Life in England, Week 3

After a fun week in Amsterdam, I have come back to another tough week of school.  My first round of quizzes was this week, and I think I did pretty well!  However, with another British Studies quiz, British Studies test, and my individual presentation for British Studies being within eight days of each other, and having to keep up on current events to write my weekly paper for Sociology of Crime and Deviance, I truly have my work cut out for me.  I have been working hard, and I have become a regular at the library, which fortunately is the warmest place in the chilly manor.  While I have been busy with my studies, I have also begun planning a couple more trips (one to Ireland and one to Barcelona) and have partaken in a few school activities.

First Poem Read by a Local in Scottish Attire

This Tuesday, we had our first SGA (Student Government Association) activity.  It was called “Burns Night” and was a traditional commemorative night for a Scottish poet named Robert Burns.  We were all allowed to have a small sample of “whiskey punch” and haggis, which essentially tastes like stuffing, but has minced lamb parts in it.  It was actually very tasty (especially since it had onions in it)!  During choir, we had learned a few songs written by Burns and sang them, and many people went up, attempted a Scottish accent, and read some of his poems.  Later that same evening, Justin and I also lead our first organized Christian Fellowship session that we are now calling “BASIC” (Brothers and Sisters in Christ).  We had a guitarist who led us in the music, and Ellyn and I led the singing (which was interesting for me because I didn’t know any of the songs)!  Justin was our speaker for the night, and we read some scripture and set the tone of the semester of “getting back to the basics” in our faith. 

Choir Singing at Burn's Night

This morning, I had another very interesting experience in class.  The history class I am taking is called “The Cultural History of Alcohol” and is commonly referred to as “the beer class” here.  In class today, we actually made beer and cider.  While we did use a kit, making it was a very simplified project, it was still a very interesting experience.  We had to learn how to sanitize all of the equipment and when to add the right ingredients.  It is supposed to take approximately a week to ferment, so next week we will be sampling what we made.  Hopefully it isn’t too horrible.  One of his previous classes won an award with a beer-making competition, so hopefully I guess it should at least be drinkable...  

Tonight, we have the meet a family reception where I will actually meet my host family for the semester.  My friend Shelby and I have been paired with the Twycross family!  We are excited to meet them! I will be spending the rest of the weekend visiting Scotland with the cross country girls and some of the Western Kentucky students.  Look for a post next week on it!

Wait what? This is the wrong way?!....Amsterdam in a nutshell.

Ok! So, I realize that I have quite a bit to blog about!  Since my last post, I have made it to Holland and back, and have gotten through almost another whole half a week here at the manor.  I have been feeling a little under the weather the past few days, so I have done a lot of sleeping and even got talked into drinking tea (yuck) in attempts to feel better quickly.  Today, I am seeing the benefits and am feeling a TON better!  Even went for a short couple mile run last night to the gate and back.  I am continuing to love my time here, and as I am growing closer to my new friends, I am loving the experience more and more.

First Night in Amsterdam- Walking to the Hostel

Canal at Night

So I guess I should begin with my trip to Amsterdam.  This trip was radically different from my trip to London, but I loved it as well.  We had class Friday morning, and raced to East Midlands Airport right after lunch.  BMI baby, a cheap airline, proved to be reliable enough to get us to Amsterdam, although it as a pretty turbulent flight!  The plane seemed a little less durable than any other flight I have experienced before, but I guess we made it! Haha!  Problem number one occurred in the airport when I realized that peanut butter is a paste and that I couldn't take it in my carry on...oops....

Lost in the Train System!

