Today was my first day of official class, sort of! My literature class met our professor (or tutor as they say) at Waterloo Station . From there, we walked along the Thames to the National Film Gallery and say outside of the Cafe while he lectured briefly about what our day was to entail! Then he broke us up into 4 groups that were to observe and report about the place they went too. My group was assigned the Tate Modern Art Museum, so we walked around along the Thames until we finally found it (granted we had no maps or anything...just shoty directions from our professor!) The exhibts were interesting and I did get to see some Monet's, Picasso's, and Mondrian's. However there were some incredibly explicit exhibitions including videos of self mutilation and some other very sexually explicit videos. I understand the artists attempt at approaching topics that are so taboo, but some of them really crossed the line from art to grotesque.....I guess I will stick to my classic art!
There was one really cool exhibition that was of all silver pieces collected from junkyards that had been steamrolled and then suspended from wires in a geometric pattern. I liked it very much and I could see the amount of work the artist had put in.
After we had had our fill of modern art, we had lunch at the top of the museum in a very posh restaurant, which has an amazing view of the city! We then met back up with our groups, discussed our excursions and then made our way out of London. I decided to meet some friends at the Kingston Shopping District and we meandered around for andhour until everything shut down....I really wish things stayed open longer and later here!!
Now its time for beddy bye because it will be an early morning. Cheers!!
xoxo Jackie
Monday, June 30, 2008
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Hampton Court Palace
Today I went to Hampton Court Palace for my British Culture Class. We took a boat down the Thames right up to Palace courtyard!! All I can say is WOW!! They broke us up into 2 groups and the first group went on a tour of the inside of the palace. My group however was free to wander the gardens for 2 hours! Sounds like a long time right? Well, we used the ENTIRE 2 hours! There are gardens upon gardens all around the palace each with a different look to them. The first garden we came to was this magnificant rose garden! I can't even begin to describe how amazing the smell was! Just imagine a thousand roses in bloom....it was like someone sprayed the air with popurri, but definately a million times better!
After that we made are way around to the next garden called the Tiltyard. There was a little cafe there but the interesting thing to me was there were so many people there with picnics just spralled out on the grass laying down, reading or playing with their kids. In fact, there is a sign saying that they welcome and encourage people with picnics! How fun is that!! Then we rounded into the next garden which included a maze! Actually, the whole garden used to be filled with mazes but this is the only one left in the garden and is actually the oldest maze in all of the UK!! The next garden we came too was the Great Fountain Garden. Evidently, this is the main garden and you can tell so because the Kings Quarters lines up directly with this garden from the castle. It was a very beautiful and well manicured garden with trees in the shape of Hershey Kisses!! They actually reminded me of the Kebbler Elf Trees that are perfectly pointed at the top. The grass was so perfect and all of the flower beds were in perfect blume. I guess we picked a great time to go and see this place because it was amazing!!
The next garden we walked into was the Knot Garden which was my second favorite to the Fountain Garden. It was so interesting to see a garden that was so geometrically and perfectly laid out and groomed. I really wanted to ask someone how they mowed the grass because the pathways were so ornated and winding that a mower of anysize would never fit. Oh well, its magic!
Around the next corner we walked into the Pond Gardens that had the Great Vine in it. How cool is this, the great vine was planted in 1768 and still produces great crop year after year of grapes. That plant is older than America!! It was interesting to think about at least.
Finally, it was my groups turn for a tour. It was interesting and I took notes for the paper I have to write about it. We just did a main tour of the kitchens, main rooms, great hall (BEAUTIFUL!!), bedrooms, and eating rooms. Unfortunatly we couldnt take pictures inside, but I will say this: the great room was breath taking, and the Bedroom ceiling was painted in a baroque style and has an optical illusion painted in it. It's very difficult to describe but definately worth seeing! I also enjoyed learing the random trivial facts about things in the palace, which led me to the point of my paper that I will be writing. I was very intrigued by how the architecture was used as a form of expression of not only status and wealth, but as a way to communicate to the illiterate via sculptures and paintings, and also as a tool of propaganda. I think it will be an interesting topic to research and write about.
Well folks, thats all for now. I was sad Germany lost the Euro cup to friggin Spain but other than that my evening has been relaxing and boring. Real class starts tommarrow and I will be meeting my professor at Waterloo Station in London! I love these kinds of classes!!
Talk to you soon xoxo
Jackie
After that we made are way around to the next garden called the Tiltyard. There was a little cafe there but the interesting thing to me was there were so many people there with picnics just spralled out on the grass laying down, reading or playing with their kids. In fact, there is a sign saying that they welcome and encourage people with picnics! How fun is that!! Then we rounded into the next garden which included a maze! Actually, the whole garden used to be filled with mazes but this is the only one left in the garden and is actually the oldest maze in all of the UK!! The next garden we came too was the Great Fountain Garden. Evidently, this is the main garden and you can tell so because the Kings Quarters lines up directly with this garden from the castle. It was a very beautiful and well manicured garden with trees in the shape of Hershey Kisses!! They actually reminded me of the Kebbler Elf Trees that are perfectly pointed at the top. The grass was so perfect and all of the flower beds were in perfect blume. I guess we picked a great time to go and see this place because it was amazing!!
The next garden we walked into was the Knot Garden which was my second favorite to the Fountain Garden. It was so interesting to see a garden that was so geometrically and perfectly laid out and groomed. I really wanted to ask someone how they mowed the grass because the pathways were so ornated and winding that a mower of anysize would never fit. Oh well, its magic!
Around the next corner we walked into the Pond Gardens that had the Great Vine in it. How cool is this, the great vine was planted in 1768 and still produces great crop year after year of grapes. That plant is older than America!! It was interesting to think about at least.
