Hola el mundo!
So, I made it through my first week of school without dropping out! Okay, una broma, but school is so awesome so far!
As a group, we have traveled around the old town of Santander, and gone to the Picos de Europa, a mountain range about 120 km from the city. During the trip to Picos, we took a gondola 800 meters up the side of the mountains and then had an hour and a half to be free. I, of course, wanted to go hiking, so I ended up walking WAY too far into this high altitude valley (SO beautiful) and I almost missed the gondola on the way back down. I ended up covering 7 KM in about 50 minutes overall...not too bad, especially since I was running slow due to my backpack and the altitude (2500meters roughly.) So I ended up going on a nice run (I am SO sore today) instead of a hike!
I also had the opportunity to touch a piece of the Cross that Jesus died on...that was REALLY cool, and unexpected because I didn't bother reading the trip itinerary. It is supposed to be the largest remaining piece of the Cross in the world. Whether it is, or not, it was WAY awesome! I also read some 1000 year old books (not made of paper, but rather cow stomach) and I was also inside of a 1000 year old church. That trip was super awesome but prevented me from going out last night, so I slept 14 hours instead. It was a nice trade off!
Tonight, I am heading out to grab some coffee with "some people" (meaning 7 girls) and then out to a club called "Aguafuego." If you can figure out the translation, you can probably figure out what drinks they specialize in! But of course, I am not drinking here in Spain because I am being a good roll model for my students :-) Only wine with all my meals, and home-made Sangria on the weekends...;-)
That is life! I hope you all are well. Go Beavers, good luck beating UCLA! Congrats to Dale (yes, RA Dale) for going to the game!!!
Con amor,
Sr. Esteban Hodges III
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Normal Day in Santander...
Yesterday:
Orientation, Campus Tour at the University. Then, I bought Gym membership, and cell phone SIM card.
Today, the first normal day for me in Santander...
Ate Breakfast: Two types of bread, unsweetened cereal, bananas and NesQuik lol
Half hour to school by foot. I found out that I got placed in upper division Spanish (score!)
2 hours of grammar class, my Profesora frequently uses the F-word.
30 min break (another banana, yum!)
1 hour of Oral Practicing skills (literally translated) I got asked who I thought was the hottest male on the planet...I responded "I dont watch TV or listen to popular music." Bad response!
Then, one hour of culture. Kind of boring, but today was about geography...so not too bad!
One hour for a HUGE lunch, one hour to rest, 2 hours at the gym, 3 hours of nap time,1 hour for dinner and bed time by midnight.
Life is so rough, I know!
-Stephen
Orientation, Campus Tour at the University. Then, I bought Gym membership, and cell phone SIM card.
Today, the first normal day for me in Santander...
Ate Breakfast: Two types of bread, unsweetened cereal, bananas and NesQuik lol
Half hour to school by foot. I found out that I got placed in upper division Spanish (score!)
2 hours of grammar class, my Profesora frequently uses the F-word.
30 min break (another banana, yum!)
1 hour of Oral Practicing skills (literally translated) I got asked who I thought was the hottest male on the planet...I responded "I dont watch TV or listen to popular music." Bad response!
Then, one hour of culture. Kind of boring, but today was about geography...so not too bad!
One hour for a HUGE lunch, one hour to rest, 2 hours at the gym, 3 hours of nap time,1 hour for dinner and bed time by midnight.
Life is so rough, I know!
-Stephen
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Welcome to my new home: Santander, Spain
Hello All,
I am very lucky to have wireless internet in my host-house! I will be able to keep in touch and post pictures on facebook, etc. I have not had time to put many pictures on facebook, but keep checking and I will post more periodically!
My room and apartment is nice here, and already feels like home. My host mom speaks very clearly (as opposed to my host dad who speaks only slang, I swear!)
I guess its the "Sink or Swim" strategy is the best for everything though. Learning to kick a soccer ball, drive a car, ride a bike, etc. (thanks dad for the analogy!) Most everyone here does not speak any spanish, including my host parents. I feel like I am already much better at speaking, we will see how today goes.
I really miss OSU and the fall season there. Attn: Everyone who lives on AB 1st floor Weatherford: Join the facebook group!
Hasta luegos,
Stephen
I am very lucky to have wireless internet in my host-house! I will be able to keep in touch and post pictures on facebook, etc. I have not had time to put many pictures on facebook, but keep checking and I will post more periodically!
My room and apartment is nice here, and already feels like home. My host mom speaks very clearly (as opposed to my host dad who speaks only slang, I swear!)
