My Many Adventures, Mishaps, and Musings

"Home is not where you live but where they understand you." -Christian Morgenstern

2010-06-11T21:40:00.000-07:00

I've been back home in New York for a week now and have been meaning to update this thing for quite a while. My last few weeks in London were stressful, to say the least (my last exam sucked, my computer crashed, packing was a rather intense undertaking, and a most inopportune toothache taught me that NHS is not all it's cracked up to be), but overall it was quite fun. After I finished my last exam (yay!) I spent some time enjoying London!

My computer died just before I headed home and took all my pictures with it, so I can't post evidence from my final adventures (but they are on facebook!). I checked off quite a few things on my bucket lit, including seeing one of my favorite shows again (and having the cast sign my program!), visiting Canterbury with a friend, shopping, having a picnic in Hyde Park with friends, visiting a few museums, horse riding in Hyde Park (on the Queen's Birthday, so we got to see them preparing for the gun salute, which I thought was cool, but kind of freaked my horse out), and checking out Kensington Palace (which I HIGHLY recommend, BTW). And I packed. And packed. And threw stuff out/donated stuff. And packed. (I accumulated a ton of stuff in ten months!). In case you were wondering, getting ten months worth of stuff from London back to New York is very, very expensive. It was not fun.

Being back home has been really nice. I missed my family so much, and it's great to be back with them. Seeing my New York friends was also fantastic (and seeing C&O's new baby was AMAZING!!). It has also been quite lovely to be in an air conditioned house, in my big comfy bed, have a dishwasher, and a garbage disposal. And having my car back has been absolutely wonderful!!!! I went to the grocery store and could buy whatever I wanted without having to worry about getting it home. It was heavenly.

Adjusting has proved challenging. I keep referring to things in the British terms and thinking in a European mindset (every time I walk into a store and see something is listed as being on the first floor I think that means I have to go upstairs, and when I always imagine prices to be too expensive, because I am so used to the pound).

My parents asked me if, knowing what I know now, I would go back, and I honestly don't know. My year abroad was certainly one of the most difficult experiences of my life, but also one of the best. I learned and grew so much, and gained confidence. I learned to stand up for myself, and to take care of myself. I made some truly wonderful friends (who I miss terribly) and got to see things and places I had only dreamed of visiting. So, in spite of how incredibly trying this year was for me, I am not sorry I went and I am so grateful for the experience. But, that doesn't mean I'm rushing off to do it all over again.

"...Rome. I will cherish my visit here in memory as long as I live. "- Audrey Hepburn in "Roman Holiday"

2010-05-23T15:20:00.000-07:00

Before I left for my study abroad, several people who had studied abroad recommended traveling alone, if only for a bit. After my brief adventure in Frankfurt, I was not scared at the prospect, and when all of my would-be travel buddies had (albeit legitimate) excuses not to join me on my Roman holiday, I decided to go on my own.

I have been dreaming about going to Rome since I took art history in high school and fell in love with Bernini and Michelangelo. That love has only grown in subsequent art history classes and I was determined to get back there and see everything, companion or none. Plus, according to people who have previously studied abroad, traveling alone is a great experience.

I got in early on Thursday, and after a lovely lunch (I ate a million carbs during this trip!) I went to the Vatican. I had booked an absolutely fabulous small group tour, that lasted over three hours, and covered every inch of the Vatican possible. It was INCREDIBLE!!! Plus, I had just finished reading The Thorn Birds (which I highly recommend, BTW), so it was really cool to see where so much of the book is set (sadly I did not find Ralph de Bricassart).

Laocoön and His Sons. Backstory for this sculpture: the Pope wanted this old sculpture moved to the Vatican, but Laocoön's arm had been knocked off. So, the Pope called in all the artists who were working in the Vatican at the time, including Michelangelo, Raphael, Bellini, Titian, and a bunch of others (10 in total) and asked them to sketch how the arm should have been. 9 of the ten said the arm would have been extended out (as it is in many later reproductions). Michelangelo said it was bent back. Majority ruled, and a fake arm was put in, extended out. In the early twentieth century some guy went to a flea market in Rome and found this cool ruin that turns out to be Laocoön's arm- exactly the way Michelangelo said it would have been. So they hacked the old one off and put the original back on, and Michelangelo was vindicated some 400 years later.

Afterwards I went to the Trevi fountain, and ate dinner at a café overlooking the fountain at sunset (pretty darn awesome). My hotel room was quite nice, and since I had gotten about an hour of sleep the night before, I loved getting to crash early. Friday morning I was off to Galleria Borghese bright and early, to see the Bernini sculptures, which were even more magnificent than I could have imagined. It was absolutely breathtaking and such a dream come true to see David and Apollo and Daphne and his other works. The Caravaggio, Ruebens, and Titian works were also wonderful.

Sistine Chapel Ceiling

The Last Judgement

(there's tons more pictures, but blogger is being super slow, so I'm not uploading too many right now, but there are lots of facebook)

I took an “Open Tour” which went around Rome and stopped at all the major sites. I saw the Pantheon, the Coliseum, the Forum, Palatine Hill, did a bit of shopping, and just explored the city. The people were all so friendly and nice, even if we could barely communicate (a nice change from the Parisians I encountered during my last excursion).

Pluto and Proserpina by Bernini

Inside the Pantheon

Largo di Torre Argentina, where it is believed that Caesar was killed

I had booked the trip back during my blissfully ignorant days when I thought this last exam would not be as much work, and I would not be crazy stressed. I only realized how horribly wrong I was when it was too late to change anything. But, in the end, I was really glad to have gone. It was so nice to get away and have some time away from the books and stress. I enjoyed traveling alone, and getting to think and reflect on everything and go at my own pace. In spite of the awful sunburn I returned with (OW OW OW!!) I am so glad I did this. It was a great couple of days, but now, sadly, I must hit the books one last time!

".....waking up to say 'Bonjour!'"-Beauty and the Beast

2010-05-09T14:15:00.000-07:00

First of all, Happy Mother’s Day to my wonderful Mom and my lovely mom friends! You ladies are the best (especially my mom).

Psych exams are over!!! How did they go? They went. That’s all that matters. I just have two anthropology exams left, and then I’m free to enjoy London until 4 June.

To celebrate being done with the most difficult portion of my exams, I went to Paris yesterday. One of my very good friends from New York was in town so I wanted to meet up with her, if only for a bit.

Since she did not get in until the afternoon, I spent the morning at Chateaux de Versailles. In tenth grade I took AP European History, and though the class was pure torture, I left with a dream of going to see the famous Versailles. Taking AP Art History two years later only made this hope grow stronger, and so getting to go was truly a dream come true.

Since I was in Versailles by myself, I took the same approach I took in Germany to make pictures more personal. However, Mr. Chick fell in love with a duck in Greece and he stayed behind to start a strange hybrid family with her (I unpacked my suitcase and he wasn’t there. I have no idea what happened to him). So, I replaced him with Flame, the Gay Lion.

This painting of Lafayette was very special for me, because during my First Year at Smith, I took a class called Reenacting the Past, in which we "reenacted" the French Revolution, and I was Lafayette.

After Versailles, I met up with my friend and her mom. We were all quite hungry, so we had a rather early lunch at a little brasserie. It was delicious!! The French may be snotty (as I experienced many times throughout the day) but they can certainly cook and do amazing things with a duck.

Once we were well stuffed, my friend and I took one of the tour buses around the city. We had a very limited amount of time, she was jet-lagged, it was raining, and I was in a t-shirt, so this was really the best way to see the sites quickly

Maybe I’m strange, but Paris isn’t a place I dream of spending lots of time in. It’s beautiful, but I have been the Louvre before, and I have seen Napolean’s tomb, and I don’t feel like I am depriving myself too much by not spending more time there. I am much more excited about my upcoming trip to Rome (that is going to be FABULOUS!!). . So I think this wonderful day in Paris with a wonderful friend was just what I needed.

"Stress is nothing more than a socially acceptable form of mental illness." ~Richard Carlson

2010-04-30T17:09:00.000-07:00

I would like to take this opportunity to apologize to anyone who has had the misfortune recently of encountering Crazy Katherine. Crazy Katherine is not a nice person; she is snippy, cranky, flaky, irritable, constantly hungry, often smelly/disheveled, and basically a vapid narcissist. She is stressed to the max, and will randomly reference something from psychology that is neither relevant nor of any interest to you. Her room is incredibly messy, and she consumes an amount of sugar that would repulse even the most rambunctious kindergartner.

Crazy Katherine takes over my body during situations of extreme stress (and during extremely stressful situations, the brain signals the body to release adrenaline and cortisol, but sometimes during traumatic situations, the medial prefrontal cortex is slow to react, causing a failure to inhibit the fear response once the danger has passed. This is theorized to be a cause of PTSD, according to Pitman et al, 2002, in case you were wondering).

I am, in fact, quite stressed. I have six exams in total, two of which I have now taken, two I have next week, and then two more after that (but the last two are not in psychology, and don’t count for 100% of my grade, unlike the others, so they are somewhat less stressful than the first four). The way the exams work here, at least for psychology, is, in my opinion, an incredibly unfair system. There is no way to properly prepare or even really know what to prepare for. Worse still, there is truly no one to help you. Office hours do not exist, and professors simply do not care about you or how you are doing or if you need help or if you are sitting in your room, hysterically crying because no matter how hard you try you cannot remember the difference between the Furnham 1992 study and the Furnham 2002 study (FYI the 1992 study examined the influence of cognitive style and personality traits and the 2002 study examined why studying personality traits is basically pointless. I admit, there’s a clear distinction but when the same guy has written about half of the articles you need to remember, it gets tricky). I have never encountered a professor who did not want to help his/her students, and they all said that we should not hesitate to ask a question so when I had gone through all of my notes, all of the lecture slides/notes, and looked up all the stuff on psychinfo, and found nothing, I emailed my professor a simple question, just asking for a little guidance as to where to look for answer to a question, and his reply was so snippy and nasty it had me in tears (yes, I am in tears quite a lot in this post, and I am in tears a lot in general, but trust me, this email was mean)

(Dad, if you’re reading this, I’m sure this is the part you’ve been waiting for). The exams so far have been fine. Not great by any stretch of imagination, but not as horrible as I was thinking. I kept calm, and I did the best I possibly could, given the circumstances. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it) I will not find out my results for a very, very long time. That extra “very” is in there because my professors are likely going on strike and refusing to grade papers, postponing results even further. I’m just glad they’re not postponing the giving of the exams, a threat which sent me into an anxiety attack earlier this week.

