Oops, my bad.
Sorry I haven't posted in a while. It's been such a crazy and hectic last couple of weeks since I returned from Spring Break, I haven't had time to post! But now I do. Prepare for a long one!
I had a pretty good time on spring break. Me and three of my friends (Maggie, Eric, and Rachel) decided to tour Italy for 8 days. By 'touring Italy', I mean Rome, Florence, and Venice.
We started our trip in Rome. It is quite the interesting city - definitely didn't expect it to be the way it was. It's a beautiful, beautiful city but has it's own personality.
From the get go, I knew this trip would be interesting. We landed in Rome airport, and immediately we were hackled by men who were trying to get us to come in their taxi. Mind you, they were not licensed taxi drivers. That's one thing you must watch out for if you ever go to any country in Europe - take only licensed taxi cabs. The others will rip you off, and who knows where you may end up.
We kept telling them to bugger off, but none of them would listen. They kept following us throughout the airport. Finally, we found a licensed cab and they left us alone.
The cab ride was TERRIFYING. First and foremost, he spoke nearly no English and didn't have a clue as to where our hotel was, so that was frightening. Second, in Italy, red lights are not mandatory to stop at. They are merely a 'suggestion'. They also don't have lines on the road, so you can drive anywhere and everywhere. And there are no speed limits - merely suggestions. We almost hit a group of American tourists, and the cab driver just laughed.
We finally made it to the vicinity of our hotel. We walked for a good hour and still couldn't find it. Mind you, this is up and down very steep cobblestone hills. We finally found a woman who helped us find our hotel. The reason why we couldn't find it? There was no sign for it. No. The only recognition a hotel was there was on the little buzzer. So we buzzed in to enter our hotel.
I wish I was kidding when I said this but this was definitely a mob-run facility. I'm talking, this is the family in Sicily who tried to murder Michael Corleone. It. was. terrifying. It wasn't a bad hotel though - very small, and pretty nice.
Our first full day in Italy was exploring the ruins. We went to the Colosseum (which is HUGE) and the Roman Forum. We also went to Trevi Fountain every day, which is utterly gorgeous. It's my favourite place in Italy, hands down.
The second day (Sunday), we went to the Vatican! We got there early so we got an early entry into St. Paul's Cathedral. It is so beautiful in there. While there, we were able to experience mass run by Cardinal's! That means I could have seen a candidate for the next pope!
After that, we returned to the square outside and sat down. We waited for a while, and then the best thing happened. We got to see the Pope! He stood at his window and gave a blessing over the crowd. It was so amazing to be able to say I've been blessed by the Pope! He was a pretty good sense of humour too, oddly enough.
The next day, we visited the Pantheon and the Vatican Museum where we saw the Sistine Chapel. It is such a magnificent place. It was awe-inspiring. That was our last day in Rome. The next day we'd be off to Florence!
I must interject with how the people are in Rome, as they are not like any others I have met. In Rome, they have no shame about anything. There are thousands of beggars who will come up to you and ask, "Prego?", which means please for any money. The funny thing is, they are not poor. These people were dressed better than we were! They also get really pissed if you tell them to go away.
Also, there are many middle-eastern (I hate to be stereotypical but I am just stating the fact) men who sell novelty items on the streets. They will come up to you and get in your face and say "Sexy, sexy! Special price for you!" and will not leave you alone. You say "No" but they keep going at it. Finally, you have to YELL at them (I had a few words with one man in particular who would not leave me alone) until they go away. It's so frustrating!
Now, on to pickpockets. There are many, many, many pickpockets in Italy. They are also very, very good at what they do. We learned this the hard way.
It was one of our travel days, and we had to go to Rome Termini Station to catch the train to Florence (Firenze). We were already semi-grumpy because our train had been delayed 1 hour and it was frigid cold. Finally, our train came. It was old and sort of freaky, but that's okay. We could deal.
