Ieper, Belgium

Ok, I fail at consistent blogging. Whatever, cause it means I'm living my life instead of constantly writing about it.

So, this past weekend I went to Ieper, Belgium. This is off the normal touristy trail and interesting to hear. Since I like history stuff, this was right up my alley. I knew it was going to be a downer, but hey, war memorials often are.

So we headed out at 7 am on Saturday on a bus. One of those nice ones....not school bus. So then as we all passed out back to sleep, the bus took us to Dover where we got on a ferry. Well, by got on a ferry, I mean we waited on the bus for an hour cause there's a strike going in France so it was all kinds of backed up. So we finally got on the ferry and set off for our journey across the channel.

The Channel

So we get into France and I'm quite excited cause I'm in continental Europe.  Then as I stare out the window, I realize I see this view driving around Indiana.  Countryside is countryside where ever you go.      Main difference was that the road signs were in French.

Cornfield in Belgium

So after a very quick drive, we were in Belgium and like another 15 minutes to Ieper.  It takes longer to get to Indy than to Ieper.  So we wander around until we get to the Flander's Field Museum.  Most gorgeous museum ever.

Very nicely done inside as well.  Interactive booths.  Nice mix of pictures and reading.  All different kinds of languages.  Movies.  Overall, I really enjoyed it.  It was very educational about the battles around Ieper.  A cool feature that is used in other museums is that you are assigned a name and as you go through the museum, you learn what happened to them.

I was Max Beckmann.  Who apparently is famous enough to have a wikipedia article. Anyway, I was kind of hoping to have a soldier, but it was still cool to have.

So then we checked in to our hostel.  This hostel was a lot different from the last one.  But we spent like 2 hours there besides sleeping so it wasn't a big deal to me.  We then got a meal at a Tea Room.  Woo meals that seem free but really aren't because you are paying for them with the trip expenses.

Then the trip took another serious turn at the Menin Gate.

It's a memorial for the 55,000 men who don't have a grave or disappeared in the battles around Ieper.  It's very similar to the Vietnam Wall for a comparison.  A local guide told us some interesting facts about the memorial which I could repeat, but for times sake, I won't.  If you are actually interested, check out my facebook album cause I added some there.  Or I could tell you in person.

Then we got our spots for the Last Post ceremony.  A couple of Bugler's from Ieper play and it's a very solemn ceremony.  It has happened every night since the memorial's unveiling in the 1920s.  That makes it one of the few daily ceremonies for WWI in the world.

Honestly, it got lost on me because we were in the crowd and I'm the kind of person who has to see what's going on, even if it is nothing.  It's a ceremony that you make of what you make of it.  The buglers play and then there's a couple minutes of silence.  Then it's over.  No applause.  Just...over.  But I enjoy the simplicity.  If you're in the area, check it out.  Just remember to be respectful.

So, after that we set off in search of what to do that evening in Ieper.  It was a fun evening trying out different beverages that Belgium is famous fun and just hanging out with people.  Then when we got back to the hostel, we discovered our room door was the LOUDEST door ever with its creaking.  So much for a sneaky entrance....

Sunday

We got up and went out in search for Belgium waffles.  We were soon to discover that this town doesn't get up until like 11 which did NOT work for us.  So we went and got a good deal on some chocolates.  You're welcome in advance to family members who get some cause I'm showing some restraint not eating them.  So after that healthy stop, we went to a bakery to get some real breakfast cause this hostel didn't have a kitchen.  So we headed back to pack up and eat our goodies.

Then we got back on our bus to tour around Ieper.  We saw so many cemeteries.  It really drove how that this was a lost generation.  So many young men/boys (as young as 14/15) gave their lives for that war.

We also visited a replica trench.  That was very interesting to see and go in.  Those men lived in those things for days on end.  Could NOT imagine that.  Especially since we went on a cold, but sunny day.  They had to stay in all kinds of weather and endure muddy trenches.  Knowing that one false move could mean a bullet in your skull.  Machine gun fire going at all hours.

