First day of sightseeing

During our first day of sightseeing downtown Madrid and I already got separated from the group! Luckily my roomie knew I was lost and kept an eye out for me. Thank GOD we found each other at Plaza de Mayor. I really need to learn more Spanish and get better at directions!

Series of misadventures within first 24 hours of Madrid Trip

So my series of misadventures started right from the get go of this trip!

Upon arriving to the airport everything was going smoothly. I got there right when I wanted to which was 8:30 am. I was able to check in my second bag for free with USAirway which was a nice bonus and got through security without a hitch. I found some classmates right away and so we waited for our flight.

It all began around Thursday, 11 am... our flight to Philadelphia was cancelled because the bathroom was broken, so first they only delayed our flight by 10-15 minutes, which of course was no problem. After 30 minutes of waiting they announced that the flight would be cancelled and they would find us another flight to get to our destination. I was very relieved because I despise USAirway. They are worse then Southwest! They found us another flight and said they would have Lufthansa take us to Frankfort Germany and then to Madrid. I was excited and relieved because then I get to say I'd been to Germany and Lufthansa is a better airline while the flight being 11 hours. So I figured I could catch some z's.

The hitch was we had to get our bags again and then go to Tom Bradley International airport and check in our bags there. Getting my bags was no problem, the issue was I was wearing clothes for 30-40 degree weather, but it was probably 70 degrees in LA and I had to lug around 90 lbs. worth of stuff! When we get to Lufthansa they did not have our group of 32 people in the system. So we waited..... and waited..... and waited.... By 1 pm we were getting worried because our flight was at 2:05 and they still didn't check any of us in yet.

I got some sleep on the flight to Frankfort which was nice. But when we get to Madrid my luggage with my clothes finally came out towards the end, but my duffel bag full of toiletries and my scarves were no where to be found. Luckily I have all my clothes since I packed at least 2-3 days worth of stuff in my carryon. So I really was OK as far as clothes went. It's just knowing that your stuff is lost and wondering if you will ever see it again. So we filed a claim. At the claims desk they said it was still in Frankfort and should arrive Madrid that afternoon. I haven't seen the bag yet....

Then when we get to our Madrid Homestay my roommate and I's eyes got big when we saw our room. Basically we are in the attic, hence the address being 5 "attico". I figured it would be nice being at the top of the building, but our room is literally where one would place storage items. Making the best of things we still enjoyed walking around Madrid and chatted with our mum for a little bit. Communication was harder than we thought, but I think I will learn Spanish much faster this way! =)

I attached a picture of our room. Esperanza (that's her name) basically just put 2 twin beds together, so it feels like we are sleeping in the same queen sized bed which is a bit uncomfortable for both of us since it doesn't feel like we have much privacy.  Tomorrow we plan on letting the company know that we like our mum, but just would like a better sleeping situation. 

So there we go! Tomorrow we meet up early and then they are taking us on a walking tour of Madrid. So far the best I can describe it is that it's like NYC or San Francisco. Very Metropolitan like, and no where as intimidating as everyone described it! I can fit in here no problem and I've seen a handful of Asians and Filipinos already. 

I'll give you an update of our field trip tomorrow.

Address in Madrid

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Learn Spanish in Madrid at don Quijote language school | donQuijote.org

Here's the school I'll be attending the next few months. To family and friends: If you don't here from me, you can contact them. I think the administrators names are Kieran and Sian. =)

Learn Spanish in Madrid at don Quijote language school | donQuijote.org

Camera Roll

Camera Roll

Attended 2010 Miss Huntington Beach Pageant

I went with my mom, little brother Aubrey and cousin Mark and meet up with my mom's friends (Bill, Jeff, Carole & her husband) to watch the Miss Huntington Beach Pageant. They wanted to go because my mom's work Nuvision Federal was sponsoring one of the contestants. It was actually a lot of fun. I think Aubrey and Mark especially enjoyed themselves and were full with all the eye candy that day! Here is the video I composed.

First Animoto Video Graded

I showed this animoto video to Professor Mande today. She said she liked it very much and gave me a 10 out of 10. Whoo hoo! 1 down - 3 more to go!

