Miss you all. Please leave comments (: Ill try to label the photos another time... but until then lets play "guess where that photo was taken" haha. the winner gets a post card!!!
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Some photos from here and there...
The internet here is such a pain. I just deleted an important email because i thought i pressed "reply" but it must have been delete. I didnt know since everzthing is in German. Speaking of which, I am in Vienna, Austria! Its funny because here they call it "Wien". Just like Lidias maiden name! And everything is either "wiener" or "wienershnizle" haha. ok ive run out of run... again. i really have a lot i want to update you all on. Sorry that my blogs have been basically me typing out my streams of conciousness as they hit me. I hope you can still follow my thoughts!
Miss you all. Please leave comments (: Ill try to label the photos another time... but until then lets play "guess where that photo was taken" haha. the winner gets a post card!!!
Miss you all. Please leave comments (: Ill try to label the photos another time... but until then lets play "guess where that photo was taken" haha. the winner gets a post card!!!
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Bosnia
I'm in Bosnia! I love it here! I really do- it feels so good to be in a non-english speaking country. People think Im being sarcastic when I say that but Im not! I love it! Im trying to learn some of the language but not being so successful. Seeing how Im only here for 5 days you cant really expect much. I found out that the language here is Slavic so I keep trying to say things in Russian hoping that people will understand... but they dont. Its very sad.
Not sure if many of you already know this but our ENTIRE group has been battling food poisening. I think only 4 people didnt get feel at all. I was one of the first to go down... a martyr if you will. (: We think we got sick from this fish that was served to us after we went rafting on... um... man the days fly by here and I have not idea what it was but sometime earlier this week. Haha. I wish I had the photo of me eating fish the day before we all got sick... they prepare it here with the scales, head and tail still on. And for some reason I wasn't grossed out! Im actually pretty proud of myself for that... I think eating crab with Jera before coming here helped me ease into the idea of being able to eat something that I could fully see what it looked like before it was dead. Haha.
I wish I could have had internet access before because I feel like to have to compress everything right now so that I can tell you all about what Ive been up to! Ok, well, lets see when we left London we were flying to Dubrovnik, Croatia which were were going to drive from there to tribuje (SP?) in Bosnia. On our way there we had sooo much traffic- it took 3 times longer than it should have to get to the airport! And then two people got motion sick so we had to stop a million times for them to throw up. Thats nota surprise since the same two people have been getting car sick every time we get on a bus but it didnt help that we were already late tot he airport. So we got to the airport with less than an hour for all 47 of us to check in and get to the gate. We got there at 11am and the flight left at 11:40am!! Thankfully I can say that we didnt miss the flight! PTL! THe flight was delayted and we got there just in time (: What a relief.
Croatia: so beautiful! It was so hot! I couldt believe how hot is was. But it was great. We were only there for 3 hours though.
Bosnia: love it!!! We went rafting on this river and it was so fun. But it was also extremely cold... someone even went into shock from the cold so that was scary... and our rafting guide was cute (: I kept trying to speak Russian to him but he kept giving me blank looks. haha. Finally at the end I got him to teach me some Bosnia. I just kept pointing and thing and he would say the word and then when I would try to say it he would crack up. Not like chuckle politlely to himself- like he was laughing so hard he almost fell out of the boat! I think the other Americans he met before didnt really want to speak the language so I think he just never heard an American accent on Bosnia words.
So yeah after rafting we are more fish and then almost died. We had to cancel a bunch of our lectures and outtings because people were practically in a coma from being so sick. But I am happy to say that we are doing much better! I still feel a little weak from not eating but Im doing good!
Im really sad that we are leaving tomorrow because I havent had time to enjpy the city here! Ive been cooped up in my hotel room sick. Haha- oh man I wish you all could see my hotel room. Its rediculous! It looks Turkish (: Ok, so you walk in and you see the futon couch and it has two sheep skin rug on it. Different but not too foerign. Then you look tot he right and you see this room with beads hanging from the top- kind of 60's style. And then on the inside is this carpeted room with nothing inside with bathroom tileso nt he wall and a single shower head sticking out. Why? I dont know. It doesnt work but hey- this is Bosnia. And then my bed room- ok it has this funky wood wall that doesnt reach the ceiling and has the beaded entry way but no door. Haha. We have a great view of the city tho- I feel bad because almost everyone else has a view of a brick wall. haha.
