Tacky Parts of the US

The two first weeks in Philly has been totally incredible! I have met fantastic people, gained valuable knowledge and visited fascinating sights. However, I think it is my duty also to tell you about the less impressive parts of the stay.

Today we went to the Jersey Shore – that is the famous beaches of New Jersey, the American State with highest density of people. We were promised a beautiful beach with dolphins and tasty restaurants along the shore. We were told that plenty of Phillies (usually known as “Shoe bees” because they used to bring lunch in shoe boxes) drive three hours for spending a day there in the weekends.

After hearing all the beautiful descriptions of the shore, I thought we were going to have a peaceful day in pretty conditions. But I did really not get what I expected. Unfortunately the shore was a tacky and commercial village. It was a filled with plenty of bad restaurants, tacky amusement parks and huge masses of people swimming in dirty water; to sum up, a place with a great lack of charm. Perhaps my bad impression of Jersey Shore comes as a response to the fantastic day in New York – let us hope so. However, I recommend everyone to skip a visit to the east coast shore. America has several better things to offer you!

I <3 NY

Aiaiaiaiai! What an incredible start to what I believe is going to be an incredible weekend!; yesterday we went to "the Big Apple"! We woke up early and got on a bus which drove us over from Pennsylvania, across the Delaware river, and New Jersey, and finally brought us to New York!

Our first stop was the United Nations, where we had a very informative guided tour. Mats and I even took a picture with the first Secretary-General of the United Nations - Trygve Lie! (Did you know he was Norwegian?) We also took a picture with Ban-Ki Moon. :) Sadly, neither being the actual person, but nevertheless both pictures should be up later, with many more!

Afterwards the group divided and conquered the rest of New York (with good reason too; had we tried to see New York as a group of 24 people I can guarantee we would have lost one or two!). All the groups went to see things which appealed to their interests. The list chosen from included: The Met, Ground Zero, Empire State Building, Central Park, Times Square, Chinatown, Little Italy, Moma, Greenwich Village and much much more. All in all, it was definitely an experience!

In the steps of Rocky!

The days have been going by like minutes, and every day is filled with new and exciting experiences!

In the last couple of days we have done everything from shopping, visited the Constitution Center, seen the Philadelhia Art Museum and, perhaps the most special event of all, seen the legendary "Rocky" at our teacher's house. Even more special we ran the famous Rocky-steps at the Philadelphia Art Museum.

Otherwise we're living the life of the normal college student, eating at the cafeteria, going to the gym, studying, talking, Starbucks-ing! Life is good :)

Looks like we are a primary school class on tour!

Ben, teacher of our writing class and our guide

Reading quality literature in the library

The Free Library

Today we went out for our first field trip. After having a stress-free morning, we headed for the Free Library of Philadelphia, The library, which was founded by Dr. Pepper (not the one who founded the soft drink!) in the 1890ies, has become one of the symbols of Philadelphia. During the past decade, the library has expanded a lot, and, thanks to the Free Library system, Philadelphia is now the American city with highest density of libraries. On average, you will find a public library on every seventh block!

We went in for a guided tour, and luckily the guide was charismatic. As part of the institute we are attending speech classes four days a week. There we learn how to analyze speeches and learn tricks for improving our presentations skills. With that subject in our mind, it was apparent for many of us that the laughter was our guide’s special trick for getting attention. The man smiled and laughed all the time!

In the library, we were oriented about the library’s wide range of offers. Their current flagship project was called “One book, one Philadelphia”. From January to March they were going to promote reading and libraries by encouraging everyone in Philadelphia to read and discuss a single book. Therefore, they are spending several millions on plenty of commercials, seminar, stands and conferences to reach their target. Last year, “The Soloist”, which is a part of our program’s curriculum, was their book of choice, and the project turned out to be a great success. Moreover, we also got information about the civic engagement which takes place in the library. Among other things, some of the institute participants are teaching children in reading and math in the library as their volunteer work.

It was an interesting trip, and you should have a look on the pictures from today. They are coming soon!

Mats

Civic engagement

Today we started our civic engagement programs. All three of us were placed in different program; I had the pleasure of volunteering at the Caring Center with Laura, Charlotte, Alfonso, (fellow students) and we were joined by Liz (one of the mentors). The five of us, plus a volunteer from Drexel, were assigned to play with the children from Kindergarten up to about 2nd grade. When we arrived, they were outside playing, so we basically joined them in the playground, outside in the sunny weather. My favourite thing about the experience, was the fact that there was not a moment's hesitation from the children's side; they were so friendly! They pretty much immediately let us join in and play with them. Adults truly have a lot to learn from children. I honestly think that we, the volunteers, got more out of the experience than the children, but I am not complaining.

Some pictures! :)

Mario the dragon! - Mascot of Drexel uni.



Socializing with the locals...



Let it be noted that the doughnut buffet below was part of the breakfast selection!


Building where we have our classes...