Endings and Beginnings

"Is this real life?" -David at the Dentist

To say that this was just a normal weekend wouldn't be doing it justice. It meant something. Some big thangs went down:

First of all it was my birthday. Nobody likes you when you're 23. The big 2-3, tres-dos, three-and-twenty... whatever. I'm getting up there I realize this, probably should have that 401k started like 6 years ago yeah, yeah, yeah. But thanks to everyone who wished me a happy birthday. I had an awesome time with all my friends, and even had some come up from Seattle. Thanks Derek, Kyle and Sam had so much fun.

Second of all it was Graduation Weekend at WWU. So epic. Big shout outs to my Euro-trip friends who finished up: Alan, Brenna and Katie!! Way to go kids and keep the focus on school after a summer in Europe, not easy to do.

Third of all it was an end to my time in Bellingham. I'm all finished up with classes. The rest of my degree completion is going to be student teaching in New Zealand. Many of the friends I saw this weekend aren't gonna be in my life for the next couple months. So I really wanted to take the combo of my bday/grad weekend and spend it with the gals and guys i appreciate so much. Thanks ya'll!

As far as travel news to New Zealand I just booked my ticket a couple of weeks ago and were all good to good. I have a 90 day student visa to NZ and my plane ticket is for exactly 90 days. 1/23/12 to 4/23/12 haha. I can't wait to get the most out of this experience. I want to say the same thing when I was asked if I was happy I came to Western... Wouldn't have done it any other way.

Peace,

Erik

New Zealand, eh?

Holy-cow am I excited. Student-teaching in New Zealand, the NZ as the locals call it, god that sounds awesome right now. First of all I will miss a Northwest/Bellingham winter. It will be summertime when I am down under and will definitely not miss the hurricane force winds and sideways rain as I walk on South Campus. Those of you who go or went to WWU can testify to the hellacious-ness of the weather in these parts. BUT that does mean I am going to miss the most epic winter at Mt. Baker, but this is a consequence I willing to accept.

I'm going to be staying in Wellington, NZ. This is the capital city and located on the southern tip of the North Island:


Wellington, from what I understand is a really awesome city. It is in a great location because it is located on the North Island, but only a short ferry ride away from the South Island... and yes I will be visiting both. Lord of the Rings tour? I'm thinkin so.

The capital city is located in a bay that is absolutely beautiful. It kinda reminds me of Bellingham (without the tropical appeal) because the city and surrounding suburbs are located within the bay itself:

Pretty flippin' sweet huh?

I will know more int he coming weeks about my living situation and where/what exactly I will be teaching. New Zealand is setting up to be a crazy/fun adventure and I am so ready to both travel to a new country and to teach in another location. I can't wait to learn and experience something different. Washington, you are great and I love you dearly, but it's time to experience something new.

Later,
E

The Blog is Back!!

Oh snap, Schmidt's at it again. By popular demand the blog is back. But instead of filling you in about my travels around Europe with my seven best friends, I will be describing my adventures to New Zealand! NEW ZEALAND! YESS!

"How did Erik manage a trip to Middle Earth?"

"Isn't he still in school?"

"How did is he paying for this trip, he ain't got no job..."

Well all you haterz, let me catch you up with my life. I'm currently in my last quarter of classes at WWU for my teaching degree. All I have left to finish up my program is a 10 to 18 week internship aka student-teaching. I have decided to take this internship abroad and go to New Zealand. Leaving in mid-January and coming back end of April/early May. About to buy my ticket here any day and trying to decide on where to visit.

List of potential places to visit when in the Southern Hemisphere:

-Australia (no way this one doesn't happen)

-Thailand (strongly considering)

-Japan

-India

-China (probs not tho)

-Fiji (strongly considering)

-Hawaii

Any suggestions? Lemme know plz i appreciate any insight that you might have. Oh boy, such a big post. I'll be updating you with more information like what city I'm in and my trip prep. Plus I gotta fix this blog and tidy it up to fit my new adventure. Check out my old Europe posts to get a preview of what is to come!

Prague

My, oh, my. Was Prague awesome. We arrived mid-afternoon at the Prague train station. We were all really tired because we stayed up late drinking with some hilarious Belgians our last night in Berlin. We weren't in a rush to get off the train and only Brenna, Jonny and myself got off at the stop that we should have. Everyone else was trapped on the train as the train took off. We thought they were on their way to Bratislava or some distant Eastern European city. But actually the next stop was in the central station that was right next to our hostel... just their luck.