I guess its the "Sink or Swim" strategy is the best for everything though. Learning to kick a soccer ball, drive a car, ride a bike, etc. (thanks dad for the analogy!) Most everyone here does not speak any spanish, including my host parents. I feel like I am already much better at speaking, we will see how today goes.
I really miss OSU and the fall season there. Attn: Everyone who lives on AB 1st floor Weatherford: Join the facebook group!
Hasta luegos,
Stephen
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Granada y mas!
Moi, allo, al-marhaba!
Finland (Finnish), and Australians are the nicest people in the world!
It has been a very awesome experience to meet people from around the world and travel to the awesome sights of Sevilla. Between the UNO with Aussies and the Finnish lessons during the night with my room mates, I made some great friends and I have learned much about the world.
Granada is a fantastic city that is half spanish and half arabic. Most of the signs are in both spanish and arabic, and there is alot of arabic tea shops and restaurants. It is common to have tea with friends for social occasions, and I wish I was here for a few more days just to have the fantastic tea!
Doing business is even different as well. Prices are negotiable, but are usually hard to change if you don't speak rapid spanish. I feel like I am in the middle east! I hear muslim prayer calls 5 times per day, and most people here have ethnicities from Northern Africa. It is a fantastic culture here, and tomorrow I will be in a completely different culture in Santander, Spain!
I am very excited to meet my host mom and begin my life as a Spanish college student!
Time for me to go enjoy some Moorish Tea and some tapas!
Adios,
Sr. Esteban
Finland (Finnish), and Australians are the nicest people in the world!
It has been a very awesome experience to meet people from around the world and travel to the awesome sights of Sevilla. Between the UNO with Aussies and the Finnish lessons during the night with my room mates, I made some great friends and I have learned much about the world.
Granada is a fantastic city that is half spanish and half arabic. Most of the signs are in both spanish and arabic, and there is alot of arabic tea shops and restaurants. It is common to have tea with friends for social occasions, and I wish I was here for a few more days just to have the fantastic tea!
Doing business is even different as well. Prices are negotiable, but are usually hard to change if you don't speak rapid spanish. I feel like I am in the middle east! I hear muslim prayer calls 5 times per day, and most people here have ethnicities from Northern Africa. It is a fantastic culture here, and tomorrow I will be in a completely different culture in Santander, Spain!
I am very excited to meet my host mom and begin my life as a Spanish college student!
Time for me to go enjoy some Moorish Tea and some tapas!
Adios,
Sr. Esteban
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Last day in Sevilla, Granada tomorrow!
Hello all,
First, I would like to send my thoughts, wishes and prayers to the friends and family of Kyle Houghton.
Today was a day filled with walking and lots of sight seeing! Most of the buildings that I entered today were built in the 1200's! Highlights included eating (naturally,) seeing a castle built in 912 AD, seeing the cathedral, and almost getting scammed by a "fortune teller." There are people who sit outside of the cathedral at the entrance and tell "fortunes" to unsuspecting tourists and then demand 5euro payment when they are done. Thankfully for me, I spoke rapid german in response to their demands for money, that seemed to do the trick!
Tonight, a big group is going out to tapas bars for dinner...that should be exciting! Then, I am going to go out clubbing, it should be lots of fun!
Tomorrow is Granada for two nights, then Santander on the 21st! I am excited to meet my host mother!
Adios amigos!
Sr. Esteban the great
First, I would like to send my thoughts, wishes and prayers to the friends and family of Kyle Houghton.
Today was a day filled with walking and lots of sight seeing! Most of the buildings that I entered today were built in the 1200's! Highlights included eating (naturally,) seeing a castle built in 912 AD, seeing the cathedral, and almost getting scammed by a "fortune teller." There are people who sit outside of the cathedral at the entrance and tell "fortunes" to unsuspecting tourists and then demand 5euro payment when they are done. Thankfully for me, I spoke rapid german in response to their demands for money, that seemed to do the trick!
Tonight, a big group is going out to tapas bars for dinner...that should be exciting! Then, I am going to go out clubbing, it should be lots of fun!
Tomorrow is Granada for two nights, then Santander on the 21st! I am excited to meet my host mother!
Adios amigos!
Sr. Esteban the great
Monday, September 17, 2007
de las calles de Sevilla
I am begining to feel much more comfortable with Sevilla and my Spanish abilities. My laptop died, so I am in an internet cafe writing to ya´ll! Sevilla is very beautiful and most of the city can be enjoyed by walking around the very narrow streets and enjoying the Islamic architechure and the old buildings (dating back to the 1200´s.) Tomorrow, I am going to visit the 3rd largest Cathedral in the world, a castle that was built in 1213, and take a boat ride down the river!
