Feb. 2—late night after the first day
I saw and experienced much of the city today. I saw my campus. It is EXTREMELY small, literally two buildings. It is a little different than UW….ha.
Lets see…I got a good feel for the bus system, which I will be using. I can buy a pack of 10 tickets for 5 euro. During the day the buses are crowded. Thessaloniki is FULL of shops selling everything. I had a fantastic gyro with Paul and Chaz. They put the French fries and ketchup right in the pita. It was great. Paul was here last semester and is pretty much our guide and such a nice guy. He is willing to help anyone out. Chaz is from UNC-Charlotte, a soccer player, slight southern accent and really nice guy.
So about 15 of us went to dinner in downtown thessaloniki. It was amazing. Simply said. It is how I was told the greeks do it. We had dolmades(stuffed grape leaves), fried mushrooms, salad, bread, soulvaki(shish-ka-bob), sausage and fries and red wine, family style all the way. We sat in an enclosed outdoor seating area, watching greeters try and smooze passer-bys into the restaurant. There were 4 restaurants that created kind of an intersection of traffic, therefore with 4 men trying to convince others to enter the restaurants. Our guy did it with great efficiency. He managed to fill tables, then sit on a stool outside and sip wine while the others struggled. We chose the right place. I figure that is a good way to tell what restaurant to go to. Go to the one that doesn’t have an orator spitting its greatness. Also got to watch a street performer right outside our seating area. He spit and swallowed fired then did a hand stand on three chairs stacked on each other. He made it so simple but thinking about that feat is just insane.
Went to the supermarket to see what they had to offer. To be honest with you, it was a beer run. I bought 6 different bears, one each, to try…ended up only trying one tonight.
I am excited to try and learn what Greek I can. It is a great feeling seeing a greek person’s face light up when they see you as an American attempt their language…it’s a look of surprise and gratefulness. I have had so very few of these occurrences but I hope for more. My word of today is pronounced “sig-no-me”. It means “excuse me” or “sorry”.
Paul, Chaz and I watched 3 episodes of “The Office”. The show is simply hilarious and it brought me home for a little over an hour. I would always watch The Office with taylor and Courtney…good great times and I miss them dearly.
Find myself writing again right before I go to sleep(2:30 AM)…again things just go later here in Greece but I find myself somewhat awake. I miss home dearly at night. Nighttime is the time to be with the people closest to me…hanging with beautiful Courtney, watching the basketball games with the family back home or niptuck with tay, mart and courtney, watching movies or playing video games with the roommates…just being around people I love. I miss you all dearly.
Tom. (paul, chaz, me and two other students who just arrived) plan on going to the huge open market that is held on Saturdays. There, I am told we can get anything. Chaz needs to buy soccer shoes so we will try and do that tom. 20 or so new students are arriving so I will be attempting to get to know them. It will all be crazy. And I hope to find internet and call home. I miss home and everything that has to do with it…but today made me feel more comfortable. As days go by, it will be easier. Have a good one ya’ll.
Darwin
p.s….zurich was amazing. The city is absolutely beautiful. The coffee is great. I had two cups at two different cafes. I had a meal of vegetables with cream sauce over what essentially were really buttered hash browns. The restaurant was in the university district and the waitress spoke English. She was very gracious and helpful. A trio of students also ate a meal and chained smoked through out it. What is up with that.
The city was absolutely beautiful. The airport and the train station cannot be given justice with words. They were enormous and beautiful. There were no huge skyscrapers in the city….just old beautiful buildings. Trams filed through the city streets. I hobbled onto a cobblestone area that rose up and down creating this beautifully multi-elevated, village like, shopping area. I felt like I was in Europe….lame as that is.
I walked forever with my heavy backpack on. I think I seriously walked too much and injured my legs. They still hurt today. I just wanted to see so much.
The language barrier was so frustrating. It always will be. Even though most people speak English…I hate to have to ask them if they do…I find myself feeling very bad about doing so…I am in their country and should speak their language. This timidness makes communication rough
The layover was very long and I think I got done what I wanted to accomplish….try swiss coffee, food and beer, shop(bought a green shirt from H&M because I did not pack another shirt on my carry on), see the city, watch people, ride on the eurail, see the alps. It was a successful layover. I could not ask for a better start to my trip…except for somebody to share in the experiences with.
