Two months in

It is hard to believe that I’ve been at UMaine for two months already. What did I do; where did the time go?

Before trying to recount what was going on in my life since my last post, I thought I’d recapitulate the last two months. First thing that everyone is wondering about: how do I like it here and how am I doing? I still love it at UMaine and in Maine in general. I cannot even begin to describe how lucky I feel to be here and simply to have the opportunity to live in the States for a year. 

I’ve mentioned in previous blog posts that there are also things that I am not too happy about. The one thing that hasn’t changed is that I am not a fan of American food. But thanks to my kitchen and my cooking skills, I’ve still managed quite well so far and I prefer looking at the bright side of things. So I’ve more or less accepted American food culture (even though I still like to complain about it from time to time).

One of the things about UMaine that I really appreciate is the library, aka the place where I’m writing this blog post right now. Unlike the library in Salzburg, Fogler Library is open every day and, except for Friday and Saturday, it is open until midnight every day as well. Since I live in a dorm where it is rather hard for me to study, I usually study, read, and do my homework in the library. And unlike the library in Salzburg, you’re allowed to bring all of your stuff, meaning your laptop and something to drink (and illegally also to eat). So it happens quite often that I end up spending at least half my day in the library. I get a lot done here and there’s a cafeteria in the building which comes in handy when I need to recharge my batteries.

Another aspect about UMaine that I really appreciate, especially because it is so contrary to the university at home, is that the university (or certain university organizations) organizes trips all the time. So far I’ve been on a two-day kayak trip, a day trip to Camden on the coast, and a three-day trip to Canada’s Capital, Ottawa. Those trips are usually very well organized, heavily funded (and thus quite cheap), and always a good way to get away from campus.

Camden, Maine

The last point that I’d like to mention today is that the reason why I feel so much at home here is largely due to the group of international students that are here. We were kind of “forced” to hang out from the beginning because of orientation for international students. However, we ended up being a fun group that loves to do stuff together (like going to Canada). The group is very diverse, consisting of students from Germany, France, England, Ireland, Belgium, Canada, Australia, and some Americans that could actually pass for international students. I always avoid using too many clichés (I actually just read some homework about that) but sometimes clichés are true. So to come to an end with this blog, I’ll post a couple of pictures because a picture can sometimes say more than 554 words of a blog post.

A Seakayaking Trip that Was None

Since I don’t keep this blog updated as much as I had hoped, I will write about current things that are going on and in between write about my first couple of weeks here. I don’t have the intention of sharing every single event anyway, so this should work out fine.

A couple of weeks ago, I signed up for a weekend seakayaking trip with a couple of friends and fellow international students. After looking forward to this trip for a long time, we finally went kayaking on Saturday morning. However, things turned out to be quite complicated at times and plans changed several times before and over the course of the weekend. The first change was from the expected SEAkayaking to normal kayaking due to flood and storm warnings on the coast. Instead, the Kale and Nate, the two guides that should take us (i.e. a group of six international students), decided to go to a lake in the northeast of Maine.

On Saturday morning, we were all more or less ready to go at 7 am but we had to wait for the van for way too long, meaning I could have slept for another two hours. Anyways, after some basic kayaking instructions indoors, loading the van, and some more complications, we finally left campus. Like the last couple of weekends, we were very lucky with the weather. After a quick and very necessary coffee stop, we drove north for almost three hours. On the way to Pocumcus Lake I saw my first moose! It was only for a short time, but everyone in our group got really excited and we took it as a good sign.

Kale + our kayaks

We still drove quite a while longer before we finally arrived at our destination. Such a long car trip makes you hungry, so we had lunch before we packed up our stuff and left in our kayaks. Things had been a little complicated before, and from the beginning of actually kayaking, it was very windy which made it very difficult to navigate through the water, not lose each other, etc. My last kayak trip had been a while ago, so I wasn’t too surprised when I “stranded” in shallow water and needed the help of Nate to get out again. Realizing that things would not work out the way we had hoped (again), we decided to just go along the shore until we’d find a good place to camp.

For that we didn’t really have to go very far. We found a beautiful secluded beach on an island (the beach was literally an island itself) where we decided to spend the night. Since it had gotten pretty warm and the wind had died down, our group of international students decided to partake in one of our favorite pastimes: swimming. We didn’t actually swim a lot, but just went into the water and enjoyed the warm water and the sun. Then it was time to build our tents (which we didn’t, our guides did) and start preparing dinner (ditto). But we all went to look for some fire wood and that just made me feel like a child again – in a good way.

For dinner we had pasta with vegetables which was quite nice and, as a surprise, a highly praised dessert: grasshopper pie. It was…disgusting! However, the guides were really surprised to find out that we didn’t enjoy it. Luckily, they went to bed early and we stayed up for a long time, enjoying the fire and watching the stars. There was no light from any civilization nearby, so you could see an amazing amount of stars. After the fire died down we finally had to go to bed, i.e. our sleeping bags outside. I didn’t really get a lot of sleep because temperatures dropped to around zero that night.

