A Day in the Country

Not having classes on Friday has been so great. So to take advantage of this, some of my friends and I decided to go on a day tour of some of England's most famous places. At 8:30am, we boarded a bus to go to our first stop Windsor Castle. The castle was incredible. It was built almost 1000 years ago, but you would never believe it was that old. It really is imposing, siting on top of a steep hill, staring down at the incoming enemy. The Queen still uses the castle and spends many of her weekends there when she is in England. On Friday, the Queen was at Windsor Castle! We didn't get to see her but it was so cool to be in the same place as the queen of England.

Our next stop was Bath. If you've ever read Jane Austen you will encounter the town of Bath in many of her novels. She actually wrote two in Bath, Northanger Abbey and Persuasions. The town is so cute. It is also a very old town, built by the Romans and centers around the only natural hot springs in England. The wealthy of the 1700s and 1800s would frequent Bath to go to the hot springs. In the town is a magnificent Abbey. It was the site of the first coronation in England, the crowning of King Edgar. The architecture was so interesting and it reminded me a little of Oxford because everything as so detailed and intricate. While we were there we went to the most delicious chocolate shop and I was able to indulge in the best cup of hot chocolate ever.

After that we were off to Stonehenge. To get there we drove through the most beautiful English countryside. Even though we didn't get to spend a lot of time at each place, the trip was worth it to see the most beautiful countryside. It was just as I pictured it. Rolling green hills dotted with sheep and small farms. Blue skies against the gently blowing grass. I felt like I was in a fairytale. Stonehenge was interesting. It's hard to imagine how so long ago people were able to place these rocks in the middle of the English countryside.

 Getting out of the hectic flow of the city was great. I'm glad to be back, but seeing so many other places has been incredible. The rest of my week is pretty quiet. Tomorrow, I am going on an Emory run tour of the East End. Hopefully I will be assigned some homework soon, but for now I'm enjoying seeing London, England, and all they have to offer.

Surviving Oktoberfest

On a list of places I wanted to go, Germany was not in the top ten. Yet, somehow I found myself sitting at a table, in a tent, at Oktoberfest surrounded by liters of beer and hundreds of people.

Walking into Oktoberfest, I wasn't really sure what to expect. At 9:30am, you enter the tents and sit down at long tables. At 10am the first round of beer is served. By 10:30, you are best friends with all the people at your table, and a few people are already on their second liter. I met the most interesting people at my table. The group to our left was from Australia. They were all here on vacation traveling around Europe together. A pair of sisters sat to our right. One of them lived in Los Angeles while the other lived in Amsterdam, doling out love advice on her website. At 11am, the music starts and everywhere people are standing on tables dancing and singing along to the traditional German songs. By now the strong willed start standing on tables to chug their liters. If you don't finish it or drip some everyone boos. Even girls were standing up to chug their liters!

If you're not wearing the traditional lederhosen or dirndl, you definitely stand out. Everyone was wearing these traditional bavarian costumes and it was so funny to see them wandering the streets of Munich in these outfits. Outside the tents, Oktoberfest is just like a county fair. Food vendors line the fair ground selling every German food you could ever want. I was in food heaven! Everything was so delicious. The bratwurst, apple strudel, schnitzel, and the kaischerschmarrn were all so good. This was the best food experience I've had in Europe so I wasn't too bothered spending all of my money on food. The rest of the fair was filled with typical rides, little kids, and families walking amidst the drunken tent-goers.

Munich is a beautiful city. On Saturday, Diane and I walked around the city and saw so many beautiful buildings and gardens. We went to the Munich Residenz, the former palace for the Bavarian monarchy, built in the 1300s. The style of the palace was so different than all the ones I've seen in London, and it was incredible. Bronze lions flank the entrance and if you rub their noses you're supposed to get good luck. I was too short to reach their noses though. After that we walked to Hoftgarten, a court garden, and the English Garden, one of the largest public gardens, even bigger than central park!

We finished seeing all of the sights of Munich by 11am and weren't really sure what to do next. Diane really wanted to see the Dachau concentration camp, so we went. I really did not want to go and knew that it would be an incredible sad and horrifying experience, but we went and it was. I think that will be my first and last time at a concentration camp because it truly was a horrible place to see. Walking in, the camp just feels terrifying, terrible, dark, and awful.

