Aug 2006

So last night I was trying to use the british phonecard they gave us, because i'm not getting my phone fixed until today, and i punched in the wrong number because i was looking at the wrong spot on the card, and a british woman answered. "Hello?" I panicked and hung up. Rude, I know, but at least i didn't try to ask her about my calling card. The whole house (including me) laughed a lot because after I hung up I asked, "Luke, did somebody answer when you called?" and he was like yeah, a recording! woops...

I'm still not homesick. Haha, I know I say that everytime I post anywhere, and I'm not trying to make you feel unimportant, I'm merely super impressed by my own strong will. I'm learning how to count british coins quickly, and oh by the way the exchange rate is basically 2.0 now (i think it's 1.97) so that's really fun (!)

Since I last updated, I have taken the third diagnostic test (that means i have one to go in the next little while), been taken on a tour of the gym (85 pounds...yikes! but i'm joining), actually eaten an apple from the yard (sour but perfectly edible), and walked some more around the city.Tonight a group of us is going to go to the Roman baths for the last night that they'll be all lit up. Exciting! As soon as I bring my laptop down here to the house, i'll post my pictures. maybe even later today! (tomorrow if not).

ok, that was not too meaningful. but i had the opportunity to use the internet so i took it.

love you!

Our first night, after going exploring around the city, we all had to stop and look twice at our house to identify that we lived there. since then, however, we have gotten pretty settled. i went to my first pub last night, which was far less scary than i ever thought it would be. today i have already written one paper, and in five minutes i'm about to go write another one. i have two to write tomorrow, also. classes start monday, but these are impromptus for each class that will be graded and show our tutors our abilities in each class. intimidating much? i also got my syllabuses this morning, and i'm overwhelmed. but i'm really excited about it. i'm kind of looking forward to the hard work. there is one other guy doing a spanish tutorial at oxford, so we may go to spain sometime. maybe. i don't know how i'm going to survive this semester in the second most expensive city in the UK. i'm so budgeted, though. i wonder about the people pounding beer, though.

Hello all. I won't bore you with all the minute details of my travel, just know that I got here safely. It might be worth mentioning that I got to see some of the countryside on my trainride from London to Bath, and it was quite pretty. The first thing I did when I got here was get settled into my house. It was built in the 1800's, so it's kind of quirky, but very charming at the same time. My roommate Melissa is very nice and we get along great. There are seven people, total, in the house...5 girls and 2 guys. There was a little bit of food here in the house for us to tide us over until today when we can go grocery shopping after orientation. Last night after we made dinner,we walked around the city. It's a World Heritage City, very historic and very beautiful. My camera charger won't plug into the wall adaptor here, so hopefully this evening I'll buy something that will fit and I can start facebooking my pictures and perhaps posting some on here, if I can figure it out. The houses for the program are scattered throughout the city, so we're not all clustered together. I've only briefly met some people from the other houses at orientation today. My roommate and I came back to the house and made lunch but the rest of my house went exploring restaurants in the center of town, near our orientation. Melissa and I are just trying to save our money a bit. I don't really want to eat lunch out unless I have to, because there are about a MILLION little shops and restaurants around town that look expensive but intriguing. There are also lots of pubs, which again,I see as an occasionally fun experience but also something that will suck people's money right away. There is an abbey here which is quite beautiful from the outside; I haven't been in it yet. There are several parks in the city, one of which costs a pound to go in but has blue and white striped cloth lawn chairs everywhere. I think it will be my study spot. I figure the money I'm not spending on beer will be put to better use studying in a beautiful park-gardens thing. Orientation is a little bit overwhelming, especially since we're all jetlagged. They give us some information, then hand us a cup of tea, then give us more information, and refill our tea. The tea here is more like expresso, I think. It's very strong and it's served with milk and sugar. I don't think I'll need Starbucks for any reason, but we did pass one. It's a very walkable city, there is no need for personal or public transportation. We walked around almost the whole of it last night. I could spend a couple of DAYS just exploring Bath. Classes don't start until Monday, so I have lots of information sessions and receptions between now and then, plus a trip to Stonehenge, Salisbury (cathedral), and Avebury on Sunday. I'm getting wireless internet in our house, so I don't have to go all the way to the study house (in case you haven't caught on, everything is in houses here, not classroom buildings) to use the internet...unless our neighbors put a stop to us.
So far, I really,really like it here.I know I'll get homesick eventually, maybe when I'm not caffeinated, but I am surrounded by beautiful scenery and friendly people and I'm on the brink of adventure.
Oh, there is a shower in my room. Yes, IN my room. No curtain, either, or even frosted glass. So Melissa and I are going to go looking for a curtain today. But it has good water pressure and I don't have to share it with the guys (the rest of the house shares one bathroom, which is where we have to go for a sink and toilet) so I'm very happy about that...even though it's a little awkward looking when you walk in our room.
We have a back patio and an apple tree (real apples, not crabapples). How could I not love it here?
I do miss you all.
But don't worry about me because I'm doing well.
Love always,
Me