Inside the train, we were waiting to get in our cabin. Instead of having open coaches, they have cabins where you sit 6 people with doors that shut and everything. So we're standing in this narrow hallway, trying to get into our cabin. In the hallway smashed with our luggage was me, my 3 friends, and these 2 women. One woman was around 7 months pregnant, and the other had a 2 month old infant with her. They were smashed up against us and nobody was moving. It was like they were trying to get into our cabin too, but we couldn't figure it out because they didn't speak English. We didn't want to push however, because of them each being with child in their own way.
I was getting very frustrated when I noticed something weird. I had a messenger bag slung over my shoulders, and it was hanging in front of me. I felt something, looked down, and the woman I was standing next to had her hand in my purse digging around. I looked at her, and yelled "WHAT THE *&@# ARE YOU DOING!?" (just being honest here). She looked at me with wide eyes, and started gibbering in some other language, acting like she spoke no English, and ran off the train with her other friend. My friends all looked at me and asked, "What in the hell was that about?!" because I normally don't yell like that. I was just like "SHE HAD HER HAND IN MY PURSE!". Thankfully, nothing of mine was gone. My friends were pretty pissed at this point, and we were going to try and get her. My friend Rachel, however, was in the cabin and looked down at her purse. She noticed it was unzipped and her wallet was missing.
I was stuck in the cabin, as was Maggie, but Rachel and Eric went chasing after the two women. They cought up with one of them, who claimed she spoke no English, and they went looking for the other one. Unfortunately, they could not find her. We got off the train, and went looking for them again. Maggie, Rachel, and I found the two women at a phone. They saw us, dropped the phone, and went running. Unfortunately, they blended into the big crowd and we couldn't find them anymore.
Needless to say, we were all pretty pissed off. We decided to go on with our trip (much to my protesting - I wanted nothing more than to go back to London at this point) and cought the next train to Florence. That train was much better.
We arrived in Florence and were beat so we just stayed in our hotel (much easier to find, thankfully). The next day, we got up and went to the big museum there to see the David. I didn't realise how big the statue is! It's nearly 30 feet tall. It's so ridiculous! After that, we went to the Duomo (a big church). It was fun.
The next day was another travel day. We were off to Venice this time! Venice is absolutely gorgeous. It's an island, so you have to take some pretty off the road paths (and boats) to get there. But it's so worth it. Also, they don't have streets in Venice. It's all alleyways. You have to navigate these confusing little alleys to find your way to where you're going.
I had an utter blast in Venice. It is the most beautiful and unique place I have ever been. We were priveledged enough to take a Gondola ride in the canals, so that was absolutely amazing. I absolutely loved it there. Also, since Venice is known for Carnivale (and it just finished) there are tons of shops of mask makers there. I stopped in one, and it turns out the guy who owned it was the guy who made all the masks for Eyes Wide Shut. I found the Greek Tragedy masks there, and bought those for my apartment next year. He autographed it for me and everything. He was so nice!
Our last night in Italy, we decided to just relax. We found a little wine shop on the island, where they sold homemade wine in big wooden casks. We bought 2 litres of wine for 3 Euros each! That is DIRT CHEAP. And it was the best wine we've ever had. We took it back to that night and drank wine and ate Oreos. Classy, right?
Overall, Italy was a total blast. My only big problem was how sick I was of Italian food. Really really sick of Italian food. I don't think I will ever look at pizza and pasta the same. It also didn't help I was sick with the quasi-flu while there, so that made everything taste worse or have no taste at all.
We got back to London on Saturday and spent Sunday recovering. On Monday, we jumped back into classes. On Tuesday, we were off again! We had a planned trip with our British Life & Culture class to Liverpool & Manchester for Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday morning we spent the good majority of the day on the coach. It's such a long trip! We got to Liverpool, checked into our hostel, and we were off again! But first, our tutor, Lyndon, set us off with a task. He said that if we met him at the place with the 'nicest toilets in town' at 7:30, he would buy us a drink. So that was in the back of our minds all day.
We went to The Beatles Story museum, which is one of my favourite places I have been. It was SO COOL there. I mean, I got to see so much Beatles memorabalia, like John Lennon's white piano, his glasses, the Yellow Submarine, Eleanor Rigby's grave, etc. It was beyond words.
