My plan of action already failed a bit when finding all of my library materials turned into a scavenger hunt. I went between the two main university libraries more than I'd like, because you're not allowed to reserve an available item and the collection is split up between the two. I also couldn't study there because it's packed, plus the wireless internet was so slow I couldn't even listen to one guitar solo for more than 10 seconds.
Then I went to the Leeds Central Library (in the city centre) to check out a CD, and it turns out that for every CD I want to check out, I have to pay 1.70. It also took awhile to find the CD because EVERYTHING in the library is not in order. Sure, it's in alphabetical order by author, but that just means all the As are in a section, and complete chaos within the As.
The plus side to the library at the university -- it has gates (with the turn thing) that you can't get through unless you swipe your card. Grainger library needs this.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Monday, May 10, 2010
Plan of action
So now I enter revision week (aka reading week). This next part is totally not necessary for this blog, but I need to write this down as many places as possible to remind myself.... here is my plan of action:
Monday - Wednesday: Guitar
Thursday - Saturday: History
Sunday - Monday: Chemistry
Tuesday - Thursday: Data analysis
Friday - Sunday: Guitar review
I have 2 weeks to prepare, and then 2 weeks of exams, but I only have 5. They're decently spread out, so I plan to do my genetics studying after my last exam in that first week and then any time I go crazy from studying a different subject too long. I'm not terribly worried about it because our lecturer reminded us that to pass the class, (for my current grade) only 10% is needed on the exam. ...I'm pretty sure I'm not going to fail, and if I prepare well I can get a good grade. Unless I somehow sleep past 1pm in the afternoon on the day of my exam. *knock on wood*
Seriously, where did the time go? Some of my friends are already back in the States. I actually miss home a lot. I miss my family and friends, and I miss Urbana. When I get home, I'll have 2 jobs ready for me this summer, and I miss working and the satisfaction of a paycheck. I feel so poor over here, but it's good motivation for exercise since I walk or run places now. I ran to Bodington Hall the other week, and it felt nice.
On that note, the gym here is horrible -- they charge for everything, so now I can't really work out too much, and some of the classes I liked before don't really exist for me unless I pay more to get a different membership. Without working out regularly though, I still registered for the fitness competition (shuttle run, leg press, bench press, bleep test). There were 15 girls registered, and I came out 6th overall, which I'm pretty happy about since I didn't train. Also, one of the scores was strength index (both presses into account with height and weight), and I actually came out being #1. I was totally amazed. So, I didn't lift the most, but apparently for my size I did. So yay! I bench pressed a puny 30 kg, but leg pressed 200 kg.
For my audition for UIUC, I also got waitlisted for the Marching Illini, which is a little sad and happy at the same time. Sad because I wanted to get in, but happy because that's better than my first audition 3 years ago. That means I'm still improving as a player! Whoo!
And now I'm going to sleep, because it's almost 1am... which throws off my plan of action a bit, but I least I have a guideline, right?
Monday - Wednesday: Guitar
Thursday - Saturday: History
Sunday - Monday: Chemistry
Tuesday - Thursday: Data analysis
Friday - Sunday: Guitar review
I have 2 weeks to prepare, and then 2 weeks of exams, but I only have 5. They're decently spread out, so I plan to do my genetics studying after my last exam in that first week and then any time I go crazy from studying a different subject too long. I'm not terribly worried about it because our lecturer reminded us that to pass the class, (for my current grade) only 10% is needed on the exam. ...I'm pretty sure I'm not going to fail, and if I prepare well I can get a good grade. Unless I somehow sleep past 1pm in the afternoon on the day of my exam. *knock on wood*
Seriously, where did the time go? Some of my friends are already back in the States. I actually miss home a lot. I miss my family and friends, and I miss Urbana. When I get home, I'll have 2 jobs ready for me this summer, and I miss working and the satisfaction of a paycheck. I feel so poor over here, but it's good motivation for exercise since I walk or run places now. I ran to Bodington Hall the other week, and it felt nice.
On that note, the gym here is horrible -- they charge for everything, so now I can't really work out too much, and some of the classes I liked before don't really exist for me unless I pay more to get a different membership. Without working out regularly though, I still registered for the fitness competition (shuttle run, leg press, bench press, bleep test). There were 15 girls registered, and I came out 6th overall, which I'm pretty happy about since I didn't train. Also, one of the scores was strength index (both presses into account with height and weight), and I actually came out being #1. I was totally amazed. So, I didn't lift the most, but apparently for my size I did. So yay! I bench pressed a puny 30 kg, but leg pressed 200 kg.
For my audition for UIUC, I also got waitlisted for the Marching Illini, which is a little sad and happy at the same time. Sad because I wanted to get in, but happy because that's better than my first audition 3 years ago. That means I'm still improving as a player! Whoo!
And now I'm going to sleep, because it's almost 1am... which throws off my plan of action a bit, but I least I have a guideline, right?
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Nearing the End
When meeting people around Europe over my Easter vacation, I got used to saying, "Oh, I go back to America in 2 months." Someone in Leeds asked me when I was going home the other day, and I was about to do my automatic reply, when I realized that it's no longer true. I go home in a little over a month. Today is my last day of class, then I enter the official revision week (aka Reading Week), then 3 weeks of exam period. However, I got lucky and I have 2 weeks of revision then 2 weeks to do 5 exams.
Where did the time go?
I was talking to one of my American friends here, and we agreed that a semester is too short, but we both feel a year is too long (for a short term study abroad). I also think the month long break in the middle of my semester also contributed with time passing.
