All You Need is Love and Tea

My god it’s been almost a month and I haven‘t updated. I suck at this. So here we go. 3.5 weeks of stuff that happened.

Week of 20^th February:

• Biology and Disease finally started! I love the class even though it freaks me out sometimes when we’re learning about diseases caused by worms or bugs or something like that. Every lesson is about a different system that can be diseased or a different class of diseases. I love learning about all of this and it makes me feel like I know a decent amount about diseases (mostly from Grey’s Anatomy…)! I love the teacher for the class and it doesn’t hurt that all I have to do for the class is an in-depth portfolio about one disease (I chose fibromyalgia) and it doesn’t have a word count I need to meet.
• I went to London again to meet one of my best friends and two girls in her study abroad program. I took a train there this time, so I felt much better physically and mentally than last time. Friday we just hung out for a few hours before bed since I got to the hostel around 10. Saturday we went on a walking tour of the royal places in London including memorials for the Duke of Wellington, Buckingham Palace (saw the changing of the guards again!), St James’ Palace, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, and Trafalgar Square. We met one of my friend’s friends from home that’s studying in London for lunch and then went to King’s Cross Station to take pictures at Platform 9¾. After that, we went to London Bridge and headed to Tower Hill Station to go on another walking tour. The Grim Reaper tour was awesome and creepy since it was about murders, torture, and Jack the Ripper. On Sunday, Jenn and I went to St. Paul’s Cathedral and walked over Millennium Bridge. We toured the Globe Theater, which was a really impressive recreation. Then we met one of my friends from home that’s studying in London for lunch then we went to Trafalgar Square to get some souvenirs and then caught a train to Liverpool. I somehow managed to hurt my knee while in London, probably from doing two walking tours in one day… oops.

Week of 27^th February:

• Jenn stayed with me from Sunday night to Wednesday, which was so awesome! She went with me to my Biology and Disease class and a Disney movie, we cooked dinner (eggs and ‘pancakes’), walked around Ormskirk, went to Liverpool (and found souvenir stores- score!), and just hung out like we always do. It was really good to see her; I didn’t realize how much I missed her until she was here!
• I went to a walk in clinic a few minutes from campus to get my knee looked at. They told me I have a soft tissue injury (something other than the bone is hurt) and gave me crutches to use. Only I would hurt myself by walking too much…
• I found a website that has Cupcake Wars to stream! Those of you that have lived (or practically lived) with me know that I always have the Food Network on when I’m in my room. It makes me feel just a little bit more at home here, which is always nice.

Week of 4^th March:

• I worked on some of my assignments! I realized how little time I have left to do my work before break, got really stressed, and wrote a decent amount.
• Kony 2012! The internet exploded last week after Invisible Children’s 30 minute video, Kony 2012, went viral. Tens of millions of people have watched it and support for the cause has increased drastically. It was amazing to witness and to be a part of and I’m so proud of everyone involved. Of course, anything that gains that much popularity overnight is also criticized overnight. It’s very frustrating when people claim things are true without any statements or statistics to back it up, and it’s incredibly frustrating when people are disrespectful. I just wish people would do their research before actively not supporting a cause- or jumping on board with one! Okay, rant over. Everyone knows Kony’s name, and that was the goal of the campaign.
• I had some anxiety issues last week. I’m pretty sure it was a combination of being overwhelmed by the amount of work it felt like I had to do and being really tired because I’ve been going to bed really late. It got pretty bad for a few days, but I managed to get a handle on it in time to enjoy my weekend and get some more work done.

Week of 11^th March:

• One of my friends from my psychology class brought me Skippy peanut butter from an international food store near her house! It kinda made my day…
• I went into Liverpool today with Chelsea K to go on the Magical Mystery Tour. It was awesome to see all the places around Liverpool associated with the Beatles. We got pictures standing next to Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields and got to see a bunch of the houses they lived in during their time here.

The International Office organized another day trip for this weekend, so I’ll be going to the Lake District this Saturday. I’m really excited because I’ve heard it’s gorgeous around that area. I’ll try to update one more time before my three week break, but I won’t be able to post anything once I leave (laptop’s staying at uni). That’s all for now!

UPDATE TIME!!!!

