Monday was a day at home. Slept in, ate, watched 2 movies, read the book, ate some more :) That is what I call a vacation. As Nikki and Ryan had their honeymoon in Hawaii, same island where I'm going to, we went though the pics and travel notes they made. There were there in February as well, it all looked so nice and inviting.
Today, on Tuesday, Nikki left me her car and I navigated to town before noon, following the given instructions as close as possible. Yesterday the city of Duluth was closed and lots of schools in the area as well since an ice storm was suppose to hit. Temperature is close to freezing and it is raining, so once it hits the ground it forms into ice very quickly - this makes the roads very slippery and the cities are closed. Today the situation is pretty much the same, in the afternoon it is suppose to get colder, making the situation even worse. Here the cars don't have winter tires or anything, so in a way it makes sense to just keep the people off the roads.
There were 2 reasons why I came to town though:
First - Nikki and her family made a local SPA gift card as a birthday present for me :) Place is called The Pebble SPA Company. I tried to pick something that is not available elsewhere. So I will get a wild rice and spice treatment today at 3:30 in the afternoon. As wild rice is a Minnesotan thing I'm guessing that there is no wild rice treatments elsewhere. It is a body treatment that increases circulation, eases muscle pain, relieves tension and warms the body. Treatment is completed with a tub soak and an ultra moisturizing massage - all together it is a full hour of indulging! I'll let you know later on of how it turned out to be.
Second- I wanted to be online for a bit - addicted to Internet as I am :) It is just so difficult with Internet elsewhere (outside Estonia), this is something that always gets me by surprise.
I also stopped by Nikkis workplace - city courthouse. Unfortunately she was quite busy during the day so I was not able to get a tour. Perhaps some other day. I'll go and get a nice homemade sub for lunch now, accompanied by raspberry italian cream soda :) Yumm, things are getting crossed of on my list one by one :)
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
7-8.02 Minnesota: St.Paul, Duluth and Virginia
Saturday evening turned out to be a blast. 2 hour nap in the afternoon saved me from the regular coma that comes after staying awake for 36 hours in a row. Some of Mare's friends gathered at the apartment in the afternoon - by the evening there was a nice crowd of 9 people. We ended up taking a bus and city train to downtown St.Paul. Lots of dancing followed. Luckily the bars and clubs close here at 2am, otherwise I think we would have been up till the morning and I would have had to head directly to the airport :-P Getting back was a challenge though. We tried to get a cab for about 30 minutes, it felt like ages, standing by the side of the road and trying find a ride back home. As the whole downtown had the exact same plan as us (to get a cab) the streets were filled with people and cars creating huge traffic jams. It seemed absolutely impossible to find anything at all. In the end we just walked up to one empty cab, opened the door, sat in and demanded a ride :) It worked :) Of course only 5 of us fit there and the other bunch ended up waiting another 20 minutes. Sadly enough the had the key so we still had to wait outside once at the apartment.
Thanks to the time difference I had no trouble getting up 9am the following morning. After a quick shower Mare drove me to the airport. Surprisingly enough the whole checkin and getting through security took me only 15 minutes, that gave me plenty of time to have breakfast - missing that would have not been good at all.
Plane ride to Duluth was only 35 minutes - like a flight from Tallinn to Helsinki :) Nikki was waiting for me at the gate with two of her adorable sons: Colten and Wyatt. Colten is 2 years and 4 months and Wyatt is 8 months old. The younger one had a runny nose and an awful cough so he was not the happiest unfortunately. Older boy was shy at first but that passed quickly. Drive to Virginia Minnesota was about an hour. We covered so many topics on the way back - catching up on every possible aspect we could think of :) So great to see Nikki again!
Sunday we spent at home, just chatting and playing with the kids. Ryan was working the whole day and joined us in the evening. Got Dominos in the evening - pepperoni with cheesybread and everything! Headed to bed early. My goal is to eliminate my sleep deprivation during my stay with Nikki. As Nikki and Ryan are both working and kids are at the daycare then I have all the time to relax and rest. I have 16 movies to watch and a thick book to read :)
Thanks to the time difference I had no trouble getting up 9am the following morning. After a quick shower Mare drove me to the airport. Surprisingly enough the whole checkin and getting through security took me only 15 minutes, that gave me plenty of time to have breakfast - missing that would have not been good at all.
