Londonderry! (and survey)

On Wednesday the 9^th, I got on a train, then a plane to come to Northern Ireland to visit Erin until we begin our big European excursion. I arrived in Londonderry around 11am Wednesday and my taxi driver didn’t know where the arts building was, so he just took me to campus and dropped me off in front of a big building. I figured I would just ask people in there where the arts building was. In my attempts to get into the building (you have to have a student card) I noticed a sign that said it was the arts building! That was very convenient! It was SO great to see Erin! I hadn’t seen her since we moved out of UNCG in December and we were really missing each other! We screamed and hugged and cried when we saw each other and really freaked out the other people in the stairwell. Ha!

The past few days have been so nice, catching up and spending time together. I love that I can cook real meals and them not go to waste because I am not the only person eating them!

I really like Londonderry. It has a similar vibe as the Pacific Northwest and if you know me at all, you know I love that area of America! I am going to be here until Friday the 18^th, and it has been really nice to relax and not have to go to class; even though I do have to do a little bit of school work. Speaking of school work, I am working on a paper for British Cultural Studies and I need people to do a survey for me. Here is the link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2T7873T It should take less that 5 minutes and I really would appreciate any answers! 

Bournville and Birmingham

On March 27 my friend Sam from UNCG came to visit me at Keele. She is currently studying abroad in Toledo, Spain. She arrived late that night, then on Friday I just showed her around Keele and Stoke-on-Trent. She got to experience Primark for the first time! I think she agrees that it is a pretty amazing place.

On Saturday we took a train to Birmingham to explore, but more importantly, to go to Cadbury World. Yes, Cadbury Chocolate has its own World! The factory where the majority of their chocolate is made is just on the outskirts of Birmingham in a village called Bournville.

We took the train from the center of Birmingham to Bournville and it was the smallest train station ever! There was no building, just two platforms for the trains coming from either direction. As we left the train station we were a little confused about what direction we needed to go, but we noticed smallish purple signs with arrows pointing us in the right direction. We came up on the back of the factory and became really confused, but with enough wandering we found our way.

The factory was really neat! It was mostly self-guided and we got some free chocolate! It was need to see the packaging area. Shows like “How It’s Made” really intrigue me, so seeing it first hand was even better! They told us a lot of the local history and history of the company as well. I didn’t know all that about the chocolate company! I’m going to miss Cadbury being so cheap when I come home! It is much better than any Hershey’s bar.

 After Cadbury World, we went back into the city center of Birmingham. This is where the real adventure begins. Sam had a bus back to London from Birmingham for her flight back to Spain. We weren’t sure where the bus stop was, so we figured we would find that first before going exploring. We couldn’t find it. We wandered so far looking for it and for places to ask. And everybody kept pointing us back to Hill Street where we started. We decided to go to the big bus station to ask about that bus stop and again they pointed us back to where we were. But we hadn’t seen it, so we didn’t have much hope. But we figured we would head back that way and explore on the way.

There was a Starbucks in the bus station and since it was a really warm day (read: 65 degrees F) I decided I wanted an Iced Coffee. I don’t think that is a big thing here because it wasn’t on the menu and when I asked how much it was the man looked at me funny and was like, “We will give you ice free of charge if you really want it.” It was a really funny encounter, and I did eventually get my iced coffee! And it tasted wonderful.

Across the street were quite a few different Vintage Clothing stores. I could have spent a lot of money and time in them but we just wandered and I avoided spending any money. Well until I saw some shoes I couldn’t pass up that is. I LOVE my L.L. Bean duck boots and I really wanted some short ones as well. And can you believe it, there was a pair of short, vintage, L.L. Bean duck moccasins in my size and in almost perfect condition for cheaper than a brand new pair! You bet I bought those as quick as I could!

We continued exploring until we needed to try and find the bus stop again for the sake of time. We make it back to Hill Street and once again, we cannot find the stop! We go into a small store on Hill Street and asked the man at the till. And he told us to go up the hill of Hill street and PASS the intersection and the stop was just past that. Yeah, we didn’t pass the intersection. Oops.

 Not our brightest moment, but it was one of my favorite adventures I’ve had in England so far! If we hadn’t went to the big bus station we wouldn’t have ended up in those vintage shops and I wouldn’t have found my shoes and Sam wouldn’t have found her scarf.

It was really fun to have a friend come visit me! We had a great time and I can’t wait to see Sam again when we get back to Greensboro.

STRESS!