Madres de los Mayo: Argentine

Here's the first video I made both for my History class and Library class. It's about a very brave group of people who was an inspiration to many people in Argentine's history.

Animoto video for Library Homework

I learned how to make an animoto video since it was homework for our library class. Turns out I like the program and plan on using it for my travels next month. Here's my second completed project. It's about Voltaire and his book Candide. The book was entertaining and I agree with his philosophy and lesson.

Homework and more homework

Week two of our Spring Semester is almost coming to an end and I am still feeling overwhelmed with the homework our professors have assigned for us. Basically everyone (including myself) is trying to get as much homework done here as possible so we can enjoy Madrid and travel Europe. My schedule is actually convenient where I only have class from Monday to Wednesday in Spain. This is I will have a 4 day weekend to travel. 

I am taking 3 history classes (History of the America's I, History of the America's II,and World Civilization II) and one English class (World Literature II). Our professors for this course are both very well educated in their profession and make class interesting. I just hate all the homework! 

Here's a rundown of my History homework and tests:

• 6 powerpoint presentations
• Discussions of the presentations
• 8 wiki's
• 4 field trip reports
• Take 3 chapter quizzes
• 3 map quizes

English consists of:

• About 30 - 50 page of reading a week
• 5 questions we are supposed to bring to class 
• 2 tests
• One 4 - 5 Essay
• One 8 - 9 Research Essay

We also have a library class which has homework too. 

Rainbows after the storm

I saw my first double rainbow in California yesterday (1/22) off the 57 FWY. It was a memorable moment. I wish I got a picture of what it looked like at the end of the second rainbow, the colors were so vivid! These rainbows serve as a reminder to me that there really is something to look forward to after an epic storm.

The Epic Storm Lasted from 1/18 - 1/23

From my Facebook entry January 19 @ 3:07 pm

My civic stalled in about 8 inches of flood water (in the middle of an intersection). Luckily, I was able to start the car and drive to a dry area, but my car was putt-puttering on the way. I hope it's still driveable. That was quite an experience! I'm still shaking and that was about an hour ago.

From my Facebook entry January 24 @ 6:00 pm

Marie Antoinette Toh had my mechanic look at my Civic to see what the damages were after the rain. He said my car looks fine. *phewwww*

Getting things together for the trip

During my coffee session with my best friend Connie and her brother Tim,we were talking about my trip to Spain. Tim said he wanted to go also, so I told him come visit me while I'm there! We'll see if he can actually make it.  Right after coffee and pizza (I know, what a match) I went to my CPA to file for my taxes early while I'm still on winter break and not have to worry about it later. 

Anyway, after handling business, I was still buzzing from the thought of going to Europe that I went to Target and already bought all the little travel sized items. I have been scoping out things to buy since I confirmed my trip. Today I figured since I should be Spain-bound in 6 weeks and knowing me, when school starts I'm going to busy studying....I might as well start buying what I need. Mind you, I already have a suitcase of clothes I've decided I already want to take with me, such as sweaters and jackets. I looked up Spain's weather during spring and apparently it ranges at 60 degrees high and 45 low... (@.@) That is freezing for me! My comfortable temperature is 77 degrees! 72 degrees is already cold for me. Yes, I know, I'm a weakly. I'm not afraid to be the first to admit it. 

I have a list of things for me to pack and purchase on an application for my iphone. As you can probably figure out by now, I'm a bit anal and am a "lists" person. I feel lost without a list of to do's and feel oh, so good crossing out one of those to do's. I'm so bad where I even add things that weren't on my list that I completed that day just to cross it out right after words. I just need to feel the closure.

Well, it's already past midnight so I should be getting ready for bed. Till next post...

 

My First Entry

The last time I had a diary and actually wrote in it daily was when I was 13 years old. Hopefully I will have enough discipline to write on this regularly. My friend and I were talking today how I use Facebook as my personal diary for thoughts and pictures. He suggested for me to start a blog for my travels to Spain and Europe so I could have a more detailed log of my 90 day trip. So here it goes!......