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Published: February 10th 2007
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**DISCLAIMER: It's not my fault the Stonehenge pictures are identical! Not much to work with...**
I didn’t end up going out last night (Thursday), which was probably a smart decision, health-wise. And I didn’t go out tonight, either, since we did a whirlwind day-trip to Stonehenge and I didn’t want even more exposure to the cold, damp weather. There will be plenty of nights this term, right? Plus, I’m getting to know people in Alwyn on a more casual basis. Most students stay in on weekends and go out weekdays, anyway, which is backwards from Eau Claire!
Mary, Victoria, Jay and I had a “sick” night watching Harry Potter (#4) in Jay’s room Thursday night, then headed to bed. Anna had promised to leave her bedroom unlocked so I could get on my computer, but she didn’t. I left her a note and bummed around my room because I wasn’t tired. She finally came back around 2 a.m., and I was a little put out because I wasn’t able to e-mail Mom back to say how I was feeling, as promised. Plus, I wanted to post the blog entry I wrote, and I couldn’t access that from anywhere but
my own computer. I did all that, quickly, and got to bed late. But now my laptop is in MY room, so I can get on it when I need to - hopefully they will fix my Internet soon!
Today (Friday) Mary, Betsy, me, and two girls from Illinois, Janice and Libby, decided to take a day-trip to Stonehenge, the ancient stone monument with mysterious origins. It’s really just a pile of rocks - but a cool pile of rocks, and it would be a shame to miss this one-of-a-kind landmark when it’s less than two hours from Winchester. We barely made it in time to catch the bus from downtown to Salisbury, rode an hour, than changed buses to Stonehenge. A nice lady in Salisbury refunded the two-way tickets we had bought for a more economical “Explorer” pass, which covers any bus in their company, all day, for only 6.99 (pounds) - saving us a lot of money. (We even convinced the bus driver back in Winchester to accept out passes for a ride back to campus, which meant less time in the cold!) For the trip from Salisbury to Stonehenge, we were supposed to have a double-decker
bus, and were even seated in the top and front of my first double-decker, but then the routes changed and we took a normal bus with a cranky driver. So sad! I’m putting “riding a double-decker” on my list of things I MUST do before the term is up…
With the way the bus schedules worked out, we had less than half an hour at the actual site - but you can really only see Stonehenge from every angle, behind the roped-off area, and take so many pictures. Plus, it was freezing! Cold and windy, though we lucked out and were there during the brief window of time when it didn’t rain or drizzle. It was kind of unreal to see the ACTUAL Stonehenge, and it looked exactly like you see in pictures, minus cool lighting effects and close-ups. (Though, I really appreciated my super-wide angle lens and zoom today, since I could get more interesting shots of the rocks than a simple camera. And yah for Photoshop!) I also bought a few postcards in the over-priced giftshop. Overall: a $30 (U.S. money) day - not bad for an all-day trip and world-famous historic landmark.
On our
last bus home, the bus was suddenly invaded by about 40 schoolchildren in their uniforms, who rode for about 5 minutes and then left us in stunned silence. A little girl told me they were all aged 11-16 - I couldn’t believe how vulgar those kids could be! Profanities, etc. with their otherwise-cute little English accents! It was kind of overwhelming.
Back home, we unthawed in our rooms, then had supper with some other Americans. I actually had FLAVOR in my canteen food tonight! It was a spicy vegetable stir-fry in a pita with lots of cheese, plus a salad that I ended up taking back with me.
Now I’m off to watch a movie with Nicky (lives across the hall) and some other girls from the floor - SpongeBob Squarepants (hey, sometimes you need a good, dumb movie...)
Cheers!
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Becky Foxen
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Hey Emily! You look like you are having just an amazing time seeing all kinds of new things and meeting new people! Wow. I think it's pretty common for someone who is doing something completely different and new in life to get sick. Possibly a part of culture shock, I've heard... I know I've had experiences like that. We hope that you can make it here to Plzen sometime before you go home! Let us know what works for you! Love ya! Becky