And after that incredible sad experience, we went back into the city to grab a bratwurst before going home. A tip, even though it seems like no one checks to see if you have tickets on the train, they do check, and they will fine you for trying to ride the train for free. 

So now I'm back in London and happy to be surrounded by familiar places and English!

First Classes!

So, I just finished having all of my first classes. I had my first religion class on Monday. I know it's October and this is my second week of school... London is the greatest! Classes here are structured very differently from the ones back at home. Here my science classes are two hours once a week. My religion class is an hour lecture once a week and an hour seminar once a week. And because of this I only have class four day a week. (No class on Friday!)

In all of my science classes at home, I had homework, quizzes, and tests. I never had to write any papers and only had one group project in my first two years at Emory. Here, however, I have essays in all of my science classes. Both of my Biology classes assigned essays that are worth between 40-50% of my grade! I don't know if I'll be able to handle all of this writing.

My religion class is going to be the most interesting out of all of my classes. It is titles "Thinking About Evil" and is going to discuss the problem of evil in religion and how different people have tried to explain it. I have also decided to sit in on a lecture series at King's College called "Thinking About God". It looks at how different religions have described and tried to explain God. The first lecture was on Hinduism and its origin. These classes are so interesting! I'm glad to be able to take them here because at Emory I don't really have as much time to take as many religion classes as I wanted to. Hopefully they will discuss the Jewish point of view in these classes though I don't have much faith they will. I don't think there are many Jews here in London. On Yom Kippur, I went to the Chaplain office to ask about finding a synagogue for services and they couldn't find one. They also didn't know what Yom Kippur was. It was an interesting experience coming from Emory where every other person there is Jewish.

Most of my classes are at Guys campus 5 minutes away from my dorm. But my religion class is at Strand campus which is a 45 minute walk away. I'm going to get in great shape but I think I'm going to have to take the tube there some mornings when I'm running late because I didn't hear my alarm clock.

I'm glad classes have finally started because I was feeling pretty lazy sightseeing all day long. Thursday evening, Diane and I are going to Munich for Oktoberfest. I can't wait to see the city and what the Biggest Folk Festival in the city is like!

The Largest Ferris Wheel

 Today was my last day of classes for the week. I know it's Thursday. I don't have any classes on Friday! This is the first and last semester that will happen so I'm going to take full advantage of this. To celebrate making it through a week of school, Diane and I decided to go on the London Eye! I've never been a lover of heights and have always avoided roller coasters, so it was hard to imagine going on this 443 foot tall ferris wheel. But, when in Rome...

Walking up to it is pretty terrifying. Looking up at it, you can only imagine the Eye toppling straight into the River Thames. It is a 30 minute trip that I really believed would feel like forever. But once I got on you didn't even realize you were moving. It goes so slowly you hardly notice until your staring down at the roof of the Parliament Building and Big Ben. It was awe inspiring, the city is just as beautiful from above as it is from below. The mix of modern and antique is seamless in this diverse city. The Parliament Building is stunning from above and still my favorite building in the city.

The trip seemed so short and Diane and I were not ready to go back to our dorms yet. So we took a quick walk across the river to the Parliament Building and Westminster Abbey. We arrived just in time to go to the Evensong at the Abbey. What I thought was just going to be a few Psalms sung by the Abbey's choir actually turned out to be a 45 minute service. The inside of the Abbey is enchanting. The service was interesting to listen to and it was even more incredible hearing it in such a hallowed place. The choir was all men, which surprised me, but they were so great and all had beautiful voices.

Hopefully this weekend I will find some time to rest before Diane and I leave for Munich next Thursday. Tomorrow we are off to the Borough Market, St Paul's Church, and maybe some shopping. The exchange rate here is killing me, but luckily I'm good at packing my lunch.

Fish and Chips and the Food of London

It's a little ironic to be writing about food on Yom Kippur, but hopefully talking about some of the food I've eaten will help me forget about my hunger. Before coming to London, I was warned that the British cuisine was not that good. Being a little food obsessed, I was a little worried that I wouldn't find anything to eat here. But I was so wrong. Maybe it's just living in a city, but every block has a restaurant on it and every restaurant has been amazing. The Indian food is just as good as everyone says it is. I was really happy about that because I love Indian food, but no one at home will eat it with me.

