I'm remembering some number from my online stats class last summer that when found from a probability calculation (I love probability) basically means the chance of an event occurring is practically zero. Like getting a royal flush in poker-- practically impossible for any one game.
Apply that concept to weekend trips, and you end up with a series of terribly improbable but highly unfortunate events. String those events together, and you're left with an expensive, nerve-wracking trip doomed from the beginning.
What do I mean by all this? Well ladies and gentlemen, let me use this space to tell you Katie Beth and I defy all probability. Statistics meant nothing to us last Thursday night as we set off to catch our night bus to Edinburgh, Scotland. In fact, if our fortunes had been as good as they were bad, we'd be the luckiest people alive. Ever.
But allow me a few moments to weave the tale of this most improbable weekend. It begins last Thursday, 26 June. Come with me now as I take you back to that night.
*cue Twilight Zone music*
(PS, I'm feeling rather dramatic right now, so please bear with me. If you'd like, read slowly- it heightens the feeling. Something about savouring the mental picture, I believe)
The deadbolt on the front door clicks shut. Katie Beth and I step out of the flat's overhang onto the sidewalk, slick from a soft London drizzle. We've left five minutes later than I intended, 10:35 PM. The burning street lamps cast more than enough light for us to walk and then jog to the Earl's Court station as I become progressively more worried. We swipe in, trot down the steps towards the District line, and wait for a train heading towards Victoria Station. Minutes tick by, inching us ever closer towards the bus's departure at 11 PM. The boards show no useful trains coming. I glance at my watch, once, twice, three times, more. Precious minutes continue to slip away. A couple nearby gives new meaning to the phrase public display of affection. Breathe Laura Beth, breathe. My head shakes; we're not going to make it. The right train arrives; we board.
Katie Beth, we're going to run for it. I've got the lighter bag, I'll go ahead. Turn left, then left again on Buckingham Palace Road. Run until you see the Coach Station. If I catch the bus, I won't be able to keep it long. She pays attention, but just long enough not to miss the PDA/inebriated couple making fools of themselves by us. The train trudges to Victoria Station after three agonizingly slow stops. The Tube at night is not dependable.
The train screeches, the doors open. Five minutes 'till 11. I dart into the churning mass of Tube-goers with Katie Beth hot on my heels. We race through the station to find stairs leading to the street above before taking a few deep breaths and plunging into the open streets.
I dodge past Londoners. Shifting left, right. Arms pumping, feet pounding. Just a little ways more, it'll be over soon. Don't look back, Katie Beth will find it. My legs are numb. Keep running. My heart is burning. More, more. Glance across the street. Cross traffic, swing into the station. Down the hall, over to the right. Five, Gate Five, where is it? There, go, now, they're boarding. Two minutes left.
The driver looks at my ticket. We're leaving now, people have to make it to the airport. My friend isn't here- how much time is left? One minute, and then we're leaving. I'll be back, thank you, thank you.
Back through the doors into the station. Search, search. Where is she? She couldn't have been far behind. Out onto the street. KATIE BETH! I yell. Again, Katie Beth! Nothing but the rushing of traffic.
I whirl around and head into the coach station again. She much be here; she couldn't have missed the building. I jog between Gate Five and the entrance. Where is she? Where is she? Nothing. I run over to the bus, apologize for keeping them an extra few minutes, and tell them to go on without us. Back to jogging between the entrances. On my second or third circuit, I spot my traveling buddy. Her eyes are wide, and we're both breathing hard from running.
(Alrighty, that's enough dramatic writing for now. Every once in a while I'll go on a very short-lived kick to turn out something a little different than my usual narrative, but that's over so I'll turn the regular voice on now.)
Turns out I made it to the bus in time, but Katie Beth was a few minutes behind me so we didn't make it together. She had stopped at the information board, checked for an Edinburgh bus, and then gone over to Gate Fifteen, a bus that was leaving at 11:15 PM. By the time I knew we had missed the bus, I could care less about how we were going to make it Scotland-- I had to find Katie Beth! She doesn't have a cell phone here, so it's always a little iffy if we'll meet up.
The Edinburgh bus at Gate Fifteen was full (we tried to buy tickets), so we went back to Victoria Train Station to look at tickets for Friday, the next day. But since they were about £120 per person, we opted to go back to Katie Beth's flat to look at other options. Of course her flatmates were expecting us to be well on our way Scotland, so they were understandably confused when we tip-toed in. No worries though, we were quiet and sat on the couch researching plane tickets. We booked a one-way flight to Edinburgh for the following morning at 11:00 AM for £90 per person. Oh goodness, what had we done?
So it was back to my flat for a few hours of sleep (got to bed at 1:30 AM) before waking and trying again. We left half an hour after I had wanted (mostly my fault) and then while two stops down the Tube, I realized I had left my wallet by the flat's computer when I was booking Loch Ness tour tickets. Arg. Back to the flat, another fifteen minutes. Fantastic Laura Beth, fantastic. We switched lines, but the train we boarded was hitting every red light (usually used to even out the trains between platforms) at every station. Oh goodness. I was beginning to worry about making our flight! While digging around in her bag for her razor, Katie Beth found it with her index finger, so we wrapped it up with my muffin wrapper. Poor finger! We managed to get a band-aid for it at the airport from a funny clerk.
Right, so we made it to the London City Airport (it was actually very easy to get to by Tube) with plenty of time before our flight. I wasn't sure if the UK had the same carry-on restrictions as the US, so I brought along my special water bottle, the one I've had since Mom dropped me off at the Chicago airport, filled with water. Oops, the UK will not allow any more than 3 ounces of liquid. Gulp, gulp, gulp! I wasn't even that thirsty, but I got all of it down. Gotta save that bottle, you know.
We got to the terminal gates and sat down to wait for our flight at 11:10 AM. Katie Beth read from her Victorian lit book, while I ate my muffin breakfast and watched the flight info board. Oh no, the plane was delayed by twenty minutes! We went to a little sandwich place nearby and picked up some food, but I put my tuna fish and sweet corn (I know, random) sandwich away to eat on the plane.
They finally had us board, but it was 11:50 AM before we took off. Normally, such a delay wouldn't have been a problem, but we had previously purchased train tickets to take us from Edinburgh to Inverness for 1:36 PM (they were bought before we missed the night bus. Oh, and the guy gave me a Club55 rate [age 55+] so I had to go back and get the tickets switched. Goodness). The flight took almost exactly an hour, and they served us drinks and salsa pretzyls as well as, get this, free sandwiches! Ok, so maybe they were a little weird-- I had brie and humous-- but they were free. That definitely made the £3.70 I spent on my tuna fish sandwich seem a little silly. Ah well.
Anyways, we touched down in Edinburgh and bolted off the plane to find the Airlink bus which is a £3 ride from the airport to the train station. An advertised twenty-five minute ride? Fantastic! We'll even have six minutes to spare! Uh, no. They LIED! Much to our dismay, we arrived at the train station a full 35 minutes later. As it turns out, Katie Beth had lost part of her train ticket, so it really didn't matter much anyway. It was just that kind of day.
Right, so we missed the train, the second form of transportation we didn't make. I pulled out my Google map and navigated us to the bus station where we purchased tickets for a 2:35 PM bus to Inverness for about £40 total. It was 2:15 at the time. We made our way over to Gate F and waited...and waited...and waited some more. Turns out, because of EU regulations the bus driver was required to take a 45 minute break between driving. In the mean time, Katie Beth and I talked to a very nice older Scottish couple. We finally took off from the station at 3:30 PM, but I had to text Emily (one of my flatmates) for our B&B's phone number to tell them we would be late. We finally pulled into Inverness at about 7:00 PM and found our night's lodging by 7:30 after a bit of wandering.
The Broadstone Guest House was a quaint little castle-like structure located just a few minutes walk from the city centre. We had booked the 'Tartan Twin' room which was a relatively small-sized, but very nice abode for the night. Certainly not the Cardiff apartment, but it was clean and tastefully furnished. And again with the UK and always having electric teakettles, tea, cream, sugar, and even biscuits this time!
For supper, we walked back near the city centre to a restaurant we'd passed on the way in. I don't remember the name, but the food was very good! I had pheasant, and Katie Beth had steak. We were going to get dessert (they had some awesome ones!) to celebrate making it to Scotland, but I developed heartburn midway through the meal (arg, but I did have my trusty Zantac and UK version of Tums), and we were pretty full. So it was back the the B&B for a wonderfully quiet night of a little TV and then bedtime.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Retreating to Wales
How do I describe it? What an amazing (that word will be used a lot in this post) time Katie Beth and I had this past weekend in Wales! Oh my goodness. Srsly. (<--that's lolcats) Last semester, we decided to be travel buddies, so we've been planning on these trips for quite a while. Yay!
Week before last, Katie Beth and I made reservations for an apartment that's rented to vacationers (it's part of a vacation/residential complex) in Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. We also booked train tickets and tickets to a joust at the Cardiff Castle. Katie Beth was very excited to take the train because she'd never ridden one before. The tickets were a hundred dollars, but she really enjoyed it. (Plus, Scotland train tickets are $200, so I'm thinkin' we might hit up the bus come this weekend)
We chatted for most of the ride and arrived in Cardiff at about 4:30 PM. Of course we didn't have a car so I had printed out directions to our apartment before we left. We managed to find our way amidst some slightly confusing roads and pretty identical apartment buildings to the concierge office where we picked up our keys. The whole process was a little different because the apartment complex is residential, and it seems like somebody owns a whole set of apartments and rents them out to vacationers.
We finally found our way through the myriad of apartment buildings, rode the lift up to the fourth floor, and stepped into Apartment #83. Our first thoughts:
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh my goodness!! The place was AMAZING!! We were paying about 85 pounds a night, but it was so beyond TOTALLY worth it. While searching for places to stay, we kinda looked for a very safe place but knew that it might cost a bit more. The website we used gave us the apartment for about 70 pounds off, as I recall.
Anyways, back to the amazingness of our weekend residence. Wow. We opened the door to a sparkling, new apartment. Absolutely gorgeous. Off in the living room was the 40 inch Sony Bravia TV!!! AMAZING!! We wandered through the bedroom and made our way to the kitchen and found Electrolux appliances such as a dishwasher and washer in the ritzy kitchen. Oh yeah, and champagne flutes! Oh goodness, and the floors were heated! Absolutely amazing! I almost preferred to sit, watch TV, and enjoy the poshness of that awesome place than go out sight-seeing. Wow, oh wow. I even got to watch a little Star Trek the first night! Glorious! In fact, that night we ordered in pizza because we didn't want to leave.
The next morning I made a cup of Taylors of Harrogate English Breakfast (yes Mom, I'm hooked) with the Prestige tea kettle. It boiled water in less that sixty seconds without the stove! Funny thing, you know you're in the UK when there are ample tea bags, sugar, tea kettles, even cream in the fridge but not a coffee maker in sight. Sorry Dad, all they had was instant coffee. I think the water was better than what we have in our flat-- I didn't have any weird foam on top of my tea. I try not to think about the white crust that is building at the bottom of a particular glass I've been using (and washing everyday) for weeks.
So anyways, we got out the door and walked to central Cardiff (about twenty minutes walk) making our way to Cardiff Castle which was holding a JOUST! Sa-weet! We bought tickets for a guided tour and learned about the 19th Century Earl of Butte who renovated the crumbling palace into his own medieval fantasy castle. Afterward, we climbed up into the Castle's keep which was built as an inner defense. The top offered great views around Cardiff, which is a much less busy city that London (thankfully!).
Below us there were performances going on, so we climbed back down and watched two 'knights' sword fights. There was a bit of a crowd gathered, but Katie Beth (she's a wee bit short) managed to see over a lady who was speaking to a child. By then my tummy was rumbling a bit, so we went over to a pork roll stand to buy sandwiches. For £3.50, we got a roll with stuffing spread on it, covered with pieces of freshly cooked Welsh pork, dabbed with some applesauce, and topped with a piece of cracklins. Oh yeah, and the fresh cooked pork? The big, head and all, was in a tray right before our eyes. The sandwich was soo good! I tried the cracklins (my second time since Branson last year), and they were better but a little weird. It was kinda strange to be eating pig skin with hair still on it, but whatevs, may as well try it!
While eating our sandwiches, we wandered over to the main JOUST (on our tickets it was always in caps, so I will put it in caps) area and staked out a spot along the edge. In a matter of minutes, the edges filled up and an announcer guy came through to begin the show. Unfortunately, the speaker was right by us and because my hearing is a bit sensitive I had my left ear covered for all of the performance. Ah well. Anyways, knights came riding around on horseback, divided into blue and red teams. We rooted for red because the flags on our side were red. The actual jousting was neat-- one guy fell off his horse and another splintered his lance like you see in the movies.
Before the actual jousting, the announcer guy had all the kids come up for a weapons parade. There they were- sweet, little innocent beings marching around with their swords, rings, flails, maces, and decapitated heads. Wait, heads?? Yes, later on in the show, the knights would ride by and lance the styrofoam heads, but it was hilarious to see these children marching about with their ghastly burdens.
Anyways, after the JOUST (red won) we left the Castle for the gift shop and then out into Cardiff. We were going to go to St. Fagan's, the National History Museum, but after wandering around for an hour we found out the buses wouldn't get us there (actually, they probably would have, but we didn't know that at the time) and it was getting later in the afternoon so we wouldn't have as much time there as going on Sunday would provide.
And then the walking began. Two hours, straight. We decided to find a grocery store but not having a location kinda put a damper on our efficiency. We literally wandered the streets (no worries, there were lots of people walking around too) for hours. Plural. Wow. We found our way back to near the Cardiff rail station and went in an antiques store for a look around. Probably the neatest stuff was a military stall that had old uniforms and shells from WWI and WWII. Katie Beth decided to get a milkshake at the cafe but ended up with flavored milk-- they don't quite understand how to do milkshakes here. I asked the cafe lady where to find a grocery store but had to clarify as looking for a Sainsbury's. She pointed on the map I had to a street far, far away from the antiques store. In fact, Katie Beth and I had almost walked all the way over there but turned down a side street slightly before. Oh goodness.
During our wanderings, we found Floyd's Clothing, a boutique shop we had just watched a "Mary, Queen of Shops" episode about earlier. So cool! In the show, they revamp a shop to help its sales. We saw what we had watched, even one of the shop's owners!
More walking! We finally made it and purchased about £25 of food, basically for one night. But so completely worth it! We walked a little ways more but gave up and found a taxi. Just £4.50 saved us twenty minutes of walking- and with heavy grocery bags! Again, completely worth it. We got in but decided to rest for about an hour before beginning to cook.
