It was sunny today...

Went for a walk. Found how to get to Runnymede (a big field... presumably where the buildings were in which the Magna Carta was signed... see earlier post) on foot. Took some pics of the firehouse for the Garmans. Saw a cool sign with the sunny field in the background; took a picture. Did some reading today. Slow day.....

Also, a picture from our homestay. Unfortunately I don't yet have any of my main hosts, but their daughter Kirsty is on the right.

Natural History and Homestay

So it has been a long time since my last update. That means this will be a long one. I apologize.

Last Wednesday (21st) I used my day off to travel into London once again. This time I got a group together, because there is a special deal that if you have a group of four people traveling together for the day, you can get 4 train tickets for the price of 2! Ridiculous. We wound up with five (all Americans, sadly): Stu, Leah, Sarah, John and myself. The plan: go see the natural history museum, get some food, and do a little shopping (not my choice, but I was only a part of the group, so whatever).

The natural museum is free to visit, but I wanted to go on a weekday because it is apparently SWAMPED on weekends with kids, families and tourists. A nondescript Wednesday was perfect though. The building is absolutely astounding (see pics). It had little animal gargoyle things on the outside, and was made entirely of heavy stone. It was very impressive, and once you were inside you totally lost track of where you were. The museum had exhibits on everything from evolution (they really like Darwin... surprise!), to rocks, to space, to bugs. It was enormous.

That being said, it wasn't nearly as cool as the Tower of London or Windsor. Natural museums can be impressive, but there is a sense that to some degree they are all fundamentally the same. We had our fill after a couple hours, and knowing that we could return for free at any time made our exit.

Nobody had eaten lunch so we were starving. We had wandered on the tube over to High Street Kensington for the shoppers in the group, and were trying to find reasonably priced food... which was naturally very difficult in the shopping area. Eventually we stumbled across a restaurant where you could get personal pizzas for 5 pounds apiece (it was a special, the menu showed them typically costing between 5.5 pounds and 10 pounds, so it was pretty nice). After eating we wandered with the shoppers, and eventually made our exit so Leah could get back to campus for a choir thing. It was a fun day; I got to people a little better and I saw some cool stuff. Nothing epic though.

Oh! I forgot to mention.... The night before the natural history museum experience (Tuesday the 20th), I saw a sign for a debate society event. The debate society was going to be debating the motion of whether or not the English should sanction Israel for the events of recent weeks. I figured it would be interesting and decided to join the audience. It is interesting that there is such a pro-Palestinian leaning in the UK when there is such a pro-Israel stance at home.

The debate was in a large lecture theater and was packed. It was naturally very heated. The opposition (pro-Israel) was entirely outdebated and clearly lost. Even if the odds weren't stacked against them they just didn't do very well. Add to that the fact that the audience was yelling and totally breaking debate rules and they didn't stand a chance. It was very interesting.

Skip ahead now... Wednesday was Natural History, Thursday and Friday were work/class days. Nothing special. Friday night however, all 6 of us at Royal Holloway through Arcadia departed campus on a bus for Swansea, Wales. We were going to have a homestay for the weekend with various Welsh families. When we arrived in Swansea there was another bus with Arcadia students from King's University. In a very disorganized fashion we were divided up and sent with random Welsh people.

Jake (the Bucknell student studying at Royal Holloway through Arcadia) and I had earlier been given information that said we were staying with a Lynda McNaught. She was supposed to be a single woman, with no children and no pets, according to the information we were given. Jake and I were also supposed to be the only people staying with her. Well, when we met her she was with a man that she introduced as Matthew, and there was another student, Ben from King's University, coming along as well. We were a little confused, but nothing too bad. As we were pulling out of the parking lot the woman organizing students and families shouted to stop us and shoved another guy, Viral (pronounced Veer-il) from King's into the (now very crowded) car with us. Clearly organization was lax for this experience! We then found out that Lynda had been expecting four girls... whoops.

