Friday, 29 January 2010

The White Cliffs of Dover

That's where we went today!

Sorry for the lack of updates, everyone. Not much has happened on this front except for classes and all that, really. I'm starting to get busy with reading books and writing papers and all that, and I don't expect that to let up too soon. But today was our trip to Dover!

Fun!

The town is only about 45 minutes or a half hour away from Canterbury, so the trip there was quick. I added a ton of pictures to my flickr, so if you want to look, start here. The first few are still of Canterbury, but then it works its way into Dover.

And those aren't all the pictures! I still have about half of them I didn't upload but will definitely show you guys when I get home! Dover was breathtaking, especially when we got at the top of the hill and looked down on the town. I took so many pictures and while it was cold, it was a lot of fun.

We got about an hour and a half to walk around and do stuff before the Secret War Tunnel tours, so we browsed the castle grounds and even went up to the top of the Keep! It was a lot of fun and the weather constantly changed! We got snow, rain, sunshine and hail all in the course of about five hours! And you can see France from where we were! It's only about 22 miles or so across the English Channel and was so awesome to see.

The Tunnels were amazing and there is so much history regarding WWII and everything like that. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside, but it was a lot like Cantigny and their war museum. So if you can picture that, that's about it. We got another two hours to do stuff afterward but had really run out of things to do! So I visited the gift shop for a bit and then just kind of hung around until the buses came back. It was a long, long day!

I hung out with the girls from ISU for a while and bonded with some of the people from other schools as well. I'm excited for next week's London trip as we are going to stay over night after the trip is finished and spend next Saturday there too! So expect lots and lots of pictures.

My room has been unnaturally cold and it's been kind of chilly here, although I'm sure nothing compared to home! But I'm keeping warm and fed. Tomorrow and Sunday is all about homework. Papers to write and books to read.

This Wednesday is the American Studies club meeting, so I'm going to go that and hopefully have some fun. It'll be interesting at least, I'm sure. I'm definitely tired though, so I think it's going to be time to relax and maybe watch a movie.

Love you all and miss you!
-Sam

Friday, 22 January 2010

A walk around town.

The tour this morning was fantastic, even though I didn't get a lot of sleep. One of my roommates decided to throw a party downstairs at about eleven and no one actually left until about... 2. I'm right above the common area, so I really didn't get a whole lot of sleep.

Ah well.

Back to the tour :] It was awesome, even if we were the stupid American tourists at this point, clogging up the streets and all that. We went through places that I had already been to (sort of) but I got to hear about all of the history and everything like that. It's amazing how old and how important this city actually is. The history of it goes all the way back to the Romans! Students back home really don't get taught about their hometowns... and most of the places I've lived have not been this historically significant in the slightest.

Chicago doesn't count in that, of course.

Here and forward in that small section of my England folder are some of the pictures I took. I have to be careful because I'm already 50% full for this month on Flickr and have two major field trips coming up :] And as you can see, I got lazy with the descriptions, so if you want to know what something is, just let me know :]

But yeah... the cathedral is gorgeous and my pictures don't do it justice, honestly. It is so huge and amazing. It was suggested that we go to a service, and I might if only to hear the choir. There isn't much I can say that isn't already portrayed in my pictures.

It was just awesome. So much history!

I'm just kind of relaxing now... might take a nap or something since everyone back home is barely up at this point! I got my computer fans and they are working out well so far! So hopefully they stay working for a few more weeks.

Andrea ~ Yay for the fourth roommate! ^_^ I'm really glad that worked out.

I think I found a tattoo parlor that I like. I need to go in and visit, but their work is impressive. So yeah :]

Miss you all and love you!
-Sam

Wednesday, 20 January 2010

Cloudy... big surprise, eh?

It was so nice here over the weekend! High 40* weather, not a cloud in the sky... and now I haven't seen the sun since Monday. :[ Ah well. I figure that should be the norm, right? No real rain quite yet, although it was drizzling on Tuesday afternoon but stopped once I got inside.

Of course.

Posted two new pictures on my Flickr:

Food, of course.
More amazing architecture.

Classes were good this week. Not much going on in that category, although my American Lit teacher is being amazing and either photocopying the material or lending me a copy of the book we are reading so I don't have to spend the money buying books. How awesome is that? :] Now I just have to buy the other books for Victorian Lit.

Tonight will probably be an early night since I didn't get a lot of sleep last night and had to be up early this morning. Grocery shopping tomorrow as well as going up to the library to get my student ID and all that. Friday is the tour of Canterbury and the Cathedral and you guys will get plenty of pictures from that. :] I have a short paper due for history next week, so I'll be working on that this weekend too along with reading and other papers.

Fun, eh?

