Valpo Voyager

Student Stories from Around the World

Year: 2012 (page 14 of 14)

Union Jack and Loch Ness

Where am I again?

February 2, 2012 / / 0 Comments

War Memorial in Inverness, Scotland

I have noticed one of the most stereotypically American mistakes to make is to think of England, Britain, and the United Kingdom as synonyms.  In the States, we tend to think of ourselves as more “United” than otherwise.  However, over here this isn’t necessarily the case.

Not long ago I was in Inverness, Scotland, which is very near to Culloden Battlefield.  It was at this location that the Jacobite Rebellion was crushed in 1746.  Following this date, the British government incorporated all of Scotland into Great Britain.  Although this battle was fought not long before the American Revolutionary War, in Scotland this battle is still discussed as if it happened just out of living memory.  This is hardly how the American Revolution is discussed in the United States.

Support for this topic of independence is far from limited to a few individuals.  Very recently the subject of Scotland breaking away and becoming an independent country has become a major issue.  Nor is this way of thinking present in only Scotland.  On Thursday, February 2nd the insert cover of The Guardian read, “Could Wales be next?”  Granted, most polling data shows the majority of residents in Scotland and Wales would prefer to remain part of the United Kingdom.  However, the topic of independence is certainly far from dead.

Map of the British Isles

To avoid confusion throughout the rest of my blogs, I thought it might be helpful to describe what some of the terms are referring to:

Britain – the name of the largest island

England – the southeast part of Britain (red)

Great Britain – the political union of England, Scotland, and Wales (red, orange, and blue)

The United Kingdom – includes Northern Ireland with Great Britain (red, orange, blue, and yellow)

British Isles – geographical (not political) name that includes independent Republic of Ireland

British Commonwealth – loose association of possessions and former colonies including Canada, Australia, and India that have a symbolic loyalty to the Crown

Union Jack and Loch Ness

 

Follow me on Twitter at:  https://twitter.com/#!/CambridgeUKJohn

See more photos on Picasa at:  https://plus.google.com/photos/112463823006344854498/albums?banner=pwa

Sushi Similies – How Japanese food taught me about Cambridge, England

February 1, 2012 / / 0 Comments

            I’m currently sitting in the Anglia Ruskin library. The library personnel, unfortunately, don’t allow eating here. If the brown paper bag beside me contained chips*, I would be secretly snacking away instead of informing the world about the mind-bendingly draconian food policies at this university**. If that sounds harsh, please believe that if you had a brown paper bag containing some of the finest scrumptious slabs of seafood which sail on sticky simple sugars you too would complain.

 Click this picture to check out the restaurant responsible for the “Jo Platter.” Delicious.

Eating with chopsticks is loads of fun. I have yet to find a culinary experience that satisfies like delicately placing ginger on bite-size, sea-derived delicacies and topping it off with a bit of wasabi. The process requires an attention to detail that transforms satisfying a basic human need into an act of meditation. Preparing sushi works in the same way. I’m almost certain the chef who prepared my sushi ascended to nirvana shortly after serving my food. After putting such massive attention into pieces of food that take only a matter of seconds to eat, I don’t see how this could not be the case. I only hope that his experience of bliss is not reliant on my finishing the food in a short period of time. Because when I leave this library and eat his sushi, I’m going to take my time and savour every bite.

My experience with sushi is very similar to my experience abroad. While I wish I were able to live in a constant state of enjoying the delicacies in the city around me***, there are times when I would be better off just staying at the centre. Watching a movie, playing a game or just fast-forwarding through those two and getting straight to talking is the wasabi that completes the Cambridge cultural sushi.

 This is a ping pong ball run, and also wasabi.

Here’s a video.

 *To all my British readers, I mean potato chips, which you call crisps. I don’t mean French fries, which you call chips.

**Anglia Ruskin is great. I’ve been here one week, had only one class and I’ve already been invited to a house party. I just hope I can finish my food before Becca, one of my British friends, comes to get me. Who brings food to a party?

