time to reflect

It's now been several days since I got back. Before I wrap up this entire semester I'll get you up to speed on where I've been in the last week.
My parents arrived two weekends ago and I gave them the grand tour of London, or as close to it as possible in 2 days before heading to France. Most things I had already seen, but I did have a chance to see two new things--the BBC headquarters and the London Eye. I thoroughly enjoyed the BBC tour, probably since of all the things I did in London it had the most relevance to my major, although really it is just a cool place in general. I didn't realize they still did dramatic radio broadcasts. I got to participate in a mock reading of Sherlock Holmes with about 5 other people. It felt good to be putting my vocal skills to work. The eye was impressive as well. It was built at the turn of the millennium, and offers great views of the city in lieu of a large skyscraper--something London does not have.
Then on Tuesday we packed up and headed to Paris. I finally got my ultimate high speed train fix. Eurostar averages about 150 mph the entire route. It has only been in service since 1994, when the channel tunnel was completed, which served as the link between England and France. It takes about 20 minutes to get through it. We arrived in the Paris Gare du Norde around Noon and got a taxi to our hotel. Little did we know, the last portion of our journey would occur on foot. We were a few blocks away when a police car inexplicably blocked the entire street in an attempt to handle what I'm assuming was an urgent matter. We had no idea what was going on and neither did the taxi driver, so we paid him and got the heck out of dodge. Fortunately our hotel wasn't far. We spent the afternoon hitting up a few sights including the grand Cathedral of Notre Dame. We also took a boat ride on the Seine. Definitely would recommend it for any first time Paris visitor. Great views of the Eiffel Tower. The next day my dad and I ascended the Eiffel Tower to level 2, which has the best views of Paris. I have to say that as beautiful and romantic a city this is, there are some things that are not to be desired. For one, there are virtually no traffic patterns. Driving would be a nightmare, and I though London was bad. Additionally, Paris is known for pickpockets and you have to be on your guard everywhere, especially on the subway. The tube may be the oldest subway system in the world, but the Paris Metro looks the part, and on some lines you even have to open the doors by hand. After that it was off to the town of Dijon, about an hour and a half south. We hopped on another grand high speed train--the TGV (Train a Grande Vitesse). This train went as fast as 180 mph on some sections of the route, but had to slow down when we got to the rolling hills of the wine region. Scenery was absolutely incredible. We arrived in Dijon around 4pm. After settling in to our hotel, we explored the town a little before having a full course dinner. Main course was a delicious Beef bourguignon. I must admit that as much as I like French food, I wish there was a little more diversity on the menu. They are very meat-heavy. The next day, I took a wine tour with my mom. I didn't know much about the wine-making process coming in so this was a good place to get a little exposure. Our guide drove us around Burgundy and gave us a great narration of the various vineyards throughout the region. We even saw a horse pulling a plow, which he even admitted is a rare sight. I had 5 samples of wine at the winery, which was enough to give me a nice late-afternoon nap. The next day we packed up and headed back to the UK on the two trains by which we had come. The only thing left on the agenda was to do some last minute shopping for folks back home. 
Finally, Saturday came and it was time to say goodbye. I didn't even get to finish my tea at the hotel, as the taxi came early to take us to Paddington, where we would catch the Heathrow Connect. I soaked it all in at that point. I am going to miss being able to just go to a grand old train station any time I want and being able to hop on a train that leaves on time and glides along a smooth track at a minimum of 70 mph to any destination of your choosing. Of the things I will miss the most about being in London, that is at the top of the list. 
We spent some time in the airport using up our remaining British pounds at Duty Free before our flight. I think I was mostly happy to be going home. It was just hard to understand after growing accustomed to being in a large city for three months. Our plane, to my surprise was full. The 8 hours seemed to pass relatively quickly, but that's probably because it was during the day and we gained 5 hours. On the way over I got no sleep and basically lost my entire night, so I ended up being dog tired. As we approached the East Coast, I could see puddles of yellow, reminding me of the formidable force of pollen which comes around each April. Fortunately it appears I've escaped the worst of it. Maybe I'll have to go to Europe every April. My passport got stamped for the 6th time on this trip at RDU. I have now covered 7 countries in my short 21 years on Earth. I am looking forward to the warm days ahead, something I havn't felt since October.
I can't possibly sum up the last three months right now. All I can say is that I feel proud that I conquered a large city and made it my own. I feel more confident about living independently, regardless of location. The important thing to remember is that even if you're in a large place, it will always start to feel smaller because you'll frequent certain areas. You'll find a grocery store you like. You'll get to know your neighborhood and explore it. You'll begin to interact with the locals, to find out things to guidebook didn't tell you. Within a few weeks, Bloomsbury felt familiar to me. 
I think I covered my academic experience in my last post, but if anything, I suppose it made me appreciate the higher education system back home and how privileged I am. Having said that, I do think that having a host family for a program like this would help make up for some of the lack of a social environment on campus. I think I'll look at these three months and remember what I was exposed to and what I did and use that as a motivational tool when I leave UNC, and eventually settle down somewhere new. It was a worthwhile experience. I think study abroad on the whole is valuable no matter what your field is, but don't take it from me. You have to do what is right for you, and the best way to do that is to search the UNC study abroad website to find a program that fits your needs. Just spend 5 minutes looking around here. You just might find something amazing.

