Sunday, 19 October 2008
Wales and London
Sorry it’s taken me so long to update….been pretty busy!
Wales: Oct. 3-4
We left for Wales early Friday morning and headed towards Chester. We stopped there for two hours to grab a bite to eat and look around. Although I’m starting to get my bus legs for ‘city’ buses, coach buses still make me feel a bit sick. So Katie and I stopped at a Boots Pharmacy to pick up some motion sickness mediation. It took longer than anticipated and we got kind of lost on the way back to the bus….we were only 10 minutes late. From there we headed to the Youth Hostel in Conway. We looked around the town, walked around the walls of the castle there and had a cup of tea in this very cute tea house.
The next day we went on a coach tour of Wales for about three hours or so? I don’t really remember the coach ride at all because I popped in my motion sickness medication and passed out before the bus started moving. I woke up in the town of Llandudno and asked what I missed….a lot of sheep.
This past week of classes has been pretty jam packed. Everything is really starting to get busy and homework is starting to pill up.
London Trip!
It’s Sunday night and we just got home from our weekend trip to London about 4 hours ago. Friday morning we went to the train station and meet up with two other students in our group and the assistant director of the program. She told us she’d be willing to come down to London for the day with us to show us around. It was a BIG help!
Friday:
We arrived in London around 10:15am and left our luggage at the station’s luggage storage area. Then we walked around a bit and then walked and took tons of pictures at Buckingham Palace. Then we walked to a church and ate in the Crypt. YUMMY! From lunch we headed off to the Westminster Abby and it was amazing! Your admission fee includes a headset to listen to of everything in the Abby, (Well not EVERYTHING cause there is just so much). The headset could be programmed into your language and the tour guide for English was Jeremy Irons, a.k.a Scar from the Lion King. It was an amazing tour and it was very beautiful! I could walk around that place for hours. During the tour it takes you into the room where the Monks would sing hymns and they played one of the pieces sung and I had tears in my eyes because it was just magnificent.
After the Abby we walked to the Globe theatre and to St. Paul’s Cathedral. Then we took the tube, subway, to Covent Garden’s and had fish & chips. The two other people in the group that we meet up with and the assistant director were heading back to Birmingham that night, and Katie, Ashley and I were staying in Claygate with family friends of Katie. Claygate is about a 30min. train ride from Waterloo. So here were our travels: From Covent Garden’s we took two tube rides to the train station in Waterloo, then bought a ticket to Claygate and jumped on the train. We arrived around 9pm and we all were completely exhausted!
The next morning, we got up bright and early, 6:15am, and headed back to Waterloo, and then tube rides to Leicester Square to get tickets to Phantom of the Opera! We were the first ones in the queue (line) so we went next door and got a latte. After we got our discount tickets, we went back towards St. Paul’s Cathedral to find Fleet Street! After getting a little turned around we found Fleet Street and then headed for Harrods department store. Since everything is really expensive we just got treats from the bakery!
From Harrods we took a tube to the British Museum and walked around there for a few hours. After the Museum we went into a few local shops. We also stopped to have a cup of tea and some yummy chips, a.k.a French fries.
After our little snack we again took a couple tube rides to the London Tower and the Tower Bridge. Next we headed back to Leicester Square to find “Her Majesty Theatre” and get some dinner. We ate at the Pizza Express and it was SOOOO GOOD! Then we went to Phantom of the Opera. Wow! It was so good that I cried during “Music of the Night”. After the shot we got on the tube and train back to Claygate.
We woke up this morning around 7:30 and headed back to Birmingham. We got in around 2ish. I’m catching up on some homework and then off to a much needed full nights rest!
Cheers!
Kirsten
Wales: Oct. 3-4
We left for Wales early Friday morning and headed towards Chester. We stopped there for two hours to grab a bite to eat and look around. Although I’m starting to get my bus legs for ‘city’ buses, coach buses still make me feel a bit sick. So Katie and I stopped at a Boots Pharmacy to pick up some motion sickness mediation. It took longer than anticipated and we got kind of lost on the way back to the bus….we were only 10 minutes late. From there we headed to the Youth Hostel in Conway. We looked around the town, walked around the walls of the castle there and had a cup of tea in this very cute tea house.
