Settling into the Big D

Hello friends,

It has been a month since we have moved into our apartment. Here is a quick update on what we have been up to. I will try to update in more detail as soon as possible.

• We moved into our new apartment. It's in a great location, with everything we could possibly want or need close to us. 
• I started a new job. Monday will be my fourth week. I work for a public relations company, but my boss is also launching a new high-end perfume and candle fragrance line in October so I have been designing the boxes and bottles and working on the website. I have also been doing a lot of social media to try to get people excited about the brand. 
• Chris and I have moved my travel blog to its own domain. You can now find it at www.pinkvalise.com. It was a lot of work to make the transition, but it has been worth it. I love the new layout and I still enjoy writing for it every week. 
• I still write for the Examiner. You can find all of my articles at http://exm.nr/lQ6gGe. I would really appreciate it if you would look as I get a little bit of pocket change in return for each page view. 
• Next week is our "super week"- our birthdays and anniversary. I have been working hard to make it special for Christopher since he will be starting medical school in four weeks. [He doesn't like to hear that.]

I hope everyone is doing well and I will try to update in more detail in the future. 

With love, 

Olga 

Living in Limbo

Chris and I have been living with his parents while we wait to move into our apartment in Dallas. It has been nice to get to spend time with them.

Chris and I have also been able to spend more time than usual with each other. It has been so nice to just be able to hang out and watch TV together, especially since that time will be hard to find with Chris starting medical school in the fall.

Other than that, I have been writing a lot. I still update three times a week on my travel blog, pinkvalise.blogspot.com and have recently started writing for the Examiner. On the Examiner, I get paid per page view on each article so I would really appreciate it if you had a look.

My examiner page-http://exm.nr/lQ6gGe

My latest article about Paris-http://exm.nr/krP5jD

We are moving to our apartment tomorrow so I will post some pictures when it is ready.

Love,
Olga

Back in the United States: Reverse Culture Shock

I have always thought that reverse culture shock was a funny term. Surely three months in Europe wouldn't make me forget about what life in the United States was like. Boy was I wrong.

After not sleeping for 48 hours, my exhausted state found being back in the United States strange. On the way to the parking garage in the airport, I even commented, "Wow, everyone speaks English here."

On the way back to Texas!

In the spirit of being back in the United States, I have created a list of things that made me excited when I got back to America.

You know you have been in Europe for three months when:

• You are excited to get free refills.
• You are amazed by the size of drinks at restaurants.
• You always want to ask how much it costs to go to the bathroom.
• You are so excited to eat Tex-Mex and Texas barbecue. 
• You don't have to ask if someone speaks English.
• You drive, even if a place is 200 yards away. (I almost just put meters here. There is obviously still a lot of Europe in me.) 
• You are surprised when a stranger smiles at you. 
• Your back is still hurting from the 40-pound backpack you carried around for months.
• You want to take a day trip to another country for a few hours but realize Mexico is too far away.
• You feel like you can buy a cup of coffee at Starbucks without breaking the bank.

I am currently working on editing my photographs and will have more blog entries about various cities on the way. I am also working on a new travel blog project, called pinkvalise. [pinkvalise.blogspot.com] I am going to work on it over the weekend and hopefully start updating regularly starting Monday. 

We had been awake for over 48 hours here. On our way to Itasca from the airport.

Living Like Kings: Potsdam and Cologne

Hello friends and family,

I unfortunately have not been the best blogger this week. School got really busy so I have been trying to focus on that. [Hopefully sometime in the next few weeks, I can write a blog entry about my classes.]

Since I am so behind on weekend trips, I decided to write a quick blog about our days in Potsdam and Cologne.

 We went to Potsdam to see some Kaiser palaces. They were huge and gorgeous. [profound statement, I know.]The kitchen, which was a separate building, was as big as most peoples' houses. I will have the buildings speak for themselves:

Schloss Sanssouci- where Frederick the Great lived.

The New Palace (Also Frederick the Great)

Cecilienhof, where the Potsdam Conference with Stalin, Churchill and Truman was held at the end of World War II.

After Potsdam, we headed over to Koln (Cologne). Right outside the train station is the Kolner Dom, which looks huge and incredibly intimidating at night. 

The next day, we went back to the Kolner Dom and got to see the inside for free because it was a Sunday! (Free is a very exciting thing in Europe, where everything is incredibly expensive.) The inside was beautiful, with many stained glass windows. 