When we got to their house we were in for more suprises! There was a girl that looked to be about our age, Kirsty, a guy that looked a little older than us, Jason, a baby, Caitlin, and a dog, Pip. All we got was their names, so we were very confused about everyone's relation to one another. There was also a Slovakian exchange student named "Adam," but they explained his presence (he is there for 6 months). We talked for a little while, and then headed off to bed. Before going to sleep the four of us (who all shared a room) tried to sort out who everyone was! By the end of the weekend we figured this out: Matthew, a Scotsman, and Lynda have married over 20 years. Kirsty is a daughter that they adopted when she was ~10. We think Jason, who didn't actually live with them, is Matthew's son, but not Lynda's. Caitlin, the baby, is Kirsty's. The dog, Pip, is only 5 months old, but was rescued by Kirsty from an abusive owner. Now she doesn't want the dog, but wants to be sure it goes to a good home.

Phew! It is all very complicated.

To keep things as short as possible I'll try to be brief about what we did. Saturday all the people on homestays got together to be guided by one lady and her very funny 6 year old nephew. We saw the marina in Swansea, tried some local foods, went to a museum that was state of the art, but pretty empty to be honest. Eventually we were set free to do our own thing. A group of us took a bus to the "Mumbles" which is a scenic spot on the outskirts of Swansea (which is on the coast). Very nice, we had a good time.

That night we ate dinner at our hosts'. It was a very big dinner, and it was nice not to cook or pay, but it wasn't anything specifically Welsh. After dinner we sat around talking some more. Matthew was a real character. Eventually they convinced Jake and I to go downtown, to Wine Street, but Ben and Viral opted to stay in. Jake and I were able to convince Matthew to come along, and he was more than happy to oblige. The street was absolutely nuts. I don't know if I've ever seen such a drunken display anywhere before. The street was just club after club and people were stumbling every which way. We stayed for a little while, but it was loud and not all that much fun (Matthew was having a ball though!). Then we caught a cab home and went to bed.

The next day we just took the dog out to be walked and caught the bus back to Royal Holloway. Since then I've been catching up on things like groceries and laundry.

Finally: in yet another attempt to reach out to the seemingly uninviting natives I have sent emails out to the university's juggling club and "James Bond appreciation society" (I found them after a good 20 minutes scouring the university's poorly crafted website). I immediately got a message saying the juggling address was not valid, but I sent an inquiry to the student union to see if there is any other way to contact the club. I'm waiting for real responses on all fronts. We'll see!

The end. You made it! Congratulations...

Royal Holloway Internationals Journey Downtown!

Hey,

A little late on this one... On Saturday Royal Holloway led a guided trip to downtown London for all the international students. Along the way were were to hit Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, the National Gallery, and a Jack the Ripper walking tour (not to mention dinner), all for free (if you count already paying for it in the cost of attending school here as free)!

We were supposed to get a late start, around 1:15 (or 13:15 as they annoyingly like to write it here). Turns out the bus (coach, as they say) was a little late, so we didn't get out even that early. As we were waiting for the bus to arrive we got to see the Royal Holloway version of American football. I was surprised when I had learned they had an American football club, but intrigued. I expected it to be touch, or flag, or even tackle without pads, rugby style, but indeed they had the full get up. Kinda dull to watch though; they weren't very good. They clearly hadn't been playing for their whole lives!

When the coach did get there we piled on and expected to be downtown in no more than half an hour. Two hours later, after sitting in ridiculously slow traffic, and listening to our desperate tour guide's painful attempts to say interesting things (she was reduced to explaining London parking restrictions... I wished she would just let us make faces at the cars next to us!), we were finally there! We piled off the bus and took a short stroll to find ourselves in front of Buckingham Palaces. According to the Union Jack flag on top the queen was not home :-(

After a few picture opportunities and some short explanations from the tour guide, that I again found less than fascinating, we were off again! We were late and had a lot of ground to cover. We blew through the mansions surrounding Buckingham, hearing briefly about what royalty was supposed to live where, and how none of them were ever home. Eventually we came to a big building that is apparently the home of the Horse Guards. As best I could understand from the rushed explanations, the horse guards are supposed to guard the entire area in which Buckingham sits, and every day at four o'clock they go home (I guess people only attack the queen before dark). But before they leave they get inspected for appearances (see pics).

