europe travelogue 2003-2006
Thursday, September 28, 2006
My friends have commented more than once, that I seem rather preoccupied with things like anniversaries, lengths of time in general, destinations, itineraries, maps, and even random to-do and have-done lists. I suppose there is meaning for me in location and duration. I find myself frequently keeping records of where I’ve been, what I’ve seen, or plans for the future.
July 17, 2006 marked 3 years to the day that I left Seattle. Anyone who knew me then, knows that I had spent the better part of my twenties struggling and developing (through my various concepts and communities), trying to learn how to manage my life and more importantly, to enjoy it.
I hope these last three years have somehow been the result, or even the reward, of all that work but I in all honesty I’ll never really know what is responsible for it. But somewhere I have discovered, at least partially, the power to just live, quite freely in fact, a much more external rather than internal existence. And while of course that doesn’t mean I don’t have my assorted crises, I consider it a miracle to have had this chance.
For those of you who are not quite sure what I’ve been doing for the last 3 years, here’s a little list that basically sums it up:
- Teaching English (and learning it)
- Travelling
- Learning German and bits of other languages
- Studying (primarily) European history and absorbing its culture(s)
- Meeting a very odd mix of people
So in honor of this preoccupation with lists and places etc, and to mark the 3 years, I’ve compiled a summary of my travels. While there are a million stories attached with all these names and dates, I have decided here just to list them. It traces my English Teaching certificate training in Prague, to the teaching contracts I’ve had in Bosnia, Kosovo, Poland, and Germany, with all the smaller trips that I’ve made in between.
The list is actually a very precise record of everywhere I’ve been in the last 3 years. The boldfaced listings are places that I stayed for longer than a visit, either to teach or get taught, and I have listed trips within those longer stays underneath the boldface. And since March of 2004 I have been living in Berlin, taking trips when I can, between teaching English classes, and taking German ones (Ich liebe Deutsch!).
July 17, 2003 Flight from Seattle, WA, USA
July 17-22, 2003 New York, USA
July 23-26, 2003 London, England
July 26-31, 2003 Barcelona, Spain
July 31 - September 10, 2003 Prague, Czech Republic (Teaching Certification Course)
September 16, 2003 Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic
September 2-7, 2003 Harrachov, Czech Republic
September 10-22, 2003 Brataslava, Slovakia Budapest, Hungary Podgorica, Montenegro Budva and Kotor, Montenegro Dubrovnik, Croatia Sarajevo, Bosnia
September 22 - October 30, 2003 Tuzla, Bosnia (Teaching Contract)
October 17-19, 2003 Mostar, Bosnia
October 30 - November 9 Zagreb, Croatia Budapest, Hungary Cluj-Naboca, Transylvania, Romania Sighisuora, Transylvania, Romania Bucharest, Romania Sofia, Bulgaria Skopje, Macedonia
November 9- December 18, 2003 Pristina, Kosovo (Teaching Contract)
November 14-18 Thessalonika, Greece Athens, Greece
November 27-30 Belgrade, Serbia Novi Sad, Serbia
December 18-January 4, 2004 Sarajevo, Bosnia Maribor, Slovenia (to be honest, bathroom break) Vienna, Austria Graz, Austria London, UK Prague, Czech Republic Berlin, Germany
January 4 - March 7, 2004 Brodnica, Poland (Contract)
January 10 Torun, Poland
January 17-19 Warsaw, Poland
January 24-26 Poznan, Poland February 6-8 Berlin, Germany
February 14-15 Torun, Poland
February 21-23 Poznan, Poland
February 28-29 Gdansk, Poland (Danzig) Sopot, Poland
March 7, 2004 - Present Berlin, Germany (Teaching Contracts)
March 17-24, 2004 Malaga, Spain Algecires, Spain Tangier, Morocco Marrakesh, Morocco Essouarria, Morocco
April 8-13, 2004 Viersen, Germany Liege, Belgium Aachen, Germany Dusseldorf, Germany
May 20, 2004 Dresden, Germany
June 4-6, 2004 Prague, CZ
July 9-11, 2004 Kopenhagen, Denmark
July 18-24 London, UK Cardiff, Wales, UK Tredegar, Wales, UK Merthyr Tidfyl, Wales, UK
September 24-26 Prague, CZ
November 4-8 Rome, Italy
December 9, 2004 - January 8, 2005 Seattle, WA, USA Toppenish, WA, USA Salt Lake City, UT, USA London, UK
February 2-6, 2005 Venice, Italy
March 18-20, 2005 Leipzig,
Germany April 22-24, 2005 Zurich, Switzerland
May ?, 2005 Szczecin, Poland (Stettin)
May 12-16, 2005 Zittau, Germany Goerlitz, Germany Gorszalacz, Poland Liberec, Czech Republic
May 26-29, 2005 Barcelona, Spain
June 3-4, 2005 Prague, CZ
August 21-September 4, 2005 Riga, Latvia St. Petersburg, Russia Moscow, Russia Vilnius, Lithuania
September 23-30, 2005 Naples, Italy Island of Ischia, Italy Senise, Basilicata region, Italy Lipari Islands, Sicily Messina, Sicily
September 30 - October 2 Zittau, Germany
December 23 - 30, 2005 Manchester, England Lancashire, England London, England Brighton, England
February 24, 2006 Neuruppin, Germany
May 5 - 8, 2006 Amsterdam, Netherlands Rotterdam, Netherlands Den Haag, Netherlands Leiden, Netherlands Haarlem, Netherlands
May 19 - 22 Liverpool, England Lancaster, England
June 8 - 11 Budapest, Hungary Regular trips Potsdam, Fuerstenwalde, Demmin, (Germany)
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Planned trips 2006 August 2 - 6 Prague, Czech Republic Harrachov, Czech Republic
October 25 - November 14 Delhi, India Agra, India Pushkar, India Varanasi (Banares), India
November 14 - 16 Istanbul, Turkey
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Future plans
2007 Move to Spain? Move to Buenos Aires, Argentina? Look for a graduate program in history/education?
