First, I would like to apologize for the mass of blog posts today. I've been working on the past couple since last week and I just never got around to posting them.
Secondly, I wanted to make one more post because I wanted to make a special birthday shout-out to my Papa K. Happy Birthday Papa! I miss you and Grandma Bonnie an awful lot and I hope that your day is going well (and I hope that Grandma forced you to sit down and read this!) I heard about the gathering for your birthday and I wish I could've been there. Love you guys!
Monday, February 11, 2013
'The Talk'
Alright kids, I feel like there is something that needs to be said, so listen up.
Before I continue blogging my English memories, I would like to clarify something because to be honest I feel a little weird about it. So let's talk about alcohol. Disclaimer: I don't tend to drink. Not that haven't, just that I generally don't. Gasp* A college student who doesn't drink in public at an illegal age? Imagine! I'm not saying I haven't had a nightcap, or some sips of wine around my family, but I don't drink irresponsibly, nor really around big groups of people.
Now, I know the types of people reading this post--grandparents, relatives, friends, home church members--it makes me feel a little weird to approach the subject. But let's talk about it. If I'm going to be honest with anyone, why not you? Now, raise your hand if you ever drank underage or drank too much? (Now put your hand down, yuh look like a crazy person with your hand in the air and no one around). I bet a lot of people would respond to that question. Alcohol is a present and real thing in life, but yet it's one of those things that certain people in my life tend to not talk about, and it actually just makes the topic more uncomfortable. It's one of those taboo topics that I feel really strange about but think we need to have a discussion about, especially as alcohol was mentioned in my most recent post.
The topic of alcohol feels so much more relaxed here in England than it does at home, especially since the drinking age is eighteen. Here, it really is part of the experience as peers and faculty/adults alike invite you to have a drink with them. Yes, drinking as part of the social scene here can still be excessive, but it is also normal and perfectly acceptable and respectable to have a glass of wine with dinner, or to have a drink or two while out with some friends.
Having spoke to some of my Christian friends about alcohol before, it always seems like this off-limit, terrible thing. I get responses like 'You know I don't do that', as if it's unmentionable. If they ever hear that I drank, it's 'Christina! I thought you don't do that!' It's very difficult, but also very possible, to resist the temptation of drinking during a part of life like college when it seems to dominate everything, but I also can't help but think that alcohol isn't evil. Excessive consumption is, alcoholism is--I mean, where's the glory in relying on alcohol for happiness or pleasure? But then I ask, what's wrong with a drink or two when consumed appropriately?
Maybe it's just me who feels weird about it, or maybe this talk wasn't necessary. Either way, 1) yes, I just said all that 2) no, I don't feel weird about drinking here as it is legal and I am responsible and 3) don't be afraid to broach the subject--it's a part of our world and, trust me, the topic feels worse when ignored.
This message has been brought to you by Christina--a concerned relative, friend, and college student.
Before I continue blogging my English memories, I would like to clarify something because to be honest I feel a little weird about it. So let's talk about alcohol. Disclaimer: I don't tend to drink. Not that haven't, just that I generally don't. Gasp* A college student who doesn't drink in public at an illegal age? Imagine! I'm not saying I haven't had a nightcap, or some sips of wine around my family, but I don't drink irresponsibly, nor really around big groups of people.
Now, I know the types of people reading this post--grandparents, relatives, friends, home church members--it makes me feel a little weird to approach the subject. But let's talk about it. If I'm going to be honest with anyone, why not you? Now, raise your hand if you ever drank underage or drank too much? (Now put your hand down, yuh look like a crazy person with your hand in the air and no one around). I bet a lot of people would respond to that question. Alcohol is a present and real thing in life, but yet it's one of those things that certain people in my life tend to not talk about, and it actually just makes the topic more uncomfortable. It's one of those taboo topics that I feel really strange about but think we need to have a discussion about, especially as alcohol was mentioned in my most recent post.
The topic of alcohol feels so much more relaxed here in England than it does at home, especially since the drinking age is eighteen. Here, it really is part of the experience as peers and faculty/adults alike invite you to have a drink with them. Yes, drinking as part of the social scene here can still be excessive, but it is also normal and perfectly acceptable and respectable to have a glass of wine with dinner, or to have a drink or two while out with some friends.