Plane ride to Duluth was only 35 minutes - like a flight from Tallinn to Helsinki :) Nikki was waiting for me at the gate with two of her adorable sons: Colten and Wyatt. Colten is 2 years and 4 months and Wyatt is 8 months old. The younger one had a runny nose and an awful cough so he was not the happiest unfortunately. Older boy was shy at first but that passed quickly. Drive to Virginia Minnesota was about an hour. We covered so many topics on the way back - catching up on every possible aspect we could think of :) So great to see Nikki again!
Sunday we spent at home, just chatting and playing with the kids. Ryan was working the whole day and joined us in the evening. Got Dominos in the evening - pepperoni with cheesybread and everything! Headed to bed early. My goal is to eliminate my sleep deprivation during my stay with Nikki. As Nikki and Ryan are both working and kids are at the daycare then I have all the time to relax and rest. I have 16 movies to watch and a thick book to read :)
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Arrival
Last nights strong snow fall made me nervous, visibility was very poor and I was afraid that the snow piles will grow too big for the taxi to get to my house. But all went good, got to airport nicely in time and no problems with checkin. One of my course mates was on the same plane with me to Amsterdam - whatta nice coincident. On the first flight I saw one of the most beautiful sun rises ever.
Flights were fine in general, too bad that KLM does not have electrical outlets on every seat. At least each seat had personal screen and the movie list was quite good. Now the immigration though - that was tough - the guy was asking lots of questions composed of very long sentences with complicated words, phew. All turned out just fine of course, but it was kinda scary experience nonetheless. On US side the immigration was quick and easy though. And my bag arrived just fine.
Once in Minneapolis airport, Mare was there to meet me and then Hanno and his friend arrived just 5 minutes later. So nice to see Hanno after such a long time. Mare I saw over Christmas time in Tallinn. Now we are just sitting around chatting, getting ready to go and have lunch soon. As far as I understand there will be huge party tonight - wohooo!
It is so nice to be here though! So many details remind me of college times - kinda like going back in time, this is always good :) There is the usual list of things I want to eat while here, also things I want to bring back home and some things that others want me to bring back ;)
That is it for now, we are getting ready and heading out soon. I'll try to write again soon. Oh and my dad asked me to write less about airports and other less important stuff, he said I should concentrate more on important things that I would want to remember in the future - he is right of course. And I will try to pick topics more carefully in the future :)
Lots of hugs to all of you.
Flights were fine in general, too bad that KLM does not have electrical outlets on every seat. At least each seat had personal screen and the movie list was quite good. Now the immigration though - that was tough - the guy was asking lots of questions composed of very long sentences with complicated words, phew. All turned out just fine of course, but it was kinda scary experience nonetheless. On US side the immigration was quick and easy though. And my bag arrived just fine.
Once in Minneapolis airport, Mare was there to meet me and then Hanno and his friend arrived just 5 minutes later. So nice to see Hanno after such a long time. Mare I saw over Christmas time in Tallinn. Now we are just sitting around chatting, getting ready to go and have lunch soon. As far as I understand there will be huge party tonight - wohooo!
It is so nice to be here though! So many details remind me of college times - kinda like going back in time, this is always good :) There is the usual list of things I want to eat while here, also things I want to bring back home and some things that others want me to bring back ;)
That is it for now, we are getting ready and heading out soon. I'll try to write again soon. Oh and my dad asked me to write less about airports and other less important stuff, he said I should concentrate more on important things that I would want to remember in the future - he is right of course. And I will try to pick topics more carefully in the future :)
Lots of hugs to all of you.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Travel plans
I noticed that I have not given an overview of the travel plans. Here it is:
7.02 - St.Paul Minnesota - leaving Tallinn early morning and arriving in the cities at noon, will spend the day with Mare
8.02 - arriving in Duluth - leaving the Cities and arriving in Duluth, visiting with Nikki in Virginia Minnesota for 5 days
13.02 - leaving from Duluth, arriving in Kahului - spending the next 6 days in Hawaii, island of Maui
17.02 - luau :) - celebrating my friends birthday the Hawaiian way!