Okay, so I’m terrible at keeping up with my blog. I’ll try to update more frequently, but honestly that probably won’t happen…. Anyway, February 2-19 updates. Here we go.

I’ve discovered another place to eat on campus that has food that is actually seasoned well and tastes really good. It’s a bit farther to walk there than the Hub, but it’s worth it. It also overlooks the pond/ lake that’s on campus, so it has a nice atmosphere too.

I’ve started hanging out more often with a few people that I had casually met but didn’t know that well. They’re really nice and we hit it off really well.

The Giants won the Super Bowl! We got to watch it on a huge screen in the student union, but we didn’t get to see the commercials (until we went on youtube). I have a theory that the British media people responsible for hosting the Super Bowl party-thing sabotaged it. The sound cut out during the National Anthem and stayed off for the rest of the game and no one really tried to fix it. I can’t believe they’re still bitter about that whole Revolutionary War thing…

Classes are starting to pick up a bit now that I have some of my assignments (all presentations and essays), although they’re still a lot easier than my classes at home. During seminar for my psych class (a 3^rd year course- equivalent of a senior year class at home) we had to look at a research article and make a rough draft of a poster for it. We’ll be continuing to do this in following seminars in preparation for our presentations, which are in late March. Some of my friends in English and Lit courses told me that they’ve had classes where the professor told them how to write an essay (don’t use personal pronouns, etc) and they wrote practice introductions. I’m really not all that concerned about the work I have to do so far because all the Americans pretty much know how to write essays and give presentations, but we’ll see how my biology class is when that starts tomorrow. Yes, I have a class that starts during the 6^th week of classes. No, I don’t understand it either.

I went out to a pub/ dance-y place. I didn’t have anything to drink, and even though I was surrounded by people that were drinking, I still had a lot of fun and didn’t feel uncomfortable! We talked and danced and it was awesome.

I celebrated my 21^st birthday a week ago! A few friends and I saw The Vow in Liverpool. It’s a really good movie starring Channing Tatum and Rachel McAdams. After that, we were going to go out to dinner, but we forgot that everything here is closed on Sundays. So, we just ate food from a place on campus and I got a delicious Koppenberg mixed fruit cider for my first legal drink. We also watched Serendipity, one of my favourite movies, while we ate dinner and dessert.

One of my friends and I went to a meeting of the Disney Society last Monday, which is where a bunch of people sit in a lecture hall and watch a Disney movie together (it was Tarzan this past week). It was nice to watch a movie without it skipping and waiting to buffer and having the internet die in the middle of it. We’ll probably go back and bring snacks tomorrow when we watch Pocahontas.

I also planned all of my travel stuff for my three week break, which starts in late March! I’m going to Edinburgh, Dublin, Jerez (Spain), and Rome for five nights each. I’m traveling by myself for the majority of the time, although I do know people in Edinburgh and Dublin, and I’ll be staying with one of my friends (and freshman year Spanish tutor) in Spain. Jackie, one of my best friends at home, is meeting me in Rome, where one of my other best friends is studying this semester. It’ll be so awesome for us to all see each other again and explore Rome together! I can’t believe it’s all booked and I’m actually going to be traveling so much! I’m sooo excited!!!

Yesterday I went to York (about 2 hours away by bus) with a few American students. It was a really nice city and we loved exploring.  According to our bus driver, “York is a historic city. There’s a lot of history in York.” He was both redundant and correct in that statement. There were a lot of buildings and monuments which had been there for centuries (some since the 13^th or 14^thcenturies). There were a lot of cute, quirky shops and we wound up finding a huge outdoor market selling everything from hats to dream catchers to kangaroo burgers to flowers. It was really cool. We also found out that we were in York on the second to last day of Jorvik, the annual Viking festival, which explained why there were so many people dressed as Vikings. I’m so glad the International Office has arranged trips like this.

All in all, everything’s still awesome. I’ve had a few times when I’ve been pretty homesick, and I miss everyone and the familiarity of America. It’s weird being so far away and not being at Berg for so long. I’ll have been here for 7 weeks this Thursday, and the time went by so quickly. I only have 5 more weeks until my long break, then three weeks of intense travel, and then 10 days after that I’ll be on a plane back home. It’s crazy how fast the time’s going, and I have such mixed feelings. I’m excited to go back home and see everyone, but it’s incredible here and I can’t believe I have such little time to do everything I want to here.

