Lake Ontario

I've seen some impressive sights on this trip. I've seen Niagara Falls, been up the highest freestanding structure in the world, and I've seen 2 of the Great Lakes. Michigan and Ontario, and I've crossed the Mississippi River.


Here's a picture of Lake Ontario from the CN Tower. To the left you can see Toronto City airport!

On Thursday I'm going to take Amtrak to Washington DC and stay over at the Youth Hostel. I would like to see the National Archives, as its where they keep the Declaration of Independence and other interesting documents. And best of all, all the museums in Washington are free. Should be a good trip, I'm looking forward to it. Weather is still very hot here.

Trip to Canada

Its been over a week since I got back from Canada. I had a fantastic time there.







I went to Niagara Falls and to Toronto and to the highest man made observation deck in the world, at the top of the CN Tower.

The weather was pretty good the day I went to Niagara, it was warm but cloudy, so the sun wasn't baking hot, but we didn't mind getting wet from the spray!

The bottom picture is at John's workshop. I stayed with John and Maureen in Keswick, Ontario, Canada. The middle picture is Patrick who works for John and who took me to these interesting places and did an excellent job of showing me Toronto, and behind him the view of Toronto from the top deck.
The top picture is me getting very wet from the spray from Niagara Falls and because it was so cloudy, earlier in the day there was so much spray, there were no falls to see.
It eventually cleared up, and we went on the "Maid of the Mist", the boat that takes you right in to the middle of the falls. Its true what they say though, they are better from the Canadian side, and the Horseshoe Falls, also known as the Canadian Falls are more impressive.

Toronto is a really nice city, Keswick is on Lake Simcoe, and its very pretty and it does remind me of our own Keswick. I had a really good time in Canada and met lots of nice people. Thank you very much for a great experience!

Final views of Milwaukee

I was able to take some really good pictures of Lake Michigan as I flew out of Milwaukee Airport. This is John and Jodi, my American Family. They really helped me survive my last weeks in Milwaukee. I was sad to say goodbye to them, but I hope we will meet again soon.

Leaving Milwaukee

Milwaukee is where both Harley Davidson and Miller Beer were first made. I visited both factories in my last week in Milwaukee.

On the Miller tour, we saw an introductory video and then some of the factory. There is a huge area for storage, but it is emptied and replaced on a daily basis. They make Miller Light, Miller Genuine Draft (MGD) Milwaukee's Best and Miller High Life and also Foster's and a few others.
We were taken to their own pub, where they served 3 free samples if you are over 21. I'm not 21 for another 3 months, so I had Sprite. The picture above is the entrance to the Miller Inn.

Milwaukee's baseball team are known as the Brewers and Milwaukee is sometimes refered to as Brew City. As well as Frederick Miller, there was also a number of others who started brewing in Milwaukee. Frederick Pabst was another brewer who started in Milwaukee. I also visited the house that he built and retired to. This is a large victorian mansion currently being refurbished and returned to its original state and is open to the public. This is where John works, he is senior historian at the Pabst Mansion, so I got a very good guided tour.

On the Harley Davidson tour you weren't allowed cameras, but there were a few bikes that you were allowed to have your picture taken on. See the picture above. This was also a very interesting tour. Mr Harley and 3 Mr Davidsons began their manufacture in a shed originally on Juneau Ave, where the company still has offices, but the factory has relocated Wauwatosa, on the outskirts of Milwaukee.

Both very interesting tours of great American industry.

Last Days in Milwaukee

Here is a very strange thing. I went to see The Da Vinci Code the day it opened. And I had only just found out that it was directed by Ron Howard (otherwise known as Richie Cunningham from Happy Days). Happy Days was originally set and filmed in Milwaukee. I've been told that Leon's Frozen Custard was part of the original set, before they moved to Hollywood.

How strange that I go to see a Ron Howard movie around the corner from Leon's Frozen Custard, in the home town of Happy Days.