The next day we went on a coach tour of Wales for about three hours or so? I don’t really remember the coach ride at all because I popped in my motion sickness medication and passed out before the bus started moving. I woke up in the town of Llandudno and asked what I missed….a lot of sheep.
This past week of classes has been pretty jam packed. Everything is really starting to get busy and homework is starting to pill up.
London Trip!
It’s Sunday night and we just got home from our weekend trip to London about 4 hours ago. Friday morning we went to the train station and meet up with two other students in our group and the assistant director of the program. She told us she’d be willing to come down to London for the day with us to show us around. It was a BIG help!
Friday:
We arrived in London around 10:15am and left our luggage at the station’s luggage storage area. Then we walked around a bit and then walked and took tons of pictures at Buckingham Palace. Then we walked to a church and ate in the Crypt. YUMMY! From lunch we headed off to the Westminster Abby and it was amazing! Your admission fee includes a headset to listen to of everything in the Abby, (Well not EVERYTHING cause there is just so much). The headset could be programmed into your language and the tour guide for English was Jeremy Irons, a.k.a Scar from the Lion King. It was an amazing tour and it was very beautiful! I could walk around that place for hours. During the tour it takes you into the room where the Monks would sing hymns and they played one of the pieces sung and I had tears in my eyes because it was just magnificent.
After the Abby we walked to the Globe theatre and to St. Paul’s Cathedral. Then we took the tube, subway, to Covent Garden’s and had fish & chips. The two other people in the group that we meet up with and the assistant director were heading back to Birmingham that night, and Katie, Ashley and I were staying in Claygate with family friends of Katie. Claygate is about a 30min. train ride from Waterloo. So here were our travels: From Covent Garden’s we took two tube rides to the train station in Waterloo, then bought a ticket to Claygate and jumped on the train. We arrived around 9pm and we all were completely exhausted!
The next morning, we got up bright and early, 6:15am, and headed back to Waterloo, and then tube rides to Leicester Square to get tickets to Phantom of the Opera! We were the first ones in the queue (line) so we went next door and got a latte. After we got our discount tickets, we went back towards St. Paul’s Cathedral to find Fleet Street! After getting a little turned around we found Fleet Street and then headed for Harrods department store. Since everything is really expensive we just got treats from the bakery!
From Harrods we took a tube to the British Museum and walked around there for a few hours. After the Museum we went into a few local shops. We also stopped to have a cup of tea and some yummy chips, a.k.a French fries.
After our little snack we again took a couple tube rides to the London Tower and the Tower Bridge. Next we headed back to Leicester Square to find “Her Majesty Theatre” and get some dinner. We ate at the Pizza Express and it was SOOOO GOOD! Then we went to Phantom of the Opera. Wow! It was so good that I cried during “Music of the Night”. After the shot we got on the tube and train back to Claygate.
We woke up this morning around 7:30 and headed back to Birmingham. We got in around 2ish. I’m catching up on some homework and then off to a much needed full nights rest!
Cheers!
Kirsten
Saturday, 4 October 2008
First Week of Classes
First Week of classes:
This week, similar to every other week prior, flew by! It was the first week of classes and it went great! I’m enrolled in 5 classes:
Psychology Marriages and Families Worldwide: LOVE IT! We have to do 2 service hours a week for a project. I’m doing my service hours at the Raddlebarn Primary School in the nursery!
British Archaeology: From Rome to Britain: British teacher talks really fast….not going to be good.
Understand Business and Politics: Love the class cause I get to talk about my MANY opinions.
Intro to Film Studies: We watched portions of three different movies the first day of class. Enough said.
Drawing: Which I take a 30min bus ride to an old man’s house on the other side of Birmingham. There are 9 students in the class and we draw in his garden and in his studio! How cool!
After class was over on Thursday, 10:30am, my weekend started! Ashley and I took the 21 bus over to Harborne High Street. It’s a long street full of vintages shops, bookstores, yummy bakeries and café’s and more! We went into an Oxfam Bookstore. (Oxfam is one of the many charity shops along this high street; charity shops are very popular in Birmingham. Research oxfam.org.uk for more wonderful information about this GRRRREAT cause!)