After arriving, we went to the "I amsterdam" store, bought train tickets to the central tram station as well as an Amsterdam pass that for one price got us into most of the attractions the city offers.  We then headed off to the train station.  However, being that everything was written in Dutch, we had to make an educated guess on which train to take.  While we thought we were getting on a train to central station, we realized that this was not the case.  We then decided to hop off and jump on the right train.  However, then things went even more wrong! One of our group members forgot her immigration letter (which works as our visa to get us back into the UK) in the store where we bought our Amsterdam passes.  So, we hopped on a train back to the airport.  Fortunately, we found the letter and there was no one on the trains checking our tickets, so we were able to get the letter and return back on the train free of charge.  This time, we managed to pick the right train, and then got on the right tram that the man at the airport told us to catch! But as things seemed to get better, they again, got worse.  I went to take my first picture and realized I had left my memory card in my laptop and that I would not be able to take any pictures!  So all of the pictures that I have included are ones I have stolen from my group (many of which I actually took myself though)!  A few stops later, we made it to the hostel, checked in, and headed out for the night.  We walked a few blocks, got a decent deal at an Italian restaurant, and were able to get a good meal in for only 10 euros.  We have come to find that in Europe, unless the restaurant is actually inexpensive, that you can easily find places that will cut you a deal and give you a cheaper price than what the menu really says!  Especially when you look like an American tourist.  We later went out to a pub, strolled around the city, and then headed in to get some rest for our early rise in the morning.  Walking around at night was probably my favorite part of Amsterdam.  It is so vibrant at night and has a whole new energy that it doesn't have during the day.  All of the canal bridges are lit with white lights and all of the buildings are light with florescent signs and lights.

We were really cold...

This first night was also my first experience in a hostel.  When we arrived, there was a sign outside that read "hotel", but two of the letters were flickering and went out.  However, as far as I have heard hostels go, I think we ended up at a fairly nice place.  There were ten of us in total.  The first 8 that had registered for the trip were all in one room, but my friend Karen and I had joined the group later, so we were on our own sharing a bunk bed in a room of six.  Fortunately, we only had two other roommates (two guys around our age from Canada) who had come to Amsterdam for the "coffee shops" and pretty much just slept the entire time.  It was almost as if we had our own room.

Me by the Canal

Foam Museum

The next morning, we woke up around 8 to begin the day.  Next problem: We forgot to bring converters. So we had to deal with wet hair all day! Unlike the hustle and bustle of the night, the morning greeted us very dark, overcast, rainy, and the city even seemed somewhat dull.  After a breakfast of bread and cheese, we split in to two groups.  Mine first headed to a photography museum called Foam.  As all good photography does, many of the photos had descriptions that made the display very moving.  We also went to the Vincent Van Gogh museum.  We saw several originals of his famous paintings; however, since I got the song stuck in my head about his painting "Starry Night", I was a little disappointed that that painting wasn't actually there.  It was a very interesting experience to visit this museum, though, and interesting to see how overtime Van Gogh developed as an artist.  For lunch, we went to Burger King for a cheaper option, and they had some sort of chicken wrap that they don't sell in the states.  Turns out, it was delicious! We did, however, have to pay for ketchup to go with our fries.  Being a ketchup lover, I was a bit disappointed, but managed to suffice on one package for all of my fries!  In the afternoon, we went to explore a street market, visited a very interesting Jewish history of Amsterdam museum, and stopped in the infamous Heineken store.  Along the way we got on the wrong tram a couple times, but I guess that is all part of the experience being in a foreign land with a foreign language! We found a nice but cheap pub and pancake house to eat at for dinner, and then went back to the hostel to meet up with the other half of our group.  We played some cards for a bit, then strolled around outside and went to a night club.  Eventually, we went back to the hostel, checked out the bar area in the basement, and decided to get some rest.

The Heineken Brand Store (this sign is made of ice!)

Group shot at the Tram Station

On Sunday, we went off again to explore and take full advantage of our Amsterdam passes.  My two favorite parts of Amsterdam were the canal tour and our visit to the Anne Frank House.  The canal tour was a very fun way to see all of the city highlights in around an hour.  Unfortunately, since it was raining yet again, we didn't get a ton of good pictures from the boat..  The Anne Frank House did not allow us to take photographs, but I think the memory will be forever imprinted in my mind.  We were able to walk through the "Secret Annex" where the Franks lived during World War II, watch several video clips on the Holocaust, viewed many remains, and saw Anne's diary.  The museum was very unique in the fact that it was begun by her father Otto Frank and that it used many of Anne's quotes from her diary to tell the story.  When the Franks had been forced to leave the Secret Annex, all of the contents of the Secret Annex were removed.  When the museum was created, Otto Frank did not want the rooms to be restored, but left empty.  There were models in every room showing how they would have looked furnished, but the rooms were solemnly left empty.  At the end, there was an interactive game we all played and enjoyed, too.  We also took a quick walk through the infamous red light district just to say we had been there, stopped by a diamond museum, visited an old church, and ventured across town with our Amsterdam books attempting to get as many of the "freebies" as we could while getting the opportunity to see more of the city.