Having spoke to some of my Christian friends about alcohol before, it always seems like this off-limit, terrible thing. I get responses like 'You know I don't do that', as if it's unmentionable. If they ever hear that I drank, it's 'Christina! I thought you don't do that!' It's very difficult, but also very possible, to resist the temptation of drinking during a part of life like college when it seems to dominate everything, but I also can't help but think that alcohol isn't evil. Excessive consumption is, alcoholism is--I mean, where's the glory in relying on alcohol for happiness or pleasure? But then I ask, what's wrong with a drink or two when consumed appropriately?
Maybe it's just me who feels weird about it, or maybe this talk wasn't necessary. Either way, 1) yes, I just said all that 2) no, I don't feel weird about drinking here as it is legal and I am responsible and 3) don't be afraid to broach the subject--it's a part of our world and, trust me, the topic feels worse when ignored.
This message has been brought to you by Christina--a concerned relative, friend, and college student.
International Dinner
The other night I attended an International Student Dinner in the upstairs of the dining hall on campus. First, I would like to mention that the description of appropriate attire for the occasion was 'smart dress' which I'm assuming is almost code for formal/business casual--almost an in between. I was pretty proud of myself for having packed that black dress, tights, and dressy shoes--worked out pretty well for this evening.
I arrived upstairs in QMH (Queen Mother Hall? The building where it was held..) and there were several students already there. The coordinator of the event prompted me to grab a drink from the bar while guests were assembling and waiting in this small area. I was able to mingle with some of the faculty members and other international students that I knew while waiting to go in the dining room.
I was somehow seated at table #1. This is the table at which the Vice Chancellor of the college and the international-director-guy also sat. No pressure or anything. It was actually a good time, but I would like to note that at no point in my life until now did I think that I would ever be sitting at a table with these faculty members of this college--nor did I think that they would be pouring me wine or toasting to good health with me.
The dinner was absolutely delicious and the company was great! It was all fancy and we each had what seemed like 49,572,948 pieces of silverware and (I think) four different glasses. Since it was an international dinner, we had different types of food for each of the three courses. The appetizer (or more correct term? hors d'oeuvre) was Dim Sum, which was very good. Following that, we had a traditional English Roast meal which consisted of roast from Harper's own beef, with Yorkshire pudding (which I was told was basically a 'pancake gone wrong' and it was very good!) It looks almost like a muffin, but the inside is sortof hollow-y and it's really good. There were also vegetables and roasted potatoes. For dessert, we had Vanilla Creme Brulee and Shortbread, which was followed by Coffee or Tea and after-dinner mints. Overall, it was a very splendid evening and I'm glad that I decided to go!
I arrived upstairs in QMH (Queen Mother Hall? The building where it was held..) and there were several students already there. The coordinator of the event prompted me to grab a drink from the bar while guests were assembling and waiting in this small area. I was able to mingle with some of the faculty members and other international students that I knew while waiting to go in the dining room.
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| Table Picture |
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| Yorkshire Pudding |
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Leaving London
Now I've finally made it to the final day of this trip. The weekend felt like it was a week long instead of just two days. We were in London less than 48 hours! It's unbelievable.
Sunday morning we were up bright and early again, getting breakfast downstairs in the hostel and out by 9ish. Emilie had a friend studying in London who we were going to meet up with at 11:30ish, so we decided to get a little more sightseeing in before we met up with him. We headed North towards Camden town, which is where the Camden Market is.
The Camden Market is like a flea market. It is open (possibly?) every day of the week. There are a bunch of small shops in Camden town, and on top of that there are tons of vendors and stalls with people selling things. If you look hard enough you can find tremendous deals and you can find nearly anything you want there. It was interesting to look around and it was all over. You turned a corner and there were another tonn of vendors, then you think you've made it through everything, and you're not.
After having our fill of vendors and people asking us if we were interested in things we had glanced at for two seconds, we headed to Starbucks for some coffee (in my case, hot chocolate) and then took the underground South to Waterloo station (which was huge) and met Emilie's friend there. He took us across the river on a beautiful walk to where he has his classes in London--right next to Trafalgar Square. He showed us where he has his classes and the building was absolutely beautiful inside. Then we bought some lunch right next to Trafalgar Square, and ate our lunch in the square. We then proceeded to walk back to Waterloo station and took the underground to the Railway Station in Euston and caught the train back to Telford. We got back to campus at about 5:30 (Here, 5:30 might be expressed as 17:30 or 'half five').
