Scotland Puts Me In a Conquerin' Mood

Hello Friends!

If you haven't guessed from the title of this blog post, I just came back from a weekend in Scotland, namely Edinburgh. 7 other friends and I decided to head up to Edinburgh for what better than Halloween weekend! So after a few hours train ride from Norwich (and listening to very annoying and loud Americans the entire way up) we made it! We arrived in the early afternoon, so we didn't have too much planned for the day. First things first, we had to find our hostel.

Edinburgh is set up on about 7 hills/mountains, so if you haven't gotten my drift already, the city is VERY hilly. The really nice thing is you can basically get around both the old and new city by walking, so it is very convenient and often treacherous! Our hostel was down a hill and across the street from the Three Sister's Pub, which closes at around 2-3 in the morning. Excellent. After checking in, we head to our rooms, one room that fit 6 people and another room that fit the other 2 (who had to share with 4 other strangers). The hostel was so nice as to give us a sheet sack (a sheet that is sewn together at the bottom to form a sack) and on our sunken-in bunk beds, we have a nice, crusty comforter and pillow that who knows when the last time it was washed. The bathrooms were tolerable, a bit hairy and wet, but could be worse. And thank goodness almost all of us decided to bring towels, because they give you none. All in all, I was just thankful for a place to rest my eyes for the night, because I was in Scotland!

We didn't have much planned the first night, except that we had seen a literary pub tour offered at one of the pubs. Of course, all of us being some form of a nerd, we decided that was an excellent idea (and it was!). Our tour guides were witty and recited poetry both in Scottish and English, as well as told us a few stories about Edinburgh and authors. It also helped us to get acquainted with the city and enjoy an ale or two along the way. We were all a bit worn out from traveling and walking, so we went back to the hostel so we could enjoy a full day tomorrow. As soon as I laid down in bed though, my nose completely blocked up from the lovely mold/dust/disgustingness and I only got a few hours of sleep. Oh well...

The next day we had quite a full day. We got up early (early enough to get 4 girls and 3 boys into the shower in a timely manner) and headed off to Edinburgh Castle. It was very uncanny to be back in Edinburgh, after being there about 4-5 years ago as a high school student and seeing some of the same sites...but now I could do what I really wanted to do...just explore! The castle was great, with lots of interesting exhibits and got to see some crown jewels along the way. There was even an exhibit on American POW during the 1780s (I guess that made up for the misnamed cafe in the castle...the REDCOAT CAFE...awful name haha). From the castle, one of my friend's had spotted two rather large hill/mountain on which one we could see people climbing and another that looked like it had a Roman parthenon. What did we decide to do then? Find these places!

After a wee bit o' a walk, we found the hill with the Roman-y ruins. Along the way we stopped to check out a cool little cemetery (at my bidding, because I have a certain fondness for cemeteries...). Once we climbed to the top of the hill, you could see all over Edinburgh and even out to the sea. It was such a beautiful day and I was so happy, that I just laid down in the grass. At first, everyone was apprehensive to what I was doing, but low and behold about 2 minutes later, everyone was joining me. That was probably one of my favorite moments that weekend.

From the Roman parthenon, we spotted another castle and decided to try and find it. And find it we did! Unfortunately, to get into the palace it would have cost us about 12 pounds and none of us was willing to spend that. So we then continued on our random journey, which included us stumbling upon the Scottish Parliament building right next door. We got to get a quick look inside and see the room where they hold meetings. If you haven't already got the idea from this blog post, all of my friends are either History, English or American Studies majors, so we love this kind of stuff.

And from the Scottish Parliament, my one friend Brandon tried to convince us all to climb this mountain that he had had his eye on climbing from day one. After a bit of twisting our arms (not really) we all decided to do it! The mountain from a spectator's view looked like it would be quite a climb, but actually it wasn't too bad. It was worth the view and the fact that we could say we climbed that mountain. It was the perfect almost ending to our day. We got to watch a bit of the sunset and a storm roll in (that caught up to us later).

It was only about supper time once we got back, so we went out in search of food after climbing at least 3 mountains that day. Since it was Halloween and we were a group of 8, it was awful trying to find a place to eat because every since place was turning us away. The one place that had room was a thai restaurant by our hostel that ended up being perfect. We all got to sit around a big round table, enjoy some wine and eat yummy thai food. Our night concluded with going to a few pubs and people watching on Halloween. And boy was that fun! Some of the prize costumes of the night were people dress up like Pac-Man, a group of men dressed up like secret service and one man was Obama (of course) and I believe there was a Jesus-like person at some point. It was a great end to one of the most perfect days.

On Sunday we decided to head back early, because we bought train and bus tickets that could be used at any time. Sunday is probably the worst day for England travel because that is the day that the transportation business does servicing on the lines. This means that you are constantly getting on and off different trains and buses...there is no direct line. Our day was supposed to be taking a bus, a train, a bus, and another bus, but because we got up early, we managed to catch a train first. Once again, we are magnets for loud talking people, so we all had to endure a loud gaggle of giddy girls on the way from Edinburgh to Newcastle. From Newcastle we had to get off and get on another train. This train was especially crowded because it was going to London King's Cross Station (even though we were getting off before it). Many of the seats were reserved, so myself and 3 other friends ended up sitting/standing in the toilet/luggage/standing part of the train. It ended up being alright because it was quieter there, but you got bumped into alot and had to sit on the floor for a few hours. At one point, a woman asked me to watch or in her words "put my arms around" her 2 year old daughter while the woman helped another daughter pee. Quite an awkward moment for me. After we arrived in Peterborough, we now had to catch a bus to Norwich. After a two hour bus ride, we arrived in Norwich and had to catch another bus back to the University...another 30 minutes or so. I had quite lost my appetite the entire day because I was constantly on vehicles that were in motion. All in all, I had arrived home safely and earlier than we had originally planned, so I was happy. And I had a really awesome weekend with great company, food and adventure!