And cook we sure did! Well, Katie Beth did most of it (for which I was extremely grateful-- it was so nice not to have to prepare an entire meal for myself), but I figured out the can opener. Oh goodness, we had to get online and look up the silly thing, and it was from Ikea no less! Turns out it had a hidden lever but even then it didn't work so well. I cut up my hand a little, but hey, we had green beans. Katie Beth cooked up two steaks and some little cut up potatoes, and she even set the table while I was fiddling with the can opener. We sat down to a wonderful supper together at our sweet table in the apartment. Amazing.
Later on, we cooked an apple tart/pie thing and had it with some ice cream. Yay for dessert! Except that we couldn't get it off the rack, so we just cut it from there. And finally, we had an evening drink in our champagne flutes. Yay for lemonade (i.e. lemon flavored Sprite)!
In the evening, we watched House (almost three hours worth) and got on Katie Beth's computer. It was so wonderful just to relax and enjoy the luxurious surroundings. I had no desire to do anything besides sit before the flickering TV and enjoy the company of my now dear friend. Oh! And we did laundry!! The few clothes I had with me I washed, and those will probably be the only ones machine washed this summer. But alas, the evening ended and we headed off to bed.
We got up the next morning and prepared to go out to breakfast at a place we saw it for £2.49 and then off to church. But Katie Beth had her skirt and capris in the dryer all morning (plus my shirt and socks because I spilled green bean juice on them while cleaning up...), so we didn't leave the apartment until 10:50. We obviously didn't make the church service at 11. :(
Instead, we decided to head over to St. Fagan's early and caught a taxi to take us over. The driver was nice and even cut our fare by 40p down to £10. St. Fagan's is on the outskirts of town, so the fare was a little more. Apparently one of Katie Beth's more recent relatives was from Wales, so she was interested in learning more about the culture. From what I've read before, Wales hasn't quite kept up with England's economy nor has it enjoyed a recent spurt of growth as Ireland has. One interesting part of the culture is the 'love spoon' which is a spoon with intricate carving representing various aspects of love. The spoon is carved and give by a suitor seeking a young lady's hand in marriage.
We walked through a museum inside and then headed out to tour the forty buildings comprising the museum. (Did I mention that it was all free??) The day was gorgeous with the bright sun, green trees, and blue sky. Katie Beth lives on a farm at home, so she enjoyed walking around the 'countryside.' Me, I just don't like the city, so I'm all for lots of outdoorsy bits.
A lot of our trips have been to 'escape' from London's bustling milieu. The Cotswolds, Wales, Scotland. It's so nice to be outside without thousands of people just steps away. The fresh air, the green trees, the expanses of land. I can't wait to get back to the States.
In any case, after touring the buildings a bit (and hitting up the ice cream stand!), we got another taxi back to the station. We tried to find a kebab house in the city, but alas, the train was leaving soon. (We're going to get kebabs, whatever they are, at some point, though) I picked up a pint of milk (only 41p!) and a BLT sandwich for the 2.5 hour ride back.
I chatted with Katie Beth a little and listened to music for most of the ride. She read her class book because she's taking a Victorian literature class this session and has reading assignments most nights. Looking just at the short term--i.e. this summer, I really wish I would have just taken three sessions of classes (and gotten home earlier in August). Every evening Katie Beth will tell me stories about the adventures she's had during the day- all the fun that's gone on, all the things she's done. I miss the freedom we had before the internships started. We spent two hours in class and the rest of the day running around playing in London. Ah, work.
The ride back was relatively uneventful, and we made it back just fine. What an amazing weekend. Wow. Touring-wise, we didn't do a whole lot, but that didn't matter much to me. The apartment ended up being something of a retreat, a great place to relax. The decor was modern but very well put together, and it had all the luxuries our flats in London lack. I didn't have to worry about keeping my clothes clean, squinting at a little box of a TV with four scratchy channels, watching out for mice, or sitting in dirty arm chairs. I could lie back on the reclining leather couch, pop my clothing in the washing machine, enjoy a clear TV picture of over 200 channels, and load dishes in the dishwasher. Wow. It was glorious.
I'd kinda like to have a place like that someday. Not necessarily with all the perks (heated flooring, towel heating rack, balcony, etc.), but something that feels like a retreat. The aesthetics of a place really influence what I think about it. Remember the whole needing food to look good? Kinda like that but with a residence. I need a well-decorated and arranged room for it to feel luxurious, and if possible I'll work to make it that way. Perhaps I can add a few nice touches to our duplex this coming fall.
Oh and a random side-note, Nelson Mandela is in the city this week to celebrate his 90th birthday.
Week before last, Katie Beth and I made reservations for an apartment that's rented to vacationers (it's part of a vacation/residential complex) in Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. We also booked train tickets and tickets to a joust at the Cardiff Castle. Katie Beth was very excited to take the train because she'd never ridden one before. The tickets were a hundred dollars, but she really enjoyed it. (Plus, Scotland train tickets are $200, so I'm thinkin' we might hit up the bus come this weekend)
We chatted for most of the ride and arrived in Cardiff at about 4:30 PM. Of course we didn't have a car so I had printed out directions to our apartment before we left. We managed to find our way amidst some slightly confusing roads and pretty identical apartment buildings to the concierge office where we picked up our keys. The whole process was a little different because the apartment complex is residential, and it seems like somebody owns a whole set of apartments and rents them out to vacationers.
We finally found our way through the myriad of apartment buildings, rode the lift up to the fourth floor, and stepped into Apartment #83. Our first thoughts:
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh my goodness!! The place was AMAZING!! We were paying about 85 pounds a night, but it was so beyond TOTALLY worth it. While searching for places to stay, we kinda looked for a very safe place but knew that it might cost a bit more. The website we used gave us the apartment for about 70 pounds off, as I recall.
Anyways, back to the amazingness of our weekend residence. Wow. We opened the door to a sparkling, new apartment. Absolutely gorgeous. Off in the living room was the 40 inch Sony Bravia TV!!! AMAZING!! We wandered through the bedroom and made our way to the kitchen and found Electrolux appliances such as a dishwasher and washer in the ritzy kitchen. Oh yeah, and champagne flutes! Oh goodness, and the floors were heated! Absolutely amazing! I almost preferred to sit, watch TV, and enjoy the poshness of that awesome place than go out sight-seeing. Wow, oh wow. I even got to watch a little Star Trek the first night! Glorious! In fact, that night we ordered in pizza because we didn't want to leave.
The next morning I made a cup of Taylors of Harrogate English Breakfast (yes Mom, I'm hooked) with the Prestige tea kettle. It boiled water in less that sixty seconds without the stove! Funny thing, you know you're in the UK when there are ample tea bags, sugar, tea kettles, even cream in the fridge but not a coffee maker in sight. Sorry Dad, all they had was instant coffee. I think the water was better than what we have in our flat-- I didn't have any weird foam on top of my tea. I try not to think about the white crust that is building at the bottom of a particular glass I've been using (and washing everyday) for weeks.
So anyways, we got out the door and walked to central Cardiff (about twenty minutes walk) making our way to Cardiff Castle which was holding a JOUST! Sa-weet! We bought tickets for a guided tour and learned about the 19th Century Earl of Butte who renovated the crumbling palace into his own medieval fantasy castle. Afterward, we climbed up into the Castle's keep which was built as an inner defense. The top offered great views around Cardiff, which is a much less busy city that London (thankfully!).
Below us there were performances going on, so we climbed back down and watched two 'knights' sword fights. There was a bit of a crowd gathered, but Katie Beth (she's a wee bit short) managed to see over a lady who was speaking to a child. By then my tummy was rumbling a bit, so we went over to a pork roll stand to buy sandwiches. For £3.50, we got a roll with stuffing spread on it, covered with pieces of freshly cooked Welsh pork, dabbed with some applesauce, and topped with a piece of cracklins. Oh yeah, and the fresh cooked pork? The big, head and all, was in a tray right before our eyes. The sandwich was soo good! I tried the cracklins (my second time since Branson last year), and they were better but a little weird. It was kinda strange to be eating pig skin with hair still on it, but whatevs, may as well try it!
While eating our sandwiches, we wandered over to the main JOUST (on our tickets it was always in caps, so I will put it in caps) area and staked out a spot along the edge. In a matter of minutes, the edges filled up and an announcer guy came through to begin the show. Unfortunately, the speaker was right by us and because my hearing is a bit sensitive I had my left ear covered for all of the performance. Ah well. Anyways, knights came riding around on horseback, divided into blue and red teams. We rooted for red because the flags on our side were red. The actual jousting was neat-- one guy fell off his horse and another splintered his lance like you see in the movies.
Before the actual jousting, the announcer guy had all the kids come up for a weapons parade. There they were- sweet, little innocent beings marching around with their swords, rings, flails, maces, and decapitated heads. Wait, heads?? Yes, later on in the show, the knights would ride by and lance the styrofoam heads, but it was hilarious to see these children marching about with their ghastly burdens.
Anyways, after the JOUST (red won) we left the Castle for the gift shop and then out into Cardiff. We were going to go to St. Fagan's, the National History Museum, but after wandering around for an hour we found out the buses wouldn't get us there (actually, they probably would have, but we didn't know that at the time) and it was getting later in the afternoon so we wouldn't have as much time there as going on Sunday would provide.
And then the walking began. Two hours, straight. We decided to find a grocery store but not having a location kinda put a damper on our efficiency. We literally wandered the streets (no worries, there were lots of people walking around too) for hours. Plural. Wow. We found our way back to near the Cardiff rail station and went in an antiques store for a look around. Probably the neatest stuff was a military stall that had old uniforms and shells from WWI and WWII. Katie Beth decided to get a milkshake at the cafe but ended up with flavored milk-- they don't quite understand how to do milkshakes here. I asked the cafe lady where to find a grocery store but had to clarify as looking for a Sainsbury's. She pointed on the map I had to a street far, far away from the antiques store. In fact, Katie Beth and I had almost walked all the way over there but turned down a side street slightly before. Oh goodness.
During our wanderings, we found Floyd's Clothing, a boutique shop we had just watched a "Mary, Queen of Shops" episode about earlier. So cool! In the show, they revamp a shop to help its sales. We saw what we had watched, even one of the shop's owners!
More walking! We finally made it and purchased about £25 of food, basically for one night. But so completely worth it! We walked a little ways more but gave up and found a taxi. Just £4.50 saved us twenty minutes of walking- and with heavy grocery bags! Again, completely worth it. We got in but decided to rest for about an hour before beginning to cook.
And cook we sure did! Well, Katie Beth did most of it (for which I was extremely grateful-- it was so nice not to have to prepare an entire meal for myself), but I figured out the can opener. Oh goodness, we had to get online and look up the silly thing, and it was from Ikea no less! Turns out it had a hidden lever but even then it didn't work so well. I cut up my hand a little, but hey, we had green beans. Katie Beth cooked up two steaks and some little cut up potatoes, and she even set the table while I was fiddling with the can opener. We sat down to a wonderful supper together at our sweet table in the apartment. Amazing.
Later on, we cooked an apple tart/pie thing and had it with some ice cream. Yay for dessert! Except that we couldn't get it off the rack, so we just cut it from there. And finally, we had an evening drink in our champagne flutes. Yay for lemonade (i.e. lemon flavored Sprite)!
In the evening, we watched House (almost three hours worth) and got on Katie Beth's computer. It was so wonderful just to relax and enjoy the luxurious surroundings. I had no desire to do anything besides sit before the flickering TV and enjoy the company of my now dear friend. Oh! And we did laundry!! The few clothes I had with me I washed, and those will probably be the only ones machine washed this summer. But alas, the evening ended and we headed off to bed.
We got up the next morning and prepared to go out to breakfast at a place we saw it for £2.49 and then off to church. But Katie Beth had her skirt and capris in the dryer all morning (plus my shirt and socks because I spilled green bean juice on them while cleaning up...), so we didn't leave the apartment until 10:50. We obviously didn't make the church service at 11. :(
Instead, we decided to head over to St. Fagan's early and caught a taxi to take us over. The driver was nice and even cut our fare by 40p down to £10. St. Fagan's is on the outskirts of town, so the fare was a little more. Apparently one of Katie Beth's more recent relatives was from Wales, so she was interested in learning more about the culture. From what I've read before, Wales hasn't quite kept up with England's economy nor has it enjoyed a recent spurt of growth as Ireland has. One interesting part of the culture is the 'love spoon' which is a spoon with intricate carving representing various aspects of love. The spoon is carved and give by a suitor seeking a young lady's hand in marriage.
We walked through a museum inside and then headed out to tour the forty buildings comprising the museum. (Did I mention that it was all free??) The day was gorgeous with the bright sun, green trees, and blue sky. Katie Beth lives on a farm at home, so she enjoyed walking around the 'countryside.' Me, I just don't like the city, so I'm all for lots of outdoorsy bits.
A lot of our trips have been to 'escape' from London's bustling milieu. The Cotswolds, Wales, Scotland. It's so nice to be outside without thousands of people just steps away. The fresh air, the green trees, the expanses of land. I can't wait to get back to the States.
In any case, after touring the buildings a bit (and hitting up the ice cream stand!), we got another taxi back to the station. We tried to find a kebab house in the city, but alas, the train was leaving soon. (We're going to get kebabs, whatever they are, at some point, though) I picked up a pint of milk (only 41p!) and a BLT sandwich for the 2.5 hour ride back.
I chatted with Katie Beth a little and listened to music for most of the ride. She read her class book because she's taking a Victorian literature class this session and has reading assignments most nights. Looking just at the short term--i.e. this summer, I really wish I would have just taken three sessions of classes (and gotten home earlier in August). Every evening Katie Beth will tell me stories about the adventures she's had during the day- all the fun that's gone on, all the things she's done. I miss the freedom we had before the internships started. We spent two hours in class and the rest of the day running around playing in London. Ah, work.
The ride back was relatively uneventful, and we made it back just fine. What an amazing weekend. Wow. Touring-wise, we didn't do a whole lot, but that didn't matter much to me. The apartment ended up being something of a retreat, a great place to relax. The decor was modern but very well put together, and it had all the luxuries our flats in London lack. I didn't have to worry about keeping my clothes clean, squinting at a little box of a TV with four scratchy channels, watching out for mice, or sitting in dirty arm chairs. I could lie back on the reclining leather couch, pop my clothing in the washing machine, enjoy a clear TV picture of over 200 channels, and load dishes in the dishwasher. Wow. It was glorious.
