Hello!!! I have moved to a new blog called TheDanceGrad.com! Check it out for more elaborate How To's, a 24 day fitness challenge and more!
Thanks!!
Best,
The Traveling Grad
a.k.a. The Dance Grad
Friday, October 18, 2013
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
The "Super Friend"
I am slightly disappointed in myself. I just recently realized how much pressure I've been putting on others to be this unreachable breed of human I'm calling a "super friend." This type of person is always there whenever you call on them, says the things you want them to say, is constantly aware of your feelings and always places your needs above hers or his. The funny thing is that the only reason why I even realized that I placed this unreasonable pressure on others is because I found that the same kind of pressure has been placed on me, and I have failed to meet these unattainable standards.
Before this revelation of mine, dare I say it, I considered myself to be that "super friend," and I judged my friends who did not meet these standards. Now, I can go on and make a bunch of excuses as to why I couldn't keep up with this lifestyle such as: I moved to another country, I got into a serious relationship, I have been traveling the world, I've been working on a Masters degree, all while working a part time job and trying to find ways to financially support myself and live where I'd like to live after graduation, but I know that those are all just excuses. They are excuses that everyone has in one way or another. They may not be the same excuses as mine, but everyone has 1 million and 1 things they have to keep up with in their lives. People are not only dealing with things on the surface like jobs, school, relationships, etc., but they are also dealing with family problems, depression, anxiety, and anything of that nature that is not normally shared with the public. The bottom line is that people do their best, and they don't mean to hurt you by not responding right away or not being in contact for a while. There's no reason for anyone to expect so much of one person who is only human after all. So ultimately I came to the conclusion that if I don't want my friends to hold me to the unreachable "super friend" standard, then I shouldn't hold it to them either.
So, here is my apology. Firstly, I want to apologize to any friends who feel that I've neglected them over these past two years or however long its been really. As stated earlier, I did not do it intentionally. I do my best in life, just like you do, and my love and appreciation for you as a friend is not diminished in any way shape or form. I still truly value our friendship, and please know that I never intentionally meant to cause any pain on your part. My next apology goes to those friends and family members who I've personally held to the "super friend" standards. I am so sorry for expecting of you what is far more than humanly possible. I now know that you are just doing your best on a daily basis, and there is no reason to think that you love me any less than you did before. Being that I am not with you every day, there is no way for me to truly know what is happening in your life. Although that makes me sad, I still know that I cross your mind every so often as you do in mine, and therefore, our friendship is still very much alive in our hearts.
I know that this post is somewhat off topic from what I usually post on this blog, but I felt that it just needed to be said. Leaving friends and family is a huge part of traveling and living abroad. It is an unfortunate reality that I have to live with, and I struggle with not having my best friends and family with me on a daily basis. All I can do is try and remember how lucky I am to have people in my life who love me, no matter where they are in the world.
Best,
Traveling Grad Student
Before this revelation of mine, dare I say it, I considered myself to be that "super friend," and I judged my friends who did not meet these standards. Now, I can go on and make a bunch of excuses as to why I couldn't keep up with this lifestyle such as: I moved to another country, I got into a serious relationship, I have been traveling the world, I've been working on a Masters degree, all while working a part time job and trying to find ways to financially support myself and live where I'd like to live after graduation, but I know that those are all just excuses. They are excuses that everyone has in one way or another. They may not be the same excuses as mine, but everyone has 1 million and 1 things they have to keep up with in their lives. People are not only dealing with things on the surface like jobs, school, relationships, etc., but they are also dealing with family problems, depression, anxiety, and anything of that nature that is not normally shared with the public. The bottom line is that people do their best, and they don't mean to hurt you by not responding right away or not being in contact for a while. There's no reason for anyone to expect so much of one person who is only human after all. So ultimately I came to the conclusion that if I don't want my friends to hold me to the unreachable "super friend" standard, then I shouldn't hold it to them either.
So, here is my apology. Firstly, I want to apologize to any friends who feel that I've neglected them over these past two years or however long its been really. As stated earlier, I did not do it intentionally. I do my best in life, just like you do, and my love and appreciation for you as a friend is not diminished in any way shape or form. I still truly value our friendship, and please know that I never intentionally meant to cause any pain on your part. My next apology goes to those friends and family members who I've personally held to the "super friend" standards. I am so sorry for expecting of you what is far more than humanly possible. I now know that you are just doing your best on a daily basis, and there is no reason to think that you love me any less than you did before. Being that I am not with you every day, there is no way for me to truly know what is happening in your life. Although that makes me sad, I still know that I cross your mind every so often as you do in mine, and therefore, our friendship is still very much alive in our hearts.
I know that this post is somewhat off topic from what I usually post on this blog, but I felt that it just needed to be said. Leaving friends and family is a huge part of traveling and living abroad. It is an unfortunate reality that I have to live with, and I struggle with not having my best friends and family with me on a daily basis. All I can do is try and remember how lucky I am to have people in my life who love me, no matter where they are in the world.
Best,
Traveling Grad Student
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
An Overview of Budapest, Hungary!
Budapest ~ "The City of Spas"
For most Americans (the ones that I know), Budapest, Hungary is not number one on their “must do” list, and I can understand why. There is nothing extraordinarily famous to see, and it is very similar to slightly more popular cities such as Prague and Copenhagen in its architecture and cuisine. In fact, its often called the “Paris of the east” when referring to its romantic vibe and night time scenery, which in itself describes a notion of repetition as a tourist destination within the continent of Europe. An American tourist may ask, “Why would I travel to a city like Paris when I can just go to Paris?” Well, as someone who has been to both cities, I believe that I have the knowledge to tell you why, in my opinion, Budapest is worth it.