An American in England Part 1

In a matter of about 12 hours I managed to have two completely diverse experiences with the British here in Norwich...

Part one of my experience started last night when I was waiting outside a local pub with a number of my American cohorts. A man, clearly a bit intoxicated, started off his conversation with us asking us if we were Americans. Of course, at least for me, I am always wary of a person when they ask that question because you don't know what their reaction is going to be. After we all answered a timid yes to the question, the man clapped his hands with joy and thus began his words of praise. From what I gathered from his scattered speech to us, he had fought alongside Americans in WWII during the Battle of Britain. To just give a quick history lesson, the place where I am studying, Norwich, is apart of the county of Norfolk, from which there was a big airbase that supplied much of the army and went through damages from the war. Since Americans were a big help to the English during that part of the war, some people hold us in very high esteem. This man contined his praising with blowings of kisses and many "bless you all"s. He also relayed to us that, "We Brits had never seen coffee before you Americans came, all we had to drink was tea (at this point he makes a letter "T" with his arms) and then you introduced us to the world of coffee...". Anyways, after chatting with this fellow, or I guess I should say, him chatting with us, we backed away slowly from his attempts to blow kisses at us and give us a hug. Overall it was a nice gesture and something I thing none of us ever expected to experience.

Part two of my experience happened in my Visual Display class (which is all about well "visual display" in museums, life, art, culture, nature, etc.) the following day. It was actually a rather good class, where the guest lecturer was discussing Vauxhill Gardens, a place in 18th Century London that was about art first and foremost as an aescetic. It was also about British identity and nationalism, put on display in an area to show off to other visiting cultures and people as well as to make fellow Englishmen and women proud of their country and themselves. To begin with, it is also a little awkward to listen about British nationalism during the 18th century (at least for me). The class concluded with a discussion about finding this sort of naivity, non-political correctness in society in a place where nationalism is put on display. People were discussing how nationalism is not really thought of as a tasteful thing in society. The kicker was though, when my professor decided to bring up the difference between American and British soldiers today. Her comparisson was that, "British soldiers are often perceieved as 'nice chaps' you know where American soldiers are all about might. So maybe we [British soldiers] don't wear helmets on our heads or metal vests and we get blown to smiterines for it, but at least we are thought of as nice chaps." Hmmm. So much for being all "PC" there huh? It was quite a different attitude on American soldiers than I experienced only a mere twelve hours or so before.

I am quite sure I will have many more experiences and encounters either similar or different or whatever to this, so I will be sure to post them!

No Place Like London

This past weekend my boyfriend decided to come up and visit me both at my University and in London. It had been over two months since I had seen him (which is not a whole lot of time apart, but still enough) so I was looking forward to seeing and being around something, someone from "home". One of the things I remember from the first few minutes together was how "American" I thought Matthew, my boyfriend, looked. He was wearing his typical New York Yankees blue ball cap, a bright blue windbreaker, jeans and sneakers. And he was talking loudly. I don't want you to think that I was embarrassed being around him, but it was just interesting seeing him in the English culture where I have been around and tried to adapt and learn the customs.

I took Matthew all around Norwich first. I had to show him all the lovely 70s concrete architecture that was oh so scenic. We then met up with friends of mine and his to go out on the town and show him a night in Norwich (which isn't as exciting as it may sound). As tradition, we went to our favorite pubs for dinner and some after dinner treats with a few of my close friends. It was a good, relaxing night with great company and lots of laughs.

On board the "Hogwarts Express" to London!

Then we were off to London by train! Since I had lived in London for a month I was interested to see what it would be like returning after a month had gone by living in Norwich. I must say, I did not realize how much I really missed London...going back felt like home. I had missed the Tube, the atmosphere, the places, everything. Of course, I had to take him to a typical pub at first and get some pub grub. During the meal, I convinced him to try HP Sauce. For those of you who don't know about it, HP sauce is quite vulgar. It is a mixture of molasses, beer, and salt and the English put it on their chips, burgers, etc. Matthew was so happy with me after trying it.
Matthew, after trying the HP Sauce, and oh so happy.

One thing that Matthew and I really wanted to do was to go to Madame Tussauds, the wax museum. Neither of us had ever been to one, so we didn't mind waiting in line to take pictures next to creepy but realistic looking people. The wax museum was pretty big, with many rooms filled with celebrities, famous sports starts (that we didn't really know because they were all English), famous famous people, and royalty. Then there was a "scary" part where you got to walk through dark corridors and have costumed people scare the daylights out of you. The scariest part for me though was what came afterwards. The next room was of wax figures of famous murderers and an exhibit on the guillotine, with the actual blade that beheaded Marie Antoinette. There was even a ride at the end all about London and how it is a wonderful place. All in all we had a great time and I would recommend to anyone to go to at least a wax museum once in your life.
Matthew taking the Queen Mother for a walk.

Us spending some time with B. Spears.

Spirit fingers!

Madame Tussuad's making light of the French Revolution...


After spending some time exploring parts of London, we met up with other Dickinson students and friends that were there with him from Malaga, Spain. We went to a museum or two with them, ones that I had already gone to. My one friend constantly kept asking me about a place to get "authentic English tea" and how he wanted to go out for "tea time". Not to burst his bubble, but I had to tell him that "authentic English tea" is everywhere, just go into a pub or a cafe and order a cup of tea. People have this idea that the tea here is so much more exceptional than back at home. It's really the same, tastes the same, smells the same, it is the same. The only places that I've seen that have cutsiey little tea shops are in English country towns that want to cater to tourists. I think he ended up going into a cafe and ordering some regular tea...

Got my "Eye" on you.

Being back in London again, as tour guide Alli, and among friends who had not lived with me in London for a month, it was interesting to observe the situation. I always like to find out what each person really wants to do when they get to London...for some people it's the typical touristy stuff, like going to see Big Ben and the Eye, but for others it is just as simple as going to a park. Since I had been here long enough to get to know the city and the sites fairly well, I felt confident enough in showing Matthew around to some of my favorite places. We did a nice variety of museums, parks, Indian and pub food, sight-seeing and markets. At the end of the trip, it was hard to say good-bye to both my boyfriend and the city again.