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”     

- Mark Twain

So, update time. I’m now in my third week of classes, which I still only have on Tuesdays and Fridays. They’re pretty interesting and I’m enjoying learning things in a different environment. On a more exciting note, I went to London this past weekend! It was amazing, and I’ve already booked a return trip at the end of February with Jenn (from Berg)! The bus rides there and back sucked because the seats were uncomfortable and the bathroom was filthy and my body was angry the whole time, but it was SO worth it. We (me and a few friends from Edge Hill) stayed at the Walrus Waterloo hostel, which is a five minute walk from Westminster and Big Ben. The owners were very nice, the beds were surprisingly comfy, and they provided sheets and towels for no extra charge, which was nice. So, recap of the weekend:

Friday

4PM – Stood in torrential rain/ hail mix waiting for the bus, then boarded when it finally got there

11:15PM – Arrived at London, watched someone get arrested for cannabis possession, found train station, went to hostel

11:45PM – Checked into hostel, took shower, collapsed

Saturday

Morning – Got breakfast, then walked across the bridge to see Westminster and Big Ben. From the bridge we also saw the London Eye. We took a lot of pictures on the bridge. We walked from there to Trafalgar Square, and then to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guards. We didn’t get a great spot because we got there kinda late, but we were still able to see a little bit of it, which was awesome. Then, we got on a tour bus and took a tour of the city’s famous sights for a while.

Afternoon – My flatmate Chelsea and I went to Olympia/ Kensington to see the Dr. Who Experience. We go to go into the TARDIS, and it moved and shook. The daleks were creepy, as were the angel statues. It was pretty awesome. We got to take pictures next to the TARDIS and there were displays with all the Doctors’ classic outfits and their sonic screwdrivers. After that, we met Kayla and Katy in Picadilly.

Evening- Walked around Picadilly, did some souvenir shopping, and got some dinner. Then we went back to the hostel and hung out for a bit. Some people went out to a pub/ club, and the rest of us stayed in and went to bed because we were exhausted.

Sunday

Morning - Got breakfast at a small place near the hostel, then got on a tour bus to the Tower of London.

Afternoon- Walked around the Tower both on a tour and on our own. Then we picked up our luggage from the hostel, where we stored it for free, and made our way to the bus.

Afternoon/ Evening- Bus ride home, which was much better than the ride there.

As you can tell, I did a lot during the two days I was there. It was exhausting and amazing and everything I hoped it would be. But there’s still so much I want to do there, so many museums I’d like to see, and I’d like to actually be able to eat something more than toast while I’m there. I’m so glad I’m going back soon. I love that city. 

And tumblr won’t let me attach pictures to this post, so this’ll be text-only, I guess.

So far this week I’ve been to one class that I’m auditing and one that I’m actually taking. They seem like they’re going to be interesting and different than classes I’m used to. Attention, memory, and perception (the one I’m auditing) is 9-11 and 2-3 on Mondays, and it’s the equivalent of a 300 level course at home. It’s a fairly large lecture, maybe about 70 students. It was strange, though, because I felt like there were a lot of topics introduced and then briefly explained, but without much detail. I managed to take about five pages of notes somehow, so we must have covered a decent amount. I guess we’re supposed to get the detail from the reading and independent research, but I’m still unsure of how this is a 300 level. Anyway… my other class, Contemporary Britain, is an introductory course for first years here, so it should be pretty straight-forward. The first class we went over the syllabus and found out what our assessments would be. I also met a few of the British people in the class, which is good because I’ll be doing a group presentation with two of them since the teacher wanted to “split up the Americans.” I haven’t been to my two other classes yet because one of them (The Developing Mind) is on Friday and the other (Biology and Disease) doesn’t start until February 20^th. This means that I have Wednesday s and Thursdays free until mid-February. Loving the mid-week break so far!

