Crazy Adventures in the Life of a Redhead

Every time I leave Germany, I know that I will be back. I always enjoy being there discovering new elements I had not previously experienced. Even though I love Germany and was a little despondent in leaving, I was really looking forward to exploring a new country. Poland was my 27th country. (I am keeping a chronological list of all the countries I have visited in hopes that I will reach 50 by the time I am 30. We shall see; that means I have 23 countries to see in the next six years.) For many years and a couple of reasons, Poland has been on my list of countries to visit: one, I have a Polish friend from college who absolutely adores her Polish heritage and two, Chicago has a huge Polish community, so I had been intrigued by the Polish culture, mostly Polish food for quite some time ☺ When planning my trip, I knew I had to start in Germany and I wanted to get to Ukraine to visit my college friend who is in the Peace Corps, so Poland seemed like a logical interim place and the perfec...

Sometimes you must take a chance on friendship, even when it is expensive or a little untimely. When my friend from Germany, who I met in 2008 in Washington, D.C. through the Washington Semester Program, invited me to come to Germany for a wedding celebration for her recent marriage, I knew I could not pass up the invitation. Although quite impractical considering I had just returned from a 13-week-around-the-world excursion, I knew something special awaited me. While planning the three-week trip, I was working as a nursing assistant, returning to the job that had kept me financially stable throughout college. Even though the job market is volatile at best, even for part-time jobs, I was confident in procuring a job. Not only did I get hired for one job in the home-health field, but also I was hired as a nursing assistant at the local nursing home, which is one of the nicest I have ever seen. These two jobs were keeping me busy and helping me to fund the trip, so much so that when I le...

My last stop on what has become a nine-month journey is France, where I have felt the most at home since leaving the US. Knowing the language makes all the difference because you have the advantage of being much more involved in the country and it’s culture. I have often expressed how important language is, so now that I am in a place where I know the language, I cannot help but feeling more at ease. When I have a question, I can easily ask someone and when I want to express myself and I can also do so with minor errors of syntax, etc. The real reason why I feel so at ease here, however, is that I have so many friends with whom I passed the time. It was the perfect transition from my aimless wandering and fantastic adventures in Asia to my purposeful return to the US. Paris I flew from Berlin to Paris, which is generally an easy flight to take—one hour and 20 minutes and bam you’re in a new country. For me, however, I rarely have an easy time at the airport, so I cannot say that I was ...

In thinking about my travels after leaving the Philippines, I would have to say that Spain was a highlight, not because I love Spain (in reality, it is not that great in my opinion), but because it was the central meeting place of four girls from North Central and a lovely tag-a-long from Illinois :) It is amazing how fast time passes and how much can happen in only one year. They say that college is the best four years of your life, but I have to heartily disagree. College is the place where you commence the best years of your life. All the barriers are behind you and you are left with the complete freedom to make of yourself what you wish. Spain was an opportunity of a lifetime thus far for some North Central graduates who have maintained contact since graduation. This is our story. Girls I hope that you appreciate what I have written. I was planning to make it into a story, but I figured that the complete truth is just as good and as interesting as whatever else I could have spun. T...