katie_argo

Why do goodbyes have to be so hard?? // Because it means you really love the person(s)! #studyabroad #katiespiceurope

— Katie Argo (@katie_argo) April 29, 2016

from Twitter https://twitter.com/katie_argo

April 28, 2016 at 07:09PM
via IFTTT

When in Rome

Oh the places you'll go and the people you'll meet. When you travel with a group try not to fall on you feet. - Dr Seuss (edited by L.L. Cornstarch).

The travel craze lately has been focused on traveling alone. My own travels have emulated this trend as I've treaded through 7 countries with only myself by my side. I have loved the challenge of finding out who I am and stretching my comfort zones. Meeting new people came easy because I was forced to rely on strangers for a lot of my needs. However, I have had my share of group travels as well, including a most recent trip with a group of 30 students to Rome, Italy. Well it may be obvious that I prefer one way to travel over the other, it does not mean that one is necessarily better than the other - they are just different. Those differences are influenced by the group dynamic as well as the size of the group. Here are the main differences that I discovered:

(1) Spontaneity has a different meaning in a large group because everything is planned and there is a schedule and a route to the way the day moves. It's harder to veer off course and see a sight thats not on the schedule. It's harder to fully rest on your break when you know you have to keep walking in 10 min. However, everything is planned for you. Instead of me fumbling through the ticket line to get into museums or finding out which churches to see, things are already taken care of and I just follow the group where they lead me. I definitely saw more sites with a group than I did on my own. There were two different styles of learning. On my own it was all about about learning through experiencing the culture and walking around. With the group it was all about the sites and learning the history behind them.

(2) Other people's opinions matter. You have a other people to consider when you are with a group - their expectations, their tolerances, habits, likes and dislikes. For example, making choices for dinner. Instead of one opinion you get about a million. You also notice that more people are indecisive when it comes to a group because they want everyone included, and then you run across those people that take charge. Personalities really come to light in groups. When you travel alone it is up to you to fulfill all the group roles.

(3) So many people to talk to. You can just float around from person to person as you walk, making conversation as you go. You might get separated from you convo buddy for a block or two and you have a few choices find a new one, meet back up with them or walk by yourself. What makes a conversation work? Anything. Anything at all! Name you poison. What did you think of church number 7? Number 23? Number 370? Would you visit Rome again? Would you live in Rome? Where else have you travelled? What do you love most about the Netherlands? You name it and it goes, even if for one short convo.

Travel far enough, you meet yourself - Cloud Atlas

     Traveling is where I became confident in finding my way through the unknown. It all started with a single plane ride across the Atlantic (okay maybe two planes) where I met a family that was unknown to me at first, where I experienced a culture that was unfamiliar. I briefly tasted what it is like to travel and live out of your backpack for 3 days, 6 days, 12 days! I traveled by myself and with groups of people. I watched the sun rise and set in more than one country. I shared countless stories that may have caused a few people to be jealous. I hopefully shared a few that inspired at least one person to pursue their desire to travel (even if its a short trip across the pond).
 
     There it is, the end of my travel adventures. But, to say it is the final end would be a lie so let me re-phrase that to say: my travel adventures are wrapping up here in Europe and I'm keeping my eyes peeled for the next time a door like this opens up.

----

Lord thank you for your continued protection as my travel adventures of the semester come to a close.

#katiespiceurope
#travel

Instagram

Dear Mom and Dad I found my new house looks like I'm moving abroad! Come visit me in the sculpture garden. #katiespiceurope #thenetherlands #studyabroad via Instagram http://ift.tt/1Sq7pDw

Instagram

Sometimes it's not about the pictures you take or the sights you see but about about the people you meet and the conversations you have. #katiespiceurope #germany #studyabroad via Instagram http://ift.tt/1S60hNP

Instagram

//I was left to my own devices Many days fell away with nothing to show // How am I gonna be an optimist about this? // Optimism is in the eye of the beholder! #katiespiceurope #pompeii #vesuvius #italia via Instagram http://ift.tt/1NoJZdl

katie_argo

Just doing some hairpin turns up to mt Vesuvius in a tour bus... #nbdoa #Spice2016 #katiespiceurope

— Katie Argo (@katie_argo) April 13, 2016

from Twitter https://twitter.com/katie_argo

April 13, 2016 at 06:56AM
via IFTTT

Instagram

Right over left // close your eyes tight // make a wish and throw your coin(s) in! // #roma #trevi #katiespiceurope #wheninrome via Instagram http://ift.tt/1N79O72

Excursie #6 - Den Haag (in het Nederlands!)