I have one week until I leave for Northern Ireland.
One week until I get reunited with one of my best friends.
One week until I start the next leg of my adventure here in Europe.
One week is not long at all.
Especially when I look at everything I have to do...
I don't have anything due between now and then, but I do have two essays due within three days of returning to England, and I would feel much better getting them done now.
Looking at one of the essays I have to do sent me into a panic attack. (First one in a long while, so I'm pretty happy about that) I went and asked Ella for a hug and worked on calming down. I know I can do it and I know I will get it done. Even if it feels a little stressful right now. And once I get it done, I will feel so good knowing I can travel without that stress on my back!
Now, I just need to focus my eyes on the end goal and not get overwhelmed again.
Wish me luck!

When I'm in need of a break, I'll post about my trip to Birmingham this past weekend!

Tea and Toast

When the Student Union has big parties planned and it is common for a lot of people to go and get drunk, the Christian Union holds something called Tea and Toast. What is this you might ask.
The CU sets up in the chapel, which is right next to the SU building. Inside the Chapel, a ton of volunteers do just what it sounds like - make a ton of tea and toast. Volunteers stand outside and direct people towards the chapel to go inside and get some free food.
The CU held this event this past Wednesday and I went to help out. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it turned out to be a lot of fun! I don't think I have buttered that much toast in my life if you added it all up! It was pretty slow until about 3am when the SU kicked everybody out. At this point I was buttering toast like a mad woman and trying to make sure everybody got a piece.
I loved being able to show kindness to the other students here at Keele in a way that wouldn't happen on an everyday basis.
Such simple things can make huge impacts!

Edinburgh, Scotland

This past weekend I went to Edinburgh up in Scotland. When planning the places I wanted to go in Europe, Scotland didn't make the cut, but when Keele put together a trip for the international students I became a bit more interested. All I had to do is pay the ISS office and they organized the transportation and the hotel. Which was really nice now that I'm working on planning things for my trips in April. I seriously think I could be a travel agent by the end of this!

 

Anyhow, on to my trip. On Friday morning we all piled onto a bus around 8:00am and started heading north. Something interesting I have noticed about the UK is how nice their rest stops are. Each one has a restaurant or two, a grocery store, one of those magazine/sweets stores you see in airports, super nice bathrooms and lots of seating. I assuming it is because so many tours go up and down England, but it certainly is surprising!

 

We made it to Edinburgh around 3:30 and after putting our things in our hotel rooms, Amanda, Trista and I went exploring. We didn't have a plan, we just wandered around the streets. We found some cute shops and I bought a scarf because the wind ended up making the 50 degree weather feel much, much colder.

 

We weren't going to dinner until 7:30 so around 5 we found The Elephant House to warm up and have a snack.

 

Not only is The Elephant House an awesome cafe, it is also where JK Rowling spent her time writing the first Harry Potter book. How awesome is that? The bathrooms were covered in messages from fans (now including myself) to JK thanking her as well as quotes from the books.

 

This is one of my favorites. I agree, the world does need more magic.

 

If JK saved this person's life, imagine how many more she saved. Just because she had an idea in her head and wrote it down. The Harry Potter books were a huge part of my growing up and I still love them now. I really is mind blowing to think how big an impact one person can make on the world.

 

I got a coffee and an elephant shaped shortbread cookie. So cute and so yummy!

 

After The Elephant House we went back to the hotel and freshened up for dinner.

 

The hotel we stayed in had the most comfortable beds ever. I honestly have never slept better!

 

On Saturday morning we went of to tour Edinburgh Castle. We paid 16 pounds each to get in and it really wasn't that worth it. You win some and you lose some.

 

After the castle we looked at some street vendors then found ourselves back at The Elephant House for lunch. I love the atmosphere in there and I hope I can find a cozy little place like that on my future travels.

 

After lunch, I changed shoes and we went off to climb Arthur's Seat. Arthur's Seat is the highest (251 meters) of a group of hills (that were once volcanoes)  next to the city.

 

Some neat buildings we passed on the way.

 

The view part of the way up.

 

We made it! It was SO windy at the top! I had never experienced anything like it before. We had to stay crouched down not to get blown over! Which is pretty scary when you are on the top of a very high hill.

 

The view was spectacular. It was free to climb up, but I would have paid 16 pounds to do this in a heart beat, which makes up having to pay for the castle I suppose. The hike was difficult at times, and I was exhausted by the end, but I am so glad I did!

 

After a nap we all went out to dinner. I had chicken breast stuffed with haggis. If you aren't sure what that is, I'm sure google can help you out:) I really enjoyed it!

