Does England Have Cheerios?

Yes :D

Home?

The journey home was stressful. I'm sure no matter what it would have been. But, it didn't help that Iceland's volcano was erupting and creating complications. Who knew how difficult it would be to pack a year's worth of stuff into two suitcases . . . again. It was hard. I ended up shipping a box of books home to lighten the load. They arrived about a week and a half after I did, so in all that wasn't so bad. The flight itself was good. No troubles at all.

My mum came to visit for a week before she helped me move all my stuff home. We toured London and did some things around Plymouth and the surrounding area. I really enjoyed being able to introduce my mum to all my friends and to show her around where I had been living and show her what I did every day. It gave her a sense of why I liked England so much and maybe will help when I start missing it even more.

I've been home for about two weeks now. It's a strange feeling. Many things are familiar as I've known them for the past twenty years. But, at the same time those familiar things seems somewhat foreign. Having attatched myself so much to the English culture and the nature of things there, seeing normal things that I'm used to seems strange to me now.

Readjusting to American culture is a bit difficult. Moreso, the difficulties lie in moving back home. In England, I cooked for myself, went grocery shopping, I could travel, and I made decisions for myself. Now, I'm readjusting to family life and being home and not so independent.

I miss England and all my friends that I made there. It's a difficult thing to make friends and build a life for yourself knoing that you'll have to leave it in a year's time. But, it does nothing to thwart the friendships made. Thank goodness for Facebook and Skype!! I can keep in touch with all my friends.

I still can't tell if I have changed or not. I'm sure I have, whether it's noticable or not. I'd like to think my experience has had a great impact on my life. I guess I'll just have to wait and see!

Iceland

Iceland. Yes, yes, I realize I am currently living in England. But, Iceland, or rather its volcanos have been proving a menace to most of Europe. The volcano began errupting on Wednesday and it is currently still going. Most of the flights are still grounded. As of now, it is still possible to fly into Ireland and then somehow find your way into England via ferry. But its a bit difficult at the moment.

It is a bit worry-some because the last erruption from Iceland's volcano lasted 18 months. My mum is hoping to come visit me and help me bring all of my stuff home (which I would greatly appreciate). And also, the problem stands that if she can't come visit me I might not be able to go home as planned. I would prefer everything to go back to being normal-ish before 18 months has gone by. But that might just be me.

April 7, 2009

It's been sunny out today, a lovely 12 degrees C or 54 degrees F, and its been one year. An entire year! Exactly one year ago to the day, I got an email confirming that I had been accepted into the University of Plymouth and that the next school year was, in fact, going to be spent in Plymouth, England.

How time flies. This past year has been incredible. I've met so many new people who have influenced my life tremendously. I have come to realize how much I appreciate my friends back home and how supportive my family is. I have learned so much about the ways of the world and so much about myself. I know I have changed a lot, even if other people don't notice. The true test will be in re-introducing myself to life at home. Those are the people who will look at me and say, "Wow, you've really changed." And whether or not they mean it in a good way is truly up to them. I feel I have changed in a lot of good ways and there is no doubt that I am still the same person who left Illinois last September.

This experience has been the best and hardest experience of my life. I've been having such an incredible time and I don't want to leave just yet, so it's a good thing that I still have a month or so left in this crazy amazing place. As to this experience being hard, it's true. But, who said it was going to be easy? I got jetlag, new colds, I had to make new friends, get along with new people, learn to fit into a new culture, and spend nine months away from my friends and family. It's by far the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life so far. But, it's been brilliant. If I had the choice to go back in time and do it again I'd be here in half a heartbeat. Without this experience, I would be a completely different person.

When Friends Come to Town

This past week my best friend from home came to visit me in Plymouth. What a good opportunity to do some more travelling. First off, I met her at the airport in London. We were only able to spend a day and a half in London. It was what we'd describe as a "whirlwin tour."


On day one, we arrived at the hostel and then went off exploring. We were able to see Tower Bridge, St. Paul's Cathedral, and the Globe.


Then the next day, we got a good start to the day. We started off at Tate Modern then took the boat ride to Tate Britain. From there we walked to the Houses of Parliment, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, through St. James Park, Buckingham Palace (where the flag was flying meaning we were in the same town as the Queen of England!), through Green Park, through Hyde Park, to the Science Museum, and then to the Natural History Museum. It was a great day! We actually feel like we got a lot accomplished in our short time in London.