What else? Well today we are doign osmething that I was way stoked about! We are going to this isolated village in the mountains where everything is still traditional and very rural- im not sure if they even have electricity. Its going to be awesome. The other day we (all 10 of us who were not barfing every half hour) went on a short trip to this monarstary- it was cool. Sorry Im not being very good at describing things... still a little delusional and running out of time on the computer before we leave for our day trip.
Ill leave you with this- yesterday we went to this tunnel museum- the tunnel was bascially the only way anyone in Sarajevo survived the Serbian seige on the city between 92-95. It was the only was food and supplies got in and it was was long but very short and narrow under ground tunnel. We got to walk through a part of the tunnel- it was so small. It was 3 feet tall and 3 feel wide so you would have to bend over the entire walk through. We have two translator/guides who have been going everywhere with us so far and one of them- Mu'stafa was a soldier in the war and knew the tunnel very well because he guarded it and had to go throguh it to bring supplies to the city. It was kind of emotional toi think this new friend of our went through so much. And to talk to him now he is so up beat and always cracking jokes. You would never know about his past. Ive noticed that a lot of the people here are like that- retty up beat and like to joke a lot. Maybe its ac oping mechanism for that kind of post-traumatic experience. Oh, one more story about Mu'stafa. He is so funny! Ok, so he has this strong accent but he speaks English really well. But anyways my friends said this happened to them- they were the only people who hadnt gotten sick (at least not until after that day) so they went into town with Mustafa. So he directed them tot he ATM so they could get some money but then he runs back after them when they are on their way to the ATM and says with his strong accent "Oh, one more thing I think you should know. There is pick-pocketers here." And so the students were like "well, how do you know that? How could you recognize them? Do they all look the same?" and he responded, "Oh. I know him." Hahaha. So I guess he is friends with pick pocketers? haha. We were all confused about that- but i think since he lives in Sarajevo he knows who are the pick pocketers, but the way he said it it seemed like he was buddies with the guy. (:
Not sure if many of you already know this but our ENTIRE group has been battling food poisening. I think only 4 people didnt get feel at all. I was one of the first to go down... a martyr if you will. (: We think we got sick from this fish that was served to us after we went rafting on... um... man the days fly by here and I have not idea what it was but sometime earlier this week. Haha. I wish I had the photo of me eating fish the day before we all got sick... they prepare it here with the scales, head and tail still on. And for some reason I wasn't grossed out! Im actually pretty proud of myself for that... I think eating crab with Jera before coming here helped me ease into the idea of being able to eat something that I could fully see what it looked like before it was dead. Haha.
I wish I could have had internet access before because I feel like to have to compress everything right now so that I can tell you all about what Ive been up to! Ok, well, lets see when we left London we were flying to Dubrovnik, Croatia which were were going to drive from there to tribuje (SP?) in Bosnia. On our way there we had sooo much traffic- it took 3 times longer than it should have to get to the airport! And then two people got motion sick so we had to stop a million times for them to throw up. Thats nota surprise since the same two people have been getting car sick every time we get on a bus but it didnt help that we were already late tot he airport. So we got to the airport with less than an hour for all 47 of us to check in and get to the gate. We got there at 11am and the flight left at 11:40am!! Thankfully I can say that we didnt miss the flight! PTL! THe flight was delayted and we got there just in time (: What a relief.
Croatia: so beautiful! It was so hot! I couldt believe how hot is was. But it was great. We were only there for 3 hours though.
Bosnia: love it!!! We went rafting on this river and it was so fun. But it was also extremely cold... someone even went into shock from the cold so that was scary... and our rafting guide was cute (: I kept trying to speak Russian to him but he kept giving me blank looks. haha. Finally at the end I got him to teach me some Bosnia. I just kept pointing and thing and he would say the word and then when I would try to say it he would crack up. Not like chuckle politlely to himself- like he was laughing so hard he almost fell out of the boat! I think the other Americans he met before didnt really want to speak the language so I think he just never heard an American accent on Bosnia words.