20.02 - Honolulu - spending the day in Honolulu and Pearl Harbor, leaving close to midnight to head back home
20.02-22.02 - spending couple of days on planes and airports on my way back home, arriving in Tallinn in the evening
:)
7.02 - St.Paul Minnesota - leaving Tallinn early morning and arriving in the cities at noon, will spend the day with Mare
8.02 - arriving in Duluth - leaving the Cities and arriving in Duluth, visiting with Nikki in Virginia Minnesota for 5 days
13.02 - leaving from Duluth, arriving in Kahului - spending the next 6 days in Hawaii, island of Maui
17.02 - luau :) - celebrating my friends birthday the Hawaiian way!
20.02 - Honolulu - spending the day in Honolulu and Pearl Harbor, leaving close to midnight to head back home
20.02-22.02 - spending couple of days on planes and airports on my way back home, arriving in Tallinn in the evening
:)
Friday, January 30, 2009
Taking off in a week
I have made no progress with anything basically :-P This just seems like such a relaxed trip, going mostly to familiar places and meeting with familiar people. This will be all so great - just an easy and relaxed get-away :)
Now I mentioned the weather, here is the proof:
....... brrrr?
vs.
Many of my friends have left the country, either for longer or shorter time. This in turn makes me itch for the airports :) Although it would be so much easier if I would not have to pack though, just drive to the airport and take off - maybe someday I'll be able to travel like that as well.
Now I mentioned the weather, here is the proof:
....... brrrr?
vs.
Many of my friends have left the country, either for longer or shorter time. This in turn makes me itch for the airports :) Although it would be so much easier if I would not have to pack though, just drive to the airport and take off - maybe someday I'll be able to travel like that as well.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
US trip 2009 - in less than a month
Next travel planning has started already some time ago :)
This time the road will lead to Hawaii ... well actually the plane will take ;) Full story behind the short winter vacation is that my freshman year roommate from UND came to visit me in Tallinn in May 2008. We hadn't seen/talked/written to each other for about 7 years or so. And suddenly she informs me in the beginning of the year that she will be in Sweden and would it be fine if she would stop in Tallinn as well. So she came to visit me for 5 days. Oh it was great, I had really nice time while she was here.
Some background information is needed: we both have our birthdays in February, hers is 17th and mine is 5 days later, we are same age. So she was saying of how an important and round birthday will take place next year and that her parents will organize a trip to Hawaii for her as a birthday present - she invited me to join them. My first reaction was: oh sure, like I could do that. After giving it some thought once I returned from my Asia trip I started to look for options of how I could join her in Hawaii. Finally I got the plane tickets right before Christmas :D
As my friend&co already had their flights arranged I just tried to get matching ones - I'll arrive in Hawaii on the 13th and will leave on the 20th. So just a week on the spot. Since I'm going to that side of the globe anyways it is a must that I stop by to see my friend Nikki and her family. I'll be arriving in Minneapolis on the 7th of February :) Will hopefully meet other people while visiting at the cities as well. Will see.
This time there are not many preparations to be made other than the flights and travel insurance (both done already). Of course I need to arrange the logistics and meeting people in the Cities but that is just peanuts to space (as Douglas Adams would say ;) ) It will be just traveling this time... not gonna be a backpacking trip as the few last ones have been - and that is totally fine by me :) It will be a great trip to spend some time with my dear friends on the other side of the globe - I can't wait.
Oh, the packing will be fun this time :) I'm going to Minnesota for a week where it is probably like -20C and then to Hawaii for a week where it is about +25C :D :D So I take my warmest jacket and then bikinis :D - that should do right?
This time the road will lead to Hawaii ... well actually the plane will take ;) Full story behind the short winter vacation is that my freshman year roommate from UND came to visit me in Tallinn in May 2008. We hadn't seen/talked/written to each other for about 7 years or so. And suddenly she informs me in the beginning of the year that she will be in Sweden and would it be fine if she would stop in Tallinn as well. So she came to visit me for 5 days. Oh it was great, I had really nice time while she was here.
