Thursday, June 25, 2009
Life lessons
On the eve of my last day of studying abroad, I would like to say that even though this experience was almost nothing like I expected, I think it may have been exactly what I needed.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Operation: Seduce a British Prince
This may or may not be the last time I write (in England, at least). The countdown is in the single digits...
When I got back from spring break, I was thinking about planning another international trip, and this past weekend is the weekend I would have done it. However, I ended up having a perfect British weekend, so I'm very glad I stayed.
On Friday afternoon I left Brighton to go to London and visit my friend Kristen, who is interning there this summer. It was my last trip to the city and I couldn't have asked for better company or weather. On Friday we explored Kensington Gardens, including the Peter Pan statue, which was the last thing remaining on my must-see in London list. We also saw the Princess Diana memorial fountain, which is less like a fountain and more like a small river contained in concrete. After the gardens we had dinner at a pub, where I introduced Kristen to Pimm's. It was a proud British moment for me. We went out to a bar/club (we thought it was a club, but people weren't really dancing in the room we were in) with her flatmates, who also go to Purdue and were all really friendly.
On Saturday morning we got up fairly early so that we could get a good spot to see the Trouping of the Color, the Queen's birthday parade. There were lots of guards and you could tell what was going to happen based on their positions ("attention," "at ease," and our personal favorite, "royal salute"). After a lot of soldiers playing instruments, a carriage came by and it was only in the midst of furiously taking pictures that we realized, "OHMYGOD IT'S PRINCE WILLIAM AND HARRY!!!" (which then resulted in taking even more pictures, of course). We were all hyperventilating and missed the majority of whatever happened in the parade between the princes and the Queen's arrival (who didn't even smile, sheesh!). Standing that close to them is enough to make any girl go weak in the knees, I think.
After the parade we walked around, ate lunch and looked in some shops. Then Kristen and I went to Regent's Park, which is right across from her flat, and ended up walking from one end to the other! There was an open area with plenty of space for pickup football matches, then a river framed with more trees, and then Queen Mary's Rose Garden, which had tons of gorgeous flowers and at least two wedding receptions. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, even by non-British standards, so it was great to just be outside.
Next stop: Brighton. :o) We ate dinner at a cute Italian restaurant and saw the Pier lit up, but we were tired from the late night/early morning, so we went to bed and saved most of our adventure for the next day.
Sunday was the perfect day in Brighton. Weather: unbelievable. (I wore shorts!) Company: fabulous, of course. ;-) We went to a restaurant called the Mock Turtle for cream tea, Kristen's first and my last. :o)/:-( It was delicious, naturally, and I was so sad to consume my last bite of scone with clotted cream and jam. Kristen and I are already planning to have tea parties in Indianapolis when we're both back and missing England. I was really glad she liked it so much.
Then we spent the rest of our day on the pier/at the beach. There were lots of people but it still didn't feel overly crowded, which was nice. We rode the Crazy Mouse on the pier, which gave a good view of the ocean (at least, when it wasn't whipping you around corners), had ice cream on the beach and fish and chips for dinner, and generally basked in the amazing sunshine and warmth. I wish Brighton Beach could always be so close.
A few study abroad students had birthdays this week, so I went to a cocktail party Monday night and a birthday dinner on Tuesday. They were fun, but in general I feel more connected to my flatmates than most of the international students here.
This week: replication of psych experiment: finished (at least, my portion). Final paper: will be finished tonight and handed in tomorrow or Monday, depending on what time the psychology office opens. This weekend: road trip to Dover and Canterbury with Aoife (so excited!!), last visit to church and traditional Sunday roast with my flatmates. Next week: Drusilla's, Komedia, beach, and surely lots of delicious food and time spent with friends. And, uh, packing?? So much to do, so little time... where did the last six months go!?
A side note for Mom and Dad: when I come back to the States, I want pancakes for dinner. :o)
When I got back from spring break, I was thinking about planning another international trip, and this past weekend is the weekend I would have done it. However, I ended up having a perfect British weekend, so I'm very glad I stayed.