Karen and I on the Canal Tour

I amsterdam sign

After my trip to Amsterdam, I have made a number of conclusions about the city.  First off, Amsterdam is a very biking friendly city.  There are often times more bike lanes than car lanes on the street!  Second, Amsterdam is a very night friendly city.  While there was plenty for us to do during the day, it was incredible how few people were out and about during the day in comparison to how many were out in the evenings and further into the night.  Also, while Amsterdam seemed like an old ordinary town during the day, it became a large beautifully lit city by night.  It was nice to visit Amsterdam as my first city in a foreign language as well because almost everyone there knows at least some English, so we got some good help from people.  One man on the tram who we had questioned about where we were headed even told Karen and I that "boys never listen" and that must be why we kept ending up in the wrong place.  So true! We thought it was pretty funny!  Overall, I loved my experience in Amsterdam, and am glad I was able to visit with such a wonderful group of new friends!

Life in a Manor

English Clog Dancing

So, after coming home to the manor after my trip to London, I am coming to realize that while I may have originally thought mostly on travel coming here, there is so many other special things here.  While at first I was not entirely thrilled about being in the Carriage House due to the short walk in the cold, I have come to really enjoy it.  Every time, the manor looks entirely different, depending on the time of day.  I am stuck every time by its size and beauty.  In the morning, I enjoy the sunrise.  Midday, I enjoy the sun shinning down on the manor or the clouds surrounding.  At night, I see my favorite view of the manor with the night sky and the stars, which are quite beautiful here.  It is something you truly just can't capture on a camera.  Harlaxton is not just a place to stay in between traveling and to take classes, but a place of history and community.  There is always so much to do, and I really do not understand how anyone could ever be bored.  I have become busy with a basketball league, student fellowship, choir, all of the cultural immersing activities, classes, visiting Grantham, and just in general making a lot of new friends and enjoying this experience with approximately 200 different students and faculty.  This week, for instance, we had an exposition of sword dancing and clog dancing and then enjoyed some traditional singing and dancing with them in the bistro afterwards.  It has been fun getting to know the other students, as well as the staff and their families, because many of them are living here in the manor with us.  Yes, this does mean there are a few little kids running around the manor.  One of my favorites always greets me with a high five, is very high strung, and likes to share his Winnie the Pooh stuffed animal with me.  I can't imagine what it would be like living here as such a young child with such a large imagination.  Some of the kids are home schooled by their parents, but others actually attend schools in Harlaxton and Grantham.  But they are just another thing to put a smile on your face here every day.   The people here are wonderful, scholarly, and all just fantastic.  While I am looking forward to my weekend travels, I am also really enjoying being able to call this Harlaxton Manor home. This afternoon, I am going on a historical tour of the manor, so hopefully I will be able to post more about the actual manor soon!

English Sword Dancers

Attempting to understand British Studies...

Please Mind the Gap!

Left: Heather and I our first night in London!
Below: Me in a telephone booth!

Over the past weekend, I have spent my time touring London, England on the first school trip of the semester.  Previously, I had spent around half a day there during a very long lay over, and I was very excited about actually getting to see more of London.  I was surprised by how little of London I had actually covered on my last adventure.  If I had to describe London in three words it would be HUGE, diverse, and beautiful.  We arrived at around 9 pm Thursday night, and we immediately all rushed to put away our bags and go exploring by foot.  A group of us went to a pub called the swan, but were not out long, so shortly after I joined my friend Heather to take some fun nighttime photos and see what all was around our hotel which was located on Russell Square right next to the British Museum.