Ashley and I were in the used bookstore for more than an hour. All the books in the store were donated by people in the area. The books are really inexpensive. The books that I bought are old hardcover books and very cool! I found old copies of: Beowulf, Oliver Twist, Canterbury Tales, Cinderella, Hamlet, and the Complete Plays of Bernard Shaw! I’m so excited! Although the walk back to tennis courts, about a 25 minute walk, sucked.
Thursday night we had a duvet film night with our British friends downstairs. We watched “Shaun of the Dead.” I LOVED IT! Last night was the end of Fresher’s Fest and we went out with a bang. It was a foam dance party at the Student Guild! It was a blast but all the foam made it very slippery and kind of icky, but it was still a fun fun time!
Today it’s really cold, windy and rainy! So I’m just staying in working on homework and hanging out. Later on tonight a bunch of our British friends and us are having another duvet film night and ordering some yummy pizza! OOH BABY!
Better go!
Cheers!
Kirsten
This week, similar to every other week prior, flew by! It was the first week of classes and it went great! I’m enrolled in 5 classes:
Psychology Marriages and Families Worldwide: LOVE IT! We have to do 2 service hours a week for a project. I’m doing my service hours at the Raddlebarn Primary School in the nursery!
British Archaeology: From Rome to Britain: British teacher talks really fast….not going to be good.
Understand Business and Politics: Love the class cause I get to talk about my MANY opinions.
Intro to Film Studies: We watched portions of three different movies the first day of class. Enough said.
Drawing: Which I take a 30min bus ride to an old man’s house on the other side of Birmingham. There are 9 students in the class and we draw in his garden and in his studio! How cool!
After class was over on Thursday, 10:30am, my weekend started! Ashley and I took the 21 bus over to Harborne High Street. It’s a long street full of vintages shops, bookstores, yummy bakeries and café’s and more! We went into an Oxfam Bookstore. (Oxfam is one of the many charity shops along this high street; charity shops are very popular in Birmingham. Research oxfam.org.uk for more wonderful information about this GRRRREAT cause!)
Ashley and I were in the used bookstore for more than an hour. All the books in the store were donated by people in the area. The books are really inexpensive. The books that I bought are old hardcover books and very cool! I found old copies of: Beowulf, Oliver Twist, Canterbury Tales, Cinderella, Hamlet, and the Complete Plays of Bernard Shaw! I’m so excited! Although the walk back to tennis courts, about a 25 minute walk, sucked.
Thursday night we had a duvet film night with our British friends downstairs. We watched “Shaun of the Dead.” I LOVED IT! Last night was the end of Fresher’s Fest and we went out with a bang. It was a foam dance party at the Student Guild! It was a blast but all the foam made it very slippery and kind of icky, but it was still a fun fun time!
Today it’s really cold, windy and rainy! So I’m just staying in working on homework and hanging out. Later on tonight a bunch of our British friends and us are having another duvet film night and ordering some yummy pizza! OOH BABY!
Better go!
Cheers!
Kirsten
Sunday, 28 September 2008
Kirsten's Day
Today was the first day in about a week that it actually rained a bit. Here was my day:
I have been feeling a bit under the weather so I slept in till about ten, got ready and headed out the door for a “Kirsten Day.” In other words, a day to do things on my own. I walked down to the bus stop, which is about a ten minute walk down to Bristol Rd. I got on the 62 Bus on my way to City Centre shopping attractions. Since I’ve been here, I have come to the realization that I made a very poor choice of NOT bring my jeans and sweatshirts, known as hoodies. EVERYONE here wears jeans and I was told that people don’t wear jeans….a certain someone who is going to go unnamed for the moment told me this….. so I came here with one pair of jeans.
So I did some jean shopping today at the “Bull Ring” which is the shopping centre downtown Birmingham. It was a pleasant day with the sun shining and me walking in and out of numerous shops on my own time. I got a bit hungry, so I stopped at a place called “EAT.” and picked a chicken and basil baguette. I have had some trouble finding food that I really enjoy so far in England, this sandwich however was the most delicious sandwich I have ever had on my palate! I was so sad when it was gone! Anyway, after my scrumptious lunch sitting on the steps overlooking downtown, I made my way back to a bus stop. I then went to the grocery store and got a little more than I could carry. I figured what doesn’t kill me makes me stronger so I told myself I was going to make it work. I got to the closest bus stop to the grocery store I was at, Sainsbury’s, and looked at the bus times. The bus I needed, Bus 44, was NOT running on Sundays. Which meant I had to walk to another bus stop to catch one of the 60’s and then make a 10 minute up-hill walk to my flat (keep in mind I had bags and bags of groceries and the stuff I bought downtown). As soon as the 62 bus dropped me off at my street to start my ‘hike,’ it started to rain. Yippy Skippy.