Apparently they are trying to start an American Studies organization and there's a get together/meeting thing in one of the pubs next Wednesday, so I'll probably go to that and see what comes out of it. It sounded like fun and the professor who is heading it is a riot. At first I was really scared of him... but as he teaches my Modern Britain class, he doesn't intimidate me nearly as much. He's pretty funny and really nice, so it all works out.

Oh. And 6 girls, and the ability to only use one shower without turning on any other water in fear of either scalding or freezing the one using said shower... who thought that one up? Had a mighty cold (aka frigid, freezing, might as well have been jumping into Lake Michigan) shower because of it.

Fun times.

Off to... do something. Read, surely. Love you all and miss you! And thanks for the comments so far :] I loved reading it <3
Miss you all.
-Sam

Monday, 18 January 2010

I'm an idiot...

and figured out why my pictures weren't uploading!

They didn't like the card that goes into my camera, apparently. Or the websites didn't. So I transferred them to a flash drive and everything works! So check out my set on Flickr!

Right here! Not too many yet, but it gives you guys an idea of what's been going on :] More pictures will be taken, especially on Friday when we get a walking tour of Canterbury and the Cathedral.

Spent my day doing laundry and went to the library, mainly to watch last week's episode of House. I have a feeling I'm going to be wasting more time between classes watching the shows I missed than anything else.

Also! I changed the permissions on this blog, so you guys can comment without needing a profile! Just fill out the form below and follow the instructions and I'll get the comments :] Or send me an e-mail like always.

Love you all and miss you!
-Sam

Sunday, 17 January 2010

Out and about.

So, this morning I woke up and found...

Blue skies! The first blue sky I've seen since... well for a long time since we didn't even really have many in Chicago either. I think that's why I feel a bit more at home, because the weather here, although slightly less psycho and cold, is pretty much the same. Random rain/snow during certain times of the year, long periods of time with gloom and rain and then some spots of sun.

Today was gorgeous. Still is gorgeous since it isn't over yet. Although by about this time (3:00 pm) I've done what I've wanted to do for the day and am ready to watch a few DVDs or read and finish my homework.

Anyway. I got up and went to walk around High Street today, which is up by the library I talked about the other day. And remember when I said I got lost last Tuesday? If I had walked just a little bit further down the street, I would have gotten to where I needed to go that morning.

Go figure.

Anyway, I made my way out there, cutting through campus and taking the way I knew existed. I did take pictures! But for some reason my network isn't letting me upload them to my flickr account, but I am going up to the library tomorrow anyway, so I will be able to do it then.

I arrived in a huge part of town that is absolutely filled with stores. There is no car access so walking around in the street is totally fine. Kind of like Ren Faire only obviously modern. Some of the stores were familiar and there were a ton of clothing stores and I found another two tattoo places. :] So I walked up and down the street, just kind of looking around. Nothing really caught my eye that I would want to buy and I think everyone is going to be getting stuff from other places for the most part. I ate at McDonald's (don't yell... I know, I know) but it tasted different too! Sweeter, I think. There was a Burger King and a Pizza Hut, as well as a handful of Subways too. So those kids during the orientation that said there was nothing were full of it, I think.

Plenty of cafes and pubs to go visit and some really cool shops. Video game shops, chocolate stores, nail salons (which were interesting because they said they were 'American style' shops... dunno what that means) and even an American comic book store. It was amazing and a lot of sales were going on. Everything is pretty cheap, actually and I kind of wish I had brought that other suitcase. I might end up shipping some stuff home, I think, by the end of this trip.

But anyway, I ate and walked around a bit more before coming back to my flat. Another one of my roommates was moving in and I met her. She seemed really nice and I told her my door was always open (or cracked, as they don't actually stay open) and so hopefully I'll get to know her a bit more. Passed the other American in the room next to me and one of her friends (both from ISU) and they were on their way back out to High Street. I might stop back out there when I go to the library tomorrow. I also need to do laundry... the washer and dryer are tiny! And in the kitchen... so we'll see how that works out.

That's all for now, but I'm sure everyone is sick of reading by this point. Love you all and miss you! And hopefully I'll have some pictures up for you tomorrow!

<3

-Sam

Friday, 15 January 2010

If Heaven were a library...

... it would be on Canterbury's campus.

I had my library tour today and while I've been inside Augustine House before, I only stayed on the first level and accessed the help desk for my internet stuff. So going inside and actually going up the stairs and going through the glass doors for everything... it absolutely blew my mind.

This building opened in September of 2009, so not that long ago. Wi-Fi, amazing chairs and tables, and the technology is insane. Smart Boards everywhere (interactive white boards, basically)and the loan out laptops for you to use in the library if you want, without having to check it out or anything. It's intense. Not to mention, some of the stacks are movable! By pressing a few buttons you can move entire shelving units to get to the book you need. It's so crazy.