*** Delicacies here refers to the million different ways the British can tie their scarves. I have no idea how some of these multi-layered, face-cradling, wool knots are even possible. The only conclusion is that, upon birth, in addition to a birth certificate, each British person receives a custom made scarf complete with its own certificate of authenticity.

View my photos on Google+!

Summer in January? Yes, Please!

January 30, 2012 / / 0 Comments

I finally arrived in Namibia on Wednesday from South Africa and I love every minute of being here.  When our flight landed, we exited the plane and it smelled like summer, felt like summer, and looked like summer!  From the airport it seemed like we could see for miles.  Beautiful mountains and a bright blue sky greeted us we arrived and I couldn’t wait to get to the city!

 

After our drive from the airport we made it to the white Center for Global Education house on Simpson Street.  I was surprised to discover how big and lovely it was! I share a room with four other girls and we get the luxury of having our own bathroom and showers.   The house has a kitchen and dining room in which we are served all of our delicious meals.  The living room is relaxing as well but the best part of the house is the pool in the backyard!  Upon arriving to the house, my friend Helena and I jumped right into the pool.  It felt so good to finally be at our home.

The rest of the week was relaxing as we just walked around the city trying to find our way around.  Thursday we took a walking tour and saw all of the cute shops and places to go around the city.  It has great theaters as well as lots of clubs and things to do at night.  Walking around made me very excited for the rest of the semester; I highly doubt I will ever be bored….

Friday we toured Katutura, the mostly black township of Windhoek.  Our group was divided into smaller groups and we were each instructed to visit different parts.  My group got to see the art school there and we learned about all the opportunities they have for students if they want to go into digital media, fashion design, painting or anything like that.  Though it is a very small school and only graduates about thirty students a year, it provides so many opportunities for kids to succeed and is gaining more and more popularity.

The Office, anyone??

The weekend brought more sun and pool time, as we had no commitments to go anywhere or do anything.  Friday evening some of the other students and I had a bonfire by the pool and danced to Coldplay all night.  It was perfect.  Saturday, I spent some serious time working on my tan and later went shopping around town.  I’m finally getting that summer glow (that I will hopefully have for eight months out of my year J).

Internships start Monday so stay tuned to see what I get to do with Vision Life Namibia!  Until then, life is good, Windhoek is great, and people are crazy.

Look at all my pics!

https://picasaweb.google.com/114438203688193706278

Learning Swabian Culture

January 27, 2012 / / 0 Comments

When one thinks about studying abroad, they think of a semester of traveling to elaborate places and seeing all the famous sites. I spent my winter break looking up places around Europe, trying to create a checklist of all the must-see sites throughout the continent. I was so determined to see and immerse myself into the rest of Europe that I completely forgot about the country I would actually be living in for the next four months.

Within hours after arriving in Germany, I was in love. All the months leading up to this study abroad experience, I never once thought that I would want to waste precious travel time to just spend time traveling around the region and exploring its culture. Why tour around a small Southwest German region when you had Paris and Rome calling your name. However, it is the complete opposite for me now. I am in love with the Baden-Wüttemberg and its Swabian culture. And I’m not alone. One only has to ask any native about their Swabian culture and you will hear more about their history, where one should go visit, and what food to eat, than you ever thought possible. We decided to take their advice and thoroughly scope out the Swabian culture. Naturally, we started with their chocolate, more specifically Ritter Sports chocolate. We explored the medieval city of Tübingen, as well as, hiked up to see the Hohenzollern Castle. We even took a spur of the moment train ride to the end of the tracks and explored the town of Herrenberg. All while eating and drinking traditional meals and talking to random people on the trains about the area around us. Never once did the idea that I could have been somewhere else in Europe cross my mind.

