I AM GOING TO PARIS IN THE MORNING!!!!!!!!!
That is all... again
Friday 28 November 2008
Thirty-three days left
November 15
Today we had an OSAP trip to Stonehenge and Bath. A lot of people thought Stonehenge was dumb because it’s “just a bunch of rocks.” I thought it was amazing. It’s so cool to think about how the druids got the stones there and how they assembled them into the structure. It’s also cool because we can sit and stare at it amazedly but we will probably never know what it was really built there for. No matter what anyone says that’s pretty cool to me.
Bath was very nice as well. The city of Bath is a very cute city. There are a ot of pedestrian streets and lots of market places. We toured to Roman Baths first which were also pretty cool. It’s amazing how they are all naturally heated and how the Romans used to use them as a therapy for their warriors and royals.
After the tour we had time to wander the city. We went to the Jane Austen center and then to the Royal Crescent. It’s really a very nice old city. I can’t really describe it, I just liked it there. Some of us are planning to go back in December to visit the Christmas markets. That should be really fun I think.
When we got back into Oxford Rebecca, Andrea, and I went straight to the theater. We had tickets to see Carmen. It was pretty cool. I enjoyed the story and the singing was amazing (even though I don’t particularly enjoy the style of opera music). I didn’t think the talent was particularly wonderful. It was a traveling group and they were only in Oxford for one day but I think this fact showed. I have been far more impressed by performances I’ve seen in the states but overall it was enjoyable.
When we left the opera all three of us were starving and we practically ran to the kabob stand near out place. I think that was about the best food I have eaten here so far but it probably had something to do with the fact that I was so hungry.
Thirty-six days left
November 12
So I had my chemistry tutorial today and my Shakespeare one yesterday. After six days of nothing but working I think I did pretty well. Ed Clark loved my essay on the Lady Macbeth and Cleopatra and Robert Jacobs said that my work this week was the best so far. As a reward to myself I am doing no work tomorrow!
I also had bells tonight. This is going very well and I will defiantly be sad to leave it. I was invited to come to the main practice (rather than the beginners practice) next week to try out some real ringing! I am really excited but also nervous because I don’t know how well I will be able to keep up with the people there who have been doing this for so much longer than me.
After bells I went to Vanessa’s place and we planned out trip to Poland! I am so excited. We are going to spend three days in Krakow! I have been there before. I went to Poland for a month in high school and I loved Krakow so I was very excited to hear that someone was planning to go there and wanted a travel buddy. It will definitely be a different experience. SO far everything I have done has been new to me but this won’t be. I have been there and it will be cool to experience the city again with the knowledge I already have about it.
Forty Days Left!!
November 8
So I haven’t written in a while and I’m right at the halfway point of my journey so I decided to write something. This week was uneventful. I had two tutorials that both went very well and I have a stressful weekend ahead of me. I met for both my primary and my secondary this week and I am also meeting for both of them next week. This is unusual because I usually have two weeks to work on the work I have for my secondary tutorial. I will defiantly be holed up in my room all weekend doing my work.
It’s strange to know that my time here is half over. I can’t believe how fast it is moving for me. I miss everyone from home so much but I also feel like I’m at home when I return here to Venneit Close. I am definitely going to miss this place and al the people I have met here. This experience has been amazing and it’s shaping up to end no less than amazing. Can’t wait to see what the next forty days bring!
Monday 10 November 2008
Day thirty-four
November 2
I can’t believe that it’s November already. I’m almost to the point where I’m counting the days down rather than up. I’m having a ton of fun here but I’m also glad that I am only here for one term. I love it here but I miss home and friends at home and Otterbein in general.
So today we had our second OSAP trip. We went to Warwick Castle.
The town of Warwickshire was founded in pre-Saxon times and developed under the protection of the castle.
In the late 11th century the town had a population of about 1800. Most of the town was destroyed by fire in 1684, but many of the stone medieval building remained. These include Lord Leycester Hospital, Collegiate Church of St. Mary, and Warwick Castle. This is though to be the finest medieval castle in England, possibly even Europe. The castle is built on a steep cliff in the town right on the river Avon. The first defenses were built in 916 for protection against the Danes. In 1066 William of Normandy built a fortress to subdue the Midlands. This included a man made mound topped with a wooden tower. Stone buildings began to replace the wooden ones in the 12th century.
