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!