After that, Maggie and I were off in search of the best toilets in Liverpool. They are actually in a pub called the Philharmonic Pub. They are famous urinals that are made out of marble and gold leaf. It is so ridiculous to see them. But we found Lyndon there and he bought us all a pint!
After that, we went off to another Pub to watch the Liverpool v. Sunderland football game and get dinner. This was the best pub/bar I have been to thus far. The food was the best food I've had in Europe (no lie) and it had such a great atmosphere! Also, it was booming because so many people were in there to watch Liverpool play football. It was a once in a lifetime experience. I loved it.
The next morning, we were off to Manchester! In Machester, we got a tour by foot and coach. Manchester is utterly gorgeous, but such a depressing town! Our tour guides were such Debbie Downers. It was the heart of the Industrial Revolution, as it was the first city to start the Revolution, so it was chock full of textile mills in the 1800s. They talked endlessly about the poor people living in slums and dying (the life expectancy was only 25), children having their arms and fingers cut off, people dying in the mills... It was just so depressing!
We went to this little park called Angel Meadow. It was so cute. But alas, it happend to be the home to the nastiest slums in the 1800-1900s and under all the ground were 40,000 dead bodies just piled on each other. That's the type of day it was. We were all just in such a horrible mood after hearing everything.
But it got better because we then went to Old Trafford! Old Trafford is the home of Manchester United Football Club. It was SO AMAZING. The stadium is absolutely HUGE and so pretty. We were able to get a behind the scenes tour and go into the locker room. I actually sat where Cristiano Ronoldo prepares for the big game. I absolutely loved Old Trafford.
After that, we came home on our incredibly long coach journey! That brings me to here now, with not much going on.
Sorry this was such a long post - thats what I get for forgetting to write. If you made it through all of that, congratulations and thank you for listening to my babbling! =]
I guess I'm destined for one bad weekend... right?
Happy Valentines Day to everyone! Hope you all had a splendid one.
I'm sure many of you heard that I was going to Germany this weekend. Munich, to be exact. Well as of Thursday, I was.
Thursday afternoon, my two travel buddies and I boarded the tube for a 1-hour ride out to Heathrow so that we could catch our plane to Munich. We got there in perfect time, made it through check in totally awesome. We get to security, and unfortunately I was picked randomly to be searched. Thankfully, they are much more nice about it than in the states. Before the lady patted me down, she asked, 'may I?'. I thought that was pretty nice. But my friend Maggie was searched too, so it wasn't totally horrible.
Anywho. We're just chilling in Terminal 5 of Heathrow (which is TOTALLY amazing - it's brand new) because when we checked the board, it said our flight had been delayed to 6:05. Whatever, that's cool. We thought we could catch dinner.
Not too long after, we checked the board again to see "Inquire Airline" next to our flight. We were like, 'great, what's this mean?!'. So we stand in queue (line) for a while at the ticket counter of British Airways. Turns out, Heathrow decided to shut down an entire runway and cancel most of their flights. We were not happy to say the least.
From there, they took us ALL OVER THE AIRPORT just to get out of there. We had to go through passport control and customs, just like we were coming back from another country. That was so annoying, because we got the 3rd degree from customs for absolutely nothing.
After we got our luggage, we were escorted back to the departures area where we had to wait in queue forever (yet again) to see if we could hop on the next flight. Thankfully, the guy gave us a phone number we could call instead of waiting in line. I called the number, and every flight to Munich was booked for the weekend. We were really disappointed, but we're getting our money back so we're not too horribly upset.
I am just a little let down because I was really wanting to see Germany this weekend. Don't get me wrong, staying in London is incredibly nice. Especially since we have time to explore the city. But I had hyped myself up for nothing, it turns out.
Oh well, we'll see how it goes next time.
If all goes according to plan (i.e. no runway closures), I'll be off to Italy next week! Spring Break time!
A Weekend In 4 Countries
Hello everyone!
It's been over a week since I last blogged. During that week, not much happened that was blog worthy until this weekend. This weekend, I went on a tour to Amsterdam and Bruges with 5 other girls who are in the London Centre.
We took a tour with a group called Anglo-American. They're sort of the overseers to where we live and what activities we do whilst here. But it was a rather cheap trip, and included so much that we couldn't pass it up.