What I have learned so far...

It has been almost 2 months since I have been in England and so, I felt it fitting that I share my observations with all of you so far.

1. A common greeting is, "You alright?" meaning "What's up?" I must say this still throws me off because I feel like I have something on my face whenever my flatmates say that to me. Cheers! is also a common universal phrase here. It can mean anything from "good-bye" to "thanks" to well, "cheers!"

2. There are no cookies here, only "biscuits". And they sell loads of them in stores for 'tea time'. My favorites are ones called 'Digestives'. It took me a few weeks of curiosity until I finally tried them and realized that they aren't for digestive purposes, just meant to be "digested".

3. Just like we have preconceived notions about British people in America, British people have the same things towards us. A sampling of questions asked are:
"Is Pennsylvania above New York?"
"Are you from California/Florida/New York?
"How do you say...[insert word here] aluminum?"
"Don't you say "garbage" instead of "rubbish?"
"Are you an Evangelist?"
"Is high school in America like 'American Pie' the movie?"
"What do you think of Obama/Bush?"

4. To some British, dinner is often called "tea". So it get's a bit confusing when one of my flatmates will say that they are "having tea" when it actually means they are making dinner. So if someone invites you to "tea" you have to make sure it is "tea time" and not dinner.

5. The water systems in England aren't necessarily the best. Over the 2 months I've been here, I've mastered flushing the toilet. Yes, I am serious, there is a trick to it. Some toilets will only flush if you push down the handle twice consecutively, others you have to hold the handle down for about a minute and others will flush normally.

6. If you are in a "line" here in England it is called a "queue". There is also queue etiquette you must learn. For all other queues, there is no "queue jumping", but at the pub it is basically a free-for-all for drinks. You are also not served at the pubs, you must go up to the bar and order or you will never be served.

7. While drinking non-alcoholic beverages here, there are also some things to note. First of all, Sprite is often known as lemonade here, which can be confusing because I am afraid one time I will order sprite and it will be actually lemonade. Also, fruit drinks are called "squash", which took me awhile to realize when my flatmates would tell me they bought squash today.

8. Jacket potatoes are baked potatoes. They are one of the biggest foods here. They eat them with beans and cheese (white cheddar always) or just white cheddar or tuna and corn. Almost every night one of my flatmates has a jacket potato. They are rather delicious.

9. I've also learned that anything with the words "spicy" before it, means it isn't spicy at all. It took me about 4 or 5 disappointed tries of such "spicy" foods to realize that spicy is often a misnomer. Unless you go to an authentic Indian restaurant and ask for it to be spicy.

10. Cornish pasties are the best food you will eat here besides chips and Indian food. They come in many different varieties and they are the best way to warm your inners when it is chilly out. 

11. Fancy dress parties here do not mean wear your best attire. Fancy dress means wear a costume. Luckily I did not attend the first fancy dress hosted party on campus for I would have worn a nice dress to a "farmers"-themed party. Whoops!

12. Never say you are not wearing pants, or you don't have pants on because you are wearing a skirt, etc. Pants=underpants. Trousers=pants. Underpants=Knickers. People will look at you very strange if you say any variation on the pants/underpants theme.

So far, those are my various encounters with the oddities of the English culture. It has been very fun and often embarasing making some of the discoveries, but here they are for you to enjoy.

A Narnia in Norwich

Adjusting to life here at my Uni in Noriwch has been a bit different and bit harder than adjusting to life in London. In London, we were extremely busy every day, and the city is just one big distraction. Here in Norwich, I finally have a room and time to myself, with spare time being put towards classes, reading, research, walking, and meeting new people. On the one hand I miss London, for it's adventure and ever-changing nature, but I believe I will grow to love Norwich even more, for its country charm, beauty, and it just feels like home.

When I first decided that I was going to study abroad in Norwich, England, one of my first thoughts of joy was the fact that the campus was probably going to look like Oxford or Cambridge and be old and charming. Wrong! I forget that in England they are constantly surrounded by "old" and so, when designing this campus, they went to "new". Of course, this "new" is "70s new" which means it is rather quite hideous. All the buildings are sterile, bland, grey, unemotional, concrete placed into a lovely English countryside. I try not to look at the buildings or become emotionally connected to them when I walk to class.

On of the many "aesthetically pleasing" buildings on campus.

The campus also makes me appreciate Dickinson a bit more. First of all, Dickinson is absolutely gorgeous when compared to what the 70s thought what aesctically pleasing. Secondly, there are about 14,000 students on UEA 's (University of East Anglia) campus, whereas Dickinson has about 2,500. The walks around campus take at most about 30-40 minutes, whereas Dickinson is about 15 (and everyone still complains about the "long" walk at Dickinson ha!). But, I can't just sit here and compare and contrast home and now because that would take away from my experience. I just realize how much I appreciate the little things back at home.


In my backyard!

One of my most recent discoveries though will perhaps make the bad 70s architecture tolerable for some time. On a whim after a lovely pasta dinner, my friend Sarah and I decided to go exploring. A short walk past our flats and down a little dirt path, we were awestruck by a beautiful stream that was cleverly hidden by the residential halls. In the stream we also saw a wild swan, which is common in England, but rare in Pennsylvania. After walking along the stream and taking some pictures, some very friendly Brits told us that there was farmland and a big hill "over yonder" that you can see the entire town. Sarah and I were all over that.
A wild swan.

After walking over a bridge that went over our newfound stream, we entered into a small wetlands, which lead us to the next part of our journey. Stretching before us was English countryside and farmland. We then spotted "Corses" or "Hows", horses that we thought were cows, some sheep and real cows further out. The pathway ran right inbetween the farm animals and it was apparent that the farmer had laid out the pathway for anyone to walk it. The sun was setting, so we never made it up to the hill, but the sites around us were still incredible.