So yeah after rafting we are more fish and then almost died. We had to cancel a bunch of our lectures and outtings because people were practically in a coma from being so sick. But I am happy to say that we are doing much better! I still feel a little weak from not eating but Im doing good!
Im really sad that we are leaving tomorrow because I havent had time to enjpy the city here! Ive been cooped up in my hotel room sick. Haha- oh man I wish you all could see my hotel room. Its rediculous! It looks Turkish (: Ok, so you walk in and you see the futon couch and it has two sheep skin rug on it. Different but not too foerign. Then you look tot he right and you see this room with beads hanging from the top- kind of 60's style. And then on the inside is this carpeted room with nothing inside with bathroom tileso nt he wall and a single shower head sticking out. Why? I dont know. It doesnt work but hey- this is Bosnia. And then my bed room- ok it has this funky wood wall that doesnt reach the ceiling and has the beaded entry way but no door. Haha. We have a great view of the city tho- I feel bad because almost everyone else has a view of a brick wall. haha.
What else? Well today we are doign osmething that I was way stoked about! We are going to this isolated village in the mountains where everything is still traditional and very rural- im not sure if they even have electricity. Its going to be awesome. The other day we (all 10 of us who were not barfing every half hour) went on a short trip to this monarstary- it was cool. Sorry Im not being very good at describing things... still a little delusional and running out of time on the computer before we leave for our day trip.
Ill leave you with this- yesterday we went to this tunnel museum- the tunnel was bascially the only way anyone in Sarajevo survived the Serbian seige on the city between 92-95. It was the only was food and supplies got in and it was was long but very short and narrow under ground tunnel. We got to walk through a part of the tunnel- it was so small. It was 3 feet tall and 3 feel wide so you would have to bend over the entire walk through. We have two translator/guides who have been going everywhere with us so far and one of them- Mu'stafa was a soldier in the war and knew the tunnel very well because he guarded it and had to go throguh it to bring supplies to the city. It was kind of emotional toi think this new friend of our went through so much. And to talk to him now he is so up beat and always cracking jokes. You would never know about his past. Ive noticed that a lot of the people here are like that- retty up beat and like to joke a lot. Maybe its ac oping mechanism for that kind of post-traumatic experience. Oh, one more story about Mu'stafa. He is so funny! Ok, so he has this strong accent but he speaks English really well. But anyways my friends said this happened to them- they were the only people who hadnt gotten sick (at least not until after that day) so they went into town with Mustafa. So he directed them tot he ATM so they could get some money but then he runs back after them when they are on their way to the ATM and says with his strong accent "Oh, one more thing I think you should know. There is pick-pocketers here." And so the students were like "well, how do you know that? How could you recognize them? Do they all look the same?" and he responded, "Oh. I know him." Hahaha. So I guess he is friends with pick pocketers? haha. We were all confused about that- but i think since he lives in Sarajevo he knows who are the pick pocketers, but the way he said it it seemed like he was buddies with the guy. (:
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Headed for a new world
Hello! Today is our last day in London, England for tomorrow we are flying over to Dubrovnik, Croatia! Just for the afternoon, but we will be crossing the border to Bosnia where we will be staying tomorrow evening. Its crazy because I just got into this mindset where I was all settled in London- where we will have spent the longest consecutive nights in one place. Now I have to get rid of this state of mind and get ready to be moving around and staying different places almost everynight. Well, not every night... but we definately will have stayed in London the longest.
Its also been sad to think that I won't see my friends from home or Westmont until... a while. I'm OK with it until I hear about my nephew's first day of 1st grade which I missed, or that Jackie is starting a new college, or that my dad was injured on a motorcycle. And its my instinct to think the worst... like that Anthony really needed me for his first school day, or that Jackie is going to have a horrible time
adjusting to school, or that my Dad broke his arm or something... all of which are not true, but I just think the worst when its hard to get in contact with loved ones. Nobody better have any actual traumatic events occur because then it will be REALLY hard for me if all those things I worry about actually become real.
