Sikh Temple .. Indian Food .. and Shakespeare

This morning we went to the Gurdwara Sikh Temple in Southall.. about 30 minutes outside of London. The area itself has over 50% Indians living there and has almost completely taken over the area. As part of the cultural side of our class we ventured to the Temple today. It was built in 2003 (I think?) by Prince Charles for the Sikh population.



When arriving into the Temple we were instructed to take off our shoes and leave them inside the doorway, leave our purses but to take our money and camera with us. We were then led to the entrance where we had to put head wraps on as a sign of respect. Definitely not a look I would continue...



We had to go into the Temple where we had a guide.. the Temple is open to people of all religions and who use all texts although it is a Sikh Temple nonetheless. They don't discriminate to others using the space as long as they respect those their to worship. We went into the main worshipping room which was covered in cloths all over the floor where we had to sit. We were then led up to the altar to pay respects to the Temple itself although it was not to their God (unlike Hindu, the Sikh's only worship one God and don't worship idols either). Afterwards we went to another room where we were given pudding to try that essentially tasted like oatmeal and the guide allowed us to ask questions about daily rituals, history, etc. We were then led downstairs to the cafeteria where we were fed a vegetarian indian lunch complete with rice, two mixtures i had NO clue what they were, pita bread, and some sort of flavored water (atleast I think that's what it was). We had to eat atleast some of it out of respect but we weren't forced to eat all of it. You had the option to opt out of it but seeing as how I've been doing so good trying different foods I tasted everything they gave me and even finished the rice. Although it wasn't terrible.. I didn't like that I had absolutely no clue of what it was. We then got to go and take our head wraps off, put our shoes back on and boarded the bus back to campus for afternoon session.

Afternoon session consisted of us sitting in the classroom for 2 hours listening to our teacher ramble about everything that he's discussed at the other sessions. He gets pretty repetitive but when sitting around the right people class can be entertaining. I got my first paper back and got an A+ which I was thrilled about so I celebrated and went shopping before coming back and starting on my LAST paper of the semester!!!!!

In order to write the last paper I had to read the last play for Shakespeare class which unfortunately took like 3 hours. I managed to crank the paper out in a little over an hour and I even think it'll be better than my last one... which I hope considering its worth 70% of my final grade. Our last Shakespeare class is tomorrow morning THANKFULLY. Tomorrow afternoon I'm planning on going into London and finallyyyy riding the London Eye. Tomorrow night we have our big farewell dinner at a Hotel in Kingston and then everyone is planning on heading out on the town for the night. Our British Culture and Society teacher told us that our exam won't be hard on Friday so no need to stay in and study all night!

I can definitely say that I am going to miss this place. Over the last month I have met some of the most awesome people. Coming from a small town we don't necessarily get to experience a lot of diversity. Here I have met people from all walks of life, who come from so many backgrounds, and want to accomplish so many things in life. Everyone here is positive and makes the best out of everything which has made class bearable and life here amazing. I have fallen in love with city life and can honestly say I would love to live in London one day. Studying Abroad is not something I had really planned on ever doing but now I wish that I would be here longer than just a month. It has absolutely flown by and there is still so much I have not been able to go and experience due to classes and I'm just not here long enough. I have always been pretty independent but this trip has made me have to branch out so much more. Coming into a strange country and living with 140 people you've never met seemed intimidating at first but with the right mindset, it has gone better than I could have ever imagined. Not only have I learned about everyone else while I've been here but I've learned a lot about myself as well. This has definitely been the best summer of my life and I hate that my summer in England is coming to an end.

Don't get me wrong, I miss everyone at home but Europe is AMAZING. This will definitely not be my last trip over here and I can't wait to start traveling even more now. Why stay in one place all the time.. I can only travel and enjoy this for a while before real grown up life with officially set in.

Cheers!

2 Papers Down 1 to Go

Well I am actually up and ready early for class which pretty much never happens so I figured I'd write about yesterday seeing as it was pretty uneventful.

Yesterday morning we had Shakespeare class where we discussed 'The Tempest', the play we sat front row for at the Old Vic last week. Our class was very opinionated and a few arguments almost broke out so thankfully we only had a morning session. After morning session was over I came back and cranked out a paper on Bath for my British Culture and Society class then went back to campus for my individual meeting with my Shakespeare professor where he tried to give me some tips on writing my next paper (which is worth 70% of my FINAL grade). I managed to pull off a C+ on my first paper which transfers to the USA as a B thankfully. Since my main focus is biology and the sciences I have never had to really take a literature class except in high school and I definitely know nothing to do with theater which has made this class really challenging and overwhelming for me. After my meeting with my teacher I was stressed so I did was any typical girl would do and went shopping =) I came back last night and wrote another paper on the Houses of Parliament for my British Culture and Society class since both of the papers were due this morning. We're about to leave for a fieldtrip to the Southhall Gurdwara (spelling?) Temples in London and we had afternoon session on campus this afternoon unfortunately. I still have to come up with 1500 words comparing the text of 'The Tempest' to the play we went to go and see. This paper has managed to completely overwhelm me and I dread coming back to write it this afternoon.

Only a few more days left here and it's bittersweet. Although I'm excited to see everyone at home this trip has been absolutely amazing. At first I was worried I wouldn't meet a lot of people that I'd get along with which I now know was completely stupid of me to think. Everyone here (with a few small exceptions) has been amazing, super easy to hang out with, and I've felt at home the entire time. It's going to be weird waking up and not being in our tiny flat and being able to walk upstairs to hang out with people from all over the country. Guess I'm just going to have to start doing some traveling back in the States to see everyone!!! I've been blessed with a great group of friends on this trip who have made me feel at home. Even when I was sick they were like parents and fixed me food and brought me orange juice medicine and water. I couldn't have asked for more (just a little less class time and not as many papers).

Pictures will probably be uploaded very scarcely seeing as how I left my camera charger at the hotel in Paris. I'm trying to conserve the battery for crucial picture moments that I'm sure will come as my trip here in the UK winds up.

