photo montage

Had to get a picture with Einstein......actually his name is George.
Graduation night....it's probably about 4 in the morning.
The harbor in Chania

SCHOOL
My favorite number to say in Greek: Tessera which is the #4. This is also the ONLY number I could remember to say!

The beach......in OCTOBER?!

Did I mention I love this place. It has been in the 80's- 90's the since August. We've had a couple of days....like 3....that were cloudy. It has rained twice since I got here in on August 9. As I'm preparing to go home (can't wait to see everyone) I'm a little concerned about the cold that I'm approaching - I'm hoping for a warm welcome from friends and family to make it all better.

For now however, I'm hitting the beach today! Schools are out today because of an election.....so to the beach I go....on OCTOBER 2!


I'm hoping to post new and improved pictures tonight! I know you are all anxiously awaiting! haha!

Love to all,
Katie

ROAD TRIP...

So earlier this week my roommates and I rented a car and drove across the top of the island of Crete. soooo sooo sooo FUN! We drove to this little village town named Agios Nicholaus. It was absolutely amazing! The sea was clear and such a beautiful shade of blue and the whole town is surrounded by mountains. There are a ton of English people there so English was widely spoken which was nice to hear for change. Although I have to say that we're all getting pretty good at Greek!

We just stayed there for the night but it was nice to see other parts of the island - each city and village has its own charm. We found a really fun bar when we were there - surprise surprise- and they played a lot of American music that we danced to - the pictures are great. I promise when I get a better internet connection I will post pictures of all our adventures.


I leave for Rome in a couple of days to start the journey back to Minnesota for dear friend's wedding. I can't wait to celebrate with Leah and Christopher!


Okay there you have it.....short post but my time is running out at the internet cafe.

Love to all
Katie

I'm back.........sorry it's been so long

Okay so here's a rundown........

Finished the course! HOORAY! Celebrated for a couple of nights in a row.......whew!

Some members of the course left for other countries and or home. sad to split up.

Four of us moved up the hill from our first apartments to a hotel - four girls in one hotel room the size of an American bathroom. Hilarious - our luggage stayed out on the balcony - we thought of it as a walk in closet. Seemed to work. Hotel owner decided we were fun and knew we were poor teachers - gave us an amazing deal - thank goodness! THANKS THEO! If anyone wants to come to Crete - Hotel Alexis was awesome!

We now moved to an apartment.......much better. two bedrooms......huge bathroom......living room. Feels much more like home. Our landlord once again helped us out by giving us a good rate. WHEW!

Done a little teaching at the school - so fun- but not enough to make a living. sad!

Going back to the states on Oct. 6 for a wedding of a dear friend. Think I'm going to stay in MN at least for a little while - save some money again - and possibly come back here at a later date.

This experience is/has been amazing.

Wouldn't trade it for the world.

Unfortunately money really does make the world go 'round.

So.....my adventure may be on a pause for a little while. But I've had a grand time!

Love to all....

Oh - my lack of internet connection makes it nearly impossible to post pictures right now. Trying to get to a friend's place that has internet to share pics with you all.

Is it possible to have your heart in two places? Minnesota and Crete? Maybe.......

WHEW!

So life in Greece has been a whirlwind of learning, teaching, writing papers, taking a big grammar test.........and now it's over. I'm officially ready to teach English! I can't believe it. It has been such an incredible experience taking this course.......for anyone that is looking for an adventure, to meet new lifelong friends, to learn a TON, and to have fun doing it....well this is the place to be.

We all graduated yesterday! We were so excited to learn we all passed the grammar exam - it was a 3 hour intense exam.....but the end result was success for all of us.

As a class with our two instructors we went out for drinks and dinner and then to the beach. What a fun day. That night we went out to celebrate our success and graduation in the course but also one of our instructors was also celebrating her birthday! We got home at 6 am! that is starting to feel normal......probably not so healthy but OH SO MUCH FUN!

Today we slept off our tiredness and hangovers on the beach and now we're all going to hang out together tonight and take it easy.

I have SO MANY pictures to post. Just trying to find time. The pictures do a much better job of telling the story of my adventure here. I even have one with Einstein this time......his actual name is George and he is so much fun.

OH - looks like I'm staying in Greece to teach. Actually looks like I'm staying in Chania! YAY!