We continued on to a German cemetery.  Germans have 4 cemeteries in Belgium.  British have over 100.  Germans got a mass burial.  British soldiers are buried in individual graves.  The German cemeteries are dark in color.  British cemeteries are light in color.  Seems unfair until you remember the Germans ruined the people of Belgium's lives.  Belgium was a neutral state and they used it to get to France. British were their saviors.

Mass grave.  Over 24,000 buried in it, 7,000 unknown.

Germans normally do not visit these mass graves.  It's very shame filled for them for what their ancestors did.  I looked at the registry and saw only 4 people from Germany listed.  Then about 50 British names.  What made me mad was the rude remarks some people wrote.  "Fuck you" is not something I would ever write in a registry.  Forgiveness should be given in my opinion.  Respect these soldiers.  Odds are, they were fighting against their will just like the British soldiers.  I mean, if they hadn't been, the Christmas Truce wouldn't have happened.  (Christmas Truce is when at various places along the front line, both sides called a cease fire for at least Christmas.  Some lasted up until New Years).

Our last cemetery stop was at the one of largest British cemetery in the area.  Again, it drove home how that was the Lost generation.  Every one of these graves had a family back home.  They never got to see them again.

Thankfully, that was the last of the cemeteries for the trip.  I couldn't really handle hearing more depressing facts for the time being.  So we got back on the bus and headed into a nearby town.  We got to visit the Talbott House.

Others didn't like this part, but I really enjoyed it!  The Talbott house was a place for the men to relax on their days off.  They would spend like 2 weeks at the front lines, 2 weeks doing other things, and then maybe a couple days in town.  So, they went to either the whorehouses, bars or the Talbott house.

As the sign states, it's an every man's house.  So didn't matter whether you were the Prince of England or a private in the army, you were all equals.  You all waited in queue together.  It was nice to see this side of that time.  It was a real character of a house so check out my facebook album (the 2nd Ieper one) for the pictures.

Then, I went on search for some hot chocolate.  The pictures are deceiving.  Sure, it was bright and sunny, but it was FREEZING!  So, I wanted some Belgium hot chocolate.  If you get the chance to have some, DO IT.  Delicious!! So chocolatey and perfect.  Overpriced as hell, but I didn't care cause it was so good.

Then the professor/guide had one more depressing stop for us.  We went to the prison cells for deserters of the British army.  The British executed at least 5 men during WWI.  Those are the only confirmed cases, but there are believed to be more.  These poor men had shell shock so bad that they just couldn't take it any more.  So they either plotted to run away or did run away, but got caught.  They had a trial that was would have been VERY hard for them to win.

So, they were executed by firing squad at sunrise.  Disgusting if you ask me.  One case found was that a man had to be part of a  firing squad against his brother.  And if the firing squad disobeyed, they were punished.  One of the hidden uglies of WWI.

On to happier times, we headed back to the French port to sail back to Dover and drive back to London. Overall, I enjoyed the trip.  It's not something a lot of Americans do so I'm glad I went.  But yes, it was utterly depressing at times and I was glad Belgium had plentiful chocolate.

Perhaps, I can take you through a typical week here for next time.  Remember, I'm quite connected so you can facebook chat, email, skype, etc with me.  Dorms just added wifi so I'm not stuck in my room.  Cheers!

Ireland

Life has picked up TREMENDOUSLY here.  Internship is from 9:45 until 6:30 on Monday and Tuesdays so by the time I get back to the dorm, it's around 7:30 and I just want to eat and sleep.  Wednesday are about as bad with a full day of classes and then Thursday, I just want to sleep.  But, never fear, after loads of badgering and sleep, I am here to blog about my adventure to Ireland.

Friday:

Alec and I left at 5:20 am to catch the tube to Heathrow.  Yeah...not a fun ride.  It was dark and boring.  Then we got the airport...where it was still dark and boring.  I was ready to just sleep like Steve did.

Awww.  Anyway, after a short flight over to Dublin, we were there!  The plane landed and we literally walked off onto the runway.  Oh cheap flights.  Getting through customs and stuff was a breeze...I literally handed him my passport and he stamped it with no questions.  Again, harder to get into Canada. 