Traditional British foods don't always sound so delicious from their names. For example, spotted dick doesn't sound very edible. However, I have found that the traditional foods I've eaten here have been very yummy. Fish and chips is an incredible invention. Fried, flaky fish and chips, aka fries, covered in vinegar and salt is truly amazing. It's mouthwatering and crunchy and hot and perfect for the rainy weather in London. Now for dessert, I have tried sticky toffee pudding and let me tell you it is heavenly. It's not even pudding, but a spongy cake covered in a toffee sauce. It's wonderful.

However, probably the best food I've had in London though is not even food at all. Teatime is London's greatest invention. There is nothing better than sitting in a cute cafe with a plate full of tiny sandwiches, crumbly scones, and little cakes enjoying a cup of black tea. I've learned to put milk in my tea, the British way. For £12.5, you have a traditional tea time complete with clotted cream! I don't know what that is made of exactly but it was really yummy, not sweet, but creamy. Mixed with jam it is so good on top of a scone.

My first week of classes ends tomorrow. I'm happy to be back in school, but sadly the weather has taken a turn for the worse and it seems rain is the only thing in the forecast for the next week. Now I'm glad I stole Rae's rain jacket!

One Week Anniversary

Today marks my one week anniversary in London. It feels like so much longer, yet like no time at all. For my anniversary with this amazing city, I thought I would share some of my first impressions of this city.

1. British people love to bike.
This city is congested with bikers. Everywhere you walk bikes are chained to fences and poles. Each block you walk has a Barclay bike rental place where anyone can rent a bike for £1 for 30 minutes. The bikers have no fear, biking through congested streets and next to double decker buses!

2.  You can find very interesting food here.
Since I've been here, I've learned that a full English breakfast includes baked beans and fried bread. In some vending machines you can find shrimp cocktail flavored chips. Even with all these oddities, I have really enjoyed the food I've been eating here.

3. Don't buy 6 hangers for £1.
I don't know if I am just overly aggressive when I'm trying to get dressed or if I am just stronger than I thought but I've already broken 2 hangers in 2 days! 

4. Every building in London is beautiful.
Supermarkets, little restaurants, apartments, and pharmacies are all housed in beautiful buildings. The architecture is truly amazing and really reflects the age of the city. Even the Shard, a skyscraper many Londoners don't like, is a beautiful building looming next to the even more impressive Tower Bridge.   

Learning about all the difference between America and London has been one of the best part of coming here so far. Now I just have to figure out their slang and learn the differences between prats, twats, and wankers.




 

To Oxford We Went

Three days into arriving at London, Diane and I decided we should probably travel before classes start on Tuesday. We hadn't unpacked and had hardly bought any food or basic necessities, like toilet paper, knives, forks, and laundry detergent. Yet off we went on Thursday to Oxford.

After running around the city of London for four days, I was excited to see the English countryside. When we arrived in Oxford it was hard not to think of Harry Potter, fairy tales, and Jane Austen. The city is a romantic labyrinth. Winding roads bring you to churches, colleges, and castles all crammed into 18 square miles. It was just as grand and impressive as I pictured it would be. Christ Church is one of Oxford's 38 colleges. Inside it is a beautiful college that you could easily mistake for a castle. When we toured it we walked up the stairs that were filmed for the Harry Potter movie! The dining hall pictured in Harry Potter is also in Christ Church, but the day we went it was closed. I was so disappointed, but only for a moment. It's hard to be sad in such a beautiful place. After the college, we walked to Radcliffe Camera an impressive building and then to Bodelain Library. We saw it all.

Christ Church (aka Hogwarts)

It's hard to imagine studying at such a inspiring place. I wouldn't be able to study when all I would want to do is walk around and stare at the buildings! Most of the colleges were closed to visitors, but when I peeked I saw walls painted with crew scores and kids milling on manicured quads. It was another world, and it felt truly English.

This was my first time staying in a hostel. To say I didn't have trepidations would be a lie. I was so nervous of murders, crazy people, dirty rooms, loud guests, and bed bugs. Luckily, I knew how to check for bed bugs and didn't find any. The experience of staying at the hostel was one of the best parts of going to Oxford. I met such interesting people from Spain, Cuba, Latvia, and Australia. Diane and I stayed in a mixed 4 bed room. Our two other roommates were married men who either worked at Oxford or were there for a conference. Meeting such fascinating people made the trip so much better.



After one and half days, we took the 2 hour bus ride back to London. The quiet, archaic streets of Oxford were amazing to visit, but I truly love the bustle and crowds of London and couldn't wait to get back.