Nick passed out waiting for the train lolz

We all took the longest nap ever once we arrived. Like 4 hours. Our hostel was a very interesting place. It is a school. Like an elementary school with their art decorating the walls. Our room was a converted classroom with all the furnature pushed to one end of the room and beds sprinkled where ever there was space. It was pretty cool actually. We were the only ones in our room so we didn't have to share it, and there was so much room for activities. We played a ton of drinking games.

The hostel was only 8 euro a night which was nice on our budget. It is called Hostel Olet and I recommend it to anyone going to Prague. We were there on the second day it opened so it was really empty. The staff was very friendly, Joseph is the man, and they have cheap beer and snacks to buy. Joseph was telling me that when late July and August comes around every guess says it is one of the most fun hostels they have ever been too.

On our first day we walked into town and it was raining the entire time. I didn't pack a jacket for the trip because I wanted to save space, but 3 weeks into my month long adventure I had to dip into the pocket and buy a sweatshirt. But at least I bought a cool one. And we also had to buy umbrellas because it would poor for 20 minutes then stop for 20.

We did another free tour and was placed with a tour lady that had a very thick accent. You had to really focus to listen to her, but there was loads of good information and was nice to know what exactly you are looking at.

That night we wanted to go out, maybe go to an absinth bar, but just go around Prague because it is supposed to be the party capital of Europe. We met up with the girls from San Diego and went to an Irish pub after so much searching. But we soon learned that Sunday nights are super dead. Like no bars were open and we ended up going home pretty early because nothing was going on.

No big deal, we needed the rest anyway because the next day was the Fourth of July!!! We woke up and just had a lazy monday. We walked around a little but it was still crappy weather out. We had a pretty chill day and I read most of the day or played games. But then! We met up with some friends from WWU. Lauren and Jill are studying in Prague this summer so we had planned to meet up, do some dinner, and hit the bars!

We went to dinner at this very, very good Asian Resturant. And headed back to their apartment to drink some more before going out to the bars. They live with a few other Americans so we show up and there is already a party going on. We have 9 kids from WWU, 2 that are from WA but went to San Fran for school, 2 from New Jersey, 2 from WA DC, and a couple others sprinkled about. This was such a fun group of people and there everyone was chill and easy to talk to.

A few of the kids from Western. We were having a little bit of fun haha

To the left is our friends from Jersey and to the right are the hand twins

(Had to mooch some pictures of facebook, I didn't upload the pictures on my computer before my camera got stolen... that story comes later though)

We partied our butts off and had the craziest adventure getting back. Lauren and Jills apartment was like a five minute walk to our hostel, so convenient. We ended up paying for an extra night in our hostel because we didn't leave until midnight on the fifth. It was only 8 Euro so it was totally worth being able to sleep in because of the night before. We met up and did dinner with Jill and Lauren before leaving.

Prague was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed the city. It's so historic but has this awesome energy around the city. On the hour you can hear bells ringing from every section of town, the food is sooo good and very filling, and it is a pretty cheap city so it's good place to go on the budget. There was dirty parts of the city but you'll have that where ever. I'm jealous of Lauren and Jill for studying there. Seems like an a great place to stay for the summer. Though I'm not so sure that I would get much done.

Off to Vienna. The home of the goveranator!

Berlin... More like Burr-lin

Just a short train ride from Amsterdam is Berlin, about 4 hours. But just getting to the bus station was a problem. We woke up early and had plenty of time to get to the station. We heard there was going to be a transportation strike at 9 AM but our train left at 9 AM so we should be fine. We got to the Central Train Station, ate breakfast, chatted a bit, but our train wasn't being shown on the reader board. Finally, someone checks the ticket and realizes that we are at the wrong train station!!! How did it 7 people that long to realize that we were at the wrong train station??? ...I don't know.

We asked the taxis but they couldn't get us there in time so we were forced to use public transportation. We made it about 2 stops on the metro and then the metro stopped. Buses stopped. The only transportation running was taxis and trains. In the midst of this Brenna is near fainting so we decided that it was already too late and we would just take our time getting to the station.