Finally, it was my groups turn for a tour. It was interesting and I took notes for the paper I have to write about it. We just did a main tour of the kitchens, main rooms, great hall (BEAUTIFUL!!), bedrooms, and eating rooms. Unfortunatly we couldnt take pictures inside, but I will say this: the great room was breath taking, and the Bedroom ceiling was painted in a baroque style and has an optical illusion painted in it. It's very difficult to describe but definately worth seeing! I also enjoyed learing the random trivial facts about things in the palace, which led me to the point of my paper that I will be writing. I was very intrigued by how the architecture was used as a form of expression of not only status and wealth, but as a way to communicate to the illiterate via sculptures and paintings, and also as a tool of propaganda. I think it will be an interesting topic to research and write about.
Well folks, thats all for now. I was sad Germany lost the Euro cup to friggin Spain but other than that my evening has been relaxing and boring. Real class starts tommarrow and I will be meeting my professor at Waterloo Station in London! I love these kinds of classes!!
Talk to you soon xoxo
Jackie
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Welcome to my Summer Abroad!
Hello everyone!
I decided to create this blog to keep you all updated on what I have been doing. I will post quite often and you are free to look as often or as little as you wish to see how I'm doing. I also created a site on PhotoBucket, which I am trying desperately to update, so you can look at pictures whenever you wish. The website is as follows: http://s288.photobucket.com/albums/ll200/swmgrl2005/. I think that the best way to view all of the pictures is to go to the upper right hand corner and pick Slideshow. That way, you can see the pictures big and at your own pace. Anyways, since I decided to do this so late I have quite a lot of catching up to do...like a whole week and a half's worth...and 3 countries....Hope you’re in for the long haul because this one's a doozie!!
Ok here we go! Yes, I made it to Sweden and I had the most wonderful time!!! I can hardly believe sometimes that I actually made it over here!!! First, my flight was delayed on the runway for 2 hours, so my 8 hour flight turned into a 10 hour flight!! We couldn't get out of our seats either for the whole 2 hours because we were on an "active runway"....paaalease! I had to pee so bad and I was STARVING by the time we finally got into the air.
Finally, I did make it to Sweden and my wonderful boyfriend picked me up at the airport in Stockholm. I was soooo great to see his smiling face...I kinda missed him! ;) Then we went into Stockholm and met his brother and one of his friends for lunch at this very posh restaurant. (Good thing I traveled in a cute summer dress and not sweatpants!!) He showed me around Stockholm a bit and I have to say it was so amazing to say the least. I don't know if you guys know but Stockholm is built on a bunch of islands and completely surrounded by water. The buildings date back to the 13th century and were the most beautiful buildings I have ever seen in my life. Even with severe jetlag, it was easily the most beautiful city I've ever seen. (I don't have any pictures yet but I will in August so be patient!)
Then, his parents wanted Oscar to bring me by there work to say hello, so we dropped by and had a quick chat and headed back to his town of Södertalja. He gave me a quick tour and showed me some beautiul places in his city, like a pretty river that connects to the sea where the buildings were soooo beautiful where he had his graduation from highschool. I can't wait to come back in August and see more of his town!
Then we just went back to his house and relaxed and hung out until his parents got home. We all had dinner (mom dad brother and us) and sat around the table and talked until Erik came over and we all got in his car and drove to Skåne (southern Sweden) to stay with Jenny.
The next day, Friday, was the Swedish Midsommer Festival. We woke up and got ready and then went into the forest and picked flowers to make our Midsommer kranz (or crown). Aren't they beautiful!!! Oscar wanted his to be MANLY so it doesn’t have very many of the pretty flowers! After that we went to a traditional Midsommer festival in a small town close to Jenny's. We dressed the Midsommer pole with leaves and flowers and then sang and danced around it, which was so much fun even when your 20! We played games and had a wonderful picnic and talked and met a bunch of really nice people. I had sooo many people start speaking to me in Swedish and about 2 sentences in, I'm sure they could see the confused look on my face and realized I could understand them. However, almost all of them thought I was from England at first!! haha!! Ironic, huh??
After that we went back to Jenny's house and the party was just beginning. Evidently it is customary on Midsommer to get together with all of your closest friends and just get REALLY drunk and sing songs and just be happy!! I love that kind of holiday...Sweden has it right!! All of Jenny's friends came over and we ate and drank and sang and drank and danced and drank!! Ohh btw, after every song we sang we took shots....got to love Swedish traditions!!! I had the best time ever and I was pleasantly surprised of how wonderful everyone was about my terrible Swedish....if anything, they all wanted to speak a lot of English with me to practice!We played games like Kubb (traditional Swedish game) and then did a säckhoppning (which is a sack race...oh yeah, really fun when you are drinking!!) and ended up having a big dance party in Jenny's patio! It was crazy fun and I think we all finally went to bed around 3am!! The next day, Oscar, Jenny, Erik and I biked to the Osbysjön which is just a big Lake with a camp site in her town. We had a delicious picnic and went swimming in the lake. The lake was very clear clean water but the water was a brown red color from the iron in the soil! Cool eh? After that we went home and showered up and had a nice dinner. We then went over to one of Jenny's friend's house that I had met the night before named Emilie! We ended up playing Swedish Pictionary and I definitely learned a lot of new words that night!! In fact, Jenny and Erik and I won the game!! :) my Swedish is getting sooo much better just by being here!! Around 1am we went home and watched Borat which is the perfect movie for the company I was in if you know them at all!
Sunday, the boys had to go home...silly people with jobs...and Jenny and I had a great day. We went to a toy museum in her town. I don’t know if any of you have ever played with those little trains in the toy stores that have magnets on the ends so they stick together, but I know I have. Well, those are made here in Osby at the Brio toy factory! The owner knows Jenny and her family because they work there so she gave me like 100 Brio key chains because she wanted me to have a little something to remember Osby by! Anyone want a free keychain when I get home!?!? haha. Then we just went on a really long bike ride around Osby and saw everything! Sweden is so beautiful guys. If there is one thing I can say to describe it here is UNSPOILED. Everything here is just so beautiful and green and natural. There is no invasion of commercialism and certainly no stupid McDonalds or Burger King!! It’s really a wonderful place so far and I hope everyone decides to come here some day!!