I don't want to do a full-blown analysis of my time here yet, simply because I'm not done. I still have 6 weeks left. In that time I will have finished my exams, attended the Leeds Union Summer Ball, the Devonshire Ball, and then miscellanious other Leeds-related activities that I need to figure out after exams. I want to explore Yorkshire a little more.
Last weekend and this coming weekend have been/will be great. Two of my friends studying in Vienna booked tickets to visit me, and it's been great so far finding all of the things I want to show my friends about England. Something I should've done more with this blog. I've been getting a little behind adding pictures on facebook, adding pictures on here, finding the small nooks and crannies of England.
Well, I must be off to class now. My last Drug Design class, and my last lecture in England.
P.S. -- Blogger in Draft is awesome. I changed my background (for now) to be a rainy background. It seemed fitting.
Where did the time go?
I was talking to one of my American friends here, and we agreed that a semester is too short, but we both feel a year is too long (for a short term study abroad). I also think the month long break in the middle of my semester also contributed with time passing.
I don't want to do a full-blown analysis of my time here yet, simply because I'm not done. I still have 6 weeks left. In that time I will have finished my exams, attended the Leeds Union Summer Ball, the Devonshire Ball, and then miscellanious other Leeds-related activities that I need to figure out after exams. I want to explore Yorkshire a little more.
Last weekend and this coming weekend have been/will be great. Two of my friends studying in Vienna booked tickets to visit me, and it's been great so far finding all of the things I want to show my friends about England. Something I should've done more with this blog. I've been getting a little behind adding pictures on facebook, adding pictures on here, finding the small nooks and crannies of England.
Well, I must be off to class now. My last Drug Design class, and my last lecture in England.
P.S. -- Blogger in Draft is awesome. I changed my background (for now) to be a rainy background. It seemed fitting.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
(Finally) back in Leeds
Well. That was definitely interesting and perhaps full of too much excitement for my taste. I'm actually using people's names in this entry because it's too hard and confusing to edit without.
I'm sure a lot of you already heard what happened in Paris, my last stop of my trip, but I figure I should write the whole story here.
I flew in with RyanAir to Paris-Beauvais, which is actually about an hour away from Paris itself. That was a little bit of a bummer because I was hoping to meet my friends in Paris in time for dinner, but I had to be content with getting there after 8pm. It was a little confusing trying to buy a metro ticket because I couldn't figure out how to get the automated ticket seller to display in English, but finally I ended up with a ticket to the right stop. I had to have my friends direct me to the hostel though, because I did get a little lost. It turns out that my hostel was in Montmartre, which I'm sure people will recognize from either history class, art class, or Moulin Rouge!
In a surprising turn of events, I ended up in the same rooms as Yanfen, who is one of my best friends! That was awesome, and then I quickly changed and headed out to try to meet my friends. I ended up taking the metro to the Eiffel Tower, and it was pretty amusing as I'm powerwalking and running to get to the shining tower that I see before 10:30pm, because it just kind of felt like Sleepless in Seattle for me. It was pretty adorable. "I'll meet you right underneath the Eiffel Tower at 10:30!"
Yanfen was the only one there because the others had gone up to the top, and hugging and squealing happened for a few minutes. She also mentioned it felt so romantic, and we laughed for awhile because both of us had the same scenario in mind. We wandered for a bit (waiting for the others to get down), and I had a crepe filled with nutella and bananas. It was a little annoying because there were a lot of souvenir sellers and we basically got asked in broken Chinese and English to buy things.
(Random note: People always assume I'm Japanese, Korean, or Chinese first. Some even STILL don't understand that I'm American even when I insist, because they say I look so Asian. DUH.)
The light show at each hour is beautiful. It just looks like the Eiffel Tower is twinkling!
When everyone came down, we went to Liz's place where she and her parents rented a flat. They fed me some delicious spaghetti and sorbet, and we all talked for awhile before taking a taxi back to our hostel because it was 1am. End of Day 1.
Liz stayed with her parents, but the rest of us headed out the next morning (along with a guy named Jeff from our hostel) to go to the Louvre. However, the metro was PACKED. Think of the bus leaving PAR 10 minutes before class starts at UIUC. I'm not claustrophobic, but this was making me really uncomfortable.
There was a boy in front of me, practically in my face, who looked about 13 or so. He also had really bad breath, and I remember having to turn my head away because he was just basically breathing in my face. I was talking to Yanfen, and then the metro doors opening and MORE people came in. My bag was jostled, and I didn't think too much of it because people were pushing me from behind, but I looked down anyway to see my purse open. With no wallet.
I immediately looked at the boy, who suddenly WASN'T staring at me anymore, but instead looking in the complete opposite direction. I went, "Someone stole my wallet!!" several times and no one except for Yanfen seemed to care. I tapped the boy on the shoulder, asking if he took my wallet, and my assumptions were pretty correct since he just ignored me. He leaned forward to talk to an older man in French, and I grabbed his arm, demanding he give my wallet back. At this time, the metro doors opened again, the older man pointed the boy to the door, and all of the French moved out of the way so the boy could dash out. I couldn't hold on because his jacket was too slippery. So I ran out, followed by Yanfen and Jeff.
We chased after the boy, who's sprinting as fast as he can, and I just yell "he stole my wallet!" but the people milling about don't really care. The problem is the doors out are tall and metal, so by the time we pushed through we didn't know if he ran deeper into the station or out. So we go out, and a woman sees us frantically searching. She asks me what happened, and I tell her. She asks me to describe the boy, and after I tell her the age and ethnicity, she tells me that boy has been stealing in that area for awhile, so to report it because it's happened a lot. She gives us directions, so we head off.