Some background information is needed: we both have our birthdays in February, hers is 17th and mine is 5 days later, we are same age. So she was saying of how an important and round birthday will take place next year and that her parents will organize a trip to Hawaii for her as a birthday present - she invited me to join them. My first reaction was: oh sure, like I could do that. After giving it some thought once I returned from my Asia trip I started to look for options of how I could join her in Hawaii. Finally I got the plane tickets right before Christmas :D
As my friend&co already had their flights arranged I just tried to get matching ones - I'll arrive in Hawaii on the 13th and will leave on the 20th. So just a week on the spot. Since I'm going to that side of the globe anyways it is a must that I stop by to see my friend Nikki and her family. I'll be arriving in Minneapolis on the 7th of February :) Will hopefully meet other people while visiting at the cities as well. Will see.
This time there are not many preparations to be made other than the flights and travel insurance (both done already). Of course I need to arrange the logistics and meeting people in the Cities but that is just peanuts to space (as Douglas Adams would say ;) ) It will be just traveling this time... not gonna be a backpacking trip as the few last ones have been - and that is totally fine by me :) It will be a great trip to spend some time with my dear friends on the other side of the globe - I can't wait.
Oh, the packing will be fun this time :) I'm going to Minnesota for a week where it is probably like -20C and then to Hawaii for a week where it is about +25C :D :D So I take my warmest jacket and then bikinis :D - that should do right?
Saturday, October 11, 2008
shortish summary and generated thoughts on China & Vietnam
I've been home already for more than 2 weeks. I managed to live through illness (caught some nasty virus/flu), got back to work in a new wonderful office, were thrown right back in to fight with the construction people at my apartment and started a full new season pretty much the same week. So lots has been going on, hence the delay with the summary and final word. Majority of people have also requested a short version and overview of my trip - i'll be preparing that within weeks as well.
Things I will not miss:
- all the ugly snorting noises they make right before spitting, spitting by the way takes place everywhere. there are "no-spitting on the floor" signs up, but then they find bottles or other containers so they will still go through with the whole procedure only it will not land on the floor.
- all the ugly noises they make when eating, they eat with their mouth open and that is not helping with appetite at all
- extremely awful smells all over the place, well mainly on the streets, but also in certain eating areas and other public places. smell would be produced of rotten foods laying around in blazing sun or people using walls instead of toilets or general pollution in all its "wonderful" formats. in short: it is dirty-dirty-dirty there, just filthy :(
- the difference in manners in general, understanding on what is polite and what is not is so very different from Europe/Americas and other places I've been at. I can't see myself getting used to that, I try to understand, but it does not come easily.
- their inability to stand in line. such a common sense thing for the rest of the world, but not for Chinese people - strangest thing :)
Other things that I sorta enjoyed for a short period of time and someday when I get to experience them again I'll get this wonderful feeling of recognition:
- walking in the heat, having very high moisture percentage, there is no breeze and you are soaked from head to toe basically immediately. that was kinda neat :) I've never experienced anything like that before.
- explaining something for another person who does not speak any language that you do, so there is no common language, neither of you understands the other person. but after some mutual drawing, pointing on the map, saying words in English very slowly, looking up some similar phrases in the travel guide and reading facial expressions it all gets magically figured out :) seriously, this was amazing how the understanding always somehow appeared. true, more than once we were actually guided to a wrong direction :) but generally we were able to understand each other somehow, usually it took extremely long time - but it did happen.
- unexpectedness. as the American guy in Shanghai said: everything that can go wrong will go wrong in China in the worst possible way one can imagine. and he was definitely right. it adds this magical not-knowingness, can give you nightmares, but that is part of the thrill.
Now are the things I will miss for sure:
- experiencing rapid growth and change. it was visible everywhere in China and even in Vietnam, but in smaller quantities there. rapid growth in China stuck out most for me in big cities, things happen fast there.
- Hong Kong area. it was great, it was absolutely great. in Hong Kong I had the feeling that this is where everything happens, this is the center of the world and if you are not here you are nowhere at all. it was just so busy and multi-cultural, experiencing the vibes there just blew my mind. I want to return there and be part of it.
- nature of Vietnam: Halong Bay and Sapa were wonderful. I have heard great stories about beaches in Hue and further south - I'm sure I can't even imagine the beauty there.
