Amsterdayum!

A quick piece of advice before jumping into the action... do NOT attempt to save money by sleeping overnight at the airport. This will only resort in restless night for your first day of travel. Noooo bueno.

January 22nd - After checking into our hostel, Durty Nelly's, we went on a canal cruise. It was nice and relaxing, but not that informative and slightly repetitive. Well I did it once... won't have to worry about it again. We walked around Dam Square (where the Royal Palace is) and went to one of the many bakeriess to try oliebollen! These are delicious little deep-fried donuts that have apple sauce mixed into the dough along with raisins. SO good and only €1. After our wandering around the Red Light District (where our hostel is located haha) we stopped by the Sex Museum. Quite interesting to say the least! We definitely enjoyed ourselves... but not in that way! You all have such dirty minds!

on the canal cruise

oliebollen

swans/geese in the canal

January 23rd - We planned on getting up early, but due to our lack of sleep from the night before we slept late. It was ok though... it allowed us to eat the free breakfast downstairs at the pub! After a traditional Dutch breakfast of bread with ham and cheese (no condiments) we walked to the Anne Frank Huis. The site did not have any of the furniture left on request of Otto Frank, but the bookcase leading up to the annex as well as all of the photos Anne pasted onto the wall are still intact. It was pretty inspirational - quotes from her diary were all along the walls as you walked through. It was really moving. For lunch we went to the famous Pancake Bakery. The food was utterly amazing. Probably one of the top 5 meals I've ever had! We walked around Vondelpark until it got dark and walked back through the fashion district. After we used our hostel discounts for dinner at Durty Nelly's, we went to a bar called the Grasshopper for a couple hours. After that, my friend Annie and I stopped to get chocolate, custard, and fruit covered waffles. Like the rest of the food in Amsterdam, they were very good.

lunch at the Pancake Bakery

ice from the river in Vondelpark

eating the waffles in our hostel

random building that looks important/pretty haha

January 24th - We took the tram to Museumplein. We briefly stopped at Costers Diamonds (the company that crafted the Crown Jewels for England) and watched them examine and cut diamonds. Annie and I walked to the Heineken Brewery for the Heineken Experience which was a ton of fun. Our €15 admission included a ride where we were virtually bottled, viewing of old Heineken commercials, 2 1/2 pints of beer, and of course being bombarded by advertising. Definitely worth the cost. I had been planning on going to the Rijksmuseum but part of it was shut down due to construction and there was only enough time left for one museum. I chose the Van Gogh Museum. I'd heard mixed reviews about it because some of his most famous paintings were not there, however I really enjoyed going. His work, talent, and desire to show real human emotion is truly inspirational. My favorite paintings of his that were at the museum were Irises, Almond Blossoms, and the one that he referred to as "2 couples courting." Our dinner was at Cafe Panorama, which overlooks a canal. I thought it was funny when I asked for cream for my tea the waiter brought out whipped cream. It was also weird because the restaurant had a cat wandering around. People would pick it up then go back to eating or it would hop up on a chair and go to sleep... not many health codes in Amsterdam. A ton of other shops had cats too.

the "I Amsterdam" sign

The Heineken Experience

We had a ton of things go wrong for our group, but luckily none of them specifically cost me any money. The weather started out dry but started raining/sleeting/snowing by the second day (even colder than London!) The trip was definitely a good learning experience for us. Hopefully our next weekend traveling will go much smoother. Overall I had an amazing time in Amsterdam!

First Impressions

Just wanted to make a brief list of things that I thought were very strange in Great Britain.

1. Crossing the street whenever you want. This is probably still the biggest one for me. The cars always have the right of way unless it is a zebra crossing (that's correct, not striped!). There are no laws prohibiting pedestrians from crossing the road whenever they want so it always ends up being an accomplishment to make it across safely!
2. Differences in language. Of course everyone knows that Brits use words such as cheers, fancy, and bloody. However, sometimes I find myself in conversations where the other person and I are unable to understand each other. For example, a Brit came up to us and asked for directions to a store we actually knew the location of (they thought we were Londoners!... which technically I am at the moment). We said that it was 3 blocks down, assuming that these directions were perfectly clear. Apparently Brits do not use this term. They simply say 3 roads down because their roads go in such strange directions.
   
3. Grocery shopping. There are usually no shopping carts or conveyor belts at the checkout stand (except at Waitrose, a nicer market). It is impossible to buy things in bulk, probably because the food expires much quicker than it does in the US (hello processed foods). You basically have to go to the market several times a week. A lot of their food is either very bland or very spicy (because of the large Indian population, the largest minority in London).
   
4. Tax is already included. It is so nice to not have to figure out how much items will cost after they are rung up.
   
5. No tipping necessary! This is one of my favorites! Restaurants already include the service charge if you eat in. Bartenders don't even expect a tip.
   