The nearest police station was pretty small, and the man told us he spoke no English and kept shrugging as to say he couldn't help. We even asked if we could type into his computer to translate with the internet, but he said there wasn't internet. He then just kept saying he couldn't help us, and told us no one there spoke English. Yanfen asked if there was another station, so he drew us directions on the map.
We wander towards the other one as I frantically call my parents to cancel my credit cards, and in the second station the guard also informs us that he does not speak English. Luckily, when we ask if ANYONE there speaks English, someone comes out and we tell him what happened. He then drops us off in front of the secretary, tells us to tell her, and leaves. When we begin our story again, the secretary stops us because she understands no English.
AHHHHHH.
She hands us a report form though that has instructions in English and French, so we fill it out. Then a man takes us into a back room, and he fills the report into the computer. He asks us for more description when he gets to some questions, and since he doesn't understand a lot of English, Yanfen and I ended up basically playing charades. In the end, I have a police report in French, and a form for my driver's license in French, and an address he wrote of the American embassy.
The rest of this trip was just in varying states of anger, shock, sadness, or just trying to block it out. I had also made several phone calls with my parents at this point. I'm so glad they were able to help, and that Lebara (my phone company) gave me 13 free pounds when I topped up 20 last time, because I was roaming A LOT.
We wander around, because we decided to go on a free tour at 1pm so we didn't have time to go to the Louvre. We saw the Opera house, but just spent a lot of time looking at a map. We ended up a little late for the tour, but luckily the people were still there, so we tagged along. I love the NewEurope free walking tours. I learned some French history, and saw all the touristy sites and more.
(Yanfen is AWESOME and AMAZING and helped me out with the rest of the trip money-wise and keeping me from freaking out entirely.)
Yanfen and I head to L'Orangerie to see Monet's Water Lillies. I hadn't realized that they were so big! It was also interesting, because the two rooms that held them were giant ovals with 8 paintings that were curved along the wall. At first we didn't believe they were the real thing, but they were giant and beautiful. We also looked around downstairs were there were some Renoir and Picasso paintings as well as an exhibit, but Monet was the focal point for me.
Talking about focal points, we discovered that the oval rooms are perfect ellipses because I found a focal point and it sounded like a German girl standing on the other side was talking right into my ear. It was weird and freaked me out a bit because I was trying to figure out where the voice was coming from.
We're engineers.
We met up with Caitlyn for some beef bourguignon, and I also had some chocolate mousse. Then Yanfen and I headed to the Eiffel Tower again to go to the very top! It was beautiful, even if a bit cold and damp, and I tried to take some pictures with my cheap camera. We even got to try our first champagne at the very top, which was interesting. End of Day 2.
The morning of Friday (Day 3) meant eating some pretty good breakfast at the hostel (yummy croissants, as well as vanilla yogurt and hot chocolate mixed with coffee for me) then quickly seeing the Moulin Rouge and checking at the American Embassy if I had to do anything else. I know I didn't need to go, but I had no idea why the policeman had given me the directions there and I couldn't really read the documents he gave me, although he told me what they were. I didn't even need to go inside -- the guard called in with my situation, and then a woman on the phone told me what to do, which is just to report my license stolen to the agency in the USA.
Then Versailles!! It was only about 6 or 7 euros for a return trip, and then in Versailles we didn't have to pay for ANYTHING because our passports with our awesome UK visas got us in everywhere for free! So I got to see the Cheateau and the Marie Antoinette estates for nothing (otherwise would've been about 30 euro), saw some beautiful gardens, and also got to walk around a little bit. Versailles was definitely a better trip than Paris.
We had to go back to Paris though, and we concluded our night with the Louvre (also free because of it being Friday evening and our passports!), and I saw the Mona Lisa, the statue of Eros and Psyche (my favorite statue of all time and I had no idea it was there!!!), Aphrodite, among others. I didn't get to look at the Mona Lisa for long because it was just so crowded, but got to look at Eros and Psyche for awhile. The Louvre is GIANT and I don't even think I got to see 1/100th of the collection. I didn't feel too bad though because it was free!
Yanfen and I then ate some potato chips and drank some tea (left over from sandwich dinner in Versailles) and waited for the light show again. We decided it's prettier when you're actually next to the tower vs. from far away.
So, the water was cut off at our hostel because a pipe burst, and also my flight for the next day was canceled because of a volcano. VOLCANO. I was so confused, because I was just thinking, "Volcanoes in England??" but the problem was volcanic ash in the air from the eruption in Iceland. So... more frantic calling, and the internet in our hostel was soooo slow (took me 30 minutes to open 3 websites and check 5 emails), and Yanfen and I even ran around trying to find faster internet at midnight. A nice Frenchman who didn't really understand English tried to help us out, but sadly we couldn't get it to work on Yanfen's PSP.
My amazing parents helped me out soooo much. I can't even express how much I am thankful and how much I love them in words. My dad booked me Business class on the Eurostar (--wallet going "ow!"--) from Paris to London, then a train from King's Cross to Leeds. This was lucky because EVERYTHING was selling out, and it took my parents about 4-5 hours to even book those. Even the 2nd class Eurostar tickets were sold out by Saturday morning. Everyone was panicking because of all of the flights cancelled.