On Friday afternoon I left Brighton to go to London and visit my friend Kristen, who is interning there this summer. It was my last trip to the city and I couldn't have asked for better company or weather. On Friday we explored Kensington Gardens, including the Peter Pan statue, which was the last thing remaining on my must-see in London list. We also saw the Princess Diana memorial fountain, which is less like a fountain and more like a small river contained in concrete. After the gardens we had dinner at a pub, where I introduced Kristen to Pimm's. It was a proud British moment for me. We went out to a bar/club (we thought it was a club, but people weren't really dancing in the room we were in) with her flatmates, who also go to Purdue and were all really friendly.
On Saturday morning we got up fairly early so that we could get a good spot to see the Trouping of the Color, the Queen's birthday parade. There were lots of guards and you could tell what was going to happen based on their positions ("attention," "at ease," and our personal favorite, "royal salute"). After a lot of soldiers playing instruments, a carriage came by and it was only in the midst of furiously taking pictures that we realized, "OHMYGOD IT'S PRINCE WILLIAM AND HARRY!!!" (which then resulted in taking even more pictures, of course). We were all hyperventilating and missed the majority of whatever happened in the parade between the princes and the Queen's arrival (who didn't even smile, sheesh!). Standing that close to them is enough to make any girl go weak in the knees, I think.
After the parade we walked around, ate lunch and looked in some shops. Then Kristen and I went to Regent's Park, which is right across from her flat, and ended up walking from one end to the other! There was an open area with plenty of space for pickup football matches, then a river framed with more trees, and then Queen Mary's Rose Garden, which had tons of gorgeous flowers and at least two wedding receptions. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, even by non-British standards, so it was great to just be outside.
Next stop: Brighton. :o) We ate dinner at a cute Italian restaurant and saw the Pier lit up, but we were tired from the late night/early morning, so we went to bed and saved most of our adventure for the next day.
Sunday was the perfect day in Brighton. Weather: unbelievable. (I wore shorts!) Company: fabulous, of course. ;-) We went to a restaurant called the Mock Turtle for cream tea, Kristen's first and my last. :o)/:-( It was delicious, naturally, and I was so sad to consume my last bite of scone with clotted cream and jam. Kristen and I are already planning to have tea parties in Indianapolis when we're both back and missing England. I was really glad she liked it so much.
Then we spent the rest of our day on the pier/at the beach. There were lots of people but it still didn't feel overly crowded, which was nice. We rode the Crazy Mouse on the pier, which gave a good view of the ocean (at least, when it wasn't whipping you around corners), had ice cream on the beach and fish and chips for dinner, and generally basked in the amazing sunshine and warmth. I wish Brighton Beach could always be so close.
A few study abroad students had birthdays this week, so I went to a cocktail party Monday night and a birthday dinner on Tuesday. They were fun, but in general I feel more connected to my flatmates than most of the international students here.
This week: replication of psych experiment: finished (at least, my portion). Final paper: will be finished tonight and handed in tomorrow or Monday, depending on what time the psychology office opens. This weekend: road trip to Dover and Canterbury with Aoife (so excited!!), last visit to church and traditional Sunday roast with my flatmates. Next week: Drusilla's, Komedia, beach, and surely lots of delicious food and time spent with friends. And, uh, packing?? So much to do, so little time... where did the last six months go!?
A side note for Mom and Dad: when I come back to the States, I want pancakes for dinner. :o)
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
18 days!?
Well. It's been awhile. I should number things so that this entry is less overwhelming.
1) Cambridge! I went to Cambridge for a day. Our tour guide was entertaining but questionable. It was graduation day, which made me think of being at Yale for my brother's graduation two years ago. Except Cambridge is 800 YEARS OLD.