Fieldtrip Time!

the Great London vs. Paris Debate

Paris was an experience in itself. Aesthetically it is more pleasing than London... the buildings and architecture are unsurpassed. As to the people.. we encountered a lot of rude, very sketchy, and a few that harassed us a bit. Guess that's what we get for not having any guys in our group majority of the weekend.

Friday morning came early. The bus ride was a bit rough since many of us had been out the night before. Customs went quickly and we boarded the train to Paris about 8:30am. The Eurostar apparently goes 188 mph. I didn't really notice since I managed to sleep almost the entire way into Paris. When we arrived we had a bus pick us up and take us around the city to help orient us as well as show us the main tourist attractions. We all got to the hotel (which wasn't fantastic but still a step above the hostels in Scotland). Not all of the rooms were ready so I went upstairs with some friends who did manage to snag a room and hung out for a while. When we came back down the rooms were assigned and being last FINALLY paid off. I managed to get a room for the weekend to myself! After a nap and showers we all went out and went to the Louvre for a few hours and got dinner and finished the night off early.

Saturday morning we woke up, ate breakfast, and headed off to Notre Dame. We got to go inside and tour and walk around and see the gardens and the buttresses (spelling?) in the back. Once outside, we met Leon, a cute little poodle who was wearing a hat. While we were all playing with him his owner, a sight in himself, handed us a card and told us to look Leon up on youtube. I finally had the opportunity to do so today, and was entertained on what I found. Here's the link for everyone else to check out:



After Notre Dame we went to a dock on the Siene River, got some lunch, and took a boat tour seeing all the major landmarks throughout the city via river. Although for every landmark we had to listen to about 3 languages worth of explanation, it was informative and I'm glad that we went. On the way we got to see the location where Princess Diana was killed in the car wreck. Friday our tour guide had already shown us the Ritz Hotel where she had just left before she got killed. Our tour guide was awesome and made the weekend so much better than Scotland. We couldn't have asked for anyone better. We were dismissed after the boat ride where we made our way to Champs Elysee and did some shopping. We randomly went down a side street on our way to the Eiffel Tower and managed to see Cameron Diaz coming out of a Louis Vuitton store.





Our luck continued.. the entire time we were in line for the Eiffel Tower the top was closed due to overcrowding. People from our school that we had seen earlier could only go to the 2nd floor. As soon as we stepped up to buy our tickets, the top was opened and we were able to go up. The view is absolutely amazing.. a bit scary to be up that high on such an old structure.. thrilling none the less. The city from that high up is gorgeous... it was cool to see how most of it is symmetrical




Sunday morning we woke up, ate the surprisingly delicious continental breakfast and headed off through the metro onto an above ground train to take us to Versailles. Our train was a double decker which was pretty neat.



Versailles was gorgeous.. but we didn't get to enjoy it as much as we had hoped. The French have made quite a reputation from my first hand dealing with them as quite rude. We had people pushing and shoving us through every room we went into in the palace so we were happy to leave and head back into Paris. After we got back we attempted to go shopping but forgot that most stores close on Sunday. Our attempt to shop landed us in a prime location to watch the Tour de France. After about an hour wait we were able to see the first group of riders and get some pictures. It was such a once in a lifetime experience and we lucked up by having our Paris trip booked that weekend.



After the Tour de France we rushed back to the hotel to catch up with our group. Our tour guide had booked us an authentic french dinner at a local place.. 3 course meal with unlimited wine, beer, and alcohol for 30 euros so it was a bit expensive but it was nice to be with most of the group. I managed to step out of my box and try everything different. It was good.. different. but good.

I have managed to eat a lot of different foods this weekend that I otherwise would not have ate had I not been in a foreign country. For those of you who know me really well... this is a BIG deal:
- French Onion Soup
- Crepes
- Nutella
- Churros
- Poulet (chicken) sandwich with lettuce, tomatoes, and goodness knows what else was on it.
- An Apple WITH the peeling

Although none of it I absolutely loved and would want to eat regularly.

After dinner we all went to the Eiffel Tower.. some of the girls did some bargaining shopping for some last minute souvenirs and we sat and ate crepes and watch the Eiffel Tower sparkle on the hour a few times before heading back to the hotel.

This morning we woke up and I was able to do some last minute shopping. Super excited about my purchases.. the Longchamp store was finally open so I was able to get two purses =) We headed back to the hotel, checked out, and the bus to us to the train station. After a long customs line and a ham and turkey sandwich we boarded the train. I was awake for some of the ride and was amazed when we passed another Eurostar train going the opposite direction. Passing a train when each of them is going 188mph is almost scary. We had to line hop through the Underground once we got back into London and finally made it back after another train to Seething Wells. After unpacking I've started packing up to leave.. Saturday morning I'll be hopping onto a plane back over the pond! I've got alot of mixed feelings about this. It's going to be good to be home with everyone, but I have met some of the most amazing people here that I am going to hate to leave. On the brightside, now that i've met people from all over the country I'll be able to travel the US more to see them =) It's going to be boring to be back in Raleigh but I've already decided on some must-haves for my first week back: a pedicure, facial, a haircut, a turkey sandwich, and a diet mountain dew!


Overall I have decided that I LOVE London compared to Paris. I am glad that I went and have gotten the experience and I've still probably go back but not for an extended amount of time. Maybe it was summer.. or who knows why.. but the metro smelled TERRIBLE, the people didn't smell all that great either, and a lot of the city was dirty. Although I have had a few rude experiences with people in London, the general population is much nicer and friendlier. There were several times in Paris where I felt uncomfortable with my surroundings and we had to deal with a creepy man following us around for a few hours one day and some young French boys harassing a group of us one night on our way home on the Metro. I was happy to be back in London today where the Underground may have been crowded but atleast they didn't smell!

Off to write papers now! 3 due this week so I'm trying to knock atleast 1 and a 1/2 tonight so I can spend the rest of the week enjoying London with friends.

Love April!

