{Day 2 - Boston}

Hi!

So, as day two is almost over, I am writing to you from the South Street Diner in Boston, MA. It is a really American movie like looking diner, with great and cheap food 24/7. If you are ever in Boston, definitely check it out!! For more info on the menu or the diner, go to their website: http://southstreetdiner.com/

Today we started the day of in Starbucks, after the coffee at the hostel turned out to be worst than the coffee in Rita, which is hard, but apparently not impossible... So, after having a tall Pike Place Roast and some high speed Internet(perfect start of the morning), we took the subway to MIT, located in Cambridge, just across the river from Boston.

We went on the 11 a.m. campus tour, and our very enthusiastic tourguide told us all about the academics, facilities and student life at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology(MIT, duh). We then had lunch at the student center of MIT, and then walked to Harvard University. At Harvard there were no tours, since it is spring break, so we just walked around, took some pictures and then we went back to the city center. There I bought some postcards and an official Harvard T-shirt :D

At 7.10 p.m. we went to the movie Adjustment Bureau, for $8,- instead of $12,-, a promotion from the hostel. The movie was so-so, it was a typical love story with a happy end and some details about some guy making decisions for everyone. After that we went beck to the hostel, where we had stored our back packs for the day, and we walked to South street diner. I had a Sirloin steak with french fries and a hot chocolate with whipped cream, and David had the breakfast special with ham, eggs and pancakes and, off course, orange juice.

That's it for now, we are catching our bus to Philly at 12.15 a.m., where we are scheduled to arrive at 5.40 a.m. with a busy, but really cool day ahead.

Loves!

{Day 1 - Boston}

Hi!

Sorry for the late update, but the Wi-Fi at the hostel was too slow to upload anything, but now I am chillin' at Starbucks and the internet is great.

At 7.25 a.m. we took the train from Tarrytown to Grand Central, after which we walked to 9th avenue and 33 St., to take the bus to Boston. The bus was scheduled to leave at 9.10 a.m., and with like 10 minutes delay, we left New York City. We were traveling with Megabus, which provides Wi-Fi on the bus, so it wasn’t boring :)
At 1.30 p.m. we arrived in Boston in the South Station. We then walked to 40 Berkeley, our hostel for the night. We left our backpacks there and went walking to the city center. We followed the 2.5 mile long Freedom trail, a red brick line going through Boston past all the important sights in and around the Civil War. I took many, many pictures, so I just made a small selection. We also went to the Bunker Hill Monument, a huge tower where a one of the most famous battle in the Civil War was fought. I made a little video of this part, check it out!

After that we went to north Station, where the official Boston Bruins shop is, but we where there 1 minute too late, the shop had already closed. So we decided to take the “metro” down to the Boston Public library and the Prudential shopping center. Well, the Bostonian metro is like the slowest I have ever been in, but we arrived. The Boston Public Library is a beautiful building on Copley Square, with many elegant details :) Then, we went on to the shops, we bought some food, since we were starving and I bought a few postcards at the Papyrus store.
Then, since we hadn’t slept much last night, and had walked a lot today, we decided to call it a night and headed back to the hostel.
Today are going to MIT and Harvard, and late at night we’ll be boarding the bus to Philadelphia :D
Loves!

{It is heavy}

Hi!

So after saying goodbye to my friend Jenny yesterday(I miss you already), today I focused on my trip. I have planned out the first few days, packed my stuff and tried on my packed back pack. And it is heavy :s But I might survive, and it isn't totally full.

So I am leaving tomorrow on the 7.25 a.m. train from Tarrytown to Grand Central. From there we walk to the bus stop on 9th Avenue between 31st and 33rd Streets, where we take the bus to Boston. We the arrive in Boston at 1.25 p.m., check into the hostel called 40 Berkeley, and want to walk the freedom trail. It leads along all the historical sights of Boston :)

And then for dinner I found this diner that is like over 60 years old, called South Street Diner, so we might go there for dinner. Tomorrow I'll post some pics and let you know how our first day was!

Loves!

{Back pack - Jansport Big Bear 78}

Hi!

Just a quick picture of me & my big, huge back pack. I could have bought a smaller one, although choice was limited, but I was afraid my stuff wouldn't fit in. So now I got a back pack with space of around and about 75 liters :) Well, at least my make-up collection will fit in ;)

Down below is a link for a review, it is supposed to be really good for such a low price(I pay $100 incl. tax :), but I'll let you know while traveling how it is working out.

xx

http://www.backcountry.com/store/review/200047875/Jansport-Big-Bear-78.html

{Term 2 = over}

Hi!

