• SUNDAY, DECEMBER 13th, 2009

    WOW, okay, I realize that I haven’t written in almost exactly two months.  Shame on me.  I think instead of filling you in on everything that has happened since then, I will just focus on what is going on NOW.

    I am leaving for home on Saturday!  I am really excited to head back.  I will miss Bath, and the friends I have made here, but I miss my friends and family back home.  This is by far the longest I’ve ever gone without traveling back home for at least a weekend or two.  Thanksgiving was hard.  It was made easier only by the fact that Caitlin, my best friend since Kindergarten, came to visit from her study abroad programme in Denmark.

    Sadly, I have no picked up a British accent.  However, I have started thinking that “color” looks better spelled as “colour,” and “favorite” looks better spelled like “favourite.”  So that’s about as British as my speech is going to get, I guess!

    I can’t wait to bring everyone back gifts from England.  I am really excited to open up my magic suitcase of wonderful things and share them with my family and friends.  I’m hoping the bottle of wine I bought in Paris will make it through customs.  I also have a ton of shortbread from Sainsbury’s to share with everyone.  Like, a ton of shortbread.  Good thing it’s only 12 pence a pack.

    It’s going to be difficult to get out of the “pounds” way of speaking.  It took me this long to stop saying “dollars,” and it’s going to take another 3.5 months to stop saying “pounds.”

    I’ll miss some of these people.  And I’ll miss the cider, ASE staff, the clubs and pubs that are so friendly and fun, our house on the River Avon.

    I’ll probably miss the accent.

    I have learned a lot here.  I’ve learned a lot about myself and how I cope with change (not very well.)  But I’m getting better.  Using Skype as a means to talk to my friends is a savior but not nearly as wonderful as being able to actually have a hug or a shoulder to cry on.  Coming here was like starting over, your first year of college.  In other ways, though, it wasn’t.  I am older, I know myself, I know how I function.  Freshman year of college was all about making a ton of friends, impressing people, adapting to them, figuring out who you were.  This time, however, I know who I am, and I’m not nearly as concerned with being best friends with everyone.  I love the people who I click with, and they love me back.  I’m not as concerned with putting on an act and being someone I’m not.  And the beauty of it is, I think that’s almost what everyone has started to do.

    We’ve spent an entire semester in a different country, away from everything we knew.  And we grew for it, I think.

    PLACES I SAW THIS SEMESTER:

    - London, England

    - a bunch of other places in England: Sussex, Cotswalds, Lacock, Stongehedge, etc.

    - parts of (and a 9 mile mountain hike in) Wales

    - Paris, France

    - Barcelona, Spain

    - Dublin & Howth, Ireland

    OTHER PLACES I’VE SEEN BEFORE THIS TRIP:

    - Lucerne, Switzerland

    - Venice & Verona, Italy

    - Salzburg & Innsbruk, Austria

    - Munich, Germany

    - Canada!

    See ya in America.

    FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16th

    London trip tomorrow!

    Today I went clothes shopping, which is something I haven’t let myself do here, yet, just to save money. I couldn’t take it anymore and had to buy some things.

    NO ONE IN THIS COUNTRY LIKES PANTS.

    This is a fact. Women don’t wear pants here unless they are skinny jeans with boots. Otherwise, leggings, leggings, stockings. So I got some stockings before, but I wasn’t satisfied. I have also decided that I don’t like pants. So today I bought more leggings AND these crazy pants that are a weird matchup of denim meets spandex. I had some mad difficulty finding my size. I went into Apricot, a nice store on one of the corners in Bath and stared at these weird pants for a while before deciding that I needed them. That, and mostly because I couldn’t find any other pants options. I tried on a large because they looked so tiny. When I went to buy them, however, the shopgirl looked at me and said, “You’re quite slim, these will be too big for you.” I was like, “Are you sure, I mean, they are kinda tight.” The other girl chimed in and said that they were supposed to look like they were “spray-painted on you.” Oh. I went back and got a medium, instead.

    I also bought flats, a shirt, and this crazy knit cap thing. I spent the entire trip browsing prices and colors for these hats, but they all looked ridiculous on me. I finally bought one, but I’m not sure if it actually looks good or I just got completely desensitized and I just THINK it looks good.