I'd kinda like to have a place like that someday. Not necessarily with all the perks (heated flooring, towel heating rack, balcony, etc.), but something that feels like a retreat. The aesthetics of a place really influence what I think about it. Remember the whole needing food to look good? Kinda like that but with a residence. I need a well-decorated and arranged room for it to feel luxurious, and if possible I'll work to make it that way. Perhaps I can add a few nice touches to our duplex this coming fall.
Oh and a random side-note, Nelson Mandela is in the city this week to celebrate his 90th birthday.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
I'm Tryin'!
Hello folks,
I am still here but haven't been able to update the blog recently because Katie Beth and I were in Wales over the weekend. Once we got back I had to go to work leaving me only about four to five hours of personal time in the evening. We're planning a trip to Scotland this weekend, so most of those hours are devoted to finding a hotel, getting bus/train tickets, and the like. The update on Wales and working this past week probably won't happen until Wednesday because I was hopping to finish up planning tonight and maybe make a phone call home. Ah, it also might be a series of posts so you don't get too bored. Plus, too much Laura Beth in one sitting has been known to cause headaches, stomach aches, dryness of the eyes, irritability, and general muscle fatigue. As I've warned all along, read at your own risk! :)
Cheers!
I am still here but haven't been able to update the blog recently because Katie Beth and I were in Wales over the weekend. Once we got back I had to go to work leaving me only about four to five hours of personal time in the evening. We're planning a trip to Scotland this weekend, so most of those hours are devoted to finding a hotel, getting bus/train tickets, and the like. The update on Wales and working this past week probably won't happen until Wednesday because I was hopping to finish up planning tonight and maybe make a phone call home. Ah, it also might be a series of posts so you don't get too bored. Plus, too much Laura Beth in one sitting has been known to cause headaches, stomach aches, dryness of the eyes, irritability, and general muscle fatigue. As I've warned all along, read at your own risk! :)
Cheers!
Thursday, June 19, 2008
The Summer's Backdrop
*sigh* Do I have to keep doing this? Honestly? This is ridiculous. And not cool.
Remember a few weeks ago how I posted saying I was settling in and had reached a crest in the 'culture shock adjustment cycle' but warned I'd be moaning about life again when the internship started? Well, that time is here. Arg.
The gnawing came back. I woke up on Tuesday feeling the same almost physical pain I felt during my first week here. It's during those times (and randomly throughout the day, as I'm finding out), that I question why I'm here. Hm, I suppose it's time to have that discussion I said I'd write about...
So I've been watching my priorities change a bit over the past few years. You see, for most of my life I've been pretty well obsessed with achievement, with 'doing my duty' to work my hardest. But such sustained effort requires sacrifice, usually of relationships. I remember holing up inside my room studying for AP exams, the PSAT, all that jazz. But a good part of that focus faded when I went off to college. It's an age old story, but I too realized there are many, many more people out there who definitely have my smarts beat. So me being the resourceful little student found another obsession.
Business schools tend to pound into their students' brains the importance of getting a job. Sure, that's reasonable, we all need jobs. I usually need something to be planning for so what better thing than a future job, right? Again, sure, makes sense. And so I did. I lined up the pharmacy job, found out that didn't work, and then went searching for something else. London, perfect! Get an internship AND study abroad.
But wait a second Laura Beth, there's a bit more to spending a summer far, far away. Before you take off, consider that you'll be missing your brother's high school graduation, your grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary, and your sister's 16th birthday. These events are important to these people, and these people are important to you.
No prob, my dear! Certainly no one from my family would deny me the opportunity to work abroad, and certainly I shouldn't be required to give up such a chance to advance my career prospects. No worries! Besides, I see everyone at home and school enough, often more than enough. Me going is perfectly fine.
*shakes head* That's basically what went through my head at the end of last summer as I planned my coming trip to London. My first night here I was horrified. What had I done? Over and over, what had I done? I put what I wanted--to get ahead with my career development--ahead of what was important to my family.
Here's what I've found out-- people are more important than things. I know, crazy revelation, but it hadn't really sunk in before. Why not, hon? Well, basically because I'd focused on personal achievement for most of the past half decade. Relationships just didn't quite rank so high as good scores or 'being the best I could' (which was really just code for being the best). I'd work harder at making sure I was succeeding academically or professionally than at cultivating friendships with family and friends.
On that first night here after a good cry and a supper of peanut butter and crackers ('cause that's all the food I had), I went to sleep. Jet lagged as I was, I awoke at 2AM and for the next two hours proceeded to think about what exactly I had done in choosing London. I had chosen myself. I had chosen to advance professionally at the expense of the people I was close to; what they wanted was not as important to me. How very, very sad.
God allowed me what I wanted and is now letting me reap the consequences of my choice. Even as I chased after my own desires, He was and is there pulling and pushing, nudging and shuffling that strange gal named Laura Beth. Have I really learned anything between high school and college? Have I not simply replaced one chosen end for fulfillment with another? It's ok for you not to be the academic best, but now you've got to get up top professionally. I'm still using the same means to run after an illusionary end.
And so here I am, bemoaning life again. There's a bit more to it and I'll write about it later, but the paragraphs above are kinda the backdrop of this whole summer experience. I don't really think I'm here to learn how to be a 'research analyst' at a 'third party hedge fund marketer.' I'm here to learn a bit more about life.
Perhaps I should add that I'm beginning to lessen my professional focus. That has interesting and rather surprising consequences, which will be written about later.
Remember a few weeks ago how I posted saying I was settling in and had reached a crest in the 'culture shock adjustment cycle' but warned I'd be moaning about life again when the internship started? Well, that time is here. Arg.
The gnawing came back. I woke up on Tuesday feeling the same almost physical pain I felt during my first week here. It's during those times (and randomly throughout the day, as I'm finding out), that I question why I'm here. Hm, I suppose it's time to have that discussion I said I'd write about...
So I've been watching my priorities change a bit over the past few years. You see, for most of my life I've been pretty well obsessed with achievement, with 'doing my duty' to work my hardest. But such sustained effort requires sacrifice, usually of relationships. I remember holing up inside my room studying for AP exams, the PSAT, all that jazz. But a good part of that focus faded when I went off to college. It's an age old story, but I too realized there are many, many more people out there who definitely have my smarts beat. So me being the resourceful little student found another obsession.
Business schools tend to pound into their students' brains the importance of getting a job. Sure, that's reasonable, we all need jobs. I usually need something to be planning for so what better thing than a future job, right? Again, sure, makes sense. And so I did. I lined up the pharmacy job, found out that didn't work, and then went searching for something else. London, perfect! Get an internship AND study abroad.
But wait a second Laura Beth, there's a bit more to spending a summer far, far away. Before you take off, consider that you'll be missing your brother's high school graduation, your grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary, and your sister's 16th birthday. These events are important to these people, and these people are important to you.
No prob, my dear! Certainly no one from my family would deny me the opportunity to work abroad, and certainly I shouldn't be required to give up such a chance to advance my career prospects. No worries! Besides, I see everyone at home and school enough, often more than enough. Me going is perfectly fine.
*shakes head* That's basically what went through my head at the end of last summer as I planned my coming trip to London. My first night here I was horrified. What had I done? Over and over, what had I done? I put what I wanted--to get ahead with my career development--ahead of what was important to my family.
Here's what I've found out-- people are more important than things. I know, crazy revelation, but it hadn't really sunk in before. Why not, hon? Well, basically because I'd focused on personal achievement for most of the past half decade. Relationships just didn't quite rank so high as good scores or 'being the best I could' (which was really just code for being the best). I'd work harder at making sure I was succeeding academically or professionally than at cultivating friendships with family and friends.
On that first night here after a good cry and a supper of peanut butter and crackers ('cause that's all the food I had), I went to sleep. Jet lagged as I was, I awoke at 2AM and for the next two hours proceeded to think about what exactly I had done in choosing London. I had chosen myself. I had chosen to advance professionally at the expense of the people I was close to; what they wanted was not as important to me. How very, very sad.
God allowed me what I wanted and is now letting me reap the consequences of my choice. Even as I chased after my own desires, He was and is there pulling and pushing, nudging and shuffling that strange gal named Laura Beth. Have I really learned anything between high school and college? Have I not simply replaced one chosen end for fulfillment with another? It's ok for you not to be the academic best, but now you've got to get up top professionally. I'm still using the same means to run after an illusionary end.
And so here I am, bemoaning life again. There's a bit more to it and I'll write about it later, but the paragraphs above are kinda the backdrop of this whole summer experience. I don't really think I'm here to learn how to be a 'research analyst' at a 'third party hedge fund marketer.' I'm here to learn a bit more about life.
Perhaps I should add that I'm beginning to lessen my professional focus. That has interesting and rather surprising consequences, which will be written about later.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Ah, the Internship
Alrighty, a few notes about my internship.
Actually, I never did write about how my interview went last Tuesday. Huh, ok, I'll start there. I arrived at Pro Capital dressed to the nines in my new suit, buzzed at the door, and stepped into a residence turned office. Una, assistant to Oliver the head guy, led me into a nicely furnished conference room. I took out my teal portfolio (Brits apparently don't believe in traditional folders...) that held a few copies of my CV (resume to you Yankees) and waited a few moments before Oliver came in. Basically, he just sat me down for about ten minutes and asked about my basic strengths and weaknesses plus what tasks I'd like to do. It all went very well, and the best part was that he asked me when I wanted to start! I said the following Monday so I'd have some time to finish up some touring. Fantastic!
First impression of Oliver: he wants things fast. Very fast. Learn it, do it quick. Be accurate, but fast. Another slightly odd thing- I've been told all my business studyin' life that your GPA doesn't really matter so much as what you've done (jobs and such). Gotta have skillz, man. Um, yeah. Oliver mentioned he took one look at the top part of my CV and wanted me in. Very weird. But seriously, that guy's smart. He used to be a bond trader and speaks at least four languages plus a smattering of two others. He conducted one of my fellow intern's interview in Japanese!
But, he's a bit intimidating. Smart guy, knows what he's doing, expects you to know what you're doing. Pretty sure he's going to yell at me at some point. As Mom says, character building!
Anyways, about the job:
I leave for work at 7:40 AM and get back around 6:15 PM. Working hours are 8:30 AM - 5:30 PM with an hour for lunch (Oliver is french so he's into lengthy lunches). That leaves about 45 minutes each way for travel. It's a bit of a long day. I get back in the evening and am busy planning for weekend travel with Katie Beth or catching up on email and whatnot. Oh yeah, not to mention figuring out what to feed myself. I haven't made any fantastic suppers since the chicken cacciatore, but I hope to find some recipes for next week.
I got to work on Monday and was greeted by an intern who has been working at Pro Capital for three weeks now. He (John, an Indiana University senior) took me over to the conference room because Oliver was on a conference call and sat me down in front of a packet and a rather thick book on hedge funds. He said my job was to read today. Um, ok.
So there I was, sitting in the conference room, reading for two hours before Oliver came in and brought me into the main back room where all the computers are. Again, he said I was to read all day to learn about hedge funds. Oh wow! That's a lot of reading! By the afternoon, I was reading maybe a sentence every twenty minutes and spacing out the rest. It was a lot to take in, especially because I've never had a finance class. Basically, I had to learn the essentials of finance (what I didn't already know) and then emphasize in hedge funds.
Did the same thing yesterday, but this time the newest intern (Ray, a junior from Michigan University) arrived and needed to read the book. I read through my packet a few more times but mostly sat and waited. And waited. And waited until about 5:20ish when we could leave. I piddled around on the internet a bit too. Oh! We (the three interns) did go to Bloomberg London yesterday for some training. Wow, that is a neat program. Bloomberg offers a financial data service that provides all the information you could EVER want about finance, and let me tell ya, that's a lot of info. I don't think I'll get to work with it all the time, but I am definitely looking forward to using it. Very, very cool.
And I've decided I don't like sitting for eight hours. Seriously, that's why Americans are getting fat. For the past four weeks, I've been running around everyday, so I'm not used to sitting for such a long time. In fact, yesterday I got on Google maps and found the locations of Tube stations near Earl's Court (the one closest to me). When I'm heading back to the flat, I think I'm going to start getting off the Tube a few stops early and walking the rest of the way. I found a route that passes through a park, which might be nice.
Speaking of parks, we get an hour for lunch and I like to get out of the office then (otherwise, you feel compelled to cut your break short since you're right there in front of your computer), so I've been searching for a park near the office. While on the internet yesterday, I found a small one, so I hope to start bringing my lunch and heading out there. Until I get my act together (which will definitely be soon), I have to buy lunch-- which, regularly, is £3. And last year at the pharmacy I routinely turned down buying $4 lunches because I thought that was too much! Arg.
So today was a bit better than straight reading. John showed me what he had been working on which is updating Pro Capital's hedge fund database. Oliver runs searches and needs to sift through the info in an organized manner-- hence the interns. It wasn't terribly interesting, but at least it was something to do. I basically transferred data from Bloomberg to the database all day. But tomorrow, Ray and I are starting a special little project. I'll try to write about it tomorrow night.
My program warned us that our work in the beginning would be pretty boring and basically grunt work. Our employers (/free labor recipients) are figuring out what all we can do. But really, I don't imagine Oliver can be impressed. It's good though, this is real life.
Oh, and Katie Beth, Melissa (a gal Katie Beth met in her class), and I went to church tonight. I'm always amazed by the friendliness of the people there, which is nice after jumbling up my schedule by beginning work. And again, Pastor Jared presents such an interesting way to approach Biblical analysis. He takes us through a small passage, and we break it down into inter-connecting phrases and words. Very interesting, and I always love how it works my mind.
Last night I went to bed at 10:30. By 10:00, I was tired! I guess that's what you get for getting up at 6 AM every morning. But it is nice to have the flat to myself- get to eat breakfast and have quiet time. Boy, I was getting tired tonight around 9:30. This old twenty year old is gonna head off to bed soon here. I've got more thoughts on working in general, but I wanted to get down a brief description of what's gone on the past few days. Lots of things rollin' around this head 'o mine. Lots to think about.
Actually, I never did write about how my interview went last Tuesday. Huh, ok, I'll start there. I arrived at Pro Capital dressed to the nines in my new suit, buzzed at the door, and stepped into a residence turned office. Una, assistant to Oliver the head guy, led me into a nicely furnished conference room. I took out my teal portfolio (Brits apparently don't believe in traditional folders...) that held a few copies of my CV (resume to you Yankees) and waited a few moments before Oliver came in. Basically, he just sat me down for about ten minutes and asked about my basic strengths and weaknesses plus what tasks I'd like to do. It all went very well, and the best part was that he asked me when I wanted to start! I said the following Monday so I'd have some time to finish up some touring. Fantastic!