Being that I was there for a mere four days, I am not going to pretend that I am an expert on the city of Budapest. However, I can tell you the impression that it made on me during my stay while simultaneously hoping that you don’t think I’m a pretentious know-it-all.
Firstly, Budapest is one of the most inexpensive cities that I have ever been to, and it’s not like we traveled like hitchhiking students either! We stayed in a very nice two bedroom apartment, went to a five star restaurant and experienced Budapest’s most famous thermal spa all on a fairly low range budget. In comparison with its “sister of the west” Paris, it would have cost us nearly five times the amount we paid in order to have the same type of experience. Therefore, just the cost alone made it quite an appealing holiday destination! Now, I am not claiming that Paris isn’t worth visiting because it definitely is, but if you’re looking for a fairly cheap alternative for the time being, then Budapest can be considered an unexpected contender.
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| View of the Parliament Building at night ~ November 2012 |
I found that the most beautiful scenes of Budapest occurred at nighttime when the city was alight with a yellowish glow that nicely highlighted its statues, historic buildings and monuments. During the day, however, the buildings seemed large and impressive, but not nearly as picturesque as they are at night. Being that I went during the Christmas season, the Budapest Christmas Market was in full swing! It was nicely decorated with lights, there was live music and a lot of little stands selling handmade goods.
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| Scenes from the Budapest Christmas Market ~ November 2012 |
My all time favorite goody from the market was a pastry called a “Chimney Cake,” which was a flaky and doughy pastry in tube-like form roasted on a rotating spit and coated with sugar and other flavors. I tried the chocolate and the cinnamon (of course I needed more than one even though they were fairly massive), and they were both delicious! I would definitely recommend going around Christmas time for this reason alone.
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| Views of Budapest's most famous spa ~ November 2012 |
Budapest is also known for its thermal spas (often called "the city of spas"), which are basically large swimming pools filled with warm spring water that are believed to have natural healing powers. They are opened to the public year round, and you can pay for a one day fee or get a variety of different passes in order to use the facilities. Although I did not knowingly benefit from the healing powers of the spa water, it was definitely an interesting experience, which one should definitely try while visiting Budapest.
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| View of Budapest, Hungary ~ November 2012 |
In conclusion, Budapest was definitely a destination that I would not have even thought of visiting before I moved to the UK, but being here has opened my eyes to the world in ways I never imagined were possible. The potential for travel opportunities here are endless, and Budapest is just one of the many new cities that I have discovered within the past two years. I hope you enjoyed my very brief description of my experience in Budapest, and I look forward to telling you more about other interesting cities in the near future!
Best,
The Traveling Grad Student
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
And nearly 4 months later...
Hello again! After the four month hiatus, I'd like to wish whomever is reading this a very Happy New Year, even though we're pretty much two months in already. I hope that everyone had a very happy holiday season, and that all is well!
Just to update, since my last blog post in October 2012, I haven't been anywhere that I would deem "blog worthy" other than going home for Thanksgiving and Christmas AND going to Los Angeles to visit my friends. Being home was very nice, although I did have a minor setback involving a pilonidal cyst, which started in LA and quite painfully ended one week later at home in New York. I believe this may have started a holiday related injury theme in my life, which I no longer wish to continue. What I'm referring to is what happened to me just last week, the day before Valentine's Day. I was making a tiramisu for my boyfriend and I to have on Valentine's Day, and the hot coffee from my French press coffee maker exploded all over everything including my left arm. I then spent the next hour trying to reduce the pain with little success and ended up going to the hospital. All is fine now, and the burn is definitely healing, but the moral of the story is be very careful with any and all holiday preparations of any kind because, whatever they may be, they're probably dangerous.
Despite destructive efforts of my French press coffee maker, who now resides in the nearest landfill, I will be traveling this weekend to Copenhagen, Denmark and possibly Malmö, Sweden! With my dissertation project well under way, I'm hoping that I can find some time to post about my experiences there sooner rather than later, but at the rate I'm going now, odds that you'll hear from me again before June are pretty slim. Anyway, fingers crossed!
Just to update, since my last blog post in October 2012, I haven't been anywhere that I would deem "blog worthy" other than going home for Thanksgiving and Christmas AND going to Los Angeles to visit my friends. Being home was very nice, although I did have a minor setback involving a pilonidal cyst, which started in LA and quite painfully ended one week later at home in New York. I believe this may have started a holiday related injury theme in my life, which I no longer wish to continue. What I'm referring to is what happened to me just last week, the day before Valentine's Day. I was making a tiramisu for my boyfriend and I to have on Valentine's Day, and the hot coffee from my French press coffee maker exploded all over everything including my left arm. I then spent the next hour trying to reduce the pain with little success and ended up going to the hospital. All is fine now, and the burn is definitely healing, but the moral of the story is be very careful with any and all holiday preparations of any kind because, whatever they may be, they're probably dangerous.
Despite destructive efforts of my French press coffee maker, who now resides in the nearest landfill, I will be traveling this weekend to Copenhagen, Denmark and possibly Malmö, Sweden! With my dissertation project well under way, I'm hoping that I can find some time to post about my experiences there sooner rather than later, but at the rate I'm going now, odds that you'll hear from me again before June are pretty slim. Anyway, fingers crossed!
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