Home safe and sound...and engaged!!!!

Yes, in case you have not already heard, Spike and I got engaged yesterday. Not even home 24 hours and that boy had put the ring on my finger!

But let's back up a few days...

Back in London this last week, I had a nice last few days at my internship with loads of Christmas activities! Tuesday was a party for the little kids of the families that come to use the services at our centre, Wednesday I got things ready for the kids to go to the cinema for a Christmas movie that night, and Thursday was a party for the older kids. We also had a basement full of boxes of toys donated for the kids to go through and distribute!

Wednesday night, our programme went to see Billy Elliot, which was mind-blowing! Much jealousy was had of the dancing ability by the kids in the show. Thursday, we had our final exams in Contemporary British Society and Religions in London classes, then at 5pm a going away party commenced which was thrown by our director Mark and assistant director Jen. The party continued into the night with all us Vandoners celebrating our last night together. Much fun was had and memories made. A great last night in London! I had quite a mixture of emotions; sad to leave, happy to be coming home.

By 4:30am, Friday, I left Vandon House on a shuttle to Heathrow airport to begin my long journey home. When I went to check-in at the airport, I discovered that my first flight to Newark had been overbooked. So, they offered me to change my flights to go from London to Houston instead, and then to Des Moines, getting me home 4 hours early by cutting out the 7 hour layover I was supposed to have in Newark. So, I took it! However, the flight to Houston was about 10 hours as opposed to about 6-7 hours to Newark. Luckily I was able to sleep for the first 5! I had also developed a cough the last week, which is worse when I sleep, so I think I quite scared the people sitting beside me as I hacked the whole trip! The best part of the trip though (sarcasm there), was having only about 40 minutes from stepping off my plane in Houston to getting on my plane leaving for Des Moines. This wouldn't have been such a problem if I hadn't had to go through immigration, pick up my bags, go through customs, drop off my bags, go through security again, and then take a train to a separate terminal!! Thanks to my sprinting, I made it to my plane within 5 minutes to take-off! My bags weren't so lucky, but they arrived at my house yesterday afternoon. So, I landed in Des Moines around 5pm Friday evening and was greeted by my parents, Spike, and my brother Josh and his wife Lindsey, with flowers! We went out to eat at Spaghetti Works and then headed home after a short stop in Ames at my cousin's graduation reception. I slept the whole way home, but was wide awake by 7am yesterday morning! Today I am feeling the jet lag a bit more, but still not bad.

Anyway, on to the story you all are wanting to hear: how Spike proposed.

It happened yesterday afternoon, after he and I had lunch in town with my grandparents and uncle and brother. I was quite adamant about driving, as I had not been able to for 3 and a half months, apparently hindering Spike's plan a bit. So after lunch, he directed me to the place we started dating: Prairie Bridges Park. We were being pretty goofy, him telling me to turn right, then left, and then go straight, and me shooting back witty replies. So, we were both laughing when we reached the bridge he on which he was going to pop the question. He began to tell me about how I kept ruining his plans for his proposal: he had a special evening planned for next Thursday, his last day of school, but I was not sure I would be able to come to stay that night as I had a lot of things to do and people to see my first week home, so he was trying to convince me to come that night as he had a "surprise" planned; me knowing this was coming, knew what that meant, ruining the special-ness of it. So, in order to keep it a surprise, he did it this weekend! It was simple but cute, and of course I said yes! It has been a whirl of attention since then!

Still trying to unpack everything. I have all my Christmas presents wrapped and my suitcases put away, but my clothes are still lying in a massive pile on my floor. Maybe I will get to them tomorrow....

Thanks for following me on this journey, it was definitely one of the best experiences of my life! I am so blessed to have gone and to have you all in my life!

Cheers, and happy holidays!

Alyssa

Only 5 days remain...

Only 5 more days in London!

This picture is for Keith Jones:

Winter sunrise behind Big Ben.

Notice the Christmas tree too!!

Haven't been up to too much since my last post. At my internship we are busy collecting boxes of toys from elementary schools that the kids bring to donate to our Centre for the children in homeless/low income families. While doing this, I got to go into the school Prince William and Harry went as kids! It was very "posh." The headmaster's door has a sign that says, "Enter with a smile, or don't enter at all." Thursday for religion class we visited a Mosque and then had a Turkish meal afterwards, sitting on cushions on the floor and all (not very comfortable for people with long legs)! I have been spending some time on Oxford street, enjoying the Christmas lights and shopping. It will be interesting to see how packing goes this week! Can't believe my time here is almost over! I don't feel like I have gotten to do everything and don't really want to leave but want to go home at the same time...I hope to come back someday. This week, I have to finish a final paper for Contemporary Britain, take 2 exams on Thursday, have my final 2 days of internship, pack, hopefully go to Camden market one more time, and enjoy some quality time with my Vandon family!

See you all very soon!!!

Busy!

Hi all! I have been quite busy the last week, with assignments and exploring around London town! Here's what I have been up to!

Last week, I had a project due in my Religions in London class where we had to attend a worship service and describe the service and relate it to the religion and what they believe. So, I attended the first advent service at St. Paul's Cathedral, the Advent Procession. It was way cool!! The clergy and choir (amazing) started on the west end and moved to the east end of the cathedral which was dark apart from the candles they were holding, stopping to sing and read scripture. It was quite a dramatic service, and I would like to see what it is like for Christmas Eve.

On Friday, the CCA London programme went to Canterbury and Leeds Castle for a day trip. We toured the Canterbury Cathedral, although did not get to see the main part because there ended up being a service there. We were able to walk around the town on our own for a bit until we departed for the Castle. The castle was beautiful! It had a large amount of grounds space around the castle, with beautiful gardens and mazes. There were even a bunch of peacocks just roaming around! The castle even had a moat. I saw a leaflet for having your wedding at the castle...if only!!! ;)

On Saturday, I went up to Hampstead village to complete a walking tour assignment for British Experience Seminar class. It was a nice area; I walked by an old church with a large, really old, cemetery with people like Richard N. Shaw and John Constable buried there. I also walked by other old, famous houses. I then did some looking around at the many cute, but expensive, shops. I was very productive the rest of the afternoon and evening, finishing three assignments.

Sunday, I got up early-ish and headed over to the East End for another assigned walking tour. Whilst there, I toured the Whitechapel Art Gallery. In the first gallery of paintings, I was reminded of how much I do not understand when it comes to art. I look at the paintings and think, “What is so great about this? It is just a bunch of random brushstrokes and dabs of paint. Anyone could do that.” I simply do not get how a work is declared worthy of being put up into a gallery and called art. I just get a little frustrated as I do not see much in the majority of the pieces. However, there was one exhibit that I found rather interesting: The Past Was A Mirage I Had Left Far Behind by Josiah McElheny. For this exhibit, the gallery is turned into a house a mirrors; there are spots with mirrors and walls on which an abstract film is projected, with the mirrors creating an interesting effect. From there I walked down Brick Lane, looking around the endless string of restaurants and grocery stores of cuisine from all over. I saw the Brick Lane Great Mosque, not really that great looking, and then turned towards Spitalfields market. While walking, I was approached by a French man asking for directions, which it seemed I could not really help him.He continued to follow me and ask me questions about where I was from and what I was doing. I became very wary and quite uncomfortable as he continued to walk with me and then even ask for my number; I told him I did not have a mobile! He finally left me as I started looking around at the Spitalfields market. Relieved he was gone, I began browsing the huge Sunday market. I felt a bit overwhelmed, and probably would have bought some things had I more time and if there were fewer crowds. I saw a lot of cool crafts and clothes, very fashionable items! I was so tempted by many of the things there, but then disappointed by the high prices of the clothes items I liked.

That afternoon, I headed over to the Imperial War Museum to experience the history of war in Britain and Europe. This was the coolest museum I have ever been too! It was so interactive, and I was greatly impressed by the extensive collection of this museum. The exhibits really depicted what it was like during the wars. I saw the piece that was recovered from one of the towers of the World Trade Centre, which was really cool. I enjoyed the kid-friendly exhibit on what it was like inside a submarine, as well as the gallery depicting what the war was like seen through the eyes of the children during the time; the 1940’s house was really fun too experience as well. I headed downstairs to the galleries on the two World Wars. I spend a good deal of time down here, reading about how the wars started and ended, the personal stories, as well as marvelling at the never ending relics on display. I went through the Trench Experience and the Blitz Experience; both were really great, giving a little idea of what I was like in the trenches during WWI and in London during the blitz during WWII. For about the next two hours, I was in the Holocaust exhibition. I could not believe the extensiveness of this 2 story exhibit; there was so much to take in, but it was definitely my favourite part of the museum because of this. They had a model of Auschwitz, shoes and other items from the prisoners who were murdered, videos of personal stories from survivors, and so much more! I was interested to read about the ones who tried to rebel, particularly a woman who managed to shoot and kill a few guards when getting off a train to be separated into a camp; she was killed though too. Every time I learn more about this atrocity, the more I cannot believe it really happened.

