keepin on

i guess you could say im in the groove right now. the weeks are flying by because we are always working for a deadline and as soon as we meet that deadline there are three other things that need to be finished the day after. our bathhouse project is coming along, it has developed and changed quite a bit from our original design, but i like where its going but there is still a lot more to do and now the real tensions happen in our group when we have to decide the finishing details (colors, materials, sizes, etc.) all of which are very subjective opinions and its hard to make compromises with three people, but it will be done and then next semester i'll have an individual project, which will be fun too. there has been a strike here for about a week, the people who work for the transit authority are striking which means is a pain to get anywhere and its inconveniencing everyone. Also the students are on strike right now, no school, because they dont have to pay for ANY school (even college) and now the new president is suggesting that they pay SOME for school and they refuse, so they are striking until the government drops this bill, so who knows how long that will last. and today is national strike day, everyone who works for the government (i.e. librarians, teachers, government secretaries, and even doctors) are not working! its ridiculous , im all for people trying to improve their situations, but the french do it every year and they dont care who they affect by doing so.

Back From Trip Two

I'm glad to be "home" after being gone for 11 days sleeping in random beds in strange towns, i can't imagine how nice its going to be when i actually get home. But the time spent on my second sketching trip was amazing. I went with my roommate Charlie and friend Liz to Brussels in Belgium, a very historic city known for its beer and chocolate which lived up to its reputation. Then afterwards we went to Amsterdam in Holland, which was the most overwhelming city i have ever been to. A city of "vice", prostitution and many drugs are legal and both of which are displayed everywhere in the center of the city, the red light district, which was where our hostel was (it was the cheapest place we could find). The city was great though, one of my favorite on the trip because Amsterdam is divided by a system of canals and like Venice, Italy is built on somewhat of a swamp, so all the buildings have a slant to them, and outside of the city are lots of really cool contemporary apartment buildings. After Amsterdam we went to Cologne, Germany, which was ok, not the best but i really liked the food there (very traditional German) and the Dom (the largest church i have ever seen), then we took a day trip to Aachen, Germany and saw a really cool Church there (the Palatine Chapel at Aachen) and then went to the second largest port city in Europe, Hamburg, Germany (also the farthest north i have ever been), which was an interesting city. There wasn't much to do there in the way of touristy things, but Hamburg has a really cool music scene and most of the population is my age so i felt pretty comfortable there. Then we went to Berlin, Germany, by far my favorite city thus far in Europe. Berlin was at the center of WWII and the communist east/west Berlin conflict that ended not too long ago, so there is a lot of history there as well as rebuilding after the devastation of WWII. So it was great to come home and sleep in my bed, but i got to meet some interesting people (a girl from turkey, a guy from the states and another from canada, some aussies, two girls from manchester england, two others from spain, and some really loud snoring turkish guys) and we saw some really awesome places. looking forward to traveling again in febuary.

French Video Two