Anyways, things over here are going great! I really love London- and its been great weather the whole time we've been here. My only complaint- if you can even call it that- is that my days are always so busy! I get up in the morning still tired from all the walking and moving around I do in the day. Oh well, I only get to go on Europe Semester once, right? So I'm trying to live it up! I just wish I had unlimited amounts of money, but doesn't everyone, no? I feel bad having to tell people that I can't go with them to the theater or whatnot because I can't afford certain sights here. But there are still lots of free things to do that are fun- many of which the following pictures show. One thing about the photos, they aren't in chronological order... I could fix it up but it just takles too long. Haha, sorry.
One thign about the title of this blog- I feel like going to Bosnia is going to feel like entering a new world. It will be the first country we visit that doesn't speak English (all of them won't be English after this), plus it is so small! I have never been to such a small country! And I think that it will also be a shock to go from this huge city of London where you can do or get anything you want where there is so much wealth and everyone is stylish and have cool accents. I mean, I probably will like Bosnia's accents but it won't be in English... pray for me and my group!
This is at Hillsong church here in London. I had to visit it since I have heard so many of their Christian worship music at church and I have some of their CD's. Its crazy to go to the church knowing that so many churches all over the world sing their songs and translate them into into their language. I definately have sung their songs in Mexico in Spanish. The original Hillsong church is in Australia, but they have planted churches all over like this one in London. I hope to visit another one of their churches in Paris. It literally was a concert church service because they rent out this huge theater right in the middle of the city.
So this is Orlando Bloom. He is in a play here in London called 'In Celebration'. I didn't actually see it but I saw him leaving the theater after it was over. I think last night was the last night of the play... the crowd there was rediculous! People were close to getting in fights and as soon as he came out the crowd all rushed at him so I think he had to leave right away instead of signing of autographs and what not. I'm kind of bummed that I didn't feel starstruck when I saw him. It really wasn't all that cool. Oh, but I absolutly LOVE the following picture...
Orlando Bloom looks like a stoner!!! And the sad thing is... this was the best picture of him that I was able to get!!! Oh my goodness... I laughed hard when I saw this on my camera after I was walking away from the madness. Look at his beady red eyes and his evil expression.... lol.
This is at Harrods- I think its one of the biggest if not the biggest department stores in the world. I got lost inside. You could start a new city inside there- it has everything you need. Since we all know we need designer Gucci dresses...
More Hillsong pics...
Buckingham guards on horses... not that exciting. Maybe thats just because I was super tired when I saw it. People were beign rediculous... they were yelling that they could see the queen and prince Harry.... come on. It was just guys on horses.
I love this park.. its across the street from Buckingham.. I think its Saint Johns park.
I went to a cool outdoor market in Nottinghill. It was the Portobello Market.
I just had to make a quick stop at the Waterloo tube/train station since it was in the Bourne Ultimatum. The cameras were a big part of that segment!
Waterloo...
Buckingham tourist
Startford-upon-Avon. This is where Shakespear is from. I dont know why I have so many dang pictures posted of the geese. I dont want to take the take to delete them. Oh, but one thing to note- we saw a Shakespear play in Stratford and guess who was in it... ok he isn't like a big name but I was excited- John Lithgow. I didnt know he would be in it but as soon as he spoke I knew it was him- he was in 3rd Rock from the Sun and was a voice in Shrek- the evil prince of something. Anyways, he was amazing in the play- he is so funny!!! He played Molovio in 12th Night.
Tower Bridge tourist
My friend Yuko when we went to the Tower of London.
Coventry- a small town that was bombed by Germany suring WWII. Their main cathedral was bombed and instead of building the church back where it was they left the remains as a reminder or forgiveness and how all of mankind if evil in some way and that all need God's forgiveness. They had this funky 60's style cathedral built next to it with many decorations donated from people all over the world.
More stupid stratford pics...
...hmmm....