I saw and experienced much of the city today. I saw my campus. It is EXTREMELY small, literally two buildings. It is a little different than UW….ha.
Lets see…I got a good feel for the bus system, which I will be using. I can buy a pack of 10 tickets for 5 euro. During the day the buses are crowded. Thessaloniki is FULL of shops selling everything. I had a fantastic gyro with Paul and Chaz. They put the French fries and ketchup right in the pita. It was great. Paul was here last semester and is pretty much our guide and such a nice guy. He is willing to help anyone out. Chaz is from UNC-Charlotte, a soccer player, slight southern accent and really nice guy.
So about 15 of us went to dinner in downtown thessaloniki. It was amazing. Simply said. It is how I was told the greeks do it. We had dolmades(stuffed grape leaves), fried mushrooms, salad, bread, soulvaki(shish-ka-bob), sausage and fries and red wine, family style all the way. We sat in an enclosed outdoor seating area, watching greeters try and smooze passer-bys into the restaurant. There were 4 restaurants that created kind of an intersection of traffic, therefore with 4 men trying to convince others to enter the restaurants. Our guy did it with great efficiency. He managed to fill tables, then sit on a stool outside and sip wine while the others struggled. We chose the right place. I figure that is a good way to tell what restaurant to go to. Go to the one that doesn’t have an orator spitting its greatness. Also got to watch a street performer right outside our seating area. He spit and swallowed fired then did a hand stand on three chairs stacked on each other. He made it so simple but thinking about that feat is just insane.
Went to the supermarket to see what they had to offer. To be honest with you, it was a beer run. I bought 6 different bears, one each, to try…ended up only trying one tonight.
I am excited to try and learn what Greek I can. It is a great feeling seeing a greek person’s face light up when they see you as an American attempt their language…it’s a look of surprise and gratefulness. I have had so very few of these occurrences but I hope for more. My word of today is pronounced “sig-no-me”. It means “excuse me” or “sorry”.
Paul, Chaz and I watched 3 episodes of “The Office”. The show is simply hilarious and it brought me home for a little over an hour. I would always watch The Office with taylor and Courtney…good great times and I miss them dearly.
Find myself writing again right before I go to sleep(2:30 AM)…again things just go later here in Greece but I find myself somewhat awake. I miss home dearly at night. Nighttime is the time to be with the people closest to me…hanging with beautiful Courtney, watching the basketball games with the family back home or niptuck with tay, mart and courtney, watching movies or playing video games with the roommates…just being around people I love. I miss you all dearly.
Tom. (paul, chaz, me and two other students who just arrived) plan on going to the huge open market that is held on Saturdays. There, I am told we can get anything. Chaz needs to buy soccer shoes so we will try and do that tom. 20 or so new students are arriving so I will be attempting to get to know them. It will all be crazy. And I hope to find internet and call home. I miss home and everything that has to do with it…but today made me feel more comfortable. As days go by, it will be easier. Have a good one ya’ll.
Darwin
p.s….zurich was amazing. The city is absolutely beautiful. The coffee is great. I had two cups at two different cafes. I had a meal of vegetables with cream sauce over what essentially were really buttered hash browns. The restaurant was in the university district and the waitress spoke English. She was very gracious and helpful. A trio of students also ate a meal and chained smoked through out it. What is up with that.
The city was absolutely beautiful. The airport and the train station cannot be given justice with words. They were enormous and beautiful. There were no huge skyscrapers in the city….just old beautiful buildings. Trams filed through the city streets. I hobbled onto a cobblestone area that rose up and down creating this beautifully multi-elevated, village like, shopping area. I felt like I was in Europe….lame as that is.
I walked forever with my heavy backpack on. I think I seriously walked too much and injured my legs. They still hurt today. I just wanted to see so much.
The language barrier was so frustrating. It always will be. Even though most people speak English…I hate to have to ask them if they do…I find myself feeling very bad about doing so…I am in their country and should speak their language. This timidness makes communication rough
The layover was very long and I think I got done what I wanted to accomplish….try swiss coffee, food and beer, shop(bought a green shirt from H&M because I did not pack another shirt on my carry on), see the city, watch people, ride on the eurail, see the alps. It was a successful layover. I could not ask for a better start to my trip…except for somebody to share in the experiences with.
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