Day 18, 19, 20, & 21 a little late

It's been such a busy week and I havent had a free chance to blog about what's been going on so here's a week's recap while I procrastinate packing for Paris:

Monday! Stonehenge & Bath

Monday morning we were up bright and early to board the coach to Stonehenge & Bath for our British Culture & Society class. We had about an hour and a half drive to Stonehenge where we got out and toured around. Stonehenge in itself is an amazing feat and definitely deserves the title of one of the wonders of the ancient world. It's insane how someone actually moved those huge rocks. Feel free to ask my dad about his alien theory regarding how the rocks got there. After getting some delicious chocolate ice cream and a postcard we boarded the bus back and headed to Bath. Since I've been traveling so much lately I have learned the art of sleeping in any conditions so I used our transport time to catch up on some much needed rest.

Once we arrived in Bath we immediately had free time to go get some lunch before our walking tour. We ate at a nice pub in the center of Bath and met up with our class to go on our tour. Our tour guide was an older lady who was a resident of Bath who did the tours for fun. We were shown around the city, and were able to see the Royal Crescent, the Assembly Rooms, the river, and ended our tour at the Roman Baths where we had an audio guide tour through. Afterwards we still had time to go and taste the water of Bath.. just as they told us it tasted like warm water with a hint of iron. Not exactly something you'd want twice. Mom, Dad, Leslie, & Mike had just arrived to Bath when I was getting ready to leave but we did get time to take a family photo infront of the Bath Abbey and tour inside of it. We made it back safely to Seething Wells where I packed up some stuff for overnight in London and did some homework before I met the family in Westminster. They all had toured Parliament but since I went there this week for my class I opted out of going. Leslie got to take some awesome night shots of London which I'm sure will be framed soon and put up in her house. We all headed back to the hotel to get a good night's rest before heading out early Tuesday.

Tuesday

We woke up early and went to Westminster Abbey as our first stop. After viewing the area we went to see 10 Downing Street (where the Prime Minister lives) and were able to see the changing of the guards at Whitehall which I enjoyed much more than the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace. We made our way to the underground and went to the outdoor markets in Camden Town for the afternoon and did some shopping. I took the family to Surbiton (where I live) and let them see my flat in all it's glory before we headed into Kingston upon Thames where I showed them my University. We headed into Kingston where they got to see the falling phonebooth display and ate dinner before hopping a bus back to my flat so they could get some stuff to take back with them. I overpacked just a tad for the trip and with everything I've bought they had to bring some stuff back with them so I can get it all back home. The family went back to the hotel in London to pack and I had to write papers for class =(

Wednesday

Yesterday was the most gorgeous day I could have asked for. For our British Culture and Society class we went and took an early morning tour of Parliament before heading to Greenwich for the day. Greenwich is where the Prime Meridian is located and where it was originally decided on to be. We toured the city and went up to the Royal Observatory. It was absolutely gorgeous and the pictures I took almost look fake. The clouds were absolutely perfect with the blue skies and the gorgeous views of London from the park outside the Observatory. I got to stand on the Prime Meridian and be in two hemispheres of the world at the same time which was pretty cool. After we finished at the observatory we all went to a Mexican restaurant in the city before heading back to Surbiton. Last night everyone was working on papers so it was a pretty quiet night. The family had a safe flight home and Bailey and Riley were thrilled for them to be back.

Today:

This morning we had class at the University for Shakespeare where we discussed the play 'The Tempest'. Afterwards we had a few minutes break before we had to head into London to meet for an afternoon walking tour. We went to the Inns of Court and were able to see students fresh out of their law school graduation complete in their traditional capes and wigs which was pretty interesting. We had time to get some dinner before heading to see 'The Tempest' at the Old Vic tonight. We went to a great pizza place where the center of the pizza was cut out and replaced with a salad.. Delicious.. one of the best meals I've had here. At the Old Vic we were surprised to find out our teacher got us front row tickets for the play. Although I'm not a huge Shakespeare fan, nor a big fan of plays.. I surprisingly really enjoyed it, probably because we were so close. I'm back at my flat now packing for Paris before meeting up with some friends. We leave out at 5:15am in the morning to take a bus to King's Cross Station where we'll be taking the Eurostar into Paris!

It's going to be a good weekend! Pictures are updated!!

Busy Weekend!

It's been an exhaustingly busy weekend!

Friday morning I had class until 1:30. After class I came back and got my laundry together and my flatmate and I went into London and dropped it off at mom & dad's hotel. Afterwards we went to Camden Town, an outdoor market with tonssss of stuff. After we bought out the whole place, we didn't have time to go to any museums like we planned so we headed back into central London. I had left my camera in my room so I rode the train all the way back out to Surbiton, grabbed it, and headed back into London and headed to the hotel for the night.

Saturday morning we all woke up early and headed into London. It was a busy day. We went to:
- the British Museum
- the National History Museum
- the Victoria & Albert Museum
- Covent Gardens
- Old Bond Street & Oxford Street
- Regent's Park
- SOHO
- Piccadilly Circus

Needless to say by the time we finally got back to the hotel at around 11 we were exhausted and headed straight for bed after soaking our feet. A long day walking makes for a very grumpy dad and an entire family who's feet are tired and hurting.

This morning we woke up early again and headed out, feeling very much refreshed from the tiring day before. Today we went to:
-Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the Guards
-Green Park
-St. James Park
-Abbey Road
-the Tower of London to see the Crown Jewels
-the Tower Bridge
-the London Bridge
-the Millenium Bridge
-the Globe Theater
-St. Paul's Cathedral

We finished the night in Southbank just right down the street from the Globe and across from the Tate Modern at a local pub where I tried fish and chips for the first time. I wasn't that impressed but it wasn't terrible. Definitely one of the better foods that I've had while in the UK.

Tomorrow I am headed to Stonehenge & Bath with my class. Mom, Dad, Leslie, & Mike are heading to Windsor, Stonehenge, and Bath as well although I'm not sure if we'll cross paths throughout the day. Tomorrow night we are planning on going out on the London Eye after we all get back. I'm skipping class on Tuesday so I can get one last day of sightseeing in with the family although I plan to take Mom & Leslie to Camden Town to get some shopping done!

Pictures have been updated!!!!

Mom, Dad, Leslie & Mike have made it to London!

Proof that Mom has completed her first flight as well as Mom & Dad's first International Flight and are safely in London!