"Corses"


It reminded me of home, yet it was very much not like home. I find myself lapsing into my subconscious that I forget that I am in England. In my mind sometimes I feel like I am just walking around somewhere in Pennsylvania or I am going to class at Dickinson. Sometimes, I cannot believe I am here in England, but I am so glad I have this opportunity to be here.

I'm an International Student?!

On Wednesday I arrived here in Norwich, UK, which was about a 2 1/2 hour bus ride from London. Upon arriving on the campus, we were all greeted by a sign that said, "Welcome International Students" and it was quite strange, but we are international students! After getting all sorts of useful information and my room key, we were bused to our flats.

O little town of Norwich!

A hill and three flights of stairs later, I was finally in my own room with my own bathroom. The room is rather cosy, with a long desk, a very board-like bed, a closet and the toilet/shower/sink-in-one bathroom. It is a cross basically between a portapotty and a cruise ship bathroom, but it really is not bad.

The rather spacious room.

The shower/toilet/sink all-in-one!

After getting settled in, we were invited to our professor's house for a dinner and some goodies. Apparently every year the professor invites over his students and lets them divide up things left from the previous year's students. There was everything there from coffee makers, comforters, lamps and pots. Basically we all picked a number, waited for our numbers to be called and got to pick out one item for three rounds. After three rounds it was a free for all. It was a bit crazy! I did manage to get two pillows, one comforter, silverware, a pan, a skillet, a towel and some plates. Not bad for it all being free.

View of the flats in The Village.

We did pay a price for it all being free though, for our professor lives about a 30 minutes walk from campus. So after we collected all our spoils, we had to carry them all back. Everyone's arms were sore the next day, to say the least.

Today my flatmates all moved in and I have 5 in total. All are from Britain and are freshman. It was definitely quite strange because, just like Americans like to talk to British people because they are from Britain and they like to hear their accent, they were doing that to me! I got such questions like, "Say 'aluminum" or "You say trash instead of rubbish, don't you?" The best ones though, are when people want to know what state you are from. Of course, I answer with Pennsylvania. One answer I got was, "Oh, isn't that above New York?" or "Are you from California then?" They are generally nice though and are just curious about various American customs.

They are particularly interested in our schooling system. Apparently there is no "high school" here, it is called "college" and it lasts for 2 years. So when I say I'm in college, I'm really in University. I guess some English schooling systems are beginning to take the "American" approach of having a 'high school', etc. All in all, I am an international student and I am having fun both learning about their culture and teaching them about mine, however strange it may be for me...

Final Days in London

Monday was our last free day in London in which we could do whatever we wanted. What does one do with all of London and a free day? How do you choose? Well, one activity was chosen for me, for I had one last place to visit on my class’s required list. So my friend Sarah and I headed over to the Cabinet War Rooms and Churchill Museum that morning. Even though I am a history major, I am not all that knowledgeable about any modern or post-modern history, so I was kind of looking forward to learning something new.



The Cabinet War Rooms were, if you don’t know about them, the place where Prime Minister at the time, Churchill, and his closest advisers and workers met in secret underground, somewhat “safe” from potential bombings. Now the museum has tried to preserve the underground lairs to what they were like when Churchill and his advisers lived there during the war.

Fun history "games" at the Churchill Museum!

Next to the Cabinet War Rooms is the Churchill Museum, which is basically a shrine to Prime Minister Churchill. Sarah and I spent about 2 hours in the museum because there was so much to read, see and do. This was one of the most technologically advanced museums I have been to yet. They have this giant interactive digital time line that is about 6 metres long! There were other interactive "games" where the computer would ask you your opinion on Churchill and then give you further information to either confirm or perhaps change your mind. Even though the museum basically praised Churchill extensively, it was a really fun museum to explore.

View from the top o' the London Eye.

The best way, I felt, to spend my last full free night in London was to go with a few friends up on the London Eye. We all thought it would be interesting to view the city from night instead of when most people go during the day. The city is absolutely spectacular from the air and when you are at the top of the Eye you are almost in the clouds! The entire ride takes about 30 minutes and you get a big pod to sit or walk around in that could fit about 20-30 people. The London Eye is worth the pricey ticket.

My friends and I on the Eye.

The next day was my last day in London, but the group had much to do. We still had to pack, go out for a group lunch and then go to a Dickinson Alumni reception at a very well-to-do exclusive clubhouse. We were supposed to have our last class outside at a park, but because of the nasty, rainy weather, my professor just decided to treat us to a lunch out in Hampstead Heath.

After getting soaked coming back, all of us had to get ready for our big night. Our reception with the alumni would consist of a few of my fellow classmates giving a presentation about what we have learned from our time in London and then mingling with trustees, donors and other alums from the college. It was a bit intimidating for me to be talking with a man who is the CEO of Barclay's, the big bank, etc. out here in London. Overall though, my professor said the alums were blown away by how well-spoken and how much all of us knew. Many volunteered to give the group tickets to things, take us places, etc. It felt very rewarding after working so hard and learning so much that it has all been paid off!

A group of us looking classy at the alumni reception.

Now, onto Norwich and even more adventures!

Fireworks, Swing Dancing, and Bad Musicals.

Today is my last free day in London before we leave in 2 days for Norwich and the start of classes, so I wanted to give an overview of the past few days...(and I am also sure you are all wondering about the title of this blog post too...).

After seeing about 5 plays during my time here in London, I was quite pooped out of sitting through another production. Especially since The Pitmen Painters that I just saw was incredible. My professor, not being overly fond of musicals, decided to give one a go called Blood Brothers. I love musicals, and although I was a bit "play-ed out", I was sort of looking forward to it. I was wrong. The plot of the musical was predictable and much overdone. Worst of all though, was the music. It was 80s-90s-synthesizer-Kenny G -smooth -jazz-skid row, all sorts of bad. Plus there was this awkward narrator that creeped on every scene and sang strange parts. The actors and actress were talented, no doubt, but the play was flawed. The one good thing about the musical was the amusement factor during and after it. Everyone had the same thoughts about it, even my professor. We all agreed it was terrible, yet incredibly amusing. Here's a clip from youtube of the creepy narrator and bad music, Blood Brothers.

