This will be my last message from London. I know I haven't updated for a while and I will write about what has been happening since last time once I get home. I just wanted to send one last message while I am here.
It was great. Thanks for listening. Signing off for one last time.
Sincerely,
Rachel Cline
Friday, April 24, 2009
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Down to the Wire
There are just over 10 days until I come home. 11 in fact. Considering how fast my first couple weeks here went that is practically no time at all. I haven't yet completed everything that I want to do in London and in Europe. I keep making silent promises to myself to return, but I don't know if that will happen. I hope it will though.
I haven't started packing yet. I'm definitely putting it off until the last minute. I want to make sure I have enough space to shove everything in and not leave stuff behind, but at this moment in time I have other concerns. Like making sure I finish what I came here to do.
Right now, I have As in all of my classes. Or at least the ones that I know the grades for. I am impressed with my ability to do so well in classes in a foreign country, though I must admit they weren't terribly difficult. Not in comparison to O Chem and my other sciences. Maybe I should have been an art major. Haha. No really though, college classes are so subjective and everyone thinks their major is the hardest, but when it comes down to it, writing a 15 paper is easier than taking a 3 hour Chemistry final. Really, try it sometime.
Leaving London is going to be a big swirl of emotions. Two weeks ago I really wanted to leave. Now that I only have a week left, I know it won't be enough time. I do want to go home, and I do want to stay. I'm not sure how I will feel when I get home. It will definitely be interesting though.
So, Saturday night we went to see Brittany's Host Brother's Band, The Sweet Resonance, play at a pub near where she lived. It was a nice night out of the flat, as we have been trying to find ways to stay out of the flat recently. Its just better when we aren't around for us and for my flatmates. They hate it when we are there, we hate being there, so it works out. Anyway, the band wasn't bad. They definitely aren't the worst band that I have ever heard, but they aren't top of my list either. It was nice to meet some of the people that she lives with on a daily basis, and they all seemed really nice. It was a cool experience. We also got our oysters scanned with a cool scann-y thinger on the special train that we took there. It was interesting. It makes me think of how different our lives actually are on a daily basis. I guess I had never thought about it before.
Anyway, Sunday was Easter and nothing much really happened. Alan and I were too lazy to actually navigate the half shut down Tube system to find a church to go to. Instead, we made phone calls to people whom we haven't spoken to in forever. Alan called his mom, I called Kiersten and Sam, Alan tried to call his dad, and I tried to call my family, but the last two had no luck. At least I tried though.
Yesterday was interesting. We had class in the morning as usual. Our last normal class of Shakespeare for the semester. Next week is the final and then we are down. Wow. Yeah. Anyway, after that, since we can't go back to the flat, we wanted to find something to do. So we decided that because it was a nice day we would try to go ride The Eye, which is something that we have yet to do despite having lived in London for 3 months. Anyway, we got down there and the line was just insanely long. It would have taken much longer than the two hours that we had planned to get tickets and therefore, we left to do other things. It was a beautiful day out after all. So, we took pictures of Westminster Abbey, Parliament, The Eye, The Thames, Sunset, and multiples of those combined.
Mostly this is because there is a photo competition on Friday that I want to enter, but I can't because I realized that even though I have been living in London, I don't have that many pictures of it. Though I guess I don't have many of Hummelstown either. I guess we just aren't impressed by the places we live no matter where they may be. Its weird. I have a lot from Scotland that I could enter. Unfortunately, only ones from London are allowed.
So yeah, anyways. I have lots of work to do before I leave, so I should be doing that now...
I haven't started packing yet. I'm definitely putting it off until the last minute. I want to make sure I have enough space to shove everything in and not leave stuff behind, but at this moment in time I have other concerns. Like making sure I finish what I came here to do.
Right now, I have As in all of my classes. Or at least the ones that I know the grades for. I am impressed with my ability to do so well in classes in a foreign country, though I must admit they weren't terribly difficult. Not in comparison to O Chem and my other sciences. Maybe I should have been an art major. Haha. No really though, college classes are so subjective and everyone thinks their major is the hardest, but when it comes down to it, writing a 15 paper is easier than taking a 3 hour Chemistry final. Really, try it sometime.
Leaving London is going to be a big swirl of emotions. Two weeks ago I really wanted to leave. Now that I only have a week left, I know it won't be enough time. I do want to go home, and I do want to stay. I'm not sure how I will feel when I get home. It will definitely be interesting though.
So, Saturday night we went to see Brittany's Host Brother's Band, The Sweet Resonance, play at a pub near where she lived. It was a nice night out of the flat, as we have been trying to find ways to stay out of the flat recently. Its just better when we aren't around for us and for my flatmates. They hate it when we are there, we hate being there, so it works out. Anyway, the band wasn't bad. They definitely aren't the worst band that I have ever heard, but they aren't top of my list either. It was nice to meet some of the people that she lives with on a daily basis, and they all seemed really nice. It was a cool experience. We also got our oysters scanned with a cool scann-y thinger on the special train that we took there. It was interesting. It makes me think of how different our lives actually are on a daily basis. I guess I had never thought about it before.
Anyway, Sunday was Easter and nothing much really happened. Alan and I were too lazy to actually navigate the half shut down Tube system to find a church to go to. Instead, we made phone calls to people whom we haven't spoken to in forever. Alan called his mom, I called Kiersten and Sam, Alan tried to call his dad, and I tried to call my family, but the last two had no luck. At least I tried though.