The next morning, I got up very early and Jenny took me to the train station to Helsingborg where Jonas lives. When I go there, he picked me up at the train station and we parked the car and did a bit of a walking tour of his town. Helsingborg is situated right on the southern tip of Sweden and you can literally spit across the water to Denmark! He showed me around the town center, which had some great shopping btw, which I resisted! Aren’t you proud!! Then we went back to his house and relaxed. For some reason I was super exhausted so I had to take a nap for an hour…I think I was getting a summer cold so I was dragging a little. After that we watched some TV until his Mom and brother got home and had dinner. We had a typical Swedish dish, that I can neither spell nor pronounce but it was delicious. It was a sort of stew with potatoes and lingonberry sauce…mmmmm. We talked quite a lot and I must say that his parents were so nice and welcoming to me. After dinner, Jonas, his brother Martin and I watched a Swedish Movie called Hotet (the threat), which is basically the Swedish version of Top Gun!! It was a very good movie though, and it was all in Swedish which is big for me….but of course there were English subtitles!
The next day, we slept in which was so nice! After breakfast we decided to shower and go back into town so I could take pictures of everything I was seeing. We went up in this 13th century tower that was in place to defend Sweden from Denmark back in the day. There used to be so much to the fortress but only the tower is left. We walked up in it and it was a beautiful view of the city. The architecture is unparalleled and I really enjoyed just being up there and looking around.
We had lunch at a Chinese restaurant by the water and it was delicious! One thing I have learned is that there are no preservatives in food and its always fresh! After lunch Jonas suggested that we take a ferry to Denmark! We got on the ferry and walked outside to the front of the boat that was pointing towards Denmark. It was s windy that I could lean on the wind!! Once we got there we walked around the footpaths! The shops were all so cute and small sprinkled with cafes and street performers! The sounds and smells were unlike anything I have ever seen! After we walked a bit in the shopping district we walked to Hamlets castle!! Shakespeare based his story in this castle in Denmark although he never lived in Denmark! Cool eh? It was breathtaking! I have never seen a castle before so I was very taken aback! There are so many things that you can tell were defense mechanisms to defend against Sweden during all of their years of fighting for control. We walked around a bit inside the castle then outside around the walls where people were fishing and picnicking by the ocean. After that we just walked back to the ferry and headed back home just in time for dinner. His Mom was dead-set on preparing all traditional Swedish meals while I was there so that night we had a type of pork meatloaf meal with something that looked like filo dough on top with, of course, boiled potatoes. It was really delicious whatever it was!! For dessert though, she made rhubarb pie with a homemade vanilla sauce…..AMAZING!!! The interesting thing was that the rhubarb was from their garden outside! Can’t get much fresher than that I guess!! We just chilled the rest of the night and I caught up on some emails and checked flights in preparation for my flight to London!
The next morning, Wednesday, Jonas and I got up VERY early again and he drove me to the train station where I caught an hour long train across the bridge to Copenhagen, Denmark right to the airport. The trains here in Europe are wonderful and so comfortable! So much better than what I was used to in Chicago when using the Metro! After I got there I was confused beyond belief! I was in the right terminal but I had no idea how to check my bags or get my boarding pass or anything!!!! I looked around and I got in a line and then realized that it was only for baggage drop, so I moved to another line. When I got through that one they told me that they don’t even have you check in at desks anymore when flying SAS but you have to check in using the kiosks in the middle of the area to print everything including your bag tags. So I did that, and I ended up having to go back because my boarding pass got jammed in the printer!! I have the best luck! Finally I got it all figured out and checked in and my bags checked and I went off to the duty free stores and shops in the airport. Copenhagen airport is such a chic airport with all of their designer stores and sleek furniture and wood floors, although it did look a bit minimalistic and industrial. All the same, I grabbed a bite to eat and a beer and relaxed in the main area. The flight itself was nice and easy compared to my transatlantic flight! I did find a new boyfriend though. I didn’t catch his name but he loves me and couldn’t keep his hands off of me the whole plane ride. He was also 2 years old. There was a couple sitting a few rows ahead of me that were letting their twin boys run in the isles while they were waiting to get back to the bathrooms. He was so cute and kept coming up to me and hanging on my legs and talking gibberish to me. His mother came up to me later and told me that he “sure took a shine to you” (insert thick British accent).
I got to the terminal and had to wait in the LONGEST line in customs…close to 45 minutes. Finally I got up to the lady and I had to show her all of my papers which she studied quite intensely! After 5 minutes of grilling my intentions in HER country, I finally got out of the baggage area and started looking for my party. I found a guy wearing a Kingston shirt and walked up to him and said hello and that I was Jackie Nagle. He looked at me and started talking very loudly and slowly like was mentally handicapped. He asked how my flight was and if any of my family members would be coming to visit since I live so close. I gave him a confused look and then he said, “Well, you are from Denmark aren’t you?” He said that since I was flying in from Copenhagen he thought I was Danish! He even told everyone else that was waiting that I was Danish. So I had to introduce myself as Jackie, the NOT Danish girl! It was entertaining none the less.
Finally, we got on the bus and headed to Kingston! The streets were sooo small and the cars even smaller! The funny thing was that EVERYONE was driving on the wrong side of the road!! What is that about?!?! Just kidding! But in all reality, I don’t know how they drive as crazy as they do without getting killed. Well, by the hand of God, we finally got to Seething Wells, which is where my flat is located in the town of Surbiton. I got there and I got my keys and they sent me to drop off my stuff in my room and get as situated as I wanted, then to come down and grab a sack lunch and eat out on the courtyard. I went to knock on the doors of my flatmates and then walked out into the hall real fast but the main door shut behind me shut, locking me out of my flat!! I’m such a dummy! So I went out to the courtyard and found my flatmates and ate lunch and then went back inside and tried to unpack. Around 4:30, some people were going on a tour of Surbiton to get us familiarized with the area and to point out important places like the grocery store, the pharmacy/everything else store, and of course the best pubs and restaurants. We ended the tour by stopping at the grocery store, Sainsbarys, to get some essentials
Later in the evening, I decided that sitting in my flat was not what I wanted to be doing so I went and knocked on everyone’s doors and rallied the troops to go to a pub down the street called the Elm Tree to watch the Euro Cup game between Germany and Turkey. GO GERMANY!!! I met some people and some locals and got some good tips on where to eat, where to drink, and where to avoid completely!
