Monday, December 24, 2007
Home!
(View of west London from the top of Tower Bridge on one of my last nights in London town)
This is my last blog for the great adventure the last 4 months have been for me. It truly was an amazing experience that I know I will refer back to the rest of my life. Please give a plug for studying abroad to any college age student you know! I believe that a semester abroad is a very wise teacher.
Friends and family: Thank you so much for all of you who read my blog. It was such an encouragement to know you were thinking of me and taking an interest in my semester. Much love and Merry Christmas, Amy
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Paris
A week from today I will be headed home! This last week for me is going to be finishing a paper, my art portfolio, and a few simple tests. I also have a list of some "musts" to do in London before getting on the plane home.
Hope you are all well and ready for the holidays! For those of you in school, hope your finals go smoothly! See you soon!
Sunday, December 2, 2007
The Final Weeks
After church I made lunch. I can't wait until I don't have to cook for myself anymore! It may be a selfish thing to say, but it's true. Then I put in the washer what will hopefully be my last load of clothes to wash. It's funny that when I took all my clothes down to the machines, almost nothing is left in my closet or drawers. And I can fit nearly everything in one load! As you may imagine, I am sick to death of my selection of outfits. Thankfully, matching doesn't seem to be "in" here in London, so my random mix and (non)match outfits fit right in. It will be a pleasure to go home though and rediscover all the clothes I left there!
I'm also greatly looking forward to that cold, white stuff that falls from the sky at home.... SNOW! I've had curious questions about snow from native Londoners who have seen snow only a few times in their lives. I hope it is a winter wonderland when I step off the plane on December 18. Sorry to you all that wish otherwise about winter weather, but I can't help wanting to trade this constant London rain for Midwest snow!
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Barcelona, Spain
This last picture is just a random one that Kelly and I took with a Spanish couple. Yep.
Thanksgiving UK Style
Sunday, November 18, 2007
A ticket to ride...to Liverpool!
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Classes
British Experience: Talk about what we think of London, ask questions, discuss travel, ect. We also get London assignments which are usually specific museums or parts of the city we must go to and journal about. Our assignment for this class is to always be journaling!
Contemporary Britain: Learn about British life by studying everything from the Royal Family to Britishness to Government to the media. It's interesting to compare Brits to Americans.
(The previous two are classes that everyone in the program is required to take together.)
Calligraphy: I love this class! It's a joy to go to each Tuesday morning and just sit and write beautiful letters for a couple of hours. My professor is wonderful and knows her stuff because she is a professional calligrapher. I also find this class interesting because I am the youngest person in the room by about 30 years. :)
Art in London: This is another class I have with my peers here in Vandon House. We meet each week at a different art gallery in London. It's a great way to visit the galleries! And almost like having a free tour guide each week with our professor showing us around and pointing out the artist's intentions or a different view of a piece.
Drawing: I have this class at London Metropolitan University, so I feel very small when I go there. It's a good class though with lots of interesting students. I realize how much I love drawing whenever I go!
So, that's what I do here when I'm not playing. :) But above all, I think the greatest learning experience is being away from home and trying to understand the culture here. I'm also learning a lot about traveling and flexibility.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Movie Premire
Monday, November 5, 2007
Roma
Pompeii
Down! Down!
It's all Greek to me!
1) Seeing the Acropolis! I've always wanted to see the Parthenon and I was not dissapointed at all. It's huge and set high on a hill in central Athens. All the ruins were neat to see. It's hard to fathom how old some of the structures were!
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Fall Break Plans
My friend Leah and I are flying to Athens, Greece for a few days then flying to Naples, Italy for day trips to the Island of Capri and Pompeii, then we will finish off our trip with 4 days in Rome. I'm praying for good weather and safe travels for us! I'm sure we will have a great time. I'll be sure to update soon after I return to London on November 4th.
Cheers! Amy
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Canterbury
We saw many sights in Canterbury: The very well done Canterbury Tales attraction that depicted scenes from the famous work of Chaucer. I read some of the tales in high school English, but I had forgotten how funny they are! We also went to the gorgeous Canterbury Cathedral for church on Sunday morning. It was stunning how beautiful the interior was! It also happened to be the start of the Canterbury Festival, so we joined the exciting night parade one evening! I felt a little like I was in marching band again as we walked to the beat of the brass and drums leading the parade. :)
The best part of the trip was our decision to rent bikes and ride them the 7.5 miles to the coastal town of Whitstable. There is a special trail for this called the Crab and Winkle Way (amusing, I know.) It was a perfect fall day and I loved, loved biking under the orange trees and hearing the crunch of leaves under my bike tires. I kept thinking as I pedaled, "I'm biking in the English countryside on an autumn day with two amazing friends. How perfect!"
The coast of the North Sea was great, though the water was freezing! We had a fun time just relaxing before we had to bike back. What a fabulous weekend in Canterbury we enjoyed!
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Stonehenge and Bath
Leah and I tried making a human stonehenge with Venice... it didn't work very well.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Norway
Thursday, October 4, 2007
I feel so American!
UK vs. US
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Ireland
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Harrods
The Church Chapter
I really felt at home at Westminster Chapel on Sunday when the Vandon House group stayed for the meal after the service. Every Sunday the church serves a noon meal for £3 (about $6). Since we were new to the church, our group was offered vouchers to eat for free! (How could we pass up free food that we didn't have to make ourselves??) It was delicious lunch of potatoes, beef stew, and cold rice pudding for dessert. I offered to help clean up afterwards and had a great conversation with an older gentleman while we put away dishes together. He is originally from Ireland and it was a good thing we got to talking because I am traveling to Ireland (Dublin area) this weekend! He was able to give me some pointers and places to see.
Something I've noticed about British people, especially those I have met at church: When they find out I am American they always ask where I am from in America. About half the time when I tell them "South Dakota," they actually have an idea of where that is! Now, if I were back at home in the US and met someone from England, I would never think to ask what part of England they are from, because I know squat about UK geography. I've noticed this in topics like politics as well-- British people know tons more about America than Americans know about Britain. In reflection of this point, I wonder if being American makes me so focused on my country that I forget about the rest of the world. One of my goals in coming to London for a semester is to become a better global citizen, so I hope to learn to think out of the "American-box" while I am here.
Oh, and I forgot to mention one thing! Westminster Chapel is located only a few doors down from Vandon House! It's amazing how God works in situating such a vibrant, Christ-centered church only a block from a houseful of American students!
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Greenwich
The Observatory also has many telescopes... and clocks because time all over the world is measured from Greenwich.
In Greenwich (which, by the way, is pronounced "Grenich") Leah, Venice and I ate at a delicious Chinese restaurant. Venice is from Hong Kong so she loved taking us there and advising us on what to order. It was so nice to eat out, even though it is expensive, because we have to make all our own food in Vandon House. ***As a side note, if any of you reading this have any simple, good recipes-- SEND THEM TO ME! I am learning to be a better cook, but I am running out of ideas.***
Another Greenwich highlight was The Painted Hall of the Old Royal Navel Academy. The entire hall was painted from floor to ceiling with nautical references, angels, royalty, and mythological figures. It was so beautiful! I spent some time laying on the cold, stone floor just staring up in wonder at the skill of the artist. The hall was meant to be a dining room for the academy, but after it was painted it was thought to be too well done for just eating in, so it's been open for tourists ever since. I wish I could better describe to you how incredible it was!