I wanted to have dinner and sleep, but I decided to go to a CU event instead (Christian Union) in...some town...near here. It happens every other week on Sunday evenings as part of a different group from another college and I decided to give it a go. (Which is another thing I hear said a lot here, let's 'give-it-a-go!", almost like it's one word) It was a good time.
I also find it fairly important to mention that if you are ever in England and would like Lemonade, you're not going to get what you expect. I tried to order Lemonade that first night in London and I ended up with 7Up. I was thinking maybe they had just messed up, but that is what is considered their Lemonade here, and I don't think they really have normal American Lemonade. Sadness.)
Sunday morning we were up bright and early again, getting breakfast downstairs in the hostel and out by 9ish. Emilie had a friend studying in London who we were going to meet up with at 11:30ish, so we decided to get a little more sightseeing in before we met up with him. We headed North towards Camden town, which is where the Camden Market is.
The Camden Market is like a flea market. It is open (possibly?) every day of the week. There are a bunch of small shops in Camden town, and on top of that there are tons of vendors and stalls with people selling things. If you look hard enough you can find tremendous deals and you can find nearly anything you want there. It was interesting to look around and it was all over. You turned a corner and there were another tonn of vendors, then you think you've made it through everything, and you're not.
After having our fill of vendors and people asking us if we were interested in things we had glanced at for two seconds, we headed to Starbucks for some coffee (in my case, hot chocolate) and then took the underground South to Waterloo station (which was huge) and met Emilie's friend there. He took us across the river on a beautiful walk to where he has his classes in London--right next to Trafalgar Square. He showed us where he has his classes and the building was absolutely beautiful inside. Then we bought some lunch right next to Trafalgar Square, and ate our lunch in the square. We then proceeded to walk back to Waterloo station and took the underground to the Railway Station in Euston and caught the train back to Telford. We got back to campus at about 5:30 (Here, 5:30 might be expressed as 17:30 or 'half five'). I wanted to have dinner and sleep, but I decided to go to a CU event instead (Christian Union) in...some town...near here. It happens every other week on Sunday evenings as part of a different group from another college and I decided to give it a go. (Which is another thing I hear said a lot here, let's 'give-it-a-go!", almost like it's one word) It was a good time.
I also find it fairly important to mention that if you are ever in England and would like Lemonade, you're not going to get what you expect. I tried to order Lemonade that first night in London and I ended up with 7Up. I was thinking maybe they had just messed up, but that is what is considered their Lemonade here, and I don't think they really have normal American Lemonade. Sadness.)
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
St. Paul's Cathedral
I'm sorry for having left you in suspense about the one place I actually know some history about, but there are a bunch of pictures I wanted to post and a lot I wanted to say about this place, so I decided to split it up.
So here are the details on St. Paul's Cathedral.
IT WAS HUGE. The dome stands over 100 meters tall, which is about a
football field. It was absolutely amazing and I'm glad we stopped and took our time there.
This is the location where the Royal Wedding of Charles and Diana took
place and also, as we found out, the steps with the bird feeding in Mary
Poppins. We decided that since we hadn't really spent any money all day on
attractions we were interested enough to check out St. Paul's, so we decided to pay and go in. (One thing to note is that we couldn't use
cameras in the Cathedral so any pictures of the inside of the building are courtesy of google--and also a lot better quality than I would've taken anyway).
We chose to do a virtual tour, where we got ipods and headphones and went through tracks as you walked around (or followed whatever directions it gave you). We started at the front doors, headed through the nave, sat under the dome, learned all about the mosaics in the domes, and finally finished the virtual tour of that floor at the high altar. It was absolutely gorgeous and huge.
We
then decided to take the stairs to the 'galleries'--there are three,
and they are different parts of the dome you can climb to. The upper
two galleries (The Stone Gallery and the Golden Gallery) were closed for restoration, but we climbed 257 steps (yepp, we climbed that) to
the Whispering gallery, 30 meters from the cathedral floor. (If it had
been open, there are 528 steps to the upper most gallery, 85 meters from
the Cathedral floor). The Whispering Gallery was pretty cool! First, the view of the Cathedral floor was scary and amazing, but also, if you sat along the wall and whispered, a person on the completely opposite side of the gallery (about 35m in distance I think) could hear you like you were sitting right next to them. Pretty neat stuff.