 

Parliament, Globe, and end of classes

I know it has been a while since I have been on here, and I do apologize. I have been busy with several end-of-term assignments. I finished my classes a couple days ago and am getting ready to travel a little with my parents before I head back. It has been a good semester overall, and I think the classes I took were interesting. Yet at the same time I always felt like I could have gotten more out of the whole experience. Maybe that's because I'm used to living on a traditional college campus. Maybe it's because I'm used to going to football and basketball games with hundreds of screaming fans decked out in blue and white. Maybe I didn't realize that not every university contains a large area where preachers, dancers, and other interesting characters come to make their voice heard. Maybe I just have a hard time accepting the fact that for many students in the UK, college is only a small part of their life. I know it's all a matter of perspective. I'm curious what students in the UK think of our university system. I do think it was worthwhile though, I'm glad I had the opportunity to gain new skills, and interact with people from across the globe.
Recently I had the opportunity to tour Parliament and Shakespeare's Globe Theater. Both were fascinating to see, and the tour guides were very entertaining. Parliament is one of the most majestic buildings I have ever seen, and it is somewhat hard to believe that the governing body of the UK still meets there. They were in recess when I was there, so we got to see the chambers for the House of Lords and the House of Commons. In about three weeks, the place will be the full of people when her majesty the queen takes to the throne and addresses both houses for the state opening, an annual tradition. There are over 600 MPs (members of parliament) in the house of commons, more than even the US House of Representatives. When there is a vote on a bill, the members go into either a "yea" room or a "nay" room and the votes are physically counted one by one as each person exits. Pretty remarkable.
As for the Globe, I had some appreciation for the place having read a few Shakespeare plays in high school. This theater is actually a reconstruction of the original one, which burned down in 1613. This was partly due to the fact that part of the stage was thatched, making it extremely susceptible to fires. The theater only operates during the warm months, since it is open-air and does not have a roof. I only wish I was here longer so I could see a show. Next time I'll come back in July while North Carolina is having triple digit temperatures.
This will be my last post from London. It has been great! I'll be in France part of next week and then get back on Saturday. I'll do a wrap up then. 

Transit and basketball season in review

Last week I got the opportunity to visit the London Transport Museum. Let me tell you this place is an absolute gem. If you love trains, you have to come here. It's located in Covent Garden, which I had been to previously. The building is a unique, shed-like facility which adds to the authenticity. Scattered throughout the museum are replicas of train carriages, subways, buses, and horse and buggies which you can you in. There are several interactive exhibits including one which features a diorama of London's streets while they are being excavated during the construction of the tube.  There are also several maps along the wall of where the original lines went. Admission is a little steep, like most things over here, but I got a student discount and on top of that my ticket is valid for a whole year! This place is great for all ages. By the way I also rode the Central line of the tube all the way to the end, at West Ruislip. Yes, I'm that dedicated.
Changing gears, I'd like to take this opportunity to reflect on my beloved Tar Heels' accomplishments this season but also look ahead to next season. As I feared, we ran into a brick wall against Kansas last night and got demolished in the second half, despite giving it all we had. I think our accomplishments this season were notable, despite losing to Duke twice. After losing the likes of Tyler Zeller, Harrison Barnes, Kendall Marshall, and John Henson, we knew we would be faced with a tall order. Roy's decision to go to a smaller lineup was key in fueling our late season success. The question now of course is, will we continue to grow next season or will we have to start from square one again. That depends mostly on whether Hairston, McAdoo, and Mcdonald stick around and whether we can add another post presence. UNC basketball is about playing with resilience and having a great transition game, and that will depend on who we lose and who we gain over the next several months. There are too many unknowns at this point to determine what kind of team we'll be. You also have to factor in the addition of teams like Syracuse and Pitt to the ACC, which will present new challenges, but also possibly motivate players to play at a higher level. I do think next season will be entertaining without a doubt, but I hope it's just as much fun for the Heels as it is for everyone else.

