Returning Home

Leaving London was hard, I didn't want to say goodbye to anyone but I had to. Coming home though I realized how much I had missed my family and friends and even just Washington at all. Now I'm just adjusting, everything that used to be so familiar to me looks different, money is just one of those things. As much as I miss London, I love seeing my family and being with friends again. Getting home though was tough, delayed flights, missed flights, and 24+ hours with no sleep, at least I'm not jet lagged now! Being in London seems like a dream, that I was never really there, but it is a dream that I will never regret and that I will remember forever.

England v. Andorra football

I got so distracted by the tube strike and a day of really bad transportation that I forgot to mention the fact that I saw a world cup qualifier today. England slaughtered Andorra 6-nil. Rooney scored a goal within the first 3 minutes of the match. But it was amazing!!! The fans are so into the game and cheering on England. Everyone was really happy and nice and revved up for a match. Also, Beckham played the entire game, which I wasn't really expecting to see. I wish that I had more time here so I could go to more matches, I also need a good reason to wear my new England scarf.

Day One of Strike

So, good news is, the strike is easing up a bit, there are lines running just not with service everywhere and mostly just in the outer parts of the city, but at least now it's possible to catch the tube most of the way to school. However, the lines didn't start opening up until mid afternoon. But remember to always check www.tfl.gov.uk for updates and info, they'll tell you which lines are closed as well as the stations that are closed. Trying to catch the bus today was impossible, in central London the buses were too full to take on more people and the ones that were letting people on got mobbed and only a select, selfish few got on. Hopefully tomorrow will be easier now that some of the lines are open again!!!

Tube Strike

Learn the bus system in your free time. That's the best advice I can give because the tube strike that was sure to be called off because "they never actually go through with it" didn't get called off. So, now we are all trying to figure out ways to get to and from Central London during finals week, YAY!!! not really. The strike shuts down the entire tube system (for the most part) from 7pm tuesday to 7pm thursday but the tubes won't actually be running at full capacity until Friday morning. Until then, it's buses and overground trains. Chiltern Railways is amazing though, so that's a plus.
Tube Strikes are not fun.

Coming to the end

Ten weeks ago seems like yesterday, and yet all those weeks ago this day seemed so far away. I can't believe that my time in London is coming to an end in just 9 days. I still feel like there are so many things to go and see and do and experience. Today I went to the British Museum to walk around for the first time. Tomorrow I'm finally going to the Tower of London. It seems like I'm cramming everything in during my last few weeks, it seemed like I had sooo much time before, not that I regret a single moment of my time here, I just wish I could stay longer!
So, for this last week I've been to three plays, England People Very Nice (about immigration in London, very funny), Oliver!, and Shakespeare's As You Like It at the Globe. I didn't think that I really liked Shakespeare, but seeing it on stage is completely different than reading it. It amazes me in some ways how hundreds of years after Shakespeare wrote his plays he still makes audiences laugh. Going to the Globe is something that anyone going to London must do, just remember to bring a seat cushion and a blanket as the seats are hard and it gets cold once night falls. Also, on Wednesday before the Globe, AHA went to Hampton Court Palace, which was amazing, I have to go back there wasn't enough time to see it all.
I'm really looking forward to next week though. I have front row tickets to Avenue Q and some really bad seats to the England v. Andorra football match, it's not a West Ham game, but it is much cheaper.
One thing that I have been thinking about is how much I would like to keep travelling after the program. So, if you are going to be studying abroad, seriously consider leaving time at the end of the program to travel around more. It's really easy and often cheap to go to places in Europe from London, plus it would just be a great experience.
While, I'm happy to be going home, I can't wait to return to London soon!!!