First impression of Oliver: he wants things fast. Very fast. Learn it, do it quick. Be accurate, but fast. Another slightly odd thing- I've been told all my business studyin' life that your GPA doesn't really matter so much as what you've done (jobs and such). Gotta have skillz, man. Um, yeah. Oliver mentioned he took one look at the top part of my CV and wanted me in. Very weird. But seriously, that guy's smart. He used to be a bond trader and speaks at least four languages plus a smattering of two others. He conducted one of my fellow intern's interview in Japanese!
But, he's a bit intimidating. Smart guy, knows what he's doing, expects you to know what you're doing. Pretty sure he's going to yell at me at some point. As Mom says, character building!
Anyways, about the job:
I leave for work at 7:40 AM and get back around 6:15 PM. Working hours are 8:30 AM - 5:30 PM with an hour for lunch (Oliver is french so he's into lengthy lunches). That leaves about 45 minutes each way for travel. It's a bit of a long day. I get back in the evening and am busy planning for weekend travel with Katie Beth or catching up on email and whatnot. Oh yeah, not to mention figuring out what to feed myself. I haven't made any fantastic suppers since the chicken cacciatore, but I hope to find some recipes for next week.
I got to work on Monday and was greeted by an intern who has been working at Pro Capital for three weeks now. He (John, an Indiana University senior) took me over to the conference room because Oliver was on a conference call and sat me down in front of a packet and a rather thick book on hedge funds. He said my job was to read today. Um, ok.
So there I was, sitting in the conference room, reading for two hours before Oliver came in and brought me into the main back room where all the computers are. Again, he said I was to read all day to learn about hedge funds. Oh wow! That's a lot of reading! By the afternoon, I was reading maybe a sentence every twenty minutes and spacing out the rest. It was a lot to take in, especially because I've never had a finance class. Basically, I had to learn the essentials of finance (what I didn't already know) and then emphasize in hedge funds.
Did the same thing yesterday, but this time the newest intern (Ray, a junior from Michigan University) arrived and needed to read the book. I read through my packet a few more times but mostly sat and waited. And waited. And waited until about 5:20ish when we could leave. I piddled around on the internet a bit too. Oh! We (the three interns) did go to Bloomberg London yesterday for some training. Wow, that is a neat program. Bloomberg offers a financial data service that provides all the information you could EVER want about finance, and let me tell ya, that's a lot of info. I don't think I'll get to work with it all the time, but I am definitely looking forward to using it. Very, very cool.
And I've decided I don't like sitting for eight hours. Seriously, that's why Americans are getting fat. For the past four weeks, I've been running around everyday, so I'm not used to sitting for such a long time. In fact, yesterday I got on Google maps and found the locations of Tube stations near Earl's Court (the one closest to me). When I'm heading back to the flat, I think I'm going to start getting off the Tube a few stops early and walking the rest of the way. I found a route that passes through a park, which might be nice.
Speaking of parks, we get an hour for lunch and I like to get out of the office then (otherwise, you feel compelled to cut your break short since you're right there in front of your computer), so I've been searching for a park near the office. While on the internet yesterday, I found a small one, so I hope to start bringing my lunch and heading out there. Until I get my act together (which will definitely be soon), I have to buy lunch-- which, regularly, is £3. And last year at the pharmacy I routinely turned down buying $4 lunches because I thought that was too much! Arg.
So today was a bit better than straight reading. John showed me what he had been working on which is updating Pro Capital's hedge fund database. Oliver runs searches and needs to sift through the info in an organized manner-- hence the interns. It wasn't terribly interesting, but at least it was something to do. I basically transferred data from Bloomberg to the database all day. But tomorrow, Ray and I are starting a special little project. I'll try to write about it tomorrow night.
My program warned us that our work in the beginning would be pretty boring and basically grunt work. Our employers (/free labor recipients) are figuring out what all we can do. But really, I don't imagine Oliver can be impressed. It's good though, this is real life.
Oh, and Katie Beth, Melissa (a gal Katie Beth met in her class), and I went to church tonight. I'm always amazed by the friendliness of the people there, which is nice after jumbling up my schedule by beginning work. And again, Pastor Jared presents such an interesting way to approach Biblical analysis. He takes us through a small passage, and we break it down into inter-connecting phrases and words. Very interesting, and I always love how it works my mind.
Last night I went to bed at 10:30. By 10:00, I was tired! I guess that's what you get for getting up at 6 AM every morning. But it is nice to have the flat to myself- get to eat breakfast and have quiet time. Boy, I was getting tired tonight around 9:30. This old twenty year old is gonna head off to bed soon here. I've got more thoughts on working in general, but I wanted to get down a brief description of what's gone on the past few days. Lots of things rollin' around this head 'o mine. Lots to think about.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Royalty AND Trudy!
On Thursday night, Katie Beth and I spent at least four hours trying to figure out the logistics for a Wales trip this past weekend. And then realized that the only hotels remaining were those costing £200 a night. Um, definitely not happening. Sooo, we decided to stay in town! (I realized today that that phrase is completely inapplicable to London...) If we had gone to Wales, we'd miss the 'Trooping the Colours', which is the parade and airshow celebrating the Queen's official birthday.
Friday night, we got together to figure out the Wales trip for next weekend. Much better! And I'm super excited about where we're staying! It's got a 40 inch LCD TV!!! Glory!! Our living room has a little 13 inch TV with antenna with tin foil on it-- all for about four, scratchy channels. We've got train tickets too, and we'll need to secure some for the JOUST (!!) taking place at Cardiff Castle.
The Queen's actual birthday is in April (I think), but London has much nicer weather in June, so the Brits celebrate it then. Makes sense, methinks. I went over to the Knaresborough residence at 9 AM to meet a group of IE program participants heading over to the festivities, and we got on our way. It was so neat! A few military bands marched past along with some groupings of soldiers in their bearskin hats and red uniforms. But before all that, some soldiers had to be lined up along the parade way. One important looking soldier even used a giant compass placed the soldiers! We saw the princes and the Queen drive by. I've got some videos, but I need to post them on facebook and I'm not sure if I can make them public. Hm, maybe youtube.
After the parade, Katie Beth and I left to wander around for a bit. We stopped by a tech store and got her a camera, found some lunch (I got some fried bananas at Trafalgar Square from a Thai festival), and came back for the air show over Buckingham Palace. Apparently, Emily could see the planes fly by our flat. It was neat, but a little short. After watching the planes, Katie Beth and I took off for the Tower of London. What a place! There has been a palace building thingy there for over 800 years. It's full of lots 'o stories-- murders, plots, schemes, etc.
AND! WE SAW TRUDY!!! On our second day here, we had a Blue Badge tour with a lady named Trudy, only the cutest tour guide in the land. "Angels, angels, come here angels." She's a little lady with a made up face spouting British phrases (probably for the tourists' benefit) right and left. Love her! Katie Beth and I were in the middle of an exhibit, and she heard one of Trudy's key phrases float up from below a bridge we were standing on. It was her! We raced down to where she was and piggy-backed onto her tour. We didn't seem to fit in, race-wise, but we only stayed for maybe twenty minutes before jumping to a Yeoman Warder's tour. Yeoman Warders are Brits of distinguished military service who work at the Tower of London.
After a thoroughly wonderful day of British life, we took off to the Cotswolds on Sunday. I found a day trip through Golden Tours because Katie Beth mentioned something about the Cotswolds, so it all worked out very well. Beautiful place! I love leaving the city for the weekend to see expanses of greenery. Fresh air! We stopped at Blenheim Palace and found the "Secret Garden" that was marked by signs. Arg, and we did end up having to pay £10 for a pub lunch. Initially, you could buy a tour ticket without the lunch included, but our tour guide said there would be no other places around to eat. I think the restaurant and Golden Tours have cut a deal.
Anyways, so we drove throughout much of the afternoon, stopping at three villages along the way. The stops ranged from 20-45 minutes, but the idea was just to give you a taste of these places. It was a wonderful little day trip, and I thoroughly enjoyed being out and about with Katie Beth.
And then I got back to the flat and started putting my postcards on my wall.....and saw a mouse in our bedroom. It scampered under the door and out into the living room. AHH! I guess I'm a bit more afraid of critters than I thought. So Kelsey and Emily grabbed one of my digestive biscuits (which are kinda like graham crackers), put peanut butter on it, and tried to lure the mouse from behind the couch. I went out the door to await the result. No luck. It's still somewhere....eek. We called the IE people, and they're supposed to be sending someone to take care of it. I don't know much about the details though.
Arg, mice. I don't want anything on me that I don't know about! Get away mouse!
Friday night, we got together to figure out the Wales trip for next weekend. Much better! And I'm super excited about where we're staying! It's got a 40 inch LCD TV!!! Glory!! Our living room has a little 13 inch TV with antenna with tin foil on it-- all for about four, scratchy channels. We've got train tickets too, and we'll need to secure some for the JOUST (!!) taking place at Cardiff Castle.
The Queen's actual birthday is in April (I think), but London has much nicer weather in June, so the Brits celebrate it then. Makes sense, methinks. I went over to the Knaresborough residence at 9 AM to meet a group of IE program participants heading over to the festivities, and we got on our way. It was so neat! A few military bands marched past along with some groupings of soldiers in their bearskin hats and red uniforms. But before all that, some soldiers had to be lined up along the parade way. One important looking soldier even used a giant compass placed the soldiers! We saw the princes and the Queen drive by. I've got some videos, but I need to post them on facebook and I'm not sure if I can make them public. Hm, maybe youtube.
After the parade, Katie Beth and I left to wander around for a bit. We stopped by a tech store and got her a camera, found some lunch (I got some fried bananas at Trafalgar Square from a Thai festival), and came back for the air show over Buckingham Palace. Apparently, Emily could see the planes fly by our flat. It was neat, but a little short. After watching the planes, Katie Beth and I took off for the Tower of London. What a place! There has been a palace building thingy there for over 800 years. It's full of lots 'o stories-- murders, plots, schemes, etc.
AND! WE SAW TRUDY!!! On our second day here, we had a Blue Badge tour with a lady named Trudy, only the cutest tour guide in the land. "Angels, angels, come here angels." She's a little lady with a made up face spouting British phrases (probably for the tourists' benefit) right and left. Love her! Katie Beth and I were in the middle of an exhibit, and she heard one of Trudy's key phrases float up from below a bridge we were standing on. It was her! We raced down to where she was and piggy-backed onto her tour. We didn't seem to fit in, race-wise, but we only stayed for maybe twenty minutes before jumping to a Yeoman Warder's tour. Yeoman Warders are Brits of distinguished military service who work at the Tower of London.
After a thoroughly wonderful day of British life, we took off to the Cotswolds on Sunday. I found a day trip through Golden Tours because Katie Beth mentioned something about the Cotswolds, so it all worked out very well. Beautiful place! I love leaving the city for the weekend to see expanses of greenery. Fresh air! We stopped at Blenheim Palace and found the "Secret Garden" that was marked by signs. Arg, and we did end up having to pay £10 for a pub lunch. Initially, you could buy a tour ticket without the lunch included, but our tour guide said there would be no other places around to eat. I think the restaurant and Golden Tours have cut a deal.
Anyways, so we drove throughout much of the afternoon, stopping at three villages along the way. The stops ranged from 20-45 minutes, but the idea was just to give you a taste of these places. It was a wonderful little day trip, and I thoroughly enjoyed being out and about with Katie Beth.
And then I got back to the flat and started putting my postcards on my wall.....and saw a mouse in our bedroom. It scampered under the door and out into the living room. AHH! I guess I'm a bit more afraid of critters than I thought. So Kelsey and Emily grabbed one of my digestive biscuits (which are kinda like graham crackers), put peanut butter on it, and tried to lure the mouse from behind the couch. I went out the door to await the result. No luck. It's still somewhere....eek. We called the IE people, and they're supposed to be sending someone to take care of it. I don't know much about the details though.
Arg, mice. I don't want anything on me that I don't know about! Get away mouse!
Friday, June 13, 2008
Urban Trekking
After finishing Wednesday, I planned more touring for Thursday. Yay for lots of sight-seeing!
Let's see, first up was Tower Bridge. Tower Bridge is, I've decided, one of my most favorite landmarks in the entire world. I'm not sure why, but I absolutely love it's stately grandeur-- a bastion of Victorian power and prestige. Seeing the Bridge lets me know I'm in London. It's not St. Paul's Cathedral, not Buckingham Palace, not the black taxis, nor the red telephone booths. It's Tower Bridge for me. You'll notice that I take lots of pictures of it.
So I bought a ticket, rode the lifts up to the top, and walked along the pedestrian bridges up top. It was so cool! I was keenly interested in how it was designed and built and basically the all-around history of the bridge. Seriously, I have no idea why I'm obsessed with it. I even bought a cheesy photo of me photoshopped against a Tower Bridge background for £10. Back at the gift shop, I purchased one of, what I call, my 'main souvenirs.' I got a water color print of Tower Bridge next to the Tower of London and paid £17 for the pleasure. Completely worth it. I'm going to put the print on my wall next to all the postcards. When I get back to the States, I want to frame it.
After Tower Bridge, I rode the Tube over to the Templar Church which was a church built by the Knights Templar in the 1100s. There were even knight tombs in the church! Afterwards, I walked back to Old Bailey and got a picture of the outside of the building and then made my way to St. Paul's Cathedral. Wow, is that place amazing! If you ever go to London, I'd recommend seeing St. Paul's no matter how short a time you're there. Anyways, the inside was absolutely gorgeous what with its super high ceilings covered with glittering mosaics. It's a giant place!
So I basically went urban hiking at St. Paul's, seriously. After 400+ steps, I was at the Whispering Gallery and another 100+ steps brought me to the Stone Gallery which offers panoramic outside views of London. Another 100+ steps brings visitors to the Golden Gallery which has even higher views of London. Wow. But yeah, Brits have a thing with cramped, steep circular stair cases. You use those to get to any high place. I don't consider myself scared of heights, but really when anyone starts thinking about how high they're getting, it's a little much.
After scaling the side of St. Paul's and returning back to ground level (I got to the bottom and mouthed "Land! Oh sweet land!"), I wandered around a bit--back to the American memorial chapel--and then to the main area. An organist began playing as I sat and just soaked it all in. Wow, what a place.