So, why am I blogging? I NEED A BREAK! After my exam today, I was completely spent. I desperately needed to shop (not wanted to shop-needed to. I hadn’t taken spring humidity, heat, and a lack of air conditioning into account when I packed to come here).I tried studying when I got home but it just was not happening. So I’m blogging, watching Glee (the cure for all life’s problems), and going to bed early so I can wake up and study, study, study. Social psychology=fun!

Before the hell phase of exams set in I was taking one day off per week, which was lovely. While my lovely friend and I were at Leeds Castle we mentioned that we both really wanted to go to EuroDisney. The next weekend was the only chance I would likely have to make that trip happen, so we decided to go for it!

My previous Disney experiences were less than stellar, so Kristin made it her personal mission to make sure I had a great time, since she loves it so much. And, I am happy to report, it was a fantastic day. We went on just about every roller coaster in Disney World and all but one of the roller coasters in Walt Disney Studios (the equivalent of MGM). They were surprisingly fun, and we had a great time. And, for anyone planning a trip, I highly recommend the new Finding Nemo Roller Coaster. It seems to be unique to EuroDisney, and it was both Kristin and my favorite of the day. It was really fun to hear Mickey Mouse speaking French, and Crash from Finding Nemo speaking French in an Australian accent. We did, however, realize that the Haunted Mansion is a lot less scary when it is narrated entirely in French so you have no idea what is going on or what the significance of the bloody bride is.
Anyway, here are some pictures:

Sleeping Beauty's Castle

Screaming on Space Mountain

Screaming on Tower of Terror (also note the terrified little girl on the far right. She could not have been more than five, and she came off the ride hysterically crying, and it was all I could do to keep from hugging her and calling the French social services.

We went to a really fun blacklight show (where we may or may not have been the oldest people there without children), where they sang and performed Disney songs, alternating between English and French. Mickey spoke French, and Donald spoke English!

Lion King float in the parade (Timon and Pumba spoke French, which was weird)

Blogger is annoying me to no end, so if you want to see more pictures, let me know.

(Also, MAZEL TOV to Chani and Oren and their beautiful baby girl!!!!)

"I'm sorry, I don't speak American"- Mr. Salt (in the 2005 version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory)

2010-04-18T17:33:00.000-07:00

Anyone who knows me knows of my love for Will & Grace. Since I have been in London, I’ve developed a new love and appreciation for this clip:

Even though I am studying abroad in an English-speaking country, I often feel like I am learning a new language, and lately I am catching myself more and more speaking like a Brit. Some of the differences are interesting, even amusing. Others irk me. Some of the biggest differences that stick out to me are:

-The use of the word “the”: The British often omit this word- if you’re sick you “go to hospital”. If you need to run errands you “go to shops”.

-They call cream cheese “Philadelphia” (after the brand). I had a long debate with a British friend over this, but I maintain that this is ridiculous and I refuse to ever pass anyone “the Philadelphia”. I will only hand them the CREAM CHEESE if they call it by its proper name.

- “Really” becomes “quite” and “real” becomes “proper”

- “I have” or “I don’t have” becomes “I’ve got” “I haven’t got”

- They say “Cheers!” as a parting term, but I still haven’t decided if it is supposed to be used in lieu of “thank you” or in addition to it. I generally say both, because I don’t want to be rude, but I hear both ways said equally as often

- “You alright? / You ok?” is the same as “how are you?” It took me a while to figure this one out, and I was very concerned that I must look suicidal considering how often people were asking me if I was ok

- Using the word “awesome” here is the same as wearing a sign around your neck that reads “Hello, I’m American!” I got sick of being mocked so I had to learn to use “lovely” or “brilliant” instead

- “Bathroom” refers to a room with a bath. If you simply need to use the little girls room, it is referred to as the “toilet”, and often the bath is in a room of its own.

- What Americans call “jello” the British call “jelly”. What we call “jelly” just doesn’t exist here. It’s quite sad.

- You don’t rent in London, you “hire”. Someone told me they had “hired a car” for the day, which naturally made me think he had paid a small fortune for a fancy car and chauffer. Really, he had gone to Hertz and rented a little clunker.

- To tease someone is to “try to get the mickey out of them”. I have no idea where this expression comes from.

- When we first got to London, our orientation leaders cautioned us to never, ever, under any circumstances use the term “fanny pack” or anything with the word “fanny.” Here, it refers to a part of the female anatomy and will earn you some funny looks if you use it!

- Similarly, don’t talk about your “pants” in England! What they call “pants” we call “underwear”. So telling someone you need new pants, or that your pants are too tight, etc, will also earn you strange looks

- (This one isn’t verbal, but it is still part of communication, so it counts). Holding up your index and middle finger as if to count to two is not something you should do when trying to teach British children math, as the gesture is basically equivalent to holding up the middle finger. I learned that one the hard way.

- This: “Z” is the letter “zed” and it’s used far less often here than in the states. And this: “.” is a “full stop”.

- In “primary school” (not “elementary school”) you study “maths” (plural. Don’t ask me why.)

I have also been known to say “bloody” when I’m very upset, and an annoying person is a “bugger”.

I suppose the fact that I am speaking in a more British manner speaks to the fact that I have become quite comfortable here, and London feels almost like home (not that anything could ever compare to New York). In a weird way, this makes me feel proud and accomplished. It is nice to look back on how I felt when I first got here, and think how far I’ve come. I remember when I had no idea how to get to King’s Cross Station, and now I know three different ways to get there from my flat. London used to seem so strange and scary, but now I have made a life for myself here, and it’s a life I’m quite enjoying.

Sadly, I will be leaving this life in London in a matter of weeks. Between now and then I have six (killer) exams, and the paper of death. I’m stressed, overwhelmed, exhausted, and frustrated. I was going crazy for a bit, but I am trying to get everything under control, set plans, goals, and rewards for when I meet said goals.

One reward I gave myself was a trip to Leeds Castle yesterday with a wonderful friend. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, and we had a lovely day. Here are some pictures:

There were a million peacocks at Leeds Castles, but they were all being lazy and refusing to move and look pretty!

There's a huge flower show coming up at the castle, so we got a bit of a preview

A lovely cottage on the way up to the castle

Beautiful willow trees

Library in the Castle

Views of the castle

A tucan in Lady Bailie's Aviary

The maze at the castle (it's very tricky!)

Gardens at the castle

Blogger is being very annoying at the moment, so I can't upload as many pictures as I would like, but there are loads more of my facebook.

"Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not. "- Ralph Waldo Emerson

2010-04-15T11:40:00.001-07:00

Holiday Saga Part 7 (Final!)

Our boat docked back in Athens very early in the morning, and our flight was not until later in the evening, so after we dropped our bags at the airport we got to spend the day in Athens. It was Good Friday, which meant most sights did not open until noon. In the meantime, we had a really nice lunch at a Greek restaurant, and walked around a bit. Athens is really overrun by tourists, and there are a million little souvenir shops on every street. But once we made it to the sights, putting up with the sketchiness and the constant people trying to get us into their shops was well worth it.

The acropolis was beautiful, and it was such a wonderful experience getting to see all of the things I had always seen pictures of in textbooks.

We passed a little square with ancient Greek columns, an old church, and lots of cyprus trees. There are a million cyprus trees in Greece, because in Greek Orthodox tradition they symbolize the resurrection

A bathhouse just across from the acropolis, now underneath the Acropolis Museum, where they have moved much of the original artwork, statues, etc., out of fear of an earthquake
View of the acropolis from the museum
Odeon of Herodes Atticus
Odeon again, and the view of the hill where the acropolis is (it is a LONG way up!)
Theatre of Dionysus
Theatre of Dionysus again. As we were looking at it, an Italian family was standing next to it. When their son, who could not have been more than three-years-old, looked at it he said "Bello" in the sweetest, most innocent voice, as if he were completely in awe of it. It was adorable!
We finally made it to the acropolis!!
View from the top
Parthenon
Erectheum
Temple of Hephaistos
Remains of an ancient Greek library
Hadrian's Gate
Temple of Zeus
The wonderful gelato I got as a final indulgence before heading back to reality
We barely made it to our flight, and it was sad to have to come back to reality, and I am now buried under a mountain of work to do for my exams. But the holiday was very much needed, and it was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I am so glad to have been able to go and see all these places I have always dreamed of seeing.
I was also so glad to spend time with Rachel. She was a most wonderful travel companion, and an incredible friend. We had such a nice time together, got along great, and never ran out of things to talk about. The trip would not have been nearly as incredible without her.

" “Rest when you're weary. Refresh and renew yourself, your body, your mind, your spirit. Then get back to work.”-Ralph Marston

2010-04-14T16:46:00.000-07:00

Holiday Saga Part 6

The last day of the cruise was probably the best. We started the day in Crete, where we went to see Knossos Palace. Rachel and I both took art history in high school and had studied the palace, so to get to see it was really a dream come true. And, yes, it was as cool as we had hoped.