 

Within just two weeks, I have been able to see why Swabian culture is spoken so highly about in this region and to think that I would have past up this opportunity to indulge in a culture, in order to just be able to check another place off my list appalls me now.  This would definitely be the biggest surprise for me these past two weeks.  As my first initial reaction to finally experiencing this fantasized dream of studying abroad, I would definitely say that being here is very different than my expectations, but in a good way. I feel that not only am I seeing amazing sites that I would have over looked had I kept my original mindset and checklist, but I am beginning to understand a whole new culture and society. Though I still cannot wait to venture into other parts of Germany and Europe, right now I am satisfied with just exploring this whole idea of Swabian culture.

 

 

Check out more pictures of my cultural excursions at https://plus.google.com/photos/113496106333285759017/albums?banner=pwa

 

A view of Zaragoza from the park

Zaragoza Week 2 and Cultural Differences

January 25, 2012 / / 0 Comments

Hello and welcome to my second post! I thought I’d do something a little different this time by breaking it up a little and including two sections. If you have any suggestions or post requests, send them my way as I’m always looking for interesting ideas!

A view of Zaragoza and the park from Alfonso I statue

Cultural Differences Aside…

Having been here nearly 3 weeks now, I’ve noticed quite a few things that we might label “peculiar” or at least “interesting” in the US. Note that these are just my observations and are not in any way representative of everyone. There are many I could list but for length purposes, here are 3 I thought were a little amusing:

1. Dogs. The Spanish love their dogs and the fact that most people live in apartment buildings has not been a deterrent for owning them. I live near 2 parks and it’s not uncommon to see people of all ages, at every possible time of the day, walking every breed of dog. The downside to this is that many are not on leashes especially at the university where the leashed dogs are the minority. I’m still not certain if there are leash laws here but it would probably help with the, uh, sidewalk maintenance if not.

2. Late nights/Meal times. People here walk much more than in the US and a “short” walk is considered to be around 20 to 30 minutes. A “longer” walk is usually considered to be around 30-50 minutes. I know people that refuse to take public transportation even if it’s an hour walk in one direction. I say this because it’s not uncommon to see people just walking the streets as late as 10 or 11 p.m. depending on the day. It’s definitely a night culture as evidenced by the meal times. Breakfast is at a normal time but lunch is typically not eaten until the siesta which is between 2-4 or 5. Everything closes during this time with the exception of a few places and people go home to eat and then rest for a while before heading back to work. Dinner is normally eaten between 9 and 11 p.m.

3. ¿Qué hora es? (What time is it?). If you’re in Spain, it rarely matters. This is because, from what I’ve observed, most times are non-specific and include an unstated but understood “around” thrown in. For example, my morning class is supposed to begin at 9 but in reality, the earliest it ever starts is 9:15. This is not to say all given times are like this but if a student or teacher comes to class 15 minutes late, it’s not a problem at all and nothing is said. It’s a rare occasion if at least one person doesn’t arrive late to class 15 minutes or more. For me, this has been a little difficult to get accustomed to because I normally arrive 15 minutes early and then wait 30 minutes for class to actually begin.

Another Week and More Exploring 

Alfonso I "El Batallador" King of Aragón between 1104 and 1134

Nothing has really changed since my last post other than a short trip to the biggest park in Zaragoza and bowling with a few of my friends. Even though it’s winter, the park we visited was beautiful and I saw more green than I have since I left Indiana. The whole area is actually very dry so it was somewhat of a shock to see a swathe of green grass in Zaragoza. The park was nice but full of political graffiti just like almost every other public area. My favorite was a protest against government surveillance that said something like “They’re watching you.” At the top of the hill that overlooks the park (where the large photo was taken from), there is a statue of Alfonso I “El Batallador.” He was the King of Aragón between 1104 and 1134.

A few nights ago, a few friends and I went to the second biggest mall in Zaragoza, Gran Casa (Big House), to shop and then bowl. It was a great night and we ate at our first McDonald’s in Europe. Since I’m vegetarian, I can’t say how good the sandwiches were but the fries tasted, unsurprisingly, the same as in the US.