After a flight delay at RDU and missing their connection at JFK, Mom Dad Leslie & Mike safely arrived in London this afternoon. Once in London the underground messed up and delayed them once again but I met them and got them to their hotel! This afternoon I took them to see the London Eye, Big Ben, Parliament, and Westminster Abbey and ate dinner before I had to go and meet with my Shakespeare class to see a performance of Henry IV Part 1 at the Globe Theater.

This morning we had class and discussed Henry IV and then we went into London to get a tour from a cast member of the Globe Theater and get some background info on the theater itself and why it was important in Shakespeare's day.

Tomorrow Mom, Dad, Leslie, & Mike are going to Paris for a day trip. I'll be going to class and then I have an independent visit to London for my class so I'm going to stay in London this weekend at the hotel and tour around London for the weekend. Sunday I'm going to take them to see my University and where I am staying.


Pictures updated!

Oh What a Day in Oxford

So by far one of my favorite places that I have visited in my 2 weeks in London has been the City and University of Oxford.

Today would be the one and only day that my camera decided to die 10 minutes into us arriving. But that was no surprise seeing as how my morning went. Friends have offered to let me steal their pictures from the day so pictures will be uploaded soon!

For our field trip to Oxford we were supposed to be boarding our coach at 8:45 to leave. I woke up at 8, checked my email and accidentally fell back asleep. At 9am I get a phonecall from my flatmate, everyone is waiting on me. I literally get ready in 2 minutes and run outside to be the last one on the bus without an umbrella nor a raincoat. Today was the FIRST day is has rained since we've been here in London... just my luck. Friends took care of me though and made sure I stayed somewhat dry on our tour through the city.

Oxford in itself is a gorgeous university town as expected. What I didn't expect was how the University is set up. There are 38 individual colleges that all fall underneath the umbrella of Oxford University. Each college is self-owned and pays for their own expenses. Many own houses, flats, stores, and pubs in order to fund the expenses that they use. The different colleges, unlike those at NCSU, do not specialize in one particular subject. Some are stronger in others but they do not specifically encompass one subject. When applying to Oxford University you in fact apply to a college, not the University itself. The University is full of tradition which I absolutely love. Once in your college, you live, eat, pray, and study with your fellow peers within the college. It is fact like the different Houses in Harry Potter except on a college level. In some classes you interact with other colleges but you remain loyal to your own. I would LOVE to become apart of a school system like this. It adds so much more to a college experience. Unfortunately they do not offer physical therapy as a graduate school option (yes I've already checked) because I would love to study there. They do offer a Rhodes Scholarship program, which our tour guide recommended we apply to, but it is extremely prestigious and I do not have close to the credentials I would need to even think about applying. Apparently the school itself is not that hard to get into although it has the very tough reputation. According to our guide, 1 in 4 applicants gets in.

During our day in Oxford we got to see majority of the different colleges on our walking tour and learned some history about them. We got to go into a few and tour the Christ Church College and its Cathedral.

A lot of Harry Potter was filmed in Oxford:
The Bodleian Library on campus was the School of Hogwarts in many of the scenes, particularly those where they are actually in a library in the movie.
The Christ Church's Great Hall also was used in the movie. It is where they eat as well as where they are sorted.

During my stay in London I have also visited the Bank in which Harry Potter uses in the movie, Kings Cross Train Station (where we departed for Scotland) was the train station used in the movie, Hagrid's house (In Scotland), as well as the scenery and the train tracks used in the movie while they are traveling to Hogwarts. It is also in Scotland.

We ate lunch at a local pub called the Lamb and Flag. Writers J.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis frequented the pub as apart of the literary group "The Inklings" after they became tired of the pub across the street "The Lamb and Child." Both are very famous in the town and are highly respected as the frequent spot of both writers.

After lunch was our walking tour of the Christ Church College and Cathedral. We had about an hour left after the tour so we visited the Ashmolean Museum. It is the world's first University museum (founded in 1683). It recently has gone through extensive renovations and was pretty interesting. We didn't get to go on all the floors but instead focused on early Chinese, Arabic, and England cultures dating back to around 50 AD.

The bus ride back to Seething Wells was long. It only took us about an hour and a half to get there this morning but it took almost 3 hours to get back due to traffic. Everyone was exhausted so we went and picked up some Chinese food (which I was not impressed with) and I have been working on my paper that is due for Shakespeare in the morning.

Tomorrow we have class in the morning and then we have to meet in London at 2:30 to go on a private tour of The Globe Theatre. We will be a 'groundling' in the performance tomorrow of Henry the IV Part 1. I still have to finish reading it so I know what is going on tomorrow.

****Mom, Dad, Leslie, and Mike just landed in New York at JFK after some delays getting out of Raleigh. So far their flight to London has been delayed about an hour which works well since they would have probably missed it otherwise. Keep Mom in your prayers, she has completed her first flight and is now on her way to her first International Flight. I'm proud of her! ****

I plan to meet them tomorrow in between my classes to say hello! I'm excited to get to spend time with them in London this weekend as this is my last free weekend here. Time is flying by way to fast! I dread leaving London and everyone here to go home although I do miss everyone! I would rather ya'll be here!

Reality: I'm Actually Here for School

This morning I woke up early and was exhausted and definitely wanted to skip class. I had promised myself that I'd wake up early and get a headstart reading the Shakespeare play Henry IV Part 1 so I'd be prepared for discussion today in class. Needless to say I was a bit unprepared and didn't make it up in time to read. Thankfully my flatmates were loud this morning and woke me up before they headed off to their fieldtrip or I may have not made it to class at all. I have an impressive talent of sleeping through all alarms and/or turning them off without knowing. During morning session we just reviewed and discussed the play 'As You Like It' that we saw at the Old Vic last week. We had a break where I went downstairs with some of the girls to the school's cafeteria and grabbed a snack before we headed back up to class early. Afternoon session started at 2:30. We discussed the new play and acted out some of the scenes. Some of the girls in my class are much more enthusiastic about Shakespeare than I am and really get into the roles. I prefer to read aloud what I've been assigned and leave it at that. Class dragged on until a little after 4 and we all left and went to the grocery store to get a few groceries since most of us had been in Scotland all weekend.