    I’m going to dinner tonight with Brian and his friend from home (who flew over for a weekend?!) and getting up really early for London tomorrow.

    SATURDAY, OCTOBER 10TH

    Wow, yesterday’s hike in Wales was intense. I didn’t think that the 9 miles included wind, rain, and masses amounts of mountain fog, but I was wrong. It was a really cool experience, though. I have too many photos of it on Facebook, so I think that would probably do my description more justice. I wish it hadn’t been so foggy, but the clouds really prevented us from seeing all the beautiful sites off the mountain. I definitely got my workout for the day!

    Today is a beautiful day in Bath. I woke up and decided to check out the Saturday marketplace, which in turn made this a big shopping day. I’m such a cheapskate and was saving my last 20 GBP from this food money for my trip to Paris and Barcelona (or for gifts for my family) but I busted it out of my safe and put it in my wallet. Damn it. I had in indulge a little, though. I knew I needed new running sneakers, because mine were getting really worn out and after yesterday are completely caked in mud. I am used to my brand, though. My Sacony, high-arch, size 8 sneaker. Okay, so after many times of peeking in running stores, I knew that I was in trouble. I was having difficulty finding Sacony, let alone any Sacony shoes that were cheap enough for me to consider. And yes, I was converting it to dollars in my head. It’s unavoidable! I want to know the kind of collateral damage my bank account is taking! Anyway, I searched around for a while before finding the best price for my shoes. I bonded with the guy working in the shop after I realized I’d been telling him my US sizing. He couldn’t figure out why I was wearing a size 8 UK shoe- I didn’t look that big! Oops. Sadly, though, they weren’t carrying my size or preferred make. So I was stuck. I begrudgingly switched to another brand, Asics. Oh well, they are comfortable. 50 GBP didn’t do too much damage- it’s about the price I would’ve paid in the US, anyway.

    After that, I got totally caught up in shopping. I had already been sucked into buying tights. Everyone around here wears leggings all the time, so I decided I had to fit in a little more, and I’m totally tired of jeans, anyway. Then I bought a Bath shotglass, because I was planning on doing that eventually, anyway. Then I bought that handblown glass necklace I’ve always wanted. Seriously, I walk by this necklace almost every day and stare at it, waiting for the day when I get the courage to spend the money. I was tempted to buy clothes, but I prefer to just buy a nice piece of jewelry from each country I go to. You don’t grow out of jewelry (as long as you buy wisely) and it doesn’t lose its colour in the wash. I’m spelling that the British way.

    I liked shopping alone, it was peaceful and I was able to make friends with all the shopkeepers. They were all really nice, and I even heard a whole “how we met and married” story from the two people in the souvenir shop. The guy was from CA, and I immediately jumped all over his American accent. You can’t hide that around here.

    SUNDAY, OCTOBER 4TH

    My “Writings of Virginia Woolf” class went on our study trip to Woolf’s house yesterday. We spent a little more than half of that time on the bus itself, which was a little painful, but the trip was really memorable and cool. First we checked out Vanessa Bell’s house (Woolf’s sister) and then went to a little church she helped to paint. I tried not to look like a huge nerd with my weird amount of Virginia Woolf facts, but the tour guide kept quizzing us. So then I looked like a weirdo. That’s okay, because I learned some more crazy stuff. Example: Woolf’s sister Vanessa was married to a man who she then amicably broke up with for another man, who was gay. She had a child with the gay man who also had a gay lover. No one told the kid that her father was actually her mom’s gay lover. Then the child ended up marrying a MUCH older man: the gay guy’s lover. How does that work out? I don’t really have an answer for you on that one.

    Anyway, Virginia Woolf’s “summer home” is located in East Sussex, mostly south of London. The home wasn’t what I pictured it would be, but I think that’s because I was a bit biased from watching “The Hours” so many times. By far the coolest, weirdest, saddest part of this trip was our walk down to the River Ouse. For those who don’t know, this is where Woolf finally committed suicide by filling her pockets with heavy rocks and wading into the strong current. By the time we started on the walk, it was getting windy and a little dreary. I had no idea it was so far away. We walked for about 20 minutes before reaching the river, which by that time looked particularly ominous, thanks to the dark skies. Our tutor read Woolf’s suicide note to her husband, which goes as follows:

    Dearest, I feel certain I am going mad again. I feel we can’t go through another of those terrible times. And I shan’t recover this time. I begin to hear voices, and I can’t concentrate. So I am doing what seems the best thing to do. You have given me the greatest possible happiness. You have been in every way all that anyone could be. I don’t think two people could have been happier till this terrible disease came. I can’t fight any longer. I know that I am spoiling your life, that without me you could work. And you will I know. You see I can’t even write this properly. I can’t read. What I want to say is I owe all the happiness of my life to you. You have been entirely patient with me and incredibly good. I want to say that – everybody knows it. If anybody could have saved me it would have been you. Everything has gone from me but the certainty of your goodness. I can’t go on spoiling your life any longer.