The problem with this was that both Paris and London demanded that you show the credit card used to purchase the tickets to pick them up. I got through Eurostar fine (the French didn't care). I got to wait in the Business Lounge and use the free internet there and eat some free food. I had never seen so much free alcohol in my life. Everyone was drinking wine or cocktails, and I sat there with my water and Diet Coke. Everyone was also really well dressed with their rolly bags or briefcases, and I'm there with my jeans, dusty sneakers, and traveling backpack. Before I left I also got a free magazine (there was just a huge wall full of French and English magazines!) and then just got on the train without any wait. On the coach I also got another free drink (orange juice, although they also offered more free wine and champagne) and then got a delicious dinner (also offered more wine -- what's with business people and the alcohol?). Everything was really good! Dinner was a small salad with a vinaigrette, an apricot tart, bread, and either a main entree of cold salmon or hot beef. I chose beef, and it was delicious served with garlic mashed potatoes, zucchini, and some other random vegetable. Then people came around with coffee and tea, so I had some coffee.
Arriving in London, seeing the Underground signs and King's Cross made me so happy that I was almost tearing up. Sadly though, in King's Cross they wouldn't give me my tickets, wouldn't even accept a phone call from my father because they said it still wouldn't prove anything, and in the end I had to buy a new ticket. THANK GOD Yanfen had given me 100 euros before I left. The guy at the counter was apologetic (I had to talk to someone on the phone who controls the computer system and website to see if she could change the code so I could get tickets), and exchanged my euros to pounds. 100 euros = 82 pounds, and the ticket was 82.70. Luckily I had some British money, so I handed over the left over 70 pence. Then he told me if I ran I could make it to the train that left for Leeds at 5:30pm, which was in 5 minutes.
But I'm here. I'm in my room, had an amazing night's sleep, and I can hear the birds chirping.
Thank you so much, Mom and Dad. And thank you so much, Yanfen! I love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm sure a lot of you already heard what happened in Paris, my last stop of my trip, but I figure I should write the whole story here.
I flew in with RyanAir to Paris-Beauvais, which is actually about an hour away from Paris itself. That was a little bit of a bummer because I was hoping to meet my friends in Paris in time for dinner, but I had to be content with getting there after 8pm. It was a little confusing trying to buy a metro ticket because I couldn't figure out how to get the automated ticket seller to display in English, but finally I ended up with a ticket to the right stop. I had to have my friends direct me to the hostel though, because I did get a little lost. It turns out that my hostel was in Montmartre, which I'm sure people will recognize from either history class, art class, or Moulin Rouge!
In a surprising turn of events, I ended up in the same rooms as Yanfen, who is one of my best friends! That was awesome, and then I quickly changed and headed out to try to meet my friends. I ended up taking the metro to the Eiffel Tower, and it was pretty amusing as I'm powerwalking and running to get to the shining tower that I see before 10:30pm, because it just kind of felt like Sleepless in Seattle for me. It was pretty adorable. "I'll meet you right underneath the Eiffel Tower at 10:30!"
Yanfen was the only one there because the others had gone up to the top, and hugging and squealing happened for a few minutes. She also mentioned it felt so romantic, and we laughed for awhile because both of us had the same scenario in mind. We wandered for a bit (waiting for the others to get down), and I had a crepe filled with nutella and bananas. It was a little annoying because there were a lot of souvenir sellers and we basically got asked in broken Chinese and English to buy things.
(Random note: People always assume I'm Japanese, Korean, or Chinese first. Some even STILL don't understand that I'm American even when I insist, because they say I look so Asian. DUH.)
The light show at each hour is beautiful. It just looks like the Eiffel Tower is twinkling!
When everyone came down, we went to Liz's place where she and her parents rented a flat. They fed me some delicious spaghetti and sorbet, and we all talked for awhile before taking a taxi back to our hostel because it was 1am. End of Day 1.
Liz stayed with her parents, but the rest of us headed out the next morning (along with a guy named Jeff from our hostel) to go to the Louvre. However, the metro was PACKED. Think of the bus leaving PAR 10 minutes before class starts at UIUC. I'm not claustrophobic, but this was making me really uncomfortable.
There was a boy in front of me, practically in my face, who looked about 13 or so. He also had really bad breath, and I remember having to turn my head away because he was just basically breathing in my face. I was talking to Yanfen, and then the metro doors opening and MORE people came in. My bag was jostled, and I didn't think too much of it because people were pushing me from behind, but I looked down anyway to see my purse open. With no wallet.
I immediately looked at the boy, who suddenly WASN'T staring at me anymore, but instead looking in the complete opposite direction. I went, "Someone stole my wallet!!" several times and no one except for Yanfen seemed to care. I tapped the boy on the shoulder, asking if he took my wallet, and my assumptions were pretty correct since he just ignored me. He leaned forward to talk to an older man in French, and I grabbed his arm, demanding he give my wallet back. At this time, the metro doors opened again, the older man pointed the boy to the door, and all of the French moved out of the way so the boy could dash out. I couldn't hold on because his jacket was too slippery. So I ran out, followed by Yanfen and Jeff.
We chased after the boy, who's sprinting as fast as he can, and I just yell "he stole my wallet!" but the people milling about don't really care. The problem is the doors out are tall and metal, so by the time we pushed through we didn't know if he ran deeper into the station or out. So we go out, and a woman sees us frantically searching. She asks me what happened, and I tell her. She asks me to describe the boy, and after I tell her the age and ethnicity, she tells me that boy has been stealing in that area for awhile, so to report it because it's happened a lot. She gives us directions, so we head off.
