Halloween Madness

I know that this is coming a little late (about one month late, to be precise). But I still thought I'd share some impressions that I had from my first real Halloween. It was basically a party the whole weekend and I spent most of my time in Portland. Due to some very lucky circumstances, I also had the chance to go to Salem, Massachusetts for a day! It was amazing to see the capital of Halloween and all the craziness going on there.

Even though I try to avoid clichés as much as possible, right now I just can't resist: A pictures says more than 1,000 words. Thus, no more talking about Halloween, only showing.

Halloween Decorations:

Halloween Store:

Halloween Food:

Halloween Costumes:

CAN 101 Intro to Canada

Even before I came to Maine more than two months ago, I was hoping I would be able to go to Canada at some point. Surprisingly, that point came sooner than expected. After finding out about a field trip for CAN 101, a class that I don’t actually attend, I was beyond thrilled. That field trip enabled me to go to Ottawa, Canada’s capital for $ 100. This amount included the bus trip, two nights in a very nice hotel, and entrance fees and tour fees to a number of places. Score!

Altogether, I think we were a group of about 50 people, about 1/5 being international students. We left at 8 am on Thursday, October 21. The bus trip was almost nine hours long but it actually wasn’t too bad with friends on the bus, MP3 players, and movies that they showed (The Necessities of Life and Bon Cop Bad Cop). Crossing the border was very exciting, mainly because I got a new stamp in my passport. Score!

We arrived in Ottawa at around 5 pm and immediately checked into Les Suites Hotel. We were divided into groups of four and I shared a room with Yuna (my roommate), Amparo (from Belgium), and Rachel (from England). The room was amazing. We had a kitchen, two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a quite huge living room. Since we didn’t want to waste any time, we took showers immediately and got ready for going out for dinner. After dinner we experienced Ottawa nightlife, which was fantastic. Score again! 

The next day, we left quite early to go to the Museum of Civilization. (That whole day was actually packed with museums and stuff which I was kind of forced to do.) After some coffee I was finally awake and could enjoy the gorgeous view from the museum. The next stop was the American Embassy which was simply boring. I’ve been to the American Embassy in Vienna and I’ve been to other embassies before so those were two hours that I could have done something more fun. Next we headed to the Parliament (after a short “lunch” break which really wasn’t a lunch break) where we had a tour. The Parliament was beautiful and despite the over-enthusiastic tour guide, I really liked it. At around 3 pm, we finally arrived at our last stop of the day (that many museums in one day are exhausting): the National Gallery. After the National Gallery we were finally allowed to do whatever - which we did.

In the Museum of Civilization

Parliament

In front of the National Gallery

Since nobody had really eaten anything all day, our mission was to find food, preferably the Ottawa specialty “poutine”. Poutine is a dish that consists of fries, gravy, and cheese. It sounds and looks disgusting but it is actually delicious! Luckily we found a place right next to our hotel. Score!

Poutine

That delish dish made us all quite tired so we took a nap before checking out Ottawa nightlife on a Friday. It rocked again and on the way out it actually started snowing. Which made me really happy.

On Saturday, we had to check out by 10.30 am so after packing my few belongings I headed out with a couple of friends to find some brunch. Which we did and I have to admit that I had poutine again. Horrible, I know, and so unhealthy, but sooo delish. Since I’m back in Orono, I’ve been trying to eat extra healthy, though. The bus ride home felt quite long but after two nights out it could have been far worse. Fortunately, we didn’t have any problems reentering the US and at around 9 pm we arrived back home.

So what’s my impression of Canada? I loved it. It was very interesting to see the difference between American and Canadian culture, especially since Canada is so much more influenced by European culture (which I really appreciated).

Will I go back? Definitely. Hopefully I will be able to go on a trip, which is organized by the university, to Québec in February! Canada beware: Heute ist nicht alle Tage; ich komm wieder, keine Frage!

More pictures are on my picasa website: http://picasaweb.google.com/yvonne.kaisinger 

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.