Thursday, we had an orientation thing starting at 10 am on campus, which is just a 5 or 10 minute bus ride or a 20 minute walk. We got there and went through all the boring welcome crap and all of the silly paper work, followed by a walking tour of Kingston. Here’s a fun fact for you; in the town of Kingston there is a stone in the ground surrounded by iron gates or something like that. Although I have not found this spot yet, I am determined to do so because I was told by a professor that it was the spot where Kings where crowned in the 10th Century before they were anointed in Westminster Abbey. Cool eh? Anyways, Kingston is such a great place. The shopping, restaurants, pubs, and nightclubs are amazing. There are so many cool clothing stores that I can’t wait to go in and look around since I know that I will not be able to afford anything in them! There is actually this nightclub called Oceana that is 2 stories tall and has 7 rooms in it with different themes! Hopefully I will get there sometime this summer!
After the walking tour of Kingston we headed back to the campus to get some lunch and chill before heading into London. We collected our travel cards and student IDs and then were given a packet with a photo scavenger hunt to complete while in London with our flatmates. I guess I should take this opportunity to introduce all of my flatmates quickly. First there is Rachel, who is ironically a senior at Ashland also. We had no idea who the other was prior to coming here or even that the other was coming here, but have soon become fast friends. Next is Sammie, a 19 year old from South Dakota. She is a farmer girl as naïve as they come, but nice as can be. She is very very peppy all the time, but so much fun to be around. Finally, is Emilee from Massachusetts. She is definitely an east coast kind of girl; loud, fun, and stylish. All in all, we are very different and have very different personalities, but somehow manage to mesh perfectly. We are all four independent but tend to enjoy the company of the others, making for a great mesh of people.
Moving on, we caught our first train and headed into London! It took us 15 minutes or less from the time we got on the train to the time we stepped off in Waterloo station. Then, it all began! Within the first 15 minutes of being in London, I saw Waterloo station, the London Eye, Big Ben, The House of Parliament, the London Aquarium, and Westminster Bridge. Talk about sensory over load! It was seriously an amazing thing to be a part of, and I definitely got a ton of pictures! After we got our pictures and watched the Clock Tower strike, we walked to the Westminster Tube stop and went down, and down, and down. We got off at the Green Park stop and came up on Piccadilly. We walked through Green Park towards Buckingham Palace! Wow, what a sight! It was like we walked through this beautiful wooded park that magically opened up to a majestic palace with so much history behind it, not to mention the beautiful marble fountain. I can only imagine the masses that have been here before and will continue to come for years to come. Humbling, to say the least. I did not see any of the traditional guards with the cool hats and serious expressions. There were policeman by the gates with big machine guns though!!! I went up to one to ask him a question that we had to figure out about the flag on top of the palace. Interesting factoid, when the union jack flag is flying over the palace it means that the Queen is not at home, but when she is the white flag with the royal crest on it fly on the palace. Similarly, the number of guards is doubled up when she is home vs. when she is away. When I looked, the Union jack flag was flying but the number of guards was still doubled up. The policeman offered to me that the Queen was currently in Windsor but was returning home today. However, they are unaware of when she is returning until moments before she arrives. I wish I could have stayed there all day just so I could have had the opportunity to see the Queen of England!! We took a bunch of pictures at Buckingham Palace and of the fountain then headed back through the park and caught a bus to Trafalger Square. We walked around outside of the National Gallery, where it is evidently illegal to feed the pigeons! Good thing no one actually follows that rule!! After poking around a bit we walked over to Leicester Square to see the infamous red phone booths which I most certainly did get a picture in! I would like to return sometime soon to check out China town and Soho right around that area, although the West End was great and very reminiscent of New York Broadway.
From there, we decided to meet some friends for dinner at Covent Square Market which is famous for its street performers, which was so fun to see. We walked around the Market briefly, and decided that most restaurants were tourist traps with much overpriced meals, so we found an underground bar that was serving half price appetizers and buy one get one free drinks! We all split a few things and got some drinks adding up to me spending less than 10 bucks! Worked out great for me! After that we decided it was a good idea to head back to our flat and crash because it was a very long day, and we had class the next day!
Friday morning, Rachel and Emiliee and I took the bus to our first class, British Culture and Society. Although most of the first part of the class was introductory, it ended up being quite interesting ending with a discussion about the stereotypes of the British, why we pick up on those stereotypes and how they came about in British Society. The one interesting part about the discussion that I participated in was on the topic of nationalism. A few of the people mentioned that they thought that Brit’s were very proud of their nationality as British people. The professor then asked them to support this statement and no one could, so he then opened it up for the opposite position. I raised my hand and explained that I did not think that British people are nationalistic in the sense that Americans understand Nationalism. I explained that I did not think that Britain was a flag waving nation like the USA, but was silently proud of the struggles they have overcome in the past, as well as their ability to maintain their status as a major power in the world for this long no matter their size. Furthermore I explained that I thought Brit’s were more inclined to be proud of and to identify with their region rather than being British. For example, people living in Wales identify themselves as a Welsh man rather than a British man, and an English woman is not the same as a British woman. The professor was surprised and said that he did not expect to get a response like that from a summer school student, as it was very intelligent and worldly. I could care less that he said it was intelligent, but I was quite happy with being considered worldly!!
After another rather boring lecture on the Monarchy, Rachel and I took a lunch break and then headed to class at 2:00. I had my London and its Literature class, which was definitely started off in an interesting way. Our professor walked in and the first thing he asked us was if we had seen the Beer Festival outside? He then proceeded to tell us which beers to try when we went! I really like him because I feel that he will not be making us read for the sake of reading, only to be followed by a meaningless paper written at the last minute. He is very interested in showing us the places we are reading about in the form of fieldtrips. Basically the way the class will work is as follows: we have lecture in the morning followed by lunch at leisure and we meet at Waterloo station for the second part of our class to walk around different areas to see the locations written about in the books we are reading in class. I think that this class will be much better than any English class I could have ever taken at Ashland for my elective English class.