Today was my last day of yoga class. It has been a good class, and I wish I could take the next beginners course. Tonight, I went to Oxford Street with Sarah, Dan, Margaret, and Caroline to do some shopping! They were wanting to help Dan find some new clothes because they apparently don't think he knows how to dress himself! I managed to find some things as well. :) Yay shopping!

This last week and a half is going to be a lot of fun as everyone is planning great nights out on the town. I am very excited to have some fun after getting all those assignments and projects done. I only have one paper and 2 tests due by next Thursday, so not much to worry about for finals! I think a bunch of us might go ice skating somewhere as well as going back to Portobello and Camden markets.

11 days!!!

Thanksgiving & Host

Happy last day of November!!

While you at home were all enjoying your breaks off from school and work, gathering with family for a large feast, us here in London had a little Thanksgiving celebration of our own. After Contemporary Britain class, we gathered in a festively decorated Vandon House kitchen for a meal that was prepared by us students. The menu was that of the traditional Thanksgiving meal we all know and love: turkey, 3 kinds of potatoes, green bean casserole, cream corn, salads, and of course, pumpkin pie and other lovely desserts. There was quite a lot of food, and like at home, there were leftovers for the next day. After stuffing ourselves with food and wine, most of us collapsed into slumber, but some stayed around and played card games. While it looked much like Thanksgiving would at home, it still wasn't the same. I became a bit homesick this weekend in light of the holiday. But, there are only 2 weeks left now, and still much to soak up in London!

On Friday morning, I was up with the sun and left on a 4 and a half hour bus ride up north to Leeds for my Host UK weekend stay. I was greeted with rain and Eric and Marie (pronounced Mary) Songhurst, a retired couple living in Leeds, the third largest city in the UK. I was joined for the weekend by another American student who was studying in Leeds. I knew from the drive from the bus stop to their house that it would be a long weekend. The other student was extremely quiet; I was talkative and outgoing compared to Christina. But our amount of talking did not make any difference as Eric talked nonstop the entire weekend. He would go on and on telling stories with little point or interest from me. So, I was stuck nodding and "mmhmm"-ing all weekend, pretending to listen. I realize how bitter this sounds, but it's the truth. I was really hoping for a really cool experience staying with a British family for a weekend but was quite disappointed, as a few others in our program have also been. Some students have had awesome Host stays while others have been similar to mine.

Anyway, Friday afternoon we went to a place called Tropical World were we walked around an indoor rain-forest essentially. It was kinda cool, took some pictures of animals you would see in a zoo. That night we had a casserole with fish and mince pies for dessert (not my favorite), and then they showed us pictures of their son's wedding. They also told us about all the previous students they have had stay with them over the years and how they have kept in contact with most of them and even visited some of them in their many travels to the States. Eric talked about how he didn't realize how big of an affect they had on the students they had stay for a weekend over holidays. During this entire time, I kept wondering, well then this couple must be pretty great to have students invite them to come stay at their homes years later. I thought then that my weekend had to get better. But it never really did.

Saturday, we began a car ride out to the countryside, but I ended up feeling sick halfway there, and we had to go back to their house so I could rest. It was quite miserable (I won't go into details here). I took a nap and was feeling better by dinner time that night. Eric and Marie were making a Thanksgiving meal for us, their son and daughter-in-law, and two other older couples that were also friends of the family. The visitors were all quite chatty, but mostly talked to each other about things going on in their lives, and little to me or Christina, something Eric actually later mentioned might have been a mistake (they usually just invite their son and daughter-in-law). The meal was fairly similar to what we have for Thanksgiving, but with a British flavor; about a third of the dishes were more common to Britain, like gooey parsnip and Christmas pudding.

Sunday morning, Eric took Christina and I to York for a 2 hour walking tour. It was quite windy out which made it quite cold at first. We walked at a brisk pace, stopping to hear Eric talk about a building or street or something he did as a teenager. We did see some cool churches, even the one Guy Fawkes was baptized in. It was a charming town, kind of like Pella is, only bigger. There was a lot of places for shopping around and I had wished we could have spent some time exploring the shops on the streets we breezed through. Oh well. Afterwards we drove back to Leeds, had lunch, and I packed up to head back to London. The bus ride took an extra hour or so due to an accident, so I was quite hungry and restless by the time I finally arrived to Victoria station later that evening.

Don't worry, I am better now that I am back in London! I am happy to be staying in the city for the remainder of my time, and have lots planned! This Friday, our program will be going on a day trip to Canterbury and Leeds Castle (not in Leeds). Then for the rest of the weekend I plan on going to some museums and other parts of the city I haven't yet ventured to. I will have to do a bit of homework though as well, since we have a load of assignments due on Monday. In other news, I have submitted my first application to graduate school today to a PhD program at the University of Minnesota in Educational Psychology! Quite exciting! I will be busy working on more when I get home for break.

16 days!!

And Germany!

Hello, hello!

So, my travels this weekend were to Germany! I went to stay with a friend, Anna, who was a foreign exchange student when I was in high school. She lives with her parents in a small town called Gladbeck, a 2 hour train ride from Cologne. I flew early on Friday morning, landing around 9:30am. Anna was to meet me and we were to take the one-hour train ride to Gladbeck, however, there was a little mix-up. She had told me to fly to Dusseldorf, so I booked a RyanAir flight there but found out when I arrived that it really wasn't Dusseldorf. It was Dusseldorf, but in parenthesis on my ticket it says Weeze, which is a small airport about a 2 hour train ride from Dusseldorf. Anna had gone to the main airport in Dusseldorf, and so after she realized where I really was and hopped on the train, it was about 2 and a half hours after I had landed that we were finally reunited. I almost did not recognize her as her hair had been dyed bleach blonde and was much thinner than I remembered. We then rode 3 hours on the train to her hometown. It was a pretty town with streets lined with trees all orange and yellow in the late fall afternoon.

That night we met up with her boyfriend Ahmed and went to the Christmas market in Dusseldorf. We took her car which suddenly made me feel back at home, riding in the front seat of a car (even on the right side!) on highways through fields to get there; it has been constant public transportation in London! She had the radio on which was playing popular American songs, and we discussed how it was interesting how popular America music and movies are everywhere; what is so great about American music and movies that they are so globalized and not those of other countries?? Anyway, we went to the market which was a pretty cool experience. There were Christmas lights and music all around, and there was plenty of food and people. We just walked up and down the stalls of various crafts and Christmas decorations.

On Saturday we left for Cologne where we explored the Cologne Cathedral and the many shops. Anna and Ahmed had me try the typical German street sandwich (actually Turkish), döner, which was a large sandwich of beef strips with veggies and a special sauce on bread. I quite enjoyed it! We headed back late afternoon and then met up with Anna's friend Ramona to go to a Latin American cocktail bar to have some drinks. Sunday we slept in and just hung out, taking a short walk through Gladbeck's downtown area, which was dead since it was Sunday and nothing was open. That night we went to another Christmas market in Oberhausen, which was even bigger and more crowded than the one in Dusseldorf. My favorite part of these markets was finding Pofferjes stands!! Early Monday morning (as in 3am), Anna drove me to the airport (the correct one this time!) and I flew back to London. It was a foggy morning and my bus from Stansted airport to Vandon house took an extra hour and I missed my yoga class. Oh well, I simply went back to bed!

I have gained a new job at my internship, something I wish I would have started earlier: helping teach the English as a second language class on Tuesday mornings. It has been a very good experience; you forget how difficult English is to learn until you have to try and explain why you put "an" instead of "a" in front of a vowel! The students are at the moment all women; most speak Arabic as their first language, one speaks Turkish, one Italian, one French. I have also continued helping with the family learning course on Wednesday afternoons which is also a lot of working on speaking and writing English.

This week is Thanksgiving, and we are having a family meal on Thursday afternoon, and then I will head to Leeds on Friday morning to stay with my Host UK family. I was to go with Rachel, another girl in our program, but she had to leave London last week due to a family emergency. So, I will be going alone, but there apparently is a new American student from another UK university who will be there with me. This will be the last of my travels, and I will only have 2 more weekends left after this one! So much left to do and see!

Amongst all of this, I have assignments and graduate school application deadlines creeping up on me....eek!

Paris!

Hello there! So, as you probably gathered from the title of this post, I went to Paris this past weekend.