6. The tradition of the monarchy. It is so interesting to see the juxtaposition of modern buildings, technology, and clothes against the uniforms and behavior of the guards and the beautiful old architecture. It's so fun to watch and almost seems like it is all just for fun. You forget that the guns they carry are actually loaded and their uniforms were created back when the design was in style.
   

A Week In Review

I have a lot to cover, so here goes!

January 9th - It was our first free day. 2 of my roommates (Annie and Michelle) and I went off on our own to Portobello Market over in Notting Hill. It was our first time taking the tube. It wasn't too hard... it is definitely more organized than any subway I've been on in the US. We found out quickly that on the escalators you must stand on the right because people keep walking up the left.

The neighborhood actually kind of reminded me of San Francisco. There are 2 miles of shops, stalls, carts, and tables. It mainly houses antiques, but you can find the most random stuff there. I've made it own of my goals to get some good vintage jewelry while I am here. We stopped at the Hummingbird Bakery (similar to Sprinkles or Crumbs) for cupcakes. They were delicious! They weren't too big (like at Crumbs) and not overly sweet. Annie and I split a black bottom (dark chocolate with cream cheese frosting) and it was amazing - and this is coming from someone who isn't a big dark chocolate fan. Michelle's red velvet was delicious too. Side note... red velvet is usually my favorite, but my roommates and I decided to always buy different foods when we are out so we can try as many things as possible. For lunch we went to a place called Progreso. It was quite difficult ordering because so many Londoners have thick accents. The city is incredibly diverse, more so than LA or New York. At one point when we were back looking at stalls, we were taking pictures of stacks of old books. This old man came up behind hind us and yelled at us to stop taking pictures. We just responded "ok..." and he was like "JUST DON'T!" Not always the friendliest bunch of people haha. It started snowing outside and was windy so we stepped into one of the shops along the street. Their electricity wasn't working so it was almost as cold inside as it was outside. It was time for us Cali girls to head home. While we were speed walking back to the tube their were still groups of musicians playing with bare hands and heads and you just think, "They are crazy!"

me, Michelle, and Annie

Portobello Road

Hummingbird Bakery

January 10th - All 26 of us went on a coach tour around the city today. Angie narrated our hop on-hop off tour past Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Prince Albert's Memorial, Buckingham Palace, etc. We waited to watch the Changing of the Guard at the normal time, but the guards came late and from a different direction than usual. Angie said she had never seen it happen before but thought it was probably because of the extraordinarily cold weather. After the tour several of us went to Harrods on Oxford St. That store is incredible. It feels like Disneyland with all the saturated colors, music, bright lights, and costumes. It's so big that it isn't hard to believe they will sell you anything. A yacht? Check. A vacation? Check. An elephant? Bring them the permits signed by the government and you have yourself a check. We walked around all the food areas and went up a couple floors but decided we would have to come back to spend more time there.

on The River Thames w/ the Tower of London and Tower Bridge in the background

Westminster Abbey

Harrods at night

January 11th - Stopped by the British Museum for the first time. It is literally around the corner from my flat. We went through the Egyptian section and saw the Rosetta Stone and the mummies. The museum is so big we decided to take it a section at a time so we can get through it all and not be overwhelmed. We went to the Peter Jones department store to pick up a couple of things for the flat.

ceiling in the lobby of British Museum

Rosetta Stone

January 12th - First day of classes. Our classes are done in the European way. We have them once a week for 3 hours. A lot of our assignments don't have an actual due date... they just have to be turned in by the end of the semester. I think it's a good way to teach self-motivation. My first class, Intercultural Britain, is with Philip Drummond, an old British guy with a dry sense of humor. He's a bit old-fashioned and talks slowly. It's going to be a long 3 hours, but it should be a good background on the UK. My second class, the Geopolitics of Information, is taught by Shawn Powers. He has traveled all over the Middle East for his dissertation and I feel like I am really going to learn a lot from him. In a couple weeks we are visiting Al Jazeera English, which is located in London. At night our group saw Billy Elliot at the Victoria Palace Theatre. Our program pays for our tickets... we have 3 more shows we can attend throughout the semester. It was really entertaining to watch a musical tweaked for the British sense of humor.

