear. I love this building.

After the party I went to dinner with Landis, the head lighting designer, Audrey and Cheryl whom i work with everyday, and Susie from styling. We went to Cola an Italian restaurant in Chelsea. It was nice to interact outside of work with full-time MS employees. Everyone at MS is so nice and inviting. We had a really nice time, well at least i did. After dinner, Landis treated us all to Pinkberry. Per his suggestion, i tried the green tea flavor. Alexis said it was really bad when she had it, but i enjoyed it.

I can't believe the day I had, it was truly perfect. I love this company so much! I am so inspired to work hard and come back. Cheryl, the assistant in my row, is going on vacation tomorrow. She trained Carter and I how to manage the phones and assist Theresa and Tod for the next week. I think this is going to be a great experience. This whole summer I have felt like a real employee, I keep forgetting I still have to graduate. I feel as if I'm already done even though i still have 20 credits to take next semester and a lot to learn. I just can't wait to be done! I'm ready to learn more in the real world!

I'm just too excited tonight to go to bed! I have another big day tomorrow and just can't wait. Im going to a meeting with Kevin, martha's left hand, in the morning to present one of the project i'm working on...woohoo!

-Sam

4th of July weekend with James

2008-07-09T23:11:00.001-05:00

living for today, excited about tomorrow

2008-07-09T22:38:00.003-05:00

Today was the weekly Lunch and Learn session, this week it was a bit different because it was at the Starrett location and not downtown. Wooho for not leaving 2 hours early to catch the shuttle! Today's speaker was the AVP of Internet. He was so interesting. His career has been filled with so many exciting experiences. He actually created shows and tv stations such as the Rugrats, PowderPuff girls, TV land, WE, and so much more. I really enjoy listening to the top executives talk about the experiences. So many started as interns, it is very uplifting!

You may remember me saying something about the haircut promotion I bought in Union Square. If not, i was convinced to buy this haircut worth $300 for 40 bucks. I "lucked" out and received two instead of one. It all seemed like a sketchy idea, but oh well, he was a great salesperson.

That being said, I went to Alfangi on 5th ave tonight for my haircut. I was very nervous about the session because all of the reviews were horrible online. Fortunately I had a great experience and received a really nice haircut. My stylist, Raphel was amazing. Not only because of the haircut, but because of the conversation. He made me realize so much about my life. (He is studying theology) Life truly is about having fun, living life, and enjoying everything around you. I sometimes get too caught up in the material things and miss what is truly important in life. I'm so happy I met Raphel today!

My promotion package also includes a spa day, I can't wait to go back!

Tonight was a pretty low-key night. I am trying to figure out my future, so that takes awhile and a lot of tedious work. I met with Jamie from Recruiting today after the meeting. She was great, so inviting and positive. Since I am graduating in December, we chatted about the different options I have and some of the techniques i can use to be successful.

While I am all about living today and in the moment, I can't help thinking about my future. I am so excited to see where I end up!

Joanna has been sick this week, she actually missed 1 1/2 days of work! =( Last night she got really sick around 4 am. Hopefully that will not happen tonight since we all need to be "perfect" tomorrow for the Martha meeting.

-Sam

The amazing view of the Macy's Fireworks from Brooklyn

2008-07-09T09:25:00.003-05:00

Only in New York?

2008-07-08T23:28:00.004-05:00

It was really hard getting up this morning. This weekend wiped me out. I was exhausted all day. Eventually getting up, I showered and got ready for the day really fast.

Nothing too exciting happened at work today. I did catch a glimpse of Martha, so that was exciting.

After work I met up with my friend Kathryn. Her gym is in my building, so after her workout she came up. We sat here and chatted for awhile and then went out for sushi at Cannan. It was so good. I'm not sure how much sushi usually costs, but it seemed really cheap. She says they deliver, so I will have to try it out in the future. My favorite roll was the sweet potato tempura. YUM-O!

While in Little Italy with James this past weekend I bought a new scarf. I've seen numerous people where this checked pattern around the city and fell in love with it. I saw one a black and white one in Little Italy, so i bought it. I love it so much i've actually worn it numerous times in the past few days. I decided to wear it to work today because i thought it looked great with my black dress from Banana Republic.

Half way through the day, Cheryl told me about this Rachel Ray/Dunken Doughnuts commercial that was canceled because she wore a scarf like mine. Supposedly it was controversial because it looks like a kaffiyeh and it is what murderous Arabs wear. Oh brother, I just liked the pattern! I did some research and decided to keep wearing it. I'm not even sure if mine looks like one because it doesn't look like rachels. I think these people are crazy. Let me know what you think. I think it is a cute scarf and after speaking to numerous people about it, i do not think it is a big deal. I was just trying to be trendy and fashionable! Only would these conclusions be made in New York/America....

-Sam

P.S. more pictures to come, i just wanted to upload this one quickly for a "kaffiyeh" reference.

James and Sam's weekend in NYC

2008-07-07T21:10:00.002-05:00

July 2 - Wednesday

James arrived late tonight. While waiting for him I went out with my roommates to B Bar for a drink. We met up with one of Joanna's friend's friends. (If that made sense) I really liked this bar. It is located in the East Village. It had such a great atmosphere. There were lights hanging in trees everywhere. Yes, trees!

Once James arrived, we met up in Bryant Park. I originally planned to take him to a rooftop bar, but once we got there it was closed. =( Instead we walked around Times Square and back to my apartment. I think his initial reaction was that the city was really dirty. I had to explain the trash was out because it was 1am and during the day it is much nicer!

After the trek back to my apartment, we stopped by one of the food vendor stands and bought kababs. I think it is a sketchy cooking business, but they are sooo good!

July 3 - Thursday

Today was a short day at MSLO. Since it is a day before the holiday, we were let out at 2pm. Mindi, my manager, recommended James come by for a tour. He arrived around 1 and I took him around showing him all the highlights of the Martha Stewart offices. I'm not sure if he appreciated it much since he isn't a true fan. He didn't seem to excited when I showed him Martha's private bathroom or office. Do you know how many crazy people would pay to see it?!

After the tour we walked back to my apartment because James needed to change shoes. I told him to wear comfy shoes, but of course he didn't listen! He had blisters from walking to my office. He was in so much pain! He even went to Old Navy and bought two new pairs since they were 2 pairs for 5 dollars...thank goodness I live in the shopping district of the world!

We didn't do much in the afternoon, but had an exciting evening. Before meeting up with George and Robin for dinner, we went for a drink in Hell's Kitchen at VYNL. It was an interesting bar with great decorations, clientèle, and drinks. Pretty cheap too!