The nearest police station was pretty small, and the man told us he spoke no English and kept shrugging as to say he couldn't help. We even asked if we could type into his computer to translate with the internet, but he said there wasn't internet. He then just kept saying he couldn't help us, and told us no one there spoke English. Yanfen asked if there was another station, so he drew us directions on the map.
We wander towards the other one as I frantically call my parents to cancel my credit cards, and in the second station the guard also informs us that he does not speak English. Luckily, when we ask if ANYONE there speaks English, someone comes out and we tell him what happened. He then drops us off in front of the secretary, tells us to tell her, and leaves. When we begin our story again, the secretary stops us because she understands no English.
AHHHHHH.
She hands us a report form though that has instructions in English and French, so we fill it out. Then a man takes us into a back room, and he fills the report into the computer. He asks us for more description when he gets to some questions, and since he doesn't understand a lot of English, Yanfen and I ended up basically playing charades. In the end, I have a police report in French, and a form for my driver's license in French, and an address he wrote of the American embassy.
The rest of this trip was just in varying states of anger, shock, sadness, or just trying to block it out. I had also made several phone calls with my parents at this point. I'm so glad they were able to help, and that Lebara (my phone company) gave me 13 free pounds when I topped up 20 last time, because I was roaming A LOT.
We wander around, because we decided to go on a free tour at 1pm so we didn't have time to go to the Louvre. We saw the Opera house, but just spent a lot of time looking at a map. We ended up a little late for the tour, but luckily the people were still there, so we tagged along. I love the NewEurope free walking tours. I learned some French history, and saw all the touristy sites and more.
(Yanfen is AWESOME and AMAZING and helped me out with the rest of the trip money-wise and keeping me from freaking out entirely.)
Yanfen and I head to L'Orangerie to see Monet's Water Lillies. I hadn't realized that they were so big! It was also interesting, because the two rooms that held them were giant ovals with 8 paintings that were curved along the wall. At first we didn't believe they were the real thing, but they were giant and beautiful. We also looked around downstairs were there were some Renoir and Picasso paintings as well as an exhibit, but Monet was the focal point for me.
Talking about focal points, we discovered that the oval rooms are perfect ellipses because I found a focal point and it sounded like a German girl standing on the other side was talking right into my ear. It was weird and freaked me out a bit because I was trying to figure out where the voice was coming from.
We're engineers.
We met up with Caitlyn for some beef bourguignon, and I also had some chocolate mousse. Then Yanfen and I headed to the Eiffel Tower again to go to the very top! It was beautiful, even if a bit cold and damp, and I tried to take some pictures with my cheap camera. We even got to try our first champagne at the very top, which was interesting. End of Day 2.
The morning of Friday (Day 3) meant eating some pretty good breakfast at the hostel (yummy croissants, as well as vanilla yogurt and hot chocolate mixed with coffee for me) then quickly seeing the Moulin Rouge and checking at the American Embassy if I had to do anything else. I know I didn't need to go, but I had no idea why the policeman had given me the directions there and I couldn't really read the documents he gave me, although he told me what they were. I didn't even need to go inside -- the guard called in with my situation, and then a woman on the phone told me what to do, which is just to report my license stolen to the agency in the USA.
Then Versailles!! It was only about 6 or 7 euros for a return trip, and then in Versailles we didn't have to pay for ANYTHING because our passports with our awesome UK visas got us in everywhere for free! So I got to see the Cheateau and the Marie Antoinette estates for nothing (otherwise would've been about 30 euro), saw some beautiful gardens, and also got to walk around a little bit. Versailles was definitely a better trip than Paris.
We had to go back to Paris though, and we concluded our night with the Louvre (also free because of it being Friday evening and our passports!), and I saw the Mona Lisa, the statue of Eros and Psyche (my favorite statue of all time and I had no idea it was there!!!), Aphrodite, among others. I didn't get to look at the Mona Lisa for long because it was just so crowded, but got to look at Eros and Psyche for awhile. The Louvre is GIANT and I don't even think I got to see 1/100th of the collection. I didn't feel too bad though because it was free!
Yanfen and I then ate some potato chips and drank some tea (left over from sandwich dinner in Versailles) and waited for the light show again. We decided it's prettier when you're actually next to the tower vs. from far away.
So, the water was cut off at our hostel because a pipe burst, and also my flight for the next day was canceled because of a volcano. VOLCANO. I was so confused, because I was just thinking, "Volcanoes in England??" but the problem was volcanic ash in the air from the eruption in Iceland. So... more frantic calling, and the internet in our hostel was soooo slow (took me 30 minutes to open 3 websites and check 5 emails), and Yanfen and I even ran around trying to find faster internet at midnight. A nice Frenchman who didn't really understand English tried to help us out, but sadly we couldn't get it to work on Yanfen's PSP.
My amazing parents helped me out soooo much. I can't even express how much I am thankful and how much I love them in words. My dad booked me Business class on the Eurostar (--wallet going "ow!"--) from Paris to London, then a train from King's Cross to Leeds. This was lucky because EVERYTHING was selling out, and it took my parents about 4-5 hours to even book those. Even the 2nd class Eurostar tickets were sold out by Saturday morning. Everyone was panicking because of all of the flights cancelled.