Yesterday was interesting. We had class in the morning as usual. Our last normal class of Shakespeare for the semester. Next week is the final and then we are down. Wow. Yeah. Anyway, after that, since we can't go back to the flat, we wanted to find something to do. So we decided that because it was a nice day we would try to go ride The Eye, which is something that we have yet to do despite having lived in London for 3 months. Anyway, we got down there and the line was just insanely long. It would have taken much longer than the two hours that we had planned to get tickets and therefore, we left to do other things. It was a beautiful day out after all. So, we took pictures of Westminster Abbey, Parliament, The Eye, The Thames, Sunset, and multiples of those combined.
Mostly this is because there is a photo competition on Friday that I want to enter, but I can't because I realized that even though I have been living in London, I don't have that many pictures of it. Though I guess I don't have many of Hummelstown either. I guess we just aren't impressed by the places we live no matter where they may be. Its weird. I have a lot from Scotland that I could enter. Unfortunately, only ones from London are allowed.
So yeah, anyways. I have lots of work to do before I leave, so I should be doing that now...
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Wicked, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, and Good Weeks full of American Things
This entry is well over due. So much has happened in my last week here. So much that I am certain I have forgotten some things. I will do my best to include the whirlwind of events that have happened to me over the last week and a half and hope that I haven't forgotten anything.
We'll start where I left off on last, last Thursday the 2nd. We had class that day walking around the city again. It was a pretty cool trip until I tripped (haha no pun intended) and hurt my ankle. Don't worry it wasn't broken or anything. I didn't need crutches. It does still hurt now, but it isn't swollen any more. I was and am perfectly capable of caring for myself (so stop worrying mom). Needless to say though, that made class a bit more dreadful, and when it finally ended instead of limping back to the tube station, Alan and I made our way to Reagents park, which was closer, and prettier, and full of park benches where I could sit. I took some pictures of the flowers, which reminded me of the conservatory and my time spent there in Pittsburgh. I miss the conservatory. Buut Reagents park is a lot lovelier. We sat on a bench by a pond and watched these cool ducks with mohawks who don't just stick their head underwater for food, but actually go completely underwater, for a pretty long time. Atleast for a duck. Then we moved to a different park bench in the center of the rose gardens, which were bluming yet, but still exteremely beautiful. We made friends with a bird.
After that, we made our way back to the Tube station. On the way, we stopped and got soe Baskin Robins. It was funny because it is a very American ice cream company, but I have never seen an actual store in America. I was sad because I was looking through flavors, and they were all very American. They had Rocky Road and several other favorites of Americans, and I got my hopes up for moose tracks. But then I remembered that the British have this thing against peanutbutter, and even though there were 30 flavors, Moose Tracks wasn't there. So I got chocolate chip cookie dough and enjoyed my Americaness anyway.
I've found recently that I have been enjoying the pleasures of American life more. I'm hoping to put an end to that this week because I want to spend my last two weeks completely immersed in the pleasures of British life. I don't want to revert back to an American before I come home.
Anyways, that weekend all of my roommates were gone. It was lovely, even though the weekend itself was pretty uneventful. We did some work for homework and Alan did some stuff for jobs and we didn't go out very much. That makes me sad everytime it happens because I have at my fingertips one of the greatest cities in the world, and I have become so used to being here, that I don't even really take advantage of it anymore. Its like not going to HersheyPark because I live in Hershey. It's sad because my time here now is really starting to run out.
Anyways, Monday and Tuesday we had class as usual and the only really eventful moment was our gallery trip to TATE modern. I hate Tate modern. I hate the building. I hate the artwork. I hate the people. BUT. We had tickets for my art class to an exhibit on Constructionism and Rodechenko and Popova. Because it is a gallery you have to pay to get into, it was much less full and I actually really liked this artwork. It was better than the other works in the other galleries there.
Wednesday was really really amazing though. Wednesday we woke up early, got Starbucks (yeah.) and made our way to London Bridge to catch a train to Greenwich with Brittany. The best part about this train is the free-ness of it. I had always thought that Greenwich was far from London. But in all actuality it was an 8 minute free train ride with my oyster card. Win.
We got to Greenwich and it was pretty. It was close enough to London that we could still see the city. We could see the Eye and the Gurkin and various other buildings, and the city is right on the Thames, but it is so different. It has a very small town feel. We walked from the train station through some cute streets to the park that was there. It was warm enough to take my coat off, which hasn't been happening all that very much. It was lovely. From there we walked through the part to the royal observatory and the Prime Meridian. We walked around taking some pictures of the views from the hill and then went into the actual museum which was pretty cool! It was all about astronomy and time and the history of both. It was really neat! I looked through a telescope and saw pluto (haha the dog not the "planet") and eventually made our way down to take pictures of us standing on the Prime Meridian. 0° 0' 0" And the basis for Greenwich Mean Time. It was cool.
From there we walked to the Planetarium and more interactive part of the observatory. It was definitely made for little kids, which meant I had a blast there. We didn't get to see a planetarium show because at the time we were there the only ones they had playing were the little kid invasion of mars ones. It was still a pretty cool place though. After that we toured the free (I love Greenwich because of its Freeness) art galleries in the Queens House. It was a surprisingly normal house for a royal family, back when they used to stay there. It was beautiful and such, but not as much as would be expected. Though it also had many other uses through the years and several rennovations which probably had something to do with it.