The harsh reality that I am actually here for school has set in. I've been assigned a 1000 word essay on 1 of 3 passages in the play 'As You Like It.' Years ago when I was actually in a Literature class this would have been no big deal. 1000 words is tiny for a college essay. However it has been years since I've taken any sort of Literature class so remembering any of the terms at all has been a challenge. I've had to look up literary terms so I even have a clue what to write my paper on. It's not due until Thursday and I've finally stopped for the night at the halfway point.

Mom, Dad, Leslie, & Mike come tomorrow and I'm so excited! They leave out of RDU around 6:15 tomorrow night and fly into JFK for a short layover and then to London Heathrow where they'll arrive early Thursday morning. They have about the same flight schedule as I did coming over here, but hopefully they'll have much more pleasant of a flight. Everyone keep mom in your prayers since it's her first time flying =) It's amazing the distances parents will go just to see their baby girl. I've requested that they bring me more pajamas, candy, and instant cheese grits. Most of my flatmates and others that live in my building have never tried grits so they are bringing instant grits for all them to try. They are all anxious to see what this Southern delicacy tastes like.

Tomorrow we are headed to a day trip of Oxford for my British Culture and Society class. I'm excited.. everyone says it's one of the best little towns around although my flatmates that went today said it is really crowded. We'll see!

No pictures were added today.. nothing exciting or new going on but I'm sure more will be added tomorrow after Oxford!

Safely Back in London

Sunday July 11, 2010

Yesterday we woke up early and had to be downstairs at the hostel for a very slim selection of breakfast before we packed up and headed out. Our options were some sort of oat cereal, burnt toast, or warm yogurt so needless to say breakfast was skipped by most of us. We loaded onto our bus and went to the battlefield of Culloden. It was where the Jacobites took their last stand in attempt to gain control over the country for Britain. They were defeated and the clan system in the Highlands began its decline. To put it in perspective it was kind of like the Confederates last stand against the Union. Our tour guide is very patriotic about the Highlands of Scotland so I think we stopped because it meant a lot to him.

Did I mention that our tour guide told us that we had no itinerary given so we were making it up as we went along? Mike (our tour guide) and the bus driver (Keith) were discussing on where to take us next and told us to bear with them as they experimented to see if we could get some narrow country roads. We ended up crossing a bridge that warned “weak bridge” which made everyone on our coach very uneasy. Our next stop were some burial cairns that are apparently older than Stonehenge? They were interesting but it started raining so we were excited when we were finally allowed back on the bus.
We then drove to the Dalwhinnie Whisky Distillery (the Americans apparently spell whisky wrong whisk(e)y, which is incorrect according the Scottish). We had a tour of the distillery which was interesting and each had a drink afterwards. For the record, I despise whisky but I bought a bottle nonetheless as a souvenir.

After the Distillery we loaded back onto our coach and headed to Blair Castle where we viewed the burial grounds of a famous soldier that our tour guide considers his hero. We did a tour of the castle and ate lunch finally. After lunch we got back on the bus and headed back South out of the Highlands back into Edinburgh.
We stopped in a town because Keith, our driver, thought it was important that we get pictures of two famous bridges that were built. Apparently the Forth Bridge (in the pictures it’s on the right) when building it a man fell from the scaffolding. Since all his bones were broken and they realized they couldn’t rescue him they lowered him a sandwich with poison in it to kill him and then poured cement on top of him so until this day he is in the bridge. The Forth Bridge carries the trains across the water while the Forth Road Bridge (on the left) is for cars.

After the bridge pictures we headed back into Edinburgh and checked into the Edinburgh Central Hostel. Never thought I’d be glad to get back to a hostel but after the one we stayed at in Inverness I was excited to be there. We got settled in our room and I went out to dinner with the girls to an authentic Italian restaurant where we were the only customers so we got full service from 2 older Italian gentlemen. On our first night in Edinburgh we found a place that makes home-made Gelato. It was amazing the first time so we decided to go back and get more. It is quite possibly my new favorite food… I always got strawberry and it is delicioussss. Some of the other girls went to see a movie but myself and another girl who is from North Carolina went to a pub to watch the World Cup game. Afterwards we just went back to the hostel to get showers and try to get to sleep pretty early.

As a side note:
Our tour guide for the entire trip (Mike) was a very unfriendly guy. He is very patriotic about his country and the Highlands but because of it he became offended when we were tired. It was expected that when we spend the entire day hopping on and off the tour bus to see different things we were tired. Mike would get on the microphone and begin fussing at his and told us if we didn’t wake up he would “come down the aisle and slap us in the face with a wet fish.” He made a lot of rude comments to some of the students and it was frustrating having him along on the trip. We were excited to find out that we had a new one for today. According to our tour guide, Scotland is responsible for everything great and amazing in the world.


July 12, 2010

This morning we went up really early and had breakfast again at 8. Our new tour guide was fantastic and generally in a much better mood than our old one. He walked us into the Old Town section of Edinburgh and took us to the Edinburgh castle. We did a tour of it and then headed back into town for some lunch and shopping before we had to board our train. I managed to get some cool offwork at a display from a local artist before I left and a cashmere scarf since cashmere is one of Scotland's main industries.

I was able to get some souvenirs of the trip and some lunch before headed back to the hostel to get our stuff out of the luggage room. We had to walk like 8 blocks to the train station, which was tiring. It would have been nice for us to have a bus to take us and all of our luggage there but our bus driver was relieved of his duty after he got us back to the hostel last night. Once we got into Kings Cross Station in London we hopped on a few underground lines to Waterloo and then took a train from Waterloo to Surbiton, which is where we are staying. It’s been a long day of traveling and the trip itself was a bit stressful. Our tour company never gave us much of an itinerary, and our hotel ended up being a hostel. The weather in the Highlands was very cold and rainy and since we didn’t know that we were going there many people didn’t pack for the weather. The tour guide company was very disorganized and had all of our reservations at the hostels booked wrong so the Paris trip should be interesting since it is booked through the same company. This time I know to prepare for a hostel and to pack accordingly.
I’ve got 2 papers to write this week that I need to start tonight even though I’m really tired from the Scotland trip.