Almost finished

This afternoon I took some time out of my crazy schedule of work to go to the leaving 'reception' for the International and Exchange students. They presented us with a souvenir of our stay, a certificate in a smart cover. Its a really nice idea and it means that I will have something impressive to take to interviews and show for my semester studying abroad. I finally feel that I am getting things done here. It has been a crazy two weeks and its not over yet. One more week of craziness to go and then everyone will be gone. And I just don't know what I'm going to do with myself when people have left and I don't have any classes to go to. By then it will be time to pack up and get ready to leave. I have enjoyed it here so much that I don't want to leave. I want to come home, but I really like it here. I am however looking forward to spending sometime travelling. Will keep you all updated.

More Blogging

Here is something that I've been working on for a class. I've just started writing a new Blog. This is for the American Politics class. In most states in this country the "morning after pill" is not available over the counter. So I wrote a 'position paper' about this issue and we have to follow it up with some political action. I tried to actually create my own website and upload it without using Blogger, as I already have this one, I felt that it would be too easy and so I tried to do something different. Due to technical difficulties so far and not knowing very much at all about writing html and websites, I have not managed this yet. I intend to keep trying. All help gratefully received. So I have taken the easy route for now and created a new Blog. See this at:

www.emergencycontraception225.blogspot.com

I'm taking quite a strange combination of classes here and its funny how they all seem to link to each other somehow. In my specialist writing class, we are doing some PR work for a Milwaukee non profit organisation called Rosalie Manor. They work to try to reduce the teen preganacy rate in Milwaukee (its the 2nd highest in the 50 largest cities in the nation). However in order to be able to get federal funding, they must be abstinence based and not promote contraception at all.

Also as part of my political activity, I have written an article for the school newspaper, the Alverno Alpha. This is out on Friday, and I am quite nervous as it will be my first published work. (Unless this counts?)

Less than a month left at Alverno

I have just less than a month left here at Alverno and I will be home in two months time. Two months yesterday I will be landing at Heathrow, and then back to Newcastle.The time here has flown. I've learned so much and met so many nice people and made lots of new friends.
I finally met my "American Family"! Jodi Eastberg who teaches history here at Alverno and her husband John. They took me out for dinner to a Mexican restaurant and we had a really nice evening. It was a nice break from all this work I have to do in the last 2 weeks of classes.

Easter weekend in Iowa

I did some more travelling this Easter weekend, my room mate Missy took me home with her. We visited her sister in Rochester, Minnesota and then on to her parents' in Humboldt, Iowa. Its a good long drive, believe me!
While in Minnesota, we visited Mall of America which is not the largest in the US, but it is one of them. (King of Prussia actually has more shops!)


On Friday we drove from Minnesota to Iowa. Missy's family are all lovely and they gave me a good tour of their town. On Saturday they took me to a farm to see some cows and some Iowa hogs!

Every where we went Missy met people she knew, smalltown syndrome I guess, everyone knows everyone. But it was fun to see all these places and meet new people.

The weather was pretty impressive and worth mentioning that night. We had a thunderstorm and other places in Iowa had tornadoes. Thats why they call it Tornado Alley! And we watched the movie "Twister"! Pretty scary, and some of that movie was filmed in Iowa.

I also had my first Dairy Queen "Blizzard". That was good, it was delicious.

On Easter Sunday we had a "traditional" Sunday lunch, american style. All fairly similar to what we would have, but done differently.


Monday was driving day and it took us 6 hours to drive back to Alverno. Arrived back tired but refreshed. Have lots more work ahead and not much time left to finish it all. Only a month left here!

Missing Home

I've now been away from home for the longest time ever. Even when I'm in Chester, at Uni, I haven't been away for as long as this. And Yes, I'm missing you all, so send me some pictures of yourselves. Thanks if you already have. Send more.

But Newcastle is such a beautiful place and I do miss green fields, beaches and blue sea.

Hasties, Bloomies, Marie etc: I have found a good website for local photographs... Its Steven's family friend ( I think). I found it by accident (although I did know it was there somewhere) but the photographs are excellent.

http://www.monkchester.co.uk/

So while I'm here in industrial Milwaukee, I'm looking for pictures of home and missing all that greenery. I think sometimes we forget how green it is until we live somewhere like this.
The picture is just a quick snap out of the train window as we left Milwaukee on the way to Chicago. Anyway, Its been a week since we went to see Coldplay, which was very good, I had a good time. Here's a pic from the Coldplay concert.