Shannon, Jacque and I left on Eurostar at 8pm Thursday evening and arrived in Paris 2 hours later. After about 45 minutes of attempting to navigate the confusing streets of an unfamiliar European city, we finally made it to our hotel and crashed. Friday morning, we made our way to Notre Dame Cathedral. We toured inside the beautiful church then got in line to climb the 387 steps to the top of the tower where we could get a panoramic view of the city and say hello to those famous gargoyles. :)

It was a cold, foggy day so photos were not the most beautiful; only the bottom third of the Eiffel Tower could be seen from the top of the cathedral towers! After lunch, we did some souvenir shopping and walked to tour another big and gorgeous church. Next on the agenda was the famous Louvre museum. We had been told by other students in our programme that the Louvre would be free after 6pm on Friday nights if you were under 26 years old, so we headed that way around 5pm, but discovered that it was a bank holiday and so the museum would be closing at 6. No free tour for us! :( Instead, we got some delicious coffee and went back to our hotel to re-plan.

The three of us decided to get up early Saturday morning to go back to the Louvre and explore the galleries even though we had to pay the 10 Euro charge. It was still very much worth it--I mean, it is the Louvre! We spent about an hour or so looking around the Ancient Egyptian gallery, which was my favourite. We of course saw the Mona Lisa, and many other paintings and sculptures, then saw how Napoleon's apartments looked--not to shabby! We finished about 3 hours later so that we could head to the Catacombs, which required standing in line for 2 hours before we could make our way down deep into the earth, below the metro trains, and walk through the tunnels of old stone mines where the remains of about 6 million people have been buried. The bones of all these people have been stacked and arranged into walls in a sort of decorative way. It was interesting to see, but still creepy. After this tour, plus a stop for some Nutella crepes, we went over to the Eiffel Tower and took all our wonderful touristy photos like the one I have added to this post. We had dinner nearby so that when we finished, it was dark and the tower was lit up all beautifully. Before heading back to our hotel on our final night in Paris, we stopped at the Arc de Triomphe which was also all lit up and magical.

Paris was much more beautiful on a nice day like Saturday, but I still can't believe how dirty other European cities seem compared to London. There is so much more trash and the metro stations reek of urine!! It made me happy that I chose London to be the city to stay for three and half months! Three and a half months which are coming to an end quite quickly! Only 4 and a half weeks left! I have made a short list of all the things I need to see and do in London before I leave, and I will be gone the next two weekends with more travelling (Germany and my Host UK stay) so hopefully I can accomplish it all with the time I have left. Today, I went to yoga and then explored Covent Garden a bit in all its Christmas splendor. I also walked through Green Park this afternoon which is no longer very green. :) The ground is blanketed with leaves which I thoroughly enjoyed walking through. Back to my internship tomorrow which will hopefully go better this week; last week I was told by one of the social workers there that I need to talk more because it makes her think I don't like it there. She is one of those people who has a loud and shrill voice, so it is usually hard to determine whether she is angry or if it is just how she always talks. I tried not to let the comment get to me, as I do enjoy it there for the most part, when they give me decent work to do, and I do talk more when I am one-on-one with people, I am just a quiet person otherwise. Anyways, it just made me think about how I behave there and how I come across to other people I work with.

But anyway, I hope all is well back in the States. I will be back before we all know it! Then I will need to do more thinking about where to go after graduation! I just wish it was more clear what I wanted to do. But that is a discussion for another time...

Quiet week

Hello! So break has been over for a week, and I have done absolutely nothing! Okay, that is not true, but compared to my day-packed adventures of break, it sure feels like it.

Monday, I slept in and went to yoga class, which was especially relaxing and I came back to Vandon quite refreshed. The rest of the day I spent retrieving photos from Margaret from our times in Italy so I could post them for ya'll to see. I also tried to write a paper for Contemporary Britain but was not doing so well (it did not get written until the night before, of course!).

I spent Tuesday and Wednesday at my internship, which is undergoing a lot of transition. We have about 4 new people coming in to work, so there is a lot of moving stuff around. Within the slight increase of chaos, I was able to get a little more work to do. Two of the new employees have definitely pulled me into helping them with their projects. One organizes a mentoring program for youth and is having me research for programs and activities for the mentors to do with the kids. I will also probably be able to go with her to some meetings with the high school mentors. Another is trying to start some Arabic language courses for local businesses, residents, and community practitioners. We offer English as a second language classes at the centre for the many non-English speaking families that we serve, but he wants to flip it around to help those of foreign tongues share their language and culture in the community. I think it is a great idea, and am helping him find and recruit Arabic teachers for the course. On Wednesday afternoons, I am also observing an adult education course we are offering for parents in the area. It's meant to help parents learn how to help their children in school, helping them to improve their communication skills. It was kind of fun; we made toys out of ordinary objects and kind of talked about our backgrounds. It was pretty cool to watch the mothers as they had started the class very shy and uncomfortable and after 2 hours leave smiling and having a good time, confident in themselves. I am looking forward to going again this Wednesday.

Both Tuesday and Wednesday night I spent trying to work on that paper, a review of a topic in British media...not too exciting. I ended up staying up late on Wednesday night to finish it before class on Thursday, but I was actually fairly awake in class. The topics last week and the next 2 weeks are interesting, dealing with British identity and multiculturalism.

So besides all this, my week has been pretty boring. I've had a very relaxing and kind of lazy weekend. Yesterday was Guy Fawkes day, which is celebrated by fireworks all over London. I did not get to see any however, as it was too cloudy/hazy and did not venture out to wherever they were being shot off at. I did a lot of sleeping this weekend, which while I feel like I should be doing something outside of Vandon as my time here in London is starting to dwindle, I still felt like it was needed, especially after break. Next weekend though, I will be in Paris!!! Then Germany the weekend after that! Then soon enough, I will be back in the States with you all again.

Cheers!

Fall Break = Really long post!

In case you were wondering what has happened to me since it has been nearly 2 weeks since I last posted in my blog, I will remind you that I was on fall break!! I was traveling to Ireland and Italy for my ten day break from my internship and classes (not that any of it is something that one needs a long break from!). There is much to cover in this one post, so bear with me! Let's start with 2 Thursdays ago...

Back on the morning of Thursday, October 20th, our Contemporary Britain class went to the Churchill War Rooms for a fieldtrip. It was really interesting, but a LOT of information to take in, especially right before all of us were about to head off for break. I don't think many students stayed and actually took much of it in. That evening, Sarah, Dan, Chelsea, Margaret and I left on a train at 11:30 to begin our long journey to Ireland. We took 2 trains (with a not-so-fun 4 hour lay-over in a freezing train station in the middle of the night) to get to Holyhead, Wales, where we waited a few hours till a ferry took us over to Dublin. The ferry was a very cool experience; a lot more fun than I had anticipated. It was almost like a cruise! When we arrived in Dublin, it was Friday afternoon, and we had planned on renting a car to take us to our cottage about an hour outside of the city. However, we had some trouble, even though we had booked the car online ahead of time, and it ended up costing us a lot more money than it was supposed to. It all had to do with the age you have to be to rent a car, which is 23, even though we were told ahead of time by the car rental company that it was fine. Needless to say, we were all quite upset and frustrated. We finally got a car, and Sarah drove us to our cottage. It was quite nerve-wracking driving in Ireland, where the non-main roads are extremely narrow, and of course it is on the other side of the road. She got used to it eventually though. Our cottage was so adorable and very nice. It had 4 bedrooms and a decent sized bathroom, a living room with a fireplace, full kitchen, and an outdoor patio area. Unfortunately, it rained the entire weekend I was in Ireland. The scenery there was still beautiful; we were staying close to Wicklow Mountain National Park, which we visited one afternoon, along with the nearby beach. It was a great time with my new friends (well one old friend ;)). We had a lot of good quality time hanging out in the cozy cottage. Monday morning, they drove me to the Dublin airport and I flew back to London to meet Margaret who went back the day before. Sarah, Dan, and Chelsea stayed in Ireland for the entire fall break; I went back because Margaret had to go back for classes on Monday, and we traveled together to Italy for the remainder of break.

Italia!!! So, at 3:30am, last Tuesday morning, Margaret and I left Vandon house on a bus towards Stansted airport, where we left for Rome at 6:10. We landed in the ancient city by mid-morning and headed to the hostel we would be staying at for the next 3 nights. That afternoon, we explored the ancient ruins, including Palentine Hill, the Roman Forum, and of course, the Colosseum. We had supper then went back to see the ruins all lit up in the dark. So cool!