After class, some girls from my class and I walked back to our flat and agreed to meet up later to stop by the beer festival. We went and I spent the best 3 pounds ever. When you enter you pay 2 pounds for a glass then I got a half pint for 1 pound of a beer to taste from a local microbrew. Delicious by the way! You could return the glass if you wanted your 2 pounds back but I liked it and just kept it for a souvenir. I headed back to campus and met up with some friends and went into Kingston to a pub to watch a local band perform which was really fun. I was supposed to meet my flatmates close to where I was already in Kingston to go out to this really great club I described earlier called Oceana. Then, right as we were leaving the pub I got something in my eye and ended up losing my contact!! I couldn’t see a thing and I knew that I needed to get back to my flat to get a new contact before we went out so I called one of my flatmates and told her I had to hurry back and get a contact. So one of the guys walked me to a bus station and found me the right bus to get me back to my flat.....or so we thought!!!I ended up getting on the wrong bus and I had no idea where I was, and I was by myself. Good thing it wasn’t too late, but I was scared none the less. It gets better... So I tried to ask the bus driver and he didn’t speak English at all. I got off the bus and asked for directions and finally got in semi-familiar territory and ended up walking a freaking mile back to my flat.My flatmates, bless their hearts, waited for me to get back so I could get my contact. So we left to go back to where I had supposedly just come from to go to this club and everything was fine! I was with my girls and we all looked so cute.We got in line at this club, which by the way is super posh with 7 different rooms and 3 floors! We got hit on by these cute British boys in line and things were really looking up for me...or so I thought! I got up to the bouncer and I showed him my International ID....and he said I needed my passport since I showed him my International ID first....I had 3 other forms of ID with me but since I had shown an international ID I needed my passport. So basically, they wouldn’t let me in. I was so upset and I felt horrible because we had waited in line and the girls all got out of line for me. I told them that they should go in without me but they wouldn’t let me be alone again after my traumatic experience earlier in the evening!! I am the last person to ever be in that situation....I am always the most responsible and prepared in situations like this and it was completely horrible for me. I felt so bad because one of the girls didn’t even go in and walked all the way back to our flat with me.
I found out later that one of my flatmates tried to call us because once they got back in line the bouncer told them to call me because he would sneak me in, but we were already on a bus home. We got back home and I just went to bed. I woke up at 2 and my flatmates had come back already because they were bored without me and Rachel. They also told me that they got lost on the way back and have no idea how I made it back to the flat at all.
Saturday morning, I woke up early and walked to the grocery store to get eggs and bacon to make my flatmates breakfast for putting up with me the night before. I got back and opened the windows immediately because I was cooking bacon and I didn’t want to set off the fire alarm because they told us it was a 50 pound fine. Well evidently in this country you aren’t supposed to open any doors or windows when cooking because there are smoke alarms outside that are very sensitive. Well, as you can figure out, I set off the fire alarm because I was cooking with the window open and the detector outside went off. Long story short, the lady in charge of our flats was not a very nice person and ended up making me cry, which then softened her a bit. She began the conversation by threatening me and telling me that I needed to fork over 50 pounds to her now. By the end of the conversation she realized that I was trying to do everything the right way which just happened to be the wrong way and she was more pissed that no one gave up an introduction to how to used the equipment in our flats. Evidently, there is also a cord behind the refrigerator to turn in a fan in the kitchen. Note to self: Cook with all windows and doors shut and cook bacon in the oven (that’s what they do here I guess). You know what really got me though, I didn’t even burn anything! It was just the steam that set that stupid thing off. Oh well, things happen and I learned from it.
After that fiasco was resolved and I was through crying with my flatmates, we all showered and spontaneously decided to go to Brighton, the gay capital of England. When we got there we had to buy new train tickets because we had traveled out of our zone in Kingston. Then we walked out onto the street and it was like walking in San Francisco! The train station was set on a big hill so all of the hills were on an angle heading down toward the ocean. Once we got to the ocean, it was so incredibly windy! Had I not eaten anything that day, I very well could have blown away. We decided to walk along the beach and grab fish and chips from a beach hut food place (which was so good!) and then walk a bit along the beach up to the pier. The cool thing was that the shops lining the beach were all art galleries. Beautiful work too! We got to the pier and walked around a pit, took pictures and just talked and chilled! I was very relaxing to be by the sea and just unwind! The interesting thing was that the beach was not sand but smooth pebbles and rocks. It was definitely different! Before leaving I got a crepe with chocolate and cream (delicious again!) and devoured it in a second! We started walking back toward the station and stopped in some shops along the way. The other interesting thing we saw was the Royal Pavillion, where the architecture was amazing and so ornate! After that we grabbed a train back to Surbiton and ended up crashing because we were so tired from the last few days. Probably a good idea considering we still have 3 weeks of this.
That about does it for now….I think you are all caught up on my life thus far and hopefully I will be posting frequently and MUCH shorter so they are easier to read in one sitting. Thanks for sticking it out with me. More to come so be excited, and on that night I’m off to sleep.
xoxo Jackie
I decided to create this blog to keep you all updated on what I have been doing. I will post quite often and you are free to look as often or as little as you wish to see how I'm doing. I also created a site on PhotoBucket, which I am trying desperately to update, so you can look at pictures whenever you wish. The website is as follows: http://s288.photobucket.com/albums/ll200/swmgrl2005/. I think that the best way to view all of the pictures is to go to the upper right hand corner and pick Slideshow. That way, you can see the pictures big and at your own pace. Anyways, since I decided to do this so late I have quite a lot of catching up to do...like a whole week and a half's worth...and 3 countries....Hope you’re in for the long haul because this one's a doozie!!