On Friday morning, we left on a coach bus at 6 a.m. It was an early, early morning, but that's okay. We took a coach to Dover, in the south of England. It's a huge port city with ginormous white cliffs and an old light house. It was absolutely gorgeous there on the English channel. Bright blue waters and a lot of sun. Not to mention, it was pretty warm.
From there, we hopped onto a ferry to Callais, France. We docked in Callais, went through border control, and were on our way to Amsterdam. We finally arrived in Amsterdam around 7 p.m. As soon as we got there, we went on a canal cruise throughout the city. If you didn't know, Amsterdam is built on quite a few rivers, with many canals running throughout the city. It's not just 1 or 2 bridges here and there, but rather TONS. It's absolutely gorgeous. Also, they have houseboats to sit in the canals, and people actually live there! There are approximately 2500 houseboats still around, but they won't allow any more.
After our canal cruise, we went on a walking tour of Amsterdam. We saw so many beautiful sights. During the walking tour, we hit the part of Amsterdam everyone connects to the city: the Red Light District. THAT was quite the interesting place to be. We knew we hit it immediately when you could just smell the masses of pot being smoked everywhere. The smell lingered everywhere, and you could get high off the fumes alone. We walked around the district for a while, not seeing anything too out of the ordinary, except for the 'coffeeshops' where people smoke. Finally, we hit one specific street that glowed red. This was the mecca of the district.
I didn't know exactly how the district worked until right then and there. People literally window shop for prostitues. I wish I had pictures, but I didn't want to get killed for taking a picture so I didn't risk it. But the prostitues stand in windows, pretty much naked, and show themselves off to the people in the street. Some people were highly uncomfortable by this. I wasn't, to be honest. I just found it intriguing.
After that, our tour guide took us to our hotel. The hotel we stayed at was in the centre of the Red Light District. I was actually surprised about the area surrounding it. Since there were many young students (around 15 years old) on the trip, the guide avoided the very raunchy areas of the district so they weren't necessarily exposed to everything. Well, by juts going down the street to our hotel, we got the FULL effect. Surrounding our hotel, there were numerous 'coffeshops', a dealer shop where you could buy 'quality seeds', 3 live sex shows, 1 sex cinema, and too many sex shops to even count. Everything like this could be found on all the other streets, as well. Nothing could surprise me anymore.
But back to our hotel. It was a really awesome place, not going to lie. It was above a bar that played great music, and had a GREAT atmosphere. The guys working there were so cool, too. We went upstairs to our room, and found that each of our rooms had a mural in it. Our room was completely black and white, and the mural was of Humpty Dumpty taking a fall. It was really cool. The only downside to our hotel was since it was above a bar, people congregated outside. They tended to be really loud, so you could hear them through the window. Thankfully, we had incredibly comfortable beds and slept very well.
The next day we had an early morning. We met the coach at Damrack Street to go out to a place called Zaanse Schans. This was in the countryside of the Netherlands. It's a city that is composed of numerous buildings from the 1600's. There was also a wooden shoe maker, a cheese maker, and other little shops. It was so cool being able to see everything.
After our trip out there, we went back into Amsterdam. From there, we went to see the Van Gogh museum. I wasn't too impressed with it, but then again, I'm not a big Van Gogh fan. I must admit, however, it was pretty cool to see everything in there.
After that, we went to the Anne Frank House. If anybody knows me really really well, you would know that it has been my dream to visit the Anne Frank House for an incredibly long time. It's a morbid dream in a sense, but I've been so intrigued by it for so long. We waited in line to get into the house (it is ALWAYS busy), and finally made it in.
It was beyond words to describe what it was like to step foot into the Secret Annexe the Franks lived. We were able to tour the entire place, including the offices downstairs and the upstairs. The stairs that were hidden behind the book case were absolutely lethal. Anne called them the leg breaking stairs - and she was not kidding. They incredibly steep and high, so you hit your shins with every step. Since Otto Frank was the only one to survive the war, he requested that the rooms in the Annexe never be furnished again. So everything we saw was bare, for the most part. In Anne's room, they left the photos she pasted to the wall up. It was eerie seeing that, alone. I couldn't imagine if I saw the furnished room. After that, we walked into the living room where the Van Pels slept, and was the common room for them during the day. With every step we would take, it would creak very noisily. I can't imagine walking around up there without having anyone hear you... It was all a lot to take in.