All in all, it was a pretty good day. Tomorrow I start classes and I’m pretty excited to get into a routine. I’m also going around to different places after classes with my resume to find a job. I’ll let you know how my first week of classes goes!
Also, It’s free to talk on Skype over the internet so if you get an account give me a ring! I’m under Kirsten.Kvalsten.
Kirsten
I have been feeling a bit under the weather so I slept in till about ten, got ready and headed out the door for a “Kirsten Day.” In other words, a day to do things on my own. I walked down to the bus stop, which is about a ten minute walk down to Bristol Rd. I got on the 62 Bus on my way to City Centre shopping attractions. Since I’ve been here, I have come to the realization that I made a very poor choice of NOT bring my jeans and sweatshirts, known as hoodies. EVERYONE here wears jeans and I was told that people don’t wear jeans….a certain someone who is going to go unnamed for the moment told me this….. so I came here with one pair of jeans.
So I did some jean shopping today at the “Bull Ring” which is the shopping centre downtown Birmingham. It was a pleasant day with the sun shining and me walking in and out of numerous shops on my own time. I got a bit hungry, so I stopped at a place called “EAT.” and picked a chicken and basil baguette. I have had some trouble finding food that I really enjoy so far in England, this sandwich however was the most delicious sandwich I have ever had on my palate! I was so sad when it was gone! Anyway, after my scrumptious lunch sitting on the steps overlooking downtown, I made my way back to a bus stop. I then went to the grocery store and got a little more than I could carry. I figured what doesn’t kill me makes me stronger so I told myself I was going to make it work. I got to the closest bus stop to the grocery store I was at, Sainsbury’s, and looked at the bus times. The bus I needed, Bus 44, was NOT running on Sundays. Which meant I had to walk to another bus stop to catch one of the 60’s and then make a 10 minute up-hill walk to my flat (keep in mind I had bags and bags of groceries and the stuff I bought downtown). As soon as the 62 bus dropped me off at my street to start my ‘hike,’ it started to rain. Yippy Skippy.
All in all, it was a pretty good day. Tomorrow I start classes and I’m pretty excited to get into a routine. I’m also going around to different places after classes with my resume to find a job. I’ll let you know how my first week of classes goes!
Also, It’s free to talk on Skype over the internet so if you get an account give me a ring! I’m under Kirsten.Kvalsten.
Kirsten
Saturday, 27 September 2008
Welcome/ Fresher's Fest
What a week! This week was Welcome/Fresher’s Fest Week and it was a busy one!
All this week the campus had various fairs going on like Sport fairs, Society fairs, and Job fairs. There were two very large white tents outside the Student Guild where you’d walk through each day to get information on things going on around campus and the Birmingham area. Every night for Fresher’s there would be some sort of event going on. Fresher’s Fest is a festival for 1st year students at the University of Birmingham, 1st year doesn’t necessarily mean ‘freshman’ students. The event’s consisted of free bowling night, free cinema night, Dance clubs, block competition and last night was the Masquerade Ball!
For the Block Competition, each block of tennis courts dressed up a certain way and whatever block did the best job won free food. My block, 21, dressed up in camouflage. Me and Ashley were visiting some of our friends in the block next door and happened to run into a boy in the British Army and he gave us his button shirts to wear. Although are entire blocked looked pretty good, I believe the block who dressed up like the ghost busters won.
On the way to one of the fresher’s events, our bus broke down in the middle of the busy Bristol Road and we waited for about 30 minutes before another bus had to come pick us up…..arg! Then when we finally got to where we were going, the leaders of fresher’s got the group lost cause they didn’t know how to get to our destination…frustrating!