Once back in Plymouth we explored it a bit and decided to take a day trip to the Eden Project in St Austell. It was fantastic. There were three biomes (one of which was outdoors for the local flora and fauna). The other two were Rainforest and Mediterranean. We went into the Rainforest Biome first, and it was astonishing. It was literally like walking into a rainforest. The air was so warm and humid it was like drinking air rather than breathing it. We had to shed layers. There were a few waterfalls and there were water droplets that kept falling on us. I really really enjoyed the whole experience.


Then, we made our way to the Mediterranean Biome. It was a bit cooler than I expected, but that could have been because we had just come from the Rainforest. The Mediterranean was not as large as the Rainforest Biome, but it still had plenty to see. It had some of the plants of California growing in it as well as those from the Mediterranean itself. It also was home to a lot of the bulbs and seed plants that the Eden Project uses to send plants to people. There were daffodils and tulips and an arrangement of other plants. The day at the Eden Project was a good day too.


So, travelling was good. We fit in all forms of transportation for my friend: flying, the London Underground (aka the Tube), a boat, trains, a taxi, a bus, and walking. We had a good time catching up and making more memories of our time in England over her Spring Break.

(sounds like Tour-key)

Tourquay. Beautiful. Right on the bay. A coastal walk. Sunshine and warmness. Good travelling companions and an all around good day. We did lots of walking (as we usually do) and we thouroughly enjoyed our day out of Plymouth. However, after ten minutes of being there and taking a few pictures my camera battery died. So I got to request pictures from my friend all day.

We walked the Coastal path. It was a bit muddy in bits but on the whole very nice. The water was a spectacular shade of blue and the sky only had a few clouds. Brilliant. At one point, we left the path and did a bit of exploring. We had seen a path leading from the real path and we decided to go exploring. The exploring led my friend and I down a little climb to a rock ledge with a view of this rock arch. We then had to climb up. But we made it and it was worth it. Once we got back in town we stopped for lunch. Worst. lunch. ever! We stopped at a fish & chips place. It was terrible. And not the "Oh, I know it's so bad for me, but it tastes good anyways." NO. I mean flat out terrible. The seagulls however seemed to enjoy it immensely . . . or the single chip we dropped. We chucked it away quickly so as to not get attacked by a hoard of seagulls.

After lunch, if you can call it that, we split up. Two went off one direction and my friend and I went another. We headed off to Kent's Cavern. It was mainly geared towards children and families, but it was a good site anyway. We got to see stalagmites and stalagtites at work. It was interesting and it was unlike anything I've seen before. Not overly fantastic, just different and kind of neat.

On the way back to the train station we stopped in a grocery store and bought real food. More of it and cheaper than the fish and chips. Then at the end of the day we got to see the sun set over the bay. And then we had to run to meet the others to catch the train. A good trip I think!

Dartmoor . . . The Trees of England (and the ponies)

When thinking of England, green comes to mind. Green and London. But the green is the bigger part of the visual image. Being in the middle of a city, there really isn't an extensive amount of green. However, Dartmoor National Park is green . . . very green. The free walk was on Saturday. The walk itself: beautiful and very muddy.


Dartmoor is home to green moss, little ferns, old trees, and little ponies. There is a river that runs through it. We stopped on the side of this river for lunch. It is easy in that place to see why an artist or writer would be inspired by the plain nature of it all. It is a very photogenic place even without the best of cameras. It was a good day out. It gave us all the opportunity to stretch our legs and get some fresh air, as well as viewing the beauty of the English landscape. It was peaceful even in the size of group we were in.


Dartmoor ponies are wild ponies that roam the extent of the park. They are like people in a sense, some of them are friendly and some are not. The friendly ones came up to us and let us pet them. The others stood in the same place and kept a weary eye on us. If we came too close they simply walked away. Others were curious and would come up to us and sniff us, but still not let us pet them.

Time, Olympics, and Rugby

Who would have believed that time would go so fast? Oh, wait. That would be me. This is exactly why I chose to insist upon studying abroad for an entire year versus a semester. I now have about three months left here in England. I can't believe it. It seems like yesterday was still in September. I would have been gutted if I would have had to leave after first term and I'm pretty sure in thinking I would have been miserable back home. I think that after this term, however, I will be more accepting to the fact that I'm going home. I miss everyone, but I know I will miss it here once I am back in the States.