So we made our way to our hostel by bus.  While on the bus, Alec and I convinced Becky that peacocks roam wild in Dublin.  How this worked, I do not know, but it's now a random joke that we all have.  Also, to get to Dublin from the airport, the road took us through a tunnel.  There was no reason for this tunnel and it bugged me.

Anyway, we went to check into the hostel and couldn't so we all went to find food cause we were starving.  So, we went to the pub next door that enjoyed butter.  By enjoy butter, I mean, it put butter on everything we ordered.  I had a club sandwich with butter.  It was oddly still good.

So, then we went on a walking tour of Dublin which I was really excited for.  Get to know the city, learn some facts, what's not to like?  Well the Wee Little Irish man leading the tour would talk to for minutes upon end about this rebellion and that rebellion.  I can now sum up Ireland's history really quick:  They had a revolution, and everybody died.  They had a rebellion, and everybody died.  They had a potato famine, and everybody died.  The end.  Seriously, worst tour ever.  But I got some really nice pictures so that's a plus side.  And we had fun coming up with ways to keep ourselves awake (I almost fell asleep standing up listening to this guy. That bad.).

Trinity College

Dublin Castle.  Quite umimpressive after seeing Windsor

Christ Church Cathedral

Performance Artist who paced back and forth

So, we were FINALLY excused from that dreadful tour and headed back to our hostel to move into our rooms.  It was pretty much a slumber party cause most of the girls in the room all hung out together.  Good times. Then we went to an Italian restaurant for dinner.  Again, not what I wanted.  If I'm in Ireland, I want some Irish food.  Not some really spicy pasta.  Yeah....regretful choice but we all shared and had a grand old time despite the food.  Then we went out to enjoy the Irish night life in the Temple Bar area.

Saturday

The morning came way too quick cause we were all exhausted.  But, we got up for the breakfast that the hostel serves.  Then, sorely disappointed with toast, cereal, juice and coffee.  Seriously, my toast was toast on one side and bread on the other.  Awkward.

Then we set off for the Writer's Museum because a lot of well know writers are Irish.  Plus, this trip was suggested for the Irish Literature class.  Anyway, I went because it's paid for and could be cool.  And it was to an extent, but I quickly realized that I didn't know any Irish authors.  Oops.

So Steve, Izzy, Drew, Josh and I left that kind of quickly and wandered to go find St. Patrick's Cathedral.   On the way we found this beautiful memorial to one of the numerous rebellions.  

So then we continued on to St. Pattys.  I really enjoy walking around since it was laughter and just talking the entire way.  Plus, Drew and Steve go to IU so we can talk about that some.  (Sidenote so I can remember this quote: "SHE'S FROM MONTICELLO" - Yelled by Steve).  Anyway, we finally go to it and it was beautiful.  Not only was the Cathedral itself beautiful, but it had a park right next door that had the greenest grass EVER!  Everything is so green in Ireland and lovely.

St. Pattys

The park we sat in

Drew looking like a giant.

"I want to have sex with this grass"

So we left there to get some quick lunch at Abra Kababra.  Real name.  Can't make that up.  We then realized we had 5 minutes to do a 10-15 minute walk.  So while power walking, I sent a quick text to Alec to make everybody wait so we could go to Joyce's Tower with them.  Best text I've ever sent because Sandy Cove was my FAVORITE part of the trip.

Sandy Cove is a 20-30 minute train ride from Dublin and totally worth it.  We got into this cute little town and headed towards Joyce's Tower. 

  

Sandy Cove

Jumping picture

We had a blast acting like little kids on these rocks.  I had my boots on so I got to climb out to the very edge.  I could have spent an hour out there by myself or just chatting with others.  So peaceful and just a great sight to see.  So, if you get a chance to go to Ireland, go to the coast.

Joyce's Tower

So then we went to Joyce's Tower and heard the history of it.  James Joyce sounds like a typical Irish guy from what I've heard.  I plan on reading Ulysses at some point in my life cause it starts out in the tower I actually got to tour.  We climbed to the top on these tiny staircases built for size 4 feet...seriously awkward.  Anyway, we all survived and got rewarded with a beautiful view of Sandy Cove.  So amazing to see.  I'd live in a tiny one room tower for that kind of view.  Plus, the rent back in the day was 8 pounds a month...score.