My swing friend Kim and I post-swing dancing.

The Thames River Festival is an event all weekend long featuring swing dancing, yummy foods, fireworks, shows in front of the National Theatre, and street vendors. Yesterday I noticed that there was swing dancing pretty much all day and fireworks later that night over the Thames. Of course, I could not pass up either of those two. My friend Kim, who also swing dances, and I decided to head over to the dance floor after dinner. We picked up some spicy chicken and rice at a Korean food vendor and then got ready to swing. It was so neat, both dancing on the banks of the Thames and noticing the differences between American and British swing dance. Leads kept asking Kim and I if it was alright if they improvised, and I was puzzled by why they kept asking us. After all, that is what swing and jazz is all about, improvising. It just must be the swing culture here. All the leads were excellent dancers and Kim and I just had a wonderful few hours dancing, swinging and singing.
A sign for the event, The Big Swing and hard to see in the background is Tower (aka London) Bridge.

Then we headed off down the Thames in search of our friends and a good spot to watch the fireworks. Unfortunately, we did not get to find our friends due to mass amounts of people around the bridges. Luckily though, we did find the best place to watch the fireworks with minimal amounts of people. In front of the Globe Theatre there are stairs that lead down into the Thames and faced in the direction of the fireworks. It was perfect. We got to sit, spread out, and enjoy the fireworks. And by American standards, they were pretty good.


Now it is our last free day. I am not quite sure what I want to do with it, since I hope I will be back sometime in the future! Some of us are planning on going on the London Eye at night because I love viewing cities at night. There are also one or two last minute museums that I want to visit. After spending a month here I still feel like there is so much I didn't do, and yet, I did so much. That is the beauty of a big city.

If You Give a Miner a Paintbrush...

Today has been an overall emotional, stressful, and long day, but I end the day satisfied and content. It started off with my one project here in London, my group walking tour. Our group decided to do a walking tour of Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens, the largest of all the Royal Parks in London. 34% of London is green space, which is great and I really love that part of the city. Our tour, thank goodness, went really well and our professor quite enjoyed it. We were also the first group to go because we showed the most efficiency, so we got some bonus points for that. On our tour we brought up many points to prove that parks are more than just ascetically pleasing. They serve other purposes such as rallying points (Speakers Corner), places of national pride (Albert Memorial) and a place to "immortalize" people and places (Diana Memorial Fountain). There is so much more I could talk about, but I will leave you with those few links above to learn what you can.

After our two hour walking tour, some of us (myself included) had signed up to see another play at the Globe Theatre. Me, being a thrifty person, opted for the 5 pound standing tickets instead of the 15 pound sitting ones. At the time, I was kicking myself for not getting a seat ticket and having to stand for 3 hours, but the play proved itself worthy. The play was called As You Like It and it was one of the few Shakespeare plays I still had not seen or read. It was hysterical and the cast was so good at involving the audience and actually moving in and around us. The standing seats were, for this play, the best seats in the house.

All of us at the play then ran back to the hotel for a short while before we had to head back out to the same area for another place tonight. For dinner though, my friend Sarah and I decided that we wanted a big juicy burger and went to a place, namely called, Ultimate Burger. I had one burger here in London previously and it was awful in comparison to ours, so I had been a bit skeptical about getting another one. They were excellent, thank goodness, and was like a part of home was with me. Sarah and I noticed while in the restaurant some people eating them with forks and knives...

The play that we saw tonight was called, The Pitmen Painters. Based on a true story about miners in England that decided to talk an art appreciation class. Their teacher one day, because they were all so skeptical about art, made them all paint a picture about life. What they all painted were exceptional and eventually got them famous for their depictions on politics, life and being a miner. I must say, at first I was not all that excited to see the play, because I was tired today and just in general. Out of all the plays that we had seen, this one was my absolute favorite and touched me the most. It hit home for me I guess because it reminded me of my family, of my great grandfathers who worked in the coal mines, and my father who has such a love and admiration for them. I definitely teared up a few times during the play because I just sat there feeling proud of who I was, where I came from, and all of those middle class workers who were just amazing people. It was a play about the working class, people who lead honest, hard working lives, who depicted life honestly in their paintings. It was just an incredible play. I wish my father was here to see it with me, for I know he would have loved it even more than I.

One of the actual paintings done by one of the miners who had no classical or formal training, just his own thoughts and feelings.


I am finally going to bed, after a very long day. Tomorrow is one of the first days that I hopefully will get to sleep in. Now I have to start research for a paper that I don't really know the topic of yet. I know it will be about women and gender and England. That's about it!

Seeking out the Sikhs and Hindus!

I'm back and recovering from catching the plague here in London. I believe it must be some sort of initiation into the culture or something... Anyways, I will catch you all up on what has been going on in London over the past couple of days.


On the 3rd of September we journeyed to Southall to a Sikh temple. I would go on to further explain Sikhism but I think BBC can explain it a little bit better than I, so click here for more information on Sikhs! Overall, it was an incredible experience. Both men and women had to have their heads covered and remove their shoes upon entering. We got a tour and talk by a fellow Sikh and then ate some free food with other members of the Sikh community. Even though we all got strange looks by the fellow Sikhs (especially the male members of the group...they did look rather ridiculous in scarves around their heads when most men wore turbans or just a kerchief) they were still welcoming. Afterwards, my professor, my friend and I went out in search of food through Southall. There were many street vendors selling many of the same items such as saris, henna, fresh produce, etc. that it makes one wonder how they all survive. We ended up eating at Rita's...but not the Italian Ice place...just an Indian restaurant where I got my Chicken Masala, naan and my favorite drink, a mango lassi.