When we had finished, Brittany had to go back to London for class, so we went with her and tried to decide on something to do for the rest of the afternoon. Taking after Brittany, we decided to get tickets to see Wicked that night. We ended up getting pretty lucky because when we got there they said they didn't have any seats together and we were just going to go and sit apart, but then she ended up giving us these seats which were originally £60 but we were getting them at the student rate of £25. she said we could have them because they were a bit restricted view by the hand rail, but we got there and realized that the hand rain is pretty much not in the way at all. It was totally worth it! It was an amazing production, with only some minor flaws that we could tell. I have realized that being in the musicals at school was really helpful when it comes to seeing shows now, because I pick up on details that other people don't always notice. Alan notices even more different things because of his stage crew experience, and together we just analyze the show to bits. Its great. We only wished Maya had been with us to make the show perfect. We decided you can't really fully enjoy Wicked unless Maya is sitting next to you! :-) But Brittany and Stacy were only one row away which was cool. We had a blast.
We went home and the next day had a class which took us to a Hindu temple. That was a really enjoyable class visit compared to the other ones we had had with that professor. We were able to talk with one of the people in charge of the temple and I had never realized how much I actually knew about the Hindu religion. In tenth grade we had learned about it in English when we read part of the Bagauvah Gita (excuse my spelling) but I never realised I had learned that much. The woman was explaining soul, and she used almost the exact same analogy that my teacher had used in 10th grade and I was really startled. It was cool though. There was one kid in class who insisted upon having an argument with her about the political aspect of the Untouchables of the Caste system. Most of the kids in class didn't even know what he was talking about, but we had learned about it in world cultures in 11th grade. What upset me though, was that the woman was talking about the religious aspect of the caste system and how she thought India was actually holding themselves back by having the caste system and how she didn't agree with it. But the kid kept going on about the politics and why its wrong and they were actually arguing the same point but the kid couldn't see this because he was so closed minded about the fact that India isn't doing it right and it is inhumane and he was pissed and didn't like anything she had to say even though she was agreeing with him. He was actually being really rude and she eventually told him that he should move to India and fight for the rights of the Untouchables if he feels that strongly and that finally shut him up.
After that, we walked to a store called Forbidden Planet, which I think I have mentioned here before. On the way there we stopped and got some Cinnabun which always reminds me of the PA turnpike. Like I said, I have really been living up the Americanisms this week. It was AMAZING! But we finally got there and had a good time walking around and looking at the books and comics and starwars figurines and stuff! We then made our way back to CAPA to print a map for our trip yesterday, and to get dinner. We went to Sainsburys and got a whole BBQ Roast Chicken and some cheese balls and tortia crisps. I really just haven't been able to pull myself away from America. But that turned out to be some of the best chicken I have ever eaten. It was really phenomenal. I ejoyed every last bite. And there really were no bites left when we had finished. We finished dinner with a pack of Wine Gums from the vending machine. They are kind of like gummy life savers, except that they taste different, and they are British, which makes me feel a bit better.
Yesterday, though, was what really made the week a winner. It was completely filled with Americanisms and good luck, with a little bad luck too. But it was worth it. Yesterday, we woke up really early and made our way to Liverpool Street Station. There, we got McDonald's for breakfast, and can I just say, that not only was it as delicious as McDonalds for breakfast in America, it was better. They used better quality meat and eggs and it was superb. The hashbrown was exactly like in America and I loved every second of it. From there we got on a bus. It was supposed to be a train, but they are having rail replacement bus services because of construction. So, the bus took us to Ingatestone and we picked up a train there. The train ride wasn't terribly exciting. I think I fell asleep. But we ended up in Norwich.
Norwich was cool, but there was a very specific reason we went there. There is a show playing on stage there. It will be moving to London 5 days after we leave which is why we had to see it there. The show is sold out. It has been since the tickets went on sale. The reason it is sold out is because the two lead actors were Patrick Stewart and Sir Ian McKellen. The guy who played on Star Trek and the guy who played Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings. We didn't have tickets, but we were going to wait at the Theater and see if there had been any returns. As far as the show was concerned, I hadn't been terribly interested. The only reason I wanted to go was because Alan wanted to go so bad. The trip was a surprise for him, and we went and kept our fingers crossed.
We walked from the train station to the theater, because we were hoping to get there early enough that no one else would have been in front of us in line for tickets. But when we got there the theater was closed. We found out later that it was a bank holliday (Good Friday) and therefore they didn't open until later. But at the time we didn't know for sure. We found a carnival! right next to the theater. It was very much like the street carnivals we have at home. Complete with unsafe looking carnival rides, games, and food. We were going to get burgers for lunch but decided it was too expensive. So we went to get lunch at Subway. One, because I am on an American high right now, and two because it was really close by so we could keep checking to make sure there wasn't a queue forming. After lunch we went to check again to see if they had opened, but they hadn't. So we walked to a mall near by and got some really good fruit smoothies. Then we walked around Borders and outside again. It was a strange little mall, because you had to walk this path through a cemetary to get into it if you came through the front. that was kind of weird. People just sat on the grass talking and eating like it was a park. But it was a cemetary from the 1850s and earlier. It kind of creeped me out.