After the tower tour, we headed to explore a little more.  Saw the cutest old guy just sitting and watching the waves.  Awesome life sir.  

We wandered and got a drink that we all decided we had to have while in Ireland.  Then we got back on the train and headed into Dublin.  We all collapsed onto our beds and had girl talk for like an hour.  Love it.  I never really hung out with those girls before hand so it was nice to get to know others on the program.  We had dinner and then headed back out to enjoy the nightlife that Dublin has to offer.

Sunday:

We again got up after seemingly too little sleep and enjoyed another breakfast of toast and juice.  Yum yum.  Then a group of us set off to go tour the Guinness Storehouse.  It was really cool to see everything.  Like, how beer is made and then the advertisements through the years.  What made the trip a success was the Sky Lounge at the top.  Basically the tallest building in Dublin and you can see ALL of the city and the mountains beyond.  It was a sunny day so it was just perfect to sit up there and discuss how awesome our lives currently are.

Then the woeful trip back to the airport.  I sat next to Steve on the plane and we had some nice discussions.  Jacque colored with our chaperone type figures for the trip.  She made me a pretty fairy picture.  We were all ready to be back in London, but there was a Tube Strike looming ahead of us.  Luckily, we made it back in time to take the Tube back and not worry about paying for a taxi or other options.  Alec, Becky and I had fun during the trip on the tube.

Overall, I'm glad I went on the trip with IES.  It was already all planned out and a nice way to get me use to traveling in Europe.  There are WAY more pictures up on facebook.  I have pictures of Guinness if interested, but those are not going online.  Ieper, Belgium is in 2 weeks, Scotland at the end of the month.  Others will be planned for November and December is Amsterdam!

I need to blog about my internship and other things, but I am tired and need to shower.  I hope you enjoyed this.  I'm sorry for the wait, but again, life is hectic.  I hope everybody is having a good time in America cause I'm loving life here!  Cheers!

So since the epic post, I've been to Hyde Park, an Ice Bar, and a pub to watch a football game.

Hyde Park is gorgeous and I wish our good days of weather weren't so limited.  I'd love to explore them more and not be in the rain, which will be the case starting soon.  I need to get to Kensington Gardens and find the Peter Pan statue cause who doesn't love Peter Pan?

(Rose Garden)

(Fisherman's Pond....where you can't fish)

(Awesome Tree!)

Ice Bar was literally what the title is.  A bar made out of ice.  Totally cool....get it?  Enough of bad jokes, it was definitely an experience.  The glasses were ice, the bars, the decorations, everything!  You only get 40 minutes in there cause it's at -5 degrees Celsius.  Brrrr.  But the lovely parkas and mittens provided made it at a tolerable temperature.  Would I do it again?  No...cause I'm a cold wuss and once is enough.

(Rachel and I in the awesome parkas.)

Last night was an Arsenal game and Micah is a huge Arsenal fan.  So Kori, Alec and I joined him in going to a pub to watch the game.  I honestly couldn't see the screen and was okay with that.  It was nice just going out and have a pint with friends.  I believe I'll miss the pub atmosphere in the States when I get back.

Anyway, today was my interview.  I was more nervous about finding this place than the interview because nobody had been turned down yet.  Alice, our advisor, gave me tube directions and it didn't seem that bad. But, it's still nerve wrecking taking a new tube line.

Yeah....I'm glad I have a good sense of direction.  Anyway, I get off at the proper station (with no mishaps :) ) and walk out into a ....lack of better word....ghetto part of town.  I was glad it was sunny and a few people were around.  It's a 180 from the posh neighborhood of Chelsea where the residence hall is located.  I start wandering down what I hope is the proper street.  Cause apparently Londoners don't think to label streets as incessantly as Americans.  Seriously, didn't see one relevant street sign while walking down what turned out to be the proper road.