More Tower fo London
I took this pic of one of the crown jewels.. I got yelled at and it wasn't even a great pic but oh well.
Its also been sad to think that I won't see my friends from home or Westmont until... a while. I'm OK with it until I hear about my nephew's first day of 1st grade which I missed, or that Jackie is starting a new college, or that my dad was injured on a motorcycle. And its my instinct to think the worst... like that Anthony really needed me for his first school day, or that Jackie is going to have a horrible time
adjusting to school, or that my Dad broke his arm or something... all of which are not true, but I just think the worst when its hard to get in contact with loved ones. Nobody better have any actual traumatic events occur because then it will be REALLY hard for me if all those things I worry about actually become real.
Anyways, things over here are going great! I really love London- and its been great weather the whole time we've been here. My only complaint- if you can even call it that- is that my days are always so busy! I get up in the morning still tired from all the walking and moving around I do in the day. Oh well, I only get to go on Europe Semester once, right? So I'm trying to live it up! I just wish I had unlimited amounts of money, but doesn't everyone, no? I feel bad having to tell people that I can't go with them to the theater or whatnot because I can't afford certain sights here. But there are still lots of free things to do that are fun- many of which the following pictures show. One thing about the photos, they aren't in chronological order... I could fix it up but it just takles too long. Haha, sorry.
One thign about the title of this blog- I feel like going to Bosnia is going to feel like entering a new world. It will be the first country we visit that doesn't speak English (all of them won't be English after this), plus it is so small! I have never been to such a small country! And I think that it will also be a shock to go from this huge city of London where you can do or get anything you want where there is so much wealth and everyone is stylish and have cool accents. I mean, I probably will like Bosnia's accents but it won't be in English... pray for me and my group!
This is at Hillsong church here in London. I had to visit it since I have heard so many of their Christian worship music at church and I have some of their CD's. Its crazy to go to the church knowing that so many churches all over the world sing their songs and translate them into into their language. I definately have sung their songs in Mexico in Spanish. The original Hillsong church is in Australia, but they have planted churches all over like this one in London. I hope to visit another one of their churches in Paris. It literally was a concert church service because they rent out this huge theater right in the middle of the city.
So this is Orlando Bloom. He is in a play here in London called 'In Celebration'. I didn't actually see it but I saw him leaving the theater after it was over. I think last night was the last night of the play... the crowd there was rediculous! People were close to getting in fights and as soon as he came out the crowd all rushed at him so I think he had to leave right away instead of signing of autographs and what not. I'm kind of bummed that I didn't feel starstruck when I saw him. It really wasn't all that cool. Oh, but I absolutly LOVE the following picture...
Orlando Bloom looks like a stoner!!! And the sad thing is... this was the best picture of him that I was able to get!!! Oh my goodness... I laughed hard when I saw this on my camera after I was walking away from the madness. Look at his beady red eyes and his evil expression.... lol.
This is at Harrods- I think its one of the biggest if not the biggest department stores in the world. I got lost inside. You could start a new city inside there- it has everything you need. Since we all know we need designer Gucci dresses...
More Hillsong pics...
Buckingham guards on horses... not that exciting. Maybe thats just because I was super tired when I saw it. People were beign rediculous... they were yelling that they could see the queen and prince Harry.... come on. It was just guys on horses.
I love this park.. its across the street from Buckingham.. I think its Saint Johns park.
I went to a cool outdoor market in Nottinghill. It was the Portobello Market.
I just had to make a quick stop at the Waterloo tube/train station since it was in the Bourne Ultimatum. The cameras were a big part of that segment!
Waterloo...
Buckingham tourist
Startford-upon-Avon. This is where Shakespear is from. I dont know why I have so many dang pictures posted of the geese. I dont want to take the take to delete them. Oh, but one thing to note- we saw a Shakespear play in Stratford and guess who was in it... ok he isn't like a big name but I was excited- John Lithgow. I didnt know he would be in it but as soon as he spoke I knew it was him- he was in 3rd Rock from the Sun and was a voice in Shrek- the evil prince of something. Anyways, he was amazing in the play- he is so funny!!! He played Molovio in 12th Night.