The problem with this was that both Paris and London demanded that you show the credit card used to purchase the tickets to pick them up. I got through Eurostar fine (the French didn't care). I got to wait in the Business Lounge and use the free internet there and eat some free food. I had never seen so much free alcohol in my life. Everyone was drinking wine or cocktails, and I sat there with my water and Diet Coke. Everyone was also really well dressed with their rolly bags or briefcases, and I'm there with my jeans, dusty sneakers, and traveling backpack. Before I left I also got a free magazine (there was just a huge wall full of French and English magazines!) and then just got on the train without any wait. On the coach I also got another free drink (orange juice, although they also offered more free wine and champagne) and then got a delicious dinner (also offered more wine -- what's with business people and the alcohol?). Everything was really good! Dinner was a small salad with a vinaigrette, an apricot tart, bread, and either a main entree of cold salmon or hot beef. I chose beef, and it was delicious served with garlic mashed potatoes, zucchini, and some other random vegetable. Then people came around with coffee and tea, so I had some coffee.
Arriving in London, seeing the Underground signs and King's Cross made me so happy that I was almost tearing up. Sadly though, in King's Cross they wouldn't give me my tickets, wouldn't even accept a phone call from my father because they said it still wouldn't prove anything, and in the end I had to buy a new ticket. THANK GOD Yanfen had given me 100 euros before I left. The guy at the counter was apologetic (I had to talk to someone on the phone who controls the computer system and website to see if she could change the code so I could get tickets), and exchanged my euros to pounds. 100 euros = 82 pounds, and the ticket was 82.70. Luckily I had some British money, so I handed over the left over 70 pence. Then he told me if I ran I could make it to the train that left for Leeds at 5:30pm, which was in 5 minutes.
But I'm here. I'm in my room, had an amazing night's sleep, and I can hear the birds chirping.
Thank you so much, Mom and Dad. And thank you so much, Yanfen! I love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Almost done traveling
Well, I arrived in Vienna safe and sound. I have been traveling for about a week and a half now, although it feels so much longer. Was I really in Malta this time last week? That was only a week ago? I feel like I'm in some weird time-warp where time does fly while having fun, but also infinitely long at the same time.
I've been traveling with one of my best friends, and we've known each other since birth. It's so bizarre to be globetrotting with her, but incredibly awesome at the same time! We've been seeing other friends around the globe too, which once again reinforces that it's a small world. (Feel free to hum the tune... NOW.)
I shall put up pictures on here sometime, but since I don't have my computer, I think I will do some waiting on that front. Right now I shall do a quick (haha) entry about my travels so far, since I don't have toooo much time. Dublin was... exactly like the UK (except not). I had to exchange my pounds for euros, and was slightly annoyed to find that when exchange places don't take coins, that includes the 2 and 1 pound coins. It's not loose change! Boo.
It was nice to wander around the city. We met some really cool people, and also saw some great buildings and learned a lot about Irish history. It's so strange to think that part of Ireland is still part of the UK, but the rest isn't. How can Scotland and Ireland hate the British so much and still be associated so closely with each other?
Anyway, our big touristy move of the weekend was going to the Guinness Storehouse, which actually isn't a storehouse now. It's built to be this huge museum/exhibit about Guinness. I thought it was going to be pricey and boring, but I was only half right. It was pricey, but it was an awesome place. I learned a lot about the brewing process, and even learned about the old art of making wooden barrels. I even got a certificate from Guinness saying I learned how to pour the perfect pint. It was pretty funny, because the woman teaching us was pretty strict, and even made one man start his pint over because he wasn't doing it right.
The travel gods smiled on me again, and it actually did not rain in Dublin until the morning we left for the airport. Where is this luck coming from? It's making me happy -- I haven't had rain come down on me on my trips (for the most part). Huzzah! However, despite the drizzle, we arrived in Malta without a hitch. There was even applause from the airplane as the pilot touched down (something I've seen several times... it worries me a bit that people clap that we land successfully with RyanAir). And Malta was.... SUNNY! WARM! I expected it, but it was great to actually experience it.
In Malta we stayed at a guest house called Room 4 You, run buy a Swedish man named Emil. He was so funny and awesome, and it just felt like we were staying at a friend's house. My friend and I cooked some yummy meals, soaked up the sun, and even biked around the countryside. It was hard to see super touristy things because one of the days we were there was a national holiday, so a lot closed down. We did manage to see the ruins of the Ggantija temples, which is the oldest free standing structure in the world.
Italy? Bari was a massive fail. The hostel owner insisted that it was impossible that no one was answering the door, and thought we were somewhere else. So we walked around only to end up in the same place. A second call by us and a third call from 10 Spanish people revealed that the person working had stepped out to go shopping. He ran back quickly (after, I'm guessing, a call from the owner) and checked us in. He tried to overcharge us though by assuming we'd pay for a nicer meal, and the hostel itself didn't really have separate rooms. It was just floors piled on top of each other, with makeshift stairs and no doors to block out noise from other floors. My friend and I got no sleep that night because the other residents stayed out until 1:30am and talked until 3am. We left at 4am to catch a taxi to the airport.
Venice was beautiful!!!... but super confusing. We arrived there in bad tempers, and quickly got lost. I convinced my friend it'd be more fun to find our own way there than backtrack across the island to our original starting point. We had to buy a map eventually, and we arrived at our hostel 4 hours after our plane touched down. It was great to walk around though. The main street is just filled with vendors and people selling small trinkets, beautiful paper mache masks, gelato, etc. Then, the hostel we stayed in was pretty nice, although I did get 2 bug bites.
Sorry this entry is so scattered, but I wrote this as quickly as I could. But I shall write again soon.
