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! ;)