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Published: February 3rd 2007
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Airport
Dinner before take-off Hi everyone! I’m trying this travel website thing to keep in touch and hopefully post some interesting photos of Europe. I figure it’s a bit more convenient and more fun than sending out loads of emails. I’ll try to update every once in a while.
So here’s what it’s been like, in a very broad sense, so far:
The food isn’t as bad as I’ve heard it to be, but there are a lot of strange foods/combinations of foods that I’ve never seen in America. I’ve been attempting to try some new dishes and for the most part have liked them. There are set meal times though. Breakfast is from 8-9.30, lunch is from 12-2, dinner is from 6-7. It’s difficult working out my day around those times, because otherwise I’d have to pay a semi-expensive price for food, (they charge for everything… ketchup packets cost 12 pence each!) and breakfast and dinner can only be eaten in my own residence hall, so wherever I am at those times I always have to make my way back to the dorms to eat, which could be a VERY long walk.
The campus is extremely big. Sometimes I have a
Dinner
Dinner served on the flight, they served us miniature bottles of wine once we got out of American air...very cool. half-hour walk just to get to class. For the first few days my legs were so sore from walking. But it’s also very beautiful, there are many tree-lined paths and a big lake running the length of one side of campus. There are also caves somewhere on campus, but I haven’t learned where they are yet.
I’ve met people from all around the world since being here, from Denmark, Brazil, Argentina, Greece, Ethiopia, to name a few. The school held an exchange-student reception on Wednesday, they served wine and basically let students mingle. It’s strange being in a country where school events serve drinks, but there is definitely a lot more student participation in school events then I’ve ever seen at Albany! The first night I was here, my dorm held a charity quiz night at the bar in my residence hall. It seemed like everyone in the entire building attended. Each student who wanted to join donated a pound to charity and we were asked trivia questions. One of the questions was “What American holiday features a rodent searching for its shadow?” A lot of kids looked puzzled for that one…
Most people have been very nice,
Sky
This was taken over the overcast in British air. This was the last time I'd see sunshine for another few days... luckily, the weather's been sunny for 3 days now after days of nothing but clouds. Overall, the temperature here is warmer too. Yesterday I was able to walk around in only a sweatshirt during the day because it was almost 60 degrees, but I think that was a rare occurance. Ironically, yesterday night was also the coldest night here and it really felt like winter. I’ve made a few friends within my dorm but my building is on the smaller side so everyone knows each other already, which makes it weird in that I feel like they already have their groups of friends, but its also good in that they all recognize me as a new face, so some have gone out of their way to come up to me and introduce themselves and their friends.
The media is pretty mush all American, they watch mostly American TV shows and listen to mostly American music. They even watch 24! I found out the super bowl is going to be aired tomorrow, so hopefully I can watch it on the TV in the lounge downstairs. A lot of Brits think American football is stupid and say they don’t understand it, but some others follow it.
I’ve only been to two of my four classes so far, it’ll be a while before I can judge what I think of them, but I’ve enjoyed the two that I’ve been to. I’m taking ‘History, Language and Society’ (how the English language began and developed, how it’s changed, a lot about vocabulary, grammar and syntax), Introduction to Shakespeare
Bar
This is the bar downstairs in my dorm building. Each building has their own. It's pretty cool, the walls are painted dark red and it has a giant screen on the wall that hooks up to the TV. It also has a pool table. In the room next to it there's a ping pong table and a piano. (self-explanatory), Enduring Realism in the British Novel (how specific authors employed Realism and its effectiveness) and I’m taking an art history course called ‘Visualizing the Body and the Politics of Difference’ (I haven’t been to this class yet, but from the course description its about how the body is portrayed in art throughout history and why it is portrayed in specific ways).
It’s finally the weekend, and I’m exhausted from all the settling-in chores and from walking so much. Today I plan to lounge around and read a book for one of my classes, maybe watch some TV downstairs. Sounds exciting, huh?
I hope everyone is well and I miss you tremendously! I’ll try to post some pictures if I can figure out how. Talk to you soon!
Love,
Melissa
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Daddy
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Great Idea
Hey there Sweetheart!! This is a great idea and nice way to share pictures. Looks like your all set up there in school and you will be in great shape by the time you get back. And I am sure Grandma will have something to say about your bed not being made!! Have a great school year! Love You very much!!