I've been traveling with one of my best friends, and we've known each other since birth. It's so bizarre to be globetrotting with her, but incredibly awesome at the same time! We've been seeing other friends around the globe too, which once again reinforces that it's a small world. (Feel free to hum the tune... NOW.)
I shall put up pictures on here sometime, but since I don't have my computer, I think I will do some waiting on that front. Right now I shall do a quick (haha) entry about my travels so far, since I don't have toooo much time. Dublin was... exactly like the UK (except not). I had to exchange my pounds for euros, and was slightly annoyed to find that when exchange places don't take coins, that includes the 2 and 1 pound coins. It's not loose change! Boo.
It was nice to wander around the city. We met some really cool people, and also saw some great buildings and learned a lot about Irish history. It's so strange to think that part of Ireland is still part of the UK, but the rest isn't. How can Scotland and Ireland hate the British so much and still be associated so closely with each other?
Anyway, our big touristy move of the weekend was going to the Guinness Storehouse, which actually isn't a storehouse now. It's built to be this huge museum/exhibit about Guinness. I thought it was going to be pricey and boring, but I was only half right. It was pricey, but it was an awesome place. I learned a lot about the brewing process, and even learned about the old art of making wooden barrels. I even got a certificate from Guinness saying I learned how to pour the perfect pint. It was pretty funny, because the woman teaching us was pretty strict, and even made one man start his pint over because he wasn't doing it right.
The travel gods smiled on me again, and it actually did not rain in Dublin until the morning we left for the airport. Where is this luck coming from? It's making me happy -- I haven't had rain come down on me on my trips (for the most part). Huzzah! However, despite the drizzle, we arrived in Malta without a hitch. There was even applause from the airplane as the pilot touched down (something I've seen several times... it worries me a bit that people clap that we land successfully with RyanAir). And Malta was.... SUNNY! WARM! I expected it, but it was great to actually experience it.
In Malta we stayed at a guest house called Room 4 You, run buy a Swedish man named Emil. He was so funny and awesome, and it just felt like we were staying at a friend's house. My friend and I cooked some yummy meals, soaked up the sun, and even biked around the countryside. It was hard to see super touristy things because one of the days we were there was a national holiday, so a lot closed down. We did manage to see the ruins of the Ggantija temples, which is the oldest free standing structure in the world.
Italy? Bari was a massive fail. The hostel owner insisted that it was impossible that no one was answering the door, and thought we were somewhere else. So we walked around only to end up in the same place. A second call by us and a third call from 10 Spanish people revealed that the person working had stepped out to go shopping. He ran back quickly (after, I'm guessing, a call from the owner) and checked us in. He tried to overcharge us though by assuming we'd pay for a nicer meal, and the hostel itself didn't really have separate rooms. It was just floors piled on top of each other, with makeshift stairs and no doors to block out noise from other floors. My friend and I got no sleep that night because the other residents stayed out until 1:30am and talked until 3am. We left at 4am to catch a taxi to the airport.
Venice was beautiful!!!... but super confusing. We arrived there in bad tempers, and quickly got lost. I convinced my friend it'd be more fun to find our own way there than backtrack across the island to our original starting point. We had to buy a map eventually, and we arrived at our hostel 4 hours after our plane touched down. It was great to walk around though. The main street is just filled with vendors and people selling small trinkets, beautiful paper mache masks, gelato, etc. Then, the hostel we stayed in was pretty nice, although I did get 2 bug bites.
Sorry this entry is so scattered, but I wrote this as quickly as I could. But I shall write again soon.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
The last LUU trips
I actually have photos with this update. Amazing, I know. However, to put them up was just as annoying as usual, but I will try to do it more in the future.
The Stonehenge trip was amazing. I can't believe I was allowed to go into the middle of it, and that probably was one of the top experiences of my life. We were there right before sunset too, and it was just amazing that I even had some sun. I don't know how, but some travel god is looking after me. Every trip I've been on so far has had great weather.
Besides Stonehenge, the other places I mentioned we were visited were also pretty interesting. I didn't learn as much as I had hoped, because the archaeologist ended up not coming. (More seats were booked than available, and he opted out because he said he'd been there a few times, so he thought that'd be fair.)
It turns out that Glastonbury was a lot more interesting than I thought it'd be. It's famous for having a lot of power leys crossing over the city, and as a result, it's a pretty big place for people interested in magick. Glastonbury Tor (a giant hill) is fabled to be an isle in the past when there was more water around there, and actually one of the stories is that it was the Isle of Avalon. In the Glastonbury Abbey is the supposed site where the monks found King Arthur and Genevieve's graves, and then they supposedly moved the bones to a different site in the Abbey. The ground is too acidic to know if the bones were there (obviously). It's pretty interesting and amusing at the same time.
Paper turned in without a hitch. I find out my grade on it tomorrow, plus have a conference with my professor about it to discuss it. There are advantages to staying in Leeds when everyone's gone home after all.
Edinburgh was this past weekend, and it is probably one of my favorite cities now. The castle was a bit overpriced (£12), but inside was HUGE. I learned a lot about Scottish history. An amusing story I heard was about the Stone of Destiny -- and the prophecy with it is that wherever the Stone of Destiny lies, the Scots will rule. For awhile the English had it, and then around the 1950s a few college students got the idea to steal it back, breaking it in the process. They did get it fixed, and then a lot of Scottish pride was ignited again when it was back for a little bit (before the English took it again). I want to read the book the person wrote about how he stole it -- I hope to find it in the library. 