Friday morning, we began very early with breakfast at 8, which was literally just toast and rolls, then we were off.  My group (Alex Battiato, Cody Coomes, Heather Vozzola, and I) took the tube (for those of you unfamiliar, that is what we call the subway here) and were off to see the city!  During our first tube experience, we got a laugh out of the recording telling us to "mind the gap" every time we exited!  We spent most of the morning venturing through the Tower of London.  We had an excellent guided tour and enjoyed learning all about it, especially since we had just begun discussing many of the topics in British Studies.  We enjoyed subway for lunch, and spent the afternoon roaming EVERYWHERE.  To name a few, we visited the tower bridge (often confused with the London bridge), the London bridge, millennium bridge, globe theatre, Buckingham palace, Trafalgar square, big ben, and parliament.  Our feet were very sore after to say the least.  For dinner we stumbled across a pub called The Court.  Dinner was relatively inexpensive in comparison to many of the other pub and restaurant prices we had seen, and it was DELICIOUS.  Granted, not being a seafood eater, while everyone else got fish and chips, I got a cheeseburger!  But, I can tell you, the English know well how to make their chips.  English chips win over American fries in my book ANYDAY. Later that night, a large group of us got together and went out to a night club called ONE together, which for my non-drinking group was fairly inexpensive, and we had a whole lot of fun just dancing and being silly.

Heather and I 

The Friday Group

Big Ben

Night View Near Hotel

Tower of London

Globe Theatre

Heather and I along the Thames

Westminster Abbey

Saturday morning, was again another early 8 am start, which was a little rough after being up so late and from so much walking the previous day! On this day, I toured the city with a different group which included some new friends from WKU as well as my cross country buddies that are here.  We visited some of the same attractions so that we could get some better pictures because a lot of the places we had all been to the previous day when it was dark, watched the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, saw the Wellington arch, toured various parks including Hyde Park, saw the Princess Diana and Albert memorials, and toured the British Museum.  We were really adventurous and ate Pizza Hut for lunch, and then I took everyone back to The Court for a late dinner because we enjoyed it so much the night before (yes, I did get ANOTHER cheeseburger).  By around ten, we were all ready for bed.

Jenn and I waiting for Changing of the Guard

Saturday Group at Buckingham Palace

Changing of the Guard

Princess Diana Fountain

Sunday morning, we had to rise early to depart from the hotel, and we headed to Hampton Court Palace.  For those of you who don’t know, Hampton Court Palace was the residence of King Henry VIII, who is often remembered because he had six wives, two of which he ordered to be executed.  The residence was quite large and extravagant, and the gardens are still maintained. It brought back many memories from my high school history class with Mrs. Helbing and all of the stories she told us.  I actually got adventurous and ate a soup called a "lamb goush" and it was pretty good!  The palace was amazing, and I wish I had been a little less tired to enjoy it a  bit more!

Cross Country Girls at Hampton Court Palace  

Overall, I had a great London experience.  Dr. Kingsley shared a quote that said something to the extent of those who are tired of London are bored with life.  After my visit there, I must agree.  There is something to do for everyone and has pieces of a big city, but also suburban parts as well.  It is unique in that its history is so intertwined with the rest of the city that has since sprung around it.  This weekend spiked my interest in my studies because I wanted to know everything about what I was seeing.  The connections I am going to make between my trip to London and my studies is something I am actually looking forward to this week. 

Nicole and I slept the whole way home...

Off to London!

So, I just woke up from a mid-afternoon nap to this beautiful sunset out my window.  The sun doesn't shine often here, so the sight is amazing.  I am packing up for my first weekend to London.  Hopefully I don't forget anything important! I was feeling a little bit homesick for the first time yesterday evening.  I think I honestly was just a bit overtired.  A good night of sleep and a nap later, I am feeling a lot better about things!  Yesterday was highly productive academically as I wrote my first paper and read a few articles for my classes, but it was also very productive in trip planning!  I have come up with some good ideas of places where I will be traveling and who with.  I have officially booked trips to London, Amsterdam, and to the Lake District.   A few other tentative plans so far include Barcelona, Ireland, Kandersteg in Switzerland, France, and Italy!  This morning more than anything, I have also begun to see that I truly am starting to develop some good friendships here, and how wonderful so many of the students here are.  Everyone is not only friendly, but academic in a sense that they put that before just about everything else, but seem to find a good way to balance that with meeting new people.  And now...off to London :)