Yesterday we ventured out to Oxford by train and many of my fellow classmates were excited to go. I had already been to Oxford the last time I was in Europe, so I thought I knew what I expect, but I was pleasantly surprised by many new areas I had not seen. The first thing on the list was many of us Harry Potter fans wanted to stop at Christ Church, where they had filmed a few scenes, especially the epic Great Hall. Unfortunately, that day the Great Hall was not open, but we went in anyway. After that we met up with the rest of the group for a tour of Oxford focusing on literature and the colleges. I learned that Oxford is just not one campus, but many, sort of like Penn State. There are about 4 different colleges in Oxford that belong to Oxford University, such as Jesus College (which we all got a kick out of) and Corpus Christi. Many of the campuses are at least 300 or so years old, which of course appealed to me. Everyone had a good time in Oxford, and even though it wasn't one of my favorite towns, I quite enjoyed it as well.
The oldest ham in the world at some market in Oxford!

Today was another day I was looking forward to because we were going to visit a Hindu Swaminarayan Mandir, or temple. I had taken a class two semesters ago called What is Hinduism? and I fell in love with the religion. For more information on Hinduism, click here. for it is far too complex for me to explain in a few sentences. The temple's grand appearance hits you as you round the corner and it suddenly appears. It is massive and ornate and absolutely beautiful. Inside it is just as beautiful, housing a gift shop, a huge worship room, two other worship centers, a museum, and a library. You can really tell that they take great pride in their faith. I had been to a Hindu temple before so I sort of knew what to expect, but it was definitely not to this scale! The one I had gone to before was on a farm set back in the country with a small temple and everyone provided for the community. It was rather touching and absolutely beautiful to see such faith at work. This temple was far more grand and more, I felt, to inform the general public about their religion as well as serve as a place of worship. I bought a few little Hindu trinkets at the shop (along with many other people), such as a small statue of Ganesh, the elephant god who is considered the mover of obstances, and one of Brahma and Sarasvati, my favorite god and goddess couple. One of my suggestions to anyone, whether they are religious or not, is to go and visit a place of worship completely different from their own, for you'll actually discover that all religions are similar in one way or another. Faith, no matter what religion, is still absolutely beautiful.

Rough Day...

Today was a rough day on many accounts, even though it was one of the days I was most looking forward to. It was our day to do a tour of the East End and especially Brick Lane, what some people often refer to as Banglatown, because of the Indian and Bangladeshi populations there. We had read three books on this subject before arriving in London, Salaam Brick Lane, Brick Lane, and White Teeth. All three I enjoyed immensely and thus I was looking forward to today.

Unfortunately, in the past few days I have caught cold here in London and so have been trying to keep up with the pace of a full day. Today though, all of my valiant efforts to be strong and push through hit me hard. After a 3 hour walk around the East End I realized I was completely wiped out. Our professor also stopped the tour in the financial district where there was no food to be found. So after an hour of trying to find the Tubes, riding on the Tubes, and eventually finding a place to eat, I was not feeling too good.

Refreshment did me little good and I sucked it up for the St. Paul's tour we had after lunch. The tour was a bit rough, but the tour guide was excellent and made it bearable. Some classmates chose to walk the 200+ steps up to the top of the dome, but I decided it would be best for another day. We all then went back to the hotel and got ready for dinner and the play tonight.

After I had some yummy pub food, I felt in better spirits. A few of us headed off to see the Shakespeare play, Alls Well that Ends Well at the National Theatre. We had seen the set for it the day before with our backstage tour and that convinced most of us that we wanted to see it. The play was good (what I saw of it) but slow moving at some parts. I left the play early to get back to the hotel so I could rest up for another long day tomorrow.

Tomorrow we head off to a Sikh Temple by train. Both men and women must have their heads covered and be presentable in order to enter the temple. Most of us are looking forward to the experience tomorrow. I hope I shall feel better by then!

Carnivals, Theatres and Harry Potter!

These past two days have been very entertaining, to say the least, in more than one way. Yesterday, despite my cold, I decided to go to the second largest street fair in the world...the Notting Hill Carnival (click on the link to learn more). It's an Afro-Carribean street festival that goes on for 3 days and has a huge parade on the last day. Guess which day I went. We got to the festival around 10:30 just in time for the 11 o'clock parade. It was very different from the kinds of parades we would expect back at home. First of all, the parade started off with a large Corona float with most of the participants drinking a bottle or two. Secondly, it seemed more like a parade that you would see in New Orleans. Lots of "showgirl"-like outfits, feathers, glitter, and yes, short skirts (or none at all!). We were most shocked though, by two women walking around in the parade in nothing but skin, some paint and some pasties. These women would have been arrested for public indecency in America, but there nobody seemed to mind. I realized then how conservative America is in some ways, despite our reputation as being a "forward-moving" country. The food smelled wonderful, despite the lack of clothing, and I tried some jerk chicken, a beef pattie (which looks like a beef pasty but was actually spicy) and got a home-made smoothie.

Later on that night we all went to the theatre for the production of Arcadia, by the same man who wrote Shakespeare in Love. The place was really good, mostly about juxapositions and time. It took place during two time periods, 1809 and 1989. It was definitely worthwhile and I believe I either want to read the play or see it again because of the subtle hints that you don't pick up all at once.



Today was an exciting day that was basically centered around the theatre once again. In the morning a Dickinson alumn, Rick Fisher, came and talked with us. He won two Tony award for lighting design and was a very good speaker. From working behind the scenes as a costume manager I could appreciate the work he put into lighting design. After learning life lessons from Rick Fisher, we then ate quickly and ran over to the National Theatre for our backstage tour. This was definitely worthwhile as well and we got to see the three theatres that are encompassed by the National Theatre. After going through the tour, most of decided that we would like to see Alls well that ends well by Shakespeare there. So tomorrow night we will once again be revisiting the theatre.