Love to all!

dear blog....it's me Katie

Sorry for the lack of posts.........life here is just never slows down. And the Greeks do not believe in sleep - I'm still trying to figure out how they do it...........when they actually work..........and how they continue to look so good. Once I find the answer I'll let you know.

So this past weekend we once again went to check out another part of the island. This time it was to a place called Elafonisi...........IT IS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PLACE I HAVE EVER SEEN. Pictures will follow this. SERIOUSLY AMAZING. Anyway we took a bus through the mountains to get to this beach - words cannot do this beach any justice........my pictures will have to tell the story!

Anyway Sat. night we decided to go out "greek style" .......... so we took naps.......got up around 11:00 PM.......and got ready to go out.........at 1 AM! yes you read that right......we left to go out at 1 am. See I told you the Greeks don't sleep! We went to a club called Distijl........not far from our apartment. Um....how do I explain this place.......combine the craziness of Vegas the "Poshness" (yes I made that word up but you know what I mean) of South Beach Miami and there you have Distijl. When we got there around 1:30 or 1:45 AM it was just starting to get busy..........SERIOUSLY it's bananas! We were ready to go around 5 AM but most Greeks stay out until about 7 or 8 am! They played a ton of good music.....both American and European and the scenery both of the architecture and people kind was fun to see! :) We clearly found where all the cute Greek boys were...........HOORAY! :)

I taught today and it went really well. Planning lessons is a little stressful but I really enjoy teaching so I have a lot of fun with it.......stress and all!

Here a few more pictures.................. actually I guess the pictures come first. Seriously am I ever gonna figure out how to use this thing?!


As always love to you all.

Pictures or Sougia

Pebble beach........so pretty.......little rough on the feet.
Cute little apartment.....I loved the colors!

Mountains + beach+ blue water = AMAZING
SUNSET on my way home from school. This is in Chania but I loved this picture!

These are a few of my favorite things..........

(insert song from the Sound of Music here)

This song was in my head last weekend........so I figured I would turn it into a post. Last weekend....gosh it seems like so long ago. Friday night the 8 of us headed to the Harbor to have some cocktails and enjoy Greek life........well the Greeks must never sleep - kind of like Vegas or NYC because we didn't get home until 5 in the morning......and most Greeks were still up partying! Needless to say - Saturday we didn't get up until almost noon! I can't even remember the last time I slept that late - I would imagine college!!!!!!

So, Saturday was a day at the beach outside of our "apartment". Rough life right?! Saturday night though the girls went to grab a bite to eat at a little Greek restaurant near our place and the waiters taught is how to do the ZORBA.....a traditional Greek dance. SO FUN! well the parts we could master were fun........I think the other people at the restaurant had fun watching us......a couple of them joined in the fun.

Sunday we decided to take a bus to Souja (souix -ya)......this beach was INCREDIBLE. Pictures are following this post....so watch for them. It's this little hippie town in the middle of the mountains with a pebble beach and the bluest water I have ever seen.........not to mention clear. The sea looks like drinking water .....it's that CLEAR!

Back to reality on Monday - if you can call living in Greece "reality" but I taught 3 days this week. It gets a little stressful in that we have school in the morning learning English grammar, how to teach certain lessons, etc. and then in the afternoon plan lessons and at night teach. It's a little nerve-racking but I love it so far.

I do want to write home though to all of my English teachers/professors and ask "why did I never learn English grammar?" I've been her a week and half and already know more than the many years of schooling I had in the states. Does anyone know what a gerund is? How about a present perfect continous verb? Our class just laughs because no one knows it...........and the Greeks do! hahha! But we're all learning and can now have an answer as to why a sentence is structed a certain way versus just saying "because!"

Okay pictures to come soon!

Love to all!

Let me catch up......

Life has been BUSY since arriving here...........where can I start?

Okay so I got to my residence at about 2 pm last Sunday....had a chance for a shower and to walk around a bit. Then at 7 our two teachers at the school, Maria and Cynthia, picked all of us up to show us around Chania (pronounced Honya).