From there, we moved into the museum part. In the actual museum part, I was able to see her diary she actually wrote. That was incredibly awesome to see too. They also had various other artifacts on display - including the deportation list to Auschwitz her family was listed on. Even though it was a sad visit, I'm so very happy I was able to see this first hand.
After the Anne Frank House, we went back to our hotel after an incredibly long walk. From there, we went to dinner and to sleep. The next morning, we packed up and headed out to Bruges. Bruges is a medieval city in northern Belgium, completely surrounded by the original walls. Because of this, we had to be dropped off outside the city, and walked everywhere. It looks like it was frozen in time - everything was cobblestone and stone bridges and buildings. There are many old churches there - including one built in the 1100's! I forget what the church is called, but it was built by people from the Crusades. One guy who fought in the Crusade's was able to acquire a vial of Jesus' blood (so they say) and it's on display in there. But only on Friday. It was sketchy sounding to me, too...
But we ate lunch there (french fries and waffles - everything Belgium is famous for!) and then departed back for London. But on our way out of the city, we stopped at a chocolate factory so that we could pick up some souvenirs. I only picked up a very small box - I didn't want to get too much and regret it later. One thing I thought was somewhat disgusting there was that in Belgium, they are obsessed with making chocolate anatomical parts. Most commonly, breasts. But these aren't normal chocolate breasts. No. They're made with real breast milk. I was disturbed beyond belief.
Finally, we took the coach back to Callais, went through border control again, and were back on the ferry. After that, it was another long coach ride back to London, but it was nice to be able to relax - I had been on the go all weekend. That brings me to where I am now! I'm thankful to be back in my flat - I miss it when I'm gone on the weekends.
But I suppose that's all from me for right now. I should be blogging again very soon, if not a week from now. I'm going to Münich this weekend, so I'm pretty pumped!
Until next time,
Katelyn
First Weekend Trip: Ireland
I just got back from my first weekend trip out of London today. This past weekend, I went to Ireland with 2 of my friends. It was a pretty interesting weekend from the get go.
On Thursday afternoon, we left from London Gatwick airport. It was raining here and was very cloudy, so that made for a very rough take off. Once we were in the air, it wasn't horrible. But then it was time for us to land. Apparently, Dublin was having some wretched weather. The pilot said it was raining there and had 45 mph winds coming in from the East. He said he was going to descend, but if we heard weird noises from the engine not to be alarmed. I'm sorry but when weird noises come from the thing that is keeping you in the air - you are pretty freaked out.
Then, he told us next that he was going to attempt to land, but he couldn't see anything in front of him or around. So if we just so happened to miss the runway, it wasn't a big deal. He'd just go back up and we'd try again. So we're all pretty freaked out at this point. After that, they tell us to prepare for landing. And then they said "And please be aware of where all emergency exits are located. Remember the nearest one may be behind you. Please prepare for landing." Oh that made us feel TONS better. Thankfully, we didn't crash. But it was a very rough landing - the plane couldn't keep straight because of the wind and we hit really hard. But all was okay.
That night, we walked around Dublin for a little bit. We were really tired and didn't do much though. The next morning, we got up bright and early and caught a train to Cork. When we got to Cork, we found our hostel (hotels are too expensive...) and went and had lunch. We then took a bus to Blarney.
We actually encountered a rather funny situation at the bus stop. We were on Merchant's Quay waiting for a bus with a bunch of other people. Standing there was this guy who was completely hammered. I'm talking, he's so drunk he's talking to himself thinking others are there. You could seriously get contact drunk from this guy. So we're standing there with a bunch of old biddies, and this guy decides that he needs to piss. Right there, right now. So he seriously pulled down his pants, whipped it out right there, and peed into the middle of the street, just grinning at all of us. The bus driver was FURIOUS and kept honking at him, so the guy just spread his legs and looked up at him and smiled. It was disturbing but hilarious.