There's a cafe where they sell food and food is allowed in the computer labs. Sure, full meals aren't really recommended, it's alright. There's one room that is open later for us to print things out and everything like that. Fantastic resources and while they seem to be focused mainly on electronic resources, there is so much there. I have a feeling I'll be there more often than not, if only to steal the wi-fi that I set up today.

I swear I will post pictures soon. Next week we are touring Canterbury and the Cathedral so that will give me plenty of pictures to post. I feel like such a tourist with my camera out so picture taking has been on the minimum. Tomorrow I'm going to go out and just kind of walk around town. Get a bit lost and find that awesome shopping street I walked around in the other morning.

Awesome stuff.

Miss you all and love you all!

Wednesday, 13 January 2010

Sorry it took so long...

I didn't have internet for a bit... Definitely a different way of signing up for stuff. Took me two trips to a library that is about a mile and a half from my flat to access, but I finally got it all set up in my room! Just need to figure out how I can access the vital school e-mail stuff on this thing since it won't let me.

Hm.

But anyway. An update.

Let's start from Saturday and work our way to today, since I haven't been able to contact anyone. And this will probably be a random replacement for e-mails sometimes. So, Saturday! My birthday! After being dropped off by my wonderful friends and going to the wrong terminal (I know, I know...) I finally got to the United terminal and checked in without any problems. My suitcase was under 50 lbs... I know. Shocking for anyone who carried it or heard about it. And for those that saw my suitcase...

I packed light. Honestly. Most of the girls who gathered their bags after getting into London had at least two if not three big rolling suitcases. I definitely packed light and wish I had brought that extra one. But back to the airport. I went through security and was flagged as a random passenger that was going to be searched by hand. Definitely interesting. I was patted down and my hands were wiped and analyzed, probably for explosive residue or something like that. Not a huge deal, especially since I wasn't in a rush and my plane had gotten pushed back to 7 instead of 6. Reason?

Snow in London. Not Chicago.

Go figure.

Everyone at the airport seemed to appreciate how polite I was, which was awesome. So I went through security and all that jazz and sat around for a few hours before getting on the plane. It was kind of sad that they sent us through mega first class and then business and then we all went to the back of the plane. I sat next to some pretty cool people on an aisle seat in the middle row. There was the usual crying baby and all that and my reading light, along with the other two in my row, kept flashing on and off and being annoying. I watched a movie or so and basically read/slept throughout the entire thing. I got a bit antsy at one point but overall it wasn't bad. I'm actually looking forward to the flight back because 4 hours seems to be my limit.

Got to Heathrow and found my way around pretty well, it helped that I latched onto a few of the kids from my school. We met up with the woman who would usher us south to Canterbury, and we all piled on a coach bus and went down. It was pretty uneventful, but the town is fantastic. I will link everyone with pictures once I actually get some. Of course, it's been snowing so I feel like I'm at home most of the time. Ha. We unpacked and basically crashed, hanging around one another's flats or walking around randomly.

Monday was orientation and the general stuff for that. Nothing real exciting but I picked my classes. Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday is Victorian Lit (I'm the only American) and American Lit (One of two Americans) and then Wednesday is British History (all Americans) and Modern Britain (All Americans and a handful of Brits). The classes have been awesome and I only got a little lost attempting to find the library. It's a lot of walking and my ankles hurt a little since I'm so used to my ten minute walks on campus back home.

Classes are awesome and my professors are fantastic. Food is odd at points and finding something I like is a bit harder than I imagined. I'm getting used to the money deal but have ended up with a TON of change in my pocket. Everything under 5 pounds is changed into coins... so I have a lot of those. I need to go grocery shopping tomorrow but it is hard to find food that isn't going to spoil in a few days since there are no preservatives. I'm getting the hang of everything though and will probably go wander around the town and maybe shop or do something cool this weekend.

My flat is pretty decent. About six of us, including me and another American and we all share a living room/kitchen deal. They're kind of loud but I feel more like a guest than anything considering how short of a time I will be here. They seem nice enough although I haven't really gotten a chance to check them out and talk to them quite yet. Everyone is actually really nice. Most of them if not all are getting ready to go out since Mondays and Wednesdays are party nights apparently. No thanks. At least not this week and my first night with internet. Limited conversations on text (meaning one or two every few days) has not been fun and I feel a lot more relaxed with internet. Now just to figure out how to work the wireless on campus and I'll be set... especially for those long hours between classes on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

So yeah :] Found the tattoo parlor so I'm set. I dunno if I'll get a tattoo out here, but I think it could be fun once the weather warms up. Not quite sure what yet, but probably something that has to do with this trip, probably.

Not much else at this point. I'll probably post more once we actually start doing stuff. There are a few field trips that we are going on as a group, as well as other trips I can sign up for with tour guides that are actually really cheap. So I'll probably do those too once I get a free Friday open.

Woo.

Love you all and miss you <3
-Sam