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"My Summer Adventure"
August 29, 2006
The plane engine roared and the increasing
speed of the aircraft let me know that we were finally on our way
and that my summer had begun. After traveling to so many new places,
I was still excited to make another trip to France and even more
thrilled to finally be visiting England. I always wanted to go and
now the time had come. Earlier in the year when my two favorite
teachers announced the trip details, I knew it was time to save up
and make this trip.
The first 10 days of my summer vacation I spent
exploring Normandy, Paris, London, Stratford and Oxford. There is
nothing better than visiting new places with your friends and most
respected teachers. Paris was just as I had left it: busy, a tad
dirty and full of great food. Not much had changed when we took the
same walking tour as the year prior. There were new billboards and
some stores I had seen before were closed. I was very pleased when
we arrived at Versailles to see that they had completed some of the
renovations and part of the hall of mirrors was done. The year
before everything had been covered by scaffolding. After visiting
the place where Joan of Arc was burned in Rouen, climbing to the top
of the Arc de Triomphe, and seeing the lights of the Eiffel Tower in
the rain, it was finally time to drive to Calais. This is ht point
in France with the shortest channel crossing. We took the ferry to
the United Kingdom.
We began by visiting Canterbury. We walked a ways to the cathedral,
and I felt a bit like the pilgrims we read about in The
Canterbury Tales by Chaucer. This cathedral was completely
different from all the cathedrals we had seen in France, but it was
beautiful nonetheless. We walked through the crypts and sat in
chairs the nobles had once rested in. After our short pilgrimage, it
was time to head off to London. It was hard to contain my
excitement. We arrived to our hotel and sat down to eat a
traditional dinner of fish & chips. It was delicious! If you don't
like fried food, you're pretty much out of luck. We went on a
walking tour that evening, and I wanted to stay out all night.
Unfortunately, everyone else was tired, and we had to go back to the
hotel. The rest of our trips to London on the metro (we were staying
in South Kensington, a suburb of the city) and side trips to
Shakespeare's birthplace, Oxford University and Herrod's were more
than I could ever have asked for. When our tour guide told us that
we would be seeing a Shakespeare play at the replica of The Globe
theatre, and we could see Les Miserables, I jumped on the
chance to do both. I knew it would be a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity. Both plays were incredible. When the wake-up call came
at 3:30 a.m. on our day of departure, I was very sad to be leaving.
London seemed like a second home. It was the perfect place for me. I
know I'll be back one day. But I was looking forward to seeing my
family and friends and returning to work so that I could start
saving to reimburse my parents for all the money I spent!
Upon my return to Waterford, I started back to my daily life. I went
to my two places of employment to visit and make sure that my
schedule was back to normal. I work at Bob Evans as a hostess and at
The Inn at Cass Lake. The Inn is a retirement home, sometimes
referred to as independent living. I serve the residents their
meals. I love working there. All of them are so interesting. My
friend and I will go in sometimes just to visit and talk with them.
They were all so excited when I told them about my trips. They love
to see pictures and hear about it. That building houses my second
set of grandmothers and grandfathers. Even though sometimes I don't
want to go to work, when I walk in and they are all so excited to
see me, I can't help but be in a good mood. It's great to be in an
environment where people look forward to your presence and worry
when you are absent.
The rest of my summer will be spent working, spending time with my
friends, going to concerts and getting ready for the fall. Even
though the conclusion of summer won't be as exciting as the
beginning when I visited France and England, I know that my friends
and I can always find something to do in our small, lake-filled
town. There is always an adventure waiting, you just have to go out
and find it!
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| More about Michele...
Michele learned to speak up and get involved when she moved
from a small private school to a large public high school in
Michigan. She plans to join All-Campus Events, participate
in community service and work for
The Sandspur,
Rollins' student newspaper.
Michele said, "I know now not to hide in the shadows and
wait for someone to notice me. I want to let prospective
students know there is a place for them at Rollins no matter
what they like to do."
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