Finaly we got to Blarney from the bus. We immediately went to Blarney Castle, where the Blarney Stone is. It had been raining all day from the moment we got there, and being that I was in a rush before we left, I forgot to pack an umbrella. So at this point, I'm completely soaked and looking like a drowned rat. But we're walking around the grounds for a while, since we had to take a detoured route. Finally, we get to the back of the castle. A big group walks out in front of us as we're coming up on the castle. In the group, I noticed a guy was really tall and had really vibrant red hair... I was like, oh you're kidding me, right?
So I yelled, and he turned around. Believe it or not, but I ran into Dillon completely by accident in Blarney! I knew he was in Ireland for the weekend too but I didn't think I'd see him at all. It was absolutely hysterical. So we stood around and talked for a few minutes, and then he went back to join his group. I was so flabbergasted that we met up.
After that, we climbed to the top of Blarney Castle to see the Blarney Stone. One thing I didn't like is that I am afraid of heights, and Blarney Castle is insanely tall. We had to climb these winding stairs that were INCREDIBLY steep. Finally we got to the very top where the stone was. Everyone went to kiss the stone... except me. I couldn't do it. I didn't realize it, but in order to kiss the stone, you have to lay on your back, lean over the edge of the castle, and kiss the stone on the bottom of the parapet. I couldn't do it. Leaning 4 feet backwards over a castle wall just isn't my cuppa. So, I just saw it instead. I'm content with that.
The next day, we went back to Dublin since we didn't do much in Cork after Blarney Castle since we were too tired and wet. When we got back to Dublin, we attempted to find the hostel we were staying in this time. They didn't tell us this when we booked but it's in the middle of NOWHERE. It was impossible to find this hostel. We finally got there, and it turns out it's an old convent school converted into a hostel. It was INSANELY creepy in there, and I had to sleep there that night...
After we found the hostel, we went to the Guinness factory. Guinness has been brewed in Dublin since 1759 in St. James' Gate so it was amazing to go see it. It is an absolutely HUGE factory - bigger than I ever imagined. It takes up numerous city blocks, and is completely walled in. It also smelt like a really strong bakery around there from the mass amount of hops and barley used.
We went through the tour, which was really cool. We got to see everything about it, plus a special exhibit since it is the 250th anniversary of Guinness. After that, we all got a complimentary pint at the Gravity Bar - a bar at the very top that is completely glass, so you can see everything surrounding you by 360 degrees. It was so pretty. Not to mention, free Guinness is really nice too! ;c)
After that, we went back to the Hostel and got ready for bed. Sleeping in a hostel is always incredibly interesting. You never know what kind of roommates you will have, and when they will come in. Fortunately, I was tired enough to barely notice when our rommates came in for the night. But we got up early this morning and caught our plane back to London. Thankfully, it was incredibly smooth this time.
But that brings me to now, so I guess I am all caught up! Sorry for such a long post, but I'm amazed if you made it this far!
Until next time,
Katelyn
More differences.
With each passing day in London, I'm able to slowly pick out things that are different from the United States. Now, they're not incredibly different, but slightly. I've not experienced full blown culture shock here, thankfully. But here are just a few more things I've picked up on.
-When driving throughout the Midwest, we are used to seeing fields full of corn, soybeans, and cows. Here in England, they have none of these things. What they do have are sheep. Fields upon fields of grazing sheep. I was so surprised to see these cute little wooly buggers. I was sad when I realised they are made into pies.
-Pies are a BIG thing here. Not like apple pie. But meat. You can get any type. Some widely popular types are chicken-artichoke, chicken-onion-cheese, and steak and kidney. Yes, they are real kidneys. No, I will not try one.
-They eat pigeon fillets here. They sell them by the masses in the grocery stores. Did you know pigeon meat is purple-ish black? I didn't either.
-A fillet isn't a "fill-a" as it is in America. It is a "fill-it".
-Some basic words are spelled differently here. Realize is realise, color is colour, favorite is favourite, criticize is criticise, check is cheque, argument is arguement, license is licence, tire is tyre, draft is draught, pajamas is pyjamas...