What a day. So much stuff! While I did get to visit a lot of neat places, I couldn't help wandering around the entire time and feeling a little alone. I mean, Katie Beth was on a tour for her class and my flatmates were all at work. It's just me so either I'm in the flat or I'm out doing stuff. May as well see some things, I figure. I brought my MP3 player along and listened to the Mary Poppins sound track (there's a song where she talks about the Bird Woman at St. Paul's) while riding the Tube for half an hour out to the stop I needed just to keep my mind occupied. It's a new feeling, being a bit lonely.
Let's see, first up was Tower Bridge. Tower Bridge is, I've decided, one of my most favorite landmarks in the entire world. I'm not sure why, but I absolutely love it's stately grandeur-- a bastion of Victorian power and prestige. Seeing the Bridge lets me know I'm in London. It's not St. Paul's Cathedral, not Buckingham Palace, not the black taxis, nor the red telephone booths. It's Tower Bridge for me. You'll notice that I take lots of pictures of it.
So I bought a ticket, rode the lifts up to the top, and walked along the pedestrian bridges up top. It was so cool! I was keenly interested in how it was designed and built and basically the all-around history of the bridge. Seriously, I have no idea why I'm obsessed with it. I even bought a cheesy photo of me photoshopped against a Tower Bridge background for £10. Back at the gift shop, I purchased one of, what I call, my 'main souvenirs.' I got a water color print of Tower Bridge next to the Tower of London and paid £17 for the pleasure. Completely worth it. I'm going to put the print on my wall next to all the postcards. When I get back to the States, I want to frame it.
After Tower Bridge, I rode the Tube over to the Templar Church which was a church built by the Knights Templar in the 1100s. There were even knight tombs in the church! Afterwards, I walked back to Old Bailey and got a picture of the outside of the building and then made my way to St. Paul's Cathedral. Wow, is that place amazing! If you ever go to London, I'd recommend seeing St. Paul's no matter how short a time you're there. Anyways, the inside was absolutely gorgeous what with its super high ceilings covered with glittering mosaics. It's a giant place!
So I basically went urban hiking at St. Paul's, seriously. After 400+ steps, I was at the Whispering Gallery and another 100+ steps brought me to the Stone Gallery which offers panoramic outside views of London. Another 100+ steps brings visitors to the Golden Gallery which has even higher views of London. Wow. But yeah, Brits have a thing with cramped, steep circular stair cases. You use those to get to any high place. I don't consider myself scared of heights, but really when anyone starts thinking about how high they're getting, it's a little much.
After scaling the side of St. Paul's and returning back to ground level (I got to the bottom and mouthed "Land! Oh sweet land!"), I wandered around a bit--back to the American memorial chapel--and then to the main area. An organist began playing as I sat and just soaked it all in. Wow, what a place.
What a day. So much stuff! While I did get to visit a lot of neat places, I couldn't help wandering around the entire time and feeling a little alone. I mean, Katie Beth was on a tour for her class and my flatmates were all at work. It's just me so either I'm in the flat or I'm out doing stuff. May as well see some things, I figure. I brought my MP3 player along and listened to the Mary Poppins sound track (there's a song where she talks about the Bird Woman at St. Paul's) while riding the Tube for half an hour out to the stop I needed just to keep my mind occupied. It's a new feeling, being a bit lonely.
The Week's Tales, Part 4
And now for Wednesday, my birthday! A few months ago when I knew I'd be in London for the summer, I wasn't sure how my birthday would work out. Would I be working? Would my flatmates care to celebrate with me? What if nothing happened? By the end of the night on Wednesday, I was blown away.
First off, I didn't have to work. Fantastic! I spent all morning and afternoon reading the twenty (Yes, twenty!!) ecards from my family, webcamming with Mom, Ben, and Ellen, and figuring out what to do about the broken computer. It was nice just to sit after many days of running around. Katie Beth, my friend from the BSU at Truman, was arriving for Session II that morning, and we had planned to meet up at 6 PM. I was so excited to see her! Finally, someone I knew!! She brought me a birthday card and some earplugs and a little American flag to put on the wall by my bed next to my collection of postcards from all the places I've been. We chatted for a little while about her trip and then went off to the Tube station to get her an oyster card and tube map (oyster cards are pay-as-you-go cards for riding and reduce one-way fares from £4 to £1.50).
And now for the birthday bash I had planned! You see, on my second day here, we went on a coach tour of central London and as we passed Piccadilly Circus and kept driving, I noticed a thoroughly awesome restaurant called 'The Texas Embassy', which was especially cool because we had passed so many other embassies during the ride. I decided then and there that I wanted to eat there for my birthday having been born in Texas after all. So last weekend, I made reservations for 7:30 and anticipated the awesomeness to come.
And come it sure did! As we sat down to our table, Jenni, one of my flatmates originally from Dallas, said she felt right at home with the decor and atmosphere. And I decided that although we were technically in London, the Texas Embassy was on Texan soil as far I was concerned. And the menu! Tex-Mex with a little barbecue and Southern thrown in. Because I can make Mexican food at the flat, I decided on something I definitely can't cook in our kitchen-- barbecue spare ribs and brisket! Ahh, very nice. With a side of mashed potatoes and Tex-Mex corn, I was good to go. I even ordered my first soda in a restaurant since being here! Yeah, Coke! With lots of ice!! And free refills!!! Glory!
Katie Beth was getting pretty tired since it was her first day and all, so I wanted to accompany her back to her flat (which was the same one my professor stayed in for the last three weeks...awkward...). But before we got the ticket, I noticed lots of looks going from flatmate to flatmate and what looked to be something changing hands under the table. Lo and behold, two cards appeared! Aww! It was a wonderful end to our meal.
As we got back to the flat, they shooed me away from the kitchen while Michelle kept me occupied with the UK's version of The Apprentice. They finally let me into the kitchen where a birthday cake with twenty lit candles was waiting. !!! I was so happy! We closed the kitchen door so the smoke alarm wouldn't go off, and it took me a few tries to get through all those candles. I cut the white raspberry cake into six pieces after our group picture (which will be up on facebook), and we all chowed down.
Such wonderful friends and family! I wasn't expecting much for this birthday because I'm abroad, but it turned out far, far better than I had hoped. In fact, it was probably one of my more favorite ones because everyone worked so hard to make it special. And I've only known these girls for (then) 3.5 weeks! Thank You, God!
And so my birthday ended on a wonderful note. I was full (stuffed, really) for the first time since being in London, and it was probably the happiest day I've had here so far. It was so great, I loved it so much!
First off, I didn't have to work. Fantastic! I spent all morning and afternoon reading the twenty (Yes, twenty!!) ecards from my family, webcamming with Mom, Ben, and Ellen, and figuring out what to do about the broken computer. It was nice just to sit after many days of running around. Katie Beth, my friend from the BSU at Truman, was arriving for Session II that morning, and we had planned to meet up at 6 PM. I was so excited to see her! Finally, someone I knew!! She brought me a birthday card and some earplugs and a little American flag to put on the wall by my bed next to my collection of postcards from all the places I've been. We chatted for a little while about her trip and then went off to the Tube station to get her an oyster card and tube map (oyster cards are pay-as-you-go cards for riding and reduce one-way fares from £4 to £1.50).
And now for the birthday bash I had planned! You see, on my second day here, we went on a coach tour of central London and as we passed Piccadilly Circus and kept driving, I noticed a thoroughly awesome restaurant called 'The Texas Embassy', which was especially cool because we had passed so many other embassies during the ride. I decided then and there that I wanted to eat there for my birthday having been born in Texas after all. So last weekend, I made reservations for 7:30 and anticipated the awesomeness to come.
And come it sure did! As we sat down to our table, Jenni, one of my flatmates originally from Dallas, said she felt right at home with the decor and atmosphere. And I decided that although we were technically in London, the Texas Embassy was on Texan soil as far I was concerned. And the menu! Tex-Mex with a little barbecue and Southern thrown in. Because I can make Mexican food at the flat, I decided on something I definitely can't cook in our kitchen-- barbecue spare ribs and brisket! Ahh, very nice. With a side of mashed potatoes and Tex-Mex corn, I was good to go. I even ordered my first soda in a restaurant since being here! Yeah, Coke! With lots of ice!! And free refills!!! Glory!
Katie Beth was getting pretty tired since it was her first day and all, so I wanted to accompany her back to her flat (which was the same one my professor stayed in for the last three weeks...awkward...). But before we got the ticket, I noticed lots of looks going from flatmate to flatmate and what looked to be something changing hands under the table. Lo and behold, two cards appeared! Aww! It was a wonderful end to our meal.
As we got back to the flat, they shooed me away from the kitchen while Michelle kept me occupied with the UK's version of The Apprentice. They finally let me into the kitchen where a birthday cake with twenty lit candles was waiting. !!! I was so happy! We closed the kitchen door so the smoke alarm wouldn't go off, and it took me a few tries to get through all those candles. I cut the white raspberry cake into six pieces after our group picture (which will be up on facebook), and we all chowed down.
Such wonderful friends and family! I wasn't expecting much for this birthday because I'm abroad, but it turned out far, far better than I had hoped. In fact, it was probably one of my more favorite ones because everyone worked so hard to make it special. And I've only known these girls for (then) 3.5 weeks! Thank You, God!
And so my birthday ended on a wonderful note. I was full (stuffed, really) for the first time since being in London, and it was probably the happiest day I've had here so far. It was so great, I loved it so much!
The Week's Tales, Part 3
On Monday, my International Business class was having its last meeting. At 9 AM, we got together and walked to a nearby cafe...and stayed there for two hours. Goodness. So, I put off my plans to sit in on a court session at Old Bailey for Tuesday. Ah well. The class finished just fine; it was terribly easy. I think the professor might have liked me though, because at the end of our cafe table hoarding session, he offered to be a reference for me should I ever need one. He also recommended St. Martins in the Fields church for some good classical music concerts after asking if I liked that genre. I think it may have helped that I'm a female with one major in economics-- econ and finance are typically very male-dominated. To make a rather abstract analogy, physics/chemistry is to economics as biology/agricultural science is to marketing.
In any case, I forwent my plans for Old Bailey in favor of an afternoon exploring the Bank of England, Southwark Cathedral, and the HMS Belfast. The Bank of England was so cool!! It's basically like England's Federal Reserve. Wow. I just finished an intermediate macro class where a good part of the focus was on interest rates, monetary policy, inflation, and unemployment. And here I was, standing in the bank that decides England's monetary policy! Very cool, very cool. Unlike the U.S. Federal Reserve, the Bank of England has a mandate to maintain inflation at 2% without specific regard to unemployment. In the U.S., the Federal Reserve must balance unemployment as well as maintaining price stability at whatever level they choose. Alright, alright, I'll stop the macrecon. :)
Finishing up with the Bank, I walked across London Bridge (this is not the iconical Tower Bridge) to find the Bramah Tea & Coffee Museum. On my way, I stumbled across a beautiful looking church and found out it was the Southwark Cathedral, one of the oldest Gothic buildings in London. Very pretty. But as it turned out, the Tea & Coffee Museum was closed for refurbishment, so I back tracked and stopped at the HMS Belfast, an old British flagship cruiser used in World War II and the Korean War. The museum inside the ship was very well put together with examples of ship life. During the middle of my tour, I was a little hungry, so I stopped by the outdoor cafe seating on the ship's deck and munched on some Chips Ahoy cookies. Looking out over downtown London, I could scarcely imagine what the ship must have been like sixty years ago, firing away at German ships and Normandy positions. There I was, having a snack on a ship that helped decide world history. Wow.
What with a full day of touring on Monday, I decided to do just one thing on Tuesday. And that one thing was visiting Old Bailey, the Central Criminal Court of England. Public visitors are not allowed to bring large bags, cell phones, or cameras, so the average tourist can't really go. Tuesday morning, I put my Oyster Card, wallet, and Tube and London maps in my small purse and set out to sit in on a court meeting. My frisk count is up to two since being here! I got in just fine and followed some people to the appeal court of a relatively high profile murder case from 2000. Wigs and robes are normal attire for the lawyers (solicitors) and judges. Ah, and the solicitors referred to the judge as 'my lord' and 'your lordship.' I'm glad I went, but it's too bad I couldn't take pictures.
In any case, I forwent my plans for Old Bailey in favor of an afternoon exploring the Bank of England, Southwark Cathedral, and the HMS Belfast. The Bank of England was so cool!! It's basically like England's Federal Reserve. Wow. I just finished an intermediate macro class where a good part of the focus was on interest rates, monetary policy, inflation, and unemployment. And here I was, standing in the bank that decides England's monetary policy! Very cool, very cool. Unlike the U.S. Federal Reserve, the Bank of England has a mandate to maintain inflation at 2% without specific regard to unemployment. In the U.S., the Federal Reserve must balance unemployment as well as maintaining price stability at whatever level they choose. Alright, alright, I'll stop the macrecon. :)
Finishing up with the Bank, I walked across London Bridge (this is not the iconical Tower Bridge) to find the Bramah Tea & Coffee Museum. On my way, I stumbled across a beautiful looking church and found out it was the Southwark Cathedral, one of the oldest Gothic buildings in London. Very pretty. But as it turned out, the Tea & Coffee Museum was closed for refurbishment, so I back tracked and stopped at the HMS Belfast, an old British flagship cruiser used in World War II and the Korean War. The museum inside the ship was very well put together with examples of ship life. During the middle of my tour, I was a little hungry, so I stopped by the outdoor cafe seating on the ship's deck and munched on some Chips Ahoy cookies. Looking out over downtown London, I could scarcely imagine what the ship must have been like sixty years ago, firing away at German ships and Normandy positions. There I was, having a snack on a ship that helped decide world history. Wow.
What with a full day of touring on Monday, I decided to do just one thing on Tuesday. And that one thing was visiting Old Bailey, the Central Criminal Court of England. Public visitors are not allowed to bring large bags, cell phones, or cameras, so the average tourist can't really go. Tuesday morning, I put my Oyster Card, wallet, and Tube and London maps in my small purse and set out to sit in on a court meeting. My frisk count is up to two since being here! I got in just fine and followed some people to the appeal court of a relatively high profile murder case from 2000. Wigs and robes are normal attire for the lawyers (solicitors) and judges. Ah, and the solicitors referred to the judge as 'my lord' and 'your lordship.' I'm glad I went, but it's too bad I couldn't take pictures.
The Week's Tales, Part 2
Continuing my description of the week:
On Sunday, I got up and made my way to church around 11AM. Interesting thing, though, is that as it was ending I gathered up my things and made my way towards the door so I could get started on the afternoon's sight-seeing. One of the deacons stopped me, shook my hand, but was surprised that I was leaving so soon. I was mildly confused, but the pastor was nearby and mentioned that in the States people usually leave right after church. I found out that Bethesda has a tea and coffee fellowship after their service. I'm not sure if this is standard for English churches-- in fact, I'd wager it's not because this church seems particularly intent on having its members together outside of church services.