In the morning, the sun more or less woke me up, and after a quick breakfast, we headed out again. For a while we went along the shore again and simply enjoyed the beautiful weather and the amazing landscape. Towards noon we turned to head back to the van to go back home.

  

Nothing really interesting happened after that. The most exciting thing that afternoon was a coffee break at Reggie’s along the way. Classic.

Back at UMaine we still had to unpack and clean everything before we dragged our tired bodies home to have a quick dinner and go to bed early.

With my roommate Yuna

With Mark

@ UMaine

I’ve been at UMaine for over a month now, so I guess it’s time that I describe in more detail what the university here is all about. As I’ve mentioned before, the campus is pretty big and beautiful. I imagine it’s going to be even more beautiful as more leaves start to change. Despite the beauty of the campus, it is also very, or better yet, too quiet here most of the time. The only time when it gets a little bit busy is in between classes. For about ten minutes students are leaving classes and heading home or heading to get something to eat or some coffee, but after that it’s just very quiet again. During the weekends it is even quieter, which seemed almost impossible to me at first. However, since most students here are from Maine, they leave campus to go home on weekends.

Fogler Library

So what does a typical week look like for me? Luckily, and mainly thanks to my planning ahead, I only have classes Tuesday till Thursday. Yep, I have a four-day weekend. Which does not necessarily mean that I don’t have anything to do, because the three classes that I am taking are pretty intense and there’s always a lot to read and prepare. But I really enjoy them. The one bio class that I’m taking this semester is called “Wildlife Policy and Administration” and deals with laws and regulations concerning wildlife here in the US. Not surprisingly, I am the only European student (and probably the only student NOT from Maine) in this class, so my teacher is happy that I’ll contribute a European perspective. The other two classes I’m taking are English classes, one is “Technical Editing and Document Design” which is really interesting and actually teaches skills an English student can use in the real world out there (wherever that is…). My third class is “Literature of the Enlightenment”. It is a very small class, i.e. we’re only ten students and we have to read loads (novels, short stories, essays, and poems) but I really enjoy it.

Not MY feet!

Okay, so I promised to talk about my weekly schedule here. Usually I go to the library at least every other day and spend a couple of hours there reading, writing essays, doing assignments, and writing for my blog. My bio classes are early in the morning so I am also done early and I try to continue studying right after. I have one evening class which is a little exhausting but thanks to my roommate dinner is usually ready when I get back home.

Pumpkin enchiladas - yum!

Sunday breakfast - pancakes

I am living in a student dorm for graduate students because that was simply the easiest way to do it and arrange it from home. Even though my room could be way nicer, I am getting along really well with my French roommate so that makes up for it. And luckily, as graduate students, I have access to a kitchen. Honestly, without that I would either starve here or gain about 100 pounds. But more on the food issue some other time.

My dorm

Out of sight?

Things have been really hectic and crazy busy ever since I arrived at UMaine on the evening of August 24. Sorry for the false promise about frequent updates. But I’ll TRY to improve.

The first couple of days at UMaine (in Orono) were filled with orientation for international students. Fun. No, seriously, partly it was interesting and helpful, but about half of it was redundant and I could have spent that time sleeping in. One advantage of all those forced mixers (starting with a mixer upon arrival) was that I got to meet all new international students at once. And since we all didn’t know anybody here, and especially us Europeans felt an instant connection, we decided to all become friends and hang out for the rest of the year.

Bear with me if this post does not follow a chronological order, but I am just trying to put as much information in it as possible and as I am writing I remember things or stumble upon things that I would like to share.

The river

Favorite place in Orono: Pat’s Pizza. I discovered this jewel on my second night here when a group of international students headed there to get dinner (we were too late for the cafeteria). I had a veggie burger which was quite alright but at later occasions I should discover that they had, in fact, delicious pizza and calzones. Another advantage is that underage people are allowed to go there, which is not necessarily the case in every establishment here. And they have good, cheap beer, and the staff knows me and some friends by now.

At Pat's Pizza

Enjoying calzones

Apart from Pat’s Pizza, there is not much going on in Orono, which is the town bordering on UMaine. There’s a couple of pubs and restaurants but nothing major. However, I am happy that I always have the possibility to go to Orono when I’m sick of campus. 

The campus is gorgeous and huge. Luckily I got a free bike about a week ago so it’s much faster to go to the other end of campus, where for example the rec center (the university gym) is located. One thing that I am really looking forward to, and it has already begun, is the changing of the leaves. The first trees already glow in bright red and yellow but in about two weeks time it is going to be magnificent.

The Black Bear - UMaine Logo

First stop in Maine: Portland

After a couple of days in Boston, I was very excited to go to Portland and finally see Maine. And I wasn’t disappointed. I took a Greyhound bus from Boston and now I know why people avoid them. They tend to be late. Even though I was tired when I arrived in Portland, I ended up going out anyway.

