January 2012
5 posts
Final post...finally
I wrote the following on the plane ride home from England, but I never got around to posting it. I thought that I might as well share it now, since I meant to share it all along…
It’s hard to believe that this is it. I’m going back to the United States. Time passed so quickly, but I don’t feel as if I wasted any of it.
Over the past 3 months, I’ve met so many different kinds of people from...
We Will Rock You →
A wrote this back when ‘On Wednesday’ actually meant December 7 2011:
On Wednesday, ISA took us to the musical We Will Rock You, which is a popular British musical that’s a tribute to the band Queen (in case you didn’t figure that out from the title). The musical takes place in a futuristic world that has a growing reliance upon technology (sound familiar): everyone...
December 2011
14 posts
Learning the Lingo
Lovely- used to describe someone or something that’s “nice” or generally pleasant.
Brilliant- amazing
Well good- used to describe something that was really fun, an event that went really well, etc…
Trainers- tennis shoes
Cob- bread/bun/roll (there are several other words for this, but I can’t remember the others right now)
Cutlery- silverware
Jumper- sweater...
It's the end, already?
Last Thursday night was the ISA farewell dinner. You know what that means?-less than one week left until I return to the United States.
ISA definitely treated us right. We went to the East End of London to see the construction on the Olympic stadiums. Then we took the DLR (an overground train similar to the underground) to Greenwich, where we climbed to the top of a hill to have panoramic views...
British Humour
At the ISA farewell dinner, we were given Christmas Poppers that each included a crown, a little trinket, and a joke. These are some of the “best” jokes:
Q: What’s ET short for?
A: Because he’s only got little legs.
Q: How do you stop a skunk from smelling?
A: Hold its nose.
Q: How do ducks like to round off a meal?
A: Cheese and quackers.
Q: What do you call an...
Harry Potter and the Visit to Oxford
As the title of this entry suggests, I went to Oxford this weekend, and my primary influence for going to Oxford was Harry Potter. Another one of my ISA friends is obsessed with Harry Potter, so she outlined all of the places we could visit where scenes from the movies were filmed.
We spent all of Sunday exploring Oxford. First, we went to a Christmas Market at Oxford Castle. Apparently,...
Visiting the Queen
Okay, I didn’t actually visit the Queen, but I did visit her primary residence: Windsor Castle.
Simply described, Windsor Castle is exactly what you’d think a castle would look like. It’s on top of a hill and surrounded by protective walls. Once inside the walls, the castle circles around in a labyrinth of long hallways, towers, and expansive rooms. I walked around the exterior of the castle, and...
A day in London
Last Tuesday, I spent the day exploring London with a few of my friends. We did some tourist things: we found platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross, and we went on the London Eye. But we also did some local things. We checked out Portabello Market in Notting Hill. Anyone seen the movie Notting Hill (Hugh Grant and Julie Roberts)? Portobello Market is the market that’s filmed in the movie,...
November 2011
33 posts
A Parisian Holiday
So what does one do when one can’t be home for the holidays? Go to Paris, of course!
On Friday, two of my friends and I boarded the Eurostar and headed to Paris for a weekend holiday. It’s about a 2.5 hour journey to Paris from London, so I brushed up on some of my french and studied my maps for most of the journey.
During the summer after my junior year in high school (about 4 years...
Bringing Thanksgiving to the UK
Yes I did celebrate Thanksgiving last Thursday. I wouldn’t be a true American if I didn’t.
ISA planned a catered dinner at a restaurant in London. They cooked us turkey (obviously), mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, sweet carrots, and green bean casserole. And it tasted just like a typical American Thanksgiving dinner: it was delicious. For dessert, we were served mini...
heather, mountains, and a shot of whiskey
The next morning, we headed to the Dublin Tourism Center where we boarded a coach and headed towards the Wicklow Mountains.
The driver bombarded us with information about important buildings, monuments, architecture, geography, history, etc. He was so full of information. The entire trip was a constant flow of dialogue.
We didn’t spend the entire tour on the bus. We had plenty of ...
The Book of Kells
The book of Kells is an illuminated manuscript of the 4 gospels of the New Testament in the Bible. It dates all the way back to the 9th century! The Vikings were the first group of people to find it, and they destroyed the binding. However, the destroyed binding helped modern day historians separate the pages and organize them into the 4 gospels.
This copy of biblical text was completed in Latin...
Dublin with a pint of Guinness
I’m still having trouble believing that I was just in Ireland. This whole study abroad trip has been full of surreal experiences, and Ireland was just another part of it.
The trip to Ireland was separate from my ISA excursions, but I went with 3 other ISA girls (As a general rule, it’s much cheaper to travel in groups of 4). So I had to book all of our transportation and tours...
Shakespeare and Peacocks
Weekend excursions part III: Stratford-upon-Avon and Warwick Castle.
Sunday was another full day of exploring England. We piled into another coach and headed north of Reading, into the English Midlands.
After passing through more of the English countryside, we arrived in Stratford-upon-Avon, which is also known as Shakespeare Town. Stratford-upon-Avon is the birthplace and final resting place of...
Roman Baths and Jane Austen
Alright, weekend excursions part II: Bath.
I could simply say that Bath is a beautiful town, but I think you deserve a bit more of a description.
After touring Stonehenge for about an hour, my ISA group and I piled into the coach and headed towards Bath. In order to get there, we had to drive through miles of countryside. It reminded me a little of driving through Ohio, except in England, there...
Feeling jealous? →
Seeing my pictures and wishing you could be there? No problem. Check out this article to find out how you can visit a Stonehenge look-a-like in the US. In Virginia to be exact.
Stonehenge and the English Countryside...
This weekend, I traveled all around England in order to visit some of the “must see” sites surrounding Reading. On Saturday, I visited Stonehenge and Bath, and on Sunday, I visited Stratford-upon-Avon and Warwick Castle. It was a lot to see and take-in, so I’ll divide the pictures and information about my excursions into a few posts.
First: Stonehenge.
I think almost everybody...
Remember, remember the 5th of November
Yes, I am aware that it is not the 5th of November anymore, but I wanted to tell you how the 5th of November is celebrated over here.
For those of you who haven’t seen V for Vendetta, on the 5th of November in the 1604, Guy Fawkes and group of English Catholics decided to rebel against Parliament, by blowing up the Parliament buildings. This Gun Fire plot didn’t succeed, so every...
An Oriental Palace...in England?
After the visiting the Brighton pier, I walked back into the town of Brighton to visit the Grand Pavilion, which is just another name for a big palace. I had never heard of the Grand Pavilion before, but I was certainly impressed by its grandeur.
The Pavilion was built by King George IV as a summer home for parties. It was simply a result of too much wealth. It was in vogue at the time to build...
