muse_chik's VirtualTourist Home Page

The semester is over, and summer is here (well, sort of.)
An unusually chilly spring has left us with the random piles of snow still to be seen, and brief unexpected rain showers- but the flip flops have been pulled from the closet, and they're here to stay until the next freeze!

January marked my return to the snowy, frozen land that is Alaska.

Spent a fantastic four months in Glasgow, anxiously awaiting the chance to return. In the mean time, finishing my degree here at UAF and spending copius amounts of time cooped up in the lab.

The holidays saw me jumping from place to place, a whirlwind trip through London, Paris, and Italy with a return for a true Scottish Hogmanay in Arbroath.

Stay tuned for photos and travelogues of the antics.

________________________
Update:

I've made it to my first ever VT meet!
After spending an exhausting day (that began at 3 am!) running around London, I met up with the group at a pub along the River Thames, and ended up in Soho hours later, sitting around talking and drinking lattes!

Once I get the time I'll post what meager photos of the evening I have... but as it stands- I have an enormous paper due tommorow that I've hardly dented, and am suffering the uncomfort of feet that refuse to carry me anywhere after nearly 24 hours of running around Saturday!

Now that you've made it through a bit of my ranting, I'll let you know just a bit about who it is that was ranting at you.

I'm twenty-one years old, a junior studying a lifelong interest in biology at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. I live in Fairbanks during the school year, back 'home' in North Pole during the summer. I've lived in Alaska for nearly 7 years now- which is definitely a new experience for me.

As the daughter of a military family, I spent most of my childhood being shuttled from state to state, base to base. Most recently stationed at Osan, South Korea, staying in one place for longer that 4 years is a foreign experience to me.

My love of travel began my freshman year of highschool, when I first took an organized school trip to Italy and Greece. It was a whirlwind 10 days- but since then, I've been hooked on traveling. Every spring for the duration of my highschool career, I was taking off for some other destination in Europe. Am currently attending school at the University of Glasgow for a semester, enjoying my time abroad and living away from home.

My parents aren't particularly supportive of my travel endeavors. My Korean mother and American father find my need to travel both wasteful and pointless. It is only with much pleading that I convinced them to fund my trips through high school- and am now left to make my own way across. As an overworked college student- it is proving a bit difficult.

And as for random, useless bits of information:

*I speak Korean fluently
*I've played classical piano for years
*I have two dogs
*One younger sibling
*I have an intense interest in comparitive religions
*I work in a cell biology lab- and with Santa
*I have a caffeine habit
*I'm torn between a career in medicine, and medical research
*I shout in my sleep
*I sometimes swear profusely
*I love learning about classical antiquity and art history
*I love foreign movies
*I collect postcards from around the world (should anyone feel like adding to my collection... let me know! ;))

I've lived and travelled all over the place- some more recently than others. Here's my most up-to-date list.

United States:
1984- Alabama
1986-92- Alaska
1992-95- Texas
1995-96- Missouri
1998-Present- Alaska
March 2005- Alabama

Asia:
1996-1998- South Korea

Europe:
2000- Italy, Greece
2001- Scotland, England, France
2002- Italy
2003- London and Paris
2004- Scotland
2005- Scotland, England, Spain, France, Italy, and Germany

Upcoming Trips:
A return to Italy and Glasgow is being planned for March 2007

I usually try my best to keep a travel journal whenever I'm travelling- or upon return jot down all that I can remember from the trip. Below, I have links to my *attempts* at journals. sadly- they're usually most indepth at the 'in flight' stage- for a lack of anything better to do. :)

London & Paris- 2003

In no particular order... (1) The smell of the rain in Edinburgh (2) The kindly American priest who invited me to lunch in Rome (3) Italian Gelato (4) The incessant ringing of Iain's broken novelty lighter in the Marischal College Museum, in Aberdeen (5) The glow of the sun rising over the clouds as we flew over Scotland for the first time (6) Schipol Airport, Amsterdam (7) Sitting around a table in a hostel at Loch Lomond, listening to Italian men singing and playing the guitar (8) Walking through the pouring rain in Glasgow (9) Pasta, pasta, pasta (10) The mysterious, beautiful man in the Subway in Paris (11) Sitting on a rock wall outside an old renovated mansion, staring at the stars and talking to a kind Italian man (12) Reaching to top of the acropolis in Athens (13) Fish and chips- with vinegar! (14) Falafel (15) Bakery guy, Athens (16) Drunk Canadians pushing a mattress out the window (17) Being deathly ill, but still singing Disney songs, much to the annoyance of roommates (18) Seeing the stars in a new sky (19) The excited Fringe performer who gave me a tartan badge for my bag (20) First setting foot in Rome, and knowing that it was where I belonged.

Unfortunately, I am quite lazy when it comes to updating my pages. I have a burst of inspiration, which quickly fizzles. I do, however, hope to get all of my pictures and memories and tips up someday. Slow and steady wins the race, yeah? :)

Recent Updates:
Alaska

Alabama

Stirling- August 2004

Aberdeen- August 2004

Granite Tors!