The next day, we ventured to the Vatican. We had bought a Roma Pass for the trip, which got us into 2 museums/archaeological sites free as well as gave us free public transportation. It was quite a deal, especially since we got into more than 2 for free! So we took their version of the tube, the Metro, which is only 2 lines (compared to about a dozen here), and the trains were covered in graffiti. The stations were dirty and not many people use the system like they do in London. Anyway, on our way to Vatican City, we ran into "the Squad" aka 5 guys from the London programme, Greg, Johnny, Ryan, Jarred, and Zane. We knew they were going to be in Rome the same time as Margaret and I, but did not expect to actually see them! We went to the Vatican with them, but went on our own private tour of the museums, the Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter's Basilica. The Pope was speaking that day, so the crowds were never-ending, but we were able to skip the lines with our tour that we paid a little extra for. We actually had tickets to see the Pope but the line was extremely long to get in and we only had 20 minutes till our tour started so we had to instead watch from the large tv screens outside. Our tour guide was so knowledgeable about everything in the Vatican, we spent around 3 hours in the museums alone. It got to be a little overwhelming towards the end, especially since Margaret and I had not eaten much yet that day as the tour went over lunch. The Sistine Chapel was my favorite; I could have just sat in there for a while, if it weren't for the sea of people pushing you through. After our short walk through St. Peter's (again due to the crowds and hunger) we finally had a meal at a nearby restaurant and then met up with the boys again to go to Castle of Saint Angelo, which had spectacular views of Rome from the top. Later that evening, we went out to a bar with the boys as well. The drinks there were very strong, which made for an entertaining night (I limited myself, the boys may not have so much).

The next day, after much needed sleep, Margaret and I ventured over to Trevi fountain and tossed our coins in then continued walking to the Spanish steps where we sat and people-watched for quite a while. A band even showed up and started playing while we were there. From there we walked through a large park which was a very peaceful getaway from the tourists. There was even a very pretty pond with an old temple of some sort in the middle of the park. It was a nice, relaxing end to our time in Rome.

Friday morning, we left bright and early on a train to Pisa!! I was so excited to go to Tuscany and for the most part, it did not disappoint. I fell in love as soon as we began walking through town to the bed and breakfast we would be staying for the next 2 nights. I loved the colors of the buildings, all painted in yellows, oranges, reds, and browns, with vines spreading from the ground to their quint rooftop terraces. Why can't the U.S. look so beautiful? My heart was slightly broken however, when we had lunch at a cafe with outdoor seating where we were bombarded by the street vendors trying to sell you nothing you need or even want as well as a man who did not understand English begging for money and almost stealing Margaret's phone off the table! Yikes! If it weren't for the beautiful weather and an enjoyable afternoon climbing the Leaning Tower and exploring the nearby shops, our first day in Tuscany would not have been very fun.

The last day of our trip, Saturday, was the absolute best day ever! We began with an early train ride from Pisa to Florence, where we joined a tour that took us about 15 minutes out of the city to the countryside. We were joined by 4 other American students studying around Italy for a tour of a Tuscan vineyard!! We spent the first hour or so on horse back, riding through the hills of the vineyard on an astoundingly beautiful sunny day. After our horse riding tour, we got to see the cellars and get a little idea of how they make their wine and olive oils. It was so cool!! I have never been to a vineyard before! We got to see the villa and had a gorgeous view of the entire property. Then we were treated to a three course meal and 2 glasses of their wine. Our driver even took us out to a gelato shop on our way back into Florence. It was mid-afternoon when we got back into the city, and so we headed to the famous leather markets. What a neat experience! Margaret was able to get a leather backpack for a decent price after some haggling and I a watch. While walking up and down the streets, I got quite a bit of attention from the Italian men. They would call out, "What beautiful eyes!" "I fall in love with you, so pretty!". It was more entertaining than uncomfortable though; Margaret and I had quite a laugh about it all day. From there, we walked over and up to the Piazza de Michelangelo which has the best views of this Tuscan city. So many pictures were taken! We had one last Italian dinner at sunset on the Piazza before heading back to Pisa by train.

This morning we checked out of our bed and breakfast and began the what seemed to last forever journey back to London. Now we have to come back to laundry, classes, internships, and cooking all our own meals again. Upon landing at Luton airport, we were greeted with clouds and drizzle. Yuck. We already miss the sunshine and beauty of Italy, but are still happy to be back.

Less than 7 weeks remain in my London adventure. But, much more is to be done!

Miss you all,

Cheers!

PS: Photos are slowly being uploaded to Facebook. Please be patient as there are quite a lot!!

Pictures

I realized that I haven't posted any pictures on here for those who don't have Facebook to see! Here are a few for your enjoyment!

Standing in 2 hemispheres!
White Cliffs of Dover

And the traveling begins!

Okay all, exciting things to talk about! :)

Let's start with Thursday; in class we talked about the media and the phone hacking scandal that has caused a great deal of anger from the public. I found this to be much more interesting than the discussion of British politics the week before, however we did get a bit off topic during my seminar. The rest of the day was spent just hanging out in Vandon. Thursday night our programme was able to go to a concert by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Cadogan Hall. I enjoyed the music as I am a fan of classical music, but would have enjoyed it more if it was choral. The violins were probably the most enjoyable to watch.

Friday was our day trip to Greenwich. We took a boat ride from Westminster Pier which was lovely but quite chilly. Luckily it was warmer on land and turned out to be a quite beautiful fall day. We went to the Royal Observatory where I was able to stand on the Prime Meridian with one foot in each hemisphere! Lots of fun touristy pictures were taken. We then explored the Maritime Museum a bit and ate lunch at Cafe Sol, a delicious Mexican restaurant with great tacos and margaritas! Before headed back to our part of London, we meandered around the Greenwich Market that had a lot of hand crafted clothes, jewelry, and art, as well as a lot of vintage items.

Saturday, Dan, Chelsea, Sarah and I went around to a few small nearby markets for some fruit and veggies. Since we have to join a club for British Experience Seminar, I decided to go to the University of London Sailing Club "fresher's meal" at Bella Italia for supper. I went, and despite the awkwardness of not knowing a single person, ended up having a good time with 23 of the club members. I had some good food and talked with a few Brits as well as a Psychology masters student from Boston. As kind of an initiation, they had us eat our dessert in a race without using silverware or hands! Not trying to win, I stuffed my face in my chocolate cake quite entertained by the situation. After dinner, they were going to head out to a few bars and clubs, but since it was already late, I headed back to Vandon because I was going to have a very early Sunday morning...

Sunday morning at 7:30am, Chelsea, Dan, and I boarded a bus that drove the 2 and a half hours to the English coastal town of Dover, where the White Cliffs are located. It was an absolutely gorgeous fall day, which we started at the rocky beach. Chelsea was like a little kid in a candy store when she saw the ocean. We found some sea glass to take as souvenirs! We had brunch at a pub in town that was so cheap and delicious! We headed to the Western Heights area first, walking up and around the fortification that was built to protect Dover from the French invasion during the 1860's. We were only able to access the moat, but it was still really cool. From the top of the hills, we had great views of the Dover Castle on the other side of town, the port, and part of the cliffs. We were trying to find the ruins of an old church somewhere in the area, but failed and just ended up walking back and forth for a long while. Chelsea and I then went to tour the Castle of Dover which was massive! One would need a full day to see everything there. We focused our tour on the Great Tower, were we got to see rooms in the castle as they would have looked back in King Henry II's time. We were able to climb to the castle rooftop which had spectacular views! Then we went to the Roman lighthouse, built over 2000 years ago, and the church of St. Mary-in-Castro. Much of the time I felt like I was in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and Chelsea and I ended up quoting a bit of it. ;) We finally began our hike over to the White Cliffs, where Dan was exploring a bit on his own. We met up with Dan and sat and watched the sunset over the cliffs. The views were breathtaking!! Despite being in much pain from hiking somewhere between 25-30 miles total (yes, really) the trip was well worth it. I would love to go back and just spend more time on the cliffs, and go tour the lighthouse that we didn't quite make the trek to.

Today I was quite tired and sore, and after yoga, spent the day relaxing and working on a religion paper. It is now time for bed as I start another 2 days of my internship, and on Thursday we go to the Cabinet War Rooms for Contemporary Britain. Then Thursday night is the start of fall break!!!!!!! I am excited for more traveling!

Homework? What is that?

With midterms approaching, we have assignments due. These assignments are hardly difficult or even that many compared to what a college student is used to, but when studying abroad, finding the time and motivation to complete them is difficult. But, on Sunday, I stayed in and worked on them all afternoon, somehow finding the ability to be productive.

Sunday evening, our religion class attended an Anglican church service. It was in a small building that had previously been a pub, and still smelled somewhat like one. ;) The congregation was small and the service very informal. The priest at the church does not lead the services each Sunday; instead members of the congregation take turns organising and leading worship. The service was simple, and did not really evoke much feeling in me. Definitely different from the Holy Cross Church we visited a week ago, with its formal Catholic-style services that are the same every week. This was the distinction our professor wanted us to see; how while the Church of England is the largest denomination in the UK, each church within it can be strikingly different.