I want to give a shout out to Weatherford Hall AB wing! I am sure you all are behaving....
Until later,
Stephen ´Ra´ Hodges
I want to give a shout out to Weatherford Hall AB wing! I am sure you all are behaving....
Until later,
Stephen ´Ra´ Hodges
Friday, September 14, 2007
Stuttgart, Karlsruhe, und "Knocked up"
Yesterday, I traveled to Stuttgart by train to have a relaxing evening of walking and eating around the main square in downtown Stuttgart. 9,90 euros and two hours later, we ended up having a germanized Italian meal and shopping at H & M for cloths. I ended up buying a button down shirt after a sales associate told me that it was "very fitting" for me. It was very interesting to see the main walk of Stuttgart with both international brands like H & M and local brands and EU only brands like o2 and e-plus cloths. I felt like I was inside of an American mall when I stepped into H & M, so naturally, I shopped for a full 18 minutes, then ate for the rest of the time while I waited for the my travel partners (my best friends mom, her friend and daughter) to finish supporting the German economy.
In Germany, everything has sales tax, but it is built into the price, rather than being separate. This is very convenient for everyone from Oregon who always forgets about sales tax!
This morning,I took the autobahn b5 to Mercedes-Benz truck division to get a tour of their Astros truck assembly line. Their Bluetec diesel engines were in every single truck they produced that day (around 225 semi trucks.) I saw the trucks begin as sheet metal and paint, and then I saw them drive off the line. Any Industrial Engineer would be salivating over the design of their efficiency "flex schedule." It seems funny that Mercedes makes huge semi trucks, common persons cars, and luxury cars for Germany, but only the luxury cars make it to the United States. Did you know that the Smart Cars (the really little ones that are two seater,) any Freightliner semi truck, and any Chrysler product (Jeep Liberty CRD, Grand Cherokee CRD) etc., with a diesel transplant is actually a Mercedes Benz?
After Mercedes, I went to see "Knocked Up" in a German theater. I saw Pirates of the Caribbean 2 last year in English while in Germany, but this year I watched the movie in German. The theater reminded me for a very fancy version of the Tigard theater back home. It was better quality than most theaters and was much more comfortable.
I took public transport everywhere today, and I probably covered around 7-8km! I was proud of my comprehension skills in the movie (I understood about 70% of the movie!) and I was also proud of myself for ordering my own food everywhere, and even making some new friends! I am exited to go to Spain where I actually have some education and training in the language, rather than the crash course German that I have been doing for the past 3 years!
Bis Bald for now!
-Herr Hodges
In Germany, everything has sales tax, but it is built into the price, rather than being separate. This is very convenient for everyone from Oregon who always forgets about sales tax!
This morning,I took the autobahn b5 to Mercedes-Benz truck division to get a tour of their Astros truck assembly line. Their Bluetec diesel engines were in every single truck they produced that day (around 225 semi trucks.) I saw the trucks begin as sheet metal and paint, and then I saw them drive off the line. Any Industrial Engineer would be salivating over the design of their efficiency "flex schedule." It seems funny that Mercedes makes huge semi trucks, common persons cars, and luxury cars for Germany, but only the luxury cars make it to the United States. Did you know that the Smart Cars (the really little ones that are two seater,) any Freightliner semi truck, and any Chrysler product (Jeep Liberty CRD, Grand Cherokee CRD) etc., with a diesel transplant is actually a Mercedes Benz?
After Mercedes, I went to see "Knocked Up" in a German theater. I saw Pirates of the Caribbean 2 last year in English while in Germany, but this year I watched the movie in German. The theater reminded me for a very fancy version of the Tigard theater back home. It was better quality than most theaters and was much more comfortable.
I took public transport everywhere today, and I probably covered around 7-8km! I was proud of my comprehension skills in the movie (I understood about 70% of the movie!) and I was also proud of myself for ordering my own food everywhere, and even making some new friends! I am exited to go to Spain where I actually have some education and training in the language, rather than the crash course German that I have been doing for the past 3 years!
Bis Bald for now!
-Herr Hodges
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Switzerland
Today, Lesley, Kim and I drove about 175 km to the south to visit a town called Basel, in the country of Switzerland! We had a short wait to get into the country since Switzerland is committed to neutrality...and in doing so, is not a party of the EU. All EU countries can be entered and exited without having to go through passport control, it was somewhat strange to have to stop there and on the way back.