Next, we went to the Lindt chocolate factory and museum. The factory part was really interesting to look at, especially the chocolate truffles (some of my favorite chocolate.) 

The chocolate truffle machine 

With Kinder eggs! I grew up eating those.

Well, that's pretty much it for Potsdam and Cologne. I will hopefully be able to write a few good entries about Paris when I get back from our weekend trip. Tomorrow, we leave for Munich and Salzburg. So excited to see  Neuschwanstein Castle!

Love you all!

Olga 

Herzogenrath-August-Schmidt-Platz: Our Journey to Berlin.

Well, it was bound to happen. For us, it was sooner rather than later.

We got on the wrong train.

This weekend, 10 of us decided to take a trip to Berlin and Koln (Cologne). Everything went smoothly until the third train change. We had about 45 minutes to wait between trains, and our train was late.

The local train ended up coming a minute before our train so we accidentally got on the wrong train, which took us to...Herzogenrath-August-Schmidt-Platz. Jonathan knew a little German (enough to ask, do you speak English?) so we found a nice lady at the grocery store near the train station who told us the local train we got on makes a loop and would be back at the station in about 30 minutes. So we were stuck waiting for this train to loop back around in this random sketchy city in Germany. We had to call Melissa Bilbro (one of the Baylor assistants) to figure out which connections to make to get to Berlin.

Four hours later, after midnight, we made it to Berlin. We were all incredibly exhausted at this point so we went to the taxi line to get a ride to our hostel. The taxi driver told us the hostel was "200 meters to the right" so he said it would be easier to walk.

So we walked. and walked. and kept on walking. We ended up stopping at another hotel to find out where we were. We found out that the taxi driver was very wrong. The hostel was over a mile and a half away. We finally got to the hostel around one in the morning. Check in took a long time so we all passed out once we got to the room.

Berlin itself was incredibly interesting. I will write a post about everything we did in Berlin tomorrow.

Sic 'Em Berlin!

Love you all,
Olga

Warning: Things are Farther Than They Appear

In The Netherlands, if someone tells you that the place you are going is "quite a walk," expect to be walking for a few hours. That's a lesson we learned while walking to the catacombs in the city of Valkenburg (about 30 minutes by bus from Maastricht). 

On Friday and Saturday, we had our Maastricht University orientation. This consisted of a walking tour of Maastricht, a few meetings about rules and activities, and a walk to the various university buildings. Since Maastricht University is only 35 years old, its buildings are scattered all around town.

On Saturday, we visited the Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial. Seeing all of those crosses in a row is overwhelming. The stories our tour guide told us were depressing, but it was still fascinating to hear about the history.

Afterward, we headed to Valkenburg aan de Geul to explore the city and visit the catacombs. It's such a cute little city, though it was heavily bombed during the war.

The catacombs were dark and humid. We had to use candles to walk around. This catacomb was just a replica of the ones in Rome [so no dead people!] but it did have some of the frescos that were in the original catacombs. While in the catacombs, the guide made us blow out our candles and walk around the tunnels for a few minutes. It really showed us how precious sight is, and how difficult it is to be blind. Our tour guide said that in order to be a tour guide, he was given two hours to navigate in the pitch black from the entrance to the exit of the catacombs. Definitely sounds unpleasant, especially since there are bats.

Chris and I in the catacombs 

In Valkenburg

When we got back, we planned our next weekend trip. We are going to Berlin for two days and Cologne for one day. We thought about going to Munich, but we decided it would be too far for our first trip. Everything looks so close on the map but some of it is definitely a long train ride. We are going in a group of 10. We started out as a group of five, and people kept joining. It should be entertaining with such a large group. At least it made hostels cheaper!

Last night, we went out for the first time in Maastricht. We headed to Highlander, a place where a lot of people hang out. More than half of the Maastricht group ended up showing up so we had a lot of fun dancing and hanging out with everyone. 

Today, we met up with some friends and went to find a place to eat lunch. We ended up at a restaurant that is famous for fries. It was fairly cheap (5 euros for a meal and 2 for a drink) so it was nice!

Jonathan, Misbah, and I at lunch 

Tomorrow, we start our first day of classes at Maastricht University. I will try to post tomorrow to talk about what they're like. 

For now, goodnight friends and family. Love you all. 

Olga

Mind The Gap: Our Adventures in London

Hello friends, 

I am going to try to keep this as brief as I can since it is past midnight here in Maastricht. London was amazing. I loved navigating the tube, talking to Londoners, and exploring the beautiful architecture in the city.