Monday, I went to yoga, then headed down to Brixton to go to Iceland, a UK supermarket chain, to buy some cheap groceries. After lunch, I met with two other girls to plan a weekend trip to Paris. After that, I got a haircut to try and liven my curls a bit. I worked on more homework that night as well.

Tuesday, I spent the morning at my internship playing with 3 young girls (about 1-2 years old) who were there while their mothers took adult learning classes at the centre. I then went to a primary school with Lily, to watch her do her activities. The kids were full of energy today which made it difficult for Lily to get through the session in the already short amount of time. This session, they created a fictional person, named Alex (notice how this name could be used for a girl or a boy), who is 10 years old (same as the students) and dealing with various problems, such as bullying. The kids talk about Alex's problems and how he/she could solve them such as who to go to for help. This school was in the middle of Soho, in a building that looked like it used to be flats. The kids were more knowledgeable than I expected; I don't think 10 and 11 year-old kids in Iowa schools would know what dyslexia or Asperger's syndrome were unless they knew someone who had it. They also seemed to have a larger vocabulary than I remember having at that age! I wonder if it is the UK, or London, or just being in the middle of a multicultural city that this is.

Today, I spent the morning at the Bayswater Children's Centre (not family centre, where my internship is) to help with reception as they were overly busy with clients coming in. When I returned after lunch, the Family Centre was the busiest I have seen it thus far; the phone would not stop ringing and the door would not stop buzzing. I spent the first part of the afternoon helping Lily with the report for her project evaluations, working quickly so I could finish before I assisted another advisor with a meeting with a 12-year-old client with a physical disability applying for disability assistance. My heart broke by the sadness and anger that was so clearly visible on the boy's face. He has a healthy twin and wants to know why he has to live in a wheelchair and be in pain while his brother can run and play like a normal child. His mother is hurting because her son blames her when he lies awake at night crying from the pain and having to be treated like a baby. Anyway, I helped by taking notes and filling out a long form that will need to be finished the next time they come to the centre. The meeting went quite slow, my co-worker going off subject often and not asking the questions that were needed to complete the long form that the family came for. I was also unsure how much I help in a way that was appropriate, I will try to talk to my co-worker more beforehand next time I go in a meeting with him.

Well, classes in the morning, I need to get some sleep! Tomorrow night we get to attend the London Philharmonic and Friday we are spending the day in Greenwich! :)

Cheers!

Fall (weather) has arrived!

Well today I saw Mom and Scott off, and they should be about back to the States by now. In all honesty, I am a bit jealous of them; I am starting to miss home, mainly from me being sick of living in a city, something I am hoping will be relieved as I start my travels. Fall break is in less than 2 weeks! Ireland & Italy, here I come! Anyways, here is what my family and I have been up to the last few days:

On Wednesday, I went to my internship and had a pretty pleasant day there. I began working on a little report for Lily, the Domestic Violence in-school Coordinator that is doing those activities at schools. I am going through the pre- and post-evaluations the students and teachers have filled out from her sessions. I am going through and doing a little quantitative analyses and will create a report for her to put in her files. Nothing fancy, but at least it's finally something I can use a little of my Psychology skills on! I WILL go with her on Tuesday afternoon to help with her activities at a primary school in Soho. From their pre-tests, it seems the kids there, in grades 5 and 6, have pretty progressive ideas about what is expected of boys & girls/men & women. One of the questions on the form asks, "Are there any jobs that are only for girls or only for boys?" and I did not see anyone answer that there were, apart from a few saying something like "policemen are boys, policewomen are girls." I wondered how kids in Iowa schools would respond. Mom and Scott came at the end of the day to see where I am interning, and my mom had a nice conversation with my supervisor about the social services. Then we headed over to the Phoenix Theatre where we saw the musical Blood Brothers. It was a great musical!! I don't know why I don't hear about it more, apparently it has been running for 20-some years. I think I enjoyed it more than Wicked. Before that, we ate at Spaghetti House, where I had the best dessert ever: a kind of layered ice-cream cake that had 3 layers of different flavors of gelato!! :)

Thursday, I had class and Mom and Scott headed to Windsor Castle for the day. I spent the rest of the day doing laundry and just hanging out in Vandon whilst they were away. Yesterday, Mom, Scott and I went to tour Westminster Abbey, which was an experience much like that at Buckingham Palace and St. Paul's Cathedral. Of course, my mom mostly enjoyed it because of the Royal Wedding held there last spring. (She's kind of obsessed with the Royal Family). ;) They continued on to the British War Museum whilst I went back to Vandon for a while. That night we tried to make it to the end of Portobello Market, but were only able to go into a few of the shops that were still open. They didn't get the full experience of the market, but they at least got to have a taste.

I think my family had a full and fun time here in the great city of London. If you see them sometime soon you should ask them about it, and maybe ask my mom about her experience with the pigeons... ;)

(That is, if they recover!)

Super tourist!

Hello all,

So my mom and uncle Scott arrived here this weekend bright and early on a very warm Saturday. They were both quite out of it after the long trip over, but after freshening up, they were ready to get out. So, we hopped on one of those sight-seeing double decker tour buses to see the city. We sat on the top which was outside, and saw all the main sights of London. Afterwards, we ventured back towards Vandon House and ate at a pub. We took a short walk through St. James' Park to end the evening.

Mom is determined to eat all the English dishes, so the next morning we had lunch at another pub where she had the full traditional English breakfast, which entails bacon, sausage, eggs, roasted tomato, baked beans, mushrooms, and toast. Mom also had her heart set on touring inside Buckingham Palace, but it was the second to last day the Palace was open for touring and we were told tickets were sold out. However, whilst my mom and uncle were checking out London souvenirs at a little shop across the street, there was a sign saying the shop sold tickets. So of course my mom asked, and surprisingly enough, they had some! We bought some and went over to the Palace, somewhat skeptical that they would actually work, but we got in in 5 minutes! I was enthralled by the palace; mainly because of the history I was walking amongst. We saw some State Rooms, Kate Middleton's dress and the cake from the Royal Wedding last spring, and the Palace Gardens. It was a wonderful tour. I decided I want my house to have a balcony overlooking a backyard garden someday. Sunday evening we took a ride on the London Eye just before sunset. This was the second time for me on the Eye but I enjoyed it even more this time since it was nice out which allowed for pretty pictures!

Monday morning we headed over to have a quick tour of St. Paul's Cathedral. So beautiful! I want to attend a service there sometime whilst I am here to get the full experience of the place. I had my yoga class at noon, which I am beginning to really enjoy! It's just really relaxing; I can let out the stress and frustration I am beginning to have from living in a city. Plus, I didn't run into that creepy guy this week! Mom and Scott met me for lunch afterwards and then headed over to Westminster Pier to board a boat that took us down the Thames to Tower Bridge. We toured the Tower of London there which was also incredibly awesome! The highlights of this tour were the Crown Jewels and the Bloody Tower where King Henry's illegitimate sons were supposedly murdered. We ate at The Slug and Lettuce, a great cheap place to eat on Monday nights.

Today, I had my internship. I went to the Queen's Park Children's Centre to help out with some filing over there; so exciting! (Not.) I was supposed to go to a primary school this afternoon to do domestic violence preventive activities, but I did not get back from Queen's Park in time to leave with Lily. I was so disappointed, and ended up doing more boring tasks the rest of the day. I met Mom and Scott at Herrod's afterwards to experience some high-class shopping. I was pretty overwhelmed and felt a bit out-of-place at this huge, designer-label filled store. The entire time I was thinking, "Really? Is any of this stuff necessary for anyone?? So much money could be spent towards a million better things!" I had a slight urge to set such a place on fire or steal or break something.

So yes, these last few days have been quite full and super touristy. The next few days will be a bit toned down, with my internship and classes on Thursday. At least the hot weather has gone!

Cheers for now!

One month has gone by...2.5 more will go just as fast!

I give you my apologies as it has been over a week since my last post! I am sure you are all wondering what I have been up to! Well, I will try to get you up-to-date in my life in London.

Can you believe I have been in London for a whole month now? I'm not sure how to feel about it; it doesn't feel like we have been here long yet at the same time it seems like those first few days in the new city were so long ago. We are about a third of the way through the program and I haven't gotten to do any traveling outside of England yet! But don't worry, I have many plans, mostly for weekend trips in November, such as Paris, Germany, and Wales, and of course, lots of traveling during fall break: Ireland, Italy, and Greece.

I will start with last week after my last post.