Today I went for a walk, I've had a fairly uneventful week, until last night, when we had a fire drill at 2am. So it was time to go and stand outside in the snow. yet again, more snow and it doesn't last. It has snowed so much with just a little bit, and it will stay for a little while and then melt again. So far I haven't really seen large amounts of snow, and as the winter has been apparently so mild, since I got here, I don't actually think that I will get to see huge amounts before I leave. Strangely enough, I think this year there has been more ( or as much) snow in the UK. At least while I have been here.
Yes, I've only seen -20 C once since I've been here and that apparently is unusual. But I have never been so cold in all my life as I was that weekend. You really just cannot imagine it unless you've felt it.

I walked to Target, which is a little bit further than Walmart, and in the opposite direction, but I like Target better, so it was worth it. I promise I'll go back soon, because there are some interesting pictures that I would like to take. The huge factories that are being demolished and Miller Park, which you can see in the distance down that road. After all it is called Miller Park Way. That is the same as good old 43rd St which is where I live. Like most American cities, the streets are so long that you don't even realise that it is the same street. They are literally miles long.

Speaking of industrial, Alverno has a beautification project going on. They are adding a gate at one of the enterances, putting a fountain at the front of the main building, and adding a 4 storey parking structure, right in front of my window. I'm not sure how this will make the place more beautiful, but it means that for some strange reason, they will be starting work at 7 am and finishing at 3pm. However I won't be here to see the finished article, because it is not planned to be finished until the beginning of next semester. Somebody will have to send me pictures. (Missy)

Since its St Patrick's Day, I thought you might like an update on the Chicago trip last weekend.

Hey, hows this for a picture?

They were in the St Patrick's Day Parade, and we met them in Chicago.



NYPD in Chicago for St Patrick's Day Parade.

The picture quality is not brilliant, Walgreens own disposable camera and Walgreens printing.
Not as good as my digital camera.

The green river is the Chicago River which flows into Lake Michigan. There was a little motor boat that went up and down, churning out luminous dye. It appeared red because it was so concentrated, but it was yellow diluted, and it made the river green. Bright Green, as you can see, and there were thousands of people there watching.

Just a quick Update, because its been a tiring but amazing weekend.

I had a good week in Philadelphia with Michael and Sue. I had fun looking after Sarah and Alex, and just generally relaxing. The picture shows the school buses at 2.30. The huge line of buses is a fascinating sight. I had a good week and cured the homesickness that was just beginning, as everyone else was looking forward to going home for Spring Break.

But travelling is stressful, and my flight back to Milwaukee was delayed over 2 hours. It was nice to have the girls meet me at the airport, with Milwaukee Frozen Custard which tastes delicious.

We arrived in Chicago at 9.30am on Saturday, and first impressions were good. We were extremely impressed. The weather was good, especially considering the time of year. Everything was so bright, I think it had a surreal quality to it. Even the pictures look quite surreal. (See above)
I think Chicago shows what 'real' America is like, it is just how you imagine it to be. It seems to be the epitomy of America in general and the Mid West specifically. It has a life entirely different to Milwaukee. There is so much to see, I feel that I have seen hardly any of the things that I would like to see there. The Magnificent Mile lives up to its name, and we didn't even explore the shops. In short, I've fallen in love with Chicago. I can't wait to go again.

Here is the Milwaukee Art museum. It is amazing, they have some very good stuff in there.

They have some attic red figure pots, from artists such as the Niobid painter. These are ancient greek pots from around 500 BC.

There is also a Monet, Waterloo Bridge - sunlight effect, and Andy Warhol's cans of Campbell's Tomato soup, and the one we all know, Andrew F. Wyeth.

This building is amazing, it is a most interesting building for an art musem, its like art in itself. I'm sure that is the idea, and it certainly succeeds.

This is Lake Michigan! its frozen over as far as you can see. Further out its a beautiful blue colour. This is the restaurant where we had dinner. It was the poshest restaurant I have been to in america, we were told it was cheap, and than we saw the price were around $20 but then realised that $20 isn't £20 and it was actually reasonably priced. And when it arrived, the food was very good, so value for money I think.

