Global Colgate

Football Extravaganza

Yesterday officially kicked off my football extravaganza week in which I will be going to 4 matches in the span of 8 days (did I mention I was obsessed?).  Inexplicably, I was able to get tickets for the Chelsea vs. Juventus Champions League match.  This was the football match that was shown on basic cable in the U.S. yesterday.  It was an incredibly hard ticket to get considering the two teams are powerhouses in their respective leagues (Chelsea in England and Juventus in Italy).  It was an absolutely amazing match and one that Chelsea thankfully won.  As always seems to be in these big matches, there was chanting, passion, and fanfare from the get go.  I learned some new Chelsea chants and was able to see football supporters at their best (and unfortunately also at their worst).  It was a night game played under the Stamford Bridge lights and it was the best game I've been to so far and could very well turn out to be the best game I go to all year given the world class players that were on display.

However, the match was not the only exciting thing that has happened so far this week.  On Monday, as previous bloggers have mentioned, I went to the play Every Good Boy Deserves Favour.  It was a great play.  What I found to be most impressive was the use of members of the orchestra as actors in the play.  It was also surprisingly funny given its subject matter was about someone who was wrongfully locked up in an "insane asylum" in Soviet Russia.  Today's walkabout for History 349 covered quite a bit of area.  We started at Trafalgar Square and eventually made our way down the Mall to Buckingham Palace.  As we were walking down the Mall we saw the Horse Guards marching down the Mall on their way to relieve other members of the horse guards of duty.  As far as the rest of the week and this weekend, tomorrow I am going on a day trip to Canterbury and to a small town called Whitstable in Kent.  I read about the great food in Whitstable in the NY Times travel section and that article made me want to spend a couple hours there exploring the town.  Hopefully I will come back with a good report.

Talk to you soon,
Aaron

Horse Guards

SCOTLAND!

My roommates Audrey, Mindy, Regan and I also went to Edinburgh this weekend. Edinburgh was by far my favorite European city (I've been to Paris, London, Vienna, Salzberg, Venice, and Milan so far...).
The culture, the weather, the people, the food, and the views were all so much better than I expected. The first thing we did was go to Deacon Brodie's and ate authentic Scottish meal. I had the Gammon & Eggs, a pint, and the 'lumpy bumpy cake'.
On Friday we toured the city. First we also went to the Elephant House for breakfast where JK Rowling began writing Harry Potter. We went to the castle, walked up and down the closes (streets just for walking that go uphill), walked down the Royal Mile and visited the Holyrood palace where the Queen stays when she comes to London. We saw the ruins of a church that was destroyed in religious fights tears ago.  Then we went to this amazing place for lunch, called 'Chocolate Soup' where they had amazing lunch soups AND dessert soups. (It was so good that I went back the very next day.... um..twice... )

The next day, Saturday we went to Mary King's Close. Its a street that was covered when City Hall was built. Now, there are tours that show what life was like in the closes during the Plague. During the worst plague, 1/3 of the people in Edinburgh died. The tour was so entertaining, dark, and mysterious, I recommend it to anyone who goes to Scotland. Later on, my boyfriend showed me around the University of Edinburgh where he is studying. The school itself is older than any American institution, and dates back to the 1500s!

On Sunday, we climbed to the top of Arthur's Seat, a huge....well I don't know if its a small mountain or a huge hill, but it was huge, and we climbed to the top. The views from the top over the city and the lochs were the most amazing views I have ever seen. And some of the Edinburgh students' dorms are right at the bottom of it! I can't wait to go back to Scotland for spring break and visit the Scottish Highlands!

This is a view from the top of Arthur's Seat:

 

On the way back I had to study for our European Union Exam on the train. The test went well, but being abroad it can be hard to balance all the travel and school work. On Monday night, we went to see the play "Every Good Boy Deserves Favor" and we talked about it in Theatre class today. Theatre is becoming one of my favorite classes! It is so fun to see plays every week and then share our thoughts. 

Tomorrow morning the economics group is taking a day trip to Bath & Stonehenge. I can't wait!