On Thursday we had class in the morning, which many of us were late to thanks to crowded tubes. Mark was not pleased with us. We were learning about different types of media in Britain. Religion class in the afternoon was quite interesting; we discussed how religion is defined and then took an online quiz to find out what religion our beliefs follow. On both Friday and Saturday, I went to Portobello Market. I LOVE this place. There are some great antiques, gifts, clothes, and food. We didn't make it all the way to the end of the market as it seems to just go on and on forever. I bought a tube map tea towel and some photos. I also found the best gift ever for my boyfriend: the first pressing of the first Beatles album, "Please, Please Me" as well as their "Rubber Soul" album. I wanted to keep it a secret, but of course, I couldn't contain myself with a gift like that, so he got it out of me. He is really excited about them though! I had Gelato (Italian style ice cream) for the first time on Friday at the market. It was so delicious. Saturday night, a group of us went out to a pub for Alex and Cameron's birthdays. It was a fun night that included karaoke which Alex got up and sang Elton John to Anna (too cute!).

On Sunday, I spent my afternoon at Hampstead Heath park up north. It is a very large park with a lot of ponds and trees that makes you forget you are in a city. I found myself a large tree that had fallen to sit and read on. I was a bit lost wondering around that place but it was quite enjoyable to hike around there on such a beautiful day. I went to Westminster Chapel's evening service again on my own and there were 3 men who got baptized during the service. It was something I had never seen before: a tiny pool under the floorboards where the person was fully submerged in. I was glad I attended that night as the stories these three men shared where quite moving. Later Sunday night, a group of us went to get poffertjes from a place called My Old Dutch restaurant as a surprise for Cameron on his birthday. It was almost like Tulip Time! ;)

Monday I went over to City Lit for my first yoga class. I really enjoyed the class; it consists of just 8 women of various ages and a male instructor who was really helpful. We went through some basic breathing and stretching exercises and a few poses. I am supposed to practice "The Cat" pose this week. However, one thing that makes me not look forward to going back there: a very awkward guy who kept following me around and asking me all sorts of questions. He told me he would see me next Monday...yikes! That afternoon, I went to see "Crazy Stupid Love" with Shannon at a cinema that was much larger and nicer than the one Margaret and I went to a couple weeks ago!

Tuesday and Wednesday I had my internship. I really didn't do much at all this week. I would go around and ask everyone if they wanted me to do something for them, but they all responded with, "No, I don't have anything you can do at the moment." They were all busy, but with things I apparently cannot help with. It was very frustrating just sitting around with nothing to do. I came here for an internship where I could get some real experience working in the psychology/sociology field, but so far haven't done much yet. I do like the organisation and what it does, and the people are all very nice and good at what they do. I have learned a bit from just listening to conversations and doing some reading whilst I am there. However, next Tuesday, I will have things to do: I am first going to another branch to help out with some things there and then in the afternoon I am going to a school with the Domestic Violence in Schools Coordinator to do those activities I discussed in my last post. I hope it all goes well and that I will have things to do all the time from now on...

Yesterday, we had class in the morning where we discussed the recent London riots and then for Religions in London, we met at Holy Cross Church of England to tour and talk to the priest about the church. It was very pretty inside, a very Catholic-like church that is 123 years old with large arches going up along the sides.

Today, we left in the morning for Stonehenge and Bath. We spent around a half hour at Stonehenge walking around on the path, and then moved on to Bath, where we toured the Roman Baths and had a little time to walk around the town. Bath is such a lovely town with a gorgeous hilly countryside (apparently several celebrities have homes there). The weather was so beautiful for the trip, and I got some really great photos of both places. The weather here has actually been very nice for about a week and a half now; sunny and warm, little rain. This weekend though, it is in the 80s!! Very nice, especially for the arrival of my mom and uncle Scott tomorrow morning! They are coming to visit me for a week with a very full itinerary! ;)

I have been very tired this week, having trouble staying awake in class and at my internship when I am doing boring tasks or sitting waiting to do something. It is the worst in the mornings, and it makes me wonder if something is up with my thyroid or if I just have not been getting enough sleep. I haven't been going to sleep as early as I would like, usually due to the noise outside or talking to my boyfriend on Skype. But, it still should be enough that I can keep my eyes open during the day! This week has also included a lot of planning for fall break trips, which can get stressful. Something I have noticed about myself lately is how irritated I get by the crowds, particularly on the tube, who get in my way as I try to get to class or my internship or other places. I guess that means I am becoming an official Londoner!

Well that's about it; you are now caught up in my London adventure. I will try to write more often this coming week as I see and do all sorts of things with my mom and uncle. Hopefully I will have more energy this week!!

Cheers!

Internship: Week 1

This is how my first week of interning at Bayswater Family Centre went:

Tuesday, 20th September

I was supposed to arrive at 9:30am, but tube ride took about 5 minutes longer than it had on Monday, so I arrived a few minutes late. This did not make a difference as the only person who knew what time I was supposed to arrive, my supervisor, does not come in until around 10. I spent the morning browsing the website for Action for Children, the corporation which the centre does services for, reading about its policies and services, particularly about child protection. I was so tired this morning that I was afraid of falling asleep at the computer; luckily I was in the corner so no one could notice. The information covered topics I was familiar with from previous work and volunteer experience, such as dealing with children who may be dealing with abuse as well as confidentiality guidelines. I made a few copies, was introduced to most of the staff, and had a tour. I was given an hour lunch break and was allowed to leave fairly early--around 2:45pm--since they didn't have much work for me to do.

Wednesday, 21st September

I started at my internship around 9:30am again, and was given the task of laminating and cutting a stack of pages for a domestic violence advice team member for the morning. I quickly became interested in the activities she was using these pages for as some had photos of people with t-shirts saying, "This is what a feminist looks like," one of them being President Obama, and others lists of statements of which one was to determine whether or not it was an abuse situation. Other pages had lists of various occupations, types of toys, and colors. I was told these had to do with gender stereotypes, which if you know me and my psychology/sociology interests, you know this caught my attention! I found out later that this temporary coworker of mine co-ordinates with local schools to conduct sessions with students as well as with groups of teachers on domestic violence related topics. She was using these materials I was preparing for some drama-like activities for primary students that are supposed to be an effort to prevent domestic violence in the kids' future intimate relationships. The gender-related activities get at how they have already formed these ideas of how boys and girls/men and women are supposed to behave in society. This activity is important since domestic violence stems from the use of power to control others, and men are often seen as the one in a relationship as having the power. She told me how she has had long discussions, debates almost, with groups of students over the statement, "Real men never cry." She said that I would likely be able to come along with her on her school visits and help with these activities, and so at the end of the day I talked about it with my supervisor, who said she was actually going to bring it up with me since many of the visits are on Tuesdays. So, I am now quite excited for my future Tuesdays! :)

The rest of the day, I made packets which are filled out by new clients that come in, as well as composed an email from an administration worker's notes on getting some money for some money management training sessions. It was a full day compared to yesterday. I have definitely noticed the slower pace of work compared to the U.S. work environment. The staff spend a lot of time chatting and making tea throughout the day, and a workday here has much fewer hours than in the States. It's a wonder much work gets done! I had been told in the morning by a office manager that she would have a task for me within a half hour, she just had to finish another task first; she never finished it while I was there! Nevertheless, it is an enjoyable place and I can see myself learning a lot here. I find out a lot about the work they do just by listening to the conversations around me.

I can't wait to tell you how next week goes! :)

Third week in the big city!

That's right family and friends back home, I am on my third week here in London! Here's what I've been up to:

Thursday: Today we had our British Experience and Contemporary British Society and Culture classes. It was three hours straight, all in the same room: first British Experience Seminar, Contemporary Britain, then Contemporary Britain small-group seminar. The classes weren't too exciting yet; just the usual first day of class routine. We said good-bye to our assistant director, Beth, as she is leaving to go on a year-long holiday traveling all over the world with her boyfriend. Our new assistant director, Jen, is originally from Kansas and now lives here with her husband. In the afternoon on Thursdays, I have my Religions of London class from 2 to about 5pm. I really enjoyed the first day of this class and already learned about the origins of the Church of England. We get to go to a few different services as well as a visit Jewish temple and a Mosque. I am quite excited to learn about and experience these different religions and cultures.

Friday: A group of 8 of us went over to Abbey Road this afternoon. We of course, took turns getting our photos taken walking across the street like the Beatles. We also checked out the Abbey Road Studios where the Beatles did most of their recording. We then ventured to the Beatles Coffee Shop where I got the best souvenir ever: an Abbey Road street sign with the Beatles faces on it. A short walk from there was Regent's Park, where we climbed Primrose Hill to get a look at the best view of the city. It was a lovely day and a lovely view. We just sat up there for quite a while, some taking a short nap in the warm sun. The weather had been so beautiful these days. This was probably my favorite afternoon in London so far. I will definitely be going back to that hill to relax on nice days.