We went back and checked the theater and then walked down into this pretty neat market place. We got drinks and then walked to the castle. The castle is pretty cool, but we didn't pay to tour it. It seemed like it was kind of the goth-emo-punk kid hangout. But we sat on a bench and looked at the flowers and hill leading up to the castle. Then we walked into the castle mall to use the bathrooms. There we found a cool toy store and hung out there for a while. We also found an Auntie Anne's. And yes, we got some. Lol. Enjoying the pretzles, we walked through the streets or Norwich back to the theater to see if it had opened yet or if there was a queue waiting to get in. There wasn't, so we went and sat on a bench in the park near the carnival. We could see the theater from there and watched some dogs and kids playing in the park. It was fun. Alan though he saw a crowd gathering outside the theater, and we walked up there, but he hadn't. We stayed up there anyway and hung out outside the theater. We sat on a bike rack for an hour or so while I talked about leaving to get some cheesey chips and doughnuts from the carnival. I couldn't leave though, becasue I was in intense I-will-get-alan-tickets-mode. Another guy finally came looking for tickets and we talked to him for a while and he "did the proper british thing and made a queue behind us." That made us the first in line!
They finally opened the doors, but only for people who had restuarant reservations. So we waited a bit more, and they let us in. I asked the lady at the desk for a list to put our names on for return tickets, but she said they wouldn't do that until an hour before the show. So we waited. Then this old woman came in and returned her tickets. The woman called me over and said because I was first in line i could have them even though they hadn't started the list yet. I almost kissed her!!! I wanted to scream or jump or something! Anything! I was so excited! I have never been that lucky before! I didn't even want to go and now I did because Alan and I were just so happy! We went to the carnival to celebrate. We got cheesey chips and doughnuts and took lots of silly pictures! We had to keep moving because when we sat down we got antsy! We walked back to the mall to use the bathrooms again and wandered a bit. Then we made our way back down to the theater. We bought programs and posters and finally took our seats!! It really was amazing! Waiting for Godot reminded me a lot of Rozencrantz and Guildenstern are dead. It was very funny. At intermission we got ice cream bars and waited for the second act. We knew we were going to have to leave early. The show wouldn't end until 10 or later. Our train left at 10 and was over a mile away. We left at 9:50 and sprinted to the train station.
We didn't make it. We didn't make it. We had left early. We had run. We had been too slow. I had been too slow. I couldn't run the whole way. I had to walk. If I had run the whole way we would have made it. It was my fault. It was 10:01 when we got to the station. We could have made it, but there were no more trains to London that night. I didn't know what to do. We had had such a great day. We had made its so close. We had gotten the tickets and had the best day ever and we had missed our only train home. I freaked out. I always plan everything and I am always in charge and I just didn't know what to do. So Alan took over. Cuz when my life falls to pieces, he picks them up and puts them back together. And he told me to get up off my butt and walk with him to the bus station so that we could find a bus home. There was supposed to be a bus home at 11:25, so we waited. And it never came. And they shut the lights off. I knew we were gonna be stuck there forever. Without a place to stay or sleep. It was devastating. We tried to get inside the station but the doors were locked. So we walked away. Then a man came to the door and asked us what we were doing and where we were trying to get to...he said there was another bus coming at 1:15 and if we wanted to we could wait inside. Alan talked to him for a while and tried to get us tickets and had to make some phone calls and ended up spending a lot of money to get us home...when we should have just got on the train that we already had tickets for...so it was my fault he had to pay to get us home...and it was over a 4 hour bus ride to get us home...we didn't end up back in our flats until 6 in the morning. So we went to bed. And I woke up at 3:30 this afternoon...
Alan decided that it was all worth it. Cuz unlike me, he can keep his head under pressure. I can plan and pack and make my intenerary perfect, but I kind of fall apart when my plans go awry and thats why he is here. Because he can get us home at 1 in the morning when I'm sure were stuck. And he decided that the money and waiting and trouble was worth it because we had the best day ever in Norwich. We got to see at least a part of an amazing play with amazing actors and eat carnival food and enjoy ourselves. So, I guess it was worth it. I've never seen him smile so much, and that was worth it.
Now, we have an hour to leave. We are going to see Brittany's host brother's band play at a pub. Which is funny because we only woke up a couple hours ago, but anyways...that should be a fun event to make up for our awful night last night on the bus...
Talk to you later!
We'll start where I left off on last, last Thursday the 2nd. We had class that day walking around the city again. It was a pretty cool trip until I tripped (haha no pun intended) and hurt my ankle. Don't worry it wasn't broken or anything. I didn't need crutches. It does still hurt now, but it isn't swollen any more. I was and am perfectly capable of caring for myself (so stop worrying mom). Needless to say though, that made class a bit more dreadful, and when it finally ended instead of limping back to the tube station, Alan and I made our way to Reagents park, which was closer, and prettier, and full of park benches where I could sit. I took some pictures of the flowers, which reminded me of the conservatory and my time spent there in Pittsburgh. I miss the conservatory. Buut Reagents park is a lot lovelier. We sat on a bench by a pond and watched these cool ducks with mohawks who don't just stick their head underwater for food, but actually go completely underwater, for a pretty long time. Atleast for a duck. Then we moved to a different park bench in the center of the rose gardens, which were bluming yet, but still exteremely beautiful. We made friends with a bird.
After that, we made our way back to the Tube station. On the way, we stopped and got soe Baskin Robins. It was funny because it is a very American ice cream company, but I have never seen an actual store in America. I was sad because I was looking through flavors, and they were all very American. They had Rocky Road and several other favorites of Americans, and I got my hopes up for moose tracks. But then I remembered that the British have this thing against peanutbutter, and even though there were 30 flavors, Moose Tracks wasn't there. So I got chocolate chip cookie dough and enjoyed my Americaness anyway.