Theater

On Monday night we saw Every Good Boy Deserves Favour for our theater class.  It was phenomenal!  The play is about a man named Ivanov who is placed in an insane asylum for speaking out against political injustices.  The government promises that if Ivanov admits that he was crazy and has been cured, then he can return to his home.  He refuses.  Ivanov's cell-mate (also named Ivanov) is convinced that he is surrounded by an orchestra.  One of the most interesting parts of the play is that there is actually a full orchestra onstage.  The actors interact with the musicians, which I really enjoyed. 

This morning I walked to Southwark (a borough of London) and explored an outdoor market near the Elephant and Castle tube station.  I also stumbled on the Southwark Cathedral, which is the oldest Gothic cathedral in London.  It is interesting to learn about architecture in my History of London course and then to walk around and actually see the different building styles. 

Our London in Fiction class watched Persuasion (a film based on Jane Austen's novel) today in preparation for our weekend trip to Bath and Stonehenge.  It should be an interesting trip and I'm looking forward to it.

Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and more

Hey Everyone.  It's been about a month since I arrived in Israel, and it feels more like a year.  I am working my way through the last week of Ulpan (month-long hebrew class) and we start regular classes next Monday.  I feel like my Hebrew has improved vastly as I have had many opportunities to converse with Israelis on an every day basis.  Although most young people seem to speak some English (they all watch American TV), many older citizens still only speak Hebrew and/or Arabic.  

Since I last posted, I have done lots more exploring in the Tel Aviv Area, doing my best to try all types of food and see all of the interesting places (Yaffo, Central Tel Aviv etc).  Obviously, I have been having falafel and schwarma on a regular basis, but perhaps the most interesting cuisine I have tried was Ethiopian food.  There is a large Ethiopian Jewish population in Israel, and I had the privilege of eating at an Ethiopian restaurant in Tel Aviv. 

A few weeks ago, I took a trip up north to visit family friends, where I was able to milk a cow for the first time (interesting that I had to go to Israel to do things that people do in Hamilton).  I also spent an afternoon riding horses with their Bedouin neighbors.  The north is beautiful and green, an image that most people do not think of when thinking about Israel.  

 

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I spent last weekend in Jerusalem, where I stayed in a youth hostel in the Muslim quarter of the old city.  We spent time exploring the old city's shops and sites.  We visited the western wall, the church of the holy sepulchre in addition to the countless other ancient holy sites in the old city.  It is truly amazing to see people from so many different religions in one place.  We also took time to explore the new city of Jerusalem, walking around the Ben Yehuda Street area and seeing the Jerusalem shook on a Friday morning before Shabbat.  

 

In the next few weeks, I'll be visiting Eilat, the Negev and the Dead Sea.  That is all for now, I'll do my best to post again soon...  Shalom, Salaam, Peace. 

 

SCOTLAND!

Thursday morning, my sister Elissa (who was visiting me for the week) and I woke up at 3.55am to catch our taxi at 4.30am to catch our flight at 6.45am out of the Cardiff International Airport.  Although the flight seemed insanely early, it was nice to get to Edinburgh early enough to have an entire day in the city the first day we were there.  I had never been to Scotland before, and it was at the very top of my list of places I wanted to visit. 

Edinburgh was absolutely gorgeous.  It seemed as if all of the buildings were steeped in history and the architecture was stunning.  As with nearly everywhere I travel to, I wanted to visit all of the major museums.  Along with more traditional ones like the National Museum (where we saw Dolly), the National Gallery and the Scottish Gallery, we also went to the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons.  As a medical student, Elissa was fascinated by the exhibits there.  As for me, I found the museum interesting but also quite disturbing.  There was everything from tapeworms to brains to deformed limbs, all of which were preserved in jars.  I felt like I was in Frankenstein’s laboratory.