 

 

 

On Sunday we wandered around some shops together, then we split up and I went to the National Galleries Scotland. I cannot tell you how nice it was to walk around an art museum on my own. It was pretty small, but they still had some great pieces. Degas is one of my favorites and there were about 5, which is quite a few for a museum their size.

 

 

After the museum it was time to head back to the hotel to get on the bus and head back to Keele. I walked through this park and the sun was shining and I could hear somebody playing bagpipes and I stopped and realized once again how lucky I am to be here. I worked hard all summer as well as over my Christmas break to save money for all of these trips. At times I was so tired and ready to go home, but I'm so glad I put the extra hours in. It really was worth it. And a wonderful reminder that I can do anything I put my mind to.

 

All in all, I loved Edinburgh and I hope that one day I'll be able to go back!

Playing Catch-up

So it has been a while since I wrote a generic what's been going on post, so I figure we have a lot to catch up on.

Okay, first things first, I love England and I never want to leave. Ever. My time here is going by way too quickly and I've been making great friends. I don't want to leave them behind. I definitely miss home, but it sucks that England is so far away.

Second, Erin and I have been planning trips for April and May. There are so many exciting things on the horizon! April 9th I'm flying to Northern Ireland to spend time with Erin. Then on April 18th we are flying to London to spend a few days there. We want to see a play or two, and just explore. We also have plans to go to Stonehenge and Harry Potter Studios where the movies were filmed! I'm super excited for that. On April 23 we are going to Italy!!! I am beyond excited. We will be there until May 2nd. We are arriving in Venice and leaving out of Rome. I am so blessed to have one of my best friends here with me to experience it all.

The past few weeks here at Keele have been wonderful for many different reasons. One of them being the fact that I haven't worn my rain boots since BEFORE I went to London! Yes, we have had rain here and there since then, but nothing so bad that it required rain boots. The past week has been sunny and warm. Today is a proper spring day and I love it.

The week after London I got a cold, but luckily it wasn't too bad and I had some medicine that really helped. Hopefully that was my first and last British cold.

Last Saturday, my friend, Ella and I went into Hanley to go shopping. We went to Primark and Topshop as well as TK Maxx. We ended up getting McDonalds for lunch because we were curious to see if American McDonalds tasted any different compared to British McDonalds. The fries (or chips as they say here!) tasted exactly the same, but my McChicken was different. Not bad, just different. Ok, now American McDonalds, listen up. If you buy a value meal and show your student card here, you get a free McFlurry! How awesome is that?!

On Shrove Tuesday I made American Pancakes for anybody in my building who wanted some. Having never made pancakes from scratch before, I was pretty happy when they were a success! Everybody really enjoyed them, but I was glad when I was done. After four batches you don't want to see pancakes again for a while! I could never work at IHOP!

I've been having some assignments due here and there now that the end of the semester is getting closer. We have 10 weeks before Easter break (which is April 4-May 5) and this is week 7. Why is time flying by so quickly?! All of my essays are due in the first few weeks of May, then I am free until I come home June 12. Erin and I have a few more trips in the works but nothing is set in stone yet.

Whew! That was a lot to talk about! Hopefully I'll do a better job at this in the upcoming weeks.

Have a great day! Feel free to ask me any questions.

London Day 3 with Pictures

This has taken me way too long to get to and I'm sorry guys! I need to pay more attention and actually post things! Maybe if you all nagged me a little bit I would get them written. Anyhow, on to day 3.

 

We started out the day checking out of the Hostel then we went to tour Kensington Palace.

 

 

 

It was a beautiful day so I sat down for a minute and Zoe snapped this picture.

 

Kensington was one of my favorite parts of London. It was so neat and see all the different rooms that the royals lived in. It was set up in such an artistic and creative manner - very unique compared to other tours. There was a part of the tour that looked at the fashion of the princesses and queens over the years and it ended at Princess Diana; they'll need to add Princess Kate soon!

 

After the gardens we walked through Kensington Gardens to the Prince Albert memorial. It was such a nice day and there were so many families and people with their dogs enjoying the sun!

 

Here's Prince Albert Memorial.

 

 

I love the architecture on these buildings!

 

We went to Liverpool Street to check out another market, but this bakery lured us in and we never actually found the market. This was our late Valentines day treats since we didn't find anything this nice actually on Valentines Day.

 

 

I haven't had cake that good in a long time. Next time I'm in London I know where I'm getting dessert!

 

Now that I'm finally caught up on London, I'm off to Edinburgh this weekend!