So Lauren and I went to Paris this weekend to visit her dad who was giving a talk at a conference for surgeons. We took the chunnel over which was a cool experience. You can't really tell that you're on a train underwater but I guess the concept is fun enough. We got in in the afternoon and stayed with her dad at the hotel the conference was paying for. Our room was on the 20th story so you could look out onto the whole city. That night, the conference had a dinner at the Louvre which was 5 courses of some of the best food I've ever had included a tour of the museum. And all we had to do was to pretend we knew something about heart surgery!
The next day we walked around and saw all of the typical sites (Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame and those sorts of things) and stopped to have hot chocolate in this really old mansion thats now a cafe. The next day we toured Montmartre which is the area with the beautiful church Sacre Coeur and where all of the artists gather to paint. We went home the next evening after fitting in a significant amount of Parisian shopping (our hotel and food was free, right?)
Arriving back in London felt like coming home which is a good sign. Classes and volleyball are both going well. We're doing a tour of Greenwich with our university this weekend so that should be interesting. A trip to Ireland or Scotland in a few weeks is also in the works so I'll let you know how that turns out. Hope all is well!
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Volleyball, karaoke and my first British friends!
My first real week in London is coming to a close and it was a great one.
I went to another practice with the competitive volleyball team and am definitely going to stick with them. Our first big tournament is the beginning of February so that should be exciting. They're also playing in a three day tournament in Austria so I might be going to that as well. I also went to play with the more recreational team at my college. The girls were really friendly and nice and invited me to practice with them even if I dont necessarily play on the team so I think Ill do that. They also have combined social sessions with the men's team, which has some good players, every Friday so I'll probably end up going to some of those as well.
Lauren (my roomate from school)'s dad is going to be in Paris this weekend for a conference so we're taking the Chunnel to visit him for three days since we don't have class on Mondays. I'm not sure how I feel about trains that go underwater yet but we'll see how that goes. There's a group of four of us who take turns cooking dinner and one of the boys is from Quebec. I've been working on my French with him but that usually involves me trying to saying four words and him laughing at my unwillingness to change verb tenses.
Speaking of language difficulties, I've run into one problem that is pretty individual to my situation. In the US, when you chase after a volleyball and bring it back to a coach or to the basket it goes in its called "shagging." In practice you usually say "Oh thats ok, I'll shag" or "Go shag that ball." It means something a whole lot more promiscuous here and can get pretty awkward especially when Im practicing with the men's team. I guess Ill have to work on trying to say "fetch" the ball.
Social life here has been great. We hang out with a lot of Americans and other international students because meeting British people is actually pretty difficult. They've known eachother for a really long time and weaseling our way into their friend groups is tough. The neuroscience majors at UCL took us to a couple of pubs the other night (the department gave them money) so that was a lot of fun. Last night a group of us went to a Karaoke night which was wonderful. One of our friends did an award winning rendition of Neil Diamond's Forever in Blue Jeans which was really well received. I did a duet to Tiffany's "I think were alone now" complete with rockin' dance moves. Our audience was a birthday party of fairly intoxicated British students, but they clapped a lot so I think we did alright. Today I went exploring on busses to Hyde Park which is a huge gorgeous park near Buckhingham palace. Its really great for running and frisbee and picnics so hopefully we'll be heading there a lot.
Ok well Im off to bed but I hope all is well wherever you might be!
I went to another practice with the competitive volleyball team and am definitely going to stick with them. Our first big tournament is the beginning of February so that should be exciting. They're also playing in a three day tournament in Austria so I might be going to that as well. I also went to play with the more recreational team at my college. The girls were really friendly and nice and invited me to practice with them even if I dont necessarily play on the team so I think Ill do that. They also have combined social sessions with the men's team, which has some good players, every Friday so I'll probably end up going to some of those as well.
Lauren (my roomate from school)'s dad is going to be in Paris this weekend for a conference so we're taking the Chunnel to visit him for three days since we don't have class on Mondays. I'm not sure how I feel about trains that go underwater yet but we'll see how that goes. There's a group of four of us who take turns cooking dinner and one of the boys is from Quebec. I've been working on my French with him but that usually involves me trying to saying four words and him laughing at my unwillingness to change verb tenses.