    I don’t think two people could have been happier than we have been.

    V.

    There were almost a few tears in the crowd, I promise.

    SUNDAY, SEPT 27TH

    I am back in Bath! I definitely don’t adjust to change quickly, and that week at Oxford Univ. threw me off a little bit. I am really glad to be back here. It feels much more like home in this place. I went shopping this morning by myself to get a couple things…I still can’t stand how things close on Sundays! Sometimes that’s the day where I am most inspired to do my shopping.

    The last night in Oxford was hilarious. An insanely drunk professor, a few too many “That’s what she said”s and hanging out with the staff of ASE after our formal dinner. Still, we had an even better night on Friday when we got back to Bath. I ended up over at Northhampton house with a lot of people. Beer still isn’t my forte, so I bought a big bottle of hard cider at Sainsbury’s. I drank out of that bottle all night, maybe not so classy, but definitely enjoyable. I planned on getting to sleep at a normal time…but clearly, that didn’t work out. Then again, we started our night at TGI Friday’s because I was determined to order an alcoholic drink at an American restaurant for the first time. Every time I go to TGIF at home all my 21+ friends order the most delicious looking drinks, and I have to DD. This time, I ordered a really-way-too-expensive Cosmopolitan. It was totally worth it.

    I swear everyone dresses up here in random costumes. Yesterday during my run I was jokingly chased for a couple seconds by a man wearing a superwoman outfit, skirt and V-neck shirt and all. Later, I saw some men dressed up as the YMCA guys (police officer, firefighter, etc) getting off a bus and singing loudly. Today I found a crowd watching two men in Speedos playing with fire and balloons. What? I have no idea.

    A woman from Hong Kong came up to me the second I left my house and asked where she could find the University of Bath train station. I was confused at first: why had she picked me? I stupidly realized that I was wearing a U of Bath sweatshirt. Oh. That was okay, because I was able to help her and even give her advice on the correct color bus to take. Good thing I knew the answer.

    I totally take it for granted that everything is called by the same name here. Example: I had to by 3×5 cards today, but I knew I was going to look like an idiot for asking a store manager “where the 3 by 5 cards are.” I KNEW they would be called something different. Indeed, when I finally found them I noticed that there were labeled “Record Cards.” Of course.

    TUESDAY, SEPT 22ND

    OKAY, I have to admit it, Oxford: I am not really pleased with you. You put me in the shittiest room. You know how I know? Because, for one, my electricity doesn’t work again and I already got it fixed. Two, I come back from my shower this morning and find two men cleaning out the plumbing through the trapdoor in MY ceiling. No one else on this trip has a ceiling trapdoor that I know of. So they are doing this in MY room with zero notice to me. I don’t really like coming back and finding two strange men in here. I have my laptop in here, cash, and my Citizen watch I bought in Bath that is worth $245 USD. Oh, AND while I was trying to sleep a woman opened my door WHICH WAS LOCKED and asked if I needed a lightbulb, I said, NO. I am missing Bath because I really am NOT pleased with the housing situation here, I don’t like that people can just come in my room whenever they please.

    MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 21ST

    Writing this from my Oxford dorm room! We are at University College (better known as Univ.) and finally got internet in our rooms. Also, I got the porter to find the electrician today so my electrical sockets would work. That was a little disappointing when they gave us an entire basketful of tea/coffee/cream/sugar and a water heater…and my electrical socket didn’t work.

    The first night here started out really well once our group got settled in. This place is intense: they have internal and external door codes everywhere. It’s like living in a giant castle; once you are in, you are in. The world outside gets locked out at 10 PM and you need the code to open the door. All the doors are heavy wooden ones, while still maintaining this ornate, decorated look.