The Past Week

After an eventful past two weekends it is about time I posted about them.  Two weekends ago I was in York, which is in Yorkshire in the northeast of the country.  Damien, Safwan, and myself left Friday morning and after a two hour trip got to York.  However, we didn't stay long but instead, after dropping our stuff off at the bed and breakfast, straight away boarded another train and headed for Durham.  Durham is about an hour away from York and has a breathtakingly beautiful cathedral that is on top of a hill.  We spent the afternoon and early evening exploring the cathedral and the rest of the town.  Saturday we spent the day exploring York.  York is a really nice medieval city and, like most medieval cities, is neatly compacted together inside the city walls.  Of note, we visited the York Minster, which is the largest gothic cathedral north of the Alps.  Unfortunately, its East window, which has the Minster's most impressive stain glass work, is undergoing repairs.  However, it was nevertheless incredibly impressive.

This past week has been busy but I've very much fallen into the routine of Monday and Wednesday being at the archives and Tuesday and Thursday going to class and doing work (with a couple hours here and there for exploration).  I was planning on going to Portsmouth on Friday (I really want to see the shipyards there) but instead ended up staying in London and will go over Spring Break.  However, it was an absolutely gorgeous Friday and Saturday here in London ... sun and bright blue skies.  Friday, I went on a good walk and went to a few museums such as the National Gallery.  Saturday I started off by deciding to brave Portobello Road market in Notting Hill and see what was there.  I got there very early when it was crowded but navigable and saw some great shops and antiques and had some good food.  However, as I was leaving around 11:30AM, it all of a sudden became a sea of people and it was nearly impossible to move around.  I also got to kick off my football extravaganza that will be these next two weeks a little early when I was invited to attend the Arsenal vs. Sunderalnd match.  Unfortunately, there were no goals but it was a great experience nonetheless with 60,000 crazy football fans.

I plan on being much more on top of things this week as far as the blog goes so hopefully a new post on Thursday with updates of the start of the week and of the Chelsea vs. Juventus Champions League game (how I got tickets I have absolutely no idea).

Talk to you soon,
Aaron

View of Durham Cathedral from the river

Inside of York Minster

Dublin

I just got back from a wonderful two days in Dublin.  I met up with some of my friends from high school and we had a fantastic time exploring the city.  On Friday, we walked around O'Connell Street, which is the main thoroughfare in the city.  We saw some of Dublin's most famous buildings, such as the Royal Exchange, Dublin Castle (which was really more of a military outpost than a conventional castle), monuments dedicated to the Vikings, Christ Church Cathedral, the Millennium Spire (a 120 meter metal spire built in 2003 to commemorate the millennium...It's not very attractive and apparently most Dubliners hate it, but it served as a good landmark for getting our bearings), Trinity College and St. Stephen's Green, which is a beautiful little park with a swan pond.

On Saturday, my friends and I went to Malahide Castle.  It was amazing!  Malahide Castle is one of Ireland's oldest castles.  It is small, but it is especially interesting because it was inhabited up until thirty years ago.  We took a tour inside and saw the priceless furniture and decorations that the castle has accumulated over the last three centuries. 

G'day from the Land Down Under

Well, I made it! I finally arrived in Sydney two days ago at around 9:30 am Sydney time. I had been traveling for approximately a day. The plane ride to Sydney was really long but there were tv screens on the back of each seat so I was able to entertain myself with movies for most of the ride. Once we got to Sydney, we made our way through customs fairly quickly and found our ride (a limo!) to the University of Wollongong (which is about an hour away from Sydney). On our way to Wollongong, the driver stopped at a lookout point which had an incredible view. We could see many trees, the beach, and the waves crashing onto the shore. It was quite a breathtaking view. After that, we resumed our ride and were shortly thereafter delivered to Weerona College, my place of residence for this semester. Weerona has an extensive orientation program packed with all sorts of fun activities so I haven't had much time to myself but I have been having so much fun that I don't really mind. I have been meeting some really nice people and having an all around fantastic time. Today, we went to a waterpark which was loads of fun. I also saw some alpacas grazing which was a first time experience for me. No kangaroo sightings yet but I'm sure there will be one soon.

After my first couple of days in Australia, I have realized that Australians are incredibly friendly people. All the people that I have met so far have been very welcoming and have made this transition much easier than I thought it would be. Well, there's the airhorn for the next activity so I must go for now but I will be writing again soon. Judging by my first few days here, it is gonna be a great semester!

L'amour!

Hello!