We finally arrive and the ticket operator informs us that we will need to ask the train conductor if we can get on the next train or else we would have to travel to the airport to buy new international train tickets. Luckily the conductor lets us aboard and we are only 2 hours behind in our journey. Wow... lucky. But the crazy journey does not stop there!

We are about 2 hours into our 6 hour train ride and then the conductor comes over the intercom and informs us that there is a train accident and we must get on the tracks immediately. And there would be around a 2 hour delay. The first thought that comes to my mind is are we on some sort of Final Destination senario? Did I just cheat death? Is death going to follow me? What are the chances that I could meet Ali Lalter?

We are delayed in some Eastern Dutch city for a few hours until we hope aboard our train and continue our journey to Berlin. We finally arrive a few hours later and what should have been a 6 hour train ride turned into a 12+ hour ordeal with death close behind.

We slept well that night and the next day we were set to go on a Free Walking Tour. Well actually it was about a 4 hour tour around the city to visit some awesome monuments and sites. Our tour guide was a young english fellow who was getting his History Doctorate at Humbolt University which is not in Northern California as I previously thought.

So what is the first thing we do when we get to Berlin's most historic plaza?

...We Ice Jonny!

The free tour was awesome (actually it's not free but you tip like ten bucks when you're done). We had an awesome tour guide who was English and pretty funny. It was about 3 hours long and we traveled in the most historical part of the city. 90% of the city was destroyed during WWII so only a few historical buildings actually remain. So it is actually the most American looking city we were in. Everything is new and from the 1970s or earlier. But there were still a few monuments and buildings, the coolest ones are from the imperial age in my opinion.

Berlin is such an interesting city. A very large portion of it was under Soviet control until the fall of the Berlin wall. And yes, it is actually true and well known that he was there the night of the collapse and did sing and was well liked. I mean I know I'm love history, but I found everything to be so interesting and so cool.

All traffic lights in East Berlin are different from West Berlin. They all have a guy with a hat on but in every other part of the city it is the same one as every other traffic guy in America.

We actually like the tour so much that the next day we went on another tour. We went to a concentration camp about 45 minutes outside of Berlin. Our tour guide was not as like able as the day before but it was still a great experience. This tour costed 12 euros to go on. It was a totally new experience. It was a concentration camp at one time that held every minority group the Nazi's were after... good thing Brad Pitt was around.

Not sure why they are smiling before going into a concentration camp... pshh! Americans

The camps name was Sachzenhausen and was primarily a labor camp for the Nazi's. It wasn't strictly a death camp like Auschwitz but there was a death section of the camp that did kill thousands during its operation. Once it was shut down when the Soviets came to Germany after the war, they used it as a military training center for many years. So only just recently has the old camp been open for tourism. They are just starting to get facilities and put money into the memorial, so in a few years time I think it will be an even better.

We all were craving Authentic german food and really wanted to go to a huge Beer House and drink some oversized beer. It was so good, wieners and schnitelzs and sauerkraut and potatoes and beer. I love German food! Best dinner decision up to this point of our trip.

The hostel we stayed in Berlin was.... interesting. We stayed in the GENERATOR HOSTEL. And our first impression of the place was on the subway. Brenna is chatting it up with some old people on the Metro... typical Brenna. And they end up getting off at the same stop as us. Now I'm in the back of the group and just see us following some old people so I assume that they are just showing us the way. Turns out they are staying at our hostel, which isn't to weird as I write this but I literally havent seen anyone above the age of 25 in a hostel yet.

(This is just a preview to thee interesting Eastern European Hostels we stay at, just wait for more posts).

But the old people weren't the crazy part. It was the massive amounts of 16 year olds that were drinking and chain smoking all around the hostel. Like crazy amounts. All German teenagers that were on a class trip to Berlin or something. Sounds like no class trip that I've ever been on. But it was so weird seeing all the teenagers drinking, I mean I am going to school to learn how to teach this age group. I don't want to drink with them!