I found the place and looked like a fool to the desk girls.  It's cool.  I was invited up and we chit chatted for a while.  I'll pretty much be doing something I loathe for post production for a lot of the time, but they have a LOT of cool projects up and coming.  Current big one is about Bar and Bat Mitzvahs for the BBC.  It'll be on air in October.  I hope I get to work Monday and Tuesday, but another intern can only work those days as well.  But, she is from London, and I personally believe it's more important for me to get Friday off.  But, I'm selfish like that.

My interview was over before I was scheduled to be there (I got there a little early....) so I decided to brave the tube again and make it to the IES centre (where my classes are held).  I made it on the proper trains again and got to class with an hour left.  Not going to lie, I'm very impressed with my tube direction skills since this is my first experience with public transportation.

Architecture class was today and I will probably take LOADS of pictures for that class since we wander around London looking at buildings.  Fun times right there.  Today was all fun and games except for the epically depressing movie in the Museum of London about the Blitz.  Drew and I walked out of the museum all sad faced because of it.  Side note: Majority of museums in London are free to the public.  So if you visit, take advantage of it.

                     

That's part of the original wall that surrounded London.  Built in the like 1200s and was about a mile on each side to protect London from invaders.  Totally cool that they've kept it up.  And my favorite feature of the proper city of London is:

                                   

DRAGONS!!!  They protect the city now.  I want a souvenir one to protect my room.

On a completely random note, I forgot to mention the River Thames Festival that we went to.  It was filled with little shops, but we got distracted by the swing dancing floor.  And then there were fireworks to watch.  In my personal opinion, best fireworks I've ever seen.  Here's a picture of the awesome group of people that went.

            

This weekend will be spent in London.  Brussels trip is postponed to a later date to save money.  But next weekend is Dublin!  Get pumped and creep on my facebook albums since I take a lot of photos apparently.

Epic Blog Post

Life has gotten busier now.  And I'm loving every minute of it.  Let me try (key word: try) to recap what has happened since the last post.

So a week ago, we went to visit Windsor Castle.  It's located right outside London and is the preferred residence of the Queen.  And I really can't blame her.  Eton is right next door and has a fantastic boys college, aka high school to americans.  They wore the most abfab (absolutely fabulous) uniforms that we all had to get pictures of.  It was a cute little village too.

Windsor is almost 1000 years old (give it about 50 more years) and is stunning.  We only got to see the State rooms and that was just a tiny, tiny portion of it.  

                                    

I'm sure the Queen's private residence is even more amazing cause they are her private chambers.  The real question of the day though was "Does the Queen ever just look around and go 'Damn I'm loaded?!'"  We also believe her to be dancing to her iPod, but that's just an opinion.  haha

                            

Then, my favorite picture of that day:

                       

Monday -

We went out on Monday night to meet some local students.  Kind of fail on meeting locals, but we got to know each other in the group better.  So far, everybody gets along which is a great thing.  Cause we take classes together and these are not huge lecture hall classes.  But more on that later.

Anyway, we were making an epic adventure to get home.  Some of the guys we were walking with wanted McDonalds so we stopped at the Leicester Square McDonalds.  I got some medium fries off the 99 pence menu.  Possibly better than the fries from home??  Anyway, my favorite quote from that point was Matt going "This is the best ketchup eveerrrrrrr."

After we ate, we had to find a bus stop that a bus going to our dorm went.  Not an easy task.  We wandered the wrong way, slowly getting more annoyed and cold.  Finally, we found the bus stop and saw that we had to wait 20 minutes until it arrived.  So we did what any sane group of people would do....we played charades.  Theme was movies.  It was great!  We were having a blast just acting like complete fools.  So much fun, that locals were joining in!!  These two british guys were getting SO into the game.  They would get a money and run around the bus stop area like they just scored a football (soccer) goal.  Another girl was silent until she got the movie "Good Burger" correct.  Then she walked away calmly to get on her bus.  My best guessing came through when Matt did Breaking Away.  2 words and "bicycling" motion was all I needed.  It was a great night that can probably and should never be duplicated.

Tuesday was my day of rest before classes.  Others finally started classes while I got to lay around a little.  I explored Kings Road, which runs right outside our dorm, and got myself a notebook for classes.  It really is a great area.  The pubs are fantastic.  Trafalgar has amazing fish and chips.  But get this....the fish aren't all deskinned!!!  Ewwwwwww.  So I had to like peel the skin off the bottom of the fish, but it was still good.  Definitely recommend trying it if you ever visit.