2) Eurovision! When I got back from Cambridge I watched Eurovision, which is sort of like a condensed European American Idol. Basically all of the European countries who want to have a participant, who sings a song that is unique to that country. There are three rounds, but we just watched the finals because otherwise you see a lot of repeats. All of the countries performed (there were over 30!), and then there was a sort of intermission while they waited for all of the countries to call in with their votes, during which Cirque du Soleil did a weird performance in some sort of plastic portable swimming pool, but it was flexible so as they jumped in it morphed to shape their bodies and the audience could "touch" them as it was lowered down. Yeah, it was weird. Then representatives from all the countries call in to award points to their favorite performers, and it's basically political, like oh surprise, Cyprus voted for Greece! If you want a taste of Eurovision, search for "Fairytale" by Alexander Rybak on YouTube. He was the winner and that song was the theme song in my flat for awhile.
3) Summer term = death! I had three papers and an exam in the past month. Now, I've gotten through this amount of work and more at Wash U, but the difference here is that the material was stuff I hadn't looked at since March, and in all cases it was either the only or one of two grades in the class. It was easy to get out of my good study habits, and I pretty much went through academic culture shock because I have always cared too much about school. I just didn't handle the situation well and it was an ugly time. But I got through it and regardless of what marks I get they can't say I didn't try. Moving on to happier things...
4) Visitors! My good friend Katherine came to visit after she finished her program in Rome. Though she came at a time when I had to study a lot for my exam, we still got to hang out in Brighton and Rottingdean. She got GORGEOUS, completely uncharacteristic English weather - sunny, in the 70s, and no rain until she was getting on the train to Gatwick. In Rottingdean we had cream tea (obligatory), crashed a wedding (aka people-watched outside of a church), and sunned on the beach. Glorious. In Brighton we sunned by the Pavilion, finally (for me) sang karaoke at the King & Queen, and discovered RedVeg and Lick. RedVeg is a vegetarian fast food place (hamburgers, hot dogs & falafel) which has pictures of Communist leaders on the menu and fat potato wedges covered in spices which are perfect with their accompanying sweet sauce. Vegetarian food + Communism = delicious. Lick is next door and has natural frozen yogurt. Literally, it just tastes like cold yogurt, but you cover it in toppings like honey and fruit. mmm. We also discovered a delicious Indian restaurant, saw a production of My Fair Lady, and sampled doughnuts on the pier (thanks for the tip, Mom and Dad!). 'Twas a good visit.
5) The final countdown! Now I am balancing writing my last paper with enjoying my last days in England. I have a "Sussex/Brighton To-Do List" that is posted in my flat's kitchen. You will probably not be surprised to know that many of the things on this list involve food. Successes so far include a visit to Stanmer Park, a nearby nature preserve with a cafe that sells DELICIOUS scones (these scones might be better than the ones in Rottingdean. I'm not kidding.) and dinner at La Tosca, where we used a 50% off coupon to get drinks, bread, tapas (about four each to share) and dessert for 15 pounds! yummy. My flatmates are determined to help me accomplish at least most things on my list, so that's exciting. This includes day trips to Canterbury, Dover and Drusilla's, a zoo mostly housing small, adorable, furry animals.
6) Babies! We have a birds' nest outside the front door of our flat. Somehow, even though we just noticed the babies two days ago, they have all already flown the nest. One of them flew the nest a little too early and was hopping around the entryway for awhile looking and sounding thoroughly confused. SO adorable. Now most of the others have followed suit but the rest of them were better at flying.
7) London! I am taking my final (!) trip to London this weekend, to visit a friend from home who is interning there this summer. The Queen's birthday is on Saturday, so she gets a proper celebration with a parade. We're mostly hoping to seduce Prince Harry and William. Wish us luck. ;-) Then she'll be coming back with me to lovely Brighton on Saturday night and Sunday. The weather is supposed to be pretty again, yay! I'll be introducing her to cream tea - I know you're surprised.
In short, please explain to me why I have to leave. It's not that I don't love my home in Indiana. But if you could figure out how to bring my house, my family and Wash U here instead, that'd be fab.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
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