Tag: experience

Hannah Wilson

Daydreams of Tulip Fields

2 Comments Travel

For the first time ever, I’m welcoming a guest blogger! Suzette, from the travel blog Try Something Fun, is here to share her experience of the beautiful Skagit Valley tulip fields in Washington. 

Flower gardens are one of my favorite things to see when I’m traveling because they bring me peace. They truly drain the stress right out of my world. There are other reasons as well; gardens are often designed with cultural concepts in mind. In Japan, some gardens are examples of harmony between man and nature. I can definitely see the truth in that, because the colors and shapes orchestrated by nature just amaze me sometimes.

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Amsterdam architecture
Hannah Wilson

Travel Diary – Amsterdam

3 Comments Travel

What better way to kick off the new year than travel to an undiscovered place? One of my goals for 2015 is to travel more around Europe, to discover it while I can, while I live so close to it all. Amsterdam was a spur of the moment trip, booked 1 month before, and it was exactly what I needed.

The first thing that struck me was how easy it was. I’m so accustomed to international trips being a huge production, very expensive, involving long plane rides, annoying layovers, and credit cards that may stop working at any moment. Living in the US, most people are so far removed from foreign countries that when the time to travel comes, one must uproot themselves and plan, plan, plan.

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Hannah Wilson

Paris Memoirs – Dépaysement

Comments Diary, Paris

It has been over a year since I first arrived in Paris, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, anticipating the span of five months that, in my fantastical imagination, would be pure bliss. It would be all frolicking, colorful macarons, endless bottles of wine, cornucopias of cheese, and elegant style. I just assumed that I would suddenly transform into one of those chic people you see in photos from Paris fashion week at the Tuileries. Indeed, I certainly did consume countless bottles of wine, but what I didn’t expect was a crippling reality check.

The French word dépaysement in the most general sense describes the condition of being disoriented in an unfamiliar context. At a deeper level, it is used when a person finds themselves far away from their home country, feeling a sense of alienation and longing for home; the word itself contains pays, which is French for country.

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Hannah Wilson

Breakfast in the Marais

Comments Paris, See & Do

Last Sunday I made the (somewhat) long trek from the 15th over to the 3rd Arrondissement, just to have a taste of Breakfast in America. As you can probably guess, it’s an American-themed diner-type restaurant complete with breakfast items of all sorts, shakes, and a lunch menu of burgers, fries, and the like. The only disappointment? NO HASH BROWNS. Major let down. But the bottomless mug of strong American-style coffee instantly redeemed my mood.

They even had a variety of shakes, including one called “Obama” that had peanut butter, along with other ingredients. Needless to say, it was tasty.

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Hannah Wilson

Pondering Paris

Comments Diary, Paris

The last week and a half I can’t stop thinking, pondering, and obsessing about Paris in the Fall. I lay awake at night, as I’m supposed to be getting much-needed sleep, coming up with scenarios in my head, such as – searching for an apartment, ordering a crepe, finding my favorite boulangerie, taking art history classes in French, and the list goes on. I’ve even spent a significant amount of time exploring the streets of Paris via Google Maps street view. I’ve been researching like crazy for advice on studying abroad, and brainstorming ways to save up money. If you’re wondering where in the world I’ve been the last two weeks – this is what I’ve been doing.

This Fall, I will have the chance to live in a new country. I’ll be there for five months, I’ll rent a tiny closet-sized apartment (shared toilet down the hall), I’ll be an English tutor part time, and I’ll study art history in the company of the best museums in the world. I almost can’t believe it’s going to happen – It still feels surreal.

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