I've found recently that I have been enjoying the pleasures of American life more. I'm hoping to put an end to that this week because I want to spend my last two weeks completely immersed in the pleasures of British life. I don't want to revert back to an American before I come home.
Anyways, that weekend all of my roommates were gone. It was lovely, even though the weekend itself was pretty uneventful. We did some work for homework and Alan did some stuff for jobs and we didn't go out very much. That makes me sad everytime it happens because I have at my fingertips one of the greatest cities in the world, and I have become so used to being here, that I don't even really take advantage of it anymore. Its like not going to HersheyPark because I live in Hershey. It's sad because my time here now is really starting to run out.
Anyways, Monday and Tuesday we had class as usual and the only really eventful moment was our gallery trip to TATE modern. I hate Tate modern. I hate the building. I hate the artwork. I hate the people. BUT. We had tickets for my art class to an exhibit on Constructionism and Rodechenko and Popova. Because it is a gallery you have to pay to get into, it was much less full and I actually really liked this artwork. It was better than the other works in the other galleries there.
Wednesday was really really amazing though. Wednesday we woke up early, got Starbucks (yeah.) and made our way to London Bridge to catch a train to Greenwich with Brittany. The best part about this train is the free-ness of it. I had always thought that Greenwich was far from London. But in all actuality it was an 8 minute free train ride with my oyster card. Win.
We got to Greenwich and it was pretty. It was close enough to London that we could still see the city. We could see the Eye and the Gurkin and various other buildings, and the city is right on the Thames, but it is so different. It has a very small town feel. We walked from the train station through some cute streets to the park that was there. It was warm enough to take my coat off, which hasn't been happening all that very much. It was lovely. From there we walked through the part to the royal observatory and the Prime Meridian. We walked around taking some pictures of the views from the hill and then went into the actual museum which was pretty cool! It was all about astronomy and time and the history of both. It was really neat! I looked through a telescope and saw pluto (haha the dog not the "planet") and eventually made our way down to take pictures of us standing on the Prime Meridian. 0° 0' 0" And the basis for Greenwich Mean Time. It was cool.
From there we walked to the Planetarium and more interactive part of the observatory. It was definitely made for little kids, which meant I had a blast there. We didn't get to see a planetarium show because at the time we were there the only ones they had playing were the little kid invasion of mars ones. It was still a pretty cool place though. After that we toured the free (I love Greenwich because of its Freeness) art galleries in the Queens House. It was a surprisingly normal house for a royal family, back when they used to stay there. It was beautiful and such, but not as much as would be expected. Though it also had many other uses through the years and several rennovations which probably had something to do with it.
When we had finished, Brittany had to go back to London for class, so we went with her and tried to decide on something to do for the rest of the afternoon. Taking after Brittany, we decided to get tickets to see Wicked that night. We ended up getting pretty lucky because when we got there they said they didn't have any seats together and we were just going to go and sit apart, but then she ended up giving us these seats which were originally £60 but we were getting them at the student rate of £25. she said we could have them because they were a bit restricted view by the hand rail, but we got there and realized that the hand rain is pretty much not in the way at all. It was totally worth it! It was an amazing production, with only some minor flaws that we could tell. I have realized that being in the musicals at school was really helpful when it comes to seeing shows now, because I pick up on details that other people don't always notice. Alan notices even more different things because of his stage crew experience, and together we just analyze the show to bits. Its great. We only wished Maya had been with us to make the show perfect. We decided you can't really fully enjoy Wicked unless Maya is sitting next to you! :-) But Brittany and Stacy were only one row away which was cool. We had a blast.
We went home and the next day had a class which took us to a Hindu temple. That was a really enjoyable class visit compared to the other ones we had had with that professor. We were able to talk with one of the people in charge of the temple and I had never realized how much I actually knew about the Hindu religion. In tenth grade we had learned about it in English when we read part of the Bagauvah Gita (excuse my spelling) but I never realised I had learned that much. The woman was explaining soul, and she used almost the exact same analogy that my teacher had used in 10th grade and I was really startled. It was cool though. There was one kid in class who insisted upon having an argument with her about the political aspect of the Untouchables of the Caste system. Most of the kids in class didn't even know what he was talking about, but we had learned about it in world cultures in 11th grade. What upset me though, was that the woman was talking about the religious aspect of the caste system and how she thought India was actually holding themselves back by having the caste system and how she didn't agree with it. But the kid kept going on about the politics and why its wrong and they were actually arguing the same point but the kid couldn't see this because he was so closed minded about the fact that India isn't doing it right and it is inhumane and he was pissed and didn't like anything she had to say even though she was agreeing with him. He was actually being really rude and she eventually told him that he should move to India and fight for the rights of the Untouchables if he feels that strongly and that finally shut him up.
After that, we walked to a store called Forbidden Planet, which I think I have mentioned here before. On the way there we stopped and got some Cinnabun which always reminds me of the PA turnpike. Like I said, I have really been living up the Americanisms this week. It was AMAZING! But we finally got there and had a good time walking around and looking at the books and comics and starwars figurines and stuff! We then made our way back to CAPA to print a map for our trip yesterday, and to get dinner. We went to Sainsburys and got a whole BBQ Roast Chicken and some cheese balls and tortia crisps. I really just haven't been able to pull myself away from America. But that turned out to be some of the best chicken I have ever eaten. It was really phenomenal. I ejoyed every last bite. And there really were no bites left when we had finished. We finished dinner with a pack of Wine Gums from the vending machine. They are kind of like gummy life savers, except that they taste different, and they are British, which makes me feel a bit better.