This past weekend, my boyfriend Chip and I went to Paris for Valentine's Day. It became obvious rather quickly that we weren't the only ones to come up with this idea. Couples invaded the city and its tourist sites, which actually made it kind of fun to be a part of.

We went to Notre Dame and climbed to the top where there were great views of the city. We went to the Latin quarter. We went to the Lourve where i ran into a friend from Colgate. (Apparently, everyone who has gone to the Lourve so far has run into someone from Colgate who is abroad in Europe! What a small world.) We went to the Champs Elyeeses, the Arc d'triumph, the Musee d'Orsey, the top of the Eiffel Tower, the jardin de'tuileries, and so many other places. On Sunday before our train left we climbed to the top of Montmarte and sat on the steps of Sacre Coeur in the sun. It was one of the most beautiful sights I had ever seen, we sat there warming ourselves for hours listeing to the harp player and looking out of the city. By the end of the weekend my feet were so sore from climbing and walking so much!

After it all, the thing that still stands out most to me about Paris was the lack for convenience stores. This may seem like a trivial thing, but we walked literally over the entire city, and visited many well-trafficked areas, and day after day we could not find a convenience store or super market anywhere!! We were surrounded by cafes and restaurants, but all we wanted, as good American tourists on the go, was a quick sandwich or snack. I realized quickly that this is part of French culture. You are supposed to relax and enjoy your food, not grab it on the go. The contrast with London was the biggest shock. Everywhere you go in London you can get those sanwiches in little triangle boxes, and when I say everywhere, I mean EVERYWHERE, the pharmacy, the convenience store, the grocery store, on any given block there are probably 10+ places to grab yourself a quick lunch. I had gotten so used to this culture that I refused to sit down at a cafe to eat lunch. We bravely soldiered on to the next tourist site with empty stomachs. I will say, however, that the baguettes in the morning were the perfect breakfast on the go. I wish I could always start each day by walking around eating a huge piece of bread!

When I arrived back in London, I prepared for a busy week. In addition to 3-4 hours of class each day, on Monday we saw the play Complicit, yesterday we visited the U.S. Embassy to take a tour by a Colgate alum, and today we visited Lloyd's of London for a tour. 

Until next time,

Jess

Complicit

On Monday night our theater class went to see Complicit directed by Kevin Spacey.  It is a political play set in the U.S. post-9/11.  Basically, a journalist (Richard Dreyfuss) is on trial for publishing information about how the U.S. uses torture to obtain information from terrorists.  The entire play is a dialog between the journalist, his lawyer and his wife as they debate whether or not he should reveal his source (and consequently relinquish his morals) and thus avoid prison.

I really enjoyed the play, even though most of my classmates absolutely hated it.  I agreed that the acting left a bit to be desired, but on the whole I found the content to be incredibly worthwhile.  

Gas masks and gelato! The past two weeks…

Between traveling and archival research, I feel as though I’ve been constantly on the move since I got to London, except wow that was a month ago!  I’m a little behind with posts but I will blame it on the fact that I have been living in and out of my suitcase.  As soon as I was unpacking from Edinburgh, I was tossing things in my backpack for Belgium and then starting all over again when I flew to Florence this past weekend.  London is such a huge city, and I have spent three out of four weekends somewhere else.          
    Let me go back to the Belgium trip so we can get caught up.  Morning sun was barely peeking up as our motley history crew rolled out on a coach bus towards the white cliffs of Dover.  The early ride put most of us to sleep, and we woke up with the cliffs peering down over our shoulders.  At home the beach is only a ten minute drive and I didn’t realize how much I missed boats and real water (the murky Thames doesn’t quite count) until we were on the ferry to Calais and the salty wind was whipping my face.  From Calais, we drove through the countryside, crossed the border into Belgium, and arrived in Ypres. 
    Every town needs its tourist industry, and Ypres lives and breathes World War I.  Ypres was a site of heavy fighting and destruction throughout the war.  We visited the In Flanders Fields museum, Tyne Cot Cemetery, the Menin Gate, and real trenches.  The Menin Gate lists about 55,000 names of missing soldiers and Tyne Cot Cemetery has another 35,000 names.  Tyne Cot Cemetery was stunning at sunset.  The rows of white head stones glowed in the fading light.  The trip was fun and thought provoking.  WWI too often tends to be rushed through and squished into WWII in American schooling.  In Europe, WWI stands on its own as a distinct moment in history.  Studying here has opened my eyes to how little Americans tend to know about what’s happening in countries outside of our own, and yet foreigners make a great effort to know our politics and history.  
    Our last stop in Ypres- the Sanctuary Wood- was a weird amalgamation of war artifacts and modern tourism.  The Sanctuary Wood Museum is a farmer’s shed filled with a vast collection of war items found in his backyard, including shells, rusted barb wire, boots, medals, helmets, guns, uniforms and so much more.  There is also a cafe, lawn gnomes, a bagpiper, and, of course, a section of preserved trenches.  We plopped down into the trenches and crouched through the muddy maze.  They were really neat to explore until you remembered that soldiers would spend weeks and months inside them and get trench foot.  After this special form of war tourism, we spent our last hours in the medieval city of Bruge and enjoyed delicious melt-in-your-mouth Belgian waffles.

