Finally in Tarsus

It feels so great to be in Turkey again.  If nothing else, I'm tickled pink to be in 20 degree weather while it's -25 degrees in Edmonton.  We left Latvia yesterday morning after a quick morning walking tour of the Art Nouveau architecture.  We had a few hours in Istanbul to visit the spice market and pick up left luggage at the hotel before a night flight back to the south of Turkey.  Then it was a short shuttle bus to Tarsus!  Carole's apartment is incredible, and I met three of her friends tonight for a game night.  We've also picked up her cat, Charlie, (who I already love) and started to decorate the living room for Christmas.  Pictures to come.  And I also need to put up pictures and stories from St. Lucia Day in Sweden... it was perfect.  Tomorrow I'm going to class with Carole, mostly so I can appreciate what a tough job she has (I'm not arguing, though!)

Quick Update

Scandinavia is fabulous. Carole and I are having a blast. Carole's camera memory card died, I loaned mine to her, and therefore, all of these pictures were taken by her. Her camera is better, I have to agree. Anyway, we're a bit low on snow, but we have enough Christmas spirit to make up for it. Tonight we're staying in the best hostel! It's a prison that was closed in the 1970's and converted into a hostel and hotel. We have a cute cell with bunk beds and the nicest ensuite. The prison is on an island in the middle of Stockholm, so it involves a bit of walking but it's worth it! Tonight we went to see the Swedish version of the Nutcracker. All the same music but with a storyline that follows a Swedish children's tale. It was wonderful. Tomorrow we head to the outdoor museum where we see traditional Swedish life and culture. It's St. Lucia Day too! Here are some more pictures from Denmark...

Istanbul

We made it! Istanbul is fabulous, but we're taking of for Denmark this afternoon. More pictures to come.

Oh No

My weather pixie says it's -17C. Oh dear. Do you think I'll make it walking all the way to school?

More Christmas Spirit

Last weekend I went to a Christmas festival with a couple of friends from my program. It was very Christmas-y, but was full of young families. That's good in a way, it's fun to watch kids enjoy Christmas, but I get really frustrated by slow moving clumps with thousands of strollers in an enclosed space. The trees were gorgeous though, all decorated by businesses or individuals (the whole festival is a fundraiser for a hospital).
My favourite one had a cookies & sweets theme!
And there were some pretty impressive gingerbread houses...
And for a dollar, you can decorate your own gingerbread man! Amy is demonstrating.

Christmas is Coming

(First of all, a note. I have a lot of pictures of myself on this blog. This is not an ego thing, I was just told by my family that they like seeing pictures of me, and I always like seeing pictures of the authors of the blogs I read, so I just want to make the reader(s) happy!)
I'm inching towards some Christmas spirit, but it's largely overshadowed by panic. I'm leaving for Turkey in less than ten days. I think I can get everything done, but it's going to be a tight fit! Besides oral presentations and an intimidating "Best Practices in Teaching Grammar" paper, I have Christmas lunches and dinners, Carole's shopping list, a to-knit list and, of course, I need to travel plan for Sweden and Denmark (I got the guidebooks out of the library, now I just have to figure out how many castles and museums we can fit into a limited number of days!) Yesterday I got tickets for Carole and I to see the nötknäppare in Stockholm (any guesses as to what that is? Clue: it's a ballet!) Anyway, I think I better get back to reading. Here are some pictures from the other night.My friend, Amy (also in the TESL MEd program) and her family took me to the Bright Nights outdoor lights festival. We walked around a park full of whimsical light displays.

Random Tales

You can always count on a blog post when I'm procrastinating! I have two huge papers due on Monday, so I will take this opportunity to update my blog. Besides the paper writing, life in Edmonton is pretty routine. My days revolve around classes, articles and hot beverages (Caramel Apple Spice at Starbucks, anyone?) It's getting colder here (-10C) but still no real snow. I went on a Christmas shopping excursion yesterday and creating some Christmas cheer for under $15. All the ornaments were hot glued from dollar store kits; it's hard to see but they all have jingle bells on the bottom.
Carole's in Monaco today. I have to admit I wish I were there too! I heard all of her Switzerland tales yesterday, and the day before we chatted on facebook. It's always fun when we chat online because we think the same way. In about 10 minutes of typing, we typed the same thing at least five times. Either I would ask a question and she would answer it at the same moment or we would both make the same comment simultaneously (followed, of course, by us both typing "jinx" in the same minute). I love being a twin!