The famous columns of Knossos Palace

Giant Urns (and a really sweet, but dirty, dog that followed us around the whole time)

Ruins of the palace

Relief paintings at the palace

The Queen's Room

I forget what exactly this is, sorry!

The king's thrown room

View from the palace

Me at the palace!

The medieval fountain in Crete

On the walk to the fountain, we passed three different people playing the accordion- first someone who looked just a bit younger than me, then a bit closer to the fountain was a girl who looked like a young teen, and then this little boy was at the fountain. The accordion is such a happy sounding instrument but they all looked so sad, that it was a really heartbreaking sight (sorry if that puts a damper on an otherwise happy post)

After Crete we went to Santorini, which was truly breathtakingly beautiful. Pictures hardly do it justice. We saw all the famous white houses and churches with blue roofs, which we were sad to learn did not have any special meaning, but originated because they were the cheapest materials for building, but once it other materials that were just as cheap came to the island, they realized the white and blue was really pretty so they stuck with it. We went to Oia and Thira, which, despite being major tourist destinations, have retained a unique charm. We enjoyed exploring, and then made our way to the shore to watch the sunset, which was incredible. We took a cable car down to the boat, so we got a really nice final view of the city before heading back.

The view from the tender boat as we approached Santorini

Rachel and me on the tender boat to the island

A little church and graveyard in Oia

View from Oia

Another view, this time with a church and monastery (There are a ton of monasteries in Greece!)

We loved the colors on this building!

Me! (It would have all matched if it weren't for the poster!)

Church bells

Another monastery

Santorini is famous for its sunsets, which are absolutely stunning.

Me again

Not sure what this is, but it makes for a cool picture

Another sunset picture, this time with the ship

The donkeys you could take down to the shore. It sounded fun, but we were told they are very dangerous (they are given food at the shore, so they tend to run down the steps, often hurting the rider in the process), plus they smelled really bad, and did not seem friendly or well taken care of. So....

we took the cable cars instead, and got some really great views

Me and the lovely Rachel at sunset in Santorini. Life is good. (also, I love how tall I look here!)

One last sunset picture

Santorini at night (taken in the cable car, so I apologize for the blurriness)

"Travel is the frivolous part of serious lives, and the serious part of frivolous ones." - Anne Sophie Swetchine

2010-04-11T15:06:00.000-07:00

Holiday Saga Part 5

View from the window when we woke up

We spent all of Wednesday in Rhodes; we went on an excursion in the morning and then explored on our own in the afternoon.

The excursion first took us to the Acropolis of Lindos, which was really beautiful, but a LONG way up! I did not feel at all guilty about the almond cake I had with lunch after walking all those steps. But the view from the top was well worth the hike.

On the way up to the acropolis

another view

The medieval castle just next to the Acropolis of Lindos, to which the only entrance is the million stairs we had to climb. This way, if the people people guarding the castle saw someone coming, they could drop burning sand/boiling water/sharp things onto the intruder.

The Acropolis of Lindos

View from the top

St. John was exiled to Lindos at one point, and lived somewhere in this part, so that little white church is built as a memorial to him

Not sure what this sign says, but you get the general idea

Acropolis/Castle

We also got to wander around the markets near the acropolis, which was nice, until I got ripped off for the second time, when I was really thirsty and decided I'd earned a milkshake after the hike up to the acropolis. It turned out to be basically water with food coloring, which was disgusting and annoying (but I had almond cake later, so it was ok). I was still thirsty so I went to a stand to get a bottle of water where I got ripped off for the THIRD time, when I realized (once we were on the bus and it was too late to do anything) that the water cost fifty cents, which meant I should have gotten two coins back - a one euro coin and a twenty cents coin. I did get two coins back, but one was a 20 cents coin and the other was a fifty cent coin. I was peeved to say the least, especially since I was stupid enough not to check before I left the stand. But it wasn't a huge deal, and I tried not to let stupid people ruin my mood when I was really enjoying the trip.

After the acropolis they took us to an authentic Greek ceramics studio, which was surprisingly cool. It has been run by the same family for about three generations, and now this man hand makes the ceramics (which he demonstrated and wowed us all), and his wife and sister paint them in the traditional Greek styles. I bought a few things and miraculously they all survived the trip home.

Making a vase (it took him about 2 minutes to make that)

making it pretty (they signed the things I bought and wrote something in Greek for me on the one I got as a present for someone)

Rhodes is a pretty interesting place, because of the mix of time periods all in once. There were Greek, Byzantine, and Ottoman remains throughout the city, mixed with modern. We had a really nice day exploring it! There were also really nice beaches, but it was still too chilly to enjoy it, so we just put our feet in the water for a bit before running back to the ship.

One of the moats from the medieval castle, that has now been turned into a little park

Mosque from the Ottoman Empire

Pretty statue-thing on the beach near our ship (sadly we did not see any dolphins)

"“Without new experiences, something inside of us sleeps. The sleeper must awaken.” -Frank Herbert

2010-04-11T12:51:00.000-07:00

Holiday Saga Part 3

We realized pretty quickly that traveling alone in Greece was not a wise move, so Rachel and I signed up for a bunch of the cruise’s excursions. I had done some research, and found the prices on the cruise were more than reasonable, and they took us to some great sites, so I think it was a good move. The cruise was only 5 days long, but it covered a lot of ground! On Tuesday, the first full day of the cruise, we went started the day (insanely early!) in Kusadasi, Turkey.

I was shocked by how incredible Turkey is! It is really beautiful, which I was not expecting. We drove up the mountains, taking in the view until we got to The House of the Virgin Mary, which is believed to be where the Virgin Mary spent the last years of life. It is now a holy site for both Muslims and Christians, so on August 15^th every year a service is performed there and both Christian and Muslim pilgrims venture up there. It is one of the only (if not the only) times Christians and Muslims gather to worship together, so even if it is not the actual house of the Virgin Mary, it is still pretty cool. There is also a spring that runs under Mary’s bedroom and she is believed to have drunk from, and now the Spring is believed to have healing powers. Beyond the religious significance of the site, it is also just really beautiful.

The House of The Virgin Mary- the different colored stones on the bottom are the ones from the original house (it was reconstructed after a German nun's visions led archaeologists to the site). This is the only picture I could get that didn't have a bunch of tourists in it.

The front of the house

Prayers on the gates lining the walls by the house

Washing my hands in the water from the holy spring

After leaving the House of the Virgin Mary, we went to the ancient city of Ephesus. Turkey actually has the most ruins from ancient Greece, and the most well preserved ruins, of anywhere in the world, including Greece. Surprising, no?

Greek Ruins

Kittie hanging out on the Gate of Hercules

Ruins of a Greek Library

Ruins from the marketplace. The ugly siding on the right is actually protecting these 7 homes of really wealthy Greek families that were found remarkably well preserved (with tables set in the kitchens, etc). We didn't get to go in, but it was cool nonetheless

Public bathrooms from the marketplace/forum. Rachel and I thought it was picture-worthy, until we realized how weird it would be if in a hundred years or so people took pictures of the toilets we use now

The Octagon, the tomb of Princess Arsinoe, sister of Cleopatra, whose husband Marc Anthony executed Arsinoe by poisoning her, as he saw her a threat to his power. This is where the poison Arsenic gets its name. I hope if one of my siblings or their spouses ever murdered me they would at least have the decency to name the murder weapon after me.

The Great Amphitheater, where Saint Paul preached to the Ephesians. Elton John has also been featured there, which I found delightfully ironic.

After we left Ephesus the tour took us to a traditional Turkish rug maker. Naturally, we assumed it was just going to be a boring demonstration where they tried to get us to buy a rug, but we were pleasantly surprised. We watched a woman who is working on weaving a beautiful silk rug (that will take her a year and a half to complete!), which was very impressive. Then they rolled out a bunch of finished rugs and we were just amazed at how gorgeous they were! They are really works of art. I, being naïve, asked how much one cost. It was about as much as a year of room & board at Smith, so I just laughed, whereupon the nice salesman brought Rachel and me into a private room where he rolled out rug after rug, trying to convince us to buy one. We had a hard time trying to make them understand that we were not going to buy a rug (gorgeous though they were, I need a new computer far more than a Turkish rug, and the cheapest one they had was as much as a top of the line laptop).

When we finally got out of there and said goodbye to the pretty rugs we wandered around the market near the ship. Rachel and I received a strange number of comments about our hair (she has curly hair as me), and heard many calls of “Hey, Curly, come over here!” It was very weird! Poor Rachel got ripped off at one of the shops, which we only learned when we got back to the ship. It was pretty upsetting, but she was a good sport about it (much more so than I would have been!).

Rachel, being very happy in Kusadasi (prior to realizing she had been ripped off).

That afternoon/evening we went to Patmos. It beautiful, but not as cool as Kusadasi. First we went to the Grotto of Saint John where it is believed that he received the visions of the apocalypse recorded in the Book of Revelations. We could not take pictures inside (an angry-looking Greek Orthodox priest was there to make sure) but they had the rock he used as a pillow, the groove in the wall he used for support when he stood up from the rock-bed, and the fissure in the wall representing the trinity.

The view on the way up to the grotto

Building constructed to protect the grotto

Mosaic outside the grotto, showing St. John dictating the Book of Revelations to his scribe

lots of Greek cats outside the grotto

The Monastery next to the grotto in honor of St. John

We also saw more windmills, and took a scenic drive around the island, before stopping at a little Greek café, where Rachel and I got to try Greek orange juice. My friend had told me a while ago that the orange juice in Greece is different from anywhere else, and very special. She was right! It was delicious, and I don’t usually even like orange juice!