Wednesday I finally started classes.  It took until September 15 for me to go to a fall semester class.  Totally epic in my books.  I had my 19th century British Woman's Literature, Architecture, and Internship seminar classes that day.  Literature should be interesting cause I haven't read novels for a class since freshman year of college.  It's also forcing me to read novels I probably wouldn't have which can be good or bad.  We'll find out.  But it's a novel a week which is definitely a lot to me with the rest of this reading assigned.  Architecture is going to be fun.  It's not all sightseeing, but there's definitely that element to it.  We go around to various places around London for class.  Definitely glad I signed up cause it will get me out into London.  Internship Seminar is required for my internship and honestly, pointless.  He was getting everybody pumped up for their internships, but he had never heard of mine.  Whatever, cause the video professor had and she thought they were an excellent company.  Great place to learn so I am very excited.

Thursday I had my final 2 classes.  The first of the day was Youth Culture.  I am REALLY excited about this class.  It's right up my alley for classes I enjoy.  The professor came in really intense and kind of scared us at first, but he softened up a little.  He stressed it was a serious class, but we will still have fun.  And of course, we will!  We listened to a Beatle's song (Day in the Life) and watched part of Ali G in the first class.  He introduced us to this cool, upcoming artist in London called Plan B.  Check him out on Youtube.  Particularly "She Says."  I love the mix of 60's soul and Cockney rap!  It's the same guy too... you won't believe it until you see/hear it.  Then was my video production class.  I should be excited for this class, but it's another beginners course.  They are 3 of us.....3.  That's soooo small to me and two of us are on the same level (Brandy and I) and then Alex is new to production.  And she is from Spain so she has a language barrier as well.  So we have to take it slow for Alex which is maddeningly boring for Brandy and I.  It could be fun and I'll have more for my Vimeo site.  Finally.

The class sizes at IES are soooo different from IU.  The biggest class I have is probably 20, tops.  Maybe only 15.  So take a discussion class size and make that your lecture class.  It's weird, but I like it.  You get to talk and know people better.  I'm decently still excited for classes, but they have SO much reading.  That you have to do cause if you don't it is VERY obvious with classes that small.

Thursday night we went out to a place called O'Neills.  We had a great time just chilling downstairs until we started exploring upwards and discovered a live, cover band.  Great cover band, btw.  I think they were called the Australians, but who knows, they could have just been Australian.  We all had a great time, especially Steve.

Friday was another free day cause none of us have classes.  We had our final orientation meeting (It was about traveling, woo woo).  Then a group of us headed over to Camden Town for the day.  We split up cause groups that large are awkward.  Kori, Taylor and myself just wandered from stall to stall in this giant market place.  It had every souvenir, cute dress/coat, shoes, jackets, and posters that you could want.  We saw quite a few things we wanted, but we decided to head back later.  Especially for this little wall decorations that I want.

Saturday we went to Buckingham Palace.  

                       

Quite impressive as well, but I think I prefer Windsor.  Buckingham was, of course, impressive and a cool place to check out.  It's only open in the summer when the Queen travels to Scotland to stay there.  There were no pictures allowed inside which is upsetting cause everything was beautiful.  We saw thrones, ball rooms, portraits of various royal people. The portrait gallery was cool until we actually looked at the paintings.  Half were of pub fights (awesome) and the other half included weirder aspects like snakes and beheaded people.  Kind of strange.  Kori and I had fun nevertheless as we wandered through and even sat down in the ballroom.  Cause, if you can sit down in an official ballroom, you sit down in an official ballroom.  We'll have to go back for changing of the guard someday.

                       

And that is basically my life.  I'm getting use to riding the tube and busses everywhere.  I paid about 70 pounds to go anywhere I want in zone 1 or 2 in London.  And those are HUGE zones.  We haven't left them yet, so I think I'm good.  

I hope to update more often.  Shout out to Andie for making me realize I have been slacking.  I hope I haven't forgotten anything from this past week.  I'll try to update more often.  Hopefully, I'll get a travel post soon!

