Thursday 17 June 2010

the beginning

let's start with a recap of my travels before i came to the UK.

when i was in high school, i had my first real travel/tourist experience when i joined People to People as a student ambassador. we did a tour of europe over the summer: england, france, belgium, germany, and netherlands (oh yea, and a quick stop at luxembourg). it was an unbelievable experience, and all these years later, i'm still in touch with some of my fellow students on that trip. i was learning european history in class back then, and it was incredible to go to europe and see that history right before your very eyes. you really realize that american history is just a blip in time, compared to what you can see in other parts of the world. my People to People experiences ultimately became the basis for my student application essay, which helped to get me into UC Berkeley. so parents, i would definitely recommend this program for your high schoolers. =)

during college, i did a summer study abroad in paris, which of course, i would definitely recommend doing as well. if you can't fit a one-year study abroad into your full-time schedule, then definitely consider simply doing a summer program instead.

after college, i bought my first digital camera, a small canon elph, and went on 7wks of the most intense travel i've ever had. of course, it was a great experience. i joined international student volunteers and went to australia for 2wks of tree planting in the small town of bendigo, followed by 2wks of touring the australian east coast, from melbourne to sydney; finally, we stopped for a week in fiji, before returning to los angeles, where i stayed for a night before flying to israel to help out on my professor's archaeology dig in tel dor for 2wks. i've never been more tan than when i returned that summer!

personally, i had a great experience with international student volunteers. we probably did every form of outdoor adventure activity possible, in some of the most beautiful jaw-dropping scenery: white water rafting, sea kayaking, rappelling, surfing, sailing, snorkeling, etc. australia is definitely a must-see, especially if you love the outdoors.

- the sandy highway, fraser island, australia:

when it comes to the famed great barrier reef, however, i would have to say that fiji takes the cake on that one. from my experience, the reef is more beautiful in fiji than in australia, and snorkeling should be a must on the fiji to-do list. i have never seen beaches more beautiful than the ones at fiji - pristine white sands and crystal clear blue waters. it should be a sin not to go into the ocean - there, you could swim with all sorts of natural wildlife, from dolphins to small whales and sea turtles. you'll become so spoiled, you would never want to swim in a chlorinated public pool again. the islands are also really close together, so i would definitely recommend a day of island hopping on a small boat. as for accommodation, there are amazing hotels at fiji, but if you're a student, like i was, you would probably have to stay in a hostel, like i did. the downside of hostel life is that the tap water is brown and un-drinkable, so you'll have to go out to a spring to collect rain water. but it's not a big deal, and you're not going to be spending all your time in the hostel, anyways.

- the waters of fiji:


- sunset at fiji:


as for my final stop, israel, i have to be honest and say that i didn't get to see much of it, because i spent most of my time on the dig site. i did manage to get away for a weekend with other diggers to masada. of course, i would recommend it; the desert landscape is amazing and beautiful. in america, we're not used to seeing anything older than a couple hundred years, so to see a historic site that was thousands of years old, dating back to the time of christ, was just mind-blowing. as for walking through the surrounding desert, needless to say, it was HOT!! bring plenty of water; freeze bottled water and put them in your backpack, but be warned that they could soon turn into bottles of near-boiling water. don't wander the desert alone - if you get lost, you could quickly dehydrate or pass out from the heat. the heat was so oppressive, it made me feel like i would evaporate. there are, however, oases where you could stop for a swim and cool down. do swim in the dead sea - you will float in a very strange and funny manner, but take the phrase "like salt in an open wound" seriously. if you have a cut anywhere, it will HURT!! i learned that the hard way. fortunately, there are freshwater showers nearby where you can rinse yourself off. finally, if you're in israel, it's easy to cross the border and see the famed petra in jordan. others from my dig did, but i was in fiji at the time.
- masada at sunrise:


so for indiana jones fans, would i recommend participating in a real life archaeology dig? well, let's just put it this way - only if you're curious or if it's your passion. it's certainly not something i would volunteer to do again, anytime soon. digging on an archaeology site is HARD WORK!! back-breaking labor in intense heat. we had to be on the dig site before the sun rose, at around maybe 4am, so we could get everything done before noon when it got too hot to be out. it's not quite what you see on tv, some light dusting with a brush here and there. and definitely nothing like indiana jones. it's using pickaxes to break rock and soil, it's wheeling around really heavy wheelbarrows full of dirt. but yes, more likely than not, you'll find some ancient artifact that you'll get to take home with you. we were digging on an ancient roman site, and the first pottery shard i found, i was really excited about - but the novelty sort of wore off after about the 100th one that turned up. the professors and dig leaders kept all the important finds, of course, but i'm still proud of the pottery shards i got to take home with me. =)

- our archaeology dig site:





in short, that was how i blew all my part-time money that i had saved over my 4yrs of college in one summer. but would i do it again? of course! afterall, you're only young once.



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