I’m leaving for Paris Friday night and arriving early on Saturday so check back sometime next week for a Paris-themed blog! Until then, thanks for reading and you can follow me on Twitter for more updates here: twitter.com/#!/SpainJordan
and view my Picasa web albums here: picasaweb.google.com/102363422858711117798

 

Bowling - My team. Jørgen, Christina, Lin, me.

All 5 of us! Elliott, EB, Katie, Josh, me.

Settling Into Cambridge

January 25, 2012 / / 0 Comments

Welcome back!  Now that I’ve been in Cambridge for nearly a week I thought I’d check back and update you with what has been going on.  Much of the week has been spent exploring the city and getting acquainted with living in it.  Luckily, the weather has been very abnormal so far.  Instead of the quintessential English wet, there have only been two or three days of rain so far.  Another thing to keep in mind when walking around the city:  daylight is limited in Cambridge.  The sun comes up around 8:00 and sets around 16:30.  While Cambridge is a very safe and nice place at night, the lack of sunlight was really a surprise for me.

The Student Centre: Our home in Cambridge

The city of Cambridge has an extremely rich history surrounding it.  Central to this history are the colleges, 34 in total.  Personally, my study abroad program is affiliated with Anglia Ruskin University.  Anglia is one of the newer colleges situated on the eastern side of Cambridge and away from the River Cam like many of the older establishments are.  The older and larger colleges have beautiful grounds adjacent to the river and are tourist attractions in themselves.  The history of Cambridge goes further back than the famous colleges though.  One of the few high points in town, Castle Hill, has history from long before America had even been discovered.  As the namesake castle is now long gone, today the hill is a popular spot for taking pictures of the town.

St. John's College

Getting to know the local stores and brands is a large part of moving into another location.  Some US things, like Zip-lock bags, are nonexistent in the UK.  On the other hand, some things are very comparable.  For example, Boots is a chain of stores very similar to Walgreens.  One of the more noticeable differences is the lack of a completely consumer-driven attitude.  Store employees here are happy to help you, but you have to approach them first.  No one will ask if you need assistance finding what you are looking for.  Generally I prefer this.  However, when you’re looking for something not common in Britain (like most things related to baking) it can be a pain (although there are entire isles of mushy peas).  Also, stores close very early.  The largest mall in the area completely shuts down at 17:30 – weekends included.  These differences can be difficult to straighten out occasionally:  it took 5 of us over an hour to choose a phone service for our time here.

Some of the most noticeable changes in culture are related to technology.  In an afternoon of walking around Cambridge you will only see 1 or 2 people at the most on their cell phones.  Internet service is generally slower than in the US (at the time of writing this the Student Centre has had no Internet for a day and a half).  However, this lack of persistent technology really adds to the relaxed atmosphere.  There are no people continually checking their phones for a text, no cacophony of yelling into phones, and a lot of simply hanging out and having a good time with friends.

The River Cam near Jesus Green

Take a look at more photos on Picasa at:  https://picasaweb.google.com/112463823006344854498/London?authuser=0&feat=directlink

Follow what’s happening on Twitter at:  https://twitter.com/#!/CambridgeUKJohn

 

First Week in Joburg

January 25, 2012 / / 0 Comments

Life is good.  After enduring the seventeen hour plane ride from Washington D.C., I finally arrived in Johannesburg, South Africa with the fifteen other students from around the country last Monday evening.  Since my arrival its has been a long week filled with touring and traveling Johannesburg and the surrounding areas but nevertheless I’ve been learning and experiencing so many new things and I am loving it.  Due to my lack of internet connection at the place we are staying, I haven’t been able to write yet, but here is the brief lowdown on what I did during our first week.

Our first two days were spent touring Soweto.   This stands for SOuth WEstern TOwnships and is most commonly known for the student uprisings that took place there in June of 1976 to fight against the apartheid regime.  The first day we visited the Hector Pieterson Museum.  This museum is named after one of the first students to be killed in the uprisings and is not only a tribute to him, but to the many, many other students who lost their lives.  We were able to meet Antoinette Sithole, Hector Pieterson’s sister, as she recalled the day her brother died and gave us a more personal, emotional, and real picture of what happened during the uprisings.