The way the rooms got spit up was actually pretty funny. We were supposed to be in a room with each other but we ended up having to get split up in a group of three and a group of four. So the guys and girls split up. The girls were put in a room with 3 to possibly 4 Italians. They were all 18 and named Leonardo, Lapo, Fabio and some other name haha. And they absolutely loved the girls. It was hilarious because the girls just ate it up. Their little Italian Stallions ;)

We ended up with these two girls from San Diego. They were super fun girls with great senses of humor. Like the girl who called Nick- Gay, twice within just the first two hours of meeting him... haha purrfect! But they were heading to Prague next as well and we decided that we had to meet up to celebrate the Fourth of July as real Americans.

Our time in Berlin was short but it was a great experience. I learned so much of history from different perspective than an American version and everyone enjoyed themselves. I could definetely live in Berlin. It is actually a pretty young city and is pretty cheap place that is affordible to right near the fun and historical parts. It is not a very historically Bravarian city like Munich is but it offers something different. Its hard to explain but I know the next time I come to Germany it will not be for three days in one city. I would spend like 2 weeks in a few different cities. So much to see and do and try. I want to go to Octoberfest so if you are reading this and wanna make plans to go with me next September, lets start planning!

Off to Prague, Czech ya later!

Amster-DAYUM

Wow,my first impression of Amsterdam stayed with me the entire time. I love it! The tram ride from the train station to our hostel I got the conductor to yell out instructions over the intercom to my friends to our final exit. "Jonny! 4 more stops." "Jonny! One more stop!" It was awesome. The personalities and people all had a great attitude and were ridiculously friendly.. Amsterdam is the strangest transportation city I've ever been too. The closer you get to the center of the city the less chance you can use a car. Bikes are everywhere, like literally have their own lane and have the right-away above cars and pedestrians. And you can only get to the center of the city by riding a bike or walking.

We went and got food when we arrived and then we were off to the red light district! What else do you do when you're in Amsterdam!? So we started our journey and knew only the general direction on a hunch. And what is the first attraction we go see!? ...The sex museum!

A picture of the girls outside the museum. We couldn't drag them outta this place!

The Red Light District, or RL as we called it, is really cool. There is literally something for everyone. If you're looking for a party at 1 in the afternoon? There is a bar for that. Look for girls? There are places for that. Gay or straight, drinking or smoking, sad or happy... there is a place for that. Tons of funny things to see and say you saw, millions of ways to have fun, it was what I expected it to be a fun town where everyone finds fun.

We were all pretty tired from a day of traveling so we all went to bed pretty early. But the next day was EMMA'S BIRTHDAY! Hey-o! We started off our celebration by heading to the Heineken Experience. It was the old Heineken Brewery but is now a place to go learn about the historical dutch brewing process and drink some beer. It was a pretty cool place that took about an hour to go through until you arrived at the beer garden. Sounds like an awesome start to a birthday to me.

We had a lovely dinner in the park but after a long day of drinking we decided to just grab some beers and sit by the canal and drink. Tons of boats were driving by, everyone was drinking and toasting us on the side of the canal. It was a lot of fun just to sit, relax and enjoy the company. I snagged tons of pictures and the Dutch loved it!

Our last full day in Amsterdam we decided to follow Lily out to a suburb called Asmere. It was dumping in the city so we decided it would be a nice day to get out of the city. We took a 45 minute bus ride and when we arrived it was dreary but not rainy. But soon the clouds parted and it was a hot day! The gamble paid off! We went to a lake beach and had an amazing lunch next to the water.

We hung out at the beach for a while and soon the whole town was there! We walked back towards town, about a fifteen minute walk then went to Lily's aunt's House. We relaxed in the shade and drank tons of water, chatted, ordered pizza and went on a bike ride. It was so nice being out of the city after being in one after another for so long.

The Dutch girls are some of the prettiest girls you have ever seen. They are tall, blonde and very skinny. I have to say that I could live in Amsterdam. It's a fun town and everyone speaks english. The main way to get around is by bike. There is such a fun vibe around the city and a prettyness in a city that I have never seen before. Maybe there is a way I can spend some time in Amsterdam because I really like it there. One day perhaps...

Off to Berlin! Ya!!

Europe... The Pics He Didn't Show

No update from Amsterdam yet, but here is an on-going collection of photos and captions from each city I've been to so far. In Berlin! Its raining, but I'll manage. Enjoy!

PARIS

Found the Holy Grail. Glad I didn't have a giant albino chasing after me like Tom Hanks/Robert Langdon

Now if only bonds used his strength to slay Hydra instead of hit homeruns and cheating :'(

Look! The Romans played with Lola too!

