Lovely London

Hi all! Sorry I haven't posted in a while, I've actually had to be a student (Translation: I've been watching hours upon hours of Gossip Girl). However, I have finally reached a point where I could stop for a little while to write a post about what I've been doing when I'm not pretending I'm an upper-east side socialite.

Wednesday I went on a Jack the Ripper walking tour of London which the school provided for all us study abroad students free of charge. My bank account was very happy to have a night out and a dinner without having to pay for it. It was really cool and I had a great time despite having to walk for 90 minutes in the cold.

For those of you who are not familiar, Jack the Ripper is one of the most infamous serial killers of England, not only because his identity was never revealed but also because of the vicious way he killed his victims. I was really surprised to find out he only killed 5 (confirmed) women but it was still horrible to hear about the way he killed them but also interesting to hear the history and what they know about him while trying to guess who he was. Personally I lean towards the Royal conspiracy theory but that could have to do with my love for drama.

Then on Saturday Olivia and I headed into London for a girls day of shopping and exploring the city. Luckily, it was a rare sunny and warm-ish days so we enjoyed our time outside. First we went to Harrods which is easily the biggest and more luxurious/expensive stores I've ever been in. We had so much fun spending hours scouring the many floors trying to see everything. The clothes were all gorgeous and I almost feel in love when I saw the shoes. However, I think my favorite section was the Disney room which was a princess room to put even most Disney stores to shame. I easily could have stayed in there forever. While I'm sure we didn't see the whole store we decided to take a break and head out to lunch.

The Entrance to Harrods

After lunch we decided to enjoy the sun and explore the parks as we headed to Kensington Palace in the hopes of spotting Kate Middleton. It took us forever to find the palace as we had to walk through both Hype Park and Kensington Gardens. Unfortunately we did not succeed in our mission to find her though we did find out that she had been at a lot of the places we saw the day before so we now know where to go (or stalk).

Kensington Palace where William and Kate live

That night we also celebrated Derek's 21st birthday. While he technically wasn't turning 21 until Sunday we planned a surprise party for him and then went to the on campus bar, Medicine, afterwards. It was so much fun and everyone had a great time!

Olivia and I in our mandatory party hats

Well, that's about it for this week. Oh, I also mentioned that I would be starting another blog which I officially launched last week. It's devoted solely to fashion and style that I observe while abroad and how it relates to fashion back home. Here's the link so feel free to check it out: Foreign Fashionista. Also, as always, if you have any questions or just want to tell me what you love (or hate) about my blog feel free to leave a comment below! Cheers!

The Tower of London

This weekend, despite the cold and snow, I ventured out and got to see one of the most important and anticipated things on my study abroad bucket list...The Tower of London! I have a huge fascination with the monarchy and especially the Tudor line so going to see the place where King Henry VIII had two wives beheaded and seeing the Crown jewels in the same place was both exciting and weird.

I went with a group of study abroad students and we spent the time exploring the inside of the castle since it was too cold to spend much time outside. However, the inside was just as beautiful as the outside. We saw prison cells where traitors were held, toured the medieval bedrooms and saw the Crown Jewels (more than once).

For anyone who hasn't been, there's actually a moving conveyor belt where the crowns are in cases so you can't linger. You get on and the belt moves you along past them all. You can ride it more than once though so we did it twice. They were amazing and so beautiful! I wish I could show you all but unfortunately they didn't allow pictures either. But there was a lot of purple, diamonds, and sparkles so you can imagine my excitement. Here are some pictures from the trip. 

The White Tower

Tower Bridge

A miniature of the Tower of London

King Henry VIII's Armor

Piccadilly Circus

After that we went to Piccadilly Circus (like the Times Square of London) where we had a late lunch/early dinner of Italian. Unfortunately, after warming up a bit we were all too tired to venture out into the snow to explore more again so we just headed back to the university.

Tomorrow we are going on the Jack the Ripper Walking Tour through London where they show us famous spots where he murdered people. Sounds like a nice little trip. Haha. Anyways, hopefully I'll have some pictures to share or at least a funny story or two.

Into the Swing of Things

Well today officially marks two weeks since I arrived in England. It's weird because a part of me can't believe it's already been two weeks and another part of me can't believe that it's only been two weeks since I've arrived. I'm finally getting into the swing of things (I think). I've figured out most of the buildings, I've cooked my first meal in the kitchen and I have made it to all my classes. I still have a lot of other things to learn but it's starting to feel normal.