Yesterday, though, was what really made the week a winner. It was completely filled with Americanisms and good luck, with a little bad luck too. But it was worth it. Yesterday, we woke up really early and made our way to Liverpool Street Station. There, we got McDonald's for breakfast, and can I just say, that not only was it as delicious as McDonalds for breakfast in America, it was better. They used better quality meat and eggs and it was superb. The hashbrown was exactly like in America and I loved every second of it. From there we got on a bus. It was supposed to be a train, but they are having rail replacement bus services because of construction. So, the bus took us to Ingatestone and we picked up a train there. The train ride wasn't terribly exciting. I think I fell asleep. But we ended up in Norwich.
Norwich was cool, but there was a very specific reason we went there. There is a show playing on stage there. It will be moving to London 5 days after we leave which is why we had to see it there. The show is sold out. It has been since the tickets went on sale. The reason it is sold out is because the two lead actors were Patrick Stewart and Sir Ian McKellen. The guy who played on Star Trek and the guy who played Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings. We didn't have tickets, but we were going to wait at the Theater and see if there had been any returns. As far as the show was concerned, I hadn't been terribly interested. The only reason I wanted to go was because Alan wanted to go so bad. The trip was a surprise for him, and we went and kept our fingers crossed.
We walked from the train station to the theater, because we were hoping to get there early enough that no one else would have been in front of us in line for tickets. But when we got there the theater was closed. We found out later that it was a bank holliday (Good Friday) and therefore they didn't open until later. But at the time we didn't know for sure. We found a carnival! right next to the theater. It was very much like the street carnivals we have at home. Complete with unsafe looking carnival rides, games, and food. We were going to get burgers for lunch but decided it was too expensive. So we went to get lunch at Subway. One, because I am on an American high right now, and two because it was really close by so we could keep checking to make sure there wasn't a queue forming. After lunch we went to check again to see if they had opened, but they hadn't. So we walked to a mall near by and got some really good fruit smoothies. Then we walked around Borders and outside again. It was a strange little mall, because you had to walk this path through a cemetary to get into it if you came through the front. that was kind of weird. People just sat on the grass talking and eating like it was a park. But it was a cemetary from the 1850s and earlier. It kind of creeped me out.
We went back and checked the theater and then walked down into this pretty neat market place. We got drinks and then walked to the castle. The castle is pretty cool, but we didn't pay to tour it. It seemed like it was kind of the goth-emo-punk kid hangout. But we sat on a bench and looked at the flowers and hill leading up to the castle. Then we walked into the castle mall to use the bathrooms. There we found a cool toy store and hung out there for a while. We also found an Auntie Anne's. And yes, we got some. Lol. Enjoying the pretzles, we walked through the streets or Norwich back to the theater to see if it had opened yet or if there was a queue waiting to get in. There wasn't, so we went and sat on a bench in the park near the carnival. We could see the theater from there and watched some dogs and kids playing in the park. It was fun. Alan though he saw a crowd gathering outside the theater, and we walked up there, but he hadn't. We stayed up there anyway and hung out outside the theater. We sat on a bike rack for an hour or so while I talked about leaving to get some cheesey chips and doughnuts from the carnival. I couldn't leave though, becasue I was in intense I-will-get-alan-tickets-mode. Another guy finally came looking for tickets and we talked to him for a while and he "did the proper british thing and made a queue behind us." That made us the first in line!
They finally opened the doors, but only for people who had restuarant reservations. So we waited a bit more, and they let us in. I asked the lady at the desk for a list to put our names on for return tickets, but she said they wouldn't do that until an hour before the show. So we waited. Then this old woman came in and returned her tickets. The woman called me over and said because I was first in line i could have them even though they hadn't started the list yet. I almost kissed her!!! I wanted to scream or jump or something! Anything! I was so excited! I have never been that lucky before! I didn't even want to go and now I did because Alan and I were just so happy! We went to the carnival to celebrate. We got cheesey chips and doughnuts and took lots of silly pictures! We had to keep moving because when we sat down we got antsy! We walked back to the mall to use the bathrooms again and wandered a bit. Then we made our way back down to the theater. We bought programs and posters and finally took our seats!! It really was amazing! Waiting for Godot reminded me a lot of Rozencrantz and Guildenstern are dead. It was very funny. At intermission we got ice cream bars and waited for the second act. We knew we were going to have to leave early. The show wouldn't end until 10 or later. Our train left at 10 and was over a mile away. We left at 9:50 and sprinted to the train station.