Wandering around Patmos was lovely. They had a bunch of cute shops and the scenery was gorgeous. There were a lot of beautiful houses on the island, and our tour informed us that they range from €2,000-€3,000/square meter. So, my new mission in life is to find a rich husband who will buy me a house in Patmost (I already picked it out!) that I can fill with pretty Turkish rugs.

Anyway, here are some pictures from Patmos:

We kept seeing this fat little dog around the beaches; he even wandered in the cafe where we were eating! I named him "Fatty". He was really sweet and funny! The security guys stationed outside our ship got bored and gave him some food, which he is happily eating in the picture.

There are lots of little churches like these (at least I think they're churches) around the islands. Also, that's our ship in the background, which provides an interesting back drop.

Another tiny little church

" “I am a citizen, not of Athens or Greece, but of the world”-Socrates

2010-04-10T05:40:00.000-07:00

Me in Mykonos!

So, after I spent a lovely day in Frankfurt I headed off to Athens. My friend and I were booked for a cruise that left early the next morning, and she was flying direct from a competition in the Netherlands, so I was going to spend the night in a hotel, and she would meet me there when she got in. I talked to the hotel ahead of time to figure out how to get from the airport to the hotel and it all seemed easy and I was not worried in the slightest.

I should have known that me not worrying is always a bad sign. When my flight got in and I got my bag, I just walked right out without going through passport control or customs or security or anything, which seemed a bit strange, but I was not complaining. I tried to get a taxi to take me to the hotel but the driver said the hotel was so close that it would not be worth his time to take me, and since I was fairly certain he was drunk, I hopped on the bus that the hotel receptionist had told me to take. It was not the right bus. Hardly anybody spoke English, and finally through the help of a nice man who kind of spoke English, I was told to get off and cross the street, and then just walk straight, and I’d get to the hotel. Once I crossed the street though, I learned it did not continue like the man had said, but rather cut off in a very sketchy ally. It was very late and I was really scared. I tried not to cry, but I was pretty terrified. I managed to hail a taxi, but the driver quickly got lost, spoke no English, and drove like a maniac. I just prayed and held on tight for what felt like an eternity, thinking all the while “I should have stayed in Germany!”.

Once he dropped me at the hotel (after overcharging me and throwing my bag to the curb) I slept just a bit until Rachel came. She and I got a few hours of sleep before heading over to our port for the cruise. We noticed a couple of things very quickly:

-Athens is dirty. It has become very run down and disgusting, which is sad considering how much history is there

- Greece has lots of animals running around. While we were in the queue to board the ship, we saw several homeless dogs running around. They were surprisingly clean and very friendly, but it was very strange

- Our boat had a lot of Americans, especially the type of Americans that make you understand why the rest of the world has such a negative view of Americans. Fanny packs and sandals-with-socks galore! There were also lots of American school groups onboard- one from Wisconsin (made evident by their sweatpants/shorts/t-shirts with the word “Wisconsin” emblazed brightly) and a few others. And I thought my high school was cool when we went to a Broadway show! The kids were kind of annoying, and made me really glad to be out of high school, but we managed to avoid them for most of the trip.

The reviews I’d read online made me a little unsure of what to expect from the ship, but I was pleasantly surprised. The ship was small, especially compared to the two Royal Caribbean ships I had been on, but it was very nicely decorated, modern, and did not feel too crowded. There was not much of a pool, but that was not a problem since it was till a bit too chilly for swimming. Our room was really nice, and our window afforded us some great views (well worth the bit of extra money you had to pay for a room with a window). My only complaint was that you felt the ship rocking quite a bit, which I had not experienced on the other cruises I had been on. Those prone to motion sickness might not have enjoyed the ship so much!

Rachel, my wonderful travel companion, and I have both had some experiences in which we are “creeper magnets” (attractors of creepy people) and while we were hoping to get away from this on our holiday we were not so lucky. A very nice crew member showed us to our room when we first arrived, and then we wound up seeing him again at dinner, so he came over to our table. We were trying to eat quickly, but he seemed very eager to have a conversation with us, but it was extremely awkward. We laughed it off once he left, but then that night, at about 11:30, he came to our room! Rachel (by far the sweeter of us two) tried to make it less awkward by asking about breakfast, but it was very strange, and annoying since we had to be up at about 5:30 am. We had another awkward encounter the next day, and then that night he came to our room AGAIN at 11:30! This time I answered the door, not too happy to be disturbed when I was just about to get under the covers. It was very awkward, and since I lack Rachel’s charm, I was perhaps a bit snippy. At this point we were pretty uncomfortable with the situation, so the next day we went to the reception desk and explained about our frequent visitor. The receptionist seemed pretty freaked out and promised to take care of it, but said that if he should come by again, to call the desk “IMMEDIATLEY!” Fortunately he did not come by again, and we managed to avoid him for the rest of the cruise, but that night when we were about to go to sleep, Rachel found a black hair on her pillow not belonging to either of us. We fell asleep laughing and teasing each other that he was our new stalker.

But back to the fun stuff. After we left Athens we spent a few hours at sea before getting to Mykonos. We walked around the city as the sunset along the beach. It was simply beautiful! We were one of the first cruises of the season so it was not too over run with tourists, and people were not sick of Americans just yet. I bought a beautiful painting (where I got ripped off for the first time, but more on that later. It wasn’t a huge deal, though) and we had a really nice night.

View as we approached Mykonos

Pangia Paraportiani at Sunset

the famous Mykonos windmills

typical little street in Mykonos

View from the beach

" We wander for distraction, but we travel for fulfillment" -Hilaire Belloc

2010-04-07T04:54:00.000-07:00

It has always been my experience that layovers between flights suck. Three hours in the St. Paul, Minnesota airport was certainly less than exhilarating. So, of course, when I was trying to book my flight to Athens and the only two flights available both had insane layovers, I was not thrilled. However, the cheaper of the two (“cheaper” being a relative term), had a nine hour layover in Frankfurt, Germany. I have a few friends who always tell me how wonderful Germany is, and another friend who routinely has massive layovers, which she uses as a chance to get a bonus trip, so I decided to take my cue from them, and spent a few hours exploring Frankfurt. Here is what I learned:

1. German is a language with far too many consonants. Many of the words are actually very similar to their English counterparts, just with random Ws, Xs, Hs, and Zs, thrown in. As a result, German sounds very harsh, and the speakers seem somewhat angry. Really, I think they are just tired from using so many unnecessary letters.

2. Nine hours was all I really needed to see Frankfurt. It is not a huge city, and since it was a Sunday, very little was open, so the short amount of time I had allowed me to explore the city without feeling too rushed, but also from getting bored or tempted to do too much.

3. Everyone really does speak English. My friend who lived there for two years had told me this ahead of time, but I thought he was exaggerating. But really, everyone there spoke English and I had no trouble communicating or getting help when I needed it. Even the homeless woman who helped me find my way spoke fluent English! I hope this doesn’t make me an annoying American tourist, but this was a comforting discovery.

4. There are a surprising amount of Roman ruins in Frankfurt. I couldn’t believe all the old remains I saw, or how beautiful the Roman part of the city is.

5. Frankfurt is very clean! There was little graffiti, the city felt entirely safe, there weren’t any vagrants, and everyone was friendly. Maybe it’s because I just wrote a paper on the Holocaust, but I was expecting a very cold, hostile, ugly place, but I was pleasantly surprised.

I really needed some time away from London and school and stress and everything, and just some time to be by myself and not have to worry too much about anything, so this was a great way to start off my trip and I was so grateful for the opportunity.

Since I was traveling alone, I could not take pictures of myself, and I have heard too many stories of people having their cameras stolen by seemingly nice people offering to take their picture. Still, I didn’t just want to have boring scenery pictures that look the same as everyone else’s who has been to Frankfurt, so I took along Mr. Chick, a little stuffed chick I found on sale at a store in London, and enlisted him to be my model for the pictures.

Eschenheimer Turm

A beautiful graveyard I happened upon as I was lost (with Mr. Chick)

Not sure what this building is but it was really pretty

Reconstructed Roman building (the original was bombed in 1944)

The Kaiserdom, circa 1356

Mr. Chick hanging out on some Roman ruins

I loved the mix of old and new here

"Whatever else is unsure in this stinking dunghill of a world a mother's love is not." - James Joyce

2010-03-14T16:10:00.001-07:00

For those who don’t know, I have the greatest mother ever. Seriously, she’s the best. And, she spent the last week in London with me! Naturally, it was fantastic.

She came armed with an itinerary a mile long, most of which was taken from my London Bucket List (see below) so we checked off several key things, and had a lovely time.

When she arrived on Sunday, we had a nice cup of tea/cappuccino and headed to the Wallace Collection, which was surprisingly incredible, and highly underrated.

The armor and weaponry room at the Wallace Collection

Then we went to Hampstead Heath which was beautiful, but quite chilly. We got some great pictures, saw amazing sights, and walked and talked for miles.

The view from Hampstead Heath

John Keats' House, next to Hampstead Heath

On Monday, after my classes we went to a fabulous, and quite unique dinner and then saw The Misanthrope (which was awful, by the way, but seeing Keira Knightly from the second row was pretty cool). Tuesday we went to the V&A, got crepes nearby, and went to see Private Lives, with Kim Cattrall and Matthew Macfayden, which was fantastic. Wednesday, since I had the day off, we went over to Kingston, where I got to go riding in Richmond Park, and we attempted to go to Hampton Court (we got there just after they sold the last ticket of the day L), did a bit of exploring, and then saw A Midsummer’s Night Dream with Dame Judy Dench, which was also great.

Thursday, my Mom booked us on an incredible tour that took us to Bath, Stonehenge, and this small town Lacock, which is beautifully untouched by time. It was one of the best days I’ve spent in England, and it was an unforgettable experience. I took lots of pictures!