Later that day, we visited Nelson Mandela’s house and were given a brief history of his life, his philosophies, his rise to presidency in 1994, and his great influence in ending apartheid, which was very inspiring as well.

The next day in Soweto we visited the Regina Mundi Catholic Church.  Latin for “Queen of the World,” it is known as the “people’s church” and can seat 2000 worshipers while having space for an additional 3000 to stand! It is the biggest Catholic church in Soweto and played an important role in ending apartheid, especially during the Soweto uprisings.  Many people took refuge there, but there is still evidence of police storming in and chasing people out (bullet holes, broken altar, etc.) (Fun fact: after apartheid had been done away with, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hosted their hearings at this church.)

After touring Soweto and learning about its history, I was so surprised how a township, though very large, can be so impacted and shaped by a single event in history.  The 1976 uprisings had such a huge effect on the places and people of the township that almost everything in someway can relate itself back to that time in history.

We also visited Kliptown, a town outside of Soweto.  We saw the Freedom Charter monument there, but the thing that was most impressionable to me was when we toured the slums.  The houses were basically shacks without toilets, showers, running water or anything like that.  Almost all of the people there were unemployed and after talking to the people and getting a little taste of their lives, I learned that the South African government has not really done anything positive to help them.  It is basically always trying to do what they think will help solve the people’s problems, but they fail to assist the people in what they really need or what would most benefit them and end up wasting a lot of money.

Later in the week we had sessions with the African National Party (ANC) as well as the Democratic Alliance (DA) and were introduced to the politics of South Africa and heard ideas of their plans to boost the economy and continue to positively rebuild the nation.  Though I’m not that into that sort of stuff too much, it was still interesting to see differing perspectives.  We also met with the South African Council of Churches and learned of their efforts in ending apartheid and trying to bring peace to South Africa.

I spent the weekend with my host family and that was quite the experience. (more to come on that later)

Finally, during our last two days we went to the U.S. Embassy where we learned about some of the workings of international relations, the Voortrekker Monument where we got a better understanding of the Dutch Afrikaaner history in South Africa, and the Apartheid Museum.  The apartheid museum was especially moving and took us from the very roots of the problem to the current state.  Pictures and videos played were graphic, but gave a better understanding of how truly horrible blacks were treated during that time.  They also had a special Nelson Mandela exhibit which highlighted his efforts as well.

Though the week was busy, it was lots of fun and I’m glad I got to experience the things I did.  I’m really enjoying spending time with the other students on the trip as well and I cannot wait to finally head to Namibia later this week!

See more pictures: https://picasaweb.google.com/114438203688193706278/Joburg#

Follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/AmyinNamibia

Told you so.

January 19, 2012 / / 0 Comments

Everything they said was right. This is going to be the best experience of my life, I’m going to get extremely close with everyone here and I won’t ever want to leave. If someone told me that after seven days I would have already gotten lost in London after meeting and exchanging numbers with three Germans and a Spaniard, planned a trip to upper Scotland to see the Loch Ness monster, won £10,000 from the Cambridge lottery and gone to a club for the first time, I would have laughed politely and subtly expressed my disbelief. And, this sly behaviour would have been canon fodder for one of the most gratifying, memorable “I told you so” moments ever experienced. All of these things happened.*

Come to Cambridge! I’ll be leaving my copious amounts of lottery winnings at the centre.**

 

Two weeks prior to coming to Cambridge I began to slowly modify my sleeping schedule each night so as to avoid jet lag. By the time I took off for Cambridge, I was waking up at 4:30am each day, 10:30am Cambridge time. This did really help avoid jet lag and I’m glad I did it. But, it certainly wasn’t necessary. No one else did this***, and after a few days they seemed fine.

 

You have these huge engines to look forward to. Cool.

