HELLO!!!!!!!!!!
As
everyone knows, I am currently studying abroad in foggy London-town with
Eckerd College. Anyone who is considering applying to study abroad, DO
IT! I don’t want to hear the I don’t want to apply, because I am
afraid I won’t get in excuse, because how will you know if you are
turned down, if you don’t even apply.
With that said, I can inform
everyone of my awesome journeys throughout London, since, I presume,
that is why most of you are reading this. My first week in London I
spent with my Mom, which was great to have some Mom-Kristen time. We did
all the touristy stuff, Tower of London, Kensington Palace, London Eye,
Portobello Market, along with visits to various museums. **Note: London
is full of museums! I would guess (but I’m probably wrong) there is a
museum on every other block.** My favorite out of all the places my Mom
and I visited was either the Salvador Dali Museum or the Tower of
London. I don’t think my Mom enjoyed the Dali museum, but since I am a
huge Dali fan, seeing his original artwork blew me away and could have
cared less if she wasn’t enjoying his art. What? Not everyone likes
Dali! The Tower of London was awesome because the tour guides are real
Beefeaters, and we got to see the Royal Crown jewels. Talk about major
bling-bling! We saw more jewels than Elizabeth Taylor could ever dream
of owning!
After dropping my Mom off at
Paddington station so she could catch her flight, I met my housemates,
there are a total of 12 people living here, and was instantly confused
by Eckerd’s semester scheduling (I still am, but don’t tell them that)
yet was told by Cole (the guy who lives next door to me) that I’m not an
outsider, but part of the group. Cole’s comment and the fact that no one
in the house previously knew each other, made my entry as a non-Eckerd
student easier
Some how we all found our way to
the British Museum, which is one of the coolest museums I have ever
visited. I saw the Rosetta Stone, an Easter Island head, the Rosetta
Stone, some ancient mummies, and have I mentioned I saw the Rosetta
Stone? I honestly almost started to cry when I saw that. I know, I’m a
giant nerd, but the Rosetta Stone is the item to help in hieroglyphics
translation (oh, here I go again with my über-geekiness). My apologies,
I am fascinated my languages, ancient artifacts and brilliant pieces of
art.
For my British Seminar class, we
have visited the Museum of London, Westminster Abbey and the BBC.
Hobosaywhat? Yes, I went into the BBC, walked in the studio Monty Python
filmed their shows, and even participated in “The Weakest Link”
simulator, which excited me so much. Despite it being my second visit, I
was, yet again, almost in tears while standing in Poet’s Corner at
Westminster Abbey. I was surrounded by those in various textbooks I’ve
collected over the years. At the Museum of London, I was shocked at how
many ancient-Roman Empire items survived, not only because of how dirty
the River Thames gets, but also how well the artifacts survived years of
being continually rebuilt upon. When London would burn down, they would
just rebuild on top of the ashes.
My Art History and Theatre classes
are interesting too. The places Simon, our art professor, have taken us
to are just amazing. We have visited Hampton Court Palace, and the
National Portrait Gallery (where I saw the original paintings for Blur’s
Best of album). There are museums everywhere, so no matter where
I am, I will find a pretty picture to look at, and what is even better
is that most of the time, museums do not charge an entrance fee! Hooray
for free paintings! So far in my Theatre class, the plays we have seen
all have had naked women of some sort on stage. The American and the
British view of nudity on stage is very different. Americans typically
see nudity as something strippers are for, while the European view of
nudity on stage is not necessarily glamorous, but accepted. So, for all
you people wanting to expose yourself on stage, Europe is the place to
do it, and not be disrespected.
Well, I’m off. It is time to go
back to watching the Women’s Figure Skating. I’m just happy the Men’s
Figure Skating is over, because they all had mullets, and horrible
outfits. I do miss everyone, and yet again, I encourage international
traveling at all times. A tour guide here said that only half of
Americans own a passport. You can look at it with the mindset of,
America is huge so we don’t need a passport to travel…Flights are
expensive… or you can look at it through this mind set I wonder
what the rest of the world has to offer me…I’ll spend a crazy amount of
money, but wherever I go will be worth every cent.
I wish everyone the best of luck
with their classes, social lives, relationship problems… what have you…
Never forget where you come from, because you will always have to
return.
Kristen