France and Wales pics

Paris

Notre Dame

Top of the Eiffel Tower at sunset

Versailles

The tower at night

Wales

Tintern Abbey

castle ruins

Liz, Sam and Melissa in Cheltenham

In the hostel: Me, Becca and Sam

Weekend in Paris

One thing that I love about London is that living here gives me the opportunity to travel to other places. Going to Paris for a weekend is feasible. I left Thursday night right after classes and took the Eurostar to Paris and come back yesterday, Sunday. It was amazing. I really enjoyed the city. The only bad thing about the trip was the fact that I speak absolutely no French. There were a few times that my friend and I got lost not being able to read signs. Once I got used to the language gap though, and began to recognize the area that my hostel was in, it got a bit easier. It was great to be able to spend some time in the city though, I went to the Eiffel tower twice, once at night and the other just before sunset. I also got to go to the Arc de Triumph and all the other major attractions in the city (I can't spell any of them so I'm not even going to try). The city was dirty especially compared to London, but not as bad as I was expecting it to be. But the streets make less sense than London. I would love to go back though and see more of the city and some of the things that I missed. I did get to go to Versailles though. The gardens were huge and well maintained. It was nice to get out of the city, it actually felt like a holiday and not just another day of running around the city. Going away for a bit definitely made me happy to get back to London and relax. The city really has become like home and I'm going to be sad to leave it in just a few weeks. Finals are coming up along with the last papers for all my classes and I'm trying to fit in everything that I haven't done yet. Tomorrow I'm going to go see The Phantom of the Opera!!! I'm excited for it, it was the one musical that I had to see while I was here. I've loved every bit of time that I've spent here, even the going to class part because my profs have so much knowledge to share and Martin seems to know everything about the history of England. Which brings me to one thing that I want to share about the program. I know that for me and a few of the other people not from UO didn't really know what to expect about the program going into it, so I wanted to explain some of the things that I know I had questions about. The program is small, there are two groups that make up the program, the kids going for a semster and those going for a quarter. All of them stay with host families unless they decide otherwise. All of the students at the centre are American and you don't take classes with any British students, however the majority of the professors are Britsh (we have a visiting prof teaching two of our courses). Part of the program is going on excursions. Some of these are in the individul courses so for Art History our classes are often at the museum. Other excursions are for the program so for me, all of the quarter students would go together somewhere, like on Friday when we go to Bathe. But there is a lot of free time to do homework, or explore the city or go away on weekend trips to places. It's a great program that lets students learn a lot.

Parliament

It seems that time is flying by now that midterm break is over. Nearly every night until the end of the program in June is going to be filled with something. This week I've been to two plays and tomorrow night I leave for Paris for the weekend. The following week is more plays and the opera, plus there is actual class work to be finishing. It doesn't seem like I'll have enough time to do everything that I want. There's never a dull moment in London, which is something that I love about this city.
Today though was really neat. Martin took us to Parliament to sit in on a debate. The debate itself was boring, but it was interesting to see how things are done in the government. Also it was neat to be inside the Parliament building. The building is open to the public but you have to go through security. When we were watching the debate there was a really loud man, who seemed a little drunk, that came in. He was disturbing the people watching the debate and the guards in their tailcoats removed him within just a few minutes. It was the highlight of the debate and the people debating didn't even know that it was happening thanks to the glass partition.

Wales

On Wednesday past, the program went to Wales for 3 days/2 nights. It was amazing! Wales was beautiful, it's very similar to the Pacific Northwest with trees and foliage everywhere plus rain. Though the weather held out until the last day for us (Yay!!). Martin and the visiting professor, Cheryl, went with the students. Martin planned out full days of sightseeing for us, most of the time acting as our tour guide (he's incredibly knowledgeable about the history of the UK). We got to see Cheltenham an old Regency spa town, then on our way to our hostel for the night we visited Highnam Church, a small Gothic Revival church that had been entirely painted by its patron. the next day we went to Chepstow Castle and Tintern Abbey and celebrated one of the program girls' birthday. Then, on the last day, we went to Gloucester Cathedral. The tour of the Cathedral was great, it was really interesting, plus the tour guide pointed out the different parts of the Cathedral that had been used in the filming of the Harry Potter Movies. The whole trip was a lot of fun and really interesting. Plus, Wales and England are just very beautiful places so driving around to all these different places was a lot of fun. This half of the term is really busy both with program excursions and with my own trips to different places. next week I'm going to 2 plays, Parliament, and then to Paris for the weekend, the week after to Hampton Court Palace, Bath and hopefully another play. Then, it's already June and the end of the program looms ever closer. It doesn't seem like I'll have enough time to go and do everything that I want. I still want ot see Tower Hill and a football match plus I want to see at least 3 more plays before I go, and then I have to remember to go to classes....