Also, I’ve made plans to go to London with a few of the other Americans here. We’ll be leaving on January 27^th and coming back on the 29^th. I’m so excited to go to London, but I’m so not excited for the 6.5 hour bus rides there and back… womp. Oh well, it’s a small price to pay for seeing London! We also found a hostel that looks pretty good for a really good price, and it’s right across the Thames from Westminster and Big Ben. We’re going to be in a great location. Also, the Dr. Who experience. We’re going. I’m psyched.

So, basically, I’m loving it here. But I still miss the US. This is what I miss about it:

• My family and friends
• Having a car
• Target. I miss going to Target a lot.
• Also Wegmans
• New York bagels and pizza
• Food from the CR
• Not having to worry about plugging my electronics in for too long because they might over charge or something
• Not having to turn my outlets on before I use it (although I do kind of like that since it saves energy)
• Not having to push a button when I want to get out of the dorm building
• Seegers and GQ not closing until late at night
• American credit/ debit cards working without a hassle or a fee
• Panera
• Internet that isn’t slow and doesn’t randomly kick you off and make you sign back on 12 billion times a day
• Being in the same time zone as people I frequently talk to
• Not having to constantly convert units
• My bed, although the one here is surprisingly comfy
• The ease of getting books for class
• How organized and neat Trexler Library is (the one here is a disaster area- see picture below)

• Being able to use my card (swipes or dining) at every location on campus
• Being able to use my card to buy dessert (it’s considered a luxury item here, so you can only pay for it with cash)
• Knowing which brands are good and which brands are crap

So, yeah. Basically every once in a while something will pop out at me that’s different that doesn’t really bother me but makes me miss home just a bit. It’s a strange thing, living in a different country… It’s amazing, but it’s occasionally bittersweet as well. I guess it’s all part of the experience. And, right now, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere but here. 

I’ve been here for a week. Holy crap. It doesn’t feel like it’s been a whole seven days. After a brief period of minor culture shock and homesickness, I’ve settled in well and am loving it here. My schedule is pretty good except for my Friday afternoon class, but I don’t have anything on Wednesdays, so that’ll be a good day for me to ‘splore a bit. I now know my way around campus and Ormskirk, which is good since classes start Monday and I’ll need to be at those. I’ve explored Liverpool as well, which is confusing as hell compared to the grid system of the city. And by the city I mean NYC. I have a map and I’m going back tomorrow, so I should be able to navigate it soon enough. My flatmates Kayla, Chelsea, Jeff, Marcus (all American) and Natalie (British) are all really nice and I’ve met a bunch of other international students and a few other British people. I’ve also discovered some differences between life in America and in England. I will tell you about them now.

•  Everything closes here at 5PM no matter what day it is.
• The ketchup tastes different.
• There aren’t cups for water at the dining place. You have to buy a water bottle or other bottled drink or a cup of tea or coffee in a ceramic mug.
• No ice. Anywhere. None.
• Jammie Dodgers- 2 shortbread cookies (biscuits) with raspberry plum jam in the middle. Delicious. Obsessed. Bringing ALL THE JAMMIE DODGERS home with me.
• There’s a sink in my room and in the two bathrooms. I like having my own sink more than I thought I would
• Things that are expensive in the States are cheap here and vice versa.
• I can buy alcohol here, which isn’t a big deal for me, but it’s still pretty cool.
• There seems to be a pattern in the weather of about 3-5 days of cloudy, shitty, warm-ish weather followed by 3-5 days of sunny, gorgeous, cold weather.
• The paper is A4 here, not 8.5 x 11. The binders only have 2 holes, not 3, which threw me off when I tried to put loose leaf I brought from home into them.
• Everything charges super fast here due to the voltage difference.
• Fire alarm testing every Thursday. The alarm goes off for about 15 seconds, scares the crap out of me, and then goes off. We don’t need to leave the building, though, so that’s good.
• The food. It’s…. not that great. I never thought I would miss CR, but I do. And GQ and Mule Express. I miss everything about the dining at Muhlenberg, which is a bizarre feeling because I thought it sucked before I left. I miss having 20 bajillion options to choose for each meal instead of 4 or a sandwich. Although they do have pasta every night, which I’ll probably wind up doing too often. Oh well, I’ll be thrilled when I can eat the crappy Sodexo food again.

Anyway… That’s my update for now. I’ll keep posting pictures and I’ll try to write more than once a week. Cheers!