I recently watched the Super Bowl. Talk about different. It was on the BBC which meant no Super Bowl commercials. A bit disappointing especially because where there should have been commercials (or advertisments) there was a couple of guys talking about extremely nonimportant things. The halftime show was good I thought. My company to watch the game was interesting. I was with two people from Canada and 3 people from England. Strange experience to watch the game with people who don't know the game and/or don't really care about what's going on.

Currently I'm trying to keep track of the Winter Olympics. There isn't too much hype about them really. My Canadian flatmate and I are keeping up, but I'm not sure how interested the rest of Uni is. To be fair, Six Nations is going on right now and that's a huge huge event here. Six Nations is a rugby tournament between England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, France, and Italy. Rugby is interesting and the environment of going to see a game at the Student Union is phenomenal. Everyone is gathered around the screen with a beer and their friends cheering for their team. The spirit of the game is amazing.

I think part of the reason that there isn't much hype about the Winter Olympics is because the Summer Olympics are being held in London in 2012. Some people also believe that the Winter Olympics aren't as important, which of course isn't true. There may be fewer events and fewer teams and fewer atheletes, but the spirit of the Games is there and the competition is there and the need for the World to support it's own people is there. This time, since I'm in England, all the coverage is biased towards England. I almost find myself rooting for England (which wouldn't be a terrible thing) but I'm also terribly biased towards the American team and of course I want them to do their best!

Good Luck to all the Olympians!!!!!!

and

Happy February!!!!!

And, We're Back

Well, it's definately a nice feeling, being back. Nice to not be living out of a suitcase. Nice to have your own fridge so you can buy your own groceries and make your own food. Just nice. Well, laundry isn't nice, but I suppose it is nice to have clean clothes.

The first week of classes is over. It's looking like it might be a good term. Not overboard, but not bored to death either. A lot of reading perhaps, but that isn't new. This term is already different than last term. New classes, new faces, a few faces I don't see.

I'm starting to feel like I'm to the point where I could go home. Not that I'm ready at this very moment in time, but I'm going to be ready to see everyone when May rolls around. Its just an inevitable thing. Spend nine-ish months away from everyone, you will miss them.

I do love it in Plymouth though. Its a great experience. I'm really excited to get this new term rolling, catch up with friends, and make new ones. It's going to be brilliant. Here's to this term!

Oh and by the way:

Happy Christmas (a bit late, okay, really really late)

and

Merry New Year!! <--still a valid statement as it is still 2010

:D

To Be in Barcelona

Barcelona, for me, was more of a relaxed section of break. However, that does not mean that I did nothing at all. It was a shorter stay by far, but the company was good and the sights were there for our viewing. I stayed in two different hostels, the first of which was not very good. But, I only stayed there one night and then I moved on to the next to find myself coincidentally in the same room as my two friends. We spent a good few days in Barcelona.

Barcelona (Sparknotes version) ;) :

Day 0: Arrived. It was nighttime, so I basically took the metro to the hostel, checked in, did a bit of online chatting, and went to bed.

Day 1: Arrived at the new hostel, checked in and sat updating and uploading pictures all day. Not too exciting, but like I said, this was the more relaxing bit of my travelling.

Day 2: We took the free walking tour of the city. We got to see the old Roman walls, view the Cathedral (which is still being built on the outside), view the governmental houses, and hear a lot of history about the city itself. Following the tour, we continued on to the Picasso Museum. We tried to take advantage of every possible money saving opportunity and it just so happened that this museum was free on that day.

Day 3: Working our way down towards the sea, we made our way to the Maritime Museum. We saw submarines, model ships, parts from ships, a real ship, and some of the first scuba gear. It was pretty interesting. Its funny though when you travel without people you know really well from home because you find yourself thinking, "Oh, so-and-so would really like this museum." Not something you really get used to I don't think. Afterwards, we carried on to the Columbus Monument. We posed with the lions and then made our way through the city back towards the Modern Art Museum. I'm not sure we quite knew what to expect with this museum, but it was . . . interesting to say the least.