Some highlights of our trip were:

1) Seeing Wicked! I have seen many musicals in my life, and this one was by far the best. The singing was phenomenal, and I absolutely loved the story. Plus, we had amazing seats that were originally 90 pounds. I could go on and on about how great this experience was.

2) Bath. I loved everything about the city. The Roman baths were so fascinating, the Bath Abbey was gorgeous, and we found a great patisserie for lunch! I could definitely live in Bath.

Chris at the Roman Baths

Me at the Roman Baths

3) Going to an organ concert at the Westminster Abbey. To be honest, we were all a little tired when we went to the concert and had to leave early so we wouldn't fall asleep, but it was still a lot of fun to attend a cultural event.

4) The jewelry at the Victoria and Albert Museum. It was magnificent. I wouldn't mind having that collection! Haha.

5) The Twinings Store! I had so much fun looking at all of the tea and bought a ton to bring home with me.

6) The English countryside. I was never bored on the bus ride from London to Stonehenge and Bath because the English countryside is so beautiful. Here is a photo so you can get an idea:

Things that surprised me while in England:

1) I don't know if this is just a matter of timing, but we seemed to hear just as many people speaking French as English. I guess maybe a lot of people from France visit since it is so close?

2) How quick the tube is, especially compared to New York City. I love the London tube. It is so efficient.

3) Our amazing breakfast. Our hotel had a huge breakfast buffet, definitely the best I have ever had for free. It was glorious.

4) I LOVED fish and chips. This surprised me because I don't really like fish, French fries, or anything fried.

5) We actually had two beautiful days with no rain and blue skies while in London. The sun even came out while we were at Stonehenge, though it was raining by the time we got to Bath.

6) I learned that the city of London is only one square mile. Most of the famous sites are actually in Westminster.

Things I wasn't crazy about:

1) The London Eye. I guess maybe because everyone talked it out to be amazing. I just didn't think it was worth the money. The free 4D experience show that came with it was almost cooler than the actual ride.

2) Our hotel location. It wasn't anywhere near the big sites. Hence, I grew to love the tube.

3) Billy Elliot. This was the musical we all saw as a group. The little boy's dancing was amazing. That is just about the only good thing I can say. To give you an idea, the plot is that a little boy decides he prefers ballet to boxing.

Some quintessential London tourist pictures for our families to see:

At the Tower Bridge

Chris with the Tower Bridge

Us at Stonehenge. It was really neat to see it!

In front of Big Ben

Chris and Big Ben

Westminster Abbey

Me in front of Westminster Abbey

We got back yesterday and had orientation most of the day today. I will try to write about it tomorrow when the rest of orientation is over. Other than that, we are planning our first weekend trip for next weekend. As of now, we are planning on going to Berlin with a stop in Cologne. 

Love, 

Olga

Note to Self: Learn Dutch

Hello friends,

I just woke up in the middle of the night to finish packing for London, but I wanted to write a quick note to say that Chris and I have made it to beautiful Maastricht after about 14 hours of travel.

Here are a few quick observations about Maastricht and The Netherlands from my first few hours here:

1) The Dutch language really loves double letters. Chris spent the bus on the way to Maastricht counting the number of road signs without double letters. There weren't that many.

2) The Dutch idea of a "short walk" and the American idea of a "short walk" is very different. I love to walk places so it is not a problem, but the experience of walking 10 minutes with bags full of groceries will definitely be interesting.

3) Speaking of grocery stores, we went on a "practical shopping tour" this afternoon, and the place we went to was kinda like an HEB and the dollar store meets the mall. It was huge with two super markets and lots of random stores. My friends who had been to Maastricht told me that you have to bag your own groceries and bring your own bags, (you can pay 22 euro cents per bag if you want one there) but it was still an interesting experience. You have to bag them really quickly since they are already checking out someone else while you are bagging.

4) When they said that The Netherlands has more bikes per capita than any other country in the world, they weren't kidding. There are bikes EVERYWHERE. I will take a few pictures of their bike racks so that y'all can get a better idea. Apparently, the cars stop for you as a pedestrian, but the bikes don't. [sounds a lot like Baylor.]

5) Speaking of cars, all the cars here are tiny, which is interesting because Dutch people, in general, are tall. Chris told me that The Netherlands has the tallest average height in the world. Gas is really expensive though so I am guessing the tiny cars get more miles per gallon.