My first real day in Portland started with delicious blueberry pancakes. I spent the day walking around with friends and discovering Portland. The weather was beautiful and I really enjoyed myself. Portland has many small and very unique restaurants and shops which I liked a lot. In the afternoon I had an amazing cake milkshake and I tried fried pickles. They weren’t too bad but they are simply not the kind of food that I enjoy. For me, as an Austrian, you just don’t fry pickles. But I don’t mind trying new things. Well, as long as they are vegetarian anyway.

Cake milkshake and fried pickles

Part two of my tour through Portland started in the evening. At first I shared a delicious pizza (I fear that I am going to use “delicious” until it becomes obsolete in this blog post) and a bottle of really nice red wine with Andrew. Thanks Travis for that pizza! Then we headed to a bar overlooking the city where we had Martinis. It was beautiful. Next we went to a couple of bars/pubs and I had a beer that tasted like pumpkin. Interesting.

The next morning I was pretty tired from going out the two previous nights. However, my tour of Portland wasn’t over yet. Andrew took me to get some grilled breakfast sandwich (one more thing I have never had before in my life) and then we went to Portland’s most photographed lighthouse. Unfortunately it was pouring and we got soaking wet but it was still gorgeous. I was supposed to take the bus to Bangor at around noon but by the time I got to the bus station it was full so I got a free ride on the next one four hours later. So we went back home and watched the movie State 51 (at least I think that’s what it was called) which was the perfect movie for a lazy afternoon.

At 4 pm I was finally on my bus to Bangor and UMaine. This time I took a Concord bus. They are on time, so much nicer, you can watch a movie, and you get free water and snacks. More on my first week at UMaine will follow soon.

PS: I am really tired at the moment so excuse this slightly uncohesive blog post.

Boston the 2nd

I love Boston. It’s a great city, almost perfect size with so much to see and do. Like always, I prefer to discover a place on foot at first without going to museums (or pay any entrance anywhere). So that’s what I did. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves…

Thursday, 19 August 2010

After two years of waiting and one year of preparing and applying, the day had finally arrived when I would leave Austria for about eleven months to study in the US for a year. The flight from Munich to Boston via London went really smoothly. But apparently I got spoiled for life with my flight to and from Central America. Those were the ultimate flying experiences (Romana, you know what I’m talking about). The food wasn’t too bad and I watched I love you, Philip Morris. Unfortunately I could only understand half of what was said in the movie because I sat close to the engine. I arrived in Boston at around 10 pm and was already anxious to see what the immigration procedure would look like. Since it was quite late the line was short and I was welcomed to the US by a very nice immigration officer who immediately gave me some advice about places to see. Then I went to the hostel where I was staying where an extremely helpful man helped me carry my heavy, heavy suitcase to the fourth floor (I mentioned this before). The first night reminded me of my first night in Costa Rica – quite sleepless. I am not sure whether it was only due to my jetlag, but I also blame the AC which was really loud and right next to my bed.

I decided that the best way to start my time in the US and particularly in Boston would be to go to Harvard. And so I did. And I was right. Harvard is such an amazing, beautiful place. At first I was wandering around a bit on my own before I joined a free student-led tour through Harvard. After the tour was over I hung out a little longer in Harvard, read my Moby Dick and enjoyed the beautiful day. That night I had my first burrito and I loved it. So good.

On Saturday I walked around downtown Boston for most of the day (which was again really sunny and resulted in a slight sunburn on my skull…). At first I did a little bit of window shopping and enjoyed a big cup of coffee. Then I spent some time in the Boston Common and Public Garden where, conveniently, also the Freedom Trail starts. Along that trail are my colonial sites of historical and political significance. It is easy to follow because there’s a double row of sidewalk bricks (or paint) which marks the trail. Some of the highlights were: the State House, the Faneuil Hall, the USS Constitution, and Bunker Hill Monument. The trail is about three miles long and it took me between three and four hours to finish it – with lots of breaks and window shopping squeezed in. After I finished it I got myself a delicious, energizing smoothie.

Sunday wasn’t such a nice day anymore. It rained during most of the day. Since I was still quite tired I decided to sleep in. In the afternoon I headed to Fenway Park (home of the Boston Red Sox) where a game was just going on and people were lining the streets. My walk also led me to some other parks, beautiful residential areas, and Harvard Medical School. All in all a very mellow day.

My last day in Boston had come with Monday. I wanted to check out the Brookline area but unfortunately it was still raining so I ended up window shopping and enjoying a sandwich at Subway. In the afternoon I left Boston to head to my next destination: Portland, Maine.

Random stuff

Since I don't have that much time for posting regularly yet, I thought I'd just post a few pictures from Boston. Once I move into my dorm on Wednesday, I'll describe my first days and impressions in much more detail.

Random - my breakfast the last two days: banana + maple cranberry granola + Greek yoghurt

 

Boston

Fall is just around the corner...