    I was living off Belgian chocolates all week until I went to Florence

Back from the dead...

I don't actually mean that.  I just haven't blogged in FOREVER.  Please pardon my laziness -- it's been a whirlwind first month, and only for the past week or so have I been in a normal routine.

Class has been in session for several weeks now.  While all of my courses are interesting in their subject matter (Cultural Geography, European Cultures, World History Since 1500, and Photography), I must say, it's just not Colgate.  I don't think I've ever appreciated the quality of the academics back at home as much as I have here.  It's great in a way though, because having a light workload and a relatively easy curriculum gives me much more time to travel and explore Cyprus and the surrounding countries.  That's not to say that the academics are not important, because they absolutely ARE, but it's relaxing to have them be a complement to the program as a whole, rather than a burden.

Harrod's Really Is All That

This weekend a couple of my friends from Colgate came to visit.  I have been playing tour guide and taking them around to some of the must-sees in London.  Yesterday, we visited Camden Market, which is an outdoor market nearby.  There was everything from clothes, shoes and jewelry to food and artwork. 

Later, I took them to Harrod's.  I hadn't been yet, and I was completely amazed.  Every famous designer had a section dedicated to their newest collection.  Each room was exquisitely decorated.  One room, the "Egyptian Room" was decorated with mummies and elaborate stone columns.  I am not ashamed to say that I snapped off at least a dozen pictures along with my friends.  There is even a department for pets containing designer leashes, collars, outfits and hand-made dog treats (that looked good enough for human consumption)!

Hong Kong and Macau

大家好！

好久不见了！ （It's been a long time since I have seen you!)  And yes, I am a little behind with this timeline.  In reality, I am currently studying at Beijing University, but you don't know about our adventures in Hong Kong and Macau.  I could just skip right over them, but these two areas were so incredible that it is worth rewinding the tape.  

Hong Kong.  By mentioning these two words, I am sure you have a rough idea of what this city is about.  There are many lights.  There are many skyscrapers.  There are many people.  Even business is thriving despite global economic difficulties.  However, Hong Kong is so much more than this!  There is a complex history here that transcends wealth.  Hong Kong is an international administration state belonging to the People's Republic of China.  For 100 years, Hong Kong was leased to the British Empire, and in 1997 that contract ended.  Hong Kong was returned peacefully back to Chinese hands, but not without consequences.  

Hong Kong was a British colony for 100 years.  The British were successful at colonization for a reason - they were experts at developing infrastructure.  When we were driving in the bus to Robert Black College where we would stay for that week, I noticed the careful layout of the buildings in relation to public spaces.  The highways were devoid of traffic and public transportation was impeccably timed and coordinated.  Everything seemed to move like clockwork on this island city!  The people operated like cogs in this machinery because a person's time was the world.  

In the day, Hong Kong is not overwhelming as it is in the night.  The traffic is still going at breakneck speed with cars zipping into the right lane, the taxi drivers trying to joust with double-decker buses.  It is a little scary, but I love to live life on the edge, or at least I like to think so.  Hong Kong is not everyone's city.  The busy streets, night life, and night lights can easily overpower someone's senses.  The buildings form walls in which there is no escape, no chance to breathe fresh mountain air, or see endless tree seas swaying.  There are many things to do here, and shopping is one of the most popular activities.  

