While everyone has been off galavanting over Spain and Italy during first break, Jessica and I have been taking several small trips around England. Our first stop was last week in Dover, and our next trip was to Windsor and Eton to see Windsor Castle.

Before we left, we checked online ahead of time just to make sure that it was open, because we didn’t want to have a repeat of our Dover trip where we arrived and found the castle closed. Luckily for us, the castle was open and we hopped onto four different trains to Windsor. The castle is very cool because on the outside, it looks old and very medieval, but on the inside, it has been renovated and decorated.

During the winter months, the State Rooms are often open to the public. We got to wander through all of the State rooms, which were very interesting. St. George’s Hall had hundreds of family crests covering in the walls and the ceiling. The stairway entering into the rooms was covered in a great display of antiquated swords, guns and other weapons, showing off the power of England to all who come to visit. My favorite room was one decorated in red (my favorite color) and gold, with an entire wall of windows that overlooked the gardens outside.

We also got to see Queen Mary’s dollhouse. This dollhouse is absolutely amazing. It was built to reflect the culture and fashion of the times, and was incredibly elaborate. They said that all of the golden plates in the dining room were made of real gold, and the Crown Jewels were actually small jewels. If I had a dollhouse like that, I could have played with that dollhouse for hours.

Because we went on a Sunday, St. George’s Chapel was not opened to the public, as they were holding services all day. We did get to see the outside of it, and the rest of the outside of the castle as the sun was going down. It was very pretty.

We had a great time traveling down to Windsor, but were very happy to take a few days for a break before our next day trip adventure. Coming up next is our trip to York!

Part of the reason I wanted to study abroad for an entire year was so that I could completely immerse myself into English culture. One aspect of that culture is the education system. When you study at the Study Center, you take classes at the center with a variety of different professors. There is, however, the option to take an English or History course at the local community college, Anglia Ruskin University. This is something that I have chosen to do both of the semesters that I have studied here, and I am very glad that I have.

Taking classes at Anglia Ruskin gives you the opportunity to see what school is like in a different country. For my English classes, in general, we meet only once a week for two hours. The professors (or tutors, as they call them here) are laid back. Your final grade is determined completely by your final paper, project, or exam. This means that all reading, learning, and writing, is up to the student. It’s a very different style than the ones that I am used to at Valpo, and a welcome change of pace.

Being at the Study Center is great. It’s nice to know everyone, and REALLY nice to only have to walk across the house to go to class. But sometimes, I miss the feeling of being on a college campus. I miss passing people trekking across the lawns and waving to them, and I miss being a part of a larger community. Taking classes at Anglia really has helped me to feel more at home and like I’m still in college. I get to walk to classrooms, and sit behind an actual desk or table, and learn in an actual classroom instead of a room in a house.

Taking a class at Anglia Ruskin also allows you to make new friends, ones that you may not have otherwise made in Cambridge. Being friends with people that are familiar with the English culture is really interesting and enlightening, because they have a lot of different perspectives on life. This can also be said for the professors at Anglia Ruskin. Oftentimes, they have assumptions about America and Americans that you may have never thought of before, and it makes you think a little differently.

I would absolutely recommend taking a class at Anglia Ruskin if you were to stay at the Cambridge Study Center. It is a great way to immerse yourself in a different culture and get to know new people, and I am very grateful to have the opportunity to do so. And, if nothing else, it gives me the chance to walk through the town early in the morning and watch the snow fall on the River Cam, which always makes for a good day.

Snow on the way to class

Snow in the park on the way to Anglia Ruskin

When you go abroad, everyone will tell you to travel as much as you can and see as many things as you can, because you never know when you’re going to get another opportunity like this. Meeting new people and seeing new places helps you grow as an individual, and gives you a completely new perspective of the world. While I agree that these things are essential to a Study Abroad experience, I would also argue that it is also incredibly important to create a community with the people you are studying with. Creating a community with the other Valpo students with me has really made my study abroad experience that much more fun.

This weekend was an example of this. After everyone went to Scotland last weekend, we all decided that this weekend was going to be a stay-at-home weekend with fun activities planned for each day. Friday was the first day of the weekend, which we called “Baking Day.” As you may have already guessed, Friday contained a lot of baking. In total, we had two kinds of cookies, two kinds of cake, one bread, and one Rice Krispie treat batch, with some Baked Alaska still to come. Everyone had a blast making our favorite treats, and no one complained about having more sweets in the house.

Emily Pauline, Jessica Kok, Sarah Pruitt, and Emily Meredyk on “Baking Day”

Saturday was “Game Day,” and the director Matt Ringenberg came over with all kinds of games for us to play together for the afternoon. Half of the group played some kind of game with trains and a board, while the rest of us played Carcassonne. For those who haven’t played it before, it’s basically a game of building cities in a medieval kind of setting. It was very fun, and I had a great time figuring out how to build a town.

Another part of building a community in Cambridge is also about participating in things in and around Cambridge. For example, a small group of us have recently started going to Quiz Night on Sunday nights at Sir Isaac Newton’s pub. Last week, our group came in last out of ten teams, so we got to pick one of the topics for tomorrow night’s quiz night– Major League Baseball–and we’ve been studying up on our baseball history to get ready. So our last big event of the weekend will be Quiz Night.

It’s nice that when I am not traveling, I have a group of people that I am close with that I can hang out with and spend time with. It has really made a difference getting to know everyone, and building these friendships and spending time with all of these other Valpo students has really enhanced my Study Abroad experience.