6) There are signs everywhere that says "100% Bop. 0% Op." I tried to google it, and it looks like an anti-drinking campaign, possibly? Everything was in Dutch so I am not entirely sure.

7) Our dorms are nice. Way bigger than I expected, and there is a stovetop.

Outline of our day:

We arrived in Amsterdam at 8 in the morning and got on a bus to Maastricht. On the way there, we stopped at the Dutch equivalent of a rest stop restaurant, but it was a slightly different experience. The food was all set out, and you could just grab whatever you wanted and head to the cashier. The problem was that everything was in Dutch, and none of the food looked familiar. Chris stuck with a sandwich because he knew what it was. I got what I thought was a pecan strudel but actually turned out to be a very good meat pie.

When we arrived to Maastricht, we validated our EurRail passes, and then it was on to Teikyo. Our dorm is interesting because it is a combination of an emergency clinic and a dorm. The bottom level has doctors offices and patient rooms, and a separate wing has dorm rooms. After we got our rooms, we went on the practical shopping tour. Chris and I bought a few essentials to hold us over until we return from London. After shopping, we unpacked and then went to dinner, where we had potatoes and chicken, which was delicious.

I passed out after dinner, but Chris went to go get our internet set up. Apparently, if you think AirBear is bad, UniMaas is way more difficult because even with help, it took an hour to get our internet set up.

I already love Maastricht. Dutch people are so nice (and I love their accents when they speak English!) I love the architecture, and the weather today was wonderful.

I will post some photos of our home for the next three months once we are back from London.

Love from The Netherlands,
Olga

In Six Days, Europe is My Playground.

Six days.

In less than a week from today, I will be on a plane to Amsterdam.

I still don’t have much packed. Pretty much wishing my suitcases would pack themselves.

For those who aren’t familiar with the Baylor in Maastricht program, Maastricht is a city in the southern tip of the Netherlands, about 30 minutes from Belgium to the west and close to Germany to the east. Our program includes a EurRail pass, which allows for train travel around Europe. We only go to school from Feb. 7 to Mar. 31, with a weeklong break for Carnival. We also don’t have classes on Fridays so we can travel during our three-day weekends.

The pink dot is Maastricht, my future home for three months!

I can’t wait to explore Europe. I have been yearning to go back to Europe since I moved to the United States. I love everything about it — the public transportation, the slower pace of life, the absolutely gorgeous cities.

Everyone keeps asking me for a detailed itinerary for my trip. Truth is, I don’t really care. I just want to explore. I want to complete immerse myself in the culture. I know I want to go back to Switzerland. It was my favorite country that I have visited, and I still remember it clearly, even though the last time I was there, I was only six.

I know I want to see Paris, visit my aunt in Poland, visit Kim in Belgium and explore Italy. Other than that, who knows? For once in my life, I am extremely excited about not having plans. I can’t wait to make Europe my playground.  

Hello World!

One of my new years resolutions is to write more so today, I started two (yes, two) new blogs. This is going to be my personal blog, and pinkvalise.blogspot.com is going to be my travel rating blog.

This year is full of changes: I am studying abroad in the Netherlands for my final semester of college, and my husband and I are moving to Dallas once we graduate from Baylor University.

This is for friends and relatives to keep up with Chris and me while we are in the Netherlands and beyond.

For those who don't know me, here are a few things to take into account if you decide to read on:

I was born in Siberia- in Yakutsk, also known as the coldest habitable city in the world. I also lived in Kaliningrad, Russia. Russia is a huge part of who I am.

I live in Waco, Texas. I grew up in Plano, also known as the places where the heat sometimes makes me feel like a puddle.

I absolutely love the Lakers. I have ever since I moved here. I talk about them. a lot. I also love other sports, mostly college football and college basketball. I root for the Baylor Bears, my university, which can get interesting sometimes.

To explain my blog name, my initials were OMG before I got married so now I am OMG with a Ball added. :)

My husband Christopher of a year and a half is entertaining. Once, he broke our window by falling out of our bed. Life is never boring with him around.

I absolutely love to travel. I speak French and Russian fluently. I love people and love to immerse myself in different cultures.

I love writing and photography. I am still learning about photography and am not very good, but I will probably post some of my travel pictures on here for people to see.

I leave for the Netherlands on January 21st and will be there for 90 days. Included in the trip is a EurRail pass so I absolutely can't wait to explore Europe.

This blog is to document my next adventure.

Love,
Olga