Tower Bridge tourist
My friend Yuko when we went to the Tower of London.
Coventry- a small town that was bombed by Germany suring WWII. Their main cathedral was bombed and instead of building the church back where it was they left the remains as a reminder or forgiveness and how all of mankind if evil in some way and that all need God's forgiveness. They had this funky 60's style cathedral built next to it with many decorations donated from people all over the world.
More stupid stratford pics...
...hmmm....
More Tower fo London
I took this pic of one of the crown jewels.. I got yelled at and it wasn't even a great pic but oh well.
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Schoolin' with the Muffin Man
I think it is pretty cool that my classes are being held on Drury Lane- the exact same lane that the Muffin Man lives on. There have been no muffin man sightings YET but I will keep you posted.
Right now I am at an internet cafe about a block away from the National Gallery. The National Gallery is this huge amazing art gallery with so many famous paintings. It is in Trafalgar Square- last time I was here last summer I kept wanting to call it Trafalafagous Square. Thought you should know that. I was bummed yesterday that I wasn't able to get to pop in to take a look at my art peice before my presenation today. But luckily I was able to come about an hour early today to take a look at the actual peice and its surrounding peices. To my surprise I found it was closed today! I kind of panicked because we had a schedule for when we were to present our peice and my time slot was the first, at 1:30pm. Thankfully on a whim I thought of asking if they could open the gallery for half an hour so I could make my presentation. After two people told me if was unlikely, they made some calls and said yes! I was happy, but I didn't think it was that big of a deal until my professors said that museums never open closed galleries for anyone. Yay. I think my presentation went really well. The way they have it set up is that the students stay at their art peice for half and hour and wait for the rest of our group to come in periodically, usually not all at once. I gave my presentation about 5 times before everyone had a chance to hear it. That was cool.
Yesterday our group went to a play called Emperor Jones. It was really good- it was really abstract and somewhat dark but it was interesting. It was basically a one man show about a black man from the South during the early 1900's who escaped from jail and made it to the Caribbean. He fooled a small village into thinking he was their emperor. The play started when he found out his followers had ran away because he was such a mean ruler and they were planning on killing him. Jones is really cocky and thinks no one can ever get the best of him so he decides to run away again and this time to take all the money he stole from his village and live it up somewhere else... I think he mentions France or something. He gets lost in the jungle at night and basically goes crazy- I think from guilt of all the wrong things he has done. He killed two people which landed him in jail in the first place, lied to a village and stole from them, and then also he admited to having put his Christian faith on the shelf and thought that after he swindled a fortune he would pick it up again. Anyways, it was a good play but kind of strange for my taste.
Um, what else? Classes are going well. My elective class- the one that I am the only student in- has been meeting on the fire escape outside the classroom they rented. Haha. I first of all never thought I would ever be the only student in a college class, and definately never thought I would have class on a fire escape! But hey, its fun. We aren't in the class room because that is where the other elective class meets and they have priority since they have more students. All 3 of them. Haha.
I haven't gotten any new addresses... so I guess no one wants any cool postcards... I hope all is well with you all! You can send me a letter if you want- send it like today or tomorrow so Ill get it before I leave. Since we are staying in London for 11 days I'll be able to recieve mail. Ask my mom for the address- tell her its on the fridge. (:
P.S. Sorry there are no new pics this time either... I need to bring my camera to the internet cafe next time!
Right now I am at an internet cafe about a block away from the National Gallery. The National Gallery is this huge amazing art gallery with so many famous paintings. It is in Trafalgar Square- last time I was here last summer I kept wanting to call it Trafalafagous Square. Thought you should know that. I was bummed yesterday that I wasn't able to get to pop in to take a look at my art peice before my presenation today. But luckily I was able to come about an hour early today to take a look at the actual peice and its surrounding peices. To my surprise I found it was closed today! I kind of panicked because we had a schedule for when we were to present our peice and my time slot was the first, at 1:30pm. Thankfully on a whim I thought of asking if they could open the gallery for half an hour so I could make my presentation. After two people told me if was unlikely, they made some calls and said yes! I was happy, but I didn't think it was that big of a deal until my professors said that museums never open closed galleries for anyone. Yay. I think my presentation went really well. The way they have it set up is that the students stay at their art peice for half and hour and wait for the rest of our group to come in periodically, usually not all at once. I gave my presentation about 5 times before everyone had a chance to hear it. That was cool.