We enjoyed dinner at Plataforma Churrascaria with George and Robin. Plataforma is a Brazilian restaurant where they bring tons of meat to your table on a very long skewer and slice it table side. It was so good. James loves Brazilian restaurants since it is a carnivores dream!

After dinner we had a few drinks at The Mean Fiddler. It was definately a "college" bar because it had beer pong tables in it. We enjoyed the bar because it was showing the Cards/Mets game on TV.

Leaving the Midtown area and parting our ways with George and Robin, we traveled downtown to meet up with Andrew at a beer garden. We sat there for a beer and then went to B Bar. The beer garden was really nice, I just think Andrew was tired of being there for so long. Luckily, B Bar was near so we went there for awhile. I love this place. It has such a great vibe!

I think James had a better view of the city after today. He just doesn't appreciate all of the meanness.

July 4 - Friday

Before James arrived, I told him he was allowed minimal tourist activities if he wanted to experience New York. Harsh, I know, but I wanted to do the fun things I've found and knew he would enjoy. One of the touristy attractions he chose was the WTC and Financial District. I don't really think I consider this a touristy thing to do because it is interesting to see it all, but it is close. We could actually see in the hole thanks to Andrew's directions. When then walked to St. Paul's Chapel. This chapel once served as Ground Zero central. I went with my parents last summer and enjoyed it. There is so much to see there. They definately give you a minimal glimpse of what happened in the chapel during the harsh time.

After the Financial District, we walked around Battery Park and enjoyed the scenery. It has been so hazy here lately, so it was kind of hard to see the Statue of Liberty.

We planned to go to Brooklyn to watch the fireworks with Andrew, Jeff, and Nicole. Instead of taking the subway, we decided to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. I love doing this. It is so nice and there is a great view of the city. I think the view is better going to Brooklyn to Manhattan, but it wouldn't have made sense for us to do that.

Arriving in Brooklyn we were really hungry, we wanted to go to Grimaldi's, but the line was down the street. Instead we found a random restaurant called Water Street. This was a great find! My Jambalaya was perfect. The atmosphere was not pretentious, just what James loves.

After dinner we went next door to Jacques Torres, a chocolate shop and got a frozen hot chocolate and chocolate chip cookie. The drink was extremely chocolatey, even James thought so and he loooooves chocolate! The cookie was phenomenal. I definately prefer Serendipity's frozen hot chocolate.

Eventually meeting up with Andrew, Jeff, and Nicole we staked out our viewing spot. It was hard to reserve a space without a blanket, but we managed. According to my 1001 book, the Brooklyn Heights Promenade is the place to see two fireworks shows. The book was right again. The show and view were both spectacular! As always, I am mesmerized by city lights, so this was the perfect place to be.

If you ever go to Brooklyn to watch the Macy's Fireworks, I would recommend arriving around 6:30-7pm with a blanket, picnic, drinks, and games for the 9:20 show.

The subway was so hectic getting back to Manhattan. We really didn't know what we wanted to do, so it was hard to plan our route. Even though everyone else went back to the apartments I wanted to show James some more of the city. He really does not like my area since it is so hectic, so I wanted to show him some finer parts. Not knowing really where I was going, it was hard to pinpoint an exact bar. My book had a few recommendations, but we got lost. We ended up at Big Daddy's Diner. This was such a fun place. It was a retro modern version of PJ's or Cruisers. James was obsessed with the bacon while I was focused on my Mac and Cheese. We had a lot of fun just talking and playing Trivial Pursuit.

Marissa, from MSLO, and her boyfriend wanted us to meet up with them. We couldn't get a hold of each other until we were back at my apartment. Wanting to meet up with them, we decided to leave and go downtown. This was probably a bad idea and our travel arrangements proved it. We decided to take a taxi since it was already late. (Subways take forever at night) We got in and I told the cabbie the address. He had a hard time understanding me because we had to repeat 93 Pearl St numerous times. Some of the cabs have GPS systems, apparently this guy thought it was necessary to type it in even though he seemed to understand us after awhile. James must have known it was going to be bad when he couldn't even find New York City because he looked worried. We weren't even 50 feet away from my apartment when I looked up and saw us plow into the back of a minivan. Luckily I saw it last nanosecond and could brace myself, but James hit his head on the plastic divider. In a way I felt bad for the driver, but he shouldn't have been calibrating the system. The lady in the van was not happy, especially since she had three kids with her. We provided all of our information to her, but didn't know what else to do so we left in another cab. Don't worry, we took down all of his information!

Getting half way there, my friend called us and told us to turn around because her boyfriend was tired. while it would have been fun, James and I were also relieved because we were so tired and rattled!

July 5 - Saturday

After our exhausting fourth of July, it took us awhile to get started this morning. Eventually we made it the Chinatown/Little Italy area for lunch. We started walking through Chinatown because I wanted to show James all the crazy purse people. I think he was overwhelmed once again.... I tried getting him into a room, but they kicked him out since it was too crowded. Boo!

We finally made it to Little Italy and ate at a local pizza place. I definately think this place was run by the mob. The owner was so intimidating - at least the pizza was good!

walking down the street, we browsed the stores and stopped for some gelato. After going to Europe together in high school, we both have an extreme passion for the tasty treat!

After our culinary excursion, we went to Central Park. At first we were lost (because of James, not me!) but found our way. Our first stop was the historical Tavern on the Green. It was so pretty and ornately decorated. We only had a drink since our intern budgets can't really afford places like that. My 1001 book did mention you dont go there for the food, so I guess didn't matter. I will definately take pizza over finger sandwiches any day!

Unfortunately James brought the Seattle weather with him to NY, so it wasn't the most ideal walking conditions. Don't worry though, we made do. James said the rain was nothing, so I could use the umbrella all by myself! =) I guess he is a true Seattler now after two summers! ;)

After Tavern on the Green, we continued our walk (with minimal confusion) to the fountains, pond, and Strawberry Fields. Even though I'm not an avid Beattle's fan, I enjoy Strawberry Fields the most in Central Park. I'm not sure what it is, but it is so relaxing. Imagine that!

We got back to my apartment at a weird time, so we decided to order Chinese take-out. Supposedly this is the thing to do in NY, but I hadn't experienced it yet. So it was a new experience for both of us! Mindi told me about a delivery website called seamlessweb.com so we decided to try it. You just type in your address and they tell you all of the places that delivery to your apartment for free. It was so fast and easy. They quoted us 30-40 minutes, but it seriously took 15. It was amazing! Although it didn't compare to Chinese Noodle in St. Louis, it was extremely tasty. James is very loyal to Peggy and her special cooking for the Leland tenants.