The best part of my day though, was visiting Platform 9 3/4, which as any Harry Potter fan knows is an essential part of visiting London. It is really cool because between platforms 9 and 10 they have a cart cut in half and placed into the wall so it looks like you are going through it, just like in the book. We all felt like dorks and took fun pictures. Then a few of us decided to make dinner tonight and for 16 pounds we managed to get chicken, wine, garlic bread, pasta, sauce and a salad. Split that between 7 people and it costs you 2 pounds or less.



My friend Brandon had the best picture out of us all.

Tomorrow we are heading out to East End and I am really excited for this. More to come tomorrow!

The V&A: A Museum of Ecentricity

Today was finally a "free" day, with no class readings or projects. My friends and I decided to head over to the V&A or the Victoria and Albert Museum, one of our many required areas we have to visit. The first room we entered featured sculptures of naked or scantily clad sculptures, and that should have been a sign to the strangeness of the museum! As we walked along, we found the fashion section, the part I had been most looking forward to and what the V&A is known for.

As most of you know, I love studying fashion throughout the centuries and this exhibit showed a sampling of all different time periods, even futuristic! Of course, I spent most of my time drooling over silk brocade gowns from the 1700s. After spending much time in there, we figured out our next point of destination: the jewelry section. If you haven't noticed already, my friends and I were having a very "girly" day at the museum, we just couldn't help it!

The jewelry section by far has been the most extensive collection of all sorts of jewelry I have ever seen. From funerary rings to headdresses to a ring watch from the early 1800s, everything was so amazing! Today I was coveting many things and I felt like that was alright for once, a girl can dream can't she?

Then there were various other sections, from the iron exhibit that included many different types of iron railings, fencing, etc to silverware and a large collection of snuffboxes! One of the best exhibits besides the jewelry and the fashion was the Theatre collection. They had anything from huge, elaborate costumes to miniature set designs.

At the end of our time there all of us agreed that it was by far the best museum we had been to, even after the British Museum and the National Gallery. It showed such an extensive collection of all sorts of everyday objects and I found them easier to relate to, rather than just looking at jewelry from Kings and Queens or ancient Egyptian artifacts. This museum is definitely worth your while!

In the "Bath"

Today was one of the days I was most looking forward to on the trip since we were going to Stonehenge and Bath. I had a few cases of Deja Vu because I had been to both of these locations 3 years before (and also took pictures of some of the same objects too!). It was a beautiful day for Stonehenge and only took us about a half hour to walk around the whole thing. Then we were onto Bath, one of my favorite places in England.



When you come upon Bath it is a most wonderful sight, for all of the buildings are this beautiful soft yellow/orange sandstone color. The town is set up in Georgian style and was made popular during the 18th century as a vacation spot and for medicinal uses because of the springs and water found there. Even today you can still get a glass of this esteem water that cured some king's leprosy. For lunch, my friends and I went to a tea shop and enjoyed some confections and cheese. Then we met the entire group to go into the Roman Baths. This museum is one of my favorites, it is so beautiful and really interesting because there are still springs with hot water that even boils in some areas. I must say I was tempted to dip my hands in the water but I know I would catch some ancient disease.



After the Roman Baths, we then had some free time for a few hours to explore. My group made the trek up to the Jane Austin house. Of course, being girls, we made some side tracks to do some much needed shopping and window shopping. We arrived at the Jane Austin house in time for a nice tour. Jane Austin only occupied the house for only 4 years and she absolutely hated Bath. She even based two of her books in Bath, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion. I loved the museum they had because they had it set up like you were walking through Regency Bath with lots of costumes set up on manequins (and they were pretty period-correct!). Then we walked back, with some detours, and sat through another 2 1/2 hour bus ride home.


One thing I learned from today was how much I hate the "Audio Tours" museums offer. My friend Sarah and I were complaining about that, and since we both worked on exhibits this summer, we both agree that they are detrimental to museums. People are all agape and standing in the way of others because they are trying to listen to their audio or are fumbling around with it. All I hear is everyone's audios playing in the background while I try to concentrate and enjoy such scenic sites as Stonehenge and the Roman Baths.

Tomorrow we have a walking tour of Southwark (pronounced So-th-ark), free afternoon (which I will be working on my group project) and then get to stand through a 3-hour play in the Globe Theatre of Troilus and Cressidus. The internet has been very spotty these past few days at the hotel so it has been hard to do my blog for my class and update this one, so I will try when I can. I wrote a blog for yesterday below if you would care to check it out!

Tower of Terror!

Happy Birthday to Me!

So, I know I have been slacking off with blogs, but I swear to you I have been busy! I will make it up to you by doing not one, but TWO posts tonight, aren't you just lucky? Yesterday, as you all probably know, was my 21st birthday! Of course, it couldn't be awful because at the end of the day I am spending my birthday in London, UK!



I woke up early yesterday morning and met our professor at Trafalgar Square in order to take the walk to Westminster Abbey. The church is, of course, an impressive sight and so we had to hire a tour guide to take us around the huge space it encloses. I wish I could have pictures to show you of the inside, but we were not allowed to take any. I saw many tombs, the most memorable being Queen Elizabeth I and "Bloody" Mary. Many other Kings and Queens are buried there as well, along with dozens upon dozens of memorials and huge shrines to famous and infamous characters. One of my favorite stories of the day was of this man, who wasn't of any importance in particular, except that one day he refused to bow to the king and made up some story that an ancestor had done his ancestor a favor and the king then granted him and all his decedents the right not to bow. Of course, that story was a bunch of you know what and so in the end, he has a huge shrine to himself over his grave at Westminster. Hmm...

After the Abbey, we had the day free to ourselves. Of course, we are all learning that "Free Days" never really end up being a "free" day. A group of us then popped over to the Tower of London because many of us, myself included, have been looking forward to that since day one. The Tower of London is kind of a misnomer because it is actually made up of at least 5 or 6 different kinds of towers, the most famous of course being "THE" Tower of London. Much of the tour is spent walking the expanse of these towers. One had an exhibit on how royal crowns were put together, how medieval armies worked, etc. Then we got to the Royal Jewels part of the Tower of London. We walked through about 3 rooms worth of queues, we got to the one room where the crowns are stored. There were about 5 crowns and that was it. A few objects made of gold and then the exhibit was over! It was still neat to see but a bit disappointing.