-A fanny (such as a fanny pack) is NOT a nice word here. Don't say it.
-Police here do not carry any sort of weapon.
-A flashlight is a torch here.
-We say the letter z as "zee". It is "zed" here.
-In towns that end in "-shire" - please do not say this. Brits love hearing Americans flub up words. It is "-shure", for example Warwickshire is pronounced "Warwickshure".
-Brits make fun of Americans. A lot. Especially when it comes to pronouncing things. They like to say that we call Stratford-Upon-Avon only two words - Stratford-Uponavon. I can't really portray how it is said by typing as well as in person.
These are a few differences I noticed. I'm sure I will notice more!
Some things I've learned in London...
So I've been in London a week now. Time goes by so quick here! It's a little ridiculous. But now that I've been here a week, I've caught up with their culture a bit more. Here are some things I've learned, thanks to just walking around the City and from my awesome British Life & Culture tutor, Lyndon, who gave us a task to find some stuff out our first weekend.
-In Britain, they have these things called Pub Quizzes. Basically, you gather a group of 4 or so people, and go to the pub. That night, they will hold a trivia contest, and you answer it with your team. If you win, they give you a bottle of alcohol. It's a lot of fun, apparently.
-There is something in London called "The Knowledge" and only taxi drivers have it. Basically, it is "the Knowledge" of London. Before they become full blown taxi drivers, the men (and sometimes women) go out on Vespa's throughout London with a clipboard attached to their scooter. On it is a map of the streets. They drive around from place to place until they know it backwards and forwards. This is "The Knowledge"
-A Cockney is a person from East London, as well as an accent. You are a Cockney if you were born within earshot of the Bow Bells.
-In London, the big newspaper is The Sun. Cockney's tend to call this a "Currant Bun".
-Taxi drivers won't go south of the river after midnight. It's a myth, but if you ask any driver, he will joke along and say he doesn't.
-In London, they have such things called Anti-Social Behaviour Order, otherwise known as an ASBO. You get them when you get in trouble, and they ban you from a certain area. Many times, beggars and loiterers receive these.
-A "Chelsea Tractor" is a Range Rover or other flashy SUV. They call them a "Chelsea Tractor" because Chelsea is a borrough in London that is known for being incredibly rich. People drive these SUVs which are not practical for the city, and many people laugh at them for it.
-If you were in The Clink, you'd be in jail. There was an actual prison called the Clink too.
-There is a number 30 Bus in London called "The Spirit of London" to commemorate the London bombings in 2005. The bombings took place on the public transit during rush hour, and a number 30 bus was blown up along with a few other tubes.
-They call ATM's a 'hole in the wall'
That was on our first quiz about British Life & Culture. Now here are some things I've picked up from Lyndon and just walking around the city...
-The men dress really really well here.
-You don't wear bright colours. Naturals are the way to go.
-You don't talk on the tube or bus.
-They don't put preservatives in food. Everything is au naturale for the most part.
-Drinking age is 18. Apparently, they card if you look under 25. I have yet to be carded, however.
-Traffic will not stop for you if you are in an intersection. They will hit you and not feel bad about it.
-They aren't nearly as casual when dressing. Our 'dressy' is their day-to-day clothing.
-Brits on the street are pushy and in a hurry.
I can't really think of more but when I do, I'll be sure to post. Now it is bedtime for me!
Another day in London Town!
Hello everyone!
Today I had yet another full day in London, thankfully. I enjoy seeing everything, but it makes me so exhausted at the end of the day.
Being that today was Monday, we started our classes. Everyone who is part of the London Centre programme has to take British Life & Culture with our 'tutor' Lyndon. We have that class every Monday from 9 a.m. to around 3 p.m. (with a break, of course). Each year (he has been working with Ball State for 3 years), he does a walk along the Thames. The Thames is the river in London that is incredibly famous. Today was the day for the river walk!
Since there are 22 of us studying this semester, he split the group in half for the river walk. Half of us would do it in the morning, and half the afternoon. I was fortunate (or unfortunate) enough to be put in the morning group. That meant we had to meet him at Tower Bridge at 8:30 a.m. This meant that we had to leave our flat at 7:30 and take the tube downtown. That was a hassle and very tiring.
