skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Matt and I went to his family's home in the country again the weekend of October 17-19, as our return trip tickets on our last journey back weren't checked, so we still had a valid one-way ticket back and only needed to buy a ticket to get there (which is much, much cheaper)! Anyway, we had another list of places to go and things to do while in the country and with access to a car! Friday afternoon, we went to lunch with Matt's mum (that's how they say mom) at the oldest pub in Leicestershire, which is actually within walking distance of his house. The pub has been there since 1290- long before America had even been discovered! The baguette sandwich lunch I had was delicious too :)
Later that day, we went to Tesco, the grocery store in Ashby, to get ingredients for me to make his family Snickerdoodles (they don't have Snickerdoodles). I couldn't find shortening, so made due with lard instead...which might not have been the best idea. Somewhere along the line, the ingredients didn't mix well and I believe the batch of Snickerdoodles I ended up making tasted nothing like they should have. Nonetheless, they were tasty enough to eat and his family liked them all the same. My mission now is to make a good match of Snickerdoodles so they can know how they're suppose to taste! Matt also tried to make me something I had never had before- a Bakewell tart. His recipe also somehow got messed up and didn't turn out the way he wanted, though it did taste pretty good. I'm hoping he makes it again!Then on Saturday we drove to one of the places Matt had been raving about- Bradgate Park. I wasn't sure how a park could be so amazing...until I got there. It was lovely! There was a stream running through the park and deer everywhere, as it is also a deer sanctuary. The ruins of Lady Jane Grey's house remain in the park as well. She lived there before stealing the throne and then being executed for doing so. We even met a peacock that I named Joe while we were eating lunch on a bench next to the ruins.
On our way back from Bradgate Park, we stopped at Kirby Muxloe Castle, which is now mostly ruins surrounded by a the moat. There wasn't too much to see there though, so we were only there to walk around the ruins and across the bridge (which you can see in the background of the picture below).
I didn't travel outside of London the next weekend, but I did get quite a delicious taste of English traditions...England is full of old traditions. There's the standard 'Full English Breakfast', which I had heard of and eaten before. A 'Full English' as it is often refered to, consists of a fried egg, toast, sausages, a fried tomato, fried mushrooms, baked beans, hash browns, and bacon. Of course, there are multiple recipes, but those are the ingredients for the traditional English Breakfast.Then there's 'Beans on Toast'. What a name! It's cheap and it's TASTY! You toast 2 slices of bread, spread butter or margarine on the toast and after heating baked beans (beans in tomato sauce and the most popular thing in England!), you dump the entire can over your buttered toast and voila!=beans on toast. DELICIOUS!Then there's 'Bangers and Mash', which is simply sausages and mashed potatoes. And then there's Kebabs and Currys, both of which are extremely popular as food/snacks to eat at 3am when nowhere else is open but a Kebab shop!Then there's Shepard's Pie and Mince Pie. And Cornish Pastys, which are sold absolutely everywhere!And most importantly, the one I hadn't heard of before coming here- Sunday lunch! Sunday lunch consists of a meat of your choice, mixed vegetables, yorkshire pudding (it's another English food- kind of like a bun, which is the best way I can describe it), stuffing, multiple kinds of potatoes, and gravy poured all over the plate- and especially in the yorkshire puddings! Well, because I had never had a Sunday Lunch, Matt asked me to meet him at his flat Sunday afternoon and when I arrived, I found he had made an entire Sunday Lunch for the both of us!! It was sooo good!!!
YUMMMM!!
My class schedule is really different than in America. I have 4 modules (aka courses/classes) that I am taking this semester, but each class only meets once per week....I know, it's pretty awesome..most of the time that is. It can get pretty hard to focus on schoolwork when you only meet with each class once every week, but the rest of the time it's nice. My classes are all 3 hours each, which is an extraordinarily long period of time to have to pay attention for!! We usually are let our early, but sometimes tutors (aka teachers/professors) need the full 3 hours to lecture. :( Classes meeting once/week shouldn't make you think that nobody works here...we're expected to do most of our research and studying on our own. The English educational system runs by the idea that students who force themselves to focus and work during the week, will get better marks on the assignments that they do have. This is challenging to me and many study abroad students because of how confusing it can be- A lot of the time, we aren't told what type of research we can be doing to help us in the class at all. Again, the fact that there is little guidance as students are supposed to be a lot more independent than they are in the states. So, all in all, it has its pros and its cons.
My Module Schedule:
Monday: No Class
Tuesday: 2-5pm- History: 19th Century London
Wednesday: 9:15am-12:15pm- Art and Society, which is a London focused study abroad class in which
we learn about buildings and paintings from different time periods around London.
Thursday: 9:30am-12:30pm- Politics: Introduction to International Relations
2-5pm- London Theatre In Performance, another London focused study abroad class in which
we learn about the history and meaning of theater in London.
Friday: No Class
The first weekend after Fresher's Week and before classes, I went home with Matt. His family lives in Newton Burgoland, a small village in Leicestershire. The main town near it is Ashby de la Zouch, which is where he went to school. We left Saturday afternoon and arrived in the early evening. I went with his family to a nearby pub for dinner, which was the first good meal I had since getting to England! The picture below shows the atmosphere of the pub and how cultured the inside of the restaurant was.
