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.