We met up with George and Robin for dessert. My 1001 book suggested Chickalicious, a dessert bar in East Village. Upon our arrival there was a line outside the door so we knew it was going to be tasty! There was very limited seating, I'd say about 20 people could eat at a time. Once we were seated we enjoyed a 3 course Prixe Fix dessert meal. The menu changes every night, I can't wait to go back again. The dessert was very light, so it was not overwhelming. The wine pairings were enjoyable as well. If you go, be certain to sit at the bar and watch Chicka herself prepare your meal!

While at the dessert bar, we saw Hung Huynh, last season's winner of Top Chef. I wonder what it is like to prepare food for a "celebrity" chef.

After dessert, we headed to Pipa, my favorite NYC bar. This is the place with all of the NBC Home Chandeliers. Before I had the sangria. This time i tried one of the specialty martini's. I can't remember what it was called, but it had a raspberries in it. YUMMMM!

James and I tried to go the night before, but they closed as soon as we walked up. If you go, make sure to go earlier since they do not have that late of hours. They also serve spanish/mexican tapas, but I haven't tried them. I usually go to close to the closing time.

This Pipa experience was a little bit different for me this time. I am currently doing lighting compartitive analysis as MS, so I found myself mentally comparing the ABC lighting to MS. :\

After Pipa, James and I had a drink at Coffee House in Union Square. Some other interns said they were there, so we went looking for them. James is trying to find his new mixed drink, so he was trying out new possibilities. He wants a non-beer drink he can order and still enjoy. Feel free to make comments. We know gin and tonic is a no-go.

Making our way back to my apartment, we stopped by Me Bar. I wanted him to experience a rooftop bar. Although it isn't the best, it is still fun. I just wish it the Empire State Building lights were still on, it would have been a better view.

July 6 - Sunday

Today Bobby and Amy had a BBQ in Staten Island. James and I took about four different subways to the Staten Island Ferry. On the weekends the MTA enjoys shutting down lines and we didn't realize it until it was too late.

We eventually made it to the ferry and had a great ride with George and Robin. I think the ferry is the best way to see the Statue of Liberty. It is free and gets really close!

While at the Gay's we enjoyed an amazing home cooked meal. Something I know James and I haven't experienced in a month or so. Bobby also taught me how to play poker. Out of six people I came in fourth place, not bad!

Getting back to Manhattan we picked up my apartment since my roommates were coming back and then grabbed dinner at O'Reily's. I ordered fish and chips, but they were really soggy, so not the best I've ever had. It is sad when Fitz's has better fish and chips than an authentic Irish pub...

Not really having any plans, I decided to take James to the Top of the Rock as our final excursion. Top of the Rock is the observatory deck in Rockafeller Center. It was the first thing my family did last summer when we arrived in NY. It was definately when I fell in love with the city and knew I had to come back. I wish I would have taken James here earlier, but oh well.

Once again the view was hazy and muggy, but we still enjoyed it. We arrived about two hours before closing. After the interesting tour and journey up the building, we just sat on one of the benches and enjoyed the view. A perfect way to spend our last night in the big apple together.

July 7 - Monday

Today is a sad day in 22C1, it is James's last day. Since I had to work, we got up early and went to breakfast with George and Robin. I let James pick out the eatery. Somehow he found the Tick Tock Diner on 34th. It was, well-diner food. Not bad, but not the best. I had oatmeal pancakes. I think that is where I went wrong. Even though the food was mediocre, I enjoyed the company.

It was sad saying goodbye, but I know it is something we both have to do. It is amazing how we both have such great opportunities. We would have been crazy to pass them up! I'm so glad he was able to come here and experience the big city with me. I know I wasn't the best tour guide, but I think we still had fun. A long-weekend just isn't enough time!

After parting, James went to Staten Island with his parents. Amy was so kind to take them to the airport. Their flights didn't leave until later in the afternoon, so they enjoyed the morning in S.I.

I feel bad James had to travel so far. It is such a long flight. He left around 2 pm or so and just got in a few minutes ago. I think I was worth it! =) =) =) I just wish I had time to go to Seattle. I'm not fortunate to have vacation time like he did.

I didn't do much after work. I stopped by Border's to look at a quotations book. I am trying to find an appropriate quote for my networking/business card. I want it to give the receiver an impression of who i am personally and professionally. Let me know if you have any suggestions. None of my finds have made it past my roommates' approval.

Well, off to bed. This post took me about two hours to write. I'm sorry it was so delayed. It was just hard to find time to write it every night once we got back....we were exhausted after all of our adventures. Thanks for understanding! I tried getting James to make a few comments, but it didn't seem as if it would be making it towards the top of his to-do list any time soon. I'll keep trying, keep an eye out!

Have a great week!

-Sam

2008-07-01T23:09:00.004-05:00

This morning I went to the SIRIUS radio station in Mid-town. Because we were MS interns, we were able to have a special tour. It was interesting to see all of the different booths ranging from Howard Stern to Martha Stewart.

Andrew and I were the last ones to arrive. Last time I let him guide us anywhere! We were late because he wasn't sure where to go...or didn't write the address down correctly. It was so embarrassing! It is comforting to know a true NY resident can get lost every now and then as well.

I had some of the best food today. Emeril was hosting an event in our building, so obviously there was food and of course there was leftovers! They were sooooooooooo good! Best shrimp ever! Much better than the shrimp I made myself last night that were way overcooked!

Today was a pretty exciting day for me. I saw Martha and a product photo shoot. Martha was reviewing new designs on the other side of my cube. I could hear everything. It was so interesting! As she walked away she said I want to say hi to a few people, I was hoping she would walk into my row, but didn't. She ran into someone and asked if they were going to her house tomorrow and she invited them to a pre-garden party. I wanted to jump up and say "I'LL GO!!" I decided not to...

I received an e-mail today about the intern lunch and learns. Martha has confirmed a date to present to us. I will be able to meet her on July 10th...the same day as the honey party! It is going to be such an amazing day. I'm already planning the perfect outfit! =) I have to look perfect for our meeting!

I worked through lunch yesterday so I could leave work early today. I had dinner with my uncle Gary tonight at Virgil's BBQ. While the food was good, the company was excellent. It was so good to see him. I really hope we can meet up again this summer. He is such a busy guy, I really don't know how he does it! He was saying how he has been on the road for five weeks! YIKES!

Gary has such an awesome career and life story, I could listen to him talk all night. I can only hope (and work really hard) to be a quarter as successful as him one day.

After dinner I walked back to my apartment and did some work on my computer. I am trying to design a networking business card for myself. I should have done it before moving here, but didn't get around to it. Joanna helped me with the design, I think it is going to look awesome. Don't worry, you will all get one to pass on to someone reallllllllllly important and influential in my career!