1/10 activities and Ceildh dancing

Today was our second day of classes, which was much different from the first.  There were very few people in today's classes (less than 20), which I think is always a good thing.  Life seemed a little less hectic than yesterday, although I stayed pretty busy between my studies and other meetings.   This evening, we had an evening of Ceildh, which is basically a Gaelic dance, similar to square dancing.  It truly brought our entire group together and helped us collectively as a group leave our comfort zone and enjoy the company of one another.  We were all dancing, smiling, laughing, clapping, and truly enjoying the music being played.  It is by far the most fun experience I have had yet this semester and has also given me a taste of some culture.  I went on a second run today as well.  I am still really sore, but maybe that is between the combination of running, abs, walking around the manner, and having to go up and down so many flights of stairs?!  After the Ceildh, my friend Karen and I went exploring and found another secret passageway in the manner.  It looked like a closet, but it had a staircase around the corner, and we found some notes and such left from prior students!  We had to find it with a flashlight because it was so dark!  Today, overall, has been a very good day, and I am looking forward to tomorrow, and what it may bring!  It seems every day has a new window of opportunity to offer if you choose to open it.

First Day of Class

Today was the first day of classes. Classes here are very different here than they are back at home.  First off, we all begin British studies at 8:30 together.  All 183 of us.  I don't think I have ever had more than 60 in a class!  It is also all lecture with limited information on the powerpoints.  This forces you to take in all of the information and pull out what you think are the key points rather than the professor providing it for you.  Not sure how I feel about that yet!  At 11, I have my smaller group British studies class (around 20 people).  There are several papers to be written as well as in class presentations (yet more I am not quite accustomed to being and EXSS major).  However, it was a fairly interesting day of classes.  After class, I went in to Grantham with some friends.  We first stopped at the rail station to get rail passes, but I didn't think to bring my ID, so I get to go back late in the week.  Oops.. After searching for various items, Emily and I eventually found our way to the "walmart" of England, ASDA.  Everything here is so different, even with names and types of foods and other products, label designs, store layout, etc. I was still searching for an alarm clock, and couldn't find them with the appliances.  We asked one of the gentleman working there and he said to go to aisle 36, which contained a lot of kitchenware, so we were eventually confused, but low and behold, in the middle of the aisle there were some clocks and alarm clocks.  This afternoon, I also went on my first run since I have been here on the canal path located around a mile and a half from campus.  It was beautiful to be running along the canal as the sun began to set, then returning with the manor as the view of my final destination.  I could definitely get used to this!  Looking forward to returning again tomorrow!

Train Station in Grantham

First Weekend at the Manor :)

At 11 am, January 5th, I met Nicole at the Indianapolis Airport, and the journey began.  I told her we had to take a dorky photo with our luggage as the first photo for the blog..so here it is!  We flew into Detroit, had some dinner, attempted to look over some British Studies readings, searched for the silly orange Harlaxton tags on other's backpacks and luggage, and then were off to Heathrow.  I sat next to an English gentleman on the way over who was very friendly and told me a lot about the UK, the new nation and culture into which I was about to enter.  We landed in terminal 4 around 6:30 am, made it through the border check and customs.  After catching the Heathrow Express, we were shortly in terminal 3, meeting the Harlaxton staff at the meeting point. Upon arrival, I saw Alex Battiato and Emily Consalvi as well as a few other familiar faces.  We were shortly after sent on a shuttle to the manor, where I was surprised to find it was a 3 hour drive and would not be eating lunch for another 4 hours! Yay! (No food is never on my  mind......).  I was awoken when we entered Grantham and the bus driver told us to look over the hill to see our home.  I was definitely just as in awe as I expected, even after seeing the pictures.  The manor was so large and so beautiful in such a scenic piece of English countryside. We were greeting by Dr. Kingsley at the front door, and he welcomes us to the manner as we were all jet lagged and fairly dazed, then finally sent us off for a much needed lunch, and time to unpack and explore the manor.  We spent a lot of time search for secret passage ways, taking pictures, and meeting new people in order to come together as a Harlaxton community. Late that evening, we had our first orientation session with our British Studies professors, and we all were excited when we arrived and were greeted with a handshake and a glass of wine!  After I left class, I went down to the Bistro,  and spent some time meeting the other students and mingling with old friends before headed off to bed for some much needed sleep.