The view from the Bridge in Bath

Bath Abbey

The Roman Baths

the beautiful and mystifying Stonehenge

Mom and me at Stonehenge

King John I's Hunting Lodge in Lacock, where the king was forced to sign the Magna Carta at knifepoint in 1215

Church Graveyard in Lacock

The Medieval Fireplace at the George Inn in Lacock, where we had a most fabulous dinner (the inn was established in 1361)

A small dog would run inside this wheel to fuel the fire in the fireplace above

Friday we did some shopping and had tea at Fortnum and Mason’s (which I loved even more because in the musical Oliver! there is a cart onstage from Fortnum and Mason’s during “Who Will Buy”). After the tour guide from Thursday’s adventure and I recommended WarHorse, my mom suggested we try for return tickets, which we lucked out with and got great seats. I think I enjoyed the play even more this time, possibly because I wasn’t jetlagged out of my mind, and partly because I was with much better company than before. But I (like the rest of London theater-goers) would highly recommend it to anyone in London.

tea at Fortnum and Mason's

For my mom’s birthday I’d done the British Library’s Adopt-a-Book program, and adopted a 1904 edition of Anne of Green Gables for her (she read it to me when I was little, because, as I said, she’s the best mom ever), and so on Saturday we got to take a special tour of the library, which was very interesting and made me appreciate the library even more. Then I dragged her to my favorite part of London, the markets. First we went to Camden Market, where I got my dress for Ivy Day next year (Seriously, next year!!!). Then we went to Portobello Road, which I think my mom liked a lot better, and we looked at the beautiful antique jewelry, and she bought a beautiful brooch, and we got some delicious crepes.

We passed George Orwell's house on the way to Portobello Road

Afterwards we went and saw The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. I may be scarred for life, but my mom enjoyed it because she’d read the books and actually understood what was going on. We got Indian food for dinner, and all was right with the world.

After a lovely lay in at her amazing hotel and a yummy English breakfast (well, as yummy as any English breakfast can be) we bid adieu. It was so great to spend time with her, and do things I could not have done with anyone else. Also just being on the same continent as her was great, because normally our schedules do not mesh well with the time difference, so being able to talk with her was so wonderful and cathartic in many ways. I was so glad to see her and spend time with her and just be able to hug her for the first time in months. I do not think I realized until fairly recently just how blessed I am to have such a great relationship with my parents, so having my mom here was just fantastic, especially since, by sheer coincidence she was here for the British Mother’s Day, so she gets 2 mother’s days this year!

"Smile. It makes people wonder what you're up to."- Anonymous

2010-01-26T17:34:00.001-08:00

Last week was one of those weeks where there is not one horribly, catastrophic thing that goes wrong, but rather the kind where a whole bunch of little things go wrong and they build up until you jut want to bury yourself under a heap of blankets. And after a hard day, my flatmates decided to have some loud party so now my head is throbbing.

But things are actually going well! The second term is off to a great start, and I have some great looking travel prospects for my ridiculously long break. So here are some things that are not going wrong:

I have started working as a volunteer homework tutor at a local library. The kids come from around the London area, many of their families immigrated here and the parents often do not speak or read English, and some of the kids struggle as well. But the kids are so sweet and smart, and it is so rewarding to see the smile on their face when they get the hang of improper fractions, or finally learn their spelling words. Plus, they’re really cute British kids!! They all call me “Miss” which makes me feel old, and they laugh at me when I use American terms- who knew this: “.” is called a “Full stop” here? To explain the differences to one of the 8 year-old students I asked her what she thought “pants” are, and as she thoughtfully explained, “pants are what you put on first, and you have to change your pants every day. Pants are essential” (referring, of course, to what we Americans call “underwear”). When I explained we call “pants” what they call “trousers,” she looked quite scandalized, and said “Miss, they teach you really bad English in America”

Speaking of adorable British children, I’ve been babysitting again. I always hoped to spend my nights with cute British boys, I had just hoped they would be over the age of two. Oh well, beggars cannot be choosers. But seriously, these kids are adorable, especially because they are at the age where they are learning to speak more. Last night as I was putting one of the little cuties to sleep, he said “buh bye” and “Night night!” which I had never heard him say before. It was the perfect cure to a long day.

Not that yesterday was bad, it was just long. But I did have a great lunch with my friend at Whole Foods, and then headed off to my wonderful art history class. I am taking Renaissance Art in London Collections, which means we go to a museum for each class and look at different pieces. It’s really interesting, and fun. Also, a lot of what I learned in Mr. Nici’s class in high school is coming back for this clas,s which makes me looks smart! I took some pictures yesterday at the V&A.

The V&A

Really cool chandelier

Cool Renaisannce stuff

Creepy babies on a fountain

This sculpture, besides being really great, is on all of the ads for the V&A, so I took this to kind of prove that I was actually there

Also, I have been meeting some new people, and getting close to people who I did not know as well last term, which has been great, and been keeping me busy. I have also been (somewhat) better at keeping in touch with friends from home, which is really great.

In other news, my classes are fantastic, I am at ten shows (saw Wicked from row L for 20 pounds!), I discovered the magic that is Borough Market, I have finally figured out how to get the water in the shower to do more than drizzle, the heat in my room is finally working, I am almost done with the wonderful book I am reading, I have renewed my addiction to the New York Times, and I think I may have found the perfect gift for my Mommy’s birthday. And, I’m sitting here, watching Lost on DVD, drinking really good tea and eating almond biscotti, and I have the day off tomorrow. Life is good.

"It is easier to be wise for others than for ourselves. " -François Duc de La Rochefoucauld

2010-01-24T17:12:00.000-08:00

One of my best friends just left for her semester abroad, and several others have been roaming about the globe since the New Year. So, maybe I should have posted this earlier, but better late than never. So, here is a list of 11 things I wish someone had told me before I left:

1. Jet lag is real and it sucks. It takes my body about a week to adjust, and it seems, for me at least, that jet lag gets worse before it gets better. I was walking around in a fog, exhausted no matter how much I slept, had headaches, and could not concentrate properly. All you can really do is try to sleep on a normal schedule and wait for your body to adjust.

2. Culture shock is very, very real, and is a phenomenon studied in organizational psychology. It can lead to fatigue as a result of the strain from the effort required to make adaptations, a sense of loss or deprivation, feelings of rejection or isolation, confusion, anxiety, and indignation at being forced to adapt. There’s a whole chapter dedicated to it in my textbook, but basically, it goes back to our innate need to control and understand situations, and when that is taken away, we react very negatively. When we had this lecture, I found it quite comforting because it meant that I was not a failure for feeling some of these things. It is OK to feel frustrated, lonely, confused, and tempted to get on the next plane home. YOU ARE ALLOWED TO FEEL BAD. Once I acknowledged that this was what I was feeling and why, I was much more able to handle it, and things greatly improved (if only this lecture had not come at the end of last term!).

3. Trust your instincts. If your gut is telling you that the directions the nasty French lady gave you were wrong, don’t keep doing what she says or you may find yourself in a very sketchy area far away from where you were meant to be. If something seems to be telling you the way you are going is not safe, find a different way. Even if you wind up walking much more than you intended, or even splurging on a taxi, your safety is what comes first.

4. “If you never have, you should. These things are fun and fun is good!”- Dr. Seuss
Try things you never thought you would try. Do something different. Even if you hate it, at least you can say you tried it.

5. Work hard, play hard, but balance them, and plan for each. I set a goal for myself to get all of my papers and work for the end of last term a week early, so that meant I had the last week of the term to just enjoy Christmas time in London without anything hanging over my head. It was fantastic!

6. If you’re cooking for yourself, cook way more food than you think you’ll eat in one sitting, and save the rest. It’s so nice to know there are yummy things to reheat if you have a paper to work on later in the week.

7. You don’t have to forget that you’re an American. Bake cookies even if the concept is foreign to your non-American friends. Watch The Biggest Loser and Glee online if only to be able to talk to your American friends about them. Refuse to use Google.co.uk and stay loyal to Google.com. This helped me to feel connected to home, and established a stronger sense of normalcy for me.

8. Speak up! I had a lecturer who was using an example of “prefects” to explain a concept. I could tell a lot of the other Americans in the room and I had no idea what a “prefect” was but we were all a bit embarrassed. Finally someone spoke up, the professor laughed, explained, and from then on was careful to always explain uniquely British terms he used.

9. Walk. Besides allowing me to lose some weight (yay!) , it can actually mean getting somewhere faster or with less hassle than you would on public transportation, and it has allowed me to see some really cool parts of London I never would have seen otherwise. A great site is www.walkit.com (it tells you the fastest route, estimated time for slow/average/fast walkers, calories burned, and how much CO2 you’re avoiding)

10. Don’t be afraid to do things by yourself. I’m still working on this one, but often not having “someone to go with” has held me back from seeing a museum or checking out a market. It can be a really great experience to do things on your own.

11. Call, email, and gchat with family and friends A LOT. Yes, it’s great to make new friends, but homesickness can make you miserable, and it doesn't make you weak to want your mommy when you're sick, or wish your Dad was there when things seem to be falling apart. I have actually gotten much closer to some friends from back home than I was before I left, and I have come to appreciate my family so much more. Maybe distance does make the heart grow fonder, or maybe I’m just clingy, but I am so grateful for how much my relationships have benefited from my being here. I love my family and friends more than I can say, and I don’t know how I would have made it through last term without them.