 

The town of Cambridge is beautiful, and yes, British accents are even cooler in person. Surprisingly though, the first few days I had a bit of difficulty understanding people here. When you’re in the states, hearing a British accent is usually only happens when your friends try to imitate the British, or maybe you’ve heard the accent on TV from time to time. What you don’t realize is that when a British accent gets combined with a vernacular style of speaking, the words seem to come out so fast that you lose track of what is being said. Ordering food from a pub can be a bit confusing when you have to translate “chips” into “french-fries,” “mate” into “friend,” “wuht” into “what,” and “cheers” into “thank you.” The slang words really add up, and if you fall behind it can be tough to catch up. But, have no fears, after only a few days you’ll fit right in.****

 

* Okay, so I didn’t win the lottery. But I swear the rest actually happened.

**Note: I won’t be playing the lottery.

*** No one ever has. It’s really not necessary. But, if you enjoy being super prepared, give yourself three weeks to adjust and make sure you get used to waking up around 7am Cambridge time. That’s what time you’ll be getting up at the first few days.

**** That’s a lie. You’re still American, but unless you’re too obnoxiously loud, the English won’t have a problem with you. Having English professors really helps, because they come to you in a non-threatening environment, and one of them spends the first 15 minutes of class discussing English culture and answering any questions you have about it.

 

Follow me on twitter: @CambridgeDavid

View my photos on Google+!

My apartment building in Zaragoza.

Week One in Zaragoza, Spain

January 19, 2012 / / 0 Comments

Welcome!

Welcome to my first blog post and thanks for reading! I’m Jordan Harner, an International Business and Spanish double-major, studying in Zaragoza, Spain for one semester. Zaragoza is a medium-size city in the autonomous community of Aragon with around 700,000 people midway between Madrid in central Spain and Barcelona on the east coast. I currently attend the University of Zaragoza and live with a wonderful host family!

Arrival

My apartment building in Zaragoza.

It’s been a little over a week since I’ve been here and I feel like I’ve completely adjusted already. Everything has been fantastic and more than I expected overall with the exception of just our arrival which proved to be a little more complicated that we anticipated. Originally, we had planned to take a bus from Barajas Airport in Madrid to Zaragoza but we were unable to purchase tickets online because of our American credit cards. A little irritating, yes, but we figured we could buy them when we arrived. To our surprise, the ticket machine was broken and it happened to be an obscure holiday that day (which seem to be a common occurrence here) so we couldn’t buy our bus tickets from the bus office either because it was closed. With no other options, we took a high-speed train which costs 60 euro one way. I shed a small tear when I paid but I have to admit the train was a cool experience and much faster than by bus to boot.

After our arrival in Zaragoza, Manuel, a student at Valpo that lives in Zaragoza, was kind enough to pick us all up from the train station and take us to our apartments. He has a small car and I’m fairly certain cramming 5 people and 12 pieces of luggage into a car including one piece sticking part-way out of the window is illegal but definitely an interesting way to begin our journey. Anyway, I really appreciate him helping us out so I want to give a big shout out to Manuel if he ever reads this!

Above is a picture of the apartment building where I live. I live right across from a fairly new mall, the Aragonia, which also happens to be quite empty since it was completed when the recession began. Nieves is my host mom and I also have a host sister, Lupe. My host mom also has a boyfriend, Francisco, who is here fairly often as well. They’re all great people and I know I’ll learn a lot more Spanish living with a host family versus having my own apartment.

Classes

My classes are from 9:00 to 1:30 Monday through Friday with a half hour break midway through. By “9,” that means “around 9” or whenever the professor arrives. I’ve quickly learned that Spanish times are rarely taken literally. My morning class is a grammar class with Professor Alicia and my afternoon class is a culture class with Professor Marina. Both are fantastic teachers and I feel like I’ve learned so much more Spanish after being here just over a week.

