Thursday, February 2, 2012

when the world opens up...

Canals in Venice...view from my gondola

Juliet's balcony in Verona

On the streets of Florence with my student Katherine   

One of the things that's a trend in education is bringing a global perspective to our students.  When I taught high school art, that seemed really easy.  I sponsored three trips abroad and took students to Europe, which benefited me because I hadn't ever been across the ocean and wanted to see all the things I'd been studying in college.  I saw and learned so much. 

I stood under the Eiffel tower.
I ate pizza in Covent Garden, London.
I cried in many, many cathedrals.
I took deep breaths in the coliseum in Rome, savoring the history.
I bought a cross charm in Notre Dame.
I slept on an overnight train, an overnight ferry and overnight flights.
I woke up with the sunrise over water on a beach in Greece.
I said hello to the Mona Lisa.
I rode a gondola in Venice.
I talked to the dead in Pompeii.
I drug my suitcase up many, many flights of stairs and through multiple airports. 

I loved it all. 

I've been to Spain, Italy, Greece, England and France with students.  On my own I've also been to Mexico, Canada, Belize and another trip to England.  

But trying to inspire a global view with kindergarteners is a little bit tougher.  I mean, they really don't know much about the world to begin with (well, except I do teach at a school with a ton of kids that were born in Hispanic countries) to know that there are so many other countries.  While many of the kids might know they moved here from another country, I don't know that they understand tourism and that travel can be a choice, not a necessity.  It's a difficult concept to impart on little kids. 

I'm so glad I had the opportunity to see so much of the world, and I would love to see some of Asia if I could stand to be in a plane that long.  It's just been so great to experience other cultures and soak up the energy from the world. 

I'd love to know where you've traveled.  Do tell. 


6 comments:

KT said...

We are on a quest to see all of the United States National Parks in our lifetime. It is going to be difficult, but we sure are going to try.

We have been gathering information about Mount Everest. While I know I will never summit, I would maybe like to make it to basecamp. We found a trip with REI, but it was very expensive...and three weeks long...so, it remains a dream.

Also, we would like to go to Africa...and several places in South America.

Oh the list is so long!

the misfit said...

Your list is absolutely fantastic, and those pictures are awesome. I think if you get to say "my gondola" un-ironically in a sentence, you win at life :).

I'm more inclined to the cultural travel than the adventure travel, so the places I'd like to go are pretty expected. I've lived in Austria (Graz) while in college, and also been to Vienna, Mariazell, and Salzburg; I've been to Krakow and Warszawa in Poland (and would love to spend more time in Krakow); and I've been to Paris and the French countryside. I am going to go to Italy and Ireland in the next few years if I possibly can, and wouldn't turn down trips to Switzerland, the Czech Republic, England, or Bavaria (I've been to the Frankfurt airport only, so far, but I'm really only interested in southern Germany). Oh, I guess I've also been to various cool places in Canada and the US :).

It's amazing to stand right in a picture out of your imagination, to find out that the food really is that much better there, to hear people speaking a language you don't know on the street and absorbs that that is the language they speak every day. I've also found that foreign travel gives me an increased appreciation for coming home - a place where I can understand the instruction labels on manufactured goods (my German is good, but it will NEVER be that good), where the appliances make sense, and where I can express myself in all the eccentric or flowery turns of phrase that enter my head and be perfectly understood. Well, sometimes :).

KT said...

A interesting article on ccn.com today...more places to add to the list!

http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/03
/travel/1000-places-to-see-before-you-die/index.html?hpt=hp_bn7

Jill said...

While I have the privelige of living in Europe there are so many places to go still! We love Bavaria. I want to go to Iceland. They have affordable rates & really, as an American, when are you going to Iceland? I would love to get to Egypt too.

All in His Perfect Timing said...

Wow! Juliet's balcony? :-)
I haven't traveled outside of the US (Hawaii doesn't count, does it? ha!)
Love the pictures you shared! It has to be such an amazing experience to visit places most people only read about! What an amazing list of places you've been! More pics, please!!!

Bailey's Leaf said...

I have to admit that we haven't traveled about the world and all. We've hung out stateside and in Canada. We cruised to North Central Ontario, snowshoed along the Whiskey Rapids and saw a moose. We drove up to Michigan, along the snag in the mitten at Sleeping Bear Dunes, across the Mackinac Bridge to the UP where we drove through a white birch forest, saw Pictured Rock, camped at Craig Lake, ferried over to Madeline Island (of the Apostle Islands Nat'l Lakeshore) to pop the tent out again and saw a bear while driving down the one big main road on the UP. We've camped at Hocking Hills State Park in Ohio and while camping at Ohiopyle State Park in PA, we watched the Over the Falls Race. We've biked. We've hiked. We've enjoyed. Many more National Parks and state park camping adventures to come!