The castle has been home to the Earl of Warwick since 1088. These influential men have played major roles in many wars in England including the War of Roses, The Hundred Years War, and The Civil War. King Edward was held prisoner there during the War of Roses. During the Civil War parliament was moved to Warwick Caste for protection. Many nearby castles were demolished at this time but Warwick Castle stood strong.
When entering the castle you must walk on a drawbridge over a dry moat and through a gatehouse. Murder holes and arrow slots on either side protect this gatehouse. When you enter you are standing between two large towers. Guys tower is on the right, named after the same Guy of Warwick mentioned in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, and Caesar’s tower is on the left. Both of these towers have very irregular shapes in order to allow archers varied and overlapping points at which to aim.
The first thing we did was walk through these towers. It’s over 500 steps up and back down and then up into the second and back down again. The stairs are all very steep and tightly spiraled in a clockwise direction going up. This is also a defense mechanism. Since most armies are right handed this caused the attacking army to have their sword closest to the center of the spiral with little room for moving their arm. The defending army coming down the stairs had their right arm nearer the outside of the spiral therefore giving them more swinging room for attack. Apparently the German’s had an entirely left handed army just for attacking on the way up staircases like these!
After going through the towers we headed up to the mound built by William of Normandy (more commonly know as William the conqueror).
the tower built there was wooden it no longer remains but the mound serves as a wonderful vantage point from which to see the whole castle at once. We also went into the dungeons. This was very creepy. Simply the fact of knowing that people actually suffered and died down there was very creepy. They also had some plaques describing different torture methods used. It’s very disturbing to see what they used to do to people. The last tour inside we took was into the main part of the castle. The inside is beautiful. There were wax figures everywhere depicting what would have been going on inside during a party for a prince. It was pretty cool to see what would have actually been going on in the castle 200 years ago. We also went through an exhibit called the kingmaker. This had a series of wax figures as well. In this exhibit they were depicting what it would take to keep the castle running. It included tailors, blacksmiths, horse trainers, soldiers, seamstresses, etc. There is also a huge trebuche in the back. Wikipedia says it's the biggest in the world (not sure how reliablle that is) it's 60 feet tall! They actually use it every day as well. We left before they did it though :-(
I thought that the day was pretty cool. I liked seeing a castle, especially one that was over 1000 years old. I was highly impressed.
people thought the area was too touristy and childish. Many people thought it was more catered toward children than adults. I though it was interesting none the less. There were also several scenes acted out on the lawn during the day. I stopped to watch a bit of a falcon-training exhibition as well as two men sword fighting. At the end they told us to take the pumpkins still littering the lawn from Halloween. Rebecca and I both took one and we’re planning on looking up recipes for cooking them.
After getting home Bill, Zoya, Andrea, and I went to The Red Lion for dinner. That is my favorite pub in Oxford by far. We all also decided to return in the morning for a traditional English breakfast. None of us has tried this yet and it’s only two pounds at The Red Lion. Overall it was a really great day and I would definitely recommend going at least one for anyone touring in England.
Day thirty-two
October 31
So today was Halloween and it was pretty fun. In England as far as I can tell Halloween is more a time for college students to party than a time for children. Some of the people living in bigger neighborhoods said they had three or four kids come trick-or-treating but not many. This could be because I’m living in a college city but I’m not sure.
Around seven everyone in our flat began getting ready for Halloween. We were ultimately planning on going to the New College bop, which was themed “Your Worst Nightmare” so we were dressing accordingly. Andrea went as a cat, Rebecca wet covered in spider-webs and spiders, and I went as your bad conscious (dressed in all black with hot pink devil horns). Maria, Zoya, and Julian were joining us as well, Maria went as a pregnant woman, Julian went as a girl, and Zoya went with a knife to her throat with blood all over her neck.
First we headed to St. Giles for the OSAP party. We only stayed there for about an hour and then we headed to New College. When we got there we found out that the bop this time was for New College students only. Since Julian and Maria weren’t from New College we left. Outside we ran into Gareth and a few of his friends along with Bill and Sam (from OSAP). All of us headed to Wadam College where there was a party going on in the pub. We stayed there for a while and then Andrea and I decided to go back home. It was almost one in the morning. The two of us left with Sam and Bill. We were headed home while Sam and Bill were headed to a club.
I had a good time seeing everyone and hanging out in the pub of Wadam but overall the party hardy and drink until you puke scene isn’t for me. I was very relieved that Andrea was ready to go home as well. I guess a lot of people from OSAP ended up at the club that Sam and Bill went too. I assume it was fun for people who like drinking and dancing but again I’m glad I wasn’t there.
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