Speaking of language difficulties, I've run into one problem that is pretty individual to my situation. In the US, when you chase after a volleyball and bring it back to a coach or to the basket it goes in its called "shagging." In practice you usually say "Oh thats ok, I'll shag" or "Go shag that ball." It means something a whole lot more promiscuous here and can get pretty awkward especially when Im practicing with the men's team. I guess Ill have to work on trying to say "fetch" the ball.
Social life here has been great. We hang out with a lot of Americans and other international students because meeting British people is actually pretty difficult. They've known eachother for a really long time and weaseling our way into their friend groups is tough. The neuroscience majors at UCL took us to a couple of pubs the other night (the department gave them money) so that was a lot of fun. Last night a group of us went to a Karaoke night which was wonderful. One of our friends did an award winning rendition of Neil Diamond's Forever in Blue Jeans which was really well received. I did a duet to Tiffany's "I think were alone now" complete with rockin' dance moves. Our audience was a birthday party of fairly intoxicated British students, but they clapped a lot so I think we did alright. Today I went exploring on busses to Hyde Park which is a huge gorgeous park near Buckhingham palace. Its really great for running and frisbee and picnics so hopefully we'll be heading there a lot.
Ok well Im off to bed but I hope all is well wherever you might be!
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
And so it it begins...
My life is normalizing now that I've been here for a few days. We've had to take care of all of our paperwork which has made me realize how different it is to go to a huge university(there are something between 20 and 30 thousand students I believe.) Everything is really hard to find but we've been managing to get there in groups.
We had to register with the health center yesterday and its funny because they call everything "surgery." So if you have a cold and want and antibiotic you go into surgery. There's a bunch of signs up in the doctor's office that say "Please, don't eat or drink in surgery" and "Walk in surgery line starts here." It makes me really nervous to get any medical help-- I don't want them slicing into me.
My first class was this morning and it went well. Classes here are similar to those in the US except that a lot of the lectures are taught by different professors. It makes a lot of since because the professor is an expert in the field so I guess thats a good idea. Just about five minutes ago I got a Facebook invite from some of the London Neuroscience students called "Fancy a pint?" (they really do talk like that!) so I'm going to attend a pub with them tomorrow so that should be a good way to meet people.
I keep finding myself picking up a British accent and I hope no one local is actually noticing. It just always seems so much easier to just be understood by changing a couple of vowel sounds. Who knows-- maybe ill come back saying things like lift and football and trowsers.
Oh! and I went to the volleyball practice the other day and it was really fun. The team is made up of students and alumni from all London universities and they are very good. There are already three middles (the position I play) on the team who are better than I am but the practices are a really good workout so I'm going to stick with it for a while. I dont think any of them are actually from England so theres a pretty big language barrier but I can learn to work around that. Im going to go try my own universities team on Friday which is less demanding and mostly British students.
I miss you all at home a lot! Its really rainy all the time here which Im getting used to but sun sounds nice right about now. Please update me on your lives!
We had to register with the health center yesterday and its funny because they call everything "surgery." So if you have a cold and want and antibiotic you go into surgery. There's a bunch of signs up in the doctor's office that say "Please, don't eat or drink in surgery" and "Walk in surgery line starts here." It makes me really nervous to get any medical help-- I don't want them slicing into me.
My first class was this morning and it went well. Classes here are similar to those in the US except that a lot of the lectures are taught by different professors. It makes a lot of since because the professor is an expert in the field so I guess thats a good idea. Just about five minutes ago I got a Facebook invite from some of the London Neuroscience students called "Fancy a pint?" (they really do talk like that!) so I'm going to attend a pub with them tomorrow so that should be a good way to meet people.
I keep finding myself picking up a British accent and I hope no one local is actually noticing. It just always seems so much easier to just be understood by changing a couple of vowel sounds. Who knows-- maybe ill come back saying things like lift and football and trowsers.
