so, i saw all the famous parts of Austria, and a bit of Munich. met two cousins from Australia who were very funny and i enjoyed their company. had a great bonding experience with Matt and Ryan.overall, i enjoyed most of all the traveling. going on the tours, all depended on the tour guide. some of the visits i felt a bit rushed but we had so much to do in such little time.i missed the houghbrough house but it was so i could see a girl i had spent the past three days with but probably wont ever see again. so i think that is excusable.Innsbruck was cool it was weird but all the while still cool.i also got a really cool red t-shirt

I got a T-shirt

so, i saw all the famous parts of Austria, and a bit of Munich. met two cousins from Australia who were very funny and i enjoyed their company. had a great bonding experience with Matt and Ryan.

overall, i enjoyed most of all the traveling. going on the tours, all depended on the tour guide. some of the visits i felt a bit rushed but we had so much to do in such little time.
i missed the houghbrough house but it was so i could see a girl i had spent the past three days with but probably wont ever see again. so i think that is excusable.

Innsbruck was cool it was weird but all the while still cool.

i also got a really cool red t-shirt

MExiCo

so i was on the train heading back from these castles that i didn't really care to much for and herd these guys talking about philosophy and all these other I'm to educated for my own good conversations. i thought it appointee that after hearing these conversations behind me for about fifteen or twenty minute i would join in. so i started to talk to the guy to the left of me. he was from Mexico, i can't remember his name. he is a grad student in Spain and he is studying graphic design and wants to work on way finding; maps, signs.

me and him started talking about Mexico and Americas relationship. me not knowing allot about Mexico besides the food and some of the history i asked how their government worked. he informed me that their are high ranking positions that are orchestrated by unions that will then controle the workers and from that you have anything from the sanitary workers to the teachers working under the union leaders. he told me it is his thought that this form of infrastructure co uses much of Mexico's problems. that their priorities are not always Wat's best for the country or their workers but for their own greed. he pointed this out using the teachers Union, it is in their best interest to keep a large portion of the poor uneducated so that they will always have growth and need more teachers.

10 things about me

Cheerful – my nick name is sunshine, and for one obvious reason, I share the warmth. I enjoy being in good company and I go far lengths to find it.

Optimistic – I have a tattoo dum spiro spero, it’s Latin for as I breathe I hope. I don’t let any situation get to me, especially if I’m with other people. If we are all in the same situation we have nothing to wine about and we all will get out of it one way or another.

Hopeful - I enjoy making people happy, I share my hope when I come across some one needs it.

Son – I worked hard all my life with my father helping out with all his jobs. Construction, ministry, paper routes, all the jobs I’ve known my father to have he’s let me help him teaching me all the walks of life. My mother has been an art teacher most of my life and she has always enabled my growth in art.

Brother – life as the baby of the family is nice. I get a lot of cool stuff and for a while when my brother and sister were older and out the house, I got the house to my self. As I’ve gotten older I’ve gotten closer to my brother and sister and now share a lot of great experiences.

Beer lover— Yuingling was the first beer I drank with my father in a cabin out in the Pine Barrens and it was a great story. Now I’ve started to learn about German and Austrian culture by studying their beers, I reflect on American culture and the certain beers that are drunk in different places.

Student- I love to be taught, in a bar with Steve finding out that you don’t buy the cheep beer that you always go with the house beer. As well in other situations making friends and life experiences have formed my character. In the class I’m not the best example of a student I try but not hard enough to other standards.

creative – in one way yes, in one way no. Due to my “handicaps” I always have to make something new. No, because I use a lot of my experiences to determine what my actions are.

religious- I believe in one god, the creature of the universe, and unconditional love. All the wars fought over religion have nothing to do with religion but only mans greed and deception. As many things when something brings people together there will be individuals who abuse their power. This is why I take my religion to a more personal experience, then a communal.

Conservative- people should only be responsible for them selves; national government should only serve two purposes, defense and light standards. Government has no place in telling us how to live our lives or how we should think. Taxes should be collected to protect society not to conform it. I see good and evil, compared to the liberal view of rich and poor.

what the ... JON!!!

i won alot of money in a casino about 70 euro, so i'm going to use that money for my internment like music shows and such, Amsterdam was one of my favorite cities. the canals are amazing, van gough museum was life changing, ... so while every one else was out doing stuff i ended up walking around and the last night i won back half the money i spent there so i think the trip was a good one

meanwhile i would wake up at 8 go to my favorite cafe and drink a cup of tea with honey, eggs with toast and talk to pie, go visit the Amsterdam museums and parks, Ann Frank house was moving.. Otto franks room was heart brakeing.

so i saw the alps, i saw the museums but i love the music.....

i can't describe the time i'm haveing in written word i hope these videos are some help...