It feels so great to finally be back at our flat and in my room where my Internet works and I have my own bed and bathroom. Tomorrow I have class all day to prepare for a play we are seeing Thursday night at the Globe Theater. Wednesday we are heading to Oxford for a daytrip. Also Mom, Dad, Leslie, and Mike are flying in on Wednesday, which is exciting. I have requested that they bring a couple boxes of instant cheese grits. Many of the people in my flat are from the North and have never even heard of grits so they are excited to try them. I’ve got a 1000 word paper due on Thursday that I’ve got to get started on as well as reading another Shakespeare play for a performance we are going to see on Thursday so I’ve got to get busy on schoolwork. It’s not all play here!


Pictures from Scotland are uploaded!!!

Love April

What was to be Posted Saturday:

Haha due to some issues with the internet at the hostel we stayed at in Inverness (part of the Highlands of Scotland) I couldn't post this. I'm currently on a train on the way back to London so once I get back and get settled back into my room I'll update on everything else that has happend!

Edinburgh Scotland!

This has been one heck of a weekend so far.
Yesterday morning a bus picked us up at 6:45 and drove us into London to King’s Cross train station to get on a train that took us into Scotland. Going into this trip we had a very vague itinerary and were told we were staying at hostels but had no idea what time we were doing anything and where exactly we were going. Our tour guide handed us a packet to hand to our next one, got us on the train and sent us away. The train ride was a little over 4 hours but we all got a chance to talk and get to know each other better.

When we got into Edinburgh our guide met us on our platform wearing a kilt, our first obvious sign that we had indeed made it into Scotland. Our guide was taking us to our hotel (or so we thought). He surprised everyone by taking us to Edinburgh Central Hostel where we couldn’t even check in yet so we had to leave all of our stuff in a luggage room and immediately head to a walking tour of the town. During our tour we saw people filming for a Bollywood movie as well as a commercial for the John Lewis furniture company. They had even used snow machines to make an area covered in snow for the commercial. We ate dinner and headed back to the hostel to check in. After checking in they couldn’t find the luggage key and then they had assigned us the wrong rooms. An hour later we finally got into our rooms and immediately passed out even though it was only like 8. It doesn’t get dark here until about 1 so it was a bit hard to sleep but I was extremely exhausted so I made do.
This morning we woke up and ate breakfast by 8 and were on the bus and leaving by 9am. We spent majority of the day on the bus but we made a ton of stops heading into the Highlands of Scotland. We had no idea where we were headed nor where we were staying at tonight. Even our guide’s itinerary given to him by the company was very vague and all our driver knew was our starting point, destination, and that he had accommodations for the night. The bus ride was interesting, in between our guide talking to us, Celtic music was played.. very. very loudly.

Stop 1 was to see the Wallace Monument. For those of you who have seen the movie Braveheart, it was in honor of the main character although the locals say it was very inaccurate. There was a gorgeous view of the city of Stirling and we could see the castle in the distance although it was pretty far away. Our guide gave us a rundown of the battle and why it was famous which was pretty interesting.

Stop 2 was to see Hamish, the famous Highland Cow. We got to feed him and his girlfriend, Heather, some vegetables.. They were adorable. One of the highlights of my day.
We got to see the train tracks that were used in Harry Potter as well as where Hagrid’s house was in the movie. We stopped for lunch and because are guide was getting mad that we were sleeping on the bus he made us stop and get out and take pictures at the next available pull off. It was gorgeous and we finally got to take a group picture of those of us who went on the Scotland trip which ended up being 39 of the 130 of us total.

Stop 3 was to a memorial to the soldiers of the area. It was really sad because people still came and left wreaths and notes on it that they had wrote to their loved ones who had died in battle recently in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Stop 4 was in Loch Ness. We got to have a demonstration by clansmen on how to wear the original kilts. They went over what the houses were like, what kind of food they ate, and demonstrated their weapons and how they were used. We then walked to the banks of Loch Ness, but didn’t see the monster. We then got back on the bus and headed back. We stopped at the famous castle on Loch Ness, Urquhart, but it wasn’t much to see.
We finally then got back on the bus and headed to Inverness, the biggest and only city in the Scotland Highlands. We checked into another hostel, this one is not near as nice but it’s a bed to sleep on so it works. We ate dinner at a local place and went to a local pub that is the town favorite and listened to a very new-age celtic band. Surprisingly it wasn’t that bad. We’re back at the hostel now and getting ready for bed. We have another early day tomorrow although we don’t really know where we are going.

The hostel here is pretty gross. Never though I’d say I’d be glad to get back to the hostel in Edinburgh.

It’s an adventure! Although we have had a few bad experiences so far I’m trying to keep an open mind and not letting it ruin how gorgeous Scotland is.

Love and miss everyone!

P.S. Pictures have been updated!

What a Busy Week!

First off, my apologies everyone for not keeping this updating this week. It has been an extremely busy week which I will tell you about! Second off, my apologies for my pictures not being up. Just realized tonight that Flickr had an error and deleted all my albums. All being fixed within the next few minutes. Captions and explanations of them may just have to wait a while. But the pictures are up to date as of what I have taken tonight!! You can click on the top link above this!

Monday morning started off early with a boat ride on the Thames to Hampton Court Palace with my British Culture and Society class. I was in the afternoon tour group so in the morning we got to explore the area. We went through the gardens which are gorgeously done, especially since there is a flower show there this weekend and went to see some grape vines that they described to us as "older than America." I climbed a few feet up on the trellis for a picture which i'm sure wasn't allowed but a good picture moment none the less. Three others, Chris, Jackie, Matt, as well as myself went to the Hampton Court Hedge Maze next. It's been in the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest hedge maze. It was a bit harder than we expected to be and we almost didn't make it out in time to make it to our tour on time. During the tour we got to learn a bit of history about the different parts of the palace. The front part of the Palace, the Tudor part, was built first for Cardinal Wolsey circa 1514 who was a close friend of Henry the VIII. When Wolsey became unfavorable, Henry the VIII took over and used it for the Royal Courts to stay in and he enlarged it to be able to handle his court. The rest of the castle was done by King James 1 and is called the Stuart period. It's decorated and designed much differently than the front half. We also got to see where the fire destroyed part of the Palace in the 1980's and learned about how they restored everything almost perfectly. The Palace was absolutely gorgeous and I'm excited to visit some more. Monday night I started not feeling all that great and ended up having a fever so I took some ibuprofen and knocked out pretty early. I figured because I've barely slept in the last week that I just needed some rest.