I'm not packed yet. In fact, I haven't begun packing. I think I have all the stuff I need, though, it's all a matter of rounding it up. Oh, and making it fit. I'm up for the challenge. I want to take this time to assess what kind of things I want to make sure I do while I'm overseas, and what kind of a person I hope to be when I return.

So here is my list of things I want to make sure I do/see:

• Westminster Abbey (gorgeous architecture, and I especially want to go to the Poets'Corner and see the tombs of people like Charles Dickens and Jane Austen and John Hardy and so many other famous people)

• London Eye (a gigantic ferris wheel, 450 ft high, with these enclosed compartments so you're standing up and seeing the view of the whole city)

• go punting at Oxford (row row row your boat)

• go running in the countryside often (my *house* is a fair distance from the study center, across a bridge and such, so I think I'm sort of in the country)

• join at least one club at Bath University...even though we don't take our classes there, we can use their gym and library and stuff and also join their organizations

• really immerse myself in some of the British hangouts, not just the bars where all the Americans congregate

• be responsible, but not end up BEING responsible for a house full of drunk classmates. i really hope I don't have to take care of people a lot.

• Make a scavenger hunt in Bath for my friend Ashley Hamilton who is coming on the same program in the spring

• do any harry-potter-tourist-attraction I come across

• take in a production at the opera house in Paris

• have a pint in a pub in Dublin (perhaps)

• keep a journal- a real one, for myself

• take lots and lots of pictures so I can scrapbook when I get back

• write a postcard each day, or every couple of days

• put forth the effort it requires to get everything I can out of my one-on-one spanish tutorial at Oxford. I could come back a much better speaker even if I don't make it to Barcelona this trip

• buy a piece of art in Europe. Either a print from one of the museums, or a drawing from some street artist, whatever. It's on my life list of things to do.

• Read under a tree at Oxford. Preferably with an apple in my hand.

• Become a very proficient cook while I'm in charge of making my own meals. (and come back to mary washington ready to cook for my lovely roommates)

• go to a "football" game

• try cricket

• eat fish and chips, once, from somewhere locally owned and operated

• make a trip up to northern england and see Gloucester, where all the quidditch scenes in HP were filmed, and also the cathedral there, and where Gryffindor tower was filmed

• see the Wind in the Willows exhibit at the Museum of Rowing and Rivers

• admire all the plunder from the empire at the British Museum (mummies and gold and lots of stuff that rightfully belongs to some other country haha)

• go to the Roald Dahl museum

• go to the National Portrait Gallery (everything from royalty to Winston Churchill to JK Rowling)

• go to the King's Cross Station in London and take my picture at Platform 9 3/4 (actually track 4), then take a walk up Diagon Alley (Charing Cross Rd in London)

• go hiking in Wales (built-in weekend in my program!)

• have a cup of tea almost every day

• play in the rain....because there's going to be lots of it

• do my best in my classes, and not put all of my homework off until Tuesday morning

• keep in touch with people back home (tallahassee and school)

I can already feel that I'm going to come back much older...not TOO much older...but just more learned. And, let's see, when I get back I will have been to England, Ireland, Wales, France, and probably at least one other country, so I'll have experienced a lot of new cultures. I think I'll be more independent since I won't be able to call home everyday and hear my parents or my friends on the other end. Oh and I want to spend a lot of time reflecting on what I'm being called to do. I think I'll be able to run further/longer, cook a broader variety of things, write in a more polished way (creative nonfiction writing class), and that I'll be more comfortable in a wider range of social situations (I think it is going to be hard to go to Europe with this bunch of people and never go to a club). Overall, I think I'm going to return to the states a more confident, well-rounded individual. As cheesy as it sounds, I think I'm going to learn a lot about myself while I'm away from everyone familiar.

OK, that's it til I get there...hopefully for you they won't be this long from now on.

Much love,
Leslie
(Les, Guadi, short person...etc)