This weekend was my first trip into London and it was everything I hoped it would be and more. It also just affirmed for me why I picked England as my country to study abroad in. We did all the touristy things like Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace and things like that. Everything here is so beautiful and I LOVE the architecture. It's all so old and has so much history. Here are a few pictures but there were tons more so go check them out on Facebook.

The London Eye

Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament

 Westminster Abbey

CJ and I in front of Buckingham Palace

I have much more to do and see in London while I'm here. For instance, we didn't even go see the Tower of London or Hampton Court and I plan to spend a day for each of those so fear not, there is plenty more to come. 

In other news, yesterday was my 21st birthday! While it wasn't quite as significant since I've been able to legally drink and gamble here since I was 18 it was still special to me. Me and some friends went out for dinner where I had my first legal cocktail, a strawberry daiquiri (which I love!). We then went to go see the movie Gangster Squad. All in all, it was a fun birthday though I did miss all my friends and family back home.

That's about it for this week. Hopefully I'll have some more to report after the weekend but until then...cheers!

Observations Part 1

After living here for over a week I've discovered many differences, but even subtle ones that you may not hear about. But first, a quick update about me, my registration got fixed and I've been to all my classes. Things are going well but it is definitely very different from the US. This brings me to my first observation...the way that classes are run.

In the UK most classes have a lecture and then a seminar or workshop with smaller groups. This isn't totally foreign since many larger colleges at home have this system. However, one major difference is the way they grade. Most classes only have 1 or 2 assignments throughout the whole term and that is their grade for the whole class. They also grade by going up from 0 instead of down from 100 in the US. Therefore, if you get a 70 or higher you get an A, and if you get higher than an 80 you should be teaching the class. This is something I'll definitely have to get used to.

Also, they have 3 terms and the third term is devoted simply to finals for both the first and second terms. I don't know how people do it but they actually take finals for classes that they took 5 months before. However, a lot of classes are also full year courses so I guess that helps. Personally, I'm happy I don't have to do it though.

Another thing I have to get used to is the partying over here because that is really different. People go out on different nights of the week than in the US. It's not just the weekend they look forward to. The school even held a huge club-like party on Wednesday. Random! But then Thursday was completely quiet and no one was doing anything. I'm still trying to figure it out so I'll let you know if I ever figure out the pattern.

Now, here are some random things I've noticed:

• There are tons of sheep just on the side of the road here. It's actually really cute and makes you feel like you're in the country.
• People here are so polite, like all the time, and especially guys. Apparently, chivalry didn't die in the UK. 
• Going to the pub or drinking happens every night and it's totally casual. Luckily I don't like beer otherwise I would come back with the "study abroad 15".
• There's not really one style of dress here. Hopefully I'll have another blog coming soon devoted to just this subject. 
• You have to pay for grocery carts here...well, it's more like paying a deposit and you get your pound back when you put the cart back but still. 
• People here actually do say "Cheers!" all the time. And I absolutely love it!!!
• There is a pound store which is just like a dollar store except it has all kinds of things you actually want and only for 1 pound. I was in heaven!

Well, tomorrow we're heading into London to go exploring and do some sightseeing so I'm sure I'll have plenty more exciting things to tell and show you. Until then, cheers!

The First Days

Hi all! As promised, here is my blog post about my first few days here (warning: this will be a long post). To say it has been hectic and crazy would be an understatement. The first day I arrived by the time I got to dinner it was all I could do to keep my eyes open long enough to eat (for full details see my last blog post).

The next morning we were up at 8 for breakfast and then we were off on a day full of lectures and learning about our new home, the libraries, the computers, etc. We also got our student IDs and our class schedules. Unfortunately, they do classes different here so there is a problem with mine.

They didn't explain this to us until we had already got here but in the UK students only go to college for 3 years and they immediately declare their majors and only take classes in that department. Basically they don't take any basic courses or electives and only take classes that pertain to their major. Because of this, the departments don't really work together when creating their class timetables. However, the school didn't tell us this before we got here so I was taking classes in 3 departments (management, computer science, and psychology). Therefore, as you can assume two of my classes overlapped in times so I have to drop the psychology and pick up another class.

Unfortunately, it's also not as easy as it was at Bentley. There's really no add/drop period or a "syllabus week" where you do nothing in class and classes start tomorrow. So I need to get into a new class ASAP so that I don't miss anything. Also, they don't do it online so I have to go to the physical department and try to get them to help me drop and add the new classes. I'll definitely never complain about picking classes at Bentley again!

Anyways, other than that, everything is going smoothly. I'm starting to get to know my school and learn my way around. Here are some pictures I took of Founders, the biggest and most iconic building on campus. While I don't live here, a lot of students do and it also holds a library, a pub, a restaurant, the chapel, and tons of other stuff. Not to mention it is beautiful and looks like a castle!