Here are the Liverpool girls. Carla, Majella and Sue. This is the formal lounge downstairs in the residence hall.

They are a good laugh and are full of ideas.

Tonight we went to Chilli's for tea and tomorrow we plan to go to the museum by the lake, even if it is -20C outside!! Tea was really good, real food for a change.

This is the snow that we had a few weeks ago. This time there's not so much snow but the temperature really is -4F so I'm pretty sure thats around the forecasted -17C.

Tonight we went out for tea. that is Carla, Majella, Sue, and Jess, and I. Jess is Sue's room mate, and she kindly drives us when we go out for tea, and she knows some good places to eat.

Hey

I've just been reading the forecast on the internet and this weekend is going to be very cold. Its going to be -17 C and feel like -28 C! have a look at the forecast on this website!!
http://wwwa.accuweather.com/forecast.asp?partner=accuweather&myadc=0&traveler=0&zipcode=53201&metric=1

amazing! its going to be a really cold weekend. And I have class on Saturday and we are planning to go to Milwaukee Zoo on Sunday, however the weather is still forecast to be freezing cold.

Tea tonight was interesting, they have a wide range of 'bars' here such as taco bar or breakfast bar, that was quite good, omelette cooked to order, another one which i missed for the sake of fish and chips was the pasta bar which was also a cooked to order hot pasta thing, basically you could choose, chicken, shrimp or tofu.
Anyhow, tonights was mashed potato bar, with chilli or cheese or mushroom gravy and chopped onion, grated cheese and sour cream if you wanted. They serve the potato and chilli, cheese or mushroom, and then you can help yourself to the onion cheese and sour cream. Thats what I had with the Mushroom gravy, it was ok but not brilliant. Food is very interesting here, sometimes its good and we are impressed, sometimes we are hideously dissapointed. Every night its anticipation, what will it be? Will it be something new that we haven't heard of, like sloppy joe (mince in sauce almost like bolognaise, but plainer and then they serve it in bread bun, so like wet burger) which was actually quite tasty. Or will it be something that we have heard of and we think we will like, and then be dreadfully dissapointed.
Last night's was steak, and I took a chance and had that, and it was very nice, it was tasty and tender, and it was a little bit pink, but not too much, I quite like steak a little bit pink, not too much but a little is fine.
The other week they did philly cheese steak for the day after the super bowl, and I some how managed to miss that. However, there is a place that sells philly cheese steak in the Southridge Mall, which is a little strange, but somehow, I'll have to try it before I go home.

Have work to finish now. More about the snow soon.

I've been in the US over a month now and the time has just flown by. I've done so much and met so many people. Mostly nice people. I've made some new friends. There are the three girls from Liverpool Hope University, they are all here doing teaching practice. Its funny but I seem to be fated to live with student teachers. They are all nice and are called Majella (she's irish), Carla, (she's from Grantham) and Sue (she's from Brombourgh). Sue told me that she had a blog to tell all of her friends at home what she's doing. Its a good idea because that way everyone can read at their leisure and I don't have to send lots of emails all the time.

The girls are really nice and have been gettin me involved with their trips out and thats really good for me because it means that I have people to go out and see things with. Two weeks ago we went to see the Milwaukee Bucks (basketball) game. We had $10 seats, right up at the top, and scary to look down, but the atmosphere was amazing, especially when everyone stood for the National Anthem. It took 2 and a half hours for them to play four 12 minute quarters. Amazing!

We went to the Mall last weekend, and this weekend has been pretty quiet. I have Class all day on Saturday 8am til 12noon and 1pm til 5pm! Classes last a long time here. They can go on til 10 pm every day.
I'm now looking for a short term job for a couple of weeks in the summer. Something to give me some experience in journalism, fingers crossed!

I have my first paper to write for my American Politics class. Where better in the world to study American Politics but in America? Also it will mean that I have an understanding of American politics which is useful for a journalist and for life generally.

Here is a Blog to describe my six months adventures in the USA.