Jennifer Watson
I'm a Purdue University student based in lovely (please take that word lightly) West Lafayette, Indiana. I am preparing to Study Abroad for the fall semester at Middlesex University in the northern region of London. Please leave me any comments or tips that may help me in my journey and to my family and friends you better leave me tons of messages!!!! Friends, Please don't leave anything that you wouldn't want your own grandma to read. Please be respectful!!Jen Watson
Travel Blog Posts
March 19th 2009
Wow! It has been a really long time since I updated this. Upon returning to the states from England I graduated from Purdue in May 2006. A lot has happened since then! I moved to Chicago and started a job at CDWG in June of 2006. I was at CDWG just over a year and moved back to West Lafayette to try my hand in grad school. I not only wanted to try grad school but I also felt a need to be closer to my family. My mother passed away in February of 2007 which left me with a need to be closer to my family, it was a very trying time for everyone but we have all perserved as well as we can. Realizing that I was going to have to take a lot ... read more
December 24th 2005
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!! Hello Everyone!!! I have so much to report but I don't have much time to so I'm just going to give you all a quick update of where we've been so far (Jack and I). We started our trip in Pisa, Italy. I wanted to go see the leaning tower but we arrived in the late afternoon and didn't think we would be able to make it there and back to the train station to catch the train to Florence at a decent hour to get to Florence and find a hostel. So we just went start to Florence from the train Station. In Firenta (Florence) we saw a lot of great things, can't really remember all the names of it, it's in my journal. I'll fill you in when I have more time. ... read more
Been awhile...
Published: December 16th 2005Europe » United Kingdom » England » Greater London » Enfield Town
December 16th 2005
OMG! I am so sorry. I haven't written in FOREVER! Well, here I am and it's going to be short one too, again I apologize. The semester is winding down and I just finished writing my last essay, (4 in two weeks!, very impressed I actually did it) and am due to submit it tomorrow morning. So I'm almost completely relieved. But due to my extensive amount of writing tonight, I probably won't elaborate much on my recent (well, sort of) adventures. Since Scotland, I haven't done much. I've been trying to save my money for Jack and my trip through Europe. Jack has declared it BHE (Bar Hopping Europe), well see about that! On November 5th(?) was Guy Fawkes Night. It is to celebrate that either a Catholic Guy Fawkes trying to Blow up Parliament(celebrating ... read more
People are CRAZY!!
Published: November 14th 2005Europe » United Kingdom » England » Greater London » London CityNovember 14th 2005
I went to Hyde Park on Sunday evening. Well, it wasn't really evening but since it's dark here by 4:30 it seems like the evening. Anyways, on Sundays if you are within so many feet off the ground you can speak and preach whatever you like. It takes place in a part of the park rightly named Speakers Corner. So I went to hear the people speak and I observed a never ending argument between Muslims and Christians. Wow, they were getting really intense and not only was I kind of scared because this guy near me kept yelling about like a mad man about America and Bush but there was this old MiddleEastern man standing behind me and he kept scooting up, YUCK! Finally, I took my huge bag with about three books in it ... read more
Over the hills and through the woods to Scotland...
Published: October 26th 2005Europe » United Kingdom » Scotland » Sutherland » Carbisdale Castle
October 26th 2005
Sorry it took me so long to update my blog but here I am to inform you all of my adventures in the far north of the UK. I returned to my flat at around 8:30am on Monday after a torturous 13-hour bus ride. For those of you that don’t know, I went to the highlands of Scotland. We stayed in a castle that was donated to the Scottish Youth Hostel Association. The castle was said to have a “haunted” room but we didn’t get to stay in it. Scotland was so beautiful! It was so peaceful and calm. The people there were really kind and laid back. We only visited four small towns, well one was a bit larger than the rest but not too much bigger. We had a four-hour wait in Inverness for ... read more
Going to Scotland!
Published: October 20th 2005Europe » United Kingdom » England » Greater London » Enfield TownOctober 20th 2005
Hello All! I just wanted to let you all know that I will be in Scotland for the weekend. Four other girls and I will be staying in a castle turned into a hostel for the weekend, it's also said to be haunted. The castle is about an hour from Inverness which is supposed to be BEAUTIFUL!! There will be a lot of hiking and outdoor activity which will be a nice getaway. I'm so so excited. Well I need to get going, we are leaving by tonight at around midnight and will arrive in Scotland after about nine hours on a bus but I'm sure it will be all worth it. Love you all, wish you could be here!! Jen... read more
The Lake District
Published: October 28th 2005Europe » United Kingdom » England » Cumbria » Lake District
October 19th 2005
I got back from the Lake District of Northern England late on Sunday night after a dreadful 7 hour coach ride. We began our trip at 6:45am on Friday the 14th. We left Enfield (Katie, Stephanie, and still drunken me) at 6:45 am. Yes, I was up only because Katie called and got me up. When I left I couldn’t find my keys to my dorm but being still completely pissed I just left without them. We ventured by the overground rail to the underground to Nottinghill gate to get on a coach bus for 7 hours to head to Keswick (Cumbria) where we would be residing at GlaraMara Mountain. The drive to Glaramara was actually quite astounding. The country part of England is very beautiful. The rolling hills, green grass, grazing cattle and sheep, and ... read more
Back from Germany but Off to Cumbria
Published: October 28th 2005Europe » Germany » Rhineland-Palatinate » Mainz
October 12th 2005
I got back from Germany yesterday after about what seemed like a three hour plane delay. For those who don't know, I stayed with family friends of my Grandpa Grauel's. Tina, she is 27, took me to an alternative dance club which was really fun and then we hit up some pubs the next night in Frankfurt. I spent most of my time in Mainz at Tina's. On Saturday we went to Wiesbaden (spelling??) which had a neat WW monument and it was a really pretty small village with a park that had an extraodinary view. On Sunday the family and I ventured to Heidelberg. We went to a castle that was partially destroyed in 1693(Orleans Succession war) of and again in 1764 (lightning). It had an astonishing view of the town from the castle, lots ... read more
This weekend...
Published: October 5th 2005Europe » United Kingdom » England » Greater London » Enfield TownOctober 5th 2005
I just wanted to all let you know that I was going to be out of town all weekend. I'm going to be going to Germany to visit Tina and the family (family friends of Grandpa Grauel's). I think I'll actually be in Frankfurt, but I don't know. I leave Thursday after class and I will return on Tuesday. I would return earlier but it was much cheaper to come back on Tuesday. And don't worry, I won't be missing any class or course work. I'll have lots of pictures to post on my next entry. Leave me a message and let me know what's been going on back in the States. Love and miss you all!!! Jen... read more
Windsor and St.Paul's
Published: October 4th 2005Europe » United Kingdom » England » Greater London » Enfield Town
October 3rd 2005
I got back from my planned Study Abroad Program family stay. I stayed with a host family, an older retired couple and their 5-year-old great-grandson, in Woking England. It was a good time and a great break from my dorm and a great chance to eat food that is not peanut butter (or what England claims as PB) and jelly sandwiches. We went to Windsor Castle, which was huge and to yet another cheap market, which was great! Don’t worry Dad, I didn’t buy anything! In the manor of Windsor Castle is St. George’s Chapel. St. George’s is so beautiful and rich with tombs of former leaders of England. Henry VIII and one of his wives, Jane Seymour (the one he actually did ‘love’), and one of his infants by Queen Anne is buried there along ... read more
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