Day 4: Day 4 introduced possibly our favorite museum that we went to in Barcelona: Mus. d'Historia Ciutat, or the History of the City. The ancient Roman city was on display in a covered, slightly underground building. It was incredible. The amount of history in one place is staggering. Even though you are on a raised surface a few feet above the actual city, you can see where the people made wine, where they walked, and where they washed clothes. I think being a part of something like that, even if its only visiting for a while, makes a huge impression on the mind. To continue our day, we headed off to the Palau de la Musica. Its a music hall that is pretty reknown. The accoustics are phenominal and sitting in the hall, you just wonder what it would feel like to perform on that stage. We got a tour of the building, and we got to hear the organ play. We also were able to admire the architecture. We continued on to the Jewish Synagogue, thought to be one of the oldest synagogues in Europe. It was fairly small, but there was a lot of history in that small space. To end the day, we attended the Three Kings Parade. I'd never been to a parade at night before and it was pretty spectacular. There were lots of lights and the Three Kings made their appearance, and there were real camels! I couldn't believe how many they had, or that there were even real camels in the parade at all! The things you see when you travel.

Day 5: Gaudi. One of Barcelona's famous architects. Possibly the orgin of the word gaudy (though not likely). But, in being a beloved citizen of Barcelona, of course his touch is going to be all over. So, we devoted the morning of Day 5 to Gaudi's handiworks. First, we saw Sagrada Familia, a church which Gaudi originally designed, but they are still building it even though Gaudi is now dead. We then saw an apartment building of his design and then headed over to Casa Batllo. Its a large house that can be toured. It did cost quite a bit, but it was well worth it. Its Gaudi at his best. After Gaudi, we made our way to the Gaudi Park and then onwards and upwards, literally. We climbed a mountain. The view from the top was breath-taking. We got to the top just as the sun was beginning to set. That meant that it was getting dark as we made our way back down the mountain, which was a beautiful view as well. The surprise of the day was that on the way back down the mountain we saw a wild pig. It was really big and covered in fur. It was a bit nerve-wracking, because you never know how a wild animal will react, but it passed calmly and we continued on.

Day 6: I stayed in this day. I collected my thoughts, began packing and organizing, and relaxed.
Later we went out to dinner at a Spanish Vegan Restuarant. It was a really nice change after only eating pasta and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for a week.

Day 7: Packed the rest and headed out to the airport. THe view out the airport window was spectacular. There were snow-capped mountains in the near distance and the sun was shining through the clouds. Waiting for the plane ride home wasn't bad. It was odd to me how much I missed being in Plymouth. Maybe more missing my friends here, but it was just weird how I was ready to come back.

However, all in all, I'd say Barcelona was a very good installment to my travels! :)

The City of Light

I'm not sure, but I don't think it's possible to sum up Paris in one blog. It follows the trend of the city really: not enough time to get everything done. Spending eleven days in Paris? You need more. A day in the Louvre? You need at least two. Versailles in five hours? You need six. So, one blog? You need at least two, but we'll try for just the one.

I've really enjoyed my stay in Paris. The hostel is not bad. It's got a decent location and its easily accessible to the Metro. I spent the first five days in a six bed mixed dorm. Then my friend and I moved into a room where we each had a single bed but it was just me and her. The six person dorm was a good way to meet new people. I made a few good friends on this trip.

My basic rundown of Paris is this:
Day 0: Arrived :) We settled in and found out that we were the first in our room. Two sisters from South Korea arrived later, followed by a guy from Indonesia, and finally a guy from the States. Eventually, the two Korean girls and the Indonesian guy moved out and we got three Austrailian guys to add to our international room.

Day 1: We visited Gare du Nord and Gare l'Est which are both really big beautiful train stations. We spent our time walking around our area and down the canal as well.

Day 2: We went on a free walking tour of Paris. It was three hours long and well worth it. We were able to see Jardin des Tuileries (a beautiful garden with a lot of statues and some fountains), the Obelisque (a 'gift' from Egypt according to the French . . . the Egyptians aren't so sure), and St. Michel's fountain in the Latin Quarter among other things which we were then able to go back and visit later. After the tour, we explored the Petit Palais, the Christmas Market, the Champs-Elysees (the most distinguished shopping street in Paris), and finally the Arc de Triomphe. As we were walking back, we were able to watch as they turned on all the Christmas lights after dark. It was beautiful.

Day 3: Christmas day we spent around the hostel because not much would have been open. We had Christmas dinner at the hostel which consisted of Fois Gras, Roast turkey, dessert, and champagne. Then, we got together with some of our roommates and hung out in the lounge for a social Christmas drink.