Andrew recommended this amazing website to me today. It is www.pandora.com. This website is a virtual, personal radio station. You just type in a song or artist and an algorithm will select songs within that genre. Alexis and I enjoyed a Dave Mathews Band station all evening. You should definately check this website out, the best thing is that it is free! Forget charging my iPod everyday for work, I'll just log into this website!

Off to bed, a big day tomorrow---James arrives! :)

-Sam

there are nice people here, at he isn't from the mid-west!

2008-06-30T22:56:00.000-05:00

Things started off a little rough today. I seemed to forget everything in my apartment. On top of being late, I had to run back to my apartment not once, but twice! Eventually making it out of the lobby, I decided to take a taxi because it was so close til 9am.

Pulling up to the office, I hopped out of the taxi and walked into the building. I had this feeling I forgot something, but didn't know what. Sitting down in my cubicle, I realized I didn't have my phone. I knew I had it when I left the apartment because it was one of the items I went back for.

Sadly, I left my phone in the taxi. I called the Taxi and Limo Commission, but nothing was turned in. Sara then suggested calling my phone. It took two times and the driver finally answered it. This was the nicest cabbie I've ever met, probably the nicest person I've met here in general. I asked him where I could pick it up after work and he said "no, no, no, I'll bring it to you when I come back that way!" No more than 20 minutes later, he was calling my office stating he was in front of my office. There truly are nice people in this city, and they aren't all from the Mid-west! =)

The rest of the day wasn't as exciting as the morning. I'm still working on my competitive analysis, currently on hardwire lighting. All of this home decor really makes me want to decorate my own apartment. The day will eventually come when I do not have to move ever 9 months. I just hope it is soon....

I did see Emril today, so that was fun! He seems so normal. It would be amazing for him to say "bam" or "we're going to take it another notch" to me! I can only dream...

After work I went to the gym. It has been so rainy here lately. I hope it stops. It isn't fun walking to the gym in rain, or anywhere for the fact. The city is so gross when it rains. It smells as it is, but it when rains it is so much worse. I've decided it is one of the very few downsides of the city. As long as that list stays to the minimum, I'll be a happy "New Yorker."

Post-pilates, I walked back to the apartment to find my roommates watching My Best Friends Wedding. After the movie, we put in Steel Magnolias. I guess we had a Julia Roberts mini-marathon tonight.

I'll have some exciting stories tomorrow, so stay tuned...hint, hint!

-Sam

2008-06-29T22:56:00.002-05:00

The PRIDE Parade was today. Alexis found out it was going to go past our apartment, so we decided to walk down. It was so interesting! The people were dressed in the most interesting ways. Definitely a sight to see! It is funny how I didn't think it was odd since I was in NY, if I saw this in STL I would definately think of it in a different way. I wish I had photos, but forgot my camera. =(

As we walked down it started to pour. They are doing a lot of work on the Empire State Building, so there were scaffoldings everywhere. Therefore, we could still watch and not get drenched. You would think the rain would literally bring down their parade, but it actually enhanced it. The parade participants were so enthusiastic and passionate, especially in the rain. Their enthusiasm radiated into the stands, it was sooo inspiring! Everyone was dancing like crazy and enjoying life to fullest. They seemed to be so happy to be who they are in life. If everyone felt that comfortable in their skin, this world would be a much better place to live.

After the parade I did some quick shopping. I have broken three pairs of shoes here. I didn't bring many to start with, so breaking three pairs is not that convenient. Luckily I found a pair of black pumps at Steve Maddens. I also happened to find a few outfits along the way at H&M :-|

While roaming about "the mall" around my apartment, I walked into Zara. I've seen so many bags, so I decided to check it out. They had a lot of cute clothes on sale. I found seven items I wanted to try on. I had to stand through a less than convenient line to the dressing room. Once I arrived to the front they told me I couldn't bring in more than six items which is completely understandable. She then went on to say that they do not hold onto sale items. I must have looked at her crazy because she got all snippy with me. I just couldn't understand why they wouldn't hold onto items. She "kindly" explained it was because they wanted to give everyone a chance to buy the sale items. I "kindly" wanted to tell her that they must be losing sales this way. Who in their right mind would want to go all the way back out into the store, find the piece back and then get back in line?!

I would like to know how is this concept affecting their sales. I guess it is the business student in me, but it does not make sense at al. The worse part about the whole story is that the item I put back was a pair of shorts that I took two sizes of. The ones i brought in with me were too big and the next size would have been perfect. They definately lost a sale there, I was too frustrated to go find them back. Sadly, as i walked out of the dressing room the other shorts were still sitting there....so much for their free-for-all sales concept. I will not be going back to this store regardless of the cute clothes.

Tonight is Sam's last night in NYC, so him and Andrew came over to visit. After watching an episode of Sam's favorite show, One Tree Hill, we walked down to Pinkberry. It is such an interesting concept. It tasted like frozen vanilla yogurt, but completely different. If that made sense! They have dozens of toppings to add in. I had the original Pinkberry flavor, blackberries, raspberries, and carob chocolate. The lady explained carob chocolate as the "healthy kind," whatever that means. Supposedly Pinkberry is popular because it is a healthy ice cream alternative. A medium size has like 150 calories and a small amount of fat.

My roommates are definately addicted to this place. Andrew and I think it is because the company injects nicotine or an equivalent into it. He was reading the recipe hasn't been FDA approved yet, so the nicotine injection concept could definately be legitimate! =) All in all, nicotine or not, I enjoyed the "dessert", I will definately go back again and suggest it to anyone along the way.

=)

-Sam

2008-06-29T11:49:00.002-05:00

I met up with Robin today for lunch. We went to one of my favorite places, After a debate, we went to Chelsea Market. After a long debate, we went to Amy's Bread. This time I had the apple and brie sandwhich on apple walnut bread. YUM-O. I believe Robin tried the cuban.

After lunch, Robin headed back to Staten Island and I went to the Upper West Side. In my 1001 ideas book, it mentioned going to Kiehl's, a beauty store for free samples. I'm not sure why, but i wasn't offered any assistance or samples.

Leaving the store I went walked around and ended up at Magniolas Bakery and enjoyed a cupcake. :-| It was sooo good. Almost about to get on the subway, a street promoter handed me a flyer for $5 eyebrow threading. I was in need, so I went. I've had it done in STL for $12, so $5 in NYC is really good. I think I prefer threading to waxing, you should try it!