This is my conclusion after seeing the beefeaters of the Tower of London, the Horse Guards, and the guys in funny bear hats... there is a reason Great Britain is not the single greatest world power, as they once were. All these guys in elaborate costumes I'm sure served very important functions in the past. I also understand they are a great part of British national pride and image. But honestly, aren't they just an awful waste? They serve no legitimate function beyond being tourist attractions, yet I'm sure they cost an awful lot of money! And think about the man hours wasted for just one guard in a funny bear hat! He probably trained for years to do that job. And then he spends years standing completely still in all sorts of weather. And what does he accomplish beyond getting his picture taken a lot? It is the mentality and resources behind this sort of tradition that are the reasons Britain is no longer leading world politics (but they are a big reason Britain probably has more pictures of members of its "military" on refrigerators worldwide than any other country).

After the horse guards we bolted towards Trafalgar Square, which was a riot. Almost literally. The Palestinians were out in force, protesting to the long-dead Admiral Lord Nelson about the actions of the Israelis. Nelson was standing tall and firm, unresponsive to the commotion at his feet. The police were much more responsive. There were hundreds of them around, and sirens were going off left and right as police vehicles suddenly mobilized all at once and started circling Trafalgar Square. No idea why, things seemed peaceful enough, but apparently driving in circles with sirens blaring was necessary.

Needless to say we were glad to get into the National Gallery. Pleasantly enough, even though I wouldn't have had to pay anyway, the National Gallery is free! And it is massive. Our tour guide was desperately trying to lead a group of 30 or so people through the gallery to see the bits she felt were important, bypassing impressive paintings by the hundred.... I'll have to go back.

After the National Gallery whirlwind tour we stopped for dinner, which was good, but not particularly eventful. Cake. Mmmmm.

Finally, we were on to the last activity of the day/night. Jack the Ripper walking tour with a real bonafide "Ripperologist." The guy was an excellent story teller. As he walked us around the East End to the locations of Jack's 5 murders he described them and the efforts made to catch Jack. I never realized how gruesome he was. I knew he was a serial killer; I didn't know he was so gross! It was very interesting, even though all of the buildings were so different from the time period being described (I don't think Jack the Ripper jumped any of the prostitutes in the parking garage... but maybe).

When that tour was over we said our thanks and took off back to Royal Holloway on our 'coach.' As we drove back the driver pointed out some of the notable sights from famous movies, like Diagon Alley in the Harry Potter films (which I had actually already seen on our tour of "The City" with Arcadia), a street Bridget Jones apparently ran down in her underwear (or something, dunno, never saw it), and the rooftop on which the Mary Poppins rooftop scenes were filmed.

Whew!

Last little bit now. Sunday I spent trying to do my school work. In fact I didn't do any. Instead I filled out an application to an internship I am applying for this summer (for those that may have heard about the CDC thing... it won't work; for those that haven't heard of the CDC thing... never mind), and an application to volunteer at the local "old persons" home. A lot harder to volunteer than in the US. Frustrating. Then Sunday night I was planning on getting updates about the Steelers AFC Championship via internet phone with Katie. Turns out one of the guys from Bucknell also studying here is a Steelers fan and found the game streaming online. So I got to see the Steelers win the AFC championship! WOOOOOO. Granted the game ended at 3:30 AM London time, but it was worth it ;-) Now I just have to find someplace I can really watch the Super Bowl. I have to see that in full resolution and in its entirety of course!

That was long. Good job getting through it. As usual, email or comment if you like. I'll do my best to get back to you.

Tower of London!