Basel was SO pretty! I will get some pictures up soon, but it is right on the Rhien River and everything is so OLD...and the food was so tasty! We walked around for a bit, then we headed back to Germany for the night.
Another rammification of not joining the EU for Switzerland is that it doe not use the Euro. It uses the CHF, or the Swiss Franc. Most places we went to accepted Euros, but it was weird running about the city with these shiny 5 franc coins. I had two hot dogs and some apple cider! I was impressed with my german skills here. There are a few official languages of Switzerland, email me (stephenmhodges@gmail.com) if you think you know what languages are official there. I ordered all my food and I even translated for Kim in germany! These events just stressed the importance to know a second or third language. Not only for local business transactions, but for world wide communication.
I now have 6 francs that I dont know what to do with since they are still they are not accepted anywhere. They are cool souvenirs! I had some chocolate, of course, and ate lots of other meats and cheeses.
The franc is about 2-3 ratio with the euro. It is not as strong, but is currently stronger than the dollar. I found it a pain to have to handle more than one currency while I was there. Maybe Switzerland will use the euro permanently someday? Who knows!
Guten Nacht,
Herr Hodges
Basel was SO pretty! I will get some pictures up soon, but it is right on the Rhien River and everything is so OLD...and the food was so tasty! We walked around for a bit, then we headed back to Germany for the night.
Another rammification of not joining the EU for Switzerland is that it doe not use the Euro. It uses the CHF, or the Swiss Franc. Most places we went to accepted Euros, but it was weird running about the city with these shiny 5 franc coins. I had two hot dogs and some apple cider! I was impressed with my german skills here. There are a few official languages of Switzerland, email me (stephenmhodges@gmail.com) if you think you know what languages are official there. I ordered all my food and I even translated for Kim in germany! These events just stressed the importance to know a second or third language. Not only for local business transactions, but for world wide communication.
I now have 6 francs that I dont know what to do with since they are still they are not accepted anywhere. They are cool souvenirs! I had some chocolate, of course, and ate lots of other meats and cheeses.
The franc is about 2-3 ratio with the euro. It is not as strong, but is currently stronger than the dollar. I found it a pain to have to handle more than one currency while I was there. Maybe Switzerland will use the euro permanently someday? Who knows!
Guten Nacht,
Herr Hodges
Monday, September 10, 2007
Ich bin in Deutschland wieder!
Hello all!
I am sitting here in Germany after a very LONG day/night on the plane/train/bus! I sat next to this guy who is in the US army on the way over. We talked for about 4 hours during the whole trip...and we are going to hang later this week! Social networking, right? Tonight is my best friends' dads birthday party, so I should probably sleep some before the festivities begin! I slept some on the plane, so my lag is not too bad!
Reden du mit Ihnen später! Bis Bald,
Herr Stephen Hodges
I am sitting here in Germany after a very LONG day/night on the plane/train/bus! I sat next to this guy who is in the US army on the way over. We talked for about 4 hours during the whole trip...and we are going to hang later this week! Social networking, right? Tonight is my best friends' dads birthday party, so I should probably sleep some before the festivities begin! I slept some on the plane, so my lag is not too bad!
Reden du mit Ihnen später! Bis Bald,
Herr Stephen Hodges
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Welcome to my travel journal!!
Hello Friends, Family, and Fellow Students at Weatherford Hall.
It is three days before I leave to visit the Nardini's in Germany, and I am so nervous to go! I am finishing up buying the hostels and plane tickets for my pre/post Santander trips and I just got my new camera! It is on long-term loan from Bruce Studer, and I have almost unlimited photo capacity, so check here and my facebook for photo updates.
I visited Weatherford yesterday to hang out with the new staff and go through one day of training. Most people thought I was already in Spain, but it was excellent to see all my friends.
The new AEP-CORE program is in full swing, so be sure to get involved in the program! Check out the events they are hosting during Connect Week as well.
Hasta luego for now, Goodnight world!
Sr. Stephen Hodges
It is three days before I leave to visit the Nardini's in Germany, and I am so nervous to go! I am finishing up buying the hostels and plane tickets for my pre/post Santander trips and I just got my new camera! It is on long-term loan from Bruce Studer, and I have almost unlimited photo capacity, so check here and my facebook for photo updates.
I visited Weatherford yesterday to hang out with the new staff and go through one day of training. Most people thought I was already in Spain, but it was excellent to see all my friends.
The new AEP-CORE program is in full swing, so be sure to get involved in the program! Check out the events they are hosting during Connect Week as well.
Hasta luego for now, Goodnight world!
Sr. Stephen Hodges
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