“The journey not the arrival matters.” - T.S. Eliot

2010-01-09T12:27:00.000-08:00

I love traveling; it’s the act of traveling that I hate. And by that, of course, I mean flying. Despite how much I love New York and London, traveling between the two is true torture, especially if I am on one of the older planes, with less leg room (and when someone my height is complaining about a lack of leg room, there’s a problem). To add to my misery, on the flight I took last night/this morning, my seat-mate, despite being very sweet, looked like she had a nasty case of the plague. Several other people on the flight spent the whole 6 hours coughing. As such, I am now popping vitamins like candy.
Flying makes me cranky. Saying goodbye to people I really love makes me depressed. The fact that the heat is yet again on the fritz in my flat means I’m cold. So I’m cranky, depressed, and cold and need to cheer myself up. So, I am watching a marathon of Season 2 of The Office and making a list of reasons all the things I still want to do before the end of term:

(I'll continue to update this list and italicize the ones I have done)

IN LONDON:
-Spitalfields Market
-Brick Lane Market
-Petticoat Lane Market
- Greenwich Market
- Borough Market (I have a thing for markets)
-London Transport Museum
-Queen Mary’s Gardens & The Inner Circle
-Foundling Museum
-The White Tower and The Crown Jewels
-Museum of London

-Hampstead Heath
-Clink Street Museum
- Natural History Museum
-Tower of London
-Hampton Court Palace

-Have high tea
-Go riding in Hyde Park again
- see Billy Elliott The Musical Again
- See Les Miserables 3 or more times
- Reach my goal of seeing 20 shows
-Explore St. John's Wood

OUTSIDE OF LONDON:
-Windsor Castle
- Royal Pavilion (Brighton)
- Canterbury Cathedral
- Leeds Castle
- Oxford University
- Cambridge University
- Bath

- Stonehenge
- Stratford-Upon-Avon
- Salisbury Cathedral
- Edinburgh Castle
- Paris
- Disneyland Paris
- Greece
- Rome- go to the Vatican and Galleria Borghese
- Germany
- Auschwitz/ Terezin/ Dachau (I’mn not sure I can handle more than one)

"So if you really love Christmas, come on and let it snow"-Billy Mack

2009-12-06T11:07:00.000-08:00

I always get mad when my friends don’t update their blogs for weeks and weeks, but now I suppose I am just as guilty.

The holidays have long since been upon us here in London, but now it has gotten very official. Oxford Street is all lit up, the crowds are worse than ever, and there is quite a nip in the air. One British Christmas tradition that I was previously unaware of is German Christmas Markets. There are a few really cool ones scattered around London, and even my inner Grinch cannot stop me from loving them. They are so fun! I have been to the Cologne one along the bank, and the Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park. The latter is much bigger, complete with rides and far more stalls, but both were a ton of fun.
The entrance at Hyde Park
The markets are very enthusiastically German, so right by the entrance at Hyde Park is this giant moose head that sings Christmas songs in German. Creepy, no?
There is always lots of German food and sweets, but I stuck with my beloved crepes.

Some friends and I with the Santa statue at the Winter Wonderland

The whole group of us inside a giant snow globe. (you had to pay for the pictures, so we all chipped in and my friend scanned the image. It's not the best quality but its still really cute!)

It is crazy to think I am almost halfway done with my year abroad. My goal was to see 10 shows before I went home for the Holidays, and so far I am at 9 (after seeing The Lion King this past week, which was ok). I would love to see Les Miserables or Billy Elliot again but we are going to try to get tickets for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (with James Earl Jones!) if we can.

I will be home from December 19th-January 8th. I cannot wait to go home!!! I have been feeling very homesick lately, and it is hard to be in a foreign country for so long, where you don’t really know anyone. In my organizational psychology class we learned about the stages of Culture Shock (which is actually a very serious phenomenon people go through when they relocate, despite its often trivial use in popular culture), and most people who go abroad experience a very difficult time adjusting, especially if they are planning to stay for an extended period of time (so students who go abroad for a semester have a much easier time adjusting than those going for 2 semesters or more). That is quite comforting, but it still doesn’t make things easier. I miss my family and my friends, and I have never felt so patriotic in my life. Also, I just realized I will be home for the last night of Hannukah, when the menorahs are all fully lit, and its really beautiful. I’m excited!

(extra points to whoever knows where the quote in the title comes from!)

"Christmas, children, is not a date. It is a state of mind."- Mary Ellen Chase

2009-11-11T10:04:00.000-08:00

I preface this post with this: I am in the midst of writing a huge, boring paper that counts for 40% of my grade, so I am a bit cranky. So if that comes across in the writing, forgive me.

Christmas is big in London. I suppose since there is no Thanksgiving and Halloween is a much less significant thing here (rendering only a shelf or two in the grocery store), there is little else to make Autumn/early winter festive, but seriously, nobody needs to hear Christmas music in mid-October. And the window displays lose their splendor if they do not change for 3 months.

I admit it: I’m a Grinch. I grew up with Hannukah, and those “8 Crazy Nights” Adam Sandler sings of? Not so crazy. The first night is fun and the last night is nice when the whole menorah is all lit up, but between those two nights it’s just underwhelming. Even in my hometown of Mini-Jerusalem, we were bombarded with Christmas stuff and constant reminders that Santa would not be shimmying down our chimneys anytime soon.

But my friends here are determined to be the Cindy Lou to my Grinch and get me in the spirit of things (which I will consent to only now that it is November- again, nobody needs the Christmas spirit before Halloween). So on Saturday morning we decided to go to go to the Christmas Parade at Harrod’s. The parade is a big deal- they shut down Knightsbridge and there’s lot of dancers and people, until, at last Father Christmas arrives and is greeted by Mohamed Al Fayed, the owner of Harrod’s, who leads Father Christmas into the Christmas Grotto, where he stays, meeting children (who have tickets- there is none of this line-up-and-wait-three-hours business here like there is in the States) until Christmas.

I, being brilliant, decide not to check the service announcements for the tube ahead of time, thinking the Piccadilly line is never down. So of course, when I get to the tube, I learn it’s running on a very delayed service. Delightful. So I was very late getting to Harrod’s, unlike my friends who were early enough to get the good spots. There was a huge crowd preventing me from getting over to them, so I had to go to the front of the store (less desirable) and look like the 20-year-old loser who doesn’t have any friends or kids to watch the parade with.

In honor of the 70th anniversary of The Wizard of Oz movie, Harrod’s has gone all Oz-themed for the holidays, which somehow benefits the Great Ormand Street Children’s Hospital, though I’m not sure how. The windows are actually really cool, but my spot for the parade just happened to be directly in front of the window that was blasting the commercial for the “70th Anniversary Collector’s Item DVD” on a continuous loop. For an hour. I can now recite it from memory. On the other side of my head was a baby who screamed the entire time. Such a fun morning for me.

But even a Grinch can appreciate a good parade, and it was really nice. Nowhere near as good as the Macy’s Day Parade, but it was still fun. I took lots of pictures:

Window Displays (above and below)

Emerald City Dancers
Dancing and hissing witches
The Tinman
Dancing Dorothys
London's version of the Rockettes (but not nearly as good)
Really cute little boys. Some of them were really good at doing the Tin-Men walk, others not so much. They wished us a "Happy Christmas".
The band who led the parade

The Yellow Brick Road is lined with Burberry Handbags :-)

Father Christmas!

After the parade, I found my friends, who took pictures of us covered in the fake snow- as soon as I get them I'll post them here.

"For happiness is anyone and anything at all, that's loved by you"-Charlie Brown

2009-10-31T08:11:00.000-07:00

My weekend is not off to such a great start, but I spoke to one of my best friends from home last night and she made me feel so much better, and I looked at some pictures of my family, and that made me happy. But then I started feeling really homesick as a result (moral of the story? My friends from home and my family need to be less wonderful so I will miss them less). So to cheer myself up I am making a list of things in London that make me happy.

1. Parks: There are so many parks here (apparently about 30% of London is parks), and they are all well maintained. And I love that there is a park by my flat that will only let adults in if accompanied by a child. There’s even a gate monitor to make sure no childless adults sneak in. Even though I can’t go in, I think it’s great that there is such a park, especially because it is so close to a major children’s hospital, so very often I will see children from the hospital going there with their families, and that always makes me smile.
2. The Markets: I absolutely adore going to markets. There are the giant ones that are always packed but have lots of cool stuff, like Portobello Road and Camden Market, but then there are lots of smaller markets that have great stuff and there is usually a crepe station. And nothing cheers me up like a crepe.

3. Chicken korma: England loves Indian food, and I have learned it is not hard to cook. I have successfully made chicken korma and it was delicious! I am very proud of myself.

4. Milky Bars: There is an abundance of white chocolate in London, and Milky Bars are just like Hershey Bars, except that they are made with white chocolate so I can eat them! (And they come in 2 types, one of which is only 116 calories).

5. Babysitting: I miss the families I baby-sit for back home so much. But I’ve done a bit of babysitting here, and the kids are just adorable. I ran into one of them on the street as he was heading to the park with his weekday-nanny, and he just looked at me and grabbed my hand (or my finger, because he is only 18 months and cannot quite hold my hand) and walked me into the park with him. It was so cute!! Being around kids always lifts my spirits.

6. My classes: Ok, fine, I’m a dork, but I am here to study, so the fact that my classes are fantastic makes me really glad I’m here. On a similar note…..

7. My art history class: every week we go to a different museum and study the paintings. I haven’t taken an art history class since high school, but this class helps to remind me why I love art so much, and how awesome it is to be here surrounded by so much history.

8. Les Miserables: It is my favorite show of all time, based off of my favorite book of all time, and I only got to see it three times when it was on in New York. London is the only place where it is showing now, which is a tragedy, but works for me. I saw it a few weeks ago and it was the best cast I have ever seen. And because of student tickets, I can (kind of) afford to meet my goal of seeing it at least 5 times before I leave. I’m seeing it again on Tuesday ☺(me in front of the theater raising an imaginary glass to The Master of the House)

9. Theater besides Les Miserables: I’ve seen two other shows and they were both fantastic, and I plan to see a lot more. A lot of the shows here are the same as in New York but I think because I’m from New York I don’t always take advantage of what is so close to me, so I have never seen The Lion King and it’s been a while since I’ve seen Wicked. But while I’m here I plan to really make the most of it and go see lots and lots. (Seeing Oliver! on November 19th with my parents!!!!!!)