Amsterdam

Alright, it's been a while, so I figured I'd tell you about my trip to Amsterdam last week. This week was Reading week at City, so were given time to catch up on our work, but I had to go somewhere for at least a couple of days. I decided on Amsterdam--a quick 45 minute flight to the east. Really weird how the gate closes 30 minutes before departure, but I guess it speeds up the boarding process since it puts some pressure on people. It was a nice smooth flight over the North Sea to the Netherlands, where it was probably sunnier than at any point so far in my time abroad.
Schiphol airport in Amsterdam is large. There are large shopping areas for travelers coming in. Passport control was practically empty! That may be because they had a do-it-yourself passport station where you could scan your passport and go through. That may only be for people with EU passports. Anyway, it took me all of 30 seconds to go through. I then navigated my way through the various set of concourses to the train ticket counter. Only 4.40 in euros to get into town!
The platforms are below the airport, and the trains leave about every 10 minutes for Amsterdam's Central Station, located at the center of the city. The train ride was smooth and fast, just like all of the trains I've ridden on thus far.
Central station is beautiful. It is this grand building which looks like a palace on the outside and contains 15 platforms. It was a short walk from the station to my hotel, the A-train hotel. Yes, once again I'm keeping trains in the mix here. It is an authentic hotel covered with train pictures and other merchandise. My room was nice and cozy. Would definitely recommend this hotel for anyone traveling to Amsterdam. Another strange thing; when you go out of the hotel you give your key to the front desk and they give you a card. When you come back you return the card to them and get your key back. I soon ventured out toward the Ann Frank House, but first I needed to eat. I found a cute Italian cafe not far way. Good meal, but somewhat expensive, like most things.
The Ann Frank Museum was wonderful. It is the actual building where she and here family went into hiding during the Holocaust. Having studied this period in history extensively as well as reading her diary, I did not see much that I didn't already know. But I did appreciate seeing all of the artifacts. There were so many letters and pages from the diary, mostly not in English, but it was still really moving to see them. The bookcase which was used to cover the doorway to the annex where they lived was still there. There were also several videos of Holocaust survivors recounting their experiences and describing what the Frank family was like. It felt very authentic, going up the steep staircases in the house. I felt so connected with what I was seeing I almost forgot I was in Amsterdam. Nothing felt foreign. I think that is the sign of a meaningful experience, when you can go to a new place and feel connected to something or someone. That's what happened here. While this is a painful period in history, I feel it is very important to study it and know what happened so that we can prevent further atrocities.
I continued my walk through the city, stopping at points to take pictures of cool looking buildings and canals. I think the canals are really what make Amsterdam what it is. This is not a city of skyscrapers and grand boulevards. This is a city that combines a little of the old and new. OK now I'm being cheesy to the nth degree.
I wanted to see the Jewish Quarter of the city, but it had closed by the time I got there. I had dinner at a pub, which I enjoyed and walked through the main shopping area back to my hotel.
I started the next day by having breakfast at the hotel and then taking a tram down to the south side of town. It is there that the stadium used in the 1928 Olympics lies. I took a few pictures and went inside to the museum they have there. Honestly, it was not the coolest thing in the world but it does have some interactive stuff. There is an exercise bike where you can measure your time against Olympic runners, as well as a game where you try to anticipate what corner of a soccer goal a player's shot will land in. Only 6 Euros so I guess I can't complain too much. I then went back into town, where I had a heft omelette at this pancake restaurant. To finish off my visit I checked out the waterfront area. I then boarded the train and was whisked to the airport in 15 minutes.
The flight back was a little delayed since there were some mechanical problems with our plane. I flew in to the tiny Southend Airport, about an hour East of London. I took the train back to Liverpool St station. It was dark so I didn't get to see much during the ride.

I have now been to six countries and to sum up this trip, I'll quote Borat: Great Success!