Invitation to Insight

What 2 people did you interview and how you know them? (family, friends, co-workers, etc.) How long have you known them?
Inge, My sister of 21 years.

What strengths did they convey to you about your interpersonal skills?
That im always able to promote myself and that i convey the passion i feel in regards to diffrent events/aspects of my life. My sister also said that sometimes watching me is like watching the animal channel, like you dont know what the animal will do next, & that theres an intresting process to how i do things like packing for instance... how can a suit case that was organized by our mother in 5 min after me touching it look like customs went through it! Most people this would frustrate but for me it works, organized chaos! Shes impressed with my everythings fine attitude.

What weaknesses, or areas for improvement, did they suggest?
My ability or lack there of in following spoken directions and then getting defensive about my failure to complete tasks.

Analyze what you learned: what did you know already about yourself and your skills, what surprised you? Im aware that I have an auditory proccesing dissorder, and people are contantly thinking im not listening to them, when really i am. I use to get really angry & frustrated when people would respond or show disapointment in my ability to listen and follow through.

What specifically will you do over the next few weeks and months to work to improve on these areas? I will give my self a schedule, I find that when im working off of a schedule that it lessens my distractions and im more equiped to focus.

cover the inauguration

From the moment I received this assignment to cover the inauguration for the Monadnock Ledger I felt a bittersweet sense of relief and a kind of sadness. Over the past two years I’ve traveled from New Hampshire to Iowa back and forth for the primary and then to the national conventions as a reporter covering them for the Franklin Pierce University Mass Communication Department.

While in DC I was highly impressed by the crowds; they were singing and dancing in the street at five o’clock in the morning in 20 to 30 degree weather. There was a kind of energy in the city that I have never experienced before. To put the size of the gathering into perspective, the crowd numbered more than the entire population of The Granite State.

It was sad to see the heckling of the Bush administration and the laughing that went on when former vice president Dick Chaney was rolled out onto the platform in a wheel chair. From a day focused on the message of unity and change I had higher expectations of the crowd who had so much to celebrate.

The opening prayer by Rick Warren turned out to be inspirational and not controversial contrary to expectations. While some were protesting during Pastor Warren’s prayer, I observed an overwhelming sense of unity throughout the assembly; it brought all 2 million people together. As the prayer went on the protesting signs went down. The musicians, though I later found out they were pre-recorded, were moving as they played their rendition of “simple gifts.”

President Obama’s inaugural address felt more like a stump speech, yet you could not help but feel the overwhelming sense of pride the crowd had in their new president and in who they where as Americans.

The ceremony was not as impressive when compared to the number of Americans from diverse backgrounds brought together in the District of Columbia for the event. As I moved about the crowds I thought back to how it might have been in 1965. You would not have had the integrated crowds huddled on the buses and trains through out the city. It would have been unheard of. It was a particularly emotional moment for me when an 80 yr old black woman pointed this out to me, as we sat together in the front of a DC Metro bus.

I agree with Lindsey Graham, republican senator of South Carolina, who, when asked how he thought the day was replied by saying “If you aren’t proud of your country today there is something wrong with you.”

I am writing this knowing it is one week and a few days later then it should have been had I rushed it. I could have written this in an hour, but this moment in the history of our country took four hundred years for it to happen, and several days for me to digest what it all means. The main message I take away from this historic event is that the time for change has come. Now we must throw off the chains of victim-hood that have kept us apart and answer the country’s demand for hope; pushing back the political dividers and remembering it was not a political party that won the election, it was its message.

BLOG

Hot Air
http://hotair.com/
i like to keep my self informed of politics.

El Camino
http://elcaminoblog.blogspot.com/
I drive an el camino

Talk Radio
http://www.glennbeck.com/content/blog/stu/
i lissen to the glenn beck show.

Vienna..

I hope the class has a goodtime, and keeps an opened mind. I have always liked good company, going on “adventures.” I love cooking; I’m really spontaneous. If you like live music, we will surely get along.

My hopes for Tom and Heather are that they enjoy getting to know us. It will be great getting to know you, and benefiting mutually from our experiences.

I hope I learn from the Europeans, and their traditions. I cannot wait for the food. The first time I went to Europe I was just about 12 and didn’t have the appreciation for the same things I do now.

I’m nervous about how I’m going to change over this trip. Traveling is one of my favorite things to do; I’ve done a lot of it in the past two years with the presidential primary and now the subject’s I’m traveling for is for my own personal growth. SCAREY!!