One Week in England and I have learned...

I know I have not updated the blog in a while. It's been a manic week but that's a good thing, right? Between class, travel plans, setting up house and making friends, I've been kept busier than can be imagined which has made the homesickness beyond rare. We have found that discussing our families back at home and complaining together about how "England [explitive] sucks" on the way back from grocery shopping bring a commradery that is very nice.

This past week was the first week of summer school. The class was taught by a jolly british archaeologist who found the topics of Romans and Beer to be the most fascinating. We have never experienced a professor who would use the phrase "good fun" to describe a quiz on the Romans and then say "so have you found the good pubs yet? my sons would love to show you the party scene of Lancaster". He took us to Hadrian's wall - more or less the fort at Chesters and Vindolanda. It was quite close to Carlisle, by the way, and one of my friends here and I decided we're gonna travel up there so I can represent the hometown. It was almost surreal to see something from so long ago. The actual wall was a little bit disappointing. Many of us "dumb" Americans were under the impression that the wall still spanned the 73 miles across England from Carlisle to Walls End... but apparently not. Overall, the weather held up quite nicely until we left.
[Picture of the fort at Chesters]

#1 - The weather in England is a lot more unpredictable than any born American can imagine. Today while having lunch with my friend, Elena, she mentions how it's so nice and sunny out and she's going to stop in the bathroom. When she starts to come back, I chuckle to myself because I see that the "nice and sunny" outdoors has a downpour. Always bring a rainjacket and never bank on sun.

Next week I will be starting the Industrial Revolution and it should be interesting to see if these "tutors" (what we call professors) will be as laid back as Jim. Oh yes, he has us call him Jim. Gotta love it.

I have set up my group for my 2 week travel - 2 girls - Me & Elena from NCState - and 3 boys - Craig from Gburg, Josh from Allegheny & Matt from Rollins. Elena and I thought the boys will be good to have around while traveling through Europe - especially since Matt is a 6'3" football player. They don't know this is our reasoning for their company, however. As we speak, Mike from Uni Travel (yes, our University has a travel agency) is helping to find us the most epic deals for our 2 week excursion. The plan is Amsterdam, Milan, Cinque Terre, Florence, Rome, Munich & Prague. I never thought there would be a day I would be backpacking through Europe let alone telling someone I will talk to them when I'm back from Prague. Prague was very enticing to us due to how incredibly cheaper it is than Western Europe. [Picture 1: Craig, Matt & Josh planning our trip for us... they told us where to go and made me the "group leader". Thanks, guys. Picture 2: Me & Elena out at Walkabouts - Australian Bar]

#2 - We are most definitely prefecting our frugal skills and trying as hard as ever to stop converting everything we try and purchase. We all skip breakfast if it's not a Nutri-Grain bar (I have given up coffee... mostly), get meal deals for lunch (sandwich, crisps [chips], and drink for 2 quid) and see what we can scrounge together from the frozen meats and deals we find at the grocery store. I found 10 pieces of naan for 4 quid which made my life. On the Indian note, due to the lack of cooking utensils and options for us abroad students on a budget we've been searching for the best restaurant deals. Elena and I had a date last night in town, yearning for the wonderful Indian food of England. Our drinks and both dinners together cost 8.60 <- 4.30 a person. When I told native Mike this, he about died and told me he'd be up here as soon as possible. Can't get better than that in this expensive country. We also realized that Indian here is much more spicy. That was fun....

Family dinners with the Gburg crew have fell through. Elena and I eat many meals together usually cooking for the boys who in return pay for our drinks - great system. The shower is still difficult as ever, but I have finally mastered the maximum water pourage that does not drain out into my room. We are still ok on toilet paper. We walk everywhere for everything. Campus is about as big as Gettysburg but there is so much everywhere. We have to take a bus into town to do our major grocery shopping. That becomes quite interesting after purchasing massive amounts of forzen food, at a quid a bag. My work outs are definitely with all the walking I do. However, I'm starting to act like a real British person, buying what I want to eat for the next 3 days, eating things without condiments, wearing girly shoes, always carrying a raincoat and umbrella. I've even become pretty good at figuring out money. Not totally good but getting there. The pound and 2 pound coins drive us up a wall, however.

#3 - Cherish your pound coins. They seem to go the most (because we like anything under 5 pounds) but they are what you want with you for the bus, the clubs & bars and for renting a "buggy" at the supermarket. Virginia & I went grocery shopping today only to realize that we had to carry our loot (which was quite heavy) from the other store in baskets because we had no pound coins.





As probably known from who I am traveling with, I have made some great friends here which is very nice. The 4 that I'm traveling with plus twins, Adam & Arik from Wisconsin, are my partners in crime (haha just kidding!) around England. They are a bunch of fun and it's definitely making my trip worth it. Tonight we are going out on the town - a huge event on the weekends. The boys have been totally in their element, but Elena and I stick out like a sore thumb (as I described to Mike "I look like a nun") but we are determined this weekend to mix with the locals and truly know what it's like to be a Britain. [Picture: Apparently Croc wedges are something acceptable?]

#4 - Dressing here is miserable. We dress for the weather but apparently brits take advantage of the weather and wear close to nothing in 60 degree weather. This is much more apparent out in the night life. Apparently if you think someone can see your butt peeking out of your dress, you're in appropriate attire. I don't think Elena and I will be going that far, but many of the girls here have been telling me where to shop so we'll see if we can pull it off.

I'm going to try and create a little do-dad called Lookin' Good in Lanc City over the weekend with little notes of what people wear and drink and eat and listen to, etc. Look next week for updates! I'll leave you all with some photos :) (And I promise to take some pictures of the actual school...)
[Picture: Lancaster City's Town Hall in the Market Place]





[Picture: Vindolanda - Roman ruin civilian town (vicos)]

[Picture: The Roman fort at Chesters]












[Picture: Some of the group teaching the international kids how to play Flip Cup]




[Picture 1: Elena, Me & Akira - Akira and I were going to take a picture when he threw up the peace sign... so we felt we had to be an "honorary japanese" as he called us. Picture 2: As you can tell, I'm not a huge fan of the weather]