10. The fact that I no longer feel like a tourist: There are certain things I am used to around my area (the old lady who sits outside the corner pub chain-smoking and drinking, all day, every day; the Indian restaurant just around the block from my flat where the “Special of the Day” has been the same since I moved in) that make it feel more like home. I’ve learned my way around, I know where to go to get the things I need, and I can successfully give tourists directions (sometimes). It’s nice not to feel such like a stranger in a strange land anymore.

"Travel and change of place impart new vigor to the mind. "- Seneca

2009-10-25T17:22:00.000-07:00

My classes are fantastic but sadly my schedule is much less so. I have only one class a day, and I am finished by 1 or 2 in the afternoon most days. I formerly had Tuesdays free, but then I suppose some sadist in the psych department learned of this and decided to crush my happiness by giving me a 9 am seminar on that day. So no free days for me this term.

Fortunately, my Friday class was canceled this week so it seemed like the perfect time to take a day trip. Two of my friends and I took a 5:42 am train (yes, 5:42

a.m. I was not happy about this) to Oxford, then headed over to the breathtaking Blenheim Estate. It was not crowded at all, and it was an absolutely gorgeous day, so it was just perfect. We walked around the grounds until the Palace opened and it was unbelievably beautiful. Pictures do not do it justice at all, but here are some nonetheless:

This is Blenheim Estate. It is really old and historic, but most importantly, really, really beautiful. It was absolutely breathtaking. This is the view we got just as we walked in and we were instantly in love.

This is the one of the bridges over the water. Amazing, right?

Blenheim Palace, where Winston Churchill was born. (The palace is actually even more impressive than this image captures, but the lighting was bad). They have a very cool Churchill exhibit, including a recreation of the room where he was born, which I found creepy. By far the coolest part was the library. It reminded me of the library in Beauty in the Beast that is full of wonderful books that have barely been touched which is a travesty because they are such treasures- only the library at Blenheim has a giant organ (as in beautiful, gigantic musical instrument, not a part of a body).

Another shot of the lake (river? I'm not sure) on the grounds, this time with people in canoe.

This picture is for my mom: apparently they filmed part of the movie version of The Scarlet Pimpernel here, and though my friend could not remember exactly which part, this part of the palace really jogged her memory.

This is the incredible fountain/gardens outside the palace. The best part? The fact that there is a great cafe that overlooks the fountains where we ate lunch.

The Marlboro Maze!! It is the second largest maze in the world and so much fun!! All three of us split up, got totally lost, and then when my friend the amateur photographer was in the lead and made it to the tower first she took pictures of us being totally lost and trying to catch up to her (I came in second!). The bottom picture is the end of the maze. We felt very accomplished to have reached it.

My wonderful friends/travel buddies and I on top of the Carfax Tower overlooking Oxford.

This is Christ Church College at Oxford. Many of the scenes in the Harry Potter movies are filmed here (you might recognize this spot from the 4th movie). Because I am a huge dork, I had been really excited to go and tour it but we got there just after they had closed to visitors. However, they were holding Evensong at the Church, so we decided to go to that and just before the service began I needed to "use the WC" which was really an excuse to sneak as many pictures as I could (which was sadly not too many, but we shall go back!). Evensong was beautiful, as was the chapel itself, but what I found interesting was that the audience was almost entirely tourists, with the exception of 2 or 3 older people who seemed to be regulars at services. The students were all getting ready to go out. What a difference from how they would have been 200 years ago!

It's so interesting to think about the rich history all of these places have. The town Blenheim is in is preparing for its 900 year anniversary. And Christ Church College is several centuries old as well. I am reading Oliver Twist right now (for fun, because I am a nerd) and often Dickens will mention a place like Barbican and I get really excited and think "I was just there the other day!!". But sadly I did not see any orphans being dragged out to perform crimes against their will while I was there.

Things here are going ok. I have not posted much lately, but I hope to do better soon, and I hope to have more to write about. I've un-privatized this blog because I realized some people were having trouble viewing it (ie those without Gmail). So I will not be using people's names or anything like that.

"A house that does not have one worn, comfy chair in it is soulless." - May Sarton

2009-10-10T18:32:00.000-07:00

I have now been in London for about a month. I really don’t know how that happened. It has all gone by so quickly and been quite overwhelming. Things are finally beginning to settle down and I have developed a bit of a routine, which helps things to feel more normal, and I have just about mastered the way to get from my dorm to campus (no easy feat).

Classes have at last begun, and so far they are great. Lots and lots of work, but the courses (or “modules” in Brit-speak) are very interesting and the professors (“lecturers”) are all brilliant. It almost makes up for UCL’s complete lack of organization and archaic policies. Not to complain, but when Smith College starts looking organized, there’s a problem.

I have also gotten completely, hopelessly lost so many times that I have learned my way back from many different places and tube stations and learned who to ask for directions (and who will give you dirty looks and tell you the completely wrong thing…thanks a lot Nasty French Lady). I have also learned what stores sell what and in what price range, which grocery stores carry the good yogurts and which have the cheapest prices on produce, which tube stations have Cranberry or are near an Itsu (← my new addictions), and many other important things. Knowing these things has made me feel like I’m becoming less of a deer-in-headlights tourist, and actually making London home.

On a similar note, I seem to have developed an accent! It’s not quite a British accent; in fact, its rather unclassifiable. It is certainly not forced but I have been noticing it a bit and realizing that I have picked up on certain British speech mannerisms, but today a British person pointed it out. She did not believe me when I said I was from New York, because I apparently do not have a New York accent; she said I speak “very posh English combined with a slight American accent.” It’s quite strange but at least I do not have a Long Island accent!

To further make London feel like home, I have been cooking more. I like to cook, but there are several obstacles at the moment:
- London does not have: refried beans, normal oatmeal (just “porridge”, which is disgusting), grape jelly, ground turkey, or garbage disposals. This makes many of my recipes difficult, and the clean up very near impossible.
- My flatmates are gross and do not clean up after themselves when they use the kitchen. This makes me less inclined to use said kitchen
- I cannot find a reasonably priced shopping trolley anywhere! So until I do I can only buy what I can carry on the fifteen minute walk home from the closest big grocery store.
- I have lots of cookie recipes, but very few actual food recipes.
- Time. I’m a busy girl! And even when I’m not busy, I just don’t want to be in the kitchen for that long (see complaint #2).
- (This is where the title comes in) I broke my chair. I was sitting on it and the seat part just caved in! Now there is nowhere to sit in my room (though supposedly it will be getting fixed within the next few weeks). The chair is really cheap and poorly made, but still, I feel really, really fat. And we don’t have dining chairs at the table in the kitchen so I now have to eat on the floor in my room.

But I want to cook! And I want to want to cook. So I am asking my dear friends and family if they have any recipes they would like to share with me! I’d really appreciate it! The quicker and easier the recipe the better. And if they were also low fat/healthy, that would be a huge plus (see complaint #6). Thank you in advance!

Fun fact: There are no “cook books” in England. Instead we have “cookery books”.

“Nothing is certain in London but expense.”- William Shenstone

2009-09-29T12:35:00.000-07:00

It’s been quite a week! But I have at last settled into my flat and have been asked for directions several times by tourists which I take to mean that I am starting to seem like a local (granted I was not of much help to any of them).

On my last day in Wales they took us up to Gower Peninsula. It is considered one of the most beautiful places on Earth, and it absolutely is. I took pictures but it hardly does justice to how breathtaking it was. What impressed me most was how natural it was; it is one of very few places left that seems to be completely untouched by man. Up at the top of Worms Head it was almost silent (except the barking from another tourist’s dog), and you could just see out forever.

It was sad to say goodbye to my host family. They were so kind and I had a great time with them. But it was so nice to finally move into my own place and have my own room (and away from snoring roommates!) and be able to unpack! I was so excited…and then we got there.

After much confusion and frustration we were assigned randomly to flats. My flat is on the 5th floor (which is actually the 6th floor, because in Europe you enter on the ground floor), and the lifts were broken, and would stay broken for the rest of the day. So I had to carry my very heavy bags up 5 flights of stairs, one at a time. I was sweating buckets and absolutely exhausted by the time I had gotten one very heavy backpack, one duffel, and one medium sized suitcase up to my lovely flat. I came back for my giant suitcase that probably weighed as much as I do, and was carrying it upstairs, when this incredibly sweet guy saw me, took pity on me and offered to carry it up to the 3rd floor. When he realized I was on the 5th floor, he just laughed and said “I can’t let you do that” and took it the rest of the way. I could not believe how kind he was. Sadly, I haven’t seen him since, but as soon as I have a chance to make cookies, I’m going to track him down.

Anyway, my flat is lovely. I have a very nice sized room that gets lots of sunlight during the day, and we have a huge kitchen with two of everything. And now, one week later, the flat is almost totally set up!!! I’m so proud of myself. Why am I so proud, you ask? In the past when I have set up my dorm room I have either had a car, my parents’ have had a car, or a friend has had a car, or there has been a bus, and we have gone to Target to get everything needed for my room. But here I have no car, no Target, and very little money (stupid dollar-pound exchange rate!). I also did not have the internet for 4 days. So I have made about a million trips to Oxford Circus, each time trying to get all that I need for my room and for the kitchen. I started with nothing beyond clothes, so I have made quite a bit of progress. And I have learned that if you buy a giant laundry basket, fill it with a baking sheet, a set of mixing bowls, a million hangers, measuring cups, and sheets, then take this onto the Tube and then the fifteen minute walk back home, you will get lots of funny looks, but you will have such a strong sense of accomplishment that you won’t even care.