Tuesday morning we had to be up bright and early for Shakespeare class. I still wasn't feeling very well but I went anyway. After morning lectures we went into London to do a Bankside walk and see the Globe as well as other Shakespeare significant places. Our teacher is really fun and loves teaching American students. The teaching style is different here and is more casual which I absolutely love. I wish it was like that at home, it makes learning so much more enjoyable. By the time we had walked all through the Southwark district of London, also known as 'Shakespeare's London' I was exhausted but we still had a tour aboard the Golden Hinde. I'm not sure of its actual relevance to Shakespeare but it was an English flagship boat, navigated by Sir Francis Drake. It was the 2nd boat to ever circum-navigate the world between 1577-80. It isn't the original boat, but it's a replica which they say accurately portrays it as best as anyone could ever get it. Our tour guide made alot of jokes and kept it interesting but being very tired, having a bad headache, a sore throat, and a throbbing ear pain, the only thing I wanted to do was head back into Kingston, to my flat and go to bed. Our class finally ended at a pub where we got to have drinks and hang out with our teacher. Had I been feeling a tiny bit better I would have enjoyed it even more but I was ready to leave. The pub we met at was called the George and is the only Elizabethon pub left in London. In many tour books it's the #1 pub to visit. It was gorgeous and very nice to sit outside. After we were dismissed from class I made my way back as quick as possible to Waterloo to catch a train back. To get to Waterloo I had to take the "tube" as it's called which got stopped because of someone having to have a paramedic on one a few stops ahead so I ended up having to walk a good distance back to Waterloo and then had to run to catch a very long train back to where I live. As soon as I got back I grabbed something to eat and called it a night.

On a sidenote, many people in London were unhappy on Tuesday. It was 7/7 - the anniversary of the London bombings 5 years ago and the mayor didn't recognize it. There were flowers left at several bus stations as well as underground stations left by families and friends to honor those who lost their lives.

Yesterday morning I woke up feeling even worse so as soon as I got to class I had the teacher instruct me where to find the health center and the doctor at. Two hours later after alot of waiting and paperwork, I saw the doctor and was told i had a throat infection and got a prescription. I went back to class for a final lecture before heading to the pharmacist to get my prescription filled. In our British Culture and Society class we have two days where we have "Independent London Visits" instead of class fieldtrips where we are supposed to go visit something that interests us. My health interest took over and I ended up going to the Hunterian Museum located at the Royal College of Surgeons of England. For those of you who haven't heard of it here's a link with some info:

http://www.igougo.com/journal-j41120-London-Strange_Museums_in_London.html#1171899


I decided it was best not to post pictures of what I actually saw in the museum because a) I wasn't supposed to take pictures anyway and b) it was pretty gross stuff. I think the link pretty much can give you an idea of what they have. My flatmate, Jerryl went with me who is also a health related major at his school at home so he found a lot of it interesting too. After the museum we ended up walking around a little and wandered through the London Inn and the Royal Courts of Justice. We then went to Bond Street to walk around before catching the Underground to Waterloo and the train back to Surbiton. I was feeling really tired and needed to take my medicine by this point so we decided to avoid the 15 minute walk back from the train station to our flat. Big Mistake- we took a bus that detoured us about an hour. We learned our lesson and now know never to take a K3 bus. Last night I went to sleep early too and was forced to wake up really early this morning to read Shakespeare.

Now to today - this morning I had to wake up super early and read Shakespeare's 'As You Like It'. Not being a very big reader, nor play enthusiastic, I struggled through it but read it none the less. We discussed it all morning in class before we were excused at 4:15 to go and get ready for a play that we saw tonight. A girl in my class, Stacy, who is also from North Carolina, and I went shopping in Kingston and then hopped on the train from there to go into London and the 'As You Like It' at the Old Vic. It was my first place experience and I enjoyed it. I was a bit tired of the play since we've discussed and read it all day but it gave me an entirely new view and perspective on the play. I think for the next one I may try to watch a version of it before I try to read it to make it more understandable. The play was from 7:30-10:30 tonight so we took a late train back. Since we've been back I've Skyped some with mom and I have been packing. We leave at 6:45am tomorrow morning to head to Scotland for the weekend! I'm really excited but really exhausted and am dreading packing.

July has been flyingggg by. It does not seem like I have been here for over a week and I still am not sure when I'm going to be able to find the time to see everything I want to see and still make the time to go to class and write my papers. I am learning alot, seeing alot, meeting alot of cool people, and having the time of my life. This is by far the best thing I have ever done, and I recommend studying abroad to any and everyone.

I'm already planning on trying to come back in 2012 to join in on some of the Olympic festivities. =) I have fallen in love with this city and I'm sure I'll return back as much as I can. Hope everyone is having fun at home.

Miss & Love everyone!

So many things to do. Not enough time.

It has quickly became apparent that we have way many more things to do than we have time for. London is huge and theres still alot to do in Surbiton and Kingston where we are staying.

On Friday we went into London for the day. It was absolutely gorgeous but our timing was terrible so we only stayed for a few hours. London was packed because it was London Pride Day, so we managed to ride the tube down a few stops to get to a quieter area. It's such a small world. On the tube we randomly got on we were talking to some people we recognized as Americans. Comes to find out they were 3 of the 18 people here from NC State and it just happened that they were riding around on the tube attempting to get somewhere too. Just shows how much of a small world it is. We were exhausted and went and sat down for an early dinner and then made our way back to Surbiton to get ready for a night out.

When we got back we all changed and showered and got ready to go out to celebrate July 4th and one of my flatmate's 21st birthday's. We went into a club in Kingston and had an amazing time. Everyone here loves Americans and apparently in the town there is a rumor that 130 American students are here studying and were thrilled to find out that the rumor was true.