The Manor

The Conservatory (My favorite!)

Emily Consalvi and I

Ceiling above a stairwell

English Countryside View from the Manor

The first morning at the manor house, we began the day with a Convocation Ceremony that included the faculty being dressed in robes, flagbearers, music, singing of national anthems, and a bagpiper.  We were then spoken to by Principal Kingsley, who became one of my favorite people due to him beginning his talk with my favorite bible verse, Isaiah 40:31, and then by making us sing "The Garden Song" a ridiculous number of times.  We then went to a number of breakout sessions about life and education in the manner, and were free in the afternoon to visit Grantham.  Grantham was very different than what I expected, yet no where near a disappointment.  I love the quaint little town.  I went to the grocery story called Morrison's located in the central shopping center and picked up some groceries, a hair dryer, and a few other essential items.  I then took a nap, and got ready for our formal "high table" dinner.

Emily Consalvi and I before dinner

The Harlaxton XC Girls

For high table dinner, we met in the Great Hall, were served some sort of drink, and socialized with one another until officially being seated.  There were assigned seats so that we could get to know some new people, which was a fun and interesting experience.  Dinner was delicious (definitely way better and im much larger quantity than the normal refectory food), and again, everyone seemed to enjoy the knew concept of being allowed to have a glass of wine with dinner.  After dinner, a group of us went to the Gregory, a restaurant at the end of the mile drive in the town of Harlaxton, with Eric Stoessel's relatives, then we went into Grantham to the Goose, a local pub, and Vibe, a local night club.  It was a fun night, and I really enjoyed getting to enjoy the company of past friends and new ones alike in this new English setting.

The Gregory

Jesse, Heather, and I

The Group at the Goose

Roncalli Meets Harlaxton: Alex Battiato and I

The next morning, I was very excited about attending the local mass in town, but for some reason, my alarm did not want to go off (yes it was correctly set, and yes it refused to work again later in the day)!  I was quite disappointed, especially when I heard how fun it was.  We had few planned activities, but I spent much of the day playing the card game phase 10 with various new friends.  I attended a session on travel planning, had my first serving of English mashed potatoes (amazing!!!), attended a Student Christian Fellowship meeting, where I became the co-leader of the group with a WKU student, Justin Wellum.  I am definitely looking forward to spending some time getting to know some new people on a faith level, and getting to do some service within the local community.  There was a large group of us who watch a show called Sherlock in the Carriage House lounge after.  It seems that in the Carriage House, we are already beginning to have a sense of unity, which has been a very neat experience.  At around 1, I finally decided it was best to head to bed rather than continuing to chat with my new friends all night, and to get some rest for class this morning. Today we are beginning classes, which should be yet another neat experience.  Overall, thus far, I am loving the Harlaxton experience.  There has been so many different ways to engage with so many new people, and grow together in a smaller community than the normal campus bodies we are used to. It has been somewhat easy to maintain contact with family and friends (skype is amazing!), and the main thing I have been homesick from is the good and large quantities of food!  I am looking forward to what the rest of the semester has in store for me!

January 5: Today's the day!

Its 1 am, the morning of which I leave to go to Europe for 4 months. Wow.  I can't believe this is actually happening.  My suitcases are almost packed, and I am ready for a new adventure.  While the day has been stressful, things seem to be calming down as I am getting ready to go to sleep for the night...pretty sure it will be a fairly sleepless night due to stress and excitement, but maybe that will actually make me sleep on the plane!  Many friends have asked me why I am studying abroad.  I am going to experience other cultures, other lifestyles, and to let my inner adventurous core take in the big world in which we live.  I hope that in doing this, I will learn something about myself too.  So here's to a new lifestyle.  Indiana, see ya in 4 months =)