Yesterday our group went to a play called Emperor Jones. It was really good- it was really abstract and somewhat dark but it was interesting. It was basically a one man show about a black man from the South during the early 1900's who escaped from jail and made it to the Caribbean. He fooled a small village into thinking he was their emperor. The play started when he found out his followers had ran away because he was such a mean ruler and they were planning on killing him. Jones is really cocky and thinks no one can ever get the best of him so he decides to run away again and this time to take all the money he stole from his village and live it up somewhere else... I think he mentions France or something. He gets lost in the jungle at night and basically goes crazy- I think from guilt of all the wrong things he has done. He killed two people which landed him in jail in the first place, lied to a village and stole from them, and then also he admited to having put his Christian faith on the shelf and thought that after he swindled a fortune he would pick it up again. Anyways, it was a good play but kind of strange for my taste.
Um, what else? Classes are going well. My elective class- the one that I am the only student in- has been meeting on the fire escape outside the classroom they rented. Haha. I first of all never thought I would ever be the only student in a college class, and definately never thought I would have class on a fire escape! But hey, its fun. We aren't in the class room because that is where the other elective class meets and they have priority since they have more students. All 3 of them. Haha.
I haven't gotten any new addresses... so I guess no one wants any cool postcards... I hope all is well with you all! You can send me a letter if you want- send it like today or tomorrow so Ill get it before I leave. Since we are staying in London for 11 days I'll be able to recieve mail. Ask my mom for the address- tell her its on the fridge. (:
P.S. Sorry there are no new pics this time either... I need to bring my camera to the internet cafe next time!
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
In a hot room...
The computer lab here is so hot! Anyways, I thought I would do one more update on here since I have free internet access. Today I went punting! In case you don't know what that is (as I didn't before I came here) it is a type of boating that is popular on the Cam river behind Cambridge ("The Backs" as they call it here). The boat kind of reminds me of a gondola... and it pretty much is the same thing as one but the act of riding or pushing it is called "punting". So there. I have some funny pics that I took today but I dont have my camera here to upload them! Oh well. After a group of us went punting Yuko and I went to a museum here (Fitzroger I think) and then walked around the other side of Cambridge. We sat outside a Parisian cafe on the of the side streets and people watched which was fun since most of the people going on that street were not tourists. Its funny how Americans are stereotyped as being loud and annoying because I have definately seen some louder and more annoying tourists here that were from other parts of Europe. Interesting how that goes... but anyways, I am really excited to be going to London tomorrow! yay.
By the way, I would love it if some of you could email me your mailing address! I love post cards so I will send you one if you give me your address.
And a big thanks to my faithful blog readers (:
By the way, I would love it if some of you could email me your mailing address! I love post cards so I will send you one if you give me your address.
And a big thanks to my faithful blog readers (:
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Cambridge, England
I am so excited to have free internet! I am at Cambridge University where we are staying in the Clare college dorms. Its really nice here but its also super disappointing that there are so many well groomed green lawns but you can't sit on them! ): I have been talking to some of my friends here about how it feels so different to be in England. I feel better in some way- kind of relieved. Learning about all the strife in the recent history of Northern Ireland was making me really sad for them. But I am definately going to stay updated on what is going on there.
Anyways, Cambridge is beautiful. The university is made up of 31 colleges- and from what I understand the colleges are more like dorms than learning facilities. I'm still not clear on that one though... I really enjoyed classes this morning. We had our arts/music class and everyone sand in rounds and talked about different terms. Our professor Dr. Brothers is so funny and really gets the students engaged in what he is teaching so everyone enjoys that class. Then we had European Nationalism and Dr. Pointer who leads it is also really funny and always makes really good points that I end up thinking about all week. I also had my elective class today- Christian Worship. Did I mention that I am the only student?? So its more like being tutored... haha.