We didn't make it. We didn't make it. We had left early. We had run. We had been too slow. I had been too slow. I couldn't run the whole way. I had to walk. If I had run the whole way we would have made it. It was my fault. It was 10:01 when we got to the station. We could have made it, but there were no more trains to London that night. I didn't know what to do. We had had such a great day. We had made its so close. We had gotten the tickets and had the best day ever and we had missed our only train home. I freaked out. I always plan everything and I am always in charge and I just didn't know what to do. So Alan took over. Cuz when my life falls to pieces, he picks them up and puts them back together. And he told me to get up off my butt and walk with him to the bus station so that we could find a bus home. There was supposed to be a bus home at 11:25, so we waited. And it never came. And they shut the lights off. I knew we were gonna be stuck there forever. Without a place to stay or sleep. It was devastating. We tried to get inside the station but the doors were locked. So we walked away. Then a man came to the door and asked us what we were doing and where we were trying to get to...he said there was another bus coming at 1:15 and if we wanted to we could wait inside. Alan talked to him for a while and tried to get us tickets and had to make some phone calls and ended up spending a lot of money to get us home...when we should have just got on the train that we already had tickets for...so it was my fault he had to pay to get us home...and it was over a 4 hour bus ride to get us home...we didn't end up back in our flats until 6 in the morning. So we went to bed. And I woke up at 3:30 this afternoon...
Alan decided that it was all worth it. Cuz unlike me, he can keep his head under pressure. I can plan and pack and make my intenerary perfect, but I kind of fall apart when my plans go awry and thats why he is here. Because he can get us home at 1 in the morning when I'm sure were stuck. And he decided that the money and waiting and trouble was worth it because we had the best day ever in Norwich. We got to see at least a part of an amazing play with amazing actors and eat carnival food and enjoy ourselves. So, I guess it was worth it. I've never seen him smile so much, and that was worth it.
Now, we have an hour to leave. We are going to see Brittany's host brother's band play at a pub. Which is funny because we only woke up a couple hours ago, but anyways...that should be a fun event to make up for our awful night last night on the bus...
Talk to you later!
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Rantings, Ravings, and Thoughts on My Time Here...
So, I've never been homesick in my life. I honestly can't even really say that I am right now. I don't really miss home, as in Hummelstown. I don't terribly miss my family or life back in America. I do, however, miss people from school. I miss Pittsburgh, and I miss the things I have available to me there.
I miss delicious $5 Chinese food. I miss American pizza, that you can get with extra cheese and big pepperoni, and for $5 at 2 am. I miss food that doesn't spoil in two days due to a lack of preservatives. I miss having my own room. I miss swimming pools. I miss cheap movie theaters. I miss potato chips that come in big bags. I miss going to market to go in my slippers and buying a microwave dinner with meal plan money. I miss my friends from school, who even though I don't see all the time are always there for me. I miss whip cream that has sugar in it.
I don't miss public bathrooms, market central, security guards, and buses that are ALWAYS late. In fact, I don't miss the American public transportation system one bit. I don't miss waiting for an elevator, teeny-tiny windows, Panther Central queues, signing out housing carts, and being locked out of my room.
When I leave Britain, I know there will be some things I'll miss. I know there will also be some things I'll be glad to leave behind. I haven't had the greatest time ever here, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. In fact, what I got on this trip was the world, or at least part of it. And for that I will never ever regret my experiences here.
When I leave, I will miss the tube, buses, trains and all other public transportation. I will miss soda made with real sugar. I will miss being no more than 5 hours from every major European city that I can think of. I will miss French Crepes. I will miss German Pretzels. I will miss Italian Gelato. I will miss English Sausage. I will miss cream tea, and biscuits with jam. I will miss Nutella. I will the age and culture of everything. I will miss the history. I will miss my kitchen, bathroom with good water pressure, and dish washer. I will miss being of legal drinking age, and applewood cheddar cheese.
I won't miss lime scale. I won't miss only having 4 channels on the TV. I won't miss not having a clothes dryer. I won't miss the idea of no personal space. I won't miss only standing on the right side of an Escalator. I won't miss walking on the left hand side of the side walk. I won't miss walking like I'm running. I won't miss dogs that aren't dog-like because they are trained to be robots. I won't miss the dirt. I won't miss the smell of Paris or the graffiti of Rome. I won't miss food that goes bad, and the fact that everything is twice as expensive as in America. I won't miss constantly buying store brand products.
I think most of all though, I won't miss the other Americans. If there is one thing I have learned, its that 3/4 of the people who came on this trip don't give one damn about any one except themselves. Not only do they not care how they treat others, they don't care what kind of image they give Americans abroad. They are rude, loud, and drink too much. Many of the world stereotypes that exist for Americans really are true, and they embody themselves in many of the other students on the trip. I am disappointed and dismayed that they act the way they do.
I know I'm not perfect. I know I can never get rid of the American in me, nor do I want to. But I do have resepct for people and their culture, and I do know how to be polite and quiet and kind when I should be. I may not have been born with thousands of dollars, but I was taught respect and manners. I don't think the others here were. I pity Americans for their inability to leave behind their worser qualities in order to make people believe America isn't as bad as it sounds. I do want to smack all of them and make them understand that they are only propogating these stereotypes.
But mostly, I want to smack them all for treating me like shit. I absolutely cannot stand most of the people I live and interact with on a daily basis. There are a few people I love and will miss when I go home. There are a few people I have enjoyed my time with and consider family here. But the vast majority of them I cannot stand. For one, I have never done anything against them. I have never told them not to drink so much that they throw up in the couch (don't ask), and I never told them not to sleep with countless guys. I have never been rude to them, and I have never spoken out against them. Yet, for some reason, they are all running around telling people that I have ruined their lives. That I am the reason they can't have fun here, and they treat me like sub-human trash. It upsets me, and there is nothing that I can do about it. If I said something to them, they would only add it to their list of reasons to hate me. And its not just me. They don't like Alan either.