Yesterday we went to see Windsor Castle, which is one of the royal castles and the queen actually stays there most weekends though we didn't see her unfortunately. We toured the outside, the state apartments and St. George's Chapel. We even got to see the changing of the guards which was very cool to see. It was all beautiful but I could only take pictures of the outside so here are some (for more pictures check out my Facebook).

After seeing the castle we went to lunch at a local pub where I had my first official English meal, Fish and Chips which were quite good though I wasn't a huge fan of the mashed peas!

I've also met some of my flat mates and their friends who are extremely nice and made me feel really welcome. I'm the baby of the group though as they're all third years and they're all 22 or older. But they were extremely friendly!

Last night I was finally able to sleep through the whole night without waking up randomly (yay!) so hopefully I'm getting over my jet lag. Today was my first free day so I took a trip into Egham (the town we're in) and went to the local grocery store. The only thing I didn't count on was that it is a good 20 minute walk and the bus wasn't running so on the way back I had to lug all my grocery bags with me. However, I'm happy that I finally have some food so I can stop eating out so much. Things can get pretty unhealthy when they feed you french fries with every meal.

Now I'm just getting ready for my first day of classes tomorrow. I have computer science structured as a lecture class so we'll see how that goes. As always, if you have any questions feel free to email me or leave a comment below. Also, if you want to follow this blog there should be a link on the left (hey, a little shameless promoting never did anyone harm). Enjoy!

Getting There is Half the Fun

Well, I didn’t think I was going to be writing another blog post until later this weekend but due to unforeseen circumstances I had the opportunity to write this mostly at the airport and then finish it tonight. To say my travel here was hectic would be an understatement. 

I got to the airport nice and early and got through check-in and security without any problems. Saying goodbye to my family was definitely the hardest and there were a lot of tears but by the time I got to the gate I was actually feeling okay about it.

We got on the plane and were pleased to hear that due to wind flows (or something like that) we would actually arrive over an hour early. This would have been awesome if we could actually get off the ground. 

Unfortunately, because of mechanical problems after sitting on the plane for an hour they told us we would have to de-board and switch to another plane. However, it then took them another two hours to get the second plane up and running and board us on that one. Overall, a three hour delay to my flight was not the way I imagined starting off my adventures abroad.

Fast-forward to this morning we did wind up landing after only six hours of flying, however, we were still two hours later than expected. Because of this I couldn't find the student guide that was supposed to collect us and bring us to the shuttle. I wound up spending about two hours wandering the airport trying to find him and luckily I finally did. 

The rest of the day was spent trying to navigate campus with my two huge suitcases, carry-on and heavy backpack, until I finally got my room key and made it to my flat. 

On a positive note, everything since then has been great. My flat is super nice! I have my own bedroom with a full size bed and my own private bathroom. Also, I've already unpacked most of my stuff and only have half a suitcase left. Here are some pictures.

Also one of the weirdest things I've noticed so far is that the lights in my room will only turn on when I put my room key in this scanner and leave it there. I guess it's one way to make sure we turn off the lights when we leave the room. 

Well, that's about it for now. I just wanted to let you know that I'm all settled in and made it through my own personal travel hell. Now to get some sleep before my first day of orientation tomorrow!!!

Cheerio Mates!

Today is the day! In less than 15 hours I will be on a plane headed to England for 5 months. It is completely unbelievable to me that it's here after so long of planning and thinking about it. My mind is racing and I literally don't know what to do with myself. I don't think there's any one word to describe how I'm feeling right now. I'm extremely excited because this is something I've always dreamed of doing and I finally get the chance to do it.

On the other hand, I'm extremely nervous about leaving my family and friends for so long. I know I'm going to miss them like crazy and it will be my longest time being away from home. However, everyone has given me so much love and support that I know it will be okay and from what I've heard the time will fly by before I'm back home again.

So, this brings me to tonight: the night before I leave. I doubt I'll be able to sleep much but at least everything is mostly done. I have my bags packed (see pic below). As you'll probably notice, no one has ever accused me of traveling light. I'm bringing two checked bags, a carry-on and a backpack. I'm sure I'll be quite the sight trying to lug it all through two major airports but I'll survive.

I'll probably be busy for the first few days as we have orientation but I'll definitely write another post before Monday to fill you all in before I start classes. In the meantime, if you need to get in touch with me, email or Facebook will be the best options as my phone will be out of commission until I can get around to buying a pay-as-you-go one (sorry iPhone). Well, wish me luck and next time you hear from me I'll be across the pond! Cheerio!