We then proceeded to go back down all those stairs, and even below the Cathedral floor, to the crypt. Typing 'crypt' now, it sounds a little creepy, and I have to admit that I thought it was going to be creepy, but it was very nice. If you take a look at the picture from the crypt, this is one portion of the downstairs that is called the Chapel of St. Faith's. Not creepy at all, but then if you look at the floor, the larger concrete stones all have a description engraved in them, like 'Here lies...(insert name here)', that part was a little astounding--yet not so much as some of the dates on the stones.
Some of the stones dated back to the 1700's when the current Cathedral was built. There were all kinds of dedication and memorial tributes in the crypt and it took some time to look through. In one part of the crypt, there was a timeline on the wall with historic events mixed in with the history of the Cathedral. The cathedral has had to be rebuilt after destruction several times (I think this is the fourth structure). The original was built around year 600 and the current building was started in the late 1600's and took many many years to complete. All of it is quite impressive, and it was a really enjoyable experience.
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| Front + Lamp post. Such a majestic Building. |
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| Under the Dome-view to high Altar |
We chose to do a virtual tour, where we got ipods and headphones and went through tracks as you walked around (or followed whatever directions it gave you). We started at the front doors, headed through the nave, sat under the dome, learned all about the mosaics in the domes, and finally finished the virtual tour of that floor at the high altar. It was absolutely gorgeous and huge.
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| The Nave |
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| View of Cathedral Floor from Whispering gallery |
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| Chapel of St. Faith's |
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| Side of the building--Dome! |
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
London on Saturday
Let me begin by saying that today I received a lovely care package from home! Treats and French dressing! Yay for being able to eat salad! Thanks Mom! Anyhow, The Story Continues... Saturday morning we woke up (pretty early, I might add) and got ready to head out for the day. It was nice to be able to leave our stuff locked away at the hostel. We also got a complimentary breakfast each morning at the hostel. We were out of the hostel by 8:30 or 9, ready to discover what we could around London.
We honestly couldn't have asked for better weather on Saturday, at least in this part of the year. It didn't rain on us! And it was nice and sunny to be able to get some good pictures. We headed to Piccadilly circus again on the subway. This early in the morning there were absolutely no people out and about yet.
We wanted to find Trafalgar Square so we headed in that direction, not planning on bumping into it as soon as we did.
But we found it! It was so pretty. Trafalgar Square is home to the National Gallery building as well as a large open square with statues and fountains and a monument. We then continued walking,
We walked under a large arch and it seemed like the road stretched out in front of us forever, but it didn't look like it was in the middle of a city. We came across a large open area covered in gravel that was situated behind a large building (we had no idea what it was...we'll discuss this later) so we turned and crossed the road and headed through St. James's Park towards Buckingham Palace. The park was beautiful even in the gloomy state that winter causes. There were so many birds, some that even looked really strange and had big feet. They also had pelicans (that were absolutely huge).
At the far end of the park stood Buckingham Palace. The flag was flying! (which I believe means the Queen is there). At this point, more and more people were joining in on the act of Tourism with us and they were crowded around the front gates as well as the whole open area in front of the Palace.
While we were there, we checked the schedule for Changing of the Guards (because so many people have told me to see it and we were there right around the right time). It usually occurs at 1100am everyday, but it depends on the time of year and such. Anyhow, we found out that it would occur that day, but back at the mystery building, not the palace. We had time to spare when we got back to that building, which...I'm still not sure what the name of it is, but it's essentially a Calvary Headquarters/Admiralty Buildings--government buildings essentially. It also houses a museum.
There were guards on the opposite side of it, both on foot and on horses (I laughed soo hard when someone tried to stand next to the guard and get their picture taken and he turned and walked away...but that's because he had to pace back and forth every few minutes). It was here that we saw a bit of a changing of the guards ceremony. Across the road, there was also a movie filming, which was pretty cool--think it had Tom Cruise in it.
Next, we headed down the road that the calvary building was on. This road had a lot of government buildings on it. It was here that we saw Westminster Abbey, Houses of Parliament, and Big Ben. It was funny because we got to an intersection and here were all these things. We then crossed the Westminster Bridge while passing the London Eye, and ate lunch at a small restaurant we found.
Next, we decided we wanted to head towards London Bridge, the Bank of England, and St. Paul's Cathedral. We took the subway to London Bridge, and walked towards where the bank would be. It was quite an adventure trying to find the bank, when in reality it was right across the road from where we started. We walked way past it and then turned around and walked all the way around the bank once we found it, just trying to find steps (because we thought it was the place in Mary Poppins with the feeding of the birds song...but we later found out it's not. You should've seen us asking 'natives' where the steps from Mary Poppins were...hahah). So we never found the steps and had walked a really long way trying to find them.
