Mrhbond009

I just re-visited the park this summer with People to People, and as we were there, a couple of my students joked about hunting there. Well, I learned from our tour guide that killing one of those deer is one of the only remaining “death sentence” offenses left in England. His exact comment was “You can murder the Queen and you’ll go to prison for the rest of your life but shoot one of those deer….....”. Just a quick fascinating factoid and a reminder….killing the Queen’s Deer is punishable by death!

Never been…..but next summer I am 99 percent sure I will be GOING!!! I am an Ambassador Leader for the People to People Student Ambassador Program and next years middle school delegation for my area will be to France (Been there done that but always happy to return) Italy (YES!!!!) and Greece (Double YES!!!). If I am looking at the right itinerary (And I am pretty sure I am) we’ll be going to the major cities including Florence, Venice and of course Rome. It’s a year away and I can hardly wait.

This is one of the three states I haven’t been to yet and I must admit I am sorely tempted to just jump into my car today and drive there. The only thing holding me back is money. I have the time as I am a teacher and school doesn’t start again for another month and my car can take the drive BUT the gas cost would be huge as would last minute hotels and then the real question….where in Oregon should I go? I mean I can;t just drive to the border and cross it and then say “YAY I’ve been to Oregon”! By my own rules, it wouldn’t count. I have to do something there (Not just in a highway rest stop) in order for the visit to count. Perhaps next summer I’ll plan a big road trip to catch those last three states…or at least 2 out of three…that wouldn;t be bad.

Switzerland is green, wholesome and beautiful. I loved seeing grass drooping lasily on the mountainsides with a handful (Literraly) of cows here and their with their cowbells clanging munching happily away. I was told that the govermnet encourages farmers to graze their cows on the mountainsides to help prevent avalanches in the winter…what ever ther eason nothing looks so peaceful as that. The cities are pretty…especially Lucerne! Now I didn;t get to explore as much as I would have liked as I was part of a set tour (And responsible for 36 middle school student ambassadors through People to People) but WOWEE!!!!! I MUST go back!

I FINALLY made it to Germany through People to People and I have to admit the only disappointments were that I couldn’t go off exploring on my own (I was responsible for 36 middle school kids) and that we went to only a handful of select locations for a very limited amount of time. Germany was Beautiful! The Black Forest was so serene…everything measured up. i MUST go back on my own.

I finally went! Now Aruba is not cheap. Everything cool to do is expensive. Eating out is expensive, buying groceries at the supermarket is less expensive but definitely more pricey than home. One thing I did to enable us (my brother went too) to do some fun things was to go on timehsare presentations. We got to go out to 2 great restaurants and go snorkelling as a result. If I were to return to Aruba, I would either come with a lot more money or go with people who don’t mind hanging on the beach every day.

I am going in exactly one month. I am so psyched! This is my first vacation in over a year since I had to miss travelling last summer due to a back problem. I know snorkelling is supposed to be excellent and I can’t wait to see for myself! I realy hope this trip isn’t going to break the bank though.

If you are a teacher, and you want to go to Japan and have never been there before, you can apply to the Fulbright Memorial Fund for a 3 week all expenses paid trip to Japan (of course you’d have to arrange the time off from school to do this but many districts encourage this kind of thing). This program is run by the Japanese Government to improve relations between the US and Japan. Well worth the application :D

I went to Fitzroy Island as part of a science teachers trip through U of Portland which is right off the GBR. Before they would allow any of us in the water for snorkelling or scuba diving, we had to go to the safety briefing for the reef. Well, it seemed like everything was poisonous.. “Don’t touch the snails…they have a venomous radula that can kill you”... “Don’t touch the pretty blue ringed octopus…they can kill you”... “Don’t touch the coral or you can get permanent scars because they’re venomous”...Don’t step on the lion fish scorpion fish or rock fish because their barbs are venomous”...Well this went on and on and finally, they stopped and asked us if we had any questions….but of course through their whole lecture they never mentioned sharks so up goes my hand and I ask “What about sharks?”. And the Aussie dude giving the reef lecture says “Oh Sharks are no worry….leave them alone and you’ll be fine!” er…gee….thanks :D. Sooo Basically, Don’t touch ANYTHING ir it can killa ya, Mate.

ALways wanted to go to Alaska and see the Northern Lights and Glaciers….now I was SUPPOSED to go last summer with my parents. They had bought a really nice RV so they can take their time with their friends (Who are experienced RV people) and see everything and take THE DOG with them (a tiny Yorkie) who has travelled in the car with them many times soooo…they go on their maiden voyage with their RV and THE DOG. They parked it, hooked it up, and left THE DOG to go for a walk. They were only gone 3 hours. When they got back to the RV THE DOG was having such a bad anxiety attack that they had to unhook the RV and rush her to a vet because she was having trouble breating. They flat out refuse to take her to a kennel sooo THE DOG cancelled the trip. :/ Now I have to figure out how to get there on the cheap myself.