Our class, there are 8 of us, and we get along famously.
Katie (me)
Katie (my roommate she's from England...and yes her accent is awesome)
Shannon ( from Canada)
Jen ( from Rhode Island)
Leela ( from Rhode Island)
Jennifer ( from Colorado)
Cara (from Connecticut)
Darren (from California)

We explored the city and then Cynthia left us in the good hands of her favorite bartender.....His name was Yanni but he looked like Fabio from all those romantic novels. Anyway Yanni clearly was on a mission to make us have fun as we all ordered drinks and then this stuff called Raki kept showing up. It's a Cretan liquor....that is insane. They serve it everywhere around here - usually with fruit. Well.....we got home at around 3 in the morning. Jet lag + hangover never usually is a good thing.......except the scenery walking to school the next day made me feel oh so much better!

We walk the beach too school - it takes about an 40 minutes to an hour depending on the route we take. It's awesome.....I love this part!

Now school - is INTENSE but I love what I'm learning. I already taught my first lesson and it went pretty well. I think my career as a teacher is starting! We do spend a lot of time at school but it doesn't mean we don't have fun.

The coffee here is good - thank goodness! This cute little Greek man near school always sells us coffee in the morning.......his English is pretty good so he helps us find things in town. His name I think with the English translation is Bobby......I'll get a picture - he's adorable!

We also found a dog here - we named him Pete! He followed us all the way home from school one day.......waited for us til morning and walked all the way back with us again the next day. Maria even let us have him in school all day. Pete must have found other friends though because we didn't see him today :(

I'm now addicted to Greek salads, Souvlaki (kind of like a Gyro), WATER to hydrate, and greek yogurt with honey and banana! It's been 90 + with no clouds everyday here - gorgeous!

Gotta run for now.... as this is my Friday night! I'm sure I'll have more to post

Love to you all.

A picture is worth a thousand words.....

Ready or not Greece.....here I am.......

I'm in Crete.....finally! Here's how I got here...... 2 1/2 hour flight to Atlanta.....two hour layover.....11 hour flight to Athens.....mad dash to my flight to Chania, Crete......50 minute flight to Crete. Okay so it wasn't so bad........but I'm glad I don't have to get on another plane for awhile.

It is beautiful here.....and so far the Greek people I've met have been so nice and so helpful - thanks to the strangers out there.

Speaking of thanks - A HUGE THANK YOU goes out to my family and friends for supporting me, sending me well wishes, treating me to dinners, and cocktails, and celebrating my journey. The biggest thank you of all goes to my parents - thanks for believing in this adventure and helping me have enough courage to do so. Also to my Aunt Mary - thanks for housing me the last couple of months.....but beyond that thank you for your encouragement!

Pictures to come soon.........

Love to all.....

Don't Stop Believin.........

In the power dreams
In the suport of family and friends
In the element of surprise
In yourself
In knowing what is right
In living each moment
In the love that you have for others......and knowing they love you too

Okay so I haven't posted in a LONG time.......still getting used to this online journal (blog) thing. I never feel like I have anything to say......yet I can have conversations with people that last in the early morning hours.....so I need to channel that I guess.

In the words of Journey's song.......Don't Stop Believin....Hold on to that Feelin!

I plan to hold on to the little moments in life....remember where I came from.....but look to the future with hope and excitement.

Here we go!

My new city.........Chania

Things are falling into place......and hopefully not falling apart

Well.......here's the update on my adventure of uprooting my life and moving to teach in Europe.

Sold house - CHECK
Sold most belongings - CHECK
Bought plane ticket - CHECK
Gave notice to job - SCARY CHECK but CHECK
Scheduling much needed time with family - CHECK
Spending quality time with those I love - CHECK
Having fun this summer - CHECK
Starting to stress out - CHECK
Starting to get EXCITED - CHECK



Realizing that in less than two months I'll be living in Crete, GREECE - PRICELESS!

The posts pre-Greece will not be too exciting.......I'm hoping while in Greece I'll have much more to share!

Til then.

Just me

Hey there. Not sure how this blogging thing works- am trying it out as a way to keep in touch with everyone.....well more so that others can see what I'm up to. I'm currently at a crossroads, well was at a crossroads in life. Finishing my Masters degree, needing to find something new, when I decided to go to Greece to teach English. I know crazy idea right?! Well I leave in August - not so crazy afterall! I rececently sold my home, most of my furniture (thank you to my parents and my Aunt Mary for providing a home for a few special items) and I'm ready to go! I'm excited, scared, ready, timid, all at the same time. We'll see what this new adventure brings. I'm assuming it will be a great ride - one people can watch and read on this blog. Thank you for reading.............

Love to all,
Katie