It started to rain really hard so it was nice the subway stop was really close to the threading place and then really close to my apartment. After showering, I went back to Sutton House for my credit card. On the way back the cab driver wouldn't bring me to my apartment on 34th. He said he would only go to 35th because it was "too crowded". Frustrating...good thing it wasn't raining anymore!

Walking back, I stopped by Sephora to buy more foundation. I like the Sephoras in St. Louis better than the ones in NYC. I had my favorite artist in St. Louis at the West County location. Sadly she moved to LA, so she will not be there when I get back.

Tonight I went to Coppersmith's in Hell's Kitchen. Sara, a girl from MSLO, was guest bartending and asked me to come. I was hoping to have someone to go with, but all of my friends were busy. I decided to go by myself and meet up with her friends since I didn't want to stand her up. While it was awkward at first, it all ended up ok. Another girl from MS was there, so we chatted for awhile.

I'm really having a love hate relationship with the Subways. Some days I do really well and can help others, other times I end up in Queens..... tonight was one of those nights. I made it back in one piece, so that is good. The only bad thing about the subways at night is that they do not run all the time. Waiting on the muggy platforms is not fun at all..

Happy Sunday!

-Sam

2008-06-27T22:50:00.000-05:00

Tonight I went out with Sam, Andrew, Jeff, Kathryn, and a few other people from WashU. Kathryn, Andrew and I went to a bar on the Lower East Side. Kathryn was working at a photo shoot in the morning and was in the area. We then went to the Upper East Side to Sutton House to meet up with everyone else. I was at this bar last weekend with Joanna and her friends. I'm not a fan of going to the same places twice in NYC, but it was still fun to see everyone.

There are so many places to go and see here, I have a hard time rationalizing going somewhere twice unless I've tried all of the other options. Sutton House was a completely random, so I guess it is ok.

Unfortunately I did not have any cash tonight so I had to start a tab at the bar. In turn, I left my credit card there. I will have to go back in the morning.

The subway let me off in Time Square. I love looking at Times Square at night when there are very few people around. The lights are so much prettier. During the day and early evening there are wayyyy too many people around. If you ever have the chance, I would suggest walking around for awhile when it is "empty."

-Sam

2008-06-26T22:31:00.002-05:00

MS furniture is applying to the ASFD Pinnacle Awards . Mindi asked me to take over the submission process. We had a meeting today to dicuss the whole process. I am excited to have this opportunity. It may sound minimal, but it will be good experience.

Robin in back in NYC. To celebrate Amy, Robin and I went out for a drink at Me Bar. It was a great view of the empire state building, but super crowded and loud. But what can you expect, I live in Herald Square. After drinks, we wanted to get dessert. I suggest Serendipity III, so we went Uptown. Sadly, there was a 45-60 min wait and we they went back to Staten Island.

The ride home was very frustrating because I got up on the Uptown train instead of the downtown. I ended up in Queens....

Sam Cohen, James's roommate, is in town. Andrew and him came over to my apartment. Sam just got back from Israel and Europe, so of course he has tons of funny stores. He brought me a Chamsa for my apartment. It is a Jewish good luck relic.

I really miss these guys. I wish James could be here hang out with them as well. Sam will be here all weekend, it is going to be so much fun!

-Sam

2008-06-25T22:58:00.002-05:00

Well today is Wednesday and usually I attend a Lunch and Learn at MSLO. Unfortunately I didn't RSVP fast enough and wasn't able to attend. I was number 8 on the wait list. Of course I was in a meeting and couldn't respond to the initial e-mail right away. I think my manager felt bad since all the other interns in my row were able to go. Therefore she bought me and the other girls lunch. I can't remember the place, but they delivered the food so fast to the office. It was soooo good. The prosciutto was amazing!

I attended a really interesting meeting today. Arash, the president of Savavjeah rugs came to MSLO to look at the new collection that is in process. Savajeah is the MS rug licensee. I was able to see how they select the new rugs for the market. I'm really enjoy following the Project Calendar from start to finish. It isn't as intense as my Project Management class calendars, but it is still interesting to see it all in action.

I really wanted to get out of the apartment tonight. During the week I do not do much. Therefore i contacted Andrew to see what he was doing. Originally we were going to just get a drink, but couldn't decide on a place. Instead we went to Rice to Riches in NoHo. This place specializes in rice pudding. They offer about 30 different flavors. Supposedly rice pudding is a big deal in NYC. Stacey Stienbach recommended this place to me. While I was reading through my 1001 ideas book I noticed they recommended it as well. Therefore I knew this place was going to be great. While it was really good, it was much different than I expected. I tried the chocolate chip and Andrew had the rocky road. It was a neat place. I would definately recommend trying it! You can taste before you buy, if the texture isn't your thing then go next door to PinkBerry. My roommates swear by it.

After Rice to Riches, Andrew and I walked around Little Italy and had a glass of wine. It was really nice to sit down and chat. Sammy C is coming this weekend and then James the next. We are so excited!

Well, I'm so happy I got out of the apartment tonight. I have so much to do in NYC still and so little time. I can't get over the fact it is almost the end of June already!

-Sam

2008-06-24T22:21:00.002-05:00

I continued with my competitive analysis today. It is going to be a looooong project. I'm really starting to look forward to my "review" with Kevin, Gael, and Robin. I just hope they understand what I am saying and I don't say it wrong. They know these products like the back of their hand.

After work I went to the gym and took a really amusing class. The instructor was hilarious...made the time go by so fast.

I'm really sorry today wasn't that interesting of a day. I guess it is ok to have boring days sometimes in NY. I have plans for tomorrow night regarding grad school, so at least I'll have something to talk about!

I'm trying to plan the weekend James is coming. It is a lot harder than I thought. I want him to experience everything so maybe he will be inspired to move here regardless of the aerospace opportunities! I feel as if I've had so many opportunities and experiences here. It is a lot of pressure to plan someone else's vacation....

Sorry for the boring post...hopefully tomorrow is more exciting!

-Sam

cookware, dishes, hair dye, oh my!

2008-06-23T22:07:00.005-05:00

Today was a usual day at MSLO. I conducted a competitive analysis between Martha Stewart Furniture and other companies like Crate and Barrel, Restoration Hardware, etc. I had a great time looking at all of the different pieces of furniture. I can't wait to live somewhere longer than 9 months. I'm tired of moving back and forth.

Mindi informed me today that I will be presenting all of my intern work to Kevin, Gael, and Robin in late-July. In addition to a handful of other people, they are three of the most influential and top people at MSLO. While I am very nervous to do this, I think it will be a great experience!