Ahhh, the home of Pharaoh Calipari

Ancient Greek Philosophers: Plato, Aristotle, Socrates, and Schmidty

I hope Ben Stiller is a Museum Curator at the Louvre!

Yeah I went to the top, AND I used the stairs!

First Level!

Second Level!

Top Level!

They made this place after the MOVIE! So cool, Nicole you should have won best actress gurl

BARCELONA

What the H!?

I don't know if you can see this on your computer, but can you see where Nick didn't put sunscreen? haha

The Steve Erwin got a new paint job, Whale Wars!

Uhhhhh..???

Oh what up Brenden!? I didn't know you went international

PORTUGAL

Peeing outside, check

Just a cool picture outside the Castle in Portugal

Some festival in Lisbon, but I did not know sheep were packing like this. Play on player

Jonny giving one of the crazy swiss girls a piggyback ride. Lol... Nick

I was taking pictures of the free shots our friend at the BS cafe poured us... I zoomed in a little far haha

Paris.. lol Did She Just Say Oui Oui?

Paris... what a dump!

We'll that was my first impression. For a city and country that prides themselves on culture and international influence I was surprised at h

ow dirty the city was. From the train station, to the 30 minute metro ride and the areas near my hostel it was pretty dirty and not very chic as I expected. But once you finally get into the heart of the city, the beauty truly comes out. The city is designed around rivers and many centuries, wars, and revolutions have transformed the city into something special.

The first day we walked around the area of our hostel to explore because we couldn't check into our hostel until 2 PM and we had about 2 hours to kill. The picture sums it up best.

Douches are actually showers... or something like that. It says that in our bathroom so I'll go with that. PS- No Bidets! Not that I was excited about using one, but when in Paris....

On our first day we went to Notre Dame, which I thought was in India but apparently not... It is such a large church with some of the most amazing stained glass I have ever seen.

Inside and outside of Notre Dame.

We tracked down Brenna's favorite resturaunt in Paris which was right near Notre Dame. Just across the river. On our walk back to the metro after our delicious French dinner we stopped and watched a street performer, who pulled Katie and Brenna out of the crowd to assist.

We were wiped our and the next day and went to the Eiffel Tower early. All the guys happened to match one of the girls outfits so we all took 'prom' photos in front of the Eiffel Tower.

There are three levels to the Eiffel Tower. I took a picture at each level as we ascended. It costed us 9 Euro (about $12) to climb the stairs to the first two levels, and then take an elevator to the top. The city is so flat and you can see so far in every direction. The wind is pretty brutal at the top, even on a 75 degree day, but we all thought it was worth the hike up the stairs and the 45 minute wait.

We went to the Louvre on our last full day. The museum is enourmous and cannot even be explored in a day. You have to choose what you want to see. I chose to look at ancient history of the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans because I knew the most about those exhibits. But there was mesopatomian and modern history. Millions of paintings that I wouldn't understand the history or symbolism behind. But it was blown back by the sheer size of the museum.

The hostel we stayed in was St. Christopher's Inn. I would say it was an average hostel. Compared to the other hostels we stayed in it is the worst but that is not saying it is bad. The hostel is pretty big and very nice. The room we stayed in was definitely the nicest and best furnished room we have stayed in yet. The negatives were that it was pretty far away from the main part of Paris (about 20 to 30 minute metro ride) and the bar/cafe that was attached to the hostel was EX-PEN-SIVE. The other hostels had beers on sale for 1 Euro in Portugal, 2.50 Euro and Happy Hour in Barcelona, and 4 Euros here in Paris. Lame.

We're off to Amsterdam now! So excited! The next three destinations Amsterdam, Berlin, and Prague are the destinations I have been most excited about and now the first one is coming. Paris was my least favorite out of the destinations I have been to so far but with that being said, I really didn't experience Paris like I did with Lisbon and Barcelona. We are far removed from the actual city and I had very little French cuisine. What I did experience makes me really want to come back and fully enjoy the city. One day when I have millions to blow in a city I will come back and live it up. Very cool city, next time will be even better.

8:30 AM train to Amsterdam! Next post coming soon! Legggooo

Monsieur Schmidt