The city here is really cool- there are a bunch of shops, but mostly its a city built for the school, not a school in a city. The city itself just got legal/political standing in 1951 even though the University has been here since something like 1350. It had to do with the fact it didn't have a cathedral and that was a requirement for cities in England. Now its cathedral is actually in the small city of Ely. We visited the cathedral there- like is also from the 1300's. I thought it was cool that it was built in honor of a woman. (: We also visited Kings Cathedral today on campus. I think King Henry VIII had a big part in bulding it. His initials are engraved everywhere in the church. kind of silly if you think about it since its supposed to be a center for Christian worship, not a commercial for the king.
I really feel like being in Cambridge is like a resting place for our group. Ireland and Northern Ireland were so hectic and busy with such heavy material that we were learning. And next we will be in London, which I think is the largest city in Europe. I mean, I love big cities but it is nice to be in a somewhat rural part, too. It's draining to be always surrounded by cars and stores. but I'm excited to shop in London- well more like window shop considering the exchange rate is so bad for Americans... ufff. Speaking of money, I was really bummed to the max yesterday because I had to pay for my luggage being overweight from Belfast to Stanstead (where we flew to on our way to Sambridge). Bummed isn't even the best word to describe how I felt... it was more a mixture of anger, stress, and sadness. But oh well. Mom- I'm sending home lots of stuff so my bag will be easier to travel with!!! (:
Hopefully I will be able to get some more photos up soon. Please leave a comment when you read this- it brightens up my day to know people are reading my blog.
Ahhh! I just got attacked by a moth!!! It flew in through the window and hit me in the eye!!!
Anyways, Cambridge is beautiful. The university is made up of 31 colleges- and from what I understand the colleges are more like dorms than learning facilities. I'm still not clear on that one though... I really enjoyed classes this morning. We had our arts/music class and everyone sand in rounds and talked about different terms. Our professor Dr. Brothers is so funny and really gets the students engaged in what he is teaching so everyone enjoys that class. Then we had European Nationalism and Dr. Pointer who leads it is also really funny and always makes really good points that I end up thinking about all week. I also had my elective class today- Christian Worship. Did I mention that I am the only student?? So its more like being tutored... haha.
The city here is really cool- there are a bunch of shops, but mostly its a city built for the school, not a school in a city. The city itself just got legal/political standing in 1951 even though the University has been here since something like 1350. It had to do with the fact it didn't have a cathedral and that was a requirement for cities in England. Now its cathedral is actually in the small city of Ely. We visited the cathedral there- like is also from the 1300's. I thought it was cool that it was built in honor of a woman. (: We also visited Kings Cathedral today on campus. I think King Henry VIII had a big part in bulding it. His initials are engraved everywhere in the church. kind of silly if you think about it since its supposed to be a center for Christian worship, not a commercial for the king.
I really feel like being in Cambridge is like a resting place for our group. Ireland and Northern Ireland were so hectic and busy with such heavy material that we were learning. And next we will be in London, which I think is the largest city in Europe. I mean, I love big cities but it is nice to be in a somewhat rural part, too. It's draining to be always surrounded by cars and stores. but I'm excited to shop in London- well more like window shop considering the exchange rate is so bad for Americans... ufff. Speaking of money, I was really bummed to the max yesterday because I had to pay for my luggage being overweight from Belfast to Stanstead (where we flew to on our way to Sambridge). Bummed isn't even the best word to describe how I felt... it was more a mixture of anger, stress, and sadness. But oh well. Mom- I'm sending home lots of stuff so my bag will be easier to travel with!!! (:
Hopefully I will be able to get some more photos up soon. Please leave a comment when you read this- it brightens up my day to know people are reading my blog.
Ahhh! I just got attacked by a moth!!! It flew in through the window and hit me in the eye!!!
Sunday, September 2, 2007
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Hello!!! I am in
Anyways, like I said I am learning a lot about the troubles of
But I can say that I LOVE
Yesterday was the best day ever. We went to Derry (or
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