Hey folks!
I'm finally getting settled here at Royal Holloway. The Brits just started arriving on campus today, as classes start tomorrow, so for now the people I have met are still in the international crowd. Hopefully that will change soon!
Yesterday Royal Holloway organized a trip for its international students to Eton and Windsor. While in Eton we saw the school boys moving between classes in their funny uniforms that can only be described as too formal for a prom, or even most weddings. They looked quite bizarre!
Windsor castle was definitely the highlight of the day though. St. George's chapel was absolutely astounding. I wish I could have taken pictures of some of the ridiculously intricate features inside. The wood working was beyond the realm of belief! It also felt weird to be walking around a building that served as burial chambers for a large number of British monarchs (Henry VIII the one that sticks in my head most clearly). The other rooms of the castle were equally amazing, housing legitimate suits of armor (again, Henry VIII's armor sticks out most clearly; you could tell from it that he was quite a stocky man!), and a huge assortment of weapons ranging from swords and maces all the way through muskets and pistols. There was also a huge collection of artwork, and even many ceilings were large murals. It deserved more than a day, and luckily I will be returning there in the future with a trip organized by Arcadia. Hopefully I can break loose from any tours they may try to force me on so that I can simply explore!
I was getting a little ahead of myself... we started the day actually, by visiting Runnymede, the location where the Magna Carta was signed. Today it is just one big field, but there is a memorial that is entirely underwhelming, and incredibly bizarre. It is located right next to the JFK memorial (no joke... and I have no explanation), and it was built by the American Bar Association. It amounts to nothing more than a stone gazebo with some text about the magna carta. I'm pretty sure, however, that the memorial says "American Bar Association" in more places than it actually mentions the magna carta. Lame.
Finally, today was the last day before classes. In the morning we walked into the town near the university, Egham, to see how the walk was and to explore. After a bit of wandering we picked up some more groceries, then grabbed lunch at a local pub. It was nothing too exciting, but all pretty necessary stuff, and I had a good time. After that I took as much of my class schedule as (I think) I know, and walked campus to make sure I know which buildings my classes are in. It is a long story, but class registration here is incredibly archaic, and I won't feel comfortable with all my class stuff until probably next week...
So for the next week the plan is to stay pretty local; I'd like to get worked into classes, and begin finally meeting some of the natives! I've already put myself on the mailing list for the school's volunteer organization, and tomorrow I am going to buy my membership at the student's union. I'll keep you posted as best I can.
Oh, and enjoy the pictures above... they are from the Windsor trip!
No comments:
Post a Comment