In the afternoon, I took the Tube over near the Thames River and found the house were Benjamin Franklin stayed for 16 years. Because I had twenty minutes to kill before the tour started at 2PM and hadn't eaten lunch, I took my peanut butter and jelly sandwich and wandered up the streets a little ways to find a place to sit down. And what did I happen upon? Trafalgar Square! I had no idea it was nearby and just randomly found it. So I found a place along the side, ate my sandwich, and watched all the tourists running around. It was a neat experience.
The tour was a multimedia presentation taking visitors back to Franklin's time. I felt like I was there it was put together so well! Again, I was fascinated that my footsteps were creaking the same boards that Ben's did over 200 years ago.
Afterwards, I went back to Trafalgar Square, took some pictures (which are on the broken computer...), and wandered back to the Thames River to search for Cleopatra's Needle, an obelisk purchased in the mid-1800s by Great Britain to celebrate recent war victories. It had a little scaffolding by it, so I couldn't see everything, but it was pretty neat.
I went back for the church's afternoon service at 4PM and afterwards we went to the park for a picnic. The pastor's wife and I stopped at Subway to get sandwiches-- did you know you can put corn on a sandwich here? Or, that jalapeno peppers are called chiles? After arriving at Kensington Park, we ate and later started up a game of volleyball. They just had a ball, so we made do with boundaries marked by purses and an imaginary net. It was so fun!
As I found my way back to the flat, I was sad. The day was beautiful and I got to spend it with some great people, but I was sad that I wasn't at home. I wasn't out back of our church playing volleyball with my sister and her pals or going out to Dairy Queen some Sunday night with a few church families. Walking through the park to the Tube by myself, I smelled a barbecue grill and very much wanted to be back home with my family, my mom making her burgers on the grill for a typical cook out meal. Here in London I feel like I'm missing the very essence of summer-- hot, humid days, tall glasses of iced tea or lemonade, ice cream bars, lightening bugs, stars late at night, Alabama trips, church work nights, late night TV, bickering siblings, boredom. None of that is here. Summer is...well, I don't know what summer is here. I don't know what winter is either. I don't know a lot of things.
And so the weekend ended. It was neat, and I got to do some very cool things, but while I've adjusted to living here, I know there's always that nagging feeling of being abroad, of not being present for things at home. It's always there, and the strangest things trigger a desire to be back. Eight weeks tomorrow.
On Sunday, I got up and made my way to church around 11AM. Interesting thing, though, is that as it was ending I gathered up my things and made my way towards the door so I could get started on the afternoon's sight-seeing. One of the deacons stopped me, shook my hand, but was surprised that I was leaving so soon. I was mildly confused, but the pastor was nearby and mentioned that in the States people usually leave right after church. I found out that Bethesda has a tea and coffee fellowship after their service. I'm not sure if this is standard for English churches-- in fact, I'd wager it's not because this church seems particularly intent on having its members together outside of church services.
In the afternoon, I took the Tube over near the Thames River and found the house were Benjamin Franklin stayed for 16 years. Because I had twenty minutes to kill before the tour started at 2PM and hadn't eaten lunch, I took my peanut butter and jelly sandwich and wandered up the streets a little ways to find a place to sit down. And what did I happen upon? Trafalgar Square! I had no idea it was nearby and just randomly found it. So I found a place along the side, ate my sandwich, and watched all the tourists running around. It was a neat experience.
The tour was a multimedia presentation taking visitors back to Franklin's time. I felt like I was there it was put together so well! Again, I was fascinated that my footsteps were creaking the same boards that Ben's did over 200 years ago.
Afterwards, I went back to Trafalgar Square, took some pictures (which are on the broken computer...), and wandered back to the Thames River to search for Cleopatra's Needle, an obelisk purchased in the mid-1800s by Great Britain to celebrate recent war victories. It had a little scaffolding by it, so I couldn't see everything, but it was pretty neat.
I went back for the church's afternoon service at 4PM and afterwards we went to the park for a picnic. The pastor's wife and I stopped at Subway to get sandwiches-- did you know you can put corn on a sandwich here? Or, that jalapeno peppers are called chiles? After arriving at Kensington Park, we ate and later started up a game of volleyball. They just had a ball, so we made do with boundaries marked by purses and an imaginary net. It was so fun!
As I found my way back to the flat, I was sad. The day was beautiful and I got to spend it with some great people, but I was sad that I wasn't at home. I wasn't out back of our church playing volleyball with my sister and her pals or going out to Dairy Queen some Sunday night with a few church families. Walking through the park to the Tube by myself, I smelled a barbecue grill and very much wanted to be back home with my family, my mom making her burgers on the grill for a typical cook out meal. Here in London I feel like I'm missing the very essence of summer-- hot, humid days, tall glasses of iced tea or lemonade, ice cream bars, lightening bugs, stars late at night, Alabama trips, church work nights, late night TV, bickering siblings, boredom. None of that is here. Summer is...well, I don't know what summer is here. I don't know what winter is either. I don't know a lot of things.
And so the weekend ended. It was neat, and I got to do some very cool things, but while I've adjusted to living here, I know there's always that nagging feeling of being abroad, of not being present for things at home. It's always there, and the strangest things trigger a desire to be back. Eight weeks tomorrow.
The Week's Tales, Part 1
Ok, I know what you're thinking. "Laura Beth, where were you?? We haven't heard from you in ages." I know, I know, I haven't been to the blog recently. Things have been a little stressful around here what with the computer failing, which completely changed the tone of this summer. Getting online takes more time, and I have to consider if my flatmates need the flat's desktop computer for anything. But I'm making it work-- usually we have to sit on the (hard) wooden coffee table to access the computer, but I've figured out how to move the screen, keyboard, and mouse so I can sit in an armchair and still be online. It's not too bad.
Alrighty, so in the process of losing the computer, I also lost my pictures from the weekend. I'm going to try to retrieve them when I get home, but that's two months from tomorrow (plus, I may not be able to get to them regardless). So I'll have to just describe what I've done over the past week or so. This'll be in a series of posts so you don't get too bored, I hope. ;)
Let's begin with last Friday night, June 6. Azeema, one of my friends from First Session, was getting ready to leave on Tuesday, and one of her goals while in London was to go to the Absolut Ice Bar. The Ice Bar is just that, a bar made out of ice in a room of ice with a big ice chair surrounded by ice sculptures. Ice, ice (baby)! Patrons reserve a time and receive a 'designer parka' to wear during their 40 minutes at the bar. Now, I don't drink and I'd never been to a bar before, but a room of ice is pretty cool (bad jokes abounded that night...) so I opted to go along. Maneeza had to loan me some suitable bar apparel as I had absolutely no idea how to dress. :) Anyways, £15 pounds later and there I was, chillin' in my parka in a relatively small ice room. Maneeza doesn't drink either so we walked up to the bar and ordered our 'Ice Heists' virgin. We watched as the bartenders, wearing furry Elmer Fudd hats, poured some juice into blocks of ice with cylindrical holes bored through them (these were our cups). Why anyone would pay £6 pounds for a shot of vodka and two shots of juice is beyond me. The juice was good, and we got some neat pics around the room. It was neat, but something of a novelty. Plus, the bar scene doesn't really jive with my own, so that's probably one of the last bars I'll make a point to visit.
On Saturday we had a quiet day at the flat as we rested from the previously busy week. Knowing that my flatmates would all begin work on Monday, I settled down to work out some sight-seeing plans. I made a (lengthy) list of all the things I want to see in London and started figuring out just when to make it all happen.
Oh yeah! Saturday night was also my first experience cooking a real meal for myself. Before, I had been relying on precooked chicken kievs and frozen dishes for most of my meals, but I thought it was high time I cook an actual meal. Earlier in the week, I had looked up some easy recipes and, after a quick trip to Sainsbury's for ingredients, locked myself in the kitchen to try my hand at 'Chicken Cacciatore with Penne.' First thing was to pan fry the chicken. Hm. I've pan fried fish before but not chicken; perhaps the process is similar. I plopped some chicken breasts into a pot with a little drizzle of olive oil and watched expectantly as the pieces began turning white. Now that looks more like chicken! After the chicken was done cooking, I added the remaining ingredients (chopped pepper, onion, and tomatoes, chicken stock, garlic powder, oregano, and whole wheat penne pasta) and let the pot simmer for 15 minutes. I opened the kitchen door and settled down at the kitchen table to read a little.
Within minutes, I heard cries from the living room. My flatmates came rushing in, noses working in overdrive, wondering what on earth smelled so good. I just about died laughing as they lifted the pot's lid and declared that my food was making them 'incredibly hungry' and 'desperately needing to eat.' Because I couldn't smell much of what I was cooking, I left the kitchen and returned. A rich, warm scent greeted me as I smelled the combination of peppers, tomatoes, and spices. It really was very good. ;) My flatmates left soon afterward to get their own food.
Again, because I require a strangely high level of aesthetics from my food, I arranged a colourful salad on my plate along with a helping of the chicken pasta and a piece of garlic toast, with Parmesan cheese freshly grated over everything (with my new hand grater from Ikea). It was fantastic! And so easy! I took a picture, but it might be from the ones I lost. Hm, ah well. In any case, not too bad for a rookie!
Alrighty, so in the process of losing the computer, I also lost my pictures from the weekend. I'm going to try to retrieve them when I get home, but that's two months from tomorrow (plus, I may not be able to get to them regardless). So I'll have to just describe what I've done over the past week or so. This'll be in a series of posts so you don't get too bored, I hope. ;)
Let's begin with last Friday night, June 6. Azeema, one of my friends from First Session, was getting ready to leave on Tuesday, and one of her goals while in London was to go to the Absolut Ice Bar. The Ice Bar is just that, a bar made out of ice in a room of ice with a big ice chair surrounded by ice sculptures. Ice, ice (baby)! Patrons reserve a time and receive a 'designer parka' to wear during their 40 minutes at the bar. Now, I don't drink and I'd never been to a bar before, but a room of ice is pretty cool (bad jokes abounded that night...) so I opted to go along. Maneeza had to loan me some suitable bar apparel as I had absolutely no idea how to dress. :) Anyways, £15 pounds later and there I was, chillin' in my parka in a relatively small ice room. Maneeza doesn't drink either so we walked up to the bar and ordered our 'Ice Heists' virgin. We watched as the bartenders, wearing furry Elmer Fudd hats, poured some juice into blocks of ice with cylindrical holes bored through them (these were our cups). Why anyone would pay £6 pounds for a shot of vodka and two shots of juice is beyond me. The juice was good, and we got some neat pics around the room. It was neat, but something of a novelty. Plus, the bar scene doesn't really jive with my own, so that's probably one of the last bars I'll make a point to visit.
On Saturday we had a quiet day at the flat as we rested from the previously busy week. Knowing that my flatmates would all begin work on Monday, I settled down to work out some sight-seeing plans. I made a (lengthy) list of all the things I want to see in London and started figuring out just when to make it all happen.
Oh yeah! Saturday night was also my first experience cooking a real meal for myself. Before, I had been relying on precooked chicken kievs and frozen dishes for most of my meals, but I thought it was high time I cook an actual meal. Earlier in the week, I had looked up some easy recipes and, after a quick trip to Sainsbury's for ingredients, locked myself in the kitchen to try my hand at 'Chicken Cacciatore with Penne.' First thing was to pan fry the chicken. Hm. I've pan fried fish before but not chicken; perhaps the process is similar. I plopped some chicken breasts into a pot with a little drizzle of olive oil and watched expectantly as the pieces began turning white. Now that looks more like chicken! After the chicken was done cooking, I added the remaining ingredients (chopped pepper, onion, and tomatoes, chicken stock, garlic powder, oregano, and whole wheat penne pasta) and let the pot simmer for 15 minutes. I opened the kitchen door and settled down at the kitchen table to read a little.
Within minutes, I heard cries from the living room. My flatmates came rushing in, noses working in overdrive, wondering what on earth smelled so good. I just about died laughing as they lifted the pot's lid and declared that my food was making them 'incredibly hungry' and 'desperately needing to eat.' Because I couldn't smell much of what I was cooking, I left the kitchen and returned. A rich, warm scent greeted me as I smelled the combination of peppers, tomatoes, and spices. It really was very good. ;) My flatmates left soon afterward to get their own food.
Again, because I require a strangely high level of aesthetics from my food, I arranged a colourful salad on my plate along with a helping of the chicken pasta and a piece of garlic toast, with Parmesan cheese freshly grated over everything (with my new hand grater from Ikea). It was fantastic! And so easy! I took a picture, but it might be from the ones I lost. Hm, ah well. In any case, not too bad for a rookie!
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Blargh
I absolutely love lolcats. If you ever want some warm, fuzzy laughs take a look at http://icanhascheezburger.com/. One of my favorite photos is of a white kitten stretched out on its back yawning. The caption reads "Blargh, I am ded." So sometimes when things aren't going so well, I'll talk about the bad events and then add "blargh" to the end of my description.
Right, so my computer died. Dust got built up so much in the air duct that it was completely blocked. I think the resulting over-heating probably burned some of the chips beneath the fan. I'm currently figuring out what to do, but I do have access to this desktop computer in the flat.
Blargh.
Predictably, I don't have much of a blog post right now. Did a lot of neat stuff over the weekend, but I'll need to write about it later. As for now, I'm going to go eat some delicious Haagen-Dazs, drown my 'sorrows' in a pint...of ice cream.
Right, so my computer died. Dust got built up so much in the air duct that it was completely blocked. I think the resulting over-heating probably burned some of the chips beneath the fan. I'm currently figuring out what to do, but I do have access to this desktop computer in the flat.
Blargh.
Predictably, I don't have much of a blog post right now. Did a lot of neat stuff over the weekend, but I'll need to write about it later. As for now, I'm going to go eat some delicious Haagen-Dazs, drown my 'sorrows' in a pint...of ice cream.
Friday, June 6, 2008
Too Many Tours for This Nut
Oh goodness, so many things. This week has been something of a mad dash what with my program's built in sight-seeing and three company visits in three days with my international business professor. I kinda just want to sit, chill, and watch a movie. But there's stuff to see before I start working, so I'd best get crackin'.