Well, today was the second day of my two weekly weekends, so I decided to head into the city to see what I could see! Destination: Tower of London.
Verdict: very cool. A few basics first. It is very old. Lots of people died there. It really is the location of the crown jewels, I saw them with my own eyes, and the beefeater tour guide told us they are in fact the crown jewels.
Also of note, this was my first time even walking into Egham (the town my school is in) on my own, nonetheless then taking the train into London and the tube. It all went quite smoothly. 9.50 pounds for the train + an all day tube pass. A little expensive, but not tooooo bad. What killed me was that tickets to the Tower were 14.00 pounds after the student discount. Gag. Knowing I probably wouldn't be able to buy my way back in I spent allllll day there!
So I started with a tour from a beefeater (technically a Yeoman Warder). They are technically the guards of the tower, guarding both the prisoners and the royal treasures within. That's why they are all former members of the armed forces (except the navy for some reason...). In practice they are tour guides and a sight in and of themselves due to their funny uniforms. The most interesting part... they live there! That's right, the Yeoman Warders and their families live in the Tower of London, and every night at 10:00 get locked in!
The tour was actually pretty brief, and focused mostly on death and stuff, but it was interesting. It ended in the Tower's chapel, which serves as the burial place for a bunch of famous people (like Anne Boleyn). Apparently, however, during one past renovation the builders were told to preserve any remains they stumbled across in the floor, and to try to identify them. Turns out they found over 1,000. They could only identify 33. The Tower's kind of a scary place!
After that I did my own wandering. Saw more armor, weapons, etc. Next went to see the Crown Jewels. To settle arguments... yes the Crown Jewels are at the Tower of London, and yes they are the real ones (or so says the Yeoman Warder). The joy of going on a not special Thursday... nobody was there! I just walked right in to see them, bypassing the rows and rows and rows of fences in place to control crowds.
The last part was coolest. I walked the wall (as you have figured out by now I'm sure, the tower is a complex of towers, not just one), and went into a bunch of the smaller towers. In one, the Salt Tower, they have preserved scratchings on the walls from prisoners dating back to the 1500s! About half of them are Jesuit and Catholic symbols. I included a (dark) picture of the most intricate and amazing piece of graffiti though. It is an astrology chart chipped into the wall by a man accused of sorcery (I don't think he helped his case). The level of detail and the perfect lines and circles are awesome!
I should get going to do some reading at this point, since I didn't do any today, but I wanted to share what's up. Tomorrow I have my last two classes (Arid Africa and Geomorphology). Saturday Royal Holloway is taking the internationals into the city to see the National Gallery and take a Jack the Ripper tour, and then Sunday I am sure I will need to catch up on some work!

See ya!

More about classes

I finally got the rest of my academic schedule worked out today, picking up the last geography class that I needed (it is a geomorphology class), and getting the schedule times for my remaining classes. Both are on Friday which means... I have no classes on Wednesday or Thursday! Although that seems awfully nice at first glance, they clearly require significantly more reading here than at home (which seems amazing to me; I read a lot at home).

So now I've got to figure out how to balance my time. My goals in studying abroad were not and are not academic. I think there is more to learn by getting out and seeing things. But old habits die hard. I am going to try to do as much work as I can tonight and tomorrow, and then maybe take Thursday to go in to London, maybe even on my own, to see some museums... not something I would typically do on a Thursday at home!

Suggestions for what museums to see? National Gallery is on Saturday with the rest of the international students, so leave that one out. Either post a comment or send me an email with suggestions!

School and Class

Very brief (hopefully) today...

The pictures you see are of "The Founder's Building" on campus at Royal Holloway. It houses all sorts of officies, the health center, and is even home to a large number of students! It is an enormous brick castle built in the Victorian Age. It used to constitute the entire university. It is impossible to capture just how awesome a building it truly is. The staircase you see... solid stone. All the way up the 5 stories. Incredible.

Today I had my first class. The way things work here, each class has one lecture per week, and then splits into smaller seminars for the rest of the week. So for each class during a week I have a lecture and a seminar. It isn't much class time, but you are expected to do an incredible amount of reading. And they don't tell you what to read either. They have a list of suggestions that is literally like 100 books long, and you are just supposed to read some stuff... it incredibly daunting, especially for a student that isn't really there for the academics, but is looking to travel and have unique experiences with a little schoolwork on the side!

Windsor, and a grocery store!

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!