Scotland and Ireland pics

Ireland

Blarney Castle

Blarney Castle

Dublin looking out over the river

Mall in Dublin

Scotland

Becca and I, Glasgow, Bus tour

Glasgow College, Scotland

Small island off of Edinbourgh

The Lockness Monster's brother in Edinbourgh

The beach, Edinbourgh

Bagpiper in Edinbourgh

Midterm Break!

There's one thing that I absolutely love about living in London/Britain; you have the opportunity to go just about anywhere in the world for really cheap. There are airlines and buses and trains that will get you to just about anywhere you want to go. In the past week I've been to Edinbourgh, Alnwick, Glasgow, Dublin, and now Cork. Scotland and Ireland are amazing and beautiful and the people are really nice. My quick trip to these places has made me want to go back and visit other places in Scotland and Ireland outside of the larger cities. It's been really fun to travel around and see all these different places. Ten hour bus rides though, are not very fun, even at night because you really don't sleep no matter how much you try to convince yourself that you will.

London Marathon

Today was the 29th London Marathon. It was a beautiful day for the race. The sun was shining and the day was warm, loads of people flooded the city to take part in or watch the event. Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to go watch. However, I did go to Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park by Marble Arch, if you ever get to go you walk through the arch and you're pretty much there, you'll see a circular building with speaker's corner written across it, just walk that way. Listening to the speakers was an interesting experience. People literally get up on their soap boxes (or step stools) and talk about whatever they want; religion, politics, world issues, etc. It seems that many people go just to have a good argument. There was a small crowd of people of all ages surrounding each of the speakers, and while most people wandered from speaker to speaker there were a memorable few who made their presence known. One such memorable person was a man who, with beer in hand, managed to find something to argue about with every speaker, he even laid down on the ground at one point to try to prove a point.
Tomorrow classes begin again, and all the tube lines will be open (there were closures again this weekend for maintence, though not as many as during Easter). Tuesday is another play, "Time and the Conways". Then, on Thursday, I'll be on my way to Scotland!!!

Pictures: Windsor

One of the many swans in the river

Windsor Castle from the road

The river seperating Eton and Windsor
(The white specks are swans)

Windsor Castle from the top of a ferris wheel

End of Week 4

Time goes by so quick here, I can't believe that it's already the end of my first month here. By the end of next week I'll be in Scotland and Ireland for my midterm break! Everyday is a busy day, I'm always doing something or seeing some new part of the city, it really is amazing here. It seems so natural to be here now, I've gotten used to getting around and going to class, but at the same time it still seems like I've only just arrived. I'm still constantly learning something new. A quid (I'm probably spelling that wrong) for example is just another word for a pound. It confused me for awhile when I first heard it, I ended up asking Mike what it meant. It's exciting though when I go somewhere for class or for a play or something else, and I recognize where I am, the city isn't a giant and confusing place of entirely new things anymore (it's a giant, confusing place with a few familiar things). I've come to appreciate the public transportation system here as well. It's amazing, you can take a train or bus just about anywhere and it doesn't cost a fortune. And in a round about way transportation reminds me of something absolutely unfair that I learned, it's common here to get 4-5 weeks vacation time from work, not just the standard American 2 weeks. The lady I was talking to couldn't imagine having so little time off and not being able to travel.
While in London I highly recommend the following:
>Sitting in a park on a nice day
>Going with friends to a pub (Dancing Friday nights at O'Neills)
>Getting theatre tickets ("Three Days of Rain" was incredible)
>Going to a museum, most are free after all
>Taking a train somewhere (The countryside is beautiful as are the small towns you can find)
>Getting to know some of the people (Initially they might not smile at you, but people are really nice, and can often give you directions when you get lost)
>Shopping at Primark
>Trying different foods (simple things, like ice cream, can taste completely different. Chocolate here is to die for, even hot chocolate is way tastier)
>Taking a bus or walking rather than taking the tube (The tube can be faster and easier, but you don't see as much of the city)
>Getting away from super touristy areas (Westminster Abbey, Parliament, etc) Other parts of the city aren't that busy and crowded and people are nicer because they don't have to deal with 100s of tourists