There was a tag sale today at work. It may sound silly, but I have been soooooo excited about this sale for over a week now. I love cookware! All of the items the company purchased for marketing initiatives were on sale for 70% of the original price. They set up all last week, so I had been eying up with goods. I had my heart set on a 12 piece cooking set and dishes. Luckily, I lined up early enough and partnered with a girl in my row. We both ran in and snagged two cooking sets! yay for teamwork! I bought the 200 dollar cooking set for 70 dollars. What a deal! I also bought awesome plates, bowls, serving dishes, etc. for about 1-3 dollars each. I can't wait to have a permanent apartment. My goal was to get something that I could look back on and think of my internship. I think I went over and beyond that goal. I had to leave a lot of it at work. I'm going to have to make daily trips.

A downside of this sale is that I have to bring everything home. Good thing 14 of the Timmermann girls are coming up in August! Each one is going to have to pack a few items for me....or at least one pot! Unfortunately, but fortunately a lot of the fun stuff was gone from the morning session. Interns and freelancers were not allowed to attend the morning session. Otherwise I would be having some major space issues. I'm just so excited about my cooking set!

After work, I went to the gym with Liz. The sale overlapped all of the fun classes. I think we are going roller blading in Central Park tomorrow. I'm super excited. Hopefully the weather will be nice. It was disgustingly humid today..I thought I left that in STL!

While walking to the gym tonight, it really hit me how many streets there are here! I peered down a random street and thought, what is down there? There has to be so many hidden treasures in NYC that very few people know about. I know it is a silly thought, but if you think how many streets, people, buildings, whatever is here, it is overwhelming. I wonder if anyone traveled each street in NYC....that would be a lifelong task!

The girl I teamed up with tonight was telling me how her friend's dad is determined to drink at every bar in Manhattan. He drinks at three different places a day. He started after he retired and must have a pretty big following now. I couldn't imagine drinking three times a day or even everyday. I learn about or witness something crazy everyday here. It is quite entertaining! Yesterday was a full-grown man with a mohawk walking down the street in a full-body purple leotard with an extravagant amount of white feathers.

Joanna wanted to dye her hair tonight. For some reason I felt the need to play hairdresser. I'm not sure what I was thinking since she wanted to go lighter, but I continued. Her hair is really dark, so any mess ups would be visible. Even though it didn't turn as light as she wanted, it still looks cute. Phew!

It was fun hanging out with the roommates tonight. It isn't often we are all here at the same time. I think there has only been one or two instances when we've gone out together on the weekends. Hopefully that will change...they are a lot of fun!

Well, off to my death-trap of a bed! =)

-Sam

2008-06-22T21:10:00.002-05:00

I stayed in most of the day today. I wanted to pick-up my things around the apartment and do laundry. Yessss I finally did it! It only took me a week to go down to the 3rd floor!

I had plans to go to the Yael Naim concert tonight in Central Park with my friend Kealan. Unfortunately it rained, so we did not go. I was really excited about it too. Kealan works for Regis and Kelly. Last week Yael was on the show and personally invited Kealan and her friends to this concert and then drinks afterwards. It would have been a lot of fun to go. I'm tired of this rain!

Once I found out we were going, I started to brainstorm what I could do tonight since I did nothing all afternoon. I have a hard time sitting in my apartment. There is so much to do here! Keeping with the relaxed theme of the day, I decided I wanted to find a coffee shop and read my touristy books. Since I live in Herald Square, one of the many tourist trap sectors of the city, there aren't many quiet places to go. To compensate, I turned to my 10001 NYC Ideas book and found a fun coffee shop in Greenwich Village. I went to Caffe Reggio. They have the oldest cappuccino machine in NYC. This place was great. I felt as if I was transported into Italy. Since they had outdoor seating and I'm a sucker for outdoor seating, I decided to sit on the patio. I think everyone there resided in the Village, except for me. They all spoke Italian and seemed to know each other. It was nice to just sit back and find fun things to do throughout the city without crazy English-speaking people distracting me. Oh, the drink was fabulous!

While I was browsing through my books trying to find things to do with my summer visitors, I read about this place called Hummus Place and it happened to be one block away. I am a bit obsessed with hummus, along with honey and frozen fruit, so of course I had to go. I was way too full from the panni, so I decided to get lunch for tomorrow. It's going to be a-maz-ing!

It seems kind of ridiculous, but eating your way around New York is really the best way to do it. You can really get a great sense of the different neighborhoods. The books even you how to do via the subway. I was looking at the to-see list when James comes and half of it was revolved around food. I'm sure I'll find other things to see along the way to our culinary destinations! =)

This whole subway thing is getting a lot easier. I actually got on the right train, exited on the correct corner, and found the caffe on the first try. When I went to return, I "timed" the train I needed perfectly. It was pulling up when I walked down the platform. It was even an express that went directly too my apartment. I'm finally getting it! I can finally read the maps correctly!

Well, here's to having another fabulous week! I'm not sure how to top last weeks, but I will definately try! I hope you have a great one as well!

-Sam

2008-06-21T22:59:00.000-05:00

This morning I was determined to get up early and go to the Greenmarket in Union Square. It was so nice to go by myself and just roam around. Even though there were thousands of people surrounding me, I felt as if I did get some time alone. While at the market I bought some fruit and vegetables. It is so much cheaper than buying them from Trader Joes. The market also had a great art section. There is a painting I really liked..maybe I'll go back later in the summer before I leave.

Everyday this past week I told myself I was going to go back to the apartment and do laundry. Although I did actually put a load into the machine, I went to Duane Reade and bought detergent. I am one step closer. It is my goal to actually go down today and do it. I am having a hard time spending $2.50 to wash and then $2.50 for drying.

Once I finally got back to the apartment I cleaned up my desk and did some odd things around the apartment. The girls eventually came back from Coney Island. Liz is really into making videos with her camera. Her mom wanted a video of our "lived in" apartment, so I filmed it while she narrated. I'll try to post it later. It was quite humorous.

Tonight we went to Local to meet up with Joanna's friend. It was across the street from Madison Square Garden, so we only had to walk like 6 minutes. It was great! I've seen this place walking to and from work every day, it was nice to actually experience it.

After Local we were supposed to go downtown for a rooftop party in the financial district. I was excited to see someones apartment. I think it is so interesting to see what people consider a nice apartment in the city. Nice apartments in St. Louis are 4 times the size here.

Unfortunately once we got there the people already left. They were trying to get a hold of us, but we were in the subway with no phone reception. Therefore we had to get back onto the subway and go to the Union Square area. It was not fun spending an hour on the subway going back and forth. It takes forever for trains to arrive late night.