The first night, I did not shop.  Instead, our hosts from Hong Kong University led us to Victoria Peak, which is the best vantage point of the Hong Kong city skyline. If you have ever seen pictures of Hong Kong at night, it was probably taken from this very spot.  I still can remember the wind throwing my hair back as I saw small dim-lit ferries taking people across the channel.  There were throngs of people everywhere, snapping pictures of themselves in various poses.  "Make sure you get me with that huge skyscraper from the Dark Night movie behind me!"  some tourist shouts with glee as his partner is trying to square the shot.  To see Hong Kong from Victoria Peak was one of my life-long dreams turned reality.  It was beautiful.

Hong Kong is not all commercialism and materialism for me.  I could not help but feel this way about it because these two qualities are so embedded within the society.  Our Colgate class taking place right now, is studying cultural identity in transition.  While in Hong Kong, I could not help but feel that it was no longer Chinese.  90% of the population is Cantonese-speaking peoples, but the city does not seem to belong to them.  Many scholars encourage other scholars to not study in Hong Kong if they are interested in Chinese culture.  Many traditions are not practiced by the youth, so it easy to forget what Chinese is.  Is it their language?  Their food?  How about their loyalty to family?  

Both of my parents are from the Hong Kong region.  They immigrated from here when they were still children and the world was only the small farming village. In a way, I was able to walk the same bridge that connects America and Asia.  My dad hasn't been back since, so I will be telling him all about his birthplace, and how it may have changed.  I'll also have more Cantonese lines to drop, as our study group went through a crash-course on how to use Cantonese in order to survive in Hong Kong.  It is a tough language to study, and I just wonder how I never picked it up at home.  To me, Mandarin is much easier to understand.  No one else in Hong Kong did though, so I had to use English most of the week.  That hurt.  

Our group went to many history and art museums situated within the city.  My favorite was the art museum in which I saw countless paintings of birds.  These birds had human features to them, expertly painted with a single stroke of the brush.  Then, there was the pottery section which contained thousand-year old relics made of jade, porcelain, ivory, gold, silver, copper, etc.  

Okay... skipping to Macau!  We took a hover craft there!  It was super smooth!  Macau is the largest gambling country in the world, but it's history is rich!  A perfect blend of Portuguese and Chinese cultures that harmonize together especially in Macanese food. The streets were vibrant with color, and most of the streets were cobblestone.  We participated in a lecture and Q&A at the Macau University about the future of China and its relation to the world.  Afterward, we were free to explore.  I checked out the ruins of St. Paul's Church, and then went into the Grand LesBoa to check if the tables were still hot.  Just kidding!  I was broke before I entered that place, so I didn't lose any money.  I did see a lot of old Chinese people shout at the top of their lungs as their fortunes went down the drain, so that was worth the experience.  Also, the Grand LesBoa is the largest casino in the world!  I loved Macau, but we're out of time, and I need to explore Beijing.  

Take care until next time! -Geoff

 

Music and Art

    On Wednesday, I went to the Barfly Club in Cardiff city center for a Wintersleep concert.  Wintersleep is a somewhat obscure Canadian band, so it was no surprise that the club wasn’t packed – in fact, there were probably only about 60 people in attendance.  The Barfly was somewhat rundown, making it clear that it wasn’t there to impress anyone, but simply stood as a means to enjoy live music.  The music scene was very similar to the one back home in Boston.  The only thing that stood out were the barriers in front of the stage, like those that are used back home at giant music festivals but certainly not at small clubs like the Barfly.  But I’ll definitely keep a lookout for more concerts by bands I like at the Barfly and will hopefully return there soon.