Ok here we go! Yes, I made it to Sweden and I had the most wonderful time!!! I can hardly believe sometimes that I actually made it over here!!! First, my flight was delayed on the runway for 2 hours, so my 8 hour flight turned into a 10 hour flight!! We couldn't get out of our seats either for the whole 2 hours because we were on an "active runway"....paaalease! I had to pee so bad and I was STARVING by the time we finally got into the air.
Finally, I did make it to Sweden and my wonderful boyfriend picked me up at the airport in Stockholm. I was soooo great to see his smiling face...I kinda missed him! ;) Then we went into Stockholm and met his brother and one of his friends for lunch at this very posh restaurant. (Good thing I traveled in a cute summer dress and not sweatpants!!) He showed me around Stockholm a bit and I have to say it was so amazing to say the least. I don't know if you guys know but Stockholm is built on a bunch of islands and completely surrounded by water. The buildings date back to the 13th century and were the most beautiful buildings I have ever seen in my life. Even with severe jetlag, it was easily the most beautiful city I've ever seen. (I don't have any pictures yet but I will in August so be patient!)
Then, his parents wanted Oscar to bring me by there work to say hello, so we dropped by and had a quick chat and headed back to his town of Södertalja. He gave me a quick tour and showed me some beautiul places in his city, like a pretty river that connects to the sea where the buildings were soooo beautiful where he had his graduation from highschool. I can't wait to come back in August and see more of his town!
Then we just went back to his house and relaxed and hung out until his parents got home. We all had dinner (mom dad brother and us) and sat around the table and talked until Erik came over and we all got in his car and drove to Skåne (southern Sweden) to stay with Jenny.
The next day, Friday, was the Swedish Midsommer Festival. We woke up and got ready and then went into the forest and picked flowers to make our Midsommer kranz (or crown). Aren't they beautiful!!! Oscar wanted his to be MANLY so it doesn’t have very many of the pretty flowers! After that we went to a traditional Midsommer festival in a small town close to Jenny's. We dressed the Midsommer pole with leaves and flowers and then sang and danced around it, which was so much fun even when your 20! We played games and had a wonderful picnic and talked and met a bunch of really nice people. I had sooo many people start speaking to me in Swedish and about 2 sentences in, I'm sure they could see the confused look on my face and realized I could understand them. However, almost all of them thought I was from England at first!! haha!! Ironic, huh??
After that we went back to Jenny's house and the party was just beginning. Evidently it is customary on Midsommer to get together with all of your closest friends and just get REALLY drunk and sing songs and just be happy!! I love that kind of holiday...Sweden has it right!! All of Jenny's friends came over and we ate and drank and sang and drank and danced and drank!! Ohh btw, after every song we sang we took shots....got to love Swedish traditions!!! I had the best time ever and I was pleasantly surprised of how wonderful everyone was about my terrible Swedish....if anything, they all wanted to speak a lot of English with me to practice!We played games like Kubb (traditional Swedish game) and then did a säckhoppning (which is a sack race...oh yeah, really fun when you are drinking!!) and ended up having a big dance party in Jenny's patio! It was crazy fun and I think we all finally went to bed around 3am!! The next day, Oscar, Jenny, Erik and I biked to the Osbysjön which is just a big Lake with a camp site in her town. We had a delicious picnic and went swimming in the lake. The lake was very clear clean water but the water was a brown red color from the iron in the soil! Cool eh? After that we went home and showered up and had a nice dinner. We then went over to one of Jenny's friend's house that I had met the night before named Emilie! We ended up playing Swedish Pictionary and I definitely learned a lot of new words that night!! In fact, Jenny and Erik and I won the game!! :) my Swedish is getting sooo much better just by being here!! Around 1am we went home and watched Borat which is the perfect movie for the company I was in if you know them at all!
Sunday, the boys had to go home...silly people with jobs...and Jenny and I had a great day. We went to a toy museum in her town. I don’t know if any of you have ever played with those little trains in the toy stores that have magnets on the ends so they stick together, but I know I have. Well, those are made here in Osby at the Brio toy factory! The owner knows Jenny and her family because they work there so she gave me like 100 Brio key chains because she wanted me to have a little something to remember Osby by! Anyone want a free keychain when I get home!?!? haha. Then we just went on a really long bike ride around Osby and saw everything! Sweden is so beautiful guys. If there is one thing I can say to describe it here is UNSPOILED. Everything here is just so beautiful and green and natural. There is no invasion of commercialism and certainly no stupid McDonalds or Burger King!! It’s really a wonderful place so far and I hope everyone decides to come here some day!!
The next morning, I got up very early and Jenny took me to the train station to Helsingborg where Jonas lives. When I go there, he picked me up at the train station and we parked the car and did a bit of a walking tour of his town. Helsingborg is situated right on the southern tip of Sweden and you can literally spit across the water to Denmark! He showed me around the town center, which had some great shopping btw, which I resisted! Aren’t you proud!! Then we went back to his house and relaxed. For some reason I was super exhausted so I had to take a nap for an hour…I think I was getting a summer cold so I was dragging a little. After that we watched some TV until his Mom and brother got home and had dinner. We had a typical Swedish dish, that I can neither spell nor pronounce but it was delicious. It was a sort of stew with potatoes and lingonberry sauce…mmmmm. We talked quite a lot and I must say that his parents were so nice and welcoming to me. After dinner, Jonas, his brother Martin and I watched a Swedish Movie called Hotet (the threat), which is basically the Swedish version of Top Gun!! It was a very good movie though, and it was all in Swedish which is big for me….but of course there were English subtitles!
The next day, we slept in which was so nice! After breakfast we decided to shower and go back into town so I could take pictures of everything I was seeing. We went up in this 13th century tower that was in place to defend Sweden from Denmark back in the day. There used to be so much to the fortress but only the tower is left. We walked up in it and it was a beautiful view of the city. The architecture is unparalleled and I really enjoyed just being up there and looking around.