I also got to eat breakfast in the Elephant House on Sunday, which is where J.K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter. It was an amazing atmosphere! I loved the mellow, piano music over the speakers, and I could see myself spending hours in there writing as well if I lived there. Rowling also got inspiration for some of her characters from the graveyard down the street from the Elephant House, and in there I found a Tom Riddell and a McGonagall. The graveyards are an interesting part of Edinburgh, and Edinburgh is known as one of the most haunted places in the UK as well. I took a ghost tour on Friday night, and it was pretty interesting. One of the headstones I saw was for a dog called Greyfriar's Bobby, who was a little terrier that was so loyal that he refused to leave his master's grave when he died. His statue is apparently the most photographed statue in Edinburgh.
This part is the only legal part in Edinburgh where people can spit on. It used to be the foundation of this prison, and people used to spit on the door, which had this design on it. When the prison was gone, they put this in its place. People continue to spit on it, and it's pretty amusing to watch everyone walk around it and spit. It's also amusing to watch tourists think its cute and sit on it. There are a lot of things in the ground like this (although the others you can't spit on) around Edinburgh. There's just so much history people walk by and walk on, and I almost missed quite a few. I saw the site for the last hanging (gold bricks marking it) and the old residence of Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone.Then, of course, what's a good weekend without some hiking? I didn't expect that, so I didn't bring practical shoes, so I wore a type of flats (luckily they're kind of sporty and have decent grip). We climbed Arthur's Seat, and funnily enough we started on the wrong path, so we ended up basically climbing two cliffs. I was so sore the next day.
Then, here's a picture of the hostel I stayed at with the Edinburgh castle in the background (by the way, the volcanic rock the castle sits on is called Castle Rock). Then the random picture was a mistake... My new camera has problems taking pictures quickly when first turning it on, so when nothing happened, I started putting it down to wait for the guy to pass so I could take pictures. The photo went off in his face. It was a little embarrassing, but there are nice people in hostels. He brushed it off with, "I knew you were a fan!" before he went to the Posh Room to use the internet.
And that's the end of the LUU trips. From now on, if I go anywhere, I will have to plan them myself. But thanks, Leeds Union, I now understand why you're the #1 university union in the UK.
Friday, March 12, 2010
Paper before Stonehenge
This weekend will certainly be interesting! I am only one more quote away from finishing my history paper, which means that I can enjoy my weekend visiting Stonehenge in relative peace. (I'll be bringing my paper with me of course, so I can edit a hard copy.) To be honest, writing papers makes me stressed. I feel like I've done decently well on this paper so far, but turnitin.com scares me. Since it takes so long to grade, and because 2 people are grading my paper in addition to turnitin.com, AND because I'm new to the referencing style here... I shelled out $5 to use the program turnitin.com created to check your paper before submission.
But hey! I'm proud of myself because I was productive and I'll manage to finish my paper before my trip. Plus, I have Sunday evening and Monday morning to edit! This sure beats my last minute paper turn ins from last semester. Although, since this is my only big piece of homework I have, productivity was expected.
Anyway, I leave at 5:30pm today to go down south! I'll see Glastonbury Tor (and Glastonbury), get to go INSIDE and TOUCH Stonehenge (I'm not kidding!), Avebury (another henge, older than Stonehenge), and the West Kennet Long Barrow. Originally I was a little nervous about this trip (which is through the university union, by the way, so it's not that out of the blue), because it's with the pagan society, but it turns out it's not a society full of pagans. It's more of a society where people of different faiths can learn more about it, which is pretty cool, because I have a lot of interest in different religions and faiths. There are a few pagans on this trip, but I've met them already, and they're really nice, but they seem pretty nervous about us accepting them. Also, coming on this trip is an archaeology major, who's studied these sites, and he'll tell us history about each one when we're there. Also, 3 friends, including one of my best friends, are coming on this trip, so this should be a pretty knowledgeable and fun weekend.
Now to find that last quote to finish off my paper. I even wrote my conclusion already. You have no idea how hard conclusions are for me.
P.S. -- Amazon.co.uk has already sent me my new camera! I miss my other one... but this camera was decently priced and does the job. It's a Samsung, and I'm tempted to call it Sammy.
But hey! I'm proud of myself because I was productive and I'll manage to finish my paper before my trip. Plus, I have Sunday evening and Monday morning to edit! This sure beats my last minute paper turn ins from last semester. Although, since this is my only big piece of homework I have, productivity was expected.
Anyway, I leave at 5:30pm today to go down south! I'll see Glastonbury Tor (and Glastonbury), get to go INSIDE and TOUCH Stonehenge (I'm not kidding!), Avebury (another henge, older than Stonehenge), and the West Kennet Long Barrow. Originally I was a little nervous about this trip (which is through the university union, by the way, so it's not that out of the blue), because it's with the pagan society, but it turns out it's not a society full of pagans. It's more of a society where people of different faiths can learn more about it, which is pretty cool, because I have a lot of interest in different religions and faiths. There are a few pagans on this trip, but I've met them already, and they're really nice, but they seem pretty nervous about us accepting them. Also, coming on this trip is an archaeology major, who's studied these sites, and he'll tell us history about each one when we're there. Also, 3 friends, including one of my best friends, are coming on this trip, so this should be a pretty knowledgeable and fun weekend.
Now to find that last quote to finish off my paper. I even wrote my conclusion already. You have no idea how hard conclusions are for me.
P.S. -- Amazon.co.uk has already sent me my new camera! I miss my other one... but this camera was decently priced and does the job. It's a Samsung, and I'm tempted to call it Sammy.
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