Pictures

Kensington Gardens

Down a path in Kensington Gardens

Chairs out by the pond, Kensington Gardens

Me, Becca, Darby in line for a rollar coaster at Thorpe park

Easter Weekend

Easter is a huge holiday here, its equivalent in the states would probably be Christmas. The schools get two week vacations during Easter and most people travel or spend time together during Easter weekend (Good Friday and Easter Monday are both bank holidays so people don't have to work). Since everyone was gone this last weekend, the underground closed down some of the lines in order to do repair work. They worked on the lines 24 hours a day those four days while I attempted to figure out the bus system in Harrow. I was somewhat successful, but the tube seems a little bit more reliable (I waited entirely too long for a bus that never came). I was incredibly happy when the tube started running again on Tuesday.
Apart from tube delays and closures, the weekend was fun. On Friday my friends and I went to O'Neills a pub, it was really fun, we ran into some people from the semester group and hung out with them the rest of the night. Pubs are a great place to meet up with people and hang out, and at O'Neills there's dancing later in the night. Sunday, we decided to go to Thorpe amusement park (and just because it was Easter Sunday didn't mean that people weren't at the park). Like I said before, Easter is family time, so people went to the park to spend time with their families. The lines for the best rides were huge, but the majority of them were worth the wait, the best 1.4 minutes of your life :) One of the rides, Saw (based off the movies) had a wait of about 2 hours, then while in line, got shut down for repairs. After three hours of waiting, we finally got on the ride. It was nice though to get away from the city and culture for a day of of meaningless thrills.
A nice thing to do in the city, especially when the weather is nice, is going to a park. You get a momentary break from running around in the city and being around people all the time, plus the parks are really pretty. Yesterday after class I went to Kensington gardens with Darby and Becca. It was a nice day and the park was pretty, we just sat down by the pond and enjoyed being away from concrete and cars.
Between classes today, Becca and I went to Westminster Abbey and walked around inside. It was beautiful and just really neat to see. I was really excited for poets corner, it takes up the entire South end of the transept. There were commemorative plaques to all sorts of people, plus graves, likes Chaucer's. My English Lit/Art History soul was singing with pleasure. Tomorrow it'll be doing the same thing when the program goes to Oxford! I'm looking forward to tomorrow's excursion.
I'm still loving that classes take place in the city and museums. Art is so much more interesting when you're learning about it as you stand in front of it. And reading a work like Great Expectations is great when you actually recognize the places that Pip talks about. One of the characters in the book was educated at Harrow school which is just up the road from where I'm staying, I was really happy when I read that part. :)

Falcons, Muffins, and Cupcakes

Something really interesting today- I got to see a falconer. He was up on the roof of the Courtauld Gallery and was using the falcon to catch pigeons around the building. And, something I discovered today, once comfortable with the tube system, stop taking the tube and walk instead. Many of the stops are really close together and when you walk around the streets you find a lot of really neat things. On accident I stumbled across Drury Lane (I didn't meet the muffin man though). Also, because I wasn't in the popular spots (or touristy areas) of the city, there were a lot of really cute and cheap shops. There was this one pastry/coffee shop that I ran across that had really cute and really tasty cupcakes.

ICE & pics from Greenwich day trip last week

Greenwich














The Royal Observatory (where the Prime Meridian is)









It seems like everyday here is spent doing something. Martin said when we first arrived that we should never be bored because there is always something to go do or see, and he was right. Between the program, with excursions, classes, and plays, and then exploring London on what free time you have, there is barely time to sleep some days. The longer I'm here and in the program the more I enjoy it. The classes are fun and almost weekly we are able to go and see a play. This week we saw "Death and the King's Horseman" which was really interesting and good. Last night I was also able to see "Wicked" (not part of the program), but it was amazing, London has a lot of different plays and musicals playing all the time, and they're worth going to outside of class/program time.





Part of the program includes a class every few Wednesdays from Martin called ICE or inter cultural experience. We had our first ICE class today. Martin brought in each of the different London papers (the non free ones) and talked about the media in Britain including television and radio. Newspapers are much more important here, and more interesting (to me at least). Every morning on the tube, people have a newspaper. It's an important way to get information and news, more so than on the TV. I find myself picking up papers (the free ones usually, or ones left on the tube) when in the states I never read the paper. Regardless, the ICE classes are mostly going to focus on the cultural differences between Britain and the US (like the media and the importance of different mediums), and later in the quarter we are going to be able to go to Parliament. The program is really good about getting students to go and see things but also to experience more than just the typical tourist things and see things outside of what is taught in the classroom.