Night Excursion

The first day I arrived, I was extremely tired but since Manuel was still in Zaragoza, he offered to give all 5 of us a brief tour of the city along with a few of his friends. We walked everywhere and my feet hurt for a while after but I learned a lot about the city and a few of its major landmarks which include The Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar (Basílica de Nuestra Señora del Pilar), La Seo, and Aljaferia Palace. We went inside the Basilica for a few minutes right up until close and it was absolutely stunning! It’s beautiful on the outside and just as great on the inside. I have yet to see it during the day and I’ve been told the stained glass skylights are a must-see as well as a chance to climb one of the bell towers to see the whole city for 2 or 3 euro. Hopefully I’ll get there this weekend. To the left is a picture of part of the Basilica by night.

I know this was a bit brief but I had a lot to cover so hopefully I can go into greater detail in the coming posts. Thanks for reading and I’ll be taking a trip to Paris in two weeks so check back often for that and more of my adventures in Spain!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Follow me on Twitter for more of my enthralling adventures: https://twitter.com/#!/SpainJordan

View my Picasa web albums: https://picasaweb.google.com/102363422858711117798


Arriving and London

January 17, 2012 / / 1 Comment

Hello, and welcome to my blog!

All 17 of us in front of Big Ben

My adventure started last year when I switched majors from engineering to nursing.  With the change came the opportunity to study abroad.  I’ve always loved English culture, and because a nursing professor had recently filled the position of director, I selected the Cambridge program.

So, I am officially in Cambridge, England!  Technically, I’m on my 5th day here, but at this point I’ve spent nearly as long in London as in Cambridge, so I have a little catching up to do.  Packing was an adventure in itself.  However, I was able to stuff everything in my suitcase and not only stay under the weight limit, but also leave myself a little room for souvenirs on the return trip.  All 17 Valpo students studying at Cambridge this semester flew out on the same flight.  The flight itself was very smooth with no major turbulence or delays, and we weren’t even out of the London airport before being bombarded by the change of culture:  the crosswalks are painted with “LOOK RIGHT →”!

After somehow fitting 17 students (each packed for 4 months!) into an extremely small coach, we arrived at the Valparaiso University Student Centre in Cambridge.  One of our first meals on English soil was at The Eagle – the famous pub where Watson & Crick discussed the structure of DNA.  We were barely unpacked and acquainted with our new home before all 17 of us left to spend the weekend in London!

 

Buckingham Palace

After catching an early train through the fog into the city, we checked into our hostel and set out.  During the following two days we attempted to hit as many major landmarks as we could.  We started out at the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace.  Although the sun was in my eyes making it difficult to see the actual ceremony, I was able to get some good pictures of the palace itself.  Afterwards, we continued towards the Horse Guards Parade, which will soon host volleyball during the upcoming Olympics.  We stopped for photos at the ever-popular Big Ben, saw the beautiful Westminster Abbey, and had lunch in Trafalgar Square.

Going to Hogwarts from Kings Cross

That afternoon we took a bus tour around the city and saw The Mousetrap in London’s theatre district.  We soon discovered getting restaurant or pub seats for all of us on a busy night in London would be impossible, so we split into smaller groups to eat and wander around the city.  The next day we started with a cruise down the Thames River.  The cruise stopped at the Tower of London, where the rest of the day was spent.  Then, we were on our own to find our way back through the Underground to Kings Cross and catch a train back to Cambridge.

The journey back was really one of the most memorable sections of my London trip.  Instead of being told what to do, or at least given step-by-step directions, it was up to me to take responsibility for finding routes back through London and to Cambridge in time for a speaker at 19:00 that night.  It was kind of intimidating having not even been in the country long enough to get over my jet lag.  However, it was more than a little exhilarating too!  I am really excited to continue this feeling during the next 4 months.  I hope you’ll continue to follow me for more of my upcoming adventures!

 

 

Follow me on Twitter at:  https://twitter.com/#!/CambridgeUKJohn

See more photos on Picasa at:  https://picasaweb.google.com/112463823006344854498/London?authuser=0&feat=directlink

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