Take me out to the Ball Game!

Today was perhaps one of the most eventful days yet! First we, the European Student Leaders, were introduced to a group of Fulbright grantees and given the opportunity to talk to them over water ice, and pretzels. It was very interesting to hear about their experiences with Fulbright, and the various processes that they had to go through before and after receiving the grant.

Afterwards both groups went to attend the Phillies baseball game, which exceeded my expectations. Truth is I do not know what I was expecting, but any and all prejudice I might have had was from your typical American movie. I can now say that your typical American movie creates a highly distorted image of baseball.

First of all, there were not homeruns every second hit. In fact there were not even homeruns every inning. Through a total of 9 innings we saw ONE homerun (Jimmy Rollins) - not twenty. Secondly, the game is loooooong and slooooooooow. Surprisingly so actually - many of us did not even realize that the game had started before the second inning or so, which is when we noticed that the crowds were occasionally cheering.

Now although both of these factors make the whole concept seem rather boring I found it very interesting. At first it seemed very ridiculous but as the game was explained to me by a true American, a new side of the game revealed itself to me - a fun side. The experience was, without a doubt, a pleasant one.

I would definitely say that going to a baseball game is something you should try at least once if you get the chance. Even if you do leave before all 9 innings (which I did not) there is a very particular atmosphere at the game which is unlike anything else; an atmosphere which is worth experiencing.

The Statue of Liberty!

The experiences just come storming in, and on Friday we went to Ellis Island and to the Statue of Liberty! And yes, it's as magnificent in real life. We climbed up, and from the foot of the statue we had a wonderful view of Manhattan!

Otherwise we have had our homestay visits, where we spent the night a local American family. It was alot of fun, and I've done everything from eating at a local cheese steak restaurant to dragon boat racing in the Schuykill river! Philadelphia is going good :)

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