    Last night I went to a life drawing class with the Art Society.  Societies are like what we call clubs at Colgate, and the Art Society was one that struck me as interesting, so I joined (with an 8 pound membership fee – it really is great that Colgate’s clubs are free!)  I’ve never taken a drawing class and was never particularly good at drawing, but thought it’d be a fun experience, which it definitely was.  And I discovered that I like drawing with charcoal much more than with pencil, aside from the inevitable smudging. (I also discovered that getting the right proportions is something that could use a lot of work.)  Coming up for the Art Society are a textile workshop and a trip to London’s galleries and art fairs.

Cheers,

Lea

Almost there!

Well, here I am, only three days away from my epic plane ride. I have been anticipating this trip for so long that I never expected for it to actually be happening and now I am so close. I spent the last three weeks at home in Connecticut but I am currently in Boston at my sisters' apartment. I depart from Logan airport on Monday at 4:30 pm and so I am spending my last few days here. On Monday, I fly from Boston to LA (a 6.5 hour flight). Then, I have a three hour lay-over. After that, I fly from LA to Sydney (a 14.5 hour flight!). I have never traveled on a plane for so long so I am a little bit apprehensive but at the end of those long flights, I will be in beautiful, warm Australia! Professor Mulry is already over there and he sent us some photos of the scenery. It looks beautiful but it's hard for me to imagine actually being there in a few short days! I don't know exactly what I will be doing once I get to the university (probably getting over some severe jet lag) but I am very excited to go! No matter who I tell about going to Australia, I always hear about how they knew someone who traveled there and absolutely loved it. I don't know what to expect out of the next four months of my life but I'm pretty certain that they are going to be incredible! That's all for now but soon enough, I will be posting from the other side of the world!

Well, I am finished with another successful week of classes.  These four-day weeks will make for a shocking next semester back at 'gate, but for now I'm loving life.  I am thoroughly enjoying all of my classes.  For our History of London course on Thursday, we went on a walking tour of Westminster.  There is nothing more satisfying than walking along the Thames, looking up, and seeing the sun reflect off the face of Big Ben!  I'm still not used to walking down the street and taking in postcard views.  In my London in Fiction class, we are reading terrific books like the Sherlock Homes Mysteries.  It seems that everywhere I go in London, there are plaques on buildings that signify where famous authors lived.  Apparently there is even a Sherlock Holmes museum, which I may have to check out.

Today I visited the Imperial War Museum in London.  I went to the World War I, World War II and the Holocaust Exhibitions.  All of them were fantastic.  There was a special Blitz exhibit, in which we were herded into a small room and felt what it was like to live through an air raid.  The museum did a great job of describing what it was like for soldiers and civilians living through the experience.  The Holocaust Exhibition was also incredibly moving.  I have been to several Holocaust Museums, including the one in Israel, and I was still impressed.  This museum definitely made an effort to convey the personal tragedies through narratives and pictures of people who were killed. 

Belgium

Last weekend the history study group went to Belgium.  To get to the continent, we traveled from Dover to Calais via ferry with the coach and from there drove to Ypres.  Ypres was one of the first sites of trench warfare and one of the first places where poison gas was used.  The town was totally destroyed during World War I and all the buildings that make up the town were built after the war.  That Friday we went to the World War I museum in town, went to Tyne-Cot cemetery (a British cemetery), and went to a memorial service held every night where a wreath is laid at a memorial to the dead.  I was surprised at how PG the museum was.  There were pictures of medals and loud noises to imitate the sounds of artillery.  However, as far as I can remember, there were no photos of the dead or of the real ugliness that was World War I.  The next day we went to some trenches nearby.  It was rainy, cold, and muddy and gave a very very very small sense of the conditions soldiers had to live in day after day.  All in all, it was rather heavy stuff but it did provide for interesting conversations.  After Ypres we went to Bruges and spent a couple hours there to have lunch and do some very brief sight seeing.  I climbed the spire of the Church of Our Lady.  It is 122 meters high and gave an amazing view of the surrounding land.  Of course, no trip would be complete without some waffles and chocolate, which were of course brilliant.

This week I spent a couple of days in the archives and on Monday saw King Lear.  The actor playing King Lear was excellent and overall I enjoyed the play.  However, they tried to do a modern version of the play and at times it seemed out of place.  Also, if I had not previously read the play, I might have had trouble keeping up.  Luckily, I read it in high school.  Today for History 349 we walked around Westminster.  It was a wonderful walk.  We walked past Parliament and went into the cloister of Westminster Abbey.  The sun was out and there were blue skies ... a perfect way to spend class time.