On Monday, Emily, Kelsey, Maneeza and I went on an afternoon-long jaunt around London searching for our interview locations. Probably spent upwards of £10 just on riding the tube, but hey, knowing how to get to your place is important. Anyways, we found out our interview locations, and I have one at Pro Capital Limited, a small UK investment firm. Their website is http://www.procapitaluk.com/. I was super surprised that I landed an interview at a place like that mostly because I've never had a finance course in my life. Sure, I've dabbled a little on my own, but nothing that would qualify me for an intern position.
So basically the position has some grunt work like entering data and updating databases and spreadsheets but also includes a chance at hedge fund research and feasibility studies for mutual funds if I prove my worth. Plus, if I'm accepted I'll receiving training in Bloomburg. Now I didn't know what that was, but when I came out of my meeting with the International Enrichment gal and told my journalism flatmates about it, their mouths dropped open and their eyes gaped wide. Apparently Bloomburg is a financial data and reporting system used by basically everyone in finance. Training with these people is a crazy good resume builder (according to my professor. Well, he didn't use those exact words) plus it might be done at the actual London Bloomburg office. Wow.
Now the trick is to get hired. I have an interview this Tuesday at 5 PM at 357 City Road. We stopped by, and it's a little building crammed up against a lot of other little buildings (but what isn't in London)-- definitely a small firm. The location is great from what I could tell, safe and all that, but it will require about 45 minutes of travel time. Bummer, but lots of things are like that here. Right, so I'll post some more info next week about if I landed the job....or not. :( (If not, IE will immediately begin placing me with somebody else)
On Wednesday, IE had scheduled a tour of Parliament and a meeting with an MP (Member of Parliament). We got in and went through some very intensive security-- we all got frisked! Plus, I got to see my first lawn mower in London. Anyways, the first section we entered was a huge hall that's been around since the Middle Ages. It's seen lots of history (William Wallace, Charles I, Henry VIII's four day banquets), and I was amazed to walk around in it. Oliver Cromwell and the Queen Mother Elizabeth who passed away in 2002 are buried in the floor. The building that houses Parliament used to be a palace.
Our tour guide took us around Parliament and we got to walk around the House of Commons and House of Lords. It's crazy that I've learned about those places all my life, and now I've actually seen them in person. Some of the traditions they have there get a little ridiculous but are neat nonetheless. Basically, their traditions develop from repeating an event that happened just once in their history (i.e. somebody rapped on a door a certain way or walked a certain way at a certain time). After finishing our visit I resolved to see Washington, D.C sometime soon. It's silly that I've been to England's Parliament but not the ruling bodies of my own country.
(I've also become randomly patriotic since arriving here. I'm quite proud of my country.)
We also me with Graham Brady, a conservative MP. I was absolutely delighted to hear a one-sided presentation of British government in this mildly socialist country. I wasn't aware of how truly socialist England is even after reforms by Margaret Thatcher, which makes me wonder about other European countries. The center of politics here, as viewed by a typical American, is skewed decidedly left. That means that while Mr. Brady is a strong conservative here, he'd be more like a Democrat in the States than a Republican. By extrapolation then, a regular American Republican would be a right-wing nut here. The Brits had best get out their nut crackers then 'cause this budding capitalist is here to stay for another 2.25 months more.
After visiting Parliament, all the International Business students (plus about five tag-a-longs from other classes...) took a field trip to the Fullers brewing works. Fullers is a local London brewery, one of the few left here. It was interesting, but breweries have some interesting smells. After the tour, the company provided a 'tasting' session for everyone, but 'tasting' basically meant drink as much as you want in 45 minutes. We had quite a few people capitalizing on that. I don't drink, so I sat off to the side and quietly watched my peers drink themselves through various stages of inebriation.
On Thursday, we visited the London Edward Jones office. Again, interesting, but terribly long travel times. Takes over an hour both ways. As a side note, there were no tag-a-longs on this trip. Edward Jones, based out of St. Louis, has just begun UK operations in the last ten years and is still trying to get on its feet. The two men we spoke with were expatriates from the US. I got the impression that these guys were driven by their careers, little else had the same priority. I hope I'm never like that. I've had lots of new thoughts rolling about this strange little brain of mine, but that'll be for a later post (hopefully not too far away).
Finally, today we went to the Anheuser-Busch and suddenly had a new crop of tag-a-longs. The brewery was much larger and more modern. I'm amazed by the bottling operations-- it's a lot like the "How It's Made" shows on the Discovery Channel that I love so much. For 'tasting' this time, I bowed out early and made my way home before everyone had headed off to the local pub with our guide. Again, over an hour of travel time.
Oh! While working, construction teams found an old, LIVE World War II bomb here in London (rumor has it that it had started ticking). Parts of the District Line of the underground were closed while the bomb was investigated. Very weird. Every time I got on a train (especially District), they'd play messages about the bomb. I heard they decided they'd have to detonate it, so we'll see what happens.
I'm glad to be done with the company visits. I was a little frustrated that the point of two-thirds of those days were so everyone could get drunk....on program fee money! I understand the whole culture and international business aspect, but our students only really wanted to go because of the free beer (hence the tag-a-longs). It's predictable but disappointing nonetheless. Glad that's finished.
On top of these daily visits, I've also been stopping by the Victoria & Albert Museum every day after class for a few hours to wander my way through the huge array of exhibits. There's so much stuff there! I saw some original Raphael paintings, artefacts (<--Brit spelling) taken from the British empire across the world, and lots of Medieval court things. There's still a lot left to see, but I'm working my way through it. Ah! Remember that history book I bought? I've been reading it on tube rides (already on page 50) and pronounced my first word in a British accent without thinking. That's right, my mind's voice said processing as 'pro' as is pro football player instead of 'prah' as Americans do. So it became 'pro-cessing' instead of 'prah-cessing.' Neat, huh? I hope this happens more.
More tomorrow or Sunday as time is available, and I apologize for the possible downgrade in this post's quality-- I'm writing at one o'clock in the morning. But, I'm going to try not to sleep-in so I can get movin' on all those touristy things tomorrow. Ah well.
Cheers!
Here's the link for my recent photos:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2069503&l=76b9a&id=36107967
On Monday, Emily, Kelsey, Maneeza and I went on an afternoon-long jaunt around London searching for our interview locations. Probably spent upwards of £10 just on riding the tube, but hey, knowing how to get to your place is important. Anyways, we found out our interview locations, and I have one at Pro Capital Limited, a small UK investment firm. Their website is http://www.procapitaluk.com/. I was super surprised that I landed an interview at a place like that mostly because I've never had a finance course in my life. Sure, I've dabbled a little on my own, but nothing that would qualify me for an intern position.
So basically the position has some grunt work like entering data and updating databases and spreadsheets but also includes a chance at hedge fund research and feasibility studies for mutual funds if I prove my worth. Plus, if I'm accepted I'll receiving training in Bloomburg. Now I didn't know what that was, but when I came out of my meeting with the International Enrichment gal and told my journalism flatmates about it, their mouths dropped open and their eyes gaped wide. Apparently Bloomburg is a financial data and reporting system used by basically everyone in finance. Training with these people is a crazy good resume builder (according to my professor. Well, he didn't use those exact words) plus it might be done at the actual London Bloomburg office. Wow.
Now the trick is to get hired. I have an interview this Tuesday at 5 PM at 357 City Road. We stopped by, and it's a little building crammed up against a lot of other little buildings (but what isn't in London)-- definitely a small firm. The location is great from what I could tell, safe and all that, but it will require about 45 minutes of travel time. Bummer, but lots of things are like that here. Right, so I'll post some more info next week about if I landed the job....or not. :( (If not, IE will immediately begin placing me with somebody else)
On Wednesday, IE had scheduled a tour of Parliament and a meeting with an MP (Member of Parliament). We got in and went through some very intensive security-- we all got frisked! Plus, I got to see my first lawn mower in London. Anyways, the first section we entered was a huge hall that's been around since the Middle Ages. It's seen lots of history (William Wallace, Charles I, Henry VIII's four day banquets), and I was amazed to walk around in it. Oliver Cromwell and the Queen Mother Elizabeth who passed away in 2002 are buried in the floor. The building that houses Parliament used to be a palace.
Our tour guide took us around Parliament and we got to walk around the House of Commons and House of Lords. It's crazy that I've learned about those places all my life, and now I've actually seen them in person. Some of the traditions they have there get a little ridiculous but are neat nonetheless. Basically, their traditions develop from repeating an event that happened just once in their history (i.e. somebody rapped on a door a certain way or walked a certain way at a certain time). After finishing our visit I resolved to see Washington, D.C sometime soon. It's silly that I've been to England's Parliament but not the ruling bodies of my own country.
(I've also become randomly patriotic since arriving here. I'm quite proud of my country.)
We also me with Graham Brady, a conservative MP. I was absolutely delighted to hear a one-sided presentation of British government in this mildly socialist country. I wasn't aware of how truly socialist England is even after reforms by Margaret Thatcher, which makes me wonder about other European countries. The center of politics here, as viewed by a typical American, is skewed decidedly left. That means that while Mr. Brady is a strong conservative here, he'd be more like a Democrat in the States than a Republican. By extrapolation then, a regular American Republican would be a right-wing nut here. The Brits had best get out their nut crackers then 'cause this budding capitalist is here to stay for another 2.25 months more.
After visiting Parliament, all the International Business students (plus about five tag-a-longs from other classes...) took a field trip to the Fullers brewing works. Fullers is a local London brewery, one of the few left here. It was interesting, but breweries have some interesting smells. After the tour, the company provided a 'tasting' session for everyone, but 'tasting' basically meant drink as much as you want in 45 minutes. We had quite a few people capitalizing on that. I don't drink, so I sat off to the side and quietly watched my peers drink themselves through various stages of inebriation.
On Thursday, we visited the London Edward Jones office. Again, interesting, but terribly long travel times. Takes over an hour both ways. As a side note, there were no tag-a-longs on this trip. Edward Jones, based out of St. Louis, has just begun UK operations in the last ten years and is still trying to get on its feet. The two men we spoke with were expatriates from the US. I got the impression that these guys were driven by their careers, little else had the same priority. I hope I'm never like that. I've had lots of new thoughts rolling about this strange little brain of mine, but that'll be for a later post (hopefully not too far away).
Finally, today we went to the Anheuser-Busch and suddenly had a new crop of tag-a-longs. The brewery was much larger and more modern. I'm amazed by the bottling operations-- it's a lot like the "How It's Made" shows on the Discovery Channel that I love so much. For 'tasting' this time, I bowed out early and made my way home before everyone had headed off to the local pub with our guide. Again, over an hour of travel time.
Oh! While working, construction teams found an old, LIVE World War II bomb here in London (rumor has it that it had started ticking). Parts of the District Line of the underground were closed while the bomb was investigated. Very weird. Every time I got on a train (especially District), they'd play messages about the bomb. I heard they decided they'd have to detonate it, so we'll see what happens.
I'm glad to be done with the company visits. I was a little frustrated that the point of two-thirds of those days were so everyone could get drunk....on program fee money! I understand the whole culture and international business aspect, but our students only really wanted to go because of the free beer (hence the tag-a-longs). It's predictable but disappointing nonetheless. Glad that's finished.
On top of these daily visits, I've also been stopping by the Victoria & Albert Museum every day after class for a few hours to wander my way through the huge array of exhibits. There's so much stuff there! I saw some original Raphael paintings, artefacts (<--Brit spelling) taken from the British empire across the world, and lots of Medieval court things. There's still a lot left to see, but I'm working my way through it. Ah! Remember that history book I bought? I've been reading it on tube rides (already on page 50) and pronounced my first word in a British accent without thinking. That's right, my mind's voice said processing as 'pro' as is pro football player instead of 'prah' as Americans do. So it became 'pro-cessing' instead of 'prah-cessing.' Neat, huh? I hope this happens more.
More tomorrow or Sunday as time is available, and I apologize for the possible downgrade in this post's quality-- I'm writing at one o'clock in the morning. But, I'm going to try not to sleep-in so I can get movin' on all those touristy things tomorrow. Ah well.
Cheers!
Here's the link for my recent photos:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2069503&l=76b9a&id=36107967
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
A Passé Cliché
My international business class is beginning to wrap up; I believe we only have two more class meetings. The course hasn't done much for me 'cause there wasn't much to learn from it (reasons for which I outline below). The class itself has been very easy, 1/5 of my grade coming from attendance/participation and the other 4/5 from 'papers' or 1-2 pages of summarizing my notes and adding in a few personal thoughts. My professor is an older man from Germany but has taught in the US for the past several decades. He does a good job with the class and has arranged several field trips for us. Tomorrow, we have tentative plans to visit a local London brewery, and on Friday we'll visit the Anheuser-Busch brewery to make a comparison between the two. On Thursday we'll stop by Edward Jones, a financial services provider based out of St. Louis. The idea is to learn about how these businesses operate on an international level. I think it'll be neat to get to visit 'em.
But anyways, let me go off onto a little tirade about what we talk about in class. Not that it's not important, but that I've heard it all before...so many times:
Globalization. To me, the entire concept has grown so cliché I almost roll my eyes when people reference this 'new idea.' You see, I think all the people teaching current students grew up in an age where the world market was not nearly so central to economic life as it is now. Therefore, any changes, i.e. an increase in global interdependence, produces shock waves for them. But for the kids, well, we're growing up amidst all this stuff. We're raised on computers and often master technology before our parents. 'Globalness' is almost taken for granted-- we can call internationally for very cheap, web cam across oceans, and buy international products all with the click of a mouse button.
But wait Laura Beth, aren't jobs and lifestyles changing? Whatever are we to do with all these new things?
That would be an adult talking, and an adult meaning someone who grew up before the widespread use of computers. Children today are taught about all these changes. We expect them. That jobs are constantly moving between countries doesn't faze us to the extent it does our parents and grandparents (or at least me anyway). We've grown up knowing about it, so anticipating the change is not nearly so difficult. Globalization is a regular part of life for us, always has been as far as we can remember.
So that's why I role my eyes when teachers go on and on about globalization. It's new to them, sure, but it's almost passé for me. This is life! It's been new for a few decades, but I'm only just a few decades old myself. Me and globalization, we're tight. ;)
Ok, enough tirading for now. After class this morning I went to the Whole Foods store (the one with the special tea) to wander around for a while. They have so much neat stuff there! I think the neatest thing I saw was an ostrich egg. No, not just the shell, the entire egg, which could be yours for only £17 (ha!). Or you could get an emu egg for £25. Craziness. In England there's a big push for organic, fair-trade products, so that's what Whole Foods focuses on. As for me, I'll take my pesticides, pay less, and get more food. But yeah, spent about two hours in there and then went to their cafe area upstairs and enjoyed a wonderful herb scone (for only £1!).