Day 4: On our way to the Eiffel Tower, we came across a giant golden dome. We found Napolean's final resting place. Along with that, there is a French military museum. We wandered through that for a few hours before going to visit Napolean. We finally made it to the Eiffel Tower, but as it was Boxing Day the queue took about two hours to get into the tower. It was really cold in the queue, but the wait was worth the effort, because the view from the Eiffel Tower at night is breath-taking.

Day 5: Notre Dame is a giant Cathedral that is actually located on an island where the Seine splits and surrounds it. It has beautiful stained glass windows and the accustics are phenominal. Later we returned to the Eiffel Tower (which only took 45 minutes in the queue) and we were able to go all the way to the very top. It was very cold and extremely windy at the top but the view was still worth the trouble. We were also able to see the light show that the Eiffel Tower is currently putting on for their 120th year celebration.

Day 6: The Louvre. The size of the Louvre is unbelievable! There is so much to see that it literally cannot be seen all in one day. There is more than paintings in the Louvre. There are sculptures and ancient artifacts. The Egyptian display is very well organized and the vast collection of items that they have is great. A lot of emphasis is placed on the paintings of course. Especially the Mona Lisa. The crowd in front of her was massive. There are so many other famous paintings as well. It is worth seeing and spending as much time as possible in. Thanks to one of our friends, we got there early and were able to avoid the infamous queues that are spoken of about the Louvre. If you get there early, chances are good that it will most definately pay off.

Day 7: This was supposed to be a museum day and then follow on to a tour of the Montmartre District. However, the weather had different plans. By the time we had gotten anywhere, my shoes were soaked. So, I opted to just go to the Musee Rodin and then go home. The Rodin Museum has a lot of famous statues. The most reknown perhaps The Thinker, followed closely by The Gates of Hell and The Kiss. There is a great manor house with a very large garden behind. There are sculptures in both the house and the gardens and both are well worth seeing. The queue to get in only took about 35 minutes. I enjoyed this museum a lot. From one side, you could see The Thinker, the Eiffel Tower, and Hotel Invalides. It was a pretty good day even though the weather tried to make it otherwise.

Day 8: We got up early and went to the Catacombs. The queue was very long and most of that had to do with the fact that the Catacombs, for safety reasons, can only allow 200 people in at one time. The Catacombs are mind-blowing. Its hard to think about how many people are buried there. The air was really heavy down there but it was amazing. Afterwards, we headed back into the day light (after 83 spiralling stairs) and made our way to Musee l'Orangerie where Monet's famous Waterlilies are kept. The paintings are huge! They also wrap around a circular room. There are two rooms that hold the Waterlily paintings and then there is an exhibition downstairs. Les Enfants was the exhibit theme and we saw artwork pertaining to children from people like Monet and Picasso among others.

Day 9: The Palace of Versailles is worth the trek out. We got our tickets online the day before which guaranteed that we only had to wait in one queue, which actually moved fairly quickly considering how long it was. We explored the gardens first. There is a canal that we walked down on our way to Marie Antoinette's house. Its all very picturesque. We then made our way back to the Palace and had lunch before going into the palace itself. The Hall of Mirrors was my favorite part of the Palace. There were so many chandeliers and the room was so light. When we got back to the Hostel we bundled up to go back out for New Years Eve. The original plan was to go to the Eiffel Tower and watch the countdown there, but halfway there the Metro station we switched trains at was really packed so we ended up walking the rest of the way. We got along the Seine and decided to just stay and watch from there. We had champagne and it was a good time. After the countdown and it was officially 2010 we made our way to the Champs-Elysees. Afterwards, we had to walk about halfway home before we could find a taxi. It was a long trek and we were all really tired, but it was a good night.

Day 10: I got up fairly early and packed all my things. I had breakfast with a couple friends and then headed out with one for a trip to Sacre Coeur. Sacre Coeur is in the Montmartre District. Sacre Coeur is also located on top of Paris's only hill. Its a white cathedral and it is truely beautiful. The fresco on the ceiling was gorgeous and the stained glass was breath-taking. I think that it is quite possible that Sacre Coeur is more beautiful than Notre Dame (but don't tell Notre Dame). I then made my way back to the airport and flew out to Barcelona. I was sad to leave because I feel like there is so much that I didn't have time to see. But, I figure this gives me a great excuse to come back to The City of Light.