Bucknell Women's Rowing Abroad

Hey everyone!

This past week was my last in Florence.  Unfortunately, I had had exams up until 12 hours before I was leaving, but I was able to take a study break to walk around and see the city for the last time. They put up a bunch of christmas trees in the piazzas and hung lights over the streets. Walking around once the sun goes down is magical. I was also able to make it to one last soccer game. I had so much fun this semester, yet it was also challenging and taught me a lot about myself and other cultures.
I wish everyone the best in Virginia this week and I can’t wait to be back in January!

See you all soon!

Stephanie

Hiya friendos,

Just wanted to let you all know that I’m still abroad and that I haven’t dropped off the face of the Earth! These past three weekends I’ve been traveling to different countries and either haven’t had good wifi or a computer to use to post. I’m not going to post every single detail, but rather some highlights from each trip. Aside from that, during the week I continue to work for the Scottish Parliament and I’m having a blast! I love it and I don’t want to go home.

Anyway, my first trip was off to Iceland. It was gorgeous, in a strange, sort of surreal way. I’ve been describing it as a more extreme Scotland, really, but that doesn’t help if you’ve never been to Scotland. What I saw was a lot of perfectly flat lava plains that would suddenly rise up into towering mountains; black sand beaches, lagoons full of icebergs. While I was out there I got to hike a glacier and see the Northern lights, definitely checking two items off of my bucket list. It goes without saying that it was absolutely bloody freezing there. No matter how many layers you wear (and trust me, I wore a LOT) it was still unbelievably cold.

 

Thanksgiving weekend I was off to Krakow, Poland. I have to say, that was one of my favorite trips, despite the disorienting experience of being in a country where I had absolutely no grasp on the language at all. Krakow is a really beautiful city; I’ve been told its a lot like Prague but I’ve never been to Prague so I cannot confirm. We toured the city, ate lots of pierogis, saw Polish cathedrals and castles, a local flea market (where I got an LL Bean sweater for 6$!), and the Christmas Market. But, I have to say, the definitive highlight of the trip was going to Auschwitz 1 concentration camp and Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. It’s one thing to have studied the Holocaust in school; its another matter entirely to be standing in the places where such atrocities occurred. It was deceptively peaceful; unnaturally quiet, seemingly devoid of life, sun shining gently and almost surreally in a grey-pink shroud at the end of the day. It was most certainly a somber experience, but I think, a necessary one. It serves as a warning and a reminder of what the worst parts of humanity can become, and an obligation that all must be done to prevent this from happening again.

 

My last trip was to Gibraltar and Morocco via Spain. This I think was the trip with the most culture shock for me. The Moroccan cities I visited were different from any I’ve ever been, no European influence in the slightest. I think my favorite part of the whole experience was just sitting outside in the early evening and listening to all the calls for prayer at all the different mosques. While the tour I did was a bargain, I definitely got what I paid for in that the trip itself wasn’t quite as good as the others I’ve done. Regardless, Morocco is a wonderful country, and I wish I could go back and learn more about the culture without a 100 other American college students.

The last leg of my journey was a slight (intentional) detour. I flew in to Glasgow from Spain and then the next day I flew out to Dublin, caught a bus, and drove out to Limerick. I went out to see a band called British Lion, which is a side project of the bassist for Iron Maiden, Steve Harris, and my favorite bassist and the genius behind Maiden, my favorite band. It was a long day of traveling; I think I walked about 8 miles that day, but it was absolutely worth it to be in the front row of the concert and be so close and to get his autograph and photo after.

Anyway, I’m exhausted so that’s all from me. It looks like this might be my last post, as a week from now I’ll be heading home… However, I may have some fun stories from the SNP Christmas party! Fingers crossed I can get a picture with the First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon…

Cheers,

Kim

This past week I have been exploring the streets of Shanghai. One of my cousins from Mexico recently moved to the city so he has been telling me all the places I must see. Shanghai is truly a state of the art city and I find it to be incredibly fascinating. Shanghai is the most populous city proper in the world with a population of more than 24 million. It is a global financial center and transport hub, with the world’s busiest container port. International attention to Shanghai grew in the 19th century due to European recognition of its economic and trade potential at the Yangtze. During the First Opium War in the mid 1800s, British forces occupied the city.  Britain, France, and the United States all carved out concessions outside the walled city of Shanghai, which was still ruled by the Chinese. Shanghai is now the commercial and financial center of mainland China, in September 2013 the city launched the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free-Trade Zone-the first free-trade zone in mainland China. In the last two decades Shanghai has been one of the fastest developing cities in the world.

Shanghai has an extensive public transport system, largely based on metros, buses and taxis. The metro system currently has 16 lines with an end goal of 21 lines and is the longest network in the world. The city has a rich collection of buildings and structures of various architectural styles. The Shanghai Bund, located by the bank of the Huangpu River, contains a collection of early 20th-century architecture, ranging in style from neoclassical to art deco. The Bund has dozens of historical buildings, lining the Huangpu River, that once housed numerous banks and trading houses from the United Kingdom, France, the United States, Italy, Russia, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, and Belgium, as well as the consulates of Russia and Britain. Across the river, the Shanghai Tower, completed in 2015, is the tallest building in China. As of 2016, it is the world’s second-tallest building by height to architectural top, the world’s tallest building by height to highest usable floor, and the world’s third-tallest structure. The 2,074 feet-tall skyscraper has installed a ground-breaking Mitsubishi elevator that travels at an incredible of 67 ft/s or 3,540 ft per minute – the equivalent of 40.3 mi per hour! The Oriental Pearl Tower is a T.V. tower looking like it belongs in Epcot and is 1,535 ft tall and was completed in 1994. The inner sphere is a recreational palace, while the Municipal History Museum is located in the tower’s pedestal. The large lower sphere has a futuristic space city and a sightseeing hall. From here, on a clear day you can see all the way to the Yangtze River. The base is home to a science fantasy city. The five smaller spheres are a hotel that contains twenty-five elegant rooms and lounges. The pearl at the very top contains shops, restaurants, (including a rotating restaurant) and a sightseeing floor.

Shanghai is a center for innovation and progress, it is really a city that must be put on your list!

魏伊俐 (Wei Yi Li – Elizabeth)

Family and friends.

My cousin from Mexico.

Pudong’s skyline during the day and at night, the Pearl Tower on the left and the Shanghai tower on the right.

The Pearl Tower.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Shanghai Tower.

 

The International Financial District.

The Bund.

The Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center Museum.

 

The centerpiece of the exhibition is a huge scale model of the city of Shanghai, showing all existing and approved buildings.

The map of the metro system on a ceiling in the Exhibition Center.

Felt like home with Hershey’s Chocolate!