Once we arrived in Union Square we went to Bar 13 for Alexis's friend's party. It was a nice rooftop bar where a lot of her college friends were. It was fun, but I was so tired from waiting at the subway. The best part of the night was meeting Emily, Alexis's friend, who is a special events planner for Calvin Klein. We exchanged information, she said she would let me know if anything opened up. And if there wasn't much, she has a lot of friends throughout the industry that would help me. Exciting! It is funny how this week changed me in the networking sense. When I was in St. Louis I always awkward when it came to networking. Now, I have no problem doing it.

This was a big week for me.....how to use chopsticks and networking finally clicked! Woooho!

-Sam

6/15 - 6/20 Pictures

2008-06-21T16:59:00.000-05:00

2008-06-21T00:42:00.004-05:00

Today started off with a visit to the Martha Stewart TV studio. They want to feature furniture on the set, so we were looking at the sizes and possibilities. I was able to see Martha's TV office, so it was very interesting.

I also attended an intern luncheon this afternoon. I had a fabulous lunch from Mangia on the Starrett rooftop.

MSLO is having a tag-sale on Monday. They are selling about 6000 items for 70% off. I am so excited. Unfortunately interns aren't allowed to go until the evening session. I really want to get a 12-piece cookware set that is originally 200 dollars. If there are some left, i can buy it for 60. I am so excited. I also hope to get a few serving trays for my mom. I want to buy something that i can look back on and say " i got this when i worked for Martha Stewart.' I was hoping to buy a lamp since I work a lot with them, but they are only selling the Macy's collection. They have amazing sheets on sale as well. I cannot wait!

Tonight I met up with Marissa, a MSLO intern, and her roommate, Noami. We went to Noami's old place of work for a drink. It was such a cute Japanese restaurant called Lan. All of the places I went tonight were in Union Square. The Union Square area is my favorite NY location. It is so much fun!

After Lan, we went to the Coffee Shop and met up with Andy from the St. Louis California Pizza Kitchen. It was great to see a familiar face. This bar/restaurant had three different scenes, the restaurant, outside seating, and lounge. We mainly hung out in the lounge. I enjoyed this place. It was fun to see the three different atmospheres within the same restaurant. However, I did not enjoy the staff. The host was very rude. After spending majority of our time in the lounge, we decided to go upstairs for dessert. They told us we weren't allowed to sit in a certain area if we weren't ordering dinner. This was crazy because there were so many tables open. We supposedly had to sit in a certain area. Since we couldn't find seating in the "special area" we just left. i wanted to go up to the host and say instead of them making more money off of us, they lost it because of their attitude.

After the Coffee house, Marissa, Sarah, Layla, and I went to Pija. This place had such great decorations. There were so many chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. It was fun looking at all of the different styles. This would be a great place for a first date! The sangria was especially good. The stirrer was a cinnamon stick!

I had such a great week at work. I hope it continues throughout the internship. I can't believe I am already done with week two. I hope the whole summer doesn't pass me by. I have so much more to do!

-Sam

2008-06-19T23:22:00.002-05:00

I have to admit, today was not as exciting as yesterday, but it was still decent. I saw Emeril! He was sitting in his office. I was to nervous to look at him, but he winked at my roommate Joanna.

Other than the Emeril instance, I didn't do anything too exciting at work today. I did get to attend a meeting with Gael, the Creative Director of MSLO. She has been with the company since day 1, you cannot get any bigger than her. It was interesting to see how the different processes work.

Tonight i went to Butterfield 8 with my roommates. It was fun because they had free pomegranate martinis until 10 with 1/2 off drinks the rest of the night.
the atmosphere was great!

I'm so excited about tomorrow---I;m going to the TV studio!

-Sam

the best 12 hours of my life!

2008-06-18T21:31:00.003-05:00

Today started off as a normal day, little did I know it would turn into one of the most influential days of my life!

Like last Wednesday, we had another lunch and learn session at the 42nd street office. This week's speaker was Sally Preston, the Publisher of Martha Stewart Living. I was really excited to attend this lunch since I've always been interested in magazines.

During the presentation she asked "who is interested in ad sales?" I of course raised my hand. I was the only person to do this out of the 30 some interns present. She kindly told me to send her my resume and we could chat. I was so excited about this! Little did I know this was just the beginning!

As we were waiting for the shuttle to go back to Starrett, there were some ladies with Martha items waiting for a car. We started talking and they mentioned they were going to the meeting Sally had to leave for. Since Sally was in our meeting late, they were running behind and needed to get into a taxi fast since their car didn't show up. The assistant went back up to see what was going on, so they needed help. Sally realized this and told me to get into the car because I was going to help her. This was so exciting!

All of a sudden I realize i'm in a car with three top MSLO execs going to a meeting with Kraft. During the car ride they asked me questions about my life and experience. They really got to know me. Once we got to the meeting, I helped them set up for the meeting. I originally thought i was just helping set-up, but they just asked me to stay. They said the meeting was kind of boring, but I was a kid in a candy shop. I couldn't get over this!

During the lunch and learn, Sally invited all of the interns to attend a party she was throwing for all of her advertisers. She reinforced this invitation during our time together today. Once I got back to my office, I talked to a few other interns and decided to go with them. I defiantly knew it was important to go and meet up again with Sally.

The party theme was hoedown themed and held at Starrett. It was supposed to be on the roof, but it was rainy. I had so much fun with all the BBQ from Blue Smoke, special drinks in mason jars, line dancing lessons, amazing cupcakes, and Emril bbq gifts. Next week there will be a honey party on the roof, i cannot wait!

At the party i spoke with Sally a few times and met some great people. Today was such a great networking day, it truly could not have been any better. Sally made the comment at the Kraft meeting and at the party that I would be making ad calls by 2010 for MSLO! AGHH!

I was so inspired by Sally today, she had such an amazing personality. I felt so comfortable with her. I didn't feel constricted in my reactions, questions, anything. She told the people at the meeting "we are best friends after 2 hours!" I hope we can set up a time to dicuss my future sometime before I leave! I could listen to her talk about anything for hours!

Today is going to be hard to beat! I've read so many stories about instances like this happening to people and how they got their big break. I can't believe it potentially happened to me!

-Sam

2008-06-17T21:23:00.001-05:00

Tonight I went to an Ed2010 intern event. Ed2010 is a student run organization for students interested in the magazine industry. The event was held at the Boat Basin. This place was beautiful, it was along the river in the Upper East Side. I recommend this place to everyone! It was very relaxed (atmosphere and service) with great food.

I was semi-disappointed by the event because everyone there just sat with the people they arrived with. It was fun to mingle with the other interns. I really look forward to attending more of these events!

2008-06-16T22:59:00.001-05:00

At work today we had a Town Hall meeting to dicuss the recent CEO changes. It was exciting to see Martha and all of the top executives in one place. Mindi, my manager did a great job explaining everything to me. I hope we have more meetings like this.