Oh! and I went to the volleyball practice the other day and it was really fun. The team is made up of students and alumni from all London universities and they are very good. There are already three middles (the position I play) on the team who are better than I am but the practices are a really good workout so I'm going to stick with it for a while. I dont think any of them are actually from England so theres a pretty big language barrier but I can learn to work around that. Im going to go try my own universities team on Friday which is less demanding and mostly British students.
I miss you all at home a lot! Its really rainy all the time here which Im getting used to but sun sounds nice right about now. Please update me on your lives!
Friday, January 4, 2008
The first few days
Hello! I just got internet in my room (thats the most exciting thing thats happened today.) So heres my first real update.
I arrived safely at 6 in the morning with Lauren and we had a really hard time staying awake all day long. It was January 1st and it was literally us and pigeons outside. We stayed with Petey in a cute bed and breakfasty hotel and then moved into our flats the next day. I live with 6 people (a Spanish boy and girl, a Japanese girl, an American boy and a German boy). We're all international students and the other 5 have lived here for 6 months already. We share bathrooms and a kitchen and all have our own rooms. I've only met the Japanese girl so far and she ranks in the top five nicest people I've ever encountered. She laid out breakfast for me on the first day in case I didn't have time to go to the store! The American boy arrived back this morning and is asleep in his room but I'm about ready to go break down the door and introduce myself.
The dorm I live in is really social so its been nice to have people for the first week. We've done some exploring of pubs and restaurants and the city in general. As for the pub scene, its so strange being able to walk into anywhere without being questioned. Some of the more posh places are becoming 21 and up to keep out the riff-raff like ourselves. Boo globalization haha. The area by the river is gorgeous and Im hoping to head over there a lot. The rest of our time has been spent at school orientations and lots of talks about why UCL is the greatest college in the whole wide world.
And even though Im in London, adjusting culturally still takes some time. I have no idea what coins are what (theres like 10 different ones) so I take forever at stores. Lauren and I got yelled at yesterday for asking for a restroom because they are toilets. And crossing the street is terrifying. The cars are coming from the opposite directions and will stop for no one. But all of the locals have been really friendly and helpful which makes everything easier. Its also really hard to tell when theyre making fun of you because everything is put so politely.
Im trying out for a volleyball team on Sunday so hopefully that will go well. And pictures will come shortly. Cheers!
I arrived safely at 6 in the morning with Lauren and we had a really hard time staying awake all day long. It was January 1st and it was literally us and pigeons outside. We stayed with Petey in a cute bed and breakfasty hotel and then moved into our flats the next day. I live with 6 people (a Spanish boy and girl, a Japanese girl, an American boy and a German boy). We're all international students and the other 5 have lived here for 6 months already. We share bathrooms and a kitchen and all have our own rooms. I've only met the Japanese girl so far and she ranks in the top five nicest people I've ever encountered. She laid out breakfast for me on the first day in case I didn't have time to go to the store! The American boy arrived back this morning and is asleep in his room but I'm about ready to go break down the door and introduce myself.
The dorm I live in is really social so its been nice to have people for the first week. We've done some exploring of pubs and restaurants and the city in general. As for the pub scene, its so strange being able to walk into anywhere without being questioned. Some of the more posh places are becoming 21 and up to keep out the riff-raff like ourselves. Boo globalization haha. The area by the river is gorgeous and Im hoping to head over there a lot. The rest of our time has been spent at school orientations and lots of talks about why UCL is the greatest college in the whole wide world.
And even though Im in London, adjusting culturally still takes some time. I have no idea what coins are what (theres like 10 different ones) so I take forever at stores. Lauren and I got yelled at yesterday for asking for a restroom because they are toilets. And crossing the street is terrifying. The cars are coming from the opposite directions and will stop for no one. But all of the locals have been really friendly and helpful which makes everything easier. Its also really hard to tell when theyre making fun of you because everything is put so politely.
Im trying out for a volleyball team on Sunday so hopefully that will go well. And pictures will come shortly. Cheers!
Sunday, December 30, 2007
My first post!
So I'm copying Petey and taking the blog path (now you can compare posts and get the REAL stories.) I leave tomorrow morning and meet up with Lauren in the Chicago airport. I've squeezed my wellies and peacoats into my bags and I'm ready to go. I'll miss you all very much!
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