We had lunch at a Chinese restaurant by the water and it was delicious! One thing I have learned is that there are no preservatives in food and its always fresh! After lunch Jonas suggested that we take a ferry to Denmark! We got on the ferry and walked outside to the front of the boat that was pointing towards Denmark. It was s windy that I could lean on the wind!! Once we got there we walked around the footpaths! The shops were all so cute and small sprinkled with cafes and street performers! The sounds and smells were unlike anything I have ever seen! After we walked a bit in the shopping district we walked to Hamlets castle!! Shakespeare based his story in this castle in Denmark although he never lived in Denmark! Cool eh? It was breathtaking! I have never seen a castle before so I was very taken aback! There are so many things that you can tell were defense mechanisms to defend against Sweden during all of their years of fighting for control. We walked around a bit inside the castle then outside around the walls where people were fishing and picnicking by the ocean. After that we just walked back to the ferry and headed back home just in time for dinner. His Mom was dead-set on preparing all traditional Swedish meals while I was there so that night we had a type of pork meatloaf meal with something that looked like filo dough on top with, of course, boiled potatoes. It was really delicious whatever it was!! For dessert though, she made rhubarb pie with a homemade vanilla sauce…..AMAZING!!! The interesting thing was that the rhubarb was from their garden outside! Can’t get much fresher than that I guess!! We just chilled the rest of the night and I caught up on some emails and checked flights in preparation for my flight to London!
The next morning, Wednesday, Jonas and I got up VERY early again and he drove me to the train station where I caught an hour long train across the bridge to Copenhagen, Denmark right to the airport. The trains here in Europe are wonderful and so comfortable! So much better than what I was used to in Chicago when using the Metro! After I got there I was confused beyond belief! I was in the right terminal but I had no idea how to check my bags or get my boarding pass or anything!!!! I looked around and I got in a line and then realized that it was only for baggage drop, so I moved to another line. When I got through that one they told me that they don’t even have you check in at desks anymore when flying SAS but you have to check in using the kiosks in the middle of the area to print everything including your bag tags. So I did that, and I ended up having to go back because my boarding pass got jammed in the printer!! I have the best luck! Finally I got it all figured out and checked in and my bags checked and I went off to the duty free stores and shops in the airport. Copenhagen airport is such a chic airport with all of their designer stores and sleek furniture and wood floors, although it did look a bit minimalistic and industrial. All the same, I grabbed a bite to eat and a beer and relaxed in the main area. The flight itself was nice and easy compared to my transatlantic flight! I did find a new boyfriend though. I didn’t catch his name but he loves me and couldn’t keep his hands off of me the whole plane ride. He was also 2 years old. There was a couple sitting a few rows ahead of me that were letting their twin boys run in the isles while they were waiting to get back to the bathrooms. He was so cute and kept coming up to me and hanging on my legs and talking gibberish to me. His mother came up to me later and told me that he “sure took a shine to you” (insert thick British accent).
I got to the terminal and had to wait in the LONGEST line in customs…close to 45 minutes. Finally I got up to the lady and I had to show her all of my papers which she studied quite intensely! After 5 minutes of grilling my intentions in HER country, I finally got out of the baggage area and started looking for my party. I found a guy wearing a Kingston shirt and walked up to him and said hello and that I was Jackie Nagle. He looked at me and started talking very loudly and slowly like was mentally handicapped. He asked how my flight was and if any of my family members would be coming to visit since I live so close. I gave him a confused look and then he said, “Well, you are from Denmark aren’t you?” He said that since I was flying in from Copenhagen he thought I was Danish! He even told everyone else that was waiting that I was Danish. So I had to introduce myself as Jackie, the NOT Danish girl! It was entertaining none the less.
Finally, we got on the bus and headed to Kingston! The streets were sooo small and the cars even smaller! The funny thing was that EVERYONE was driving on the wrong side of the road!! What is that about?!?! Just kidding! But in all reality, I don’t know how they drive as crazy as they do without getting killed. Well, by the hand of God, we finally got to Seething Wells, which is where my flat is located in the town of Surbiton. I got there and I got my keys and they sent me to drop off my stuff in my room and get as situated as I wanted, then to come down and grab a sack lunch and eat out on the courtyard. I went to knock on the doors of my flatmates and then walked out into the hall real fast but the main door shut behind me shut, locking me out of my flat!! I’m such a dummy! So I went out to the courtyard and found my flatmates and ate lunch and then went back inside and tried to unpack. Around 4:30, some people were going on a tour of Surbiton to get us familiarized with the area and to point out important places like the grocery store, the pharmacy/everything else store, and of course the best pubs and restaurants. We ended the tour by stopping at the grocery store, Sainsbarys, to get some essentials
Later in the evening, I decided that sitting in my flat was not what I wanted to be doing so I went and knocked on everyone’s doors and rallied the troops to go to a pub down the street called the Elm Tree to watch the Euro Cup game between Germany and Turkey. GO GERMANY!!! I met some people and some locals and got some good tips on where to eat, where to drink, and where to avoid completely!
Thursday, we had an orientation thing starting at 10 am on campus, which is just a 5 or 10 minute bus ride or a 20 minute walk. We got there and went through all the boring welcome crap and all of the silly paper work, followed by a walking tour of Kingston. Here’s a fun fact for you; in the town of Kingston there is a stone in the ground surrounded by iron gates or something like that. Although I have not found this spot yet, I am determined to do so because I was told by a professor that it was the spot where Kings where crowned in the 10th Century before they were anointed in Westminster Abbey. Cool eh? Anyways, Kingston is such a great place. The shopping, restaurants, pubs, and nightclubs are amazing. There are so many cool clothing stores that I can’t wait to go in and look around since I know that I will not be able to afford anything in them! There is actually this nightclub called Oceana that is 2 stories tall and has 7 rooms in it with different themes! Hopefully I will get there sometime this summer!
After the walking tour of Kingston we headed back to the campus to get some lunch and chill before heading into London. We collected our travel cards and student IDs and then were given a packet with a photo scavenger hunt to complete while in London with our flatmates. I guess I should take this opportunity to introduce all of my flatmates quickly. First there is Rachel, who is ironically a senior at Ashland also. We had no idea who the other was prior to coming here or even that the other was coming here, but have soon become fast friends. Next is Sammie, a 19 year old from South Dakota. She is a farmer girl as naïve as they come, but nice as can be. She is very very peppy all the time, but so much fun to be around. Finally, is Emilee from Massachusetts. She is definitely an east coast kind of girl; loud, fun, and stylish. All in all, we are very different and have very different personalities, but somehow manage to mesh perfectly. We are all four independent but tend to enjoy the company of the others, making for a great mesh of people.