    My entire group went to the “disco” they had set up for us at Oxford with a DJ and bar and all. I managed to get one of our ASE profs out on the floor after finding out she loved David Bowie. It was hilarious, especially when a few of our guys went out to join her on the floor.

    After dancing for three hours, I was gross and sweaty and decided to find the showers. Big mistake. This particular Oxford college was built in the 1200s, and so the showers and such are modern but in very random areas of the campus. I found ours down a tiny, tiny stairwell into the basement. It was 11:30 at night already, but I decided to be brave and take a quick shower. Bear in mind, I also live three floors up, and I need to take a spiral wooden staircase to get to my room. Long story short, the lights turned off while I was showering. After changing, screaming irrationally, and trucking it as fast as I could up three flights of stairs, I called my roommate and asked her to come get me. Then my T-Mobile peaced out on me. I waited fearfully for her to get to me, we laughed, I freaked out some more, and then I brought my blanket and pillow all the way across campus to sleep on her floor because I am a big baby.

    The next day was a lot better. We woke up to a big continental breakfast, of which I stole plenty of food for dinner since I didn’t bring my credit cards. Maybe that seems dumb, but I had enough money for food…except I ended up buying a gift that I didn’t plan on buying. However, I am not up for spending more, so I worked it into my rationing plan to use only the food stipend they gave us. This way, I don’t end up spending big bucks at a pub. Tomorrow night is Indian food night, though, and that’s a total of 12 GBP – but it will be worth it! I am really excited about that.

    After breakfast, we went PUNTING. Punting is when you sit about five people in a boat and maneuver it along the river using a big pole. That was hilarious. Mostly because people were running into the side, hitting other boats, and trying not to fall out. Pictures will be available soon on my Facebook.

    Tonight we are going to a talk about “Bloody Oxford” which should be interesting. We are going to learn about the history of Oxford and the college, etc. Tomorrow I have a class as I normally do in Bath, and my week goes on the same with classes. It is weird to be suddenly transplanted here from Bath, but I am definitely more adjusted today than yesterday. I am realizing how badly I need the internet to function.

    SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12TH, 11:50 AM

    Last night was pretty great. First, we started out playing a game of Kings upstairs in the boys’ flat. It was a great time and we were all getting pretty drunk off Ken’s cheap hard cider he bought at the closest market. Somehow, our group of seven turned into a group of about twenty-five. Okay, so that wasn’t really authorized by anyone in my flat. A bunch of Americans from our group found out where were all were and came upstairs to join us. It was fine, I figured, because we wouldn’t be there much longer, anyway. By 11:30 we were all out the door and headed (literally) down the street to a local club called “Po Na Na.” I know. It’s a restaurant and bar during the day, but takes on another feel at night. I wasn’t about to order any drinks because, one, I was already drunk, and two, I don’t have the kind of money to be throwing around like that. (Brian, Laura and I had just booked flights and hostels for our fall break trips to Paris and Barcelona.) Needless to say, I am clinging to my deflated dollar like it’s nobody’s business.

    The club’s theme that night was “Cheesy Night,” meaning that they only played cheesy music. Meatloaf, Backstreet Boys, and S Club 7 were among the best…that and a ton of songs that everyone knows but would never care to actually own. We danced for about two hours, mostly on the stage part of the club because we are loud Americans. Our night ended at Opa, the club below my flat, but by the time we got there most of us were exhausted. Or, at least I was, and ended up coming back upstairs. I ended up Skype chatting with my mom, but it was a little difficult because one of my American friends had found a British “friend,” and they were getting a little cozy on my bed. It was still hilarious. I think my mom was a little bewildered.

    Today is the Bath Rugby match against the London Wasps! I have my jersey ready!

    TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8TH, 11:22 AM

    I just got back from a run and working out at the gym I joined that is literally just down the street, about 30 seconds. It is always really funny when someone British at the gym tries to start a conversation with me, only to look REALLY surprised when I open my mouth and have an intense American accent. Today, some older man with a stutter was trying to tell me how to convert kilograms to pounds, but the stutter + British accent made it almost impossible to understand. I looked around, trying to find a way out of this long conversation about nothing in particular, but I more or less had to run away at some point. I love running here and my directional skills are vastly improving since I know that it’s up to me to get myself back. I run out as far as I can (saving energy to get back) and then attempt to find my way back to the house. I like running alongside the River Avon and watch the people on their little boats. Dogs are popular along trails, too, but unlike in America they don’t interrupt my running. There is definitely no leash law here, but the dogs seem almost as refined as the British themselves.