This afternoon, Emily, one of my flatmates, and I went to London's Ikea store. Ikea is a GIANT warehouse of home furnishings. Seriously, GIANT. You have no idea unless you've been to one. I had thought about getting a bed there when I got back to the States but wanted to know about the quality of their furniture (which is quite good). Anyways, I live in Zone 1 which is basically the center of London, and Ikea is in Zone 3, which is basically the suburbs. The store has a shuttle from the tube station to the warehouse, but it only runs about every thirty minutes, so it's impossible to time. After wandering around Ikea for a few hours (seriously, GIANT), it took us over an hour of traveling to get back to the flat!
Tomorrow we're going to Parliament and Big Ben with my program. We even get to chat with an MP (member of Parliament)! I need to remember to charge my camera's batteries...Anyways, hope all is well in the States or wherever you happen to be!
G'night!
But anyways, let me go off onto a little tirade about what we talk about in class. Not that it's not important, but that I've heard it all before...so many times:
Globalization. To me, the entire concept has grown so cliché I almost roll my eyes when people reference this 'new idea.' You see, I think all the people teaching current students grew up in an age where the world market was not nearly so central to economic life as it is now. Therefore, any changes, i.e. an increase in global interdependence, produces shock waves for them. But for the kids, well, we're growing up amidst all this stuff. We're raised on computers and often master technology before our parents. 'Globalness' is almost taken for granted-- we can call internationally for very cheap, web cam across oceans, and buy international products all with the click of a mouse button.
But wait Laura Beth, aren't jobs and lifestyles changing? Whatever are we to do with all these new things?
That would be an adult talking, and an adult meaning someone who grew up before the widespread use of computers. Children today are taught about all these changes. We expect them. That jobs are constantly moving between countries doesn't faze us to the extent it does our parents and grandparents (or at least me anyway). We've grown up knowing about it, so anticipating the change is not nearly so difficult. Globalization is a regular part of life for us, always has been as far as we can remember.
So that's why I role my eyes when teachers go on and on about globalization. It's new to them, sure, but it's almost passé for me. This is life! It's been new for a few decades, but I'm only just a few decades old myself. Me and globalization, we're tight. ;)
Ok, enough tirading for now. After class this morning I went to the Whole Foods store (the one with the special tea) to wander around for a while. They have so much neat stuff there! I think the neatest thing I saw was an ostrich egg. No, not just the shell, the entire egg, which could be yours for only £17 (ha!). Or you could get an emu egg for £25. Craziness. In England there's a big push for organic, fair-trade products, so that's what Whole Foods focuses on. As for me, I'll take my pesticides, pay less, and get more food. But yeah, spent about two hours in there and then went to their cafe area upstairs and enjoyed a wonderful herb scone (for only £1!).
This afternoon, Emily, one of my flatmates, and I went to London's Ikea store. Ikea is a GIANT warehouse of home furnishings. Seriously, GIANT. You have no idea unless you've been to one. I had thought about getting a bed there when I got back to the States but wanted to know about the quality of their furniture (which is quite good). Anyways, I live in Zone 1 which is basically the center of London, and Ikea is in Zone 3, which is basically the suburbs. The store has a shuttle from the tube station to the warehouse, but it only runs about every thirty minutes, so it's impossible to time. After wandering around Ikea for a few hours (seriously, GIANT), it took us over an hour of traveling to get back to the flat!
Tomorrow we're going to Parliament and Big Ben with my program. We even get to chat with an MP (member of Parliament)! I need to remember to charge my camera's batteries...Anyways, hope all is well in the States or wherever you happen to be!
G'night!
Monday, June 2, 2008
Neolithic Wanderings
And now for the weekend's events!
Last Thursday, my flatmates and I booked a day trip for Saturday with Anderson Tours to Bath and Stonehenge for £42 (I found a £3 off coupon online!). Saturday came around, and we were fortunate because of all the stops where the coach picked up people, ours was the last. So, we boarded the coach at 9 AM instead of 7:30 AM like some folks.
Anyways, off we went to Stonehenge. Yes, the Stonehenge, as my brother asked. After about a 1.5 hour drive, we arrived in the middle of a grassy, sheep-sprinkled area and were greeted by huge stones set upright in the earth....ringed by a crowd of picture-snapping tourists. We made our way through the throngs and caught a few of our own pictures only to realize that we were walking in the beetle haven of England. Seriously, those bugs were everywhere. And landed everywhere. Gross. Not surprisingly, I high-tailed it outta there just as fast as possible! I would have liked more time to appreciate the monument, but the bugs were a much more pressing concern. Obviously. :)
I've been reading my British history book on long tube rides, especially down to the Globe Theatre, and it tells me that Stonehenge was an amalgamation of a few types of monuments made by the Neolithic peoples, who came before the Bronze Age ones. I've learned quite a bit just in a few pages, but I won't bore you with the details.
Alrighty, finished with Stonehenge and off to Bath. I didn't know much about Bath before arriving, but after touring for a few hours, I was thoroughly impressed. When the Romans occupied Britain, they built a bath house and temple around and on the only warm water natural spring located in Great Britain. Over time, the area was used for varied purposes including a king's bath in the Medieval Times as well as a posh vacation spot in the early 1800s. We toured the area that held the original temple and the bath. In fact, I walked on the original structure laid by the Romans almost 2000 years ago. Various parts of the temple survived and were on display in the nearby museum. The temple was dedicated to Minerva Sol, a combined deity of Roman and native English gods. I've got quite a few neat picture of the original decorations and stones.
I also paid 50p (50 pence or $1) to have a glass of the bath's water which is supposedly high in minerals. Blegh. It was warm and rather metallic tasting. Maneeza, one of my flatmates, and I went together to get some, and we both managed to finish an entire glass. Crazy.
After finishing the Bath tour, we decided to grab some lunch since it was about 2:30 PM (my meals do not tend to be at terribly regular times). And, oh my goodness, we found the cheapest place EVER. Just £3 bought me a steak Cornish pasty, a flapjack bar (blondie), and a can of Fanta. Back in London, or at nearly every cafe, such a meal would require at least double that. Best £3 I've spent thus far on the trip. Also, don't try to do the conversion on prices. It gets depressing very quickly...so I don't eat out a lot.
The coach (not bus, here it's a 'coach') ride back was about 2.5 hours, and I had earlier decided not to bring my history book. Not terribly smart. Ah well, I got in a little nap.
On Sunday, I was able to go to a morning service for the first time since being here. I've started attending Bethesda Baptist Church, and while it's a small congregation the people are like a big family, one that has welcomed me. Their makeup is kind of interesting-- at least half, probably more, are from the Philippines. Over time, I think a core group related to one another attracted other Filipinos in London. After church, they were having a lunch to celebrate June birthdays, so we all went upstairs and had some wonderful roasted chicken, bacon alfredo pasta, salad, and some type of really good egg desert with fruit. I got to chat with a young woman who had been teaching in London for about five years at a Montessori elementary school and over the course of our conversation, she asked to take me to one of the big parks of London and show me around before she left for a visit to the Philippines in late July. The pastor's wife, Elna, also spoke to me about their recent camping trip to Wales and said she'd tell me about their next trip. Hopefully we'll get to go!
As I remarked earlier, the church is conservative, as are most of England. The Bible readings are all done in the King James Version, and we sang a few hymns before the pastor spoke (for 1 hour, solid). I really do think there's something to be said about using hymns instead of constantly clamoring for 'praise music' as my generation does (which has it's own place). Church is not meant to entertain you; it's a way to gather with Christians and praise and learn about God. The pastor spoke for an hour straight, and while I had to work pretty hard to stay focused the entire time, there was much to be gained by staying with him. His style of Biblical analysis is something I've never encountered. I'm not sure if his style is unique to this country or not, but in comparison to what I've grown up with, it's a bit different. While a pastor at home might take a few verses from a single chapter, expound on them, and provide some auxilary support with other verses, the pastor at Bethesda took three entire chapters from Mark and showed how they all interlinked to display the sovereignty of Christ. His approach is definitely Bible-based but from a different angle-- almost like a literary analysis. It was neat to look at the Sunday School stories I've known all my life from a new vantage point.
After finishing up a delightful fellowship, I returned back to the flat and rested until about 5 PM when four of us took off for the Globe Theatre again, this time to see King Lear. Again, the presentation was very good, but because I haven't read the play I couldn't follow along with what was happening very well. Plus, I didn't have a wall to lean on this time. :) But hey, £5 for a ticket? I'm in!
I know, I know, I still don't have flat pictures up. They're on their way....at some point. I'll write more tomorrow about my upcoming internship and how my class is going. Oh! And I posted my address below, but if you'd like me to send you anything while I'm over here (postcard, letter, etc.), be sure to leave your address in the comments section or email/facebook me. Thanks!
And here's a link for my Stonehenge and Bath pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2069302&l=dda81&id=36107967
Last Thursday, my flatmates and I booked a day trip for Saturday with Anderson Tours to Bath and Stonehenge for £42 (I found a £3 off coupon online!). Saturday came around, and we were fortunate because of all the stops where the coach picked up people, ours was the last. So, we boarded the coach at 9 AM instead of 7:30 AM like some folks.
Anyways, off we went to Stonehenge. Yes, the Stonehenge, as my brother asked. After about a 1.5 hour drive, we arrived in the middle of a grassy, sheep-sprinkled area and were greeted by huge stones set upright in the earth....ringed by a crowd of picture-snapping tourists. We made our way through the throngs and caught a few of our own pictures only to realize that we were walking in the beetle haven of England. Seriously, those bugs were everywhere. And landed everywhere. Gross. Not surprisingly, I high-tailed it outta there just as fast as possible! I would have liked more time to appreciate the monument, but the bugs were a much more pressing concern. Obviously. :)
I've been reading my British history book on long tube rides, especially down to the Globe Theatre, and it tells me that Stonehenge was an amalgamation of a few types of monuments made by the Neolithic peoples, who came before the Bronze Age ones. I've learned quite a bit just in a few pages, but I won't bore you with the details.
Alrighty, finished with Stonehenge and off to Bath. I didn't know much about Bath before arriving, but after touring for a few hours, I was thoroughly impressed. When the Romans occupied Britain, they built a bath house and temple around and on the only warm water natural spring located in Great Britain. Over time, the area was used for varied purposes including a king's bath in the Medieval Times as well as a posh vacation spot in the early 1800s. We toured the area that held the original temple and the bath. In fact, I walked on the original structure laid by the Romans almost 2000 years ago. Various parts of the temple survived and were on display in the nearby museum. The temple was dedicated to Minerva Sol, a combined deity of Roman and native English gods. I've got quite a few neat picture of the original decorations and stones.
I also paid 50p (50 pence or $1) to have a glass of the bath's water which is supposedly high in minerals. Blegh. It was warm and rather metallic tasting. Maneeza, one of my flatmates, and I went together to get some, and we both managed to finish an entire glass. Crazy.
After finishing the Bath tour, we decided to grab some lunch since it was about 2:30 PM (my meals do not tend to be at terribly regular times). And, oh my goodness, we found the cheapest place EVER. Just £3 bought me a steak Cornish pasty, a flapjack bar (blondie), and a can of Fanta. Back in London, or at nearly every cafe, such a meal would require at least double that. Best £3 I've spent thus far on the trip. Also, don't try to do the conversion on prices. It gets depressing very quickly...so I don't eat out a lot.
The coach (not bus, here it's a 'coach') ride back was about 2.5 hours, and I had earlier decided not to bring my history book. Not terribly smart. Ah well, I got in a little nap.
On Sunday, I was able to go to a morning service for the first time since being here. I've started attending Bethesda Baptist Church, and while it's a small congregation the people are like a big family, one that has welcomed me. Their makeup is kind of interesting-- at least half, probably more, are from the Philippines. Over time, I think a core group related to one another attracted other Filipinos in London. After church, they were having a lunch to celebrate June birthdays, so we all went upstairs and had some wonderful roasted chicken, bacon alfredo pasta, salad, and some type of really good egg desert with fruit. I got to chat with a young woman who had been teaching in London for about five years at a Montessori elementary school and over the course of our conversation, she asked to take me to one of the big parks of London and show me around before she left for a visit to the Philippines in late July. The pastor's wife, Elna, also spoke to me about their recent camping trip to Wales and said she'd tell me about their next trip. Hopefully we'll get to go!
As I remarked earlier, the church is conservative, as are most of England. The Bible readings are all done in the King James Version, and we sang a few hymns before the pastor spoke (for 1 hour, solid). I really do think there's something to be said about using hymns instead of constantly clamoring for 'praise music' as my generation does (which has it's own place). Church is not meant to entertain you; it's a way to gather with Christians and praise and learn about God. The pastor spoke for an hour straight, and while I had to work pretty hard to stay focused the entire time, there was much to be gained by staying with him. His style of Biblical analysis is something I've never encountered. I'm not sure if his style is unique to this country or not, but in comparison to what I've grown up with, it's a bit different. While a pastor at home might take a few verses from a single chapter, expound on them, and provide some auxilary support with other verses, the pastor at Bethesda took three entire chapters from Mark and showed how they all interlinked to display the sovereignty of Christ. His approach is definitely Bible-based but from a different angle-- almost like a literary analysis. It was neat to look at the Sunday School stories I've known all my life from a new vantage point.
After finishing up a delightful fellowship, I returned back to the flat and rested until about 5 PM when four of us took off for the Globe Theatre again, this time to see King Lear. Again, the presentation was very good, but because I haven't read the play I couldn't follow along with what was happening very well. Plus, I didn't have a wall to lean on this time. :) But hey, £5 for a ticket? I'm in!
I know, I know, I still don't have flat pictures up. They're on their way....at some point. I'll write more tomorrow about my upcoming internship and how my class is going. Oh! And I posted my address below, but if you'd like me to send you anything while I'm over here (postcard, letter, etc.), be sure to leave your address in the comments section or email/facebook me. Thanks!
And here's a link for my Stonehenge and Bath pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2069302&l=dda81&id=36107967
Sunday, June 1, 2008
UK Address
So while I'm emailing my parents my London address (so they can send over my new ATM card. AH!!) I figured I'd post it here. Feel free to send anything you wish (hint, hint, wink, wink)! I'd absolutely love some correspondence from the States.
40 Hogarth Road
Flat 2
London SW5 OPU
United Kingdom
Thanks, loves!
40 Hogarth Road
Flat 2
London SW5 OPU
United Kingdom
Thanks, loves!
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