Today we celebrated Stephanie's birthday as well as America's and cooked and even made her a cake and decorated her room. She was getting homesick so she was excited that we made a big deal out of her birthday. Tonight we made our way into London to take pictures and see the city at night. I loved it even more than I normally do and couldn't get enough of it. We hadn't payed attention to what times the tubes closed so we missed them and had to practically run back to the train station in Waterloo to catch the one and only train headed back to Surbiton. We made it thankfully in time but barely. It was quite an adventure but fun none the less. My group of friends here are awesome and we all look out for each other. Most of them are from Michigan and I know we'll stay close friends even after the trip is over. It already feels like we've known each other forever.

We are finally in and getting ready to go to bed. We have to meet at a dock in Kingston to board a boat and our first fieldtrip is to the Hampton Court Palace. I'm really excited but exhausted.

Pictures have been uploaded to flickr. ENJOY.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO AMERICA!

Scavenger Hunt Pictures Added on Flickr

Hey I added Scavenger Hunt Pictures from London on Flickr. Everyone in the pictures are my flatmates. Theres 10 of us total from all over the country and even one from Mexico. Everyone is really nice although I still miss my roommates and neighbors from home!





FAMILY PHOTO =)

First Day of Classes

This morning we were up early and heading to classes by 9am. The University is only providing us buses for the first week of classes and then we will be forced to learn to use the bus system here in Surbiton and Kingston. On the brighter side, the buses we do get to use for the next week are double decker - Kingston University style.



First Day of School Picture


Our Campus is pretty cool and our teachers are awesome. In the British Culture and Society class our teacher tries to make it really interesting. Over the next 4 weeks we will visit the Hampton Court Palace and Gardens, Oxford, Stonehenge, Bath, Parliament, Greenwich, and Southall Gurdwara. We are also required to complete two independent visits to London. Between classes we had a luncheon hosted by the University for the International Students. Total there are 130 of us - some of us are from the US but there are also others from France, Canada, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, and a few other countries I can't remember.


The food was weird but I am branching out of my very tiny picky box and trying new things:



This is part of a whole new flavor series. Tastes just like a cheeseburger complete with ketchup and mustard. Other flavors include Argentinean Steak and other very nasty non-appetizing flavors. I'm impressed at how well they got the flavors to match though.

After lunch we walked into Kingston and came back for class at 14:00 (we are having to adjust to military time). My Shakespeare teacher is awesome... very into all the cultural aspects of London. He was a teacher at UC Davis and Berkeley when he lived in California but is from Wales. He's got like 4 master's and like 2 doctorate's although you could never tell. He only wants to be known as Gregg. We're going to be studying 3 of Shakespeare's plays and he even made it clear that it was ok that I wasn't interested in Shakespeare and he would make the class as fun and painless as possible. We'll be seeing 2 plays at the Old Vic, which apparently were very expensive for him to book because London's famous always go. We're also going to see a play at the Globe. We'll even get to go on a tour of the Globe given by a cast member before it starts. The building we are in had to have been designed by a girl. Each floor is a different neon color. The ground level where we enter is pink.





After classes we walked into Kingston to take a look at some shops. We met one of my flatmates friends at the Kingston Train Station but because we've taken a bus to everything were unaware of how far we were from our flat and decided to walk along the Thames instead of taking the train. Big Mistake. 45 minutes later we finallyyyy reach Seething Wells, exhausted and hot. Our refrigerator wasn't working so maintenance just brought us one twice the size that we are very excited about. Warm milk isn't very appetizing in the morning with my Cinnamon Crunchies. We're all resting up and the boys are making us dinner before a bunch of the international students go out tonight. First Friday here, we must go out on the town and see what Kingston is all about.

Tomorrow we are planning on heading into London for the day although it's supposed to be bad weather. We want to all make the most of the time we have so early tomorrow we'll be hopping on the train to Waterloo.

We've been so busy I haven't had the time to be homesick. It's already my 3rd day and there's so much I want to do and see. This month is going to fly by so fast. I have already managed to meet people who I know I will stay in contact with after the trip. My roommates have all started saying ya'll and are upset that my accent is rubbing off on them. I told them they'll learn that it's a good thing.

Hope all is well at home! Miss everyone! I still added some pictures to the flickr account but not very many since we were in the same town as yesterday morning.

Love, April

First Full Day Here!

I'm not sure I've ever been this exhausted. It's been a busy past 24 hours.

Yesterday we went on a walking tour of Surbiton and learned where the closest grocery store is and train station. The city was small but exciting none the less.

A few pictures from Surbiton:

Entrance to our dorm.. Seething Wells

Today we went to Kingston and visiting the campus our classes will be at as well as the city around it before our school took us out for drinks and lunch. There are 130 students studying with us at Kingston University, and not all of them are from the United States. My roommates are all from up North and love to pick on my Southern accent. At Orientation we got our University id's and TravelCards so we can travel by bus, train, or underground for free. Kingston is a gorgeous town.. full of shopping and river front restaurants because it is based right along the Thames River. Here are a few pictures from there!

First ride on the double-decker bus!

Biggest tourist attraction in Kingston

Shopping in Kingston

Flatmates!

Thames River

After lunch we received directions for a Scavenger hunt in London that was supposed to introduce us to the transportation systems. I've rode the tube twice today, the train twice today, and buses twice today. We had to team up with the flat that lives directly across from us, so all 10 of us traveled into London. After completing the first few tasks without any trouble, we took the tube into Westminster and got lost looking for a Franklin D Roosevelt memorial. We ended up wandering around for an hour lost because the boys didn't want to use maps and look like tourists. Eventually we pulled out the maps and found our way. We missed the final checkpoint because we were too late.. about 2 hours late. After a bus, tube, and train ride we are safely back in our flat now and exhausted. Here are some pictures from London today:

Infront of the London Eye

Big Ben

Westminster Bridge

Overlooking the Thames

Leicester Square

I created a Flickr account for pictures. The address is:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/aprilfuller/

Click on sets on the right hand side or on the top.

London itself is breathtaking and I am so glad that I decided to come here. Classes start tomorrow so I'm getting ready for the morning and hanging out with my flatmates!

Love

April