Saturday & Sunday: These were relaxing days filled with sleeping in, buying groceries, reading, and watching movies with my new friends. Saturday night, nearly everyone in the program went out to a club called Roxy to celebrate Caroline's 21st birthday. It was a fun night apart from trying to figure out the night bus system on the way back (tubes close early). I actually ended up injuring myself a little as I tried walking up the stairs of a double-decker bus when it started moving (and no, I was not intoxicated, just clumsy and tired). Sunday morning a small group of us did go to Westminster Chapel (not Westminster Abbey) for church again. William Graham (grandson of the evangelist Billy Graham from North Carolina) was the guest preacher. I enjoyed the service quite a bit, and the church is beautiful. I am finding however, that the church's beliefs are a bit more conservative than my own. I like the church, but still am interested in other worship services in London.

Today (Monday): Today I went to my internship site for the first time! I met with the Shelagh, the manager of Bayswater Family Centre, for about 20 minutes as she described all that the organisation does. The centre is mainly a place that supports homeless families, but it provides quite an array of services. I was told I would be helping out in all areas of the complex organisation: general administration, sitting in on meetings with clients, helping in the children's centre, traveling to the outreach schools, etc. I was overdressed; Shelagh was wearing jeans and a sweater and said that dress was casual, although she dresses according to what she will be doing (dressing up more for meetings). Hopefully I know what I will be doing ahead of time so I know what to wear! Oh well, better overdressed than underdressed. I will be working at the Centre on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, starting tomorrow at 9:30am! This means I have Mondays off, so I have decided to sign up for a yoga class at City Lit college from noon to 1pm. I like this as I will have a day to recover from any weekend trips I may take before I go to work at the Centre.

I am starting to make some travel plans. Hopefully some will get booked soon! For fall break, I am hoping to spend the first weekend in Ireland/Scotland then head down to Italy for the rest of the trip. I am also wanting to go to Wales and Liverpool over a weekend soon, probably with Shannon. A day trip down to Brighton also seems to be in the near future. I sent an email out to Anna, a foreign exchange student Sarah and I were good friends with in high school, with a list of weekends for us to possibly come stay with her in Germany. I just hope she gets back to me soon! And, I have to throw a weekend to Paris in there sometime as well! :)

Overall, things have been good. Getting better at cooking--adding lots more fruit and veggies to my meals! However I have been making the same 3 meals over and over, with some canned soup or ravioli thrown in to change it up. I just don't really enjoy taking the time to cook; I'd rather have it ready to eat when I'm hungry! ;) At least we have breakfast made for us every morning. I am excited for Mom and Uncle Scott to come in less than 2 weeks! Can't believe it's almost October!

Sending love across the pond,

Alyssa

China Town, small movie screens, & an internship!

While not yet having classes or an internship, here is how I have kept myself busy the last few days (like there's nothing to do in this city!):

Monday: Michelle, Shannon, Jacque, and I went over to Buckingham Palace to try and see the changing of the guards ceremony. We soon realized that despite the fact that it occurs every other day, you need to arrive about 2 hours early in order to get a good viewing spot! We saw the band march up but nothing else. Since we have plenty times to try and watch again, we left to go get lunch. Michelle, Shannon, and I went over to China Town and found a really delicious Chinese restaurant that was still reasonably priced. We had fun trying to use the chopsticks. Later that night, Margaret and I decided to go see the movie Friends With Benefits since the majority of the other students were at a play for the Shakespeare class. In an effort to go to the cheapest place, we ended up way on the East side, at a theater with five screens, but we had to have been in the smallest...the screen was about one-fourth the size of a regular movie theater screen!! The room was also very small and kind of old and dirty. We then knew why it was so cheap! It was fun nonetheless, and we laughed about it all night.

Tuesday: Sarah, Margaret, and I went over to the other Primark that isn't as crazy as the one we went to on Oxford Street. We spent the afternoon shopping around the area. That night a small group of us girls went out for a girls' night, which was so much fun!

Today: I finally heard about my internship this morning! I go on Monday to the Bayswater Families Centre to meet my coworkers and figure out my schedule. This afternoon, I went up there to make sure I knew how to get there and to explore the area. I am so relieved to finally know for sure that I have an internship placement!

Tomorrow: I have my three classes: British Experience Seminar, Contemporary British Society, and Religions of London. It will be a full day!

The weather today was so beautiful!! Sunny and mid-60's. Tomorrow looks even better! I may go read in the park tomorrow after the religion class :)

Cheers!

Stratford-Upon-Avon Weekend

Okay all, bear with me on this post as this was a busy weekend! First though, let me begin with Thursday. I had the day free so I went and explored on my own since Dan and Sarah had to go to Morley College to register for classes (I'm only taking Central classes and having my internship). I spent my afternoon strolling through the nearby parks--Green Park, Hyde Park, and St. James' Park. They were larger than I was expecting; 4 miles total! I walked for 2 miles then when I turned around to come back, I rented one of the Barclay's bikes for a pound and rode that back to the Vandon House area. I thoroughly enjoyed the parks; Hyde Park has a lake with many ducks and paddle boats. I will definitely go back when the trees are all in their autumn colours. :)

Friday morning our program left for Stratford-upon-Avon for the weekend. On the way, we stopped at Blenheim Palace, which was amazing! It was a huge castle that is home to the 11th Duke and Duchess of Marlborough and is also the birthplace of Winston Churchill. We took a tour inside and then had lunch and explored the grounds. It was huge! We arrived in Stratford-upon-Avon later on in the day and had a walking tour of the town, which is the birthplace of Shakespeare. We saw the house in which the writer was born, his other homes as well as those of his children, the church he was baptized, married, and buried in, as well as the three theatres in the town. We stayed in Bed & Breakfasts for the two nights. We then had the night free, so many of us got fish & chips for supper and then a drink at a nearby pub.

Saturday, after a full English breakfast, we took our bus and went to a town called Bourton-on-the-Water in the Cotswolds area. It was a pretty small town with lots of shops. I found a few gifts for people back home there. We went back to Stratford in the afternoon and many of us spent the time exploring the many shops there as well as walked along the river. I have found that the countryside in England is fairly similar to Iowa's; what's unique here is the architecture, which is all stone and brick and historic-looking. We attended MacBeth that was put on by the Royal Shakespeare Company. Since I had never read the play before, it was very hard for me to follow. But, it was still enjoyable. Afterwards, many of us went to the pub across the street for drinks. Such a good time hanging out with everyone!

Today, we got up and departed Stratford-upon-Avon and landed in Oxford, the university town, for exploring on our own. We did a little touring of a university and were shown the church that was used for the dining hall of Hogwart's in the Harry Potter movies. We were unable to go in and see however, as they didn't open until about the time we were to leave. A small group of us did some shopping at the many bookstores and then had cream tea and coffee at a cafe. Again, lots of good time spent with the other students! I did buy a cool book I thought would be nice to have on hand: "50 Ideas of Psychology You Really Need to Know." We arrived back in London around 4:30 this afternoon, and 10 of us decided to attend the Westminster Chapel across the street for their evening service. I really enjoyed it as it was a small congregation with an informal, contemporary feel like I am used to and the people there were so friendly and welcoming. I will likely go back again.

I am still waiting to hear about my internship; hopefully I will hear something this week. Otherwise, all I have is 3 classes on Thursday! I will have to find things to do/see on my own again. I did get placed for a Host weekend. I get to stay with a retired couple living on the edge of Leeds, a town in northern England, on the weekend after Thanksgiving. Another girl from our program will also be there with me that weekend. I think it will be a great weekend on the English countryside. They said they will invite their family and friends over and cook us a Thanksgiving meal!

Well, I think that is all I have been up to over here on this side of the pond. Tuesday we get to take an evening ride on the London Eye! Have a great week!

Decisions, Decisions...Oh! And poffertjies! :)

So, yesterday I had my advising appointment to figure out my schedule for classes and my internship. Beth has so far been unable to get a hold of the woman at the Bayswater Families Centre to set up a time for an interview (mainly just a meet & greet) so I still am in the dark about when I will be starting or if this is even a sure thing. She says it should be fine however, since Central has had students interning there every semester; the people at the Centre at just very busy. For my other classes, I am taking the Religions of London class on Thursday afternoons (along with British Experience Seminar and Contemporary British Society). Wanting to try something new, thinking about taking either yoga or tai chi. However, I can't decide whether or not to pay to take the classes at the University of London Union on a Wednesday night, and then have my internship Tuesdays and Wednesdays with my Mondays off, or take the classes at City Lit during the day on Wednesday for free (I think since it is an actual class and not part of a fitness centre) and do my internship on Mondays and Tuesdays (you have to do internships on Tuesdays, and then either Monday or Wednesday for your second day). I like the idea of having Mondays off for an extra long weekend (we already have Fridays off), especially for travel; however, there probably isn't anyone else with Mondays off and wouldn't be able to travel through Mondays with me anyway...I would have to travel alone. What shall I do? I will probably just talk to Mark about it tomorrow or something.