So, as of today 12:50 p.m. EST term two, for me, is over. I have spend nine weeks, 16 hours per week in a classroom and double those hours eating, partying and just chilling with friends.

The core classes this term, were kind of fun, though my electives were more fun. I'll just quickly list the classes I took this term(5 core classes, 3 electives), the amount of hours per week, and my thoughts about the classes.
- Academic writing & grammar(3 hours/week)
This subject was more writing than grammar(thank God), and it was actually kind of fun. Every week we wrote and handed in one essay, and each different week, we wrote a different kind of essay. I have written persuasive, comparative, narrative and cause and effect essays, a personal commentary, a fictional story and lots more. We took one hour per week to explain the kind of essay we were writing and to brainstorm and do some pre-writing. One hour per week for actually writing the essay, and one for revising and handing in the essay.
- Reading(2 hours/week)
I did not enjoy reading at all. Maybe it was the book, maybe the teacher, maybe just me, or a mix of all three. We were reading 1984, a dystopian novel by George Orwell, but as usual with reading books in school: I did not read it. I did however read the first 25 pages, a summary from sparknotes and passed the subject.
- College survival(2 hours/week)
In this class we had a book called "Ethics and college student life" which you should definitely buy! Haha, no not really. The book has some case studies, which we discussed in class, and that was fun. We also kept a journal and wrote twice a week about each topic we talked about in class: sex, drugs and rock 'n roll :)
- Application workshop(1 hour/week)
Instead of the 2 hours in the first term, we only had 1 hour of application workshop this term, and we'll have none next term :( But thank God, Megan is teaching a literature class next term(for which I signed up), so hopefully I'll still have classes with her. As for the subject, it was fun and helpful, just like last term.
- Biology Elective(2 hours/week)
This was a class that I actually hadn't chosen, but I changed into it, since it fitted my schedule best. I am not crazy about biology, but it was fun. I especially enjoyed the last class in which we had a "science fair" where we had to do some experiments in front of our "celeb judges" :)
- Journalism Elective(2 hours/week)
For journalism we wrote 1 article per week, from interviews, to personal commentaries to eyewitness reports. We have published 3 UP times in those 9 weeks, filled with the articles we wrote. I doubt anyone read them, but it was a fun class to do.
- Economics Elective(2 hours/week)
In economics class we mostly revised thing I already knew, but had forgotten over the years. We first did macro economics, then micro. You either love economics or not, so for those who didn't it wasn't all that great, but I loved it. The midterm and the final were thought, but it was a good preparation for university level studies.

Well, overall a positive outcome for my second term at EF New York, following the University Preparation program. Now I have two weeks spring break and I'll be traveling along the east coast and blogging about it, so follow me pls :) As to school, on the 28th of March, term 3 starts, so another 10 weeks of UP and then, on June 7th, I am flying home.

Time flies, but I really am enjoying it.

Loves!

P.S. The pic was taken in D'Espresso, a café on 42nd street, between Park and Madison :)

{University of Chicago}

Hi!

So here's part 2 of my posts on the universities I applied to. Today I'm gonna talk about the University of Chicago. As the name implies, it is located in Chicago, Illinois. It has an urban campus of 211 acres, and has around 5.000 undergraduate and 10.000 graduate students.

The University of Chicago was established in 1890 by the American Baptist Education Society, with a donation from John D. Rockefeller. The first classes were held in 1892. The university has more than 2.200 faculty members, and 85 Nobel prize winners are affiliated with UChicago, of which 8 are current staff members.

And, again, I haven't been to the University of Chicago, but I have been to Chicago. Eh, 4 years ago. They call it the windy city, and they are right. It is cold and windy, but it's also a beautiful city, with subways above the streets and, as I remember, a huge bookstore :)

For more info: http://www.uchicago.edu/

That's all for now,

talk to you later!

{Last week of the term}

Hi!

So my birthday has come and gone, and I got some more wrinkles :P

No, not really. My birthday was fun. I had Birthday songs is five different languages, one brownie and two birthday cakes, a singing card form my sister Mariska(thanks for that one, it's hilarious) and loads and loads of happy birthday messages :D

Then this weekend I went o manhattan with Jenny, Kadda and Regina :) We went to a café on 42nd street that looks like a library. Then we took the subway down to Battery Park, then to Brooklyn, where I bought two dresses in a vintage store(I'll upload pics later). After that we went back to Fifth avenue and back to T-town.

Loves!