October 2011
26 posts
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Things You'll See in Hyde Park
Henry VIII used Hyde Park as his hunting ground, but today it’s enjoyed by the general public. Walking through the beautiful 350 acres, you may see one or more of the following:
Trees: As a lot of the plaques advertise, you’ll forget that you’re in the largest city in the UK when you’re surrounded by all of the trees.
Birds: Swans, geese, ducks, pigeons, sea...
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I’m sitting in a McDonald’s right now (I know, exotic!) because my hostel didn’t have WiFi, and I needed a tea.
London is AMAZING! My flatmate Molly came with me yesterday, and she knew her way around, which definitely helped me orientate myself. She went back to Birmingham last night, and in her absence, I learned how to navigate the scary Tube system (aka the...
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Adventure: Liverpool
“A World Heritage city, Liverpool is renowned for its passion and commitment to music, the arts, culture, and sport. Steeped in history and rich cultural heritage, Liverpool is a thriving, stylish, cosmopolitan and vibrant city break destination. Liverpool is the heart of Liverpool City Region and is known the world over for its strong maritime history, well-documented musical heritage and...
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Adventure: Wolverhampton
Wednesday is my day with no lectures or seminars, and I always get a little bit stir crazy. So I decided that yesterday I was going to go exploring. The London Midlands rail goes as far up as Liverpool, so I decided to go there and maybe stop somewhere along the way. Wolverhampton was my first adventure. It was about thirty minutes away by train.
I didn’t go there for anything specific,...
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More English Lessons
Last night I went to a really cute pub with some friends. They had put “real ale” on my British bucket list and decided that it was time I try it. Because I knew I wouldn’t like ale (I’ve never tried beer before because it smells gross and I’m assuming it tastes just as bad), I went the more sophisticated route and decided to try a small glass of white wine. I...
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Bathroom Behavior
Some English sinks are quite tiny, and you usually flush by pushing a button rather than pulling a lever. But other than that, there is virtually no difference between toilets in the US and England—not even the stick-figure signs denoting public toilets. Therefore, I have no real excuse for walking into the men’s toilets at the poshest mall in town. There was luckily no one in there; I...
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Shakespeare's Importance
As you can probably tell from my posts about Stratford, there was something magical and almost spiritual for me about being in the place where Shakespeare began and ended. I thought I would share just a few of the many, many, many reasons that I love Shakespeare as much as I do:
1. In just a 2-3 hour play, he manages to develop his characters beautifully. I’ve read books in which I feel...
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Another Day in Stratford
Some of my friends were a little bit envious of my last trip to Stratford-Upon-Avon, so we decided to take advantage again of the 4-for-2 deal of train tickets and I got to spend another Saturday in Shakespeare’s hometown. Once more, I didn’t get to do everything there is to do, but it was still a very enjoyable day spent with wonderful friends!
We arrived around noon, so we went to...
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Alas, Poor Yorick!
“There is neither good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” ~William Shakespeare
(WARNING! This post contains many Shakespeare quotes. If that’s not your cup of tea, you may want to skip this and instead read my last post in which I complain that sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines.)
Yesterday, I met someone from downstairs who was looking for someone else to go with him...
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Weather
Dear England,
This shorts-and-tshirt kind of sunny weather has been nice, but it’s really not what I signed up for when I came over here. I’d like to be able to wear my raincoat every once in a while, and I haven’t touched my umbrella since unpacking it when I moved in a month ago. If you’re not going to rain, at least give me some cloud cover! I mean, what was up with...
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Coffee and Museums
Hello, beautiful people! Sorry for my long absence from the cyber world. Nothing extremely eventful has happened within the last few days, but I’ll fill you in anyway!
On Thursday, my flatmate Molly and I walked to the city centre to read a book for the class we’re in together. We worked in the cafe at Waterstones, which is a really big bookstore, like an English version of Barnes and...
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Learning English
“I invite all those who complain about the rain and English weather to relocate to the Kalahari or the Gobi or the Sahara or some other desert, where they can bask in uninterrupted sun for weeks, months, years at a time. But no complaints will be allowed when they have no water to grow food with or to drink or to wash or cook in. Nor will they be allowed to return to live in this green and...
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Can you name all 50 states?
Sometime over the weekend, my flatmates decided to try to list all 50 states of America. They did very well, getting about 40 without my help, and then we all got to 48 states, but I couldn’t remember the last two. Sorry, Wyoming! Sorry, Michigan! It’s interesting that British people are so much more exposed to American culture than we are of British culture. I’ve talked to some...
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Adventures
I didn’t have any big plans for this weekend, so I’ve just been exploring more of Birmingham. Last night, two of my flatmates and I walked to the city centre and wandered around, eventually ending up in the Jewellery Quarter, which is known for its international jewellery industry. The streets were completely lined with jewellery shops, though they were all closed because it was...