The Victoria Palace Theatre

January 13th - During the first 8 weeks of the semester we have a lab for our class The Rhetoric of London. Our first trip was to the Tower of London. I really loved looking at all the old buildings and the crown jewels were so beautiful. My favorite was probably Queen Victoria's crown, which is a lot smaller because she was only 4'10''. On the way home we stopped at a different supermarket than normal, Waitrose. It is SO much nicer than Sainsbury's! There is much more of a selection and I was finally able to buy a notebook. They even have a conveyor belt and shopping carts. A little slice of home:) For dinner a small group went to a Portuguese chicken restaurant called Nando's. The food was really good for a decent price. Definitely planning on going back.

all the girls w/ our tour guide Angie

standing in front of the slit made for shooting arrows and for light

Kristy, Michelle, me, Annie

"Off with her head!" ...where Ann Boleyn and other royals got their heads chopped off

January 15th - Had another class with Shawn Powers yesterday on Media Consumption. I think it's going to be just as good as his other one. Sorrel (one of the girls in the Accent office) took us to Borough Market, which was made famous by the British chef Jamie Oliver. The food there was delicious. Needless to say, I bought a lot of food... including mushroom pate, bread pudding, Malaysian chicken curry, pumpkin ravioli, and eidel-weiss beer, a German wheat (really good!) The market also houses two points that were filmed in the Harry Potter movies, The Leaky Cauldron and the nightbus stop. At night we went to a club called Plan B in Brixton that was having a hip hop night. The music was just ok... not quite as hardcore as hip hop from the US but it was still fun. Apparently after I left some people started rapping live that were pretty good. The club had rows of bleachers on the sides where people would chill and watch the dance floor or make out. It was quite odd haha.

Borough Market
Turkish Delight... not my favorite
lots of good beer!
Malaysian chicken curry, my delicious lunch
The Leaky Cauldron
me, Victoria, Olivia, Amy at Plan B

January 17th - It was finally sunny for the first time since I've been here. Kristy, Annie, and I went bought lunch and brought it to Regents Park and ate it on a bench there. It was so refreshing to escape from the city. While I love living in the city, you all know I was raised a country girl and get out in the open air from time to time. I can just imagine how pretty the parks are going to be in the spring when they flowers all blossom. I can't wait to have real picnics! While the parks are really pretty, in some ways they seem a little to stiff and contrived. I like how things grow wild naturally, and the flora here is a bit constrained.

Kristy, Annie, me

As for today there hasn't been much going on. We had a brief tour of a library that we get to use and I did a little grocery shopping. Sorry this post was so long... they will normally be much short since I won't be writing about an entire week. If you've made it this far congratulations and til next time, cheers!

Just touched down in Londontown!

So I've been in London for about a week now and figured this would be the easiest way to keep you all updated about my semester abroad. The weather has been such a shock for me... so different for a girl that grew up in California! At first when you step outside you think, "Hey it's not that bad. I can handle this." However, as the moments tick by, the cold begins to seep in and it continues to get worse until you go back inside. London has not been too windy... I'm assuming because the buildings are so close together that they block a lot of the wind. Once you get closer the The River Thames the wind begins to pick up.

The first night there we were taken to a local pub. The place was packed with Brits out with friends and it was a great introduction to the culture. We had some British refreshments that looked like they should be familiar but after tasting them they were so strange.

On January 8th, I saw British snow for the first time! I had orientation at Accent (the study abroad center where classes are located) and went out to lunch at a cafe called Eve's with a few other girls. Our waitress was not too friendly. Later, when paying at the register, we were waiting for our change (tip is included in the prices). She seemed taken aback because many British people assume they will receive a tip from Americans. But when in London, do as the Londoners do! We waited until we had received our change from the scowling woman.

My study abroad group (which has 20 girls and 6 guys, all communication majors from USC) went on a walking tour with our personal tour guide, Angie. Angie is a short, somewhat squat lady in her 70s with a bit of a bum leg. She has the cute, dry British sense of humor and is a lot of fun. I believe she has a degree in architecture that she applies toward the conservation of old British buildings where she appraises the condition and helps fix anything that needs to be upgraded.

Back to the tour... we walked through Soho (the music center of the city) and saw Paul McCartney's office and one of the homes Charles Dickens wrote about in A Tale of Two Cities. (On a quick sidenote, this is going to be quite a long entry just because I am summarizing so many days. I created this blog to catalog my personal memories and thoughts as well... You are free to read as much or as little of it as you would like. Hope you enjoy them!) The term Soho is not an abbreviation for anything such as South of Houston like it is in New York. It is the word hunters used when they spotted a fox, calling out SO-HO! in excitement. Present day Soho is an area that used to be a big hunting spot. Around the 1600s it used to be a luxurious area for aristocrats. As the neighborhood went out of style, houses became affordable for immigrants. As their financial status increased, they moved out leaving room for newer immigrants (while leaving some of their restaurants and influence... causing the area to become quite diverse). We walked back through Covent Garden past the Royal Opera House. After the tour our entire group went to Carphone Warehouse to get mobiles. They took us downstairs and after much debate, we were able to choose our own pay-as-you-go plans. Our program took us out to dinner at a Turkish restaurant called Tas, which is only a couple of blocks from our flats. It started with about 6 different dips/salsas that you put on your bread. My main course was a sort of lamb lasagna that had a layer of potatoes... it was very good!