Ready for the Tower of Terror!

Then we went in the Tower of London (or what we thought was it, we still aren't sure). There was just a room showing torture devices and then that was all. Very strange and a bit disappointed, but was still interesting to see. Then the same group came back and we all made a pasta dinner together and bought a cake for my birthday. It was very nice and made my birthday complete!
And of course, I had to end with this!

O Londinium! Walking Around Roman London

Yesterday morning our professor left it up to us to find the way to the start of our Roman London walk. Luckily, Qualls had confided in a few of us that were up earlier that the one Tube station was closed on Sundays. Actually, lots of things are closed Sundays, pubs, Tubes, stores, etc. After going in the wrong direction for a few minutes, we finally found the Tube station. We arrived at Tower Hill (where Sarah and I were the day before that walking) and began the tour.

When you exit the Tube station, there is an impressive looking ruin of an old wall to your left. This was one of many existing pieces of the old Roman wall that used to protect the entire city. in 43 A.D. the Roman settled what they called 'Londinium'. The wall was built around 200 A.D. to protect the city. It was 2 miles long, 6 metres tall and 8 metres thick. After the decline of the Roman Empire, then the Anglo-Saxons came and then the Danes.

Throughout the day, we wandered to random parts of the city where pieces of the old Roman wall still stand, one being in the back of a fancy hotel's parking lot. It was a very interesting tour and I find that often many people forget the Roman past of London and how truly ancient of a city it is!

A neat little marketplace in the city.

Then to continue our Roman education, we went to the Museum of London. The exhibits there consited of Roman and Medieval findings. Most of it focused on 1666, the year of the Great London Fire. The other parts were displays of Roman ruins and you could even walk through a part of Roman London, and see their workplaces. That was the neatest part of the exhibit for me, but other than that, the museum, I felt, was rather scattered with its set-up.

Our group split up and some of us were going to another museum and the other half was going on a walking tour of the area around our hotel, Bloomsbury. Upon arriving back, a friend and I stopped for lunch at a pasty shop (pronounced pah-sty). We both got spicy chicken pasties and they were delicious. Then, as if I hadn't walked enough in the past 2 days, I did a 3 hour walking tour of Bloomsbury.

Apparently, many famous writers, people lived around Bloomsbury, such as Virginia Woolf and T. S. Elliot. "The Bloomsbury Group" was a group of writers, artists, etc that lived unconventional lifestyles and often believed in free love. We went to about 5 different parks, one being on top of old cemetaries. We saw the hotel where King George III stayed when he was getting medical treatment in Bloomsbury and the hotel where Karl Marx wrote his communist manifesto. I can't believe this is all "in my backyard"!

Virginia Woolf and I.

I finished up the night by going out to the pub with a few of my friends and talking over pints and traditional British food. We all traipsed back to the hotel and spent the rest of the night reading for today's class discussion.

Gone to the Market!

Today was an exciting day with having the opportunity to explore one of the many markets in London. I was assigned to Camden Market out in Camden Town. I was expecting the market to be like a farmer's market, produce and crafty goods alike. When we stepped off the Tubes and into the town however, that was not the case. Instead we entered the punk-rock scene in London. A majority of the vendors catered to the punk crowd and sold many gothic clothes and accessories. When I got further into the market, there was a part of it called Camden Lock, where there is a beautiful canal running through the town. I explored up and down some parts of it and saw boats traveling along it as well. Then the group finally stumbled upon the better parts of the market, the parts we were anticipating all morning. We entered a scene of many food vendors selling every kind of ethnic food imaginable. There were Indian, Italian, BBQ, Indonesian, Japanese and Mexican food vendors all right next to each other, selling their wares. There were many vintage, punk-rock and Indian vendors throughout the majority of the marketplace. The group of us enjoyed a nice meal of the culture of our choice (mine being Chinese today) for only 4 pounds. After completing our task for the day, we headed back to the hotel.

Once back to the hotel, I met up with my friend Sarah and we both decided to go out and explore since we had free time. We took the Tubes to Tower Hill, where the Tower of London stands. Our main goal was to see the tower, but we realized we would only have about 2 hours to spend before it closed, so we decided to explore. We went from Tower Hill up to The Monument (and named just that!). The Monument is this monument tower created by Sir Christopher Wren in the 1700s to commemorate the start of the 1666 London Fire. It was built about 212 or so feet high, the same distance away from the Monument that the fire had first started. The fire started on Pudding Street in a baker's shop. Unfortunately, Sarah and I did not know this at first and originally went down Pudding Street because of the cute name, little did we know that one of the most catasrophic events to hit London started down that street! Sarah and I decided to walk up the Monument, all 311 steps of it. It had an amazing view of London and we could see the entire city!

311 steps later, Sarah and I decided to walk around more of the city. We went through Southwark and walked into the Southwark Church and listened to part of a service. We left the church (after paying for the Loo) and walked through a local marketplace that was closing. We walked back under a bridge and then managed to finally reach our goal: Walking across the Tower Bridge aka the "London Bridge". The bridge is just spectacular and impressive. There was an exhibit going on in towers on the bridge, but neither one of us felt like walking up more steps!

After a long day of walking, we got our supper at the Organic Foods Market right around the corner and ate in the garden. Then, after reviewing our plans for tomorrow, both of us realized that the group would be walking along a similar path tomorrow. So coming up tomorrow: walking along the Roman parts of London and the hotel neighborhood!

Sending lots of warm wishes from London!

Humped Pelican crossing! Lots of funny signs in England. I could make a whole photo album out of them!
My very tiny room in London (view of my bed).
My friend Sarah and I on the Greenwich Meridan line and we both are in two different time zones!
My boat ride on the Thames River! (Big Ben is in the background).
A view of a street in downtown Marylebone