I can only buy what I can carry home each time, and it’s a bit of a walk to my flat from the tube stop, so I think that by the time I finally get the last few things I need, I will have biceps of steel. And I no longer feel any guilt over the Welsh Cake addiction I developed in Wales. But now my room is (almost) all set up! And it looks great! Once classes begin it will probably never be this clean again, but for now, I’m quite proud of myself.

This is my room (well, half of it). In the mirror you can see my bulletin board from the other side of the room. At first I thought it was weird to have a sink in the bedroom, but now I LOVE it. I don't know how I ever survived without a sink in my bedroom. It makes life so much easier! And above my bed are cards and things from friends, family, and kids I've worked with/babysat. I hung them up because I was tired of the sad, blank wall, but now I think it's just making me homesick.

This past Saturday two of my friends and I became complete tourists for the day. We started at Portobello Market where we got fruit and crepes, then headed to Covent Garden market, where we enjoyed the street performers and walked around the marketplace, and watched the opera singers at this Italian restaurant. We passed by the theater for The Woman in Black, which one of my friends really wanted to see, and by some miracle we were able to get tickets. We each had an international student ID card, which if you show at the theater an hour before curtain the theater is obligated to give you the best seats they have in the house for 20 pounds. We sat dead center in the last row in the Orchestra section, which was especially cool for this show because the actors moved throughout the theater so they were frequently running right behind us. The show was fantastic; it’s a suspenseful play, similar to Hitchcock’s style, and at certain parts you would hear the entire audience gasp simultaneously. It was different from anything I’ve ever seen, but I really enjoyed it.

Then we went and saw The Monument, walked around Westminster, and took lots of touristy pictures! We went to a pub for a dinner of meat pies and fish and chips. We felt like proper tourists, and are quite excited for A Love’s Labor’s Lost next weekend at the Globe.

The Monument

Westminster by night. We walked next to it on our way back to the tube and this drunk girl walked past us, as she was talking on her mobile. I guess she was lost and trying to explain where she was, so she said "I'm by the...you know, the f***ing big clock!" then when her friend still could not help, she handed her mobile to a policeman and said "Here, he's going to tell you where I need to be, so can you then tell me how to get there?" It was very funny

Classes have not begun yet, and registration is a very confusing process, and I’m bored stiff with all the orientation programs, but I am really liking UCL. The resources here are incomparable, and it is one of the best universities in the world (#7 to be exact. They like to remind us of this), so I feel very lucky to be here. The psych department seems great, and I am excited for my classes. I’m praying I get my art history class-I’m showing up 2 hours early for registration just to be safe! I am a bit taken aback by how much alcohol the school buys for the students. I can honestly only think of one meeting I’ve been to in the past week where they have not provided drinks, and the other night a student actually died of alcohol poisoning at a UCL-sponsored event. They don’t provide us with toilet paper, but the booze flows freely. Am I the only one who thinks this shows strange priorities?

"Do you seriously expect me to be the first Prince of Wales in history not to have a mistress?"- Prince Charles

2009-09-20T13:14:00.000-07:00

Hello from Swansea, Wales! I have been here since Friday, for the homestay portion of orientation. It’s a beautiful city, and there’s a very strong sense of culture and Welsh pride here. Despite the fact that Wales is part of the UK, there's a definite rivalry with England, and no one here seems to care for the monarchy (perhaps because of quotes like the one I've chosen for the title). I’ve fallen in love with Welsh food; I thought I was losing a bit of weight in London but Wales has quickly put a stop to that!

My homestay family is wonderful! The mother and father are very kind and fun to be with, and they have two adorable children, a 3 ½ year old boy, Morgan, and a little girl, Manon, who is almost 1. We spent today at Margam Park, and it was by far the best day I have had since I left New York. The park was beautiful!! The fields were so green and it was a gorgeous day so we got to make the most of our time there. There was a small farm with cows and a few other animals, but we did not have enough time to go in, so we just drove by. We started at the Orangery and then went up to see the Roman ruins and the Margam Abbey that dates back to 1147. We had a picnic lunch in what must be the coolest playground on earth. I wish I was 5-years-old again just so I could fully appreciate it. It was based on different fairytales and nursery rhymes, so there was Snow White’s house, a castle (made of real stones!), a shoe house for the old woman who had so many children she didn’t know what to do (Michelle Duggar?), a house based on a Welsh nursery rhyme that I imagine was great for kids who speak Welsh, and a few others. Morgan and Manon had a ball!

After our picnic we went up to see the Margam Castle, built between 1830-1840. A fire destroyed most of the inside, so we could not go in, but the outside was simply breathtaking. The detail on all of the stones is all so intricate and stunning. I took loads of pictures!

After that we went and got ice cream in what was once the castle’s stables, went to a castle-themed playground, and headed back to the car just before the park closed.

My host mother is a wonderful cook, and has introduced/gotten me addicted to some great British/Welsh dishes. We had Spotted Dick for dessert tonight. I admit the name made me giggle at first but it was delicious and I’m determined to learn to make it myself.

Yesterday we had the day free to explore Swansea. We tasted some Welsh food and explored the different markets. We are heading to Gower tomorrow, and I’m praying that will involve more than just hanging out on the beach. So far, I’ve been rather disappointed with the orientation of the umbrella program I’m going through, and their planning of itineraries leaves a lot to be desired. Tuesday I will be heading to UCL, though, and I’m hoping their orientation will be better. And I’ll finally be able to unpack!

And now for some pictures!!

I went to the National Portrait Gallery and there was a mini exhibit about Bob Dylan. I don't care at all about Dylan, but my family does. So this is for them.

The program told us they were taking us to see a castle. It's actually the remains of a castle (a small piece of a wall) after it was bombed in World War II. It's now across the street from a McDonald's. It was pretty though!
Manon
Morgan on the way to the Orangery. (In the car park he said "Be careful Morgan. There's lots of cars here!" aloud to himself. He's really cute!!!!)

The Orangery.

Me in front of the castle in the playground

The ruins and the abbey

The castle
different view of the castle
Castle from far away (can you tell how much I loved this castle?)

more pictures on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2026722&id=1356330129&l=560134c081

And Away We Go

2009-09-15T12:19:00.000-07:00

I arrived in London yesterday (Monday), and so far I'm loving it! Orientation is going well, we're going to see a play in The West End tomorrow, and we got to meet 2 Members of Parliament and 1 Member of the House of Lords today and then went and toured Saint Paul's Cathedral (AMAZING!!). I'm having a really difficult time with Jet Lag and became very sick this morning and am still completely exhausted. Sadly, the internet in the hotel is rather expensive and I can barely keep my eyes open but the time difference and international calling rates make it difficult to call home, so I just wanted to quickly say: I'm alive, things are going well, and I am already sick of the rain. I promise to update more soon (with pictures!).

This post seems sad and empty and probably makes absolutely no sense because, as I said, I'm exhausted, but my roommate does not have her key so I can't pass out until she gets back so I can let her in. So here's a picture of Saint Paul's. Cameras were not allowed inside so I got this from the internet, but it doesn't to it justice.

Any Place I Hang My Hat

2009-09-03T09:41:00.000-07:00

I'm going to be moving around a lot in the coming weeks. I am leaving on September 13th (ten days!) and arrive in London on the 14th. From there, I have orientation at a hotel in Kensington Gardens, from Monday through Wednesday, then have a homestay with a family somewhere in the UK from Thursday through Saturday, then I finally move into my permanent housing at UCL's Langton Close:(thanks Becky for telling me how to add pictures!)
It is actually a pretty nice place- I'll have a sort-of flat with a few other people with my own bedroom and shared toilet and shower (not actually called a "bathroom" though, and I'll have a sink in my bedroom) and a small shared kitchen. There's no living room and from what I've seen the kitchen is pretty tiny, so having people over will be a bit of a challenge. Still, I'm really excited!

I realize orientation and the homestay are very important, and I am looking forward to them but I am a bit nervous about moving around so much in the beginning, especially when I will have to be taking all of my stuff with me. Lugging around everything I am taking with me to London is not going to be fun. And I am afraid that not having a place to really come "home" at first will make me quite homesick. But that's just my pessimism shining through.

Despite my pessimism and feeling a bit overwhelmed right now, I am truly ecstatic and can't wait for this all to start. I would love to send out postcards, so please give me your address!!

10 days to go!

I made a blog!

2009-09-01T08:31:00.000-07:00

Yay me. I always wanted a blog, but I have never really had a reason to have one. I don't have a family to update people on and show off cute pictures, and I'm not out on my own living some really cool life. But now... I'm going to London! For just shy of a year. And because the fact that I am absolutely horrible at keeping in touch will certainly not be helped by the fact that I will soon be on a different continent I figured this would be a good way to keep in touch with people, show off pictures, and whatever else people do with a blog.

I tried every possible variation of my name/nickname, and every catchy title I could come up with but every one was taken! But I love Winnie the Pooh quotes, and he holds a special place in my heart. I especially like this quote: "My spelling is Wobbly. It's good spelling, but it Wobbles, and the letters get in the wrong places." I can't spell, and please don't assume the spelling in this blog will ever be correct. And even though I have a decent amount of self-esteem, I think I'm somewhat smart, and I somehow managed to get into UCL, in some ways, I am of very little brain.

This blog is private simply because I have seen far too many TV specials about creepers on the internet. If you're reading this its because either you asked me, or you have a blog that I am currently stalking you on so now you can return the favor.

Anyone know how to post pictures on blogs???