- I have to say the food :) I liked the kitchen there, even more than in Peru - I think. Food was generally very good, variety was huge and it was mostly good and very enjoyable.
Compared to Peru - China and Vietnam are a lot safer for travellers. Apparently the charges are very harsh and there consequences are bad for your whole family - I got the impression that there is not that much crime around.
Education system seems to be quite a bit different in China (I don't know the story of Vietnam in that matter). Students are taught to remember facts and "think" alike (which means to think like majority does and not think like individuals, or at least it is not suggested to stand out with your own ideas).
Infrastructure was kinda impressive to me in China. For such a huge country it worked without delays or any major hassles, it was organized quite well and seemed to go like clockwork. I hope they get Maglev going longer distances soon enough :)
Allright, that is pretty much it for a short summary. Any questions are more than welcome and will be answered within.. umm.. say a week :)
Things I will not miss:
- all the ugly snorting noises they make right before spitting, spitting by the way takes place everywhere. there are "no-spitting on the floor" signs up, but then they find bottles or other containers so they will still go through with the whole procedure only it will not land on the floor.
- all the ugly noises they make when eating, they eat with their mouth open and that is not helping with appetite at all
- extremely awful smells all over the place, well mainly on the streets, but also in certain eating areas and other public places. smell would be produced of rotten foods laying around in blazing sun or people using walls instead of toilets or general pollution in all its "wonderful" formats. in short: it is dirty-dirty-dirty there, just filthy :(
- the difference in manners in general, understanding on what is polite and what is not is so very different from Europe/Americas and other places I've been at. I can't see myself getting used to that, I try to understand, but it does not come easily.
- their inability to stand in line. such a common sense thing for the rest of the world, but not for Chinese people - strangest thing :)
Other things that I sorta enjoyed for a short period of time and someday when I get to experience them again I'll get this wonderful feeling of recognition:
- walking in the heat, having very high moisture percentage, there is no breeze and you are soaked from head to toe basically immediately. that was kinda neat :) I've never experienced anything like that before.
- explaining something for another person who does not speak any language that you do, so there is no common language, neither of you understands the other person. but after some mutual drawing, pointing on the map, saying words in English very slowly, looking up some similar phrases in the travel guide and reading facial expressions it all gets magically figured out :) seriously, this was amazing how the understanding always somehow appeared. true, more than once we were actually guided to a wrong direction :) but generally we were able to understand each other somehow, usually it took extremely long time - but it did happen.
- unexpectedness. as the American guy in Shanghai said: everything that can go wrong will go wrong in China in the worst possible way one can imagine. and he was definitely right. it adds this magical not-knowingness, can give you nightmares, but that is part of the thrill.
Now are the things I will miss for sure:
- experiencing rapid growth and change. it was visible everywhere in China and even in Vietnam, but in smaller quantities there. rapid growth in China stuck out most for me in big cities, things happen fast there.
- Hong Kong area. it was great, it was absolutely great. in Hong Kong I had the feeling that this is where everything happens, this is the center of the world and if you are not here you are nowhere at all. it was just so busy and multi-cultural, experiencing the vibes there just blew my mind. I want to return there and be part of it.
- nature of Vietnam: Halong Bay and Sapa were wonderful. I have heard great stories about beaches in Hue and further south - I'm sure I can't even imagine the beauty there.
- I have to say the food :) I liked the kitchen there, even more than in Peru - I think. Food was generally very good, variety was huge and it was mostly good and very enjoyable.
Compared to Peru - China and Vietnam are a lot safer for travellers. Apparently the charges are very harsh and there consequences are bad for your whole family - I got the impression that there is not that much crime around.
Education system seems to be quite a bit different in China (I don't know the story of Vietnam in that matter). Students are taught to remember facts and "think" alike (which means to think like majority does and not think like individuals, or at least it is not suggested to stand out with your own ideas).
Infrastructure was kinda impressive to me in China. For such a huge country it worked without delays or any major hassles, it was organized quite well and seemed to go like clockwork. I hope they get Maglev going longer distances soon enough :)
Allright, that is pretty much it for a short summary. Any questions are more than welcome and will be answered within.. umm.. say a week :)
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