    We went to Stonehenge (the entirety of our ASE group, about 53 American students) on Sunday. Stonehenge was fairly predictable, but the dinner at the pub in Lacock afterwards was by far the best. We went to a pub, King George’s, in Lacock where some of Harry Potter had been filmed. Of course, all the Harry Potter fanatic weirdos on our trip were enthused. My little group (my roommate Laura, our friends upstairs Brian, Ken, Greg, and Tom) mostly hang out amongst ourselves. We are definitely the closest-knit group, probably owed to the fact that we share dinner preparations every night. It’s a great way to save cash! Anyway, a big party was going on at King George’s, and a band and small dance was going on outside. Of course, I decided that it would be a great idea to join in, so next thing you know a few of us are dancing with the British people over 45 years old. Finally, the rest of the Americans joined in and we are there dancing on barrels with the Brits and having a great time.

    Today I have my first class, even though I feel like I have been here forever already. Everyone else started classes yesterday, but my schedule didn’t work out like that. I only have four classes, each two hours, one day a week. Today’s class? “Terrorism.”

    FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4TH 9:15 PM

    We just met our tutors, aka professors, at a formal-like reception. They served us wine when we walked in, which was a little worrisome, because I didn’t want to be drunk meeting them for the first time. I have four classes, meaning four different professors. They all seemed nice enough so far.

    FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4TH

    It’s 1:49 AM here and we just got back from a dance club in downtown bath.  A club titled “Mole,” it is a bar earlier in the night and converts to a dance club later.  First, it was all just Americans.  We managed to find almost our entire group of ASE students and head to this club.  Bear in mind, this group is made up of 52 Americans.  We found about 40 for the bar.  I didn’t want to drink tonight, though, since we had turned Monday night into an all-out pub-hopping night, which was awesome.  The scene is so much nicer here than it is in America!  People are friendlier and more willing to make friends.  We found a bunch of British students that night and ended up befriending them.  They took us around to five different pubs and we really bonded and laughed over drinks.  We exchanged Facebooks so that they could get ahold of us tonight.  After making dinner with our flat and the boys’ flat above us (we switch off dinner nights) we hit up this club at about 11:30.  Once the party started going, we had Americans all over the dance floor.  Finally some more Brit locals showed up and I started having a mini dance off with a pretty drunk British guy.  The scene was really cool and friendly and we managed to make a few more friends before rolling out.

    I am SO much more comfortable now than I was five days ago!  I adjusted really quickly (at least for me.)  I had a minor panic attack on the bus on the way to Bath after the plane: where the hell was I?  I can’t go home!  Finally, I snapped out of that and I’m back to my normal self.

    FROM THE PLANE:
    It is 6:37 in the UK and only 1:37 in the US. I am on the plane and tried to get some sleep in but it isn’t exactly comfortable here. I took a few naps and that may be the best I can do. I don’t have internet so I am just typing this out in my Ipod notes section. I will send it once I land. I hope they serve “breakfast” soon; I didn’t eat “dinner” on here, either.  I tried to sleep, instead, but mostly big failed that.  I am not in a good sleeping position and I always have trouble sleeping as it is.  Yes, I already made friends here.  Two people even knew my name and didn’t recognize anyone else.  Apparently I had a good Facebook picture.  ”You’re Rachael, right?” Thankfully, I knew from my Habitat Build trip to AL over spring break that My iPod helps me sleep…as long as rap or hip-hop doesn’t shuffle on.       We are closer than when I lasted looked!  I am tired if trying to sleep, it is useless.  I might as well OD on coffee.  The people from my program (the few together on this flight) will get a ride with me to the Bath Spa train once we get into Bristol.  Apparently a bus comes every half hour… I am just glad I found friends already.

    I leave on a 9 PM flight tonight for Bath, England!  I can’t believe I am actually leaving.  After the plane ride, I need to get on a train and then a minibus….I should arrive in Bath at about 11 AM.  I have to find myself a phone in the airport- and maybe some adapter cords.  More to come