We finally got to the Tower Bridge and met Lyndon there. It was raining, of course, but it was absolutely frigid. From there, we walked a long ways of the river - nearly 5 miles. The entire time we were absolutely freezing. Thankfully, Lyndon took us to the Tate Modern and bought us all tea and coffee since we were in the morning group and had to freeze the entire time.
The walk itself was really interesting. We started near the Tower of London, which is where everyone was executed in the times of the old monarchs. It was built in 1100 so seeing something that old is incredible! We also saw a lot of the Wharfs and old buildings, old bridges, the London Eye, Big Ben and Parliament, and Westminster Abbey. It was great having him explain the little nooks and crannies along the way.
When we got back, I made lunch and waited around for my next class. My next class was at 15:30 on the campus and it is Theatre. I am so excited to be back into Theatre! My tutor, named Rachel, is absolutely magnifent. She's a former actress who did London theatre, but decided to give it up since it doesn't hold much money. But we had a lot of fun and I know I will LOVE the class.
However, before it started, a fire alarm went off. We were clueless as what to do since Rachel wasn't in there yet, so we just followed the crowd. We all stood together, and everyone stared at us because we were the weird American students. It was quite interesting but really funny at the same time.
Right now, I just got back from Theatre and am making dinner. It's hard adjusting to the cookware they gave us here. For instance, having to light the flame on the stove was absolutely terrifying the first time. I have the hang of it now though and can cook like no other!
I will probably post something else later that Lyndon handed us. Have a great night!
Katelyn
One week later...
Good evening everyone! Or well, evening for me. It's still early afternoon for everyone back home. The time change is pretty hard to adjust to.
I've been in London for almost a week now and things have been great...for the most part! I've been a little slow starting up a blog thus far, but I finally have time (and internet usage time) to.
I've done quite a bit while I've been here. I've seen some of the most notorious places in London, while also finding little known nooks and crannies. I've seen Parliament, Big Ben, The Thames, Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus, St. Martin-In-The-Fields, The National Portrait Gallery, Marble Arch, Hyde Park, and who knows what else. We've only lightly touched on everything since I will be here for three months to come. So we can go back at any time.
I've also seen one musical too! The Phantom of the Opera. How I came to see it was quite a situation within itself. Dillon is currently studying at Harlaxton in Grantham, and was here in London for the weekend. On Friday evening, he managed to get ahold of me via my mobile, and we ended up chatting online when I got back to my flat. Without really communicating, we made very loose plans to meet at the theatre just off of Piccadilly Circus. We both had no clue what we were doing, or whether or not the plans would work out since they were so random. But it all worked out well and we saw a magnificent show! Plus, I was ecstatic to see Dillon.
While here, I'm living in a flat off of Edgware Road with 4 other people. It's tiny - but it's still pretty nice. We only have a few problems. First and foremost, we don't have hot water. We get nearly 10 seconds of warmish water, followed by 2 minutes of frigid water. And then 10 seconds of warmish, 2 minutes of frigid and so on and so forth. We've told the people who run our apartment complex, but they haven't done anything about it yet. We'll see how this works out. Also, we have problems with our toilets flushing. That's not really an inconvenience per say, because they eventually flush, but it is just annoying. Also, our flat is freezing cold and drafty. I don't mind that really because I can bundle up, and I like being chilly.
Edgware Road (where our flat is off of) is quite ...interesting. It's very ethnic - so I get to experience many cultures by just walking down our street. It's mainly an Arabic/Muslim/Islamic street. I was somewhat nervous at first, being American, but my professor somewhat calmed us all down. He said that he realised that we would all most likely be nervous living on a road such as this, but he said that most of the people living here escaped from Sadam Hussein's regime, and that they don't dislike Americans. So that helped out.
I know I wrote quite a bit but a lot has happened in the week. I promise to update more as more comes along. It's hard to update a lot however due to our limited internet access at the flat. But I will try my hardest!
Please leave comments everyone - I'd love to hear from you all!
Missing everyone,
Katelyn