So we ventured towards St. Paul's Cathedral. (For both our sakes, I'm going to not talk about St. Paul's in this blog post--we actually did the tour and I started typing it, and it's really long. So that will be a whole other post--tomorrow.) But it was amazing!!
From St. Paul's, we took the subway to a fancy part of town, home of the huge department store 'Harrods'. Our motto as we walked through was basically 'looking, no touching or buying'. Everything in that store is extremely expensive. We saw a big stuffed bear for a kid that was £7,000 (which is ..more than $10,000?). It was a little insane, but pretty awesome to see. So that was a pretty fancy neighborhood. We saw a woman who had her daughter there trying on clothes, and the nanny was right there as well. Sigh. So we left because we got sick of not being able to even think about buying anything.
We headed to dinner. We decided to get out of that area and head back to Piccadilly Circus where we had seen a restaurant the day before that looked really good. We got there and they told us the wait for a table would be about 30 minutes, so we waited..didn't seem that long, right? Wrong, 30 minutes turned into an hour. But once we finally got seated and had food in our bellies, it was definitely worth it.
We headed back to the hostel after dinner, it was about 10 or 10:30. Quite a full day, if I may say so myself. But such a good day! =)
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| Street where the hostel was located |
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| National Gallery |
But we found it! It was so pretty. Trafalgar Square is home to the National Gallery building as well as a large open square with statues and fountains and a monument. We then continued walking,
attempting to find Buckingham Palace.
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| Trafalgar Square |
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| Pelican! with Kristin and Emilie |
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| Buckingham Palace |
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| Guard |
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| Changing of the Guard |
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| Big Ben |
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| St. Paul's Cathedral |
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| Harrods |
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| Tower Bridge from London Bridge |
We headed back to the hostel after dinner, it was about 10 or 10:30. Quite a full day, if I may say so myself. But such a good day! =)
Monday, February 4, 2013
Friday In London
This past weekend, I traveled to London with the other girls studying here from Cornell. We had a blast and walked a tonnn.We left Friday afternoon and took a taxi from school to Telford Central, then the train from Telford to Birmingham New St., then another train to London Euston Station. The trip took about three hours in total, but the train made quite a few stops along the way. I didn't know much about where we were staying or how we were getting places, but there we were in the middle of a big railway station in London. Emilie and Kristin had arranged for us to stay in a hostel, so that was our first priority when we got in the city--finding the hostel. Emilie had printed walking directions from the station to there--a two and a half mile walk--so we started walking. First great thing about London: at each of the crosswalks, painted on the street, it tells you which direction to look for traffic. We only nearly got hit once. No big.
Thankfully we didn't have any big luggage to carry around with us as we each only had our backpacks. It was great to see the city with all the lights and traffic...and the buses! We finally made it to the hostel. The hostel was located in Paddington, which is a residential area in London and the street was very pretty and also relatively quiet. It was Kristin's birthday on Friday, and it was dinner time when we got there, so after we settled in and got some directions from the main desk about where we might go for a birthday dinner (they were so helpful!), we headed out to the 'underground' (subway station) nearby. We took the underground to Piccadilly circus, which we found out is basically the Times Square of London. At night, there are a lot of lights and people and it's a very exciting and bright area. There are a bunch of shops and places to eat, as well as entertainers on the street.
We ate dinner at a restaurant right there on the square, literally called 'Grill on the Square' and we had some traditional fish and chips! (My first English meal!) It was absolutely delicious. We attempted to look for some dessert next--ice cream. We couldn't find any ice cream place that was still open that late at night, though there were little shops (shoppes?) located there. We ending up heading to McDonalds (how American of us) for each of us to get a McFlurry. Their McFlurry is a little different than the kind we have here at home, but it was good ice cream and it was fun to people-watch while there. While at Piccadilly Circus, we checked out M&M world and then took the underground back to Paddington and went on back to the hostel to get some sleep and showers before our busy Saturday.
*Gasp* Cliffhanger! I will report on Saturday next. Brace yourselves--it was a very busy day!
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| Red Double Decker Bus! |
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| Piccadilly Circus |
*Gasp* Cliffhanger! I will report on Saturday next. Brace yourselves--it was a very busy day!
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