Today, I went and explored on my own. I walked down to Westminster Abbey and Parliament Square. I enjoyed taking photos of these historic buildings. This is probably my favorite part about being here so far; how everything I see has such great history behind it. I then wondered a bit and found a small market on Warwick Way and found an abundance of fruits and veggies. But the real gem of this market was a little Dutch stand with Poffertjies!!! I was so excited. I bought a plate with 10 for three pounds. They were so delicious; it made my day. I then went and looked around at the Victoria Shopping Centre at the Victoria Station and found a cute store of womens' clothes and bought some jeans for only 9 pounds. I then walked back to Vandon Hosue to make some supper and get ready for Wicked!! I really enjoyed the show. I had never seen it and I quite liked the message to the story.

Tomorrow, I hope to make it to the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace. That is, if it doesn't rain...again. I may also go and find the Bayswater Families Centre to see how long it takes to travel there as well as the best way to go (bus or the tube). Maybe I will explore some parks as well. Then we are headed to Stratford-upon-Avon Friday morning until Sunday. I will be sure to report when I return.

Check my Facebook for many photos (if you can!)

Cheers!

More orientation...

I thought I would update again since I have been so busy the last couple days. Friday, my roommate Sarah and I slept in which was wonderful--except of course when the construction outside our window started working quite loudly. We had a scavenger hunt where we got put into groups of three and had to go about the city collecting, taking pictures, and doing other random things at many different places in 2 and a half hours, with whoever finished first with the most things done got a prize. The other girl in our group didn't feel well and ended up going back to Vandon House early on so I was left with one of the boys that I do not know very well and he would not talk to me. That, along with the heat, crowds, and getting lost made for a very tiring and frustrating afternoon. We did not get many things on the list accomplished.

After some rest, Sarah, Dan, and I went out to a pub and then took some buses out to find a club but the cover charge ended up being pretty high so we decided to wait till another time. We did however find ICCO's pizza--5 pounds for a medium size and quite amazing! We came back quite late which made getting up on Saturday for a walking tour somewhat difficult. It was a good tour though--walked along the River Thames, seeing St. Paul's Cathedral (gorgeous!) and walked across the Millennium Bridge, saw the Globe Theatre, and one of the many markets in London. It was a long tour, so a long afternoon nap back at Vandon House was quite needed. That night we saw Dr. Faustus at the Globe which was quite amazing. We had to stand the entire time (3 hours), which was kind of a pain but it was still a good experience. Afterwards, some of us went to a nearby pub for a bit and talked. We got back in late again and so I slept in on Sunday, our free day. Sunday afternoon, a group of about 10 of us went down to Camden Market for some shopping which was quite great. I got 2 dresses, an umbrella (which was needed since it was raining for the first time here), and a beautiful painting of Big Ben and a double-decker bus.

Today was the start of advising and internship interviews which go on throughout the week; I didn't have either, but we did have a 3 hour cultural awareness seminar in the afternoon. This was basically all information we should have all already known: "What is culture?" "We all have a culture and think and see things differently." I thought the information and activities were all pretty surface level and we never discussed really how to interact with people of different cultures, which would be pretty beneficial information. Don't get me wrong--I do think such a seminar is necessary, just a more in depth one with practical information. Anyways, afterwards Sarah, Dan, and I went to Primark--a department store with a large selection of cheap cute clothes. I got some shoes and hangers, but it was so crowded! It was like Black Friday times ten! Probably won't go there often.

The weather is starting too cool down, however I am still warm in Vandon House and on the tube all the time. We have also started cooking our own food which has been interesting since I do not particularly like to cook much. Most of my meals so far have been instant, out-of-the box meals that were cheap at Sainsbury's. I will learn to cook eventually; there are some pretty good cooks here. Tomorrow I have my advising appointment in the afternoon so I should find out more about my classes and internship. I will update you on that when I know more!

So things have been going well so far--just trying to get used to living in a city and trying to hang out with more people besides Sarah and Dan (although they are great!). I have met a few really nice people from other colleges that I hope to hang out with more as well as some from Central I already knew but never hang out with much. Otherwise, there is one large group of students that kind of keep to themselves. I am curious as to how everything will turn out as the semester goes on.

Hope everything is well back in the States! Miss you all!

Cheers!

Photo of me in front of tower bridge

"Mind the Gap"

Hello from London! Yesterday I arrived safely at Heathrow Airport around 9:30am, but did not make it to Vandon until about noon because the driver for my shuttle was not there on time and I had to wait about an hour after I had picked up my luggage and gone through customs. Londoners are crazy drivers! On such narrow streets and so many other vehicles, bikers, and pedestrians, I would have driven at a speed at least half of what my driver was doing! Anyways, when I arrived at Vandon House I had quite an array of emotions, but mostly I was tired! I did not sleep much on the plane from Newark to London like I had planned and was all messed up. However, after taking a shower (which took some figuring out with the different nobs), I regained enough energy to unpack a little and then go out with the rest of the students for a short walking tour and to the Feathers Pub for a drink and some food (on Central!). Later, my roommate Sarah and her friend Dan and I went out to another pub for some pints of Strongbow :). At around 10pm, we crashed! We had orientation at 9 this morning, which was hard to wake up for, but of course was quite informational as well as entertaining (we had a police officer come to talk about security and he was quite funny). Then, after lunch in Vandon House, we went for a long walking tour with a tour guide and saw the Tower of London, Tower Bridge, London Bridge, St. Magnus the Martyr Chapel, Covent Market, People's Square, and went through St. James' Park. I have lots of pictures, and plans to go do further tours of some of those places. We then had a house meeting with Victoria. So far, the things that I have founding interesting or just different are: their driving and looking to the left to cross the street; the pub scene; how reserved they are (it's so hard for me to not smile and say hello to others and have them do the same!); how little food you get at restaurants for a lot of money; how it's normal for couples to display a LOT of affection in public; the tube (how many times can the say, "Mind the gap"???). I'm sure there will be more when I start classes, my internship, and do more exploring. There's so much to see and learn about London that I have forgotten all the other places I want to travel to whilst I'm here. I hope I have enough time (and money!) to do it all!! Tomorrow we get to sleep in (yay!) and then we have the scavenger hunt in the afternoon which should be fun. Hopefully I will be totally on London time soon and will be able to wake up better in the morning...

Hope this post wasn't too long for ya'll--I was told by someone to leave nothing out! ;)

Goodnight!

Almost time....

Well, I said good-bye to Spike today. It was hard, but we are confident that everything will be fine. I am starting to get things together to go--I leave on Tuesday!! I think I am ready psychologically now as well. Let's go!

Summer's Coming to an End

How quickly summer went! Our last week of camps ended today, and I think all of us on staff are relieved at that fact. It was a good time; I definitely grew as a person as well as got great work experience! We did have a very bad windstorm come through in the middle of the summer, knocking down dozens of trees and creating lots of damage. Clean-up will be going on for quite some time there. It is sad how camp has changed since I was a kid. So few kids go anymore...I pray that the place can pick it back up so it is how it was when I went growing up; it was always the highlight of my summer.

When not at camp this summer, I have been with Spike (of course!). We went up to Wisconsin again for a week and had a great time on the water. He even taught me to water ski! He is busy getting ready to start teaching; I'm so proud of him. In 23 days however, I will be leaving him (and everyone else!) for 3 and a half months for London! This scares and excites me at the same time. It scares me what it will do to us despite the fact that we are talking about getting engaged soon. I just keep reminding myself that it is only for 3 and a half months--only a tiny fraction of what will be a lifetime together.

I heard yesterday what might be my internship whilst I am in London. It is the Bayswater Family Centre, a place that offers families support of almost any kind. Here's an article on the centre if you would like to read more about it: http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/london/hi/people_and_places/religion_and_ethics/newsid_8583000/8583569.stm

I think it would be a great place for me to intern; I can't imagine how much I could learn at a place like that and all the different kinds of people I could meet and work with, not to mention how much I could make a difference in others' lives!

Well I think I am off to bed for now--hopefully I will be good at keeping you all up to date on here whilst I am abroad...Goodnight!

P.S. I am practicing my British spelling so in case you noticed some spelling errors--they are not errors! ;)