While trying to figure out where we should go the next day, we saw that Chatsworth House, where a large portion of the movie "The Duchess" was filmed, was within driving distance. Matt and I decided to go there because we had just seen the movie and I really wanted to be able to go to the same place it was filmed!The weather forecast said it was suppose to rain all weekend, but after driving for 15-30 minutes- the skies cleared up and it was warm and sunny for the rest of the day! It was a wonderful day!!Chatsworth House is located in the Peak District, which is once of England's National Parks. The drive there was beautiful and green, with open fields lining the roads. When we approached the house, sheep were crossing the road in front of us just like in movies! The trees opened up and we drove up the road through a wide-spread green, valley surrounding the estate.After parking, we walked through the gardens behind the house. Fountains, Small waterfalls, bush mazes, and flower gardens were beautiful and we had a really peaceful afternoon exploring. Afterwards, we had a small picnic in the meadow in front of the stately home and before heading toward the house itself.I can't describe the house well enough, as it is much larger than any house I have ever encountered. It was HUGE!! We walked through story after story of the house, realizing just how much rooms there were!Chatsworth House was a wonderful start to my traveling for the year and pictures can do it better justice than I can!!
Back outside, we walked along one of the paths leading away from the estate to get some good pictures of the front of the house.
The first week at any "Uni" aka University, is called "Freshers Week". Freshers Week starts as soon as you move into halls (or dorm as we say in America), goes on throughout orientation week and lasts until the night before your first day of class. It consists of meeting new people and going out every single night! Our freshers week began the Saturday we all moved into Wigram House. Everyone who had moved in decided to meet outside our halls at 8pm to go to a local pub. I met people from other floors and just got a taste of the English nightlife culture. We didn't stay out long, but instead decided to come back to halls to have a kitchen party. People ended up all coming to the kitchen I share and it was a great night until some people got in trouble for going out on the balcony. We hadn't been told we weren't allowed, so it was weird when we were told that the balcony is off limits and the people who had been on it got into a bit of trouble with the security of our building.
The next few nights, we went out and experienced a number of good and ....memorable nights out as the English would say. Sunday night, we decided to walk instead of taking the tube. It was a nice way to see our area at night, but quite a long walk into the center!! We walked past Westminster Cathedral and Buckingham Palace on our way.
Then, we went to a pub and then afterwards, a club in Leicester Square. Little did we know how horrible the club was and on top of that, how few people were there! We paid only L3 to get in, and knew why when we walked down the steps to find about 5 other people in the club listening as the DJ attempted to put together a few songs. The most we got out of it was a few laughs and the experience so we know not to ever go there again.
Tuesday night of that week was my 19th birthday!! I had found out that Holly's birthday was the same day as mine and so we had planned to go out with everyone in our flat! So my flatmates, Matt, and his friend John all went to a pub in Leicester Square and then after its closing, went to Sports Cafe, which is a bar/club on Haymarket. The music was good and the drinks were great! I ended up trying some drinks I had never even heard of and really liked. It was an awesome night and the best birthday night ever! (And yes, I was able to order alcohol on my birthday even though I was just turning 19!) But that night was not my only birthday celebration.Wigram House posted a sign in the entrance hall announcing my birthday!!
On Thursday, Matt had me meet him near Oxford Circus for another birthday night. He had planned a surprise for me and I really had no idea what he had planned for the night. We ate dinner at a restaurant on Oxford Street (aka shopping street) and then walked through Piccadilly Circus until we stood right across from the huge billboard-like sign displaying the theatre poster for Mamma Mia, the musical! It was wonderful! He knew how much I had enjoyed the movie, which I saw with my mom over the summer, and decided to buy tickets for the theatre's version. I loved it! It was such a fun and lively musical and a great end to my birthday. It was perfect :-)
As Friday was the last day of orientation, the Study Abroad Advisers from the university had organized a "Boat Party" for all of the international study abroad students. We had to meet at Monument tube station and we walked to the River Thames, where the boat was waiting. It looked like a mix between a circus boat and some sort of pirate ship. The inside had 2 stories and we were also allowed on the deck up above. It was pretty fun, but I had lost my voice by this point (I'll explain later on) and as the music was so loud for people dancing, I couldn't really talk to anyone. We left after a few hours and I was able to get some much needed sleep/rest!
By this time of the week, I had begun to feel a little worn down and developed cold symptoms. Soon enough, I was coughing nonstop and couldn't sleep. My parents suggested that the symptoms I was having were consistent with those of my asthma, and thank goodness, I had brought an emergency inhaler which tamed my cough until I was able to see a doctor. That brings me to my experiences with the NHS. Because I will be in England for over 6 months, I am entitled to register with a medical center and can go there for my medical needs. The NHS (National Health Service) provides free healthcare to everyone and keeps all prescriptions at a reasonable price (about L7). Although this is a wonderful system in that respect, it is certainly the most annoying and frustrating when it comes to treatment and organization. The first time I went to register on a Friday, I was turned away because the registration nurse had called in sick. I told the receptionist of my situation and she gave me an appointment for the next Monday. I arrived 10 minutes before my appointment time and waited an HOUR before my name was even called! When I actually was in with the doctor, she simply asked me to use the peak flow in her office and a bit after, wrote me prescriptions for 2 different inhalers to use. She thought that the pollution and the excessive cigarette smoke could be affecting my lungs. I will be going to my own doctor while I am home over winter break to decide what I should do about my asthma.