Okay here goes my first blog post in Dutch ... This HAS BEEN a goal of mine since the beginning of the semester - to be bootable to communicate in Dutch, even just a little bit.

Okay, my first blog that I write in Dutch. Thursday I was in The Hague with other students from SPICE. It was a fun day because we saw  the second chamber (parliament), lots of art, the sea, and Madurodam (small Netherlands). My favorite was Madurodam. But the second room was also nice because we saw Geert Wilders (He is the Donald Trump of the Netherlands!).

The Hague is near Rotterdam, but is not close to Zwolle - a two-hour train. But two hours is nothing after my trips to Scandinavia.

The Hague is "political heart" of the Netherlands. We walked through the second Kamar. We saw a debate with the Minister of Justice (and Geert Wilders was there).

This is Geert Wilders.

This is the second kamar (Madurodam)

The sea.

People do their feet in the sea. It was cold!!!! I did not. But it was nice to see the sea.

small Zwolle

Madurodam was my favorite! All of Netherlands in one place! Groningen, Zwolle, Utrecht, Schiphol, Amsterdam, Rotterdam. I'm bigger than the buildings there. Nice!


















Many people look at work like for the girl with the pearl. The girl with the pearl is a small work of art so it was hard to see over people. I love the work with the cows! It was great. Artists have a lot of patience and time to create a masterpiece. Wow! Beautiful!

An important work of art

Another important work of art. The girl with the pearl. 

-------

Lord thank you for-allowing me to learn so many new things this semester! Continue to expand my understanding of the world!

#katiespiceurope
#excursions
#dutch

Instagram

Just when you think the world couldn't get any smaller it surprises you with miniature Holland. // Wait a second I thought this was LITTLE Holland why is the shoe bigger than me? And the Dom tower still towers over me! // #katiespiceurope #holland #madurodam via Instagram http://ift.tt/1qzA4Nd

Sister sister!

----------

I have been abroad for 12.5 weeks now and in that time I have experienced a lot and have wished that I could share those experience, share those places with my family, with my sisters, and with my friends. This week served that purpose. My two sisters (Stephanie and Elizabeth), and Alice (a family friend) came to visit me in the Netherlands for one week! Right away Friday morning, I could barely contain my energy and my excitement as I brought one (host) sister (Aniek) to meet my sisters and Alice. Aniek can attest to how excited I was the entire train ride to Schiphol airport! That excitement lasted the whole we as we traveled across the Netherlands.

Sisters can stand for a lot of different things, but in this acronym Sisters is cap stoned in silliness, with just the right mix of reality in the middle.

S Silly smiles. I have a firm belief that sisterhood is rooted in how many silly smiles you can give each other. Maybe it's even possible to have a whole conversation in smiles.

Steph and I

I  Interesting walks, as a result of our family's new best friend - Rick Steves! Narrating our way around cities we were our own tour guides.
**Tip: follow a city walk in the correct order...

Katie, Stephanie, Alice, Elizabeth (L to R)

S  Silly jokes. "Now you've seen two major artworks in their original form, and in the Delft blue!"

T  Talking... or not. This is something so neat about being with people you are comfortable with, and being with people who have seen you through all phases of life. You can talk non stop one day and then the next all you need is head nods.

E  Exploration. Everyday a new city every day, right?

Ignore the drive time.

R  Relax. Despite being away from my blood family for 3 months, I can relax and know that when I do see them that everything is going to be alright. I can take a deep breath and know that even when I feel that the world around me is changing that family will always remain your family.

S  Silly sisters. A picture can speak louder than words...

I think they missed their true calling to be cats!

The week ended the same way it began. Bringing my two families together, I was so excited, so happy, so full of joy! Two groups of people that I love, finally meeting each other and creating one larger group (if only for dinner time).

------

Lord, Thank you for family. Thank you for the opportunity to share experiences with my sisters. Please continue to guide and protect this time that I have left in the Netherlands. 

#katiespiceurope
#family

Instagram

// “You can kiss your family and friends good-bye and put miles between you, but at the same time you carry them with you in your heart, your mind, your stomach, because you do not just live in a world but a world lives in you.” - Frederick Buechner // Thanks for spending the week on my side of the world and for adventuring with me! #katiespiceurope #thenetherlands #family via Instagram http://ift.tt/1qnFwTu

Instagram

It might be a little cheesy but I love my sisters! Ik hou van mijn zussen! #cheesepun #katiespiceurope #alkmaarkaasmarkt via Instagram http://ift.tt/1RQQdae