Kew Gardens

Inside a greenhouse at Kew Gardens

Today, we topped off a long week with a tour around Kew Gardens. Last night AHA, both the semester group and the quarter group, went to see/listen to the Apostles. It was the story of Jesus told through music using an orchestra, choir, and 6 soloists playing different parts (Jesus, Judas, Mary, etc.), and Martin was in the choir!! The program is really great for taking students out to do and see things.

Kew Gardens Peacock and someones little boy

Classes the past few days have been amazing. We get out of the class room and see different parts of London. For our British novel class we were able to go to the library and see original manuscripts of different works. I was able to see a copy of Ben Jonson's Volpone and I saw the Lindesfarne Gospel! The week ended though, with another group trip, this time to Kew Gardens (like I said before), it was a cold day for it though. It was still enjoyable to walk around in a natural place while still being in London. Inside the greenhouses were really amazing. Outside there wasn't much in bloom, so there wasn't a whole lot to look at for the casual observer, but the greenhouses had all sorts of flowers and plants, plus the houses themselves were astonishing. Three of the houses were from the Victorian era and were beautiful.

One of the Greenhouses

It's nice though that the weekend is tomorrow, it seems that all week we have been running around for classes and the program, and while it's all been fun and interesting it's also been very tiring.

The same greenhouse (taken from the tree top walk)

If you want to see the streets of London there is a feature on Google maps UK that allows you to see the city at street level. It's really neat and helpful at figuring out where you need to go!

G20

Today was the beginning of the G20 meetings taking place here in London. I'm not very involved in politics, but it is interesting to be living in a London home while this meeting is going on. The news has been covering it for awhile, and it has been enlightening to hear about the economic hardships and what is being done to solve the problems from the POV of a different society. Obama is seen through very hopeful eyes, and even if he doesn't live up to expectations the general consensus seems to be that at least he's not Bush. The loss of jobs and everything that is being seen in the US is also happening here, although it is referred to as the Credit Crunch. I'm really glad to be here in London during this time and to be seeing what's happening in a different way than I would if I was back in the states.

I had the opportunity to go see Parliament, West Minster Abbey, and Buckingham Palace today, and I spent my afternoon in the area. When I first headed out, I had forgotten about the meetings and the protesters. However, while I was there I didn't see protesters but I did see a lot of police. There were armed guards blocking the entrance to Parliament and more guards and a blockade around the Palace. Standing on the edge of the blockade, I was able to see the Mexican president leave Buckingham palace. I also saw a very quick, undramatic changing of the guards (from a distance the guards somewhat resembled bobble-head toys to me, their heads look huge with their hats). There were (and probably still are) a lot of people in the area watching the palace hoping to catch a glimpse of more politicians. I wasn't able to see a lot of the sites that I wanted to though, but the great thing about the program is that I'll have more time another day to go and explore more.

Gargoyale at Westminster Abbey

Guard walking back to the palace, also some of the police outside of Buckingham Palace

One thing that I recommend, is that when you have time to kill, just walk around London with no real destination in mind (or be like me and Becca and try to figure out the bus system and get lost instead), you end up finding really neat places that you never would have seen otherwise, and you begin to get more comfortable with the city and finding your way around. Besides, there is always an underground station nearby and as long as you know where you need to go you can find your way back!

Plaque from a really pretty little church I found while wandering around the city. It has been around since cica 1100 but restored in 1670 after the Great Fire.

London!!!!

With bags packed and close to bursting, I boarded a plane early Saturday morning and, after about sixteen hours (many of them spent sleeping), I stepped off another plane, on Sunday morning, and onto British soil for the first time in my life. Everything was new and different. The first thing that I noticed as I made my way to customs, is that exit signs aren't labeled exit, they are green and have a cartoon of a person running. It was nice to finally be in London. I had spent the whole of my Spring break, the week before I left, running around buying the things I needed to go abroad and spending time with my family and friends. However, even with all of my running around (or maybe because of it), the fact that I was going to London didn't sink in until I was in London. It began as our plane began to fly over the UK and then, as we were preparing to land, I caught site of Big Ben, the Parliament building, and a classic view of the river (it looked just like it does at the opening of Disney's Peter Pan), at that moment, my breath was taken away, I was in London!!