The Masquerade Ball was the most fun of the entire week! Ashley, Katie and I got all dolled up and walked down to the Student Guild around 9:30ish. As we were waiting in line to walk in, there was a man with fire torches and girls on stilts walking around with huge feathered masks. Once you got in, you walk down a long hallway that looked like you where walking among the stairs. There were three dance floors to accommodate the over 2000 people attending. One dance floor was all techno….so I didn’t even walk into that room, yuck. The other dance floor was a silent disco. Silent Disco’s are pretty popular here. It’s where everyone gets a set of ear phones with the music playing, but if you didn’t have a set of headphones, you’d see a bunch of people dancing but you wouldn’t be hearing any music. It looked funny! Last but not least, was the hip hop dance floor where we spent our entire night. Now people in the UK mainly listen to Techno music, so it’s not that common to have much hip hop at dance clubs. You could tell that we were American’s because we were busting it out like it was our job and all the British students were looking at us like we were from a different plant. It was a lot of fun!
Today is yet another beautiful day! We have been so lucky with all our sunny day’s here in Birmingham, England. The weeks prior to our arrival it rained every day, it hasn’t rained more than 5 minutes! Woot Woot! Since classes start on Monday, us girls are keeping it low key this weekend. Hanging out around the flat and making a trip to Tesco’s. Tesco’s is similar to a Wal-Mart and is very cheap for groceries and other home accessories. We have to take two buses to get there, but it’s worth it for the prices. Speaking of buses, I think I’m finally starting to get my “bus legs” and not getting as dizzy. Thank heavens or else this would have been a long year!
Miss you!
Kirsten
All this week the campus had various fairs going on like Sport fairs, Society fairs, and Job fairs. There were two very large white tents outside the Student Guild where you’d walk through each day to get information on things going on around campus and the Birmingham area. Every night for Fresher’s there would be some sort of event going on. Fresher’s Fest is a festival for 1st year students at the University of Birmingham, 1st year doesn’t necessarily mean ‘freshman’ students. The event’s consisted of free bowling night, free cinema night, Dance clubs, block competition and last night was the Masquerade Ball!
For the Block Competition, each block of tennis courts dressed up a certain way and whatever block did the best job won free food. My block, 21, dressed up in camouflage. Me and Ashley were visiting some of our friends in the block next door and happened to run into a boy in the British Army and he gave us his button shirts to wear. Although are entire blocked looked pretty good, I believe the block who dressed up like the ghost busters won.
On the way to one of the fresher’s events, our bus broke down in the middle of the busy Bristol Road and we waited for about 30 minutes before another bus had to come pick us up…..arg! Then when we finally got to where we were going, the leaders of fresher’s got the group lost cause they didn’t know how to get to our destination…frustrating!
The Masquerade Ball was the most fun of the entire week! Ashley, Katie and I got all dolled up and walked down to the Student Guild around 9:30ish. As we were waiting in line to walk in, there was a man with fire torches and girls on stilts walking around with huge feathered masks. Once you got in, you walk down a long hallway that looked like you where walking among the stairs. There were three dance floors to accommodate the over 2000 people attending. One dance floor was all techno….so I didn’t even walk into that room, yuck. The other dance floor was a silent disco. Silent Disco’s are pretty popular here. It’s where everyone gets a set of ear phones with the music playing, but if you didn’t have a set of headphones, you’d see a bunch of people dancing but you wouldn’t be hearing any music. It looked funny! Last but not least, was the hip hop dance floor where we spent our entire night. Now people in the UK mainly listen to Techno music, so it’s not that common to have much hip hop at dance clubs. You could tell that we were American’s because we were busting it out like it was our job and all the British students were looking at us like we were from a different plant. It was a lot of fun!
Today is yet another beautiful day! We have been so lucky with all our sunny day’s here in Birmingham, England. The weeks prior to our arrival it rained every day, it hasn’t rained more than 5 minutes! Woot Woot! Since classes start on Monday, us girls are keeping it low key this weekend. Hanging out around the flat and making a trip to Tesco’s. Tesco’s is similar to a Wal-Mart and is very cheap for groceries and other home accessories. We have to take two buses to get there, but it’s worth it for the prices. Speaking of buses, I think I’m finally starting to get my “bus legs” and not getting as dizzy. Thank heavens or else this would have been a long year!
Miss you!
Kirsten
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