Fun facts chain

[Prof. Amy Lupin]

I got to visit the Tokyo Skytree with a friend of mine nearly two years ago. The view was breathtaking! Japan had always been somewhere I really wanted to visit, so I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to do so. Apart from Tokyo, we also visited Kyoto (which in some ways reminded me of Knysna in South Africa), Osaka and Himeji. The Himeji Castle was quite a sight to behold. I’ve always been interested in castles, but Japanese ones are truly fascinating.

Figuring out the transport system in Japan was quite an adventure in and of itself, but I loved the freedom and sense of accomplishment it offered. Unfortunately, in South Africa public transport isn’t exactly the most reliable, but it has improved somewhat in recent years.

One thing I love about travelling is the ability to see and experience new things. Here’s looking forward to the next trip!

[Prof. Sky Alton]

I totally get that feeling of liberation and acumplishment. I went to the Czech republic a few years ago for a conference on Visual Impairment and it was the first time I was able to wander around a place without a sighted guide. Me and my friend just spent hours after dark exploring these ancient cobbled streets by ourselves with only the aid of our canes and her small amount of vision. I remember she was annoyed with me for wearing my woolly Gryffindor Scarf because it was super warm weather and I looked like an idiot. But I'd only just gotten it and I was stupidly proud.

[Katya Snow]

Wow Sky that's so brave! i couldn't imagine walking all those empty streets alone but then i'm a bit timid... and have the directional sense of a worm. i once got lost in my own hometown if you can believe that! you certainly deserve that wooly Gryffindor Scarf! and hey, what's wrong with being eclectic? i'm glad you got to have such an uplifting and liberating experience! i'm glad you can be here at Hol with us!

[Prof. Astrid Black]

Getting lost is half the fun when going anywhere though! I can't tell you how many times I've gotten lost driving places and wind up having more fun and a fantastic story to tell afterward. Like when my friends and I went on a roadtrip and got lost in Chicago. We ended up finding this awesome little bubble tea shop that had the best bubble tea I've ever had. That and my best friends little sister yelled out the window at some guy on the street due to being hopped up on sugar. As we drove by she just stuck her face to the half-open window and yelled 'AARGGHHH!!!' The look on his face at the random event was hilarious. Good Times.

[Prof. Will Lestrange]

Thinking about that bubble tea and your best friend's little sister being hopped up on sugar makes me think of how awesome sugar can make you feel when you're really out of energy!

One underrated (at least in the Western World) favourite that I really enjoy is condensed milk: it tastes delicious by itself, is a key ingredient for many types of coffee drinks, and is one of the three leches in tres leches cake!

[Dominick Salinas]

Fun fact about me: I'm Mexican and I hate tres leches. It's a shame because it is literally at every event my family celebrates. But its just like ... soggy amp; That being said, my favorite culturally-related dessert is sopapillas - if you've never had them they are basically fried dough covered in cinnamon sugar (which is also basically the same thing as churros but somehow different ).

[Adeline Morior]

Fun fact about me. I visited Abu Dhabi and Dubai for the first time (not just first time there but my first time outside my home country and in a different hemisphere) and my mind was blown by how clean everything was. -_- Yes you read that correctly. Silly things like not having to look both ways crossing a one-way street, perfectly intact roads and deliveries to my door!

This was the first time I had ever travelled internationally and I was blown away by how different everything was. The food, the architecture and the conveniences was by far so fascinating to me!

[Galena May]

Fun fact about me. I had a friend whose Dad had a job in Dubai, when I was in school. She often used to go to visit her Dad and tell me stories about the place, and about how rich everyone in Dubai is, and how luxuriously they live, to my utmost annoyance. I used to engage in long debates with her about how tourism and underground petroleum sources cannot make a country last forever. As I grew up, I realised I have a taste for aesthetic pleasures and beautiful luxuries like gourmet dining, plush cushions, and watching belly dancing, not to mention gold and other precious jewellery (everything in Dubai looks precious, look around and see how golden their cars are, their mobile phone cases, even those owned by children, children there literally get pocket money enough to beat a man's salary in other countries, and if you are a royal there, there is no turning back), and now I find it funny that I once debated against it. If I meet my friend again, I am going to be so embarassed about my debates.