My host family had volunteered to pick up both myself and my housemate, Myles, at the airport because our flights got in so close to each other. I didn't have any problems, Saida (my host mom) found me right away. I was the very lost looking girl standing with all my luggage close. Myles, on the other hand had a much more difficult time; he had the trip that everyone dreads. His flights got delayed and he barely caught his connecting flight to London. Then, once the plane got into Heathrow, it was late and there was no gate available to them (it had been an incredibly busy morning), so they had to wait as buses were brought out to them to take them into the terminal. After all this, and now running late to meet our host parents, he went to get his checked baggage and found that his bad had been lost (probably because of the delays). At this point he was nearly two hours late to meet up with our host parents. Not being sure what to do, and having no way to contact each other, our hosts decided to leave and call the housing coordinator, Maggie, apparently there is a lost student every term, Myles just happened to be the one for this term. As we all later found, Myles arrived at the meeting point only minutes after we had left. He left a message on the house phone however, so when we arrived back at the house, Mike and Saida (our hosts) got the message and turned back around to go and retrieve him. By the time they got back to the airport though, it was an hour or hour thirty later and Myles had already left the airport. While Mike and Saida had gone back to the airport, I remained at their home and after a few hours, there was a knock at the door and standing on the door step was a luggage-less Myles who was incredibly relieved to find that he had in fact successfully found his way by bus to the right flat. The moral of this story (other than being interesting and making me thankful that everything went well for me) is to make sure to pack an extra pair of clothes in your carry on (Myles had, thankfully) and to make sure to get your hosts' contact info (their mobile [cell] number) and to also look up alternative routes to where you are supposed to stay. From there however, things turned out fine. His luggage arrived earlier today right before dinner.

While yesterday was eventful, today was action packed. I seem to be learning something new all the time. It's really great. Although, it does take a little while to get used to the British accent. Londoners are incredibly conscious of the need for conservation. They are very careful about how much energy they use (lights are rarely on until dark) and they recycle everything. There's recycling for waste food, paper, plastic, cans, jars, everything, and if you don't recycle properly, you can (and will be) charged 60 pounds or more, plus your trash won't be picked up. All throughout the city there is recycling and it is all labeled.

Today, was the first time that I made it into zone 1 of the city (the central part of London, there are 6 zones total). The Centre is in the heart of London, the British museum is only a 10 minute walk from the school (we were able to go there today on our walking tour of the city). I met the program director, Martin, the housing coordinator, Maggie, and the visiting prof, Cheryl Mann, and then also Leah (I can't remember what she does but she is responsible for part of the upkeep of the AHA website). Everyone on staff has been great, incredibly nice and helpful. I also met the other students in the program, there are only ten of us total, classes will be really small. We began to get to know each other today, but many of the other students go to OU so they know each other already. The group seems to be a really great one which will make the trip all the better. We basically got a run down of how the program works (many of the classes don't actually meet at the Centre everyday, class will be held in various parts of the city instead!) and then Martin took us on a tour of the city explaining the Zebra crossings (cross walks without a signal, you have to intimidate the drivers into stopping) and also how to use our Oyster cards (unlimited bus and tube transport within the 6 zones). Then, after all this, the majority of the group went back to Harrow (the northwest part of London where the majority of the home stays are located). We walked around for a bit and got mobiles (cell phones) to use while we're in the city. The people in the store were incredibly helpful, and I also learned that pence (like our cents) are just called 'p', so if you get change back you'll get five 'p'. Oh, and something else that I found interesting, at the tube/underground stations, when people ride the escalators, the people who are just standing, riding the escalator, will stand to the right so that others, who walk (or run up) the escalator, have a path on the left side. Also, as I walked around London, I could hear many different languages spoken. Walking by one cafe I heard two men conversing in Italian, then, just down the street, I heard an Eastern European language. Also, classes are called modules and vacations are holidays (and everyone travels throughout Europe and the eastern continents for holiday. Saida's son and girlfriend are going to Thailand in just a few days and later this month Saida is going to Germany). London is an amazing city, I'm incredibly excited for the rest of the time that I will be able to spend here! And, as it is getting to be nearly midnight here, and I'm still a bit jet lagged, I'm going to get some sleep so that tomorrow I'm prepared for our first excursion; a boat trip to Greenwich!!!