Tomorrow I am heading to York and Durham in North Yorkshire.  It is a 2 hour train ride and arguably the two biggest and nicest gothic cathedrals in the UK are located there.  I also plan on going to the railway museum.  However, other than those three sites, the plan is just to explore the towns.  It should be eventful and a lot of fun.

Talk to you soon,
Aaron

White Cliffs of Dover

Church of Our Lady Spire Picture 1

Church of Our Lady Spire Picture 2

Alum Pub, Oxford, and Tourism....

This week has been packed full of adventures, just like last week.

On Wednesday evening all of the students abroad in London and nearby were invited to an Alum Pub to meet and greet with Colgate Alums who live and work here in London. This was such a wonderful opportunity. I loved meeting alums who were genuinely interested in meeting me and sharing stories about Colgate and London. I met a member from my sorority, Gamma Phi Beta from the class of '01, I met a couple fans of my blog (who knew you were reading!?) who gave me suggestions on where to go in London, and I met alums in careers I was eager to learn about. Every single person I met was cheerful, helpful, and extremely nice. I guess that is the glory of a school like Colgate. No matter where you are in the world, you are part of this network of fantastic people. I felt very lucky to be part of that network so far from home.

On Friday, the Economics group took a field trip to Oxford. It was snowing and a very slushy day, and we took a very long tour that was mostly outdoors, but this was one of the best days I've had so far. I really love the 15 others on my Economics trip, and our Professor's wife and newborn baby came along as well. We had lunch and dinner all together, and warmed up from the wet and cold in a cozy pub. We learned about the colleges at Oxford and saw where Harry Potter was filmed. It felt great to get out of London and see another part of England and the country-side in-between on the train.

By the time we arrived home, one of my very best friends from school was waiting for us. She has been studying at Cardiff and came to visit for the weekend. We went sight-seeing all over the city. We took her to Covent Garden, Trafalgar Square, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, and the Tower of London. We walked all along the Themes on a beautiful sunny day from Parliament to the Tower.

By the time Sunday evening rolled around, I was sad to see her go and had to prepare for the real world once more.. we had our first Economics exam on Monday morning! It was a pretty tough exam, but originally it had been difficult to get into the mind-set that I am actually enrolled in school and not on vacation. Now that we have been here almost a month, I know the real school-work beings and we all have to buckle down from time-to-time and hit the books. The nice part is that there are so many cozy places to read and study near-by.

Until next time,
Jess

Barcelona...and Girona?

I returned early this morning from my weekend in Barcelona and an unexpected day in Girona.  Our trip began without a hitch and we arrived in Barcelona late Thursday night.  The next morning, we wandered around the sunny, cobbled La Rambla, which is a central tourist attraction in the city.  There was every kind of street vendor, from fresh flowers to caricatures on either side of the street.  The men and women dressed in costumes heightened the atmosphere of La Rambla.  In the afternoon, my friends and I visited the Casa Battlo Gaudi Barcelona.  Antoni Gaudi was a famous modernist architect who designed several buildings in Barcelona.  The Casa Battlo is a house that Gaudi designed for a prominent family that has since been turned into a museum.  Gaudi has a distinct style of curved and fluid-looking stone.  The Casa Battlo is designed to make you feel as though you are underwater.  The curved ceilings, staircases, blue tile walls and stained glass really evoked the sense that you were living in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.  Later, we walked down to the Mediterranean Sea and took pictures of the boats in the harbor and the enormous statue of Columbus pointing toward America.

On Saturday, we visited the Museum of Modern Art in Barcelona.  There were only a few exhibits; however, I particularly enjoyed one exhibit that contained paintings that gave the illusion of being three-dimensional.  There were many paintings that conveyed different images depending on which angle you looked at them from.  At night, we visited the Porto Olimpico, which is a string of bars and restaurants along the water.  We ordered tapas (appetizers), paella and sangria at a restaurant to get a "typical" Spanish dining experience.