I enjoyed Martha's speech. I feel as if she had a lot of good things to say about MSLO's future. Wenda and Robin, the new co-CEOs, are truly passionate about this company and will make great changes. After a bunch of people commented, there was a Q&A session. One of the questions asked about summer parties. Martha reassured there will be some rooftop parties this summer with the possibility of one at her house!! I really hope this happens! Can you imagine?!?

After the meeting, Cheryl informed the team that Martha had time for the furniture meeting at 2pm now instead of later. I felt so bad for the people organizing/running the meeting. We all had to move so fast. I had to print off like 20 different pages. My fingers never went so fast. Lesson learned today: when MS says she has time, so do you and you better be there 2 minutes ago. I heard it all went well, so that is great! I was not able to attend, but the presentation I help make the other day was given to Martha...so i guess I was there in spirit!

Within my department there are a lot of weekly meetings to keep up on each product segment. The meeting I attended last week was so confusing, this week was great. I had so many questions. I'm finally starting to understand! Another intern was added to my department. I felt bad for her because she was in the same position I was a week earlier.

Martha Fact of the Day: Martha has her style coordinator paint the soles of her Christian Louboutin shoes black. All Louboutin shoes ($600-1000) have a beautiful trademark red sole. She has this done because she does not like being caught up in the fashion branding industry. My thoughts....why buy the expensive stuff then? Buy what you like!

After work I met up with Andrew, Dave, Eric, and some other people from WashU at Rodeo Bar and Grill in the Lower West Side. It was a tex-mex restaurant with great food. I of course got an appetizer for my meal. I tried the empanitas, which were chorizo, chili, cheese, etc. in a homemade crust. Super good. The table ordered a pitcher of frozen (i know..) mango margaritas. I have to say they were pretty darn good. They weren't cheaply made and had a amazing mango flavor. the live music was another fun touch.

Liz, David's girlfriend's old soccer coach recently became the co-owner of the Blue Donkey in the Upper West Side. It was a cute local bar with great drink prices. Liz "bought" be a Yuengling Ale. Yuengling is the oldest brewery in America. This is definately a beer worth trying if you ever get the chance.

I'm not sure if I would ever find this bar back again. I was way out of my geographical element. It was definately a hike to get up there. I walked at least 3 1/2 miles today going to and from places.....at least i'm getting my exercise, especially when I'm wearing my zebra pumps!

Happy Birthday Kate! Wish I was there for dinner! <3

-Sam

2008-06-15T21:29:00.002-05:00

I had a great time exploring the city today. I really wish my dad could have been here. I am trying to talk him into coming to visit...but not sure if it will happen. We chatted through Skype this morning. It was great to see him!

I originally planned to go to the Mets came today...but that fell through. Instead, Liz, her friend from college, and I went to Brooklyn. We visited the DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Brooklyn Overpass) Market, hung out in the park near the water, and went to the Cafe Bar for coffee. At the market, I bought pumpkin bread. I cannot wait to eat it tomorrow!

I loved the DUMBO area. It seems as if a lot of younger people lived there. I could definately see myself living there. It was so nice!

We originally planned to eat dinner in Brooklyn, but decided to go to Astoria. It was fun traveling from Brooklyn to Queens. Astoria is the Greek section of the NYC area. We ate at the Avenue Cafe. This restaurant was so much fun. I really enjoyed it because we could sit outside. The food was great, especially the antipasto appetizer. It included hummus, a roasted pepper feta spread, stuffed grape leaves, and warm pita break. I also enjoyed the frappe, the Greek version of an iced coffee. The restaurant was deceiving though because they didn't mention it was cash only. This restaurant was really nice with a high-tech computer system, how could it be cash only? Thankfully Liz had cash on her.

Riding back on the train was extremely exhausting. It was really nice to come back to the apartment and just relax with nothing to do. Liz and I enjoyed a good ol Lifetime movie.

I'm looking forward to my second week of work. Things should definately start making more sense!!

Have a fabulous week!

-Sam

Pictures!

2008-06-15T12:35:00.002-05:00

2008-06-14T22:59:00.001-05:00

I think I am finally becoming comfortable here. Starting work definately helped me feel as if I belong here for the summer. In the beginning I felt as if I was on vacation, now I have purpose. I came to this conclusion yesterday when I realized the subway doesn't confuse me anymore. I still get lost, but it isn't as big of a deal. Although it rarely happens, I even feel comfortable not bringing a map with me wherever I go. The map truly depend on the size of my purse or wristlet. =)

This morning I woke up to find a bunch of Joanna's friends sprawled throughout the apartment. Even though it is small, it is funny how many people can really sleep here. I then went to the gym and Starbucks. While there are a lot of Starbucks in NYC, I think Dunken Doughnuts is just as popular. I see just as many people carrying around DD coffee as I do Starbucks.

I went to Canal Street for the afternoon. My purse is about to break, so I needed a new one. I bought a great Fendi knock-off, Tiffany & Co. ring, and Juicy Couture perfume. I find it fun communicating and interacting with all the "dealers." The people selling Louis Vuitton were dealing out of Burger King. They were telling me how LV is super illegal for them to sell so they had to do it there. It was a weird system...they show you a product sheet and then you choose the number. They bring it to you in a trash bag and then you decide. I know a lot of you are thinking this is dangerous, but it is a funny system. If you are coming to visit, you will see and then understand.

A lot of people come to NY to buy the purses off the street. While these are good, the really good ones are on Canal Street in the weird locations. The ones on the street are really really fake. The bags that are hidden are the good ones. So if you come to NY you must go with the people that are whispering "coach, fendi, prada." They will show you the good stuff. Just don't get into a car or van.

Tonight I met up with another MSLO intern and her roommate. We went to Oliva's in the Lower East Side. This place was amazing! It was a tapas/spanish restaurant-bar that has live music every night. The location was small, but the tapas and sangria were the best. The music was supposed to start around 11:30 but didn't set up until 12:30. That was a bummer, but once it was started it was so good. They played Samba tonight. I think it changes every night of the week.

Sarah's roommate has been there a few times so she made friends with the owner. The place was so small that he seemed to know everyone. I will definately be returning to this place again.

Going to small places like Oliva's is one of my favorite things to do in the city. They are so much fun and unique to NY. One of the major differences between NY and STL I've seen is with the small restaurants and bars. In STL I believe small places like this one wouldn't survive too long. In NY they do great. No matter how big/small or the day of the week or time, these places are always packed with people. There are so many people here with different interests that they can all survive.

Ole!

-Sam