I'm still amazed at short of time I've been here.  It seriously feels like it's been a week instead of 3 days.

They have been filled with orientation, adventures on the tube/bus, walking around and exploring.  And taking the stereotypical, yet awesome, photo with a telephone booth.

It's so different to walk down the street and hear various dialects and languages being spoken.  I feel like my neck hasn't stopped swiveling since I got here.

A few exciting things have happened.  I finalized my classes so I'm taking 4 classes on Wednesday and Thursday.  Which leaves Monday and Tuesday open for the internship I'm interviewing for and then the weekend to travel or explore other sections of London.  I'm excited for most of my classes which is fortunate.  One is a video production class with 4 students.  4!  My last production class was 12 and I thought that was small.  The professor loves editing as well, so I can't wait to soak up information from her and see her style of work.

My internship sounds even more cool now that I'm here.  Apparently, Tigerlily Productions, is in the "trendy" area of London.  It's a very media and marketing orientated neighborhood.  The video production professor approved highly of their work so that is good to know.  I'm so anxious about my interview and it's not for another 11 days.  I want to know now and get started.  Plus, then I can schedule trips out of London without worry.

Also, we went to the Globe theater today.

While, it's not the Globe from Shakespeare's day since that burned to the ground, it is still a great reproduction.  We saw Merry Wives of Windsor which was a good comedy.  The actors made it really come to life and distracted from the mind numbing pain coming from my feet and back as I stood there for 2 hours.

The only picture I could get of the actors before being yelled at

Tomorrow is the trip around London so there will be many, many pictures taken.   Sunday is the trip to Windsor castle and Monday is a meet and greet day with local students.  Fun times ahead.

1 day down

I made it to London in one piece with all my luggage.  The trip went so smooth that it was scary was easy it was.  Made it to O'hare with plenty of time to spare, security took about 5 minutes, plane left on schedule, arrived 15 minutes early, customs was a breeze after waiting for 20 minutes, and the taxi ride was  nice as well since I split it with 2 other girls.

So far...I'm loving it.  Really, the only downside is the living space.  I will never complain about my living area being too small again.  I'm sharing a 8 by 11 room with another girl.  It's insane and I can not wait until my bed is lofted to get a little more room.  On the plus side, the bathroom has the best water pressure for a shower that I've ever had.  

I'm still very unfamiliar with the area, but I'm enjoying Chelsea.  I ate at the Stockpot for dinner and it was delicious at a decent price ( 4.8 pounds total for my meal).  It was around 28 pounds for 5 meals so that restaurant will be visited again since the food was also delicious and plentiful.

We wandered around Chelsea quite a bit.  A resident assistant gave us a tour and taught us all about Oyster cards.  They are cards that get you around London for cheap.  Tube, bus, train, etc.  Very useful to have when your classes are 45 minutes away by Tube.  I rode my first double decker bus.  Less exciting than I thought it would be, but still fun.

First few days are getting us situated with our areas.  Today was all around the residence hall while tomorrow will be around our classes center.  At times you can forget that you're wandering around London since it does seem like other big cities I've been in.

Ok, time to hit the hay since I'm beat and we start around 8 am tomorrow.

Still in America

So, in a week, I'll be in London.

Another country.  Another time zone. Another continent.

Woah.  Make that a double woah.

I have dreamed of getting away from this tiny town in Indiana since I realized there was more to life than Monticello.  Instead of reading about it or seeing it in pictures, I will be able to say "I've been there" or "Oh, that's where I did this."  Instead of envying everybody's adventures and travels, I can go out and have my own.

I already have scheduled trips to Ireland, Scotland and Belgium.  There are so many other countries I want to go to and I doubt a semester will be enough.  France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Greece, Austria, Portugal, etc.  So basically, wherever I can go until they force me back to America.

But here, my trusty readers, you can read about my adventures abroad.  Hopefully, there will be many and very entertaining to retell to others.  Pictures shall be aplenty cause I got a new camera and it needs to be used.  So sit back and enjoy the reading about my life as much as I enjoy living it.