Bath and Baking

Last week me and my flatmate Mary ventured out of London and into Bath, a small city a couple hours west where we met up with several international students. Bath was originally a resort town when the Romans settled here back in the day. There was a large spa at the center of town which was a site for bathing and socializing. It is still very much intact today, and we had fun touring it. In the main bath you could see the steam rising above the water. Hard to believe the Romans used rainwater which was then heated by geothermal energy to bath in. If you do ever find yourself in England, this is one stop I'd highly recommend. Yeah I know all this "recommending business" is making me sound artificial here. Sorry about that.
This week overall has been pretty calm but I do want to continue to let you know about my food situation. I did finally find guacamole. Sainsbury's, a local supermarket, carries it but it's located with "dips" and not "world cuisine". I also found this pudding cake that they sell and this great vanilla custard that you can put on top. If you're not counting calories it won't disappoint.

And now, more pictures.

list of grievences

I haven't done a lot of touristy things lately. Mainly just some necessary things like... eating, reading, job applications, class, grocery shopping, and more eating. As promised, you will see Greenwich photos, but first I thought I'd take this opportunity to express a little discontent, just as the colonists did to King George III way back in 1776.

-Bitter cold has persisted so far. Yes we did get a few sunny days in the 50's but that's about it. Not only is it cold, but there is always precipitation and wind that accompanies it. Also remember, this is a walking city unless you're willing to pay a few quid, which brings me to my next grievance.
-London burns a hole in your wallet. Imagine New York prices on steroids. Remember that pounds are worth more than dollars, only you usually don't pay fewer pounds than you would dollars. A $5 sandwich in the US probably costs 5 pounds here.
-The healthcare system here is great, but if you're not on it you might have to go to a few places to get a blood test. I found that out the hard way. The only saving grace was that I found out that there are great views of the city from the top of UCL hospital. Wish I had brought my camera.
-Some things are inefficient. You have to ask for a check in a restaurant, which people sometimes forget to do. You bag your own groceries, which can be difficult if the bags are hard to open, as I found out. They make coins for both pounds and pence, so you end up with a load of coins every time you get change back, which you then have to sort out and gradually use up during various purchases.

 Notice that this list isn't very long. There are so many more positives than negatives, but since you've been hearing about the positives so much, I thought I'd change it up tonight to make things interesting. You may hear me complain from time to time.

old stuff

Well there's certainly a lot to talk about. When last I wrote I had not straddled the prime meridian, ridden on a high speed European train, or seen the Magna Carta up close. Now I can say I have done all that and more.
We checked out the British Library on Saturday. It was filled with artifacts dating back to around 1100 or so. I'd say some of the most interesting things were Shakespeare's first folios of several of his plays, written in old English and almost impossible to decipher. The Magna Carta was particularly meaningful to me, having learned about it back in high school civics class. It is one of the first documents that laid the groundwork for democracy. Unfortunately we couldn't take pictures in the gallery, so you'll just have to see it for yourself. Later we walked next door to the grand old Kings Cross Station. As you know I love train stations, but this one is extra special. It is the departure point for Harry Potter's Hogwarts Express. So naturally we had to make a pilgrimage to the famous platform 9 and 3/4.
The next day was the first time I truly felt like I was a long way from home. We got an early start to join our tour group at Liverpool Street Station where we caught a train to Cambridge. It was a fast, smooth ride which was quite enjoyable. North American rail infrastructure doesn't even compare. We got to Cambridge in a little over an hour and walked into town. It is a cute, European style town of about 100,000 during the academic year. There are lots old, narrow cobblestone streets lined with intriguing shops; a telltale sign that this is a college town. The wind was in full force, so we weren't exactly comfortable on the tour, but the remarkable sights made up for it. Cambridge is separated into about 30 small colleges where students majoring in a certain field live together. We didn't go in most of them since you had to pay, but we did visit Trinity College, where Sir Isaac Newton studied.

 We also visited one of the oldest churches in Cambridge as well as the River Cam which runs through campus. Many people go boating (called punting) on the river on nice days, but we didn't see any takers on this day.

After a long day of travel I wrapped things up by watching to first half of the Super Bowl. I'm not a huge NFL person but I did really want the Ravens to win since I know so many people from Maryland, including some of my family. There's also the Michael Oher factor, and the fact that they were the underdog. I'm very happy for them. Baltimore deserves it and the fans deserve it. Well done Ravens.
Now, there's today. I haven't uploaded pics from today yet but I will in the next post. We took a bus to Greenwich to check out the Royal Observatory. It is the birthplace of some of the oldest clocks and navigational tools dating back to the 1600's.We saw several of these artifacts and checked out the site where the prime meridian lies. The wind was howling today too, but that was partially due to the fact that we were on a hill. We took several pictures there. There are also great views of London and the River Thames from this spot. Tomorrow's my 3-class day so I'll sign off now. More photos to come.