I suppose every group needs a scapegoat. I guess since I am the different one, the one who trys to fit in with the culture here, the one who doesn't drink until my liver explodes, the one who hasn't had sex with any and every random guy I have met, and the one who acts like an intelligent human being, hoping to change the awful stereotype that they have broadcast, it is only fitting that that scapegoat should be me.
Luckily, I only have 3 weeks left here. I will miss this place. I will miss many things about this place. I will miss my time here. But when I get on the plane to come home, and leave behind the people here, I will not miss them. Yes, I want to come home. But most of all, I want to come back here. I want to come back without 200 other college aged Americans. I want to come back to experience the place as someone who has lived here and knows the city, and some of the world. I want to come back without the looming cloud of outcast over my head.
I love London, and I love Europe. But I truly wish that I could say I loved it more. And I know I could, if they hadn't come on the trip as well.
Oh yeah, I also won't miss having timed internet. Everyone should be allowed to use as much internet as they like. Hmpf.
I miss delicious $5 Chinese food. I miss American pizza, that you can get with extra cheese and big pepperoni, and for $5 at 2 am. I miss food that doesn't spoil in two days due to a lack of preservatives. I miss having my own room. I miss swimming pools. I miss cheap movie theaters. I miss potato chips that come in big bags. I miss going to market to go in my slippers and buying a microwave dinner with meal plan money. I miss my friends from school, who even though I don't see all the time are always there for me. I miss whip cream that has sugar in it.
I don't miss public bathrooms, market central, security guards, and buses that are ALWAYS late. In fact, I don't miss the American public transportation system one bit. I don't miss waiting for an elevator, teeny-tiny windows, Panther Central queues, signing out housing carts, and being locked out of my room.
When I leave Britain, I know there will be some things I'll miss. I know there will also be some things I'll be glad to leave behind. I haven't had the greatest time ever here, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. In fact, what I got on this trip was the world, or at least part of it. And for that I will never ever regret my experiences here.
When I leave, I will miss the tube, buses, trains and all other public transportation. I will miss soda made with real sugar. I will miss being no more than 5 hours from every major European city that I can think of. I will miss French Crepes. I will miss German Pretzels. I will miss Italian Gelato. I will miss English Sausage. I will miss cream tea, and biscuits with jam. I will miss Nutella. I will the age and culture of everything. I will miss the history. I will miss my kitchen, bathroom with good water pressure, and dish washer. I will miss being of legal drinking age, and applewood cheddar cheese.
I won't miss lime scale. I won't miss only having 4 channels on the TV. I won't miss not having a clothes dryer. I won't miss the idea of no personal space. I won't miss only standing on the right side of an Escalator. I won't miss walking on the left hand side of the side walk. I won't miss walking like I'm running. I won't miss dogs that aren't dog-like because they are trained to be robots. I won't miss the dirt. I won't miss the smell of Paris or the graffiti of Rome. I won't miss food that goes bad, and the fact that everything is twice as expensive as in America. I won't miss constantly buying store brand products.
I think most of all though, I won't miss the other Americans. If there is one thing I have learned, its that 3/4 of the people who came on this trip don't give one damn about any one except themselves. Not only do they not care how they treat others, they don't care what kind of image they give Americans abroad. They are rude, loud, and drink too much. Many of the world stereotypes that exist for Americans really are true, and they embody themselves in many of the other students on the trip. I am disappointed and dismayed that they act the way they do.
I know I'm not perfect. I know I can never get rid of the American in me, nor do I want to. But I do have resepct for people and their culture, and I do know how to be polite and quiet and kind when I should be. I may not have been born with thousands of dollars, but I was taught respect and manners. I don't think the others here were. I pity Americans for their inability to leave behind their worser qualities in order to make people believe America isn't as bad as it sounds. I do want to smack all of them and make them understand that they are only propogating these stereotypes.
But mostly, I want to smack them all for treating me like shit. I absolutely cannot stand most of the people I live and interact with on a daily basis. There are a few people I love and will miss when I go home. There are a few people I have enjoyed my time with and consider family here. But the vast majority of them I cannot stand. For one, I have never done anything against them. I have never told them not to drink so much that they throw up in the couch (don't ask), and I never told them not to sleep with countless guys. I have never been rude to them, and I have never spoken out against them. Yet, for some reason, they are all running around telling people that I have ruined their lives. That I am the reason they can't have fun here, and they treat me like sub-human trash. It upsets me, and there is nothing that I can do about it. If I said something to them, they would only add it to their list of reasons to hate me. And its not just me. They don't like Alan either.
I suppose every group needs a scapegoat. I guess since I am the different one, the one who trys to fit in with the culture here, the one who doesn't drink until my liver explodes, the one who hasn't had sex with any and every random guy I have met, and the one who acts like an intelligent human being, hoping to change the awful stereotype that they have broadcast, it is only fitting that that scapegoat should be me.
Luckily, I only have 3 weeks left here. I will miss this place. I will miss many things about this place. I will miss my time here. But when I get on the plane to come home, and leave behind the people here, I will not miss them. Yes, I want to come home. But most of all, I want to come back here. I want to come back without 200 other college aged Americans. I want to come back to experience the place as someone who has lived here and knows the city, and some of the world. I want to come back without the looming cloud of outcast over my head.
I love London, and I love Europe. But I truly wish that I could say I loved it more. And I know I could, if they hadn't come on the trip as well.
Oh yeah, I also won't miss having timed internet. Everyone should be allowed to use as much internet as they like. Hmpf.
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