Posts Tagged ‘friends’

Montreal Road Trip, 2010

// July 20th, 2010 // No Comments » // Dancing, Travel

I’m back! Wow what an amazing trip! I returned from my Montreal road trip about a month ago and only just now have had the time to write about it. My last post was right at the beginning of my trip in DC after dancing at Jam Cellar.  From there the plan changed quite a bit – here’s the rundown:

  • June 1-3: DC – Jam Cellar Tuesday night (June 1) and stayed with Soo Clark until June 3. Left for NYC in the afternoon June 3.
  • June 3: NYC – Arrived in NYC at around 12:15 am and went straight to Frim Fram. Danced for about 45 minutes then ended up staying with Big George in the city. Had to park on the street, so I took a 3 hour nap then got up at 6:30 am, got in my car, and started the drive to Montreal.
  • June 4 – 9: Montreal – Arrived in Montreal Friday night. Met up with Amanda and went straight to the dance at Cat’s Corner. Went to a club the next night, then explored the city with Amanda on Sunday. Monday I explored more hanging out with Jason Zwolak, then stayed for the dance Tuesday night at Le Petite Medley. Left Montreal for Rochester the next morning, June 9th.
  • June 9 – 12: Rochester – Arrived in Rochester on the evening of June 9 and went to the Wed. night dance after meeting up with Joy at her blues lesson.  Went to Niagara Falls the next day, then came back and went blues dancing that night back in Rochester.  Explored some of the city on Friday then stayed for the opening of the Rochester International Jazz Festival.  Stayed with Lindsay then left for DC June 12th.
  • June 10: Niagara Falls – Stopped by Niagara Falls with Joy Arico.  Unbelievable place and a major highlight of the trip.
  • June 12 – 14: DC – Arrived in DC on June 12th and stayed with Amber Smith for a couple nights. Got to visit friends and spend Saturday and Sunday night in DC before heading home on June 14th. Flew back to MT the next morning, June 15th.

Map of my roadtrip


View June 2010 Roadtrip in a larger map

During those 2 weeks, I visited DC, NYC, Montreal, Rochester, and Niagara Falls…and went dancing in every city (often more than once!). As awesome as it was to visit and dance in such amazing cities, gettingto meet and spend time with so many wonderful people truly made the trip an unforgettable experience.  I also wanted to especially thank the following friends for opening their homes to me along the way, without whom the trip would have never happened:

Soo Clark
Big George Henrik
Amanda Fong
Putra Manggala (Angga)
Joy Arico
Lindsay Crawford
Amber Smith

Thank you all so much for being part of my road trip and for all the memories!

Familiar Places & Familiar Faces

// November 18th, 2008 // No Comments » // China, Dalian, Shanghai, Travel

This past weekend I flew up to Dalian to visit friends one last time before I go home in December. I figured I should say hi to everyone while I am still in the country because I really don’t know when I will get to see them all again. The weekend was great. Arriving in the airport late Friday night was major déjàvu. The plane taxied to the same gate that my summer began from back in May, and when I got off I immediately remembered how strange the place had seemed 6 months ago. I remember how lost and confused I felt not being able to understand anything or anyone around me. But this time it was different. I knew exactly where I was and where I wanted to go. I could read all the signs and I understood most of what people around me were saying. It honestly felt like I was coming home.

When I stepped outside the airport, I realized how much I missed Dalian. The city really is one of the most beautiful cities in China, and after spending 10 weeks in Shanghai the Dalian air seemed so fresh and clean. There were no loud buses and massive crowds. There were no foreigners on every block. It felt like China. It was nice. It’s strange to think about Dalian that way, because I remember thinking the city was dirty and crowded back in May, but that was a comparison to Blacksburg, where the population is less than 1% of Dalian’s. Compared to Shanghai, Dalian is a paradise.

Although I was only there for less than 48 hours, I had a great time just hanging out with friends. We basically did nothing, and it was perfect. We just ate good food and chilled at coffee shops. It is much colder in Dalian than Shanghai right now so staying inside was nice. Church on Sunday was the usual crowd, and it really did seem like I was only gone for a weekend instead of 3 months. It was so nice to just relax and do nothing together. Shanghai is such a busy city, and everyday here there is non-stop stuff to do. There is always work, swing dancing, tango lessons, and late conference calls that make the days fly by way too fast. I really haven’t had a chance to slow down since I got here. It has been really fun and exciting, but sometimes you just want to get away from it all. I’m going to miss China when I leave in December, but I think I will miss Dalian more than anything, and I hope I can come back someday.