Moving on, we caught our first train and headed into London! It took us 15 minutes or less from the time we got on the train to the time we stepped off in Waterloo station. Then, it all began! Within the first 15 minutes of being in London, I saw Waterloo station, the London Eye, Big Ben, The House of Parliament, the London Aquarium, and Westminster Bridge. Talk about sensory over load! It was seriously an amazing thing to be a part of, and I definitely got a ton of pictures! After we got our pictures and watched the Clock Tower strike, we walked to the Westminster Tube stop and went down, and down, and down. We got off at the Green Park stop and came up on Piccadilly. We walked through Green Park towards Buckingham Palace! Wow, what a sight! It was like we walked through this beautiful wooded park that magically opened up to a majestic palace with so much history behind it, not to mention the beautiful marble fountain. I can only imagine the masses that have been here before and will continue to come for years to come. Humbling, to say the least. I did not see any of the traditional guards with the cool hats and serious expressions. There were policeman by the gates with big machine guns though!!! I went up to one to ask him a question that we had to figure out about the flag on top of the palace. Interesting factoid, when the union jack flag is flying over the palace it means that the Queen is not at home, but when she is the white flag with the royal crest on it fly on the palace. Similarly, the number of guards is doubled up when she is home vs. when she is away. When I looked, the Union jack flag was flying but the number of guards was still doubled up. The policeman offered to me that the Queen was currently in Windsor but was returning home today. However, they are unaware of when she is returning until moments before she arrives. I wish I could have stayed there all day just so I could have had the opportunity to see the Queen of England!! We took a bunch of pictures at Buckingham Palace and of the fountain then headed back through the park and caught a bus to Trafalger Square. We walked around outside of the National Gallery, where it is evidently illegal to feed the pigeons! Good thing no one actually follows that rule!! After poking around a bit we walked over to Leicester Square to see the infamous red phone booths which I most certainly did get a picture in! I would like to return sometime soon to check out China town and Soho right around that area, although the West End was great and very reminiscent of New York Broadway.
From there, we decided to meet some friends for dinner at Covent Square Market which is famous for its street performers, which was so fun to see. We walked around the Market briefly, and decided that most restaurants were tourist traps with much overpriced meals, so we found an underground bar that was serving half price appetizers and buy one get one free drinks! We all split a few things and got some drinks adding up to me spending less than 10 bucks! Worked out great for me! After that we decided it was a good idea to head back to our flat and crash because it was a very long day, and we had class the next day!
Friday morning, Rachel and Emiliee and I took the bus to our first class, British Culture and Society. Although most of the first part of the class was introductory, it ended up being quite interesting ending with a discussion about the stereotypes of the British, why we pick up on those stereotypes and how they came about in British Society. The one interesting part about the discussion that I participated in was on the topic of nationalism. A few of the people mentioned that they thought that Brit’s were very proud of their nationality as British people. The professor then asked them to support this statement and no one could, so he then opened it up for the opposite position. I raised my hand and explained that I did not think that British people are nationalistic in the sense that Americans understand Nationalism. I explained that I did not think that Britain was a flag waving nation like the USA, but was silently proud of the struggles they have overcome in the past, as well as their ability to maintain their status as a major power in the world for this long no matter their size. Furthermore I explained that I thought Brit’s were more inclined to be proud of and to identify with their region rather than being British. For example, people living in Wales identify themselves as a Welsh man rather than a British man, and an English woman is not the same as a British woman. The professor was surprised and said that he did not expect to get a response like that from a summer school student, as it was very intelligent and worldly. I could care less that he said it was intelligent, but I was quite happy with being considered worldly!!
After another rather boring lecture on the Monarchy, Rachel and I took a lunch break and then headed to class at 2:00. I had my London and its Literature class, which was definitely started off in an interesting way. Our professor walked in and the first thing he asked us was if we had seen the Beer Festival outside? He then proceeded to tell us which beers to try when we went! I really like him because I feel that he will not be making us read for the sake of reading, only to be followed by a meaningless paper written at the last minute. He is very interested in showing us the places we are reading about in the form of fieldtrips. Basically the way the class will work is as follows: we have lecture in the morning followed by lunch at leisure and we meet at Waterloo station for the second part of our class to walk around different areas to see the locations written about in the books we are reading in class. I think that this class will be much better than any English class I could have ever taken at Ashland for my elective English class.
After class, some girls from my class and I walked back to our flat and agreed to meet up later to stop by the beer festival. We went and I spent the best 3 pounds ever. When you enter you pay 2 pounds for a glass then I got a half pint for 1 pound of a beer to taste from a local microbrew. Delicious by the way! You could return the glass if you wanted your 2 pounds back but I liked it and just kept it for a souvenir. I headed back to campus and met up with some friends and went into Kingston to a pub to watch a local band perform which was really fun. I was supposed to meet my flatmates close to where I was already in Kingston to go out to this really great club I described earlier called Oceana. Then, right as we were leaving the pub I got something in my eye and ended up losing my contact!! I couldn’t see a thing and I knew that I needed to get back to my flat to get a new contact before we went out so I called one of my flatmates and told her I had to hurry back and get a contact. So one of the guys walked me to a bus station and found me the right bus to get me back to my flat.....or so we thought!!!I ended up getting on the wrong bus and I had no idea where I was, and I was by myself. Good thing it wasn’t too late, but I was scared none the less. It gets better... So I tried to ask the bus driver and he didn’t speak English at all. I got off the bus and asked for directions and finally got in semi-familiar territory and ended up walking a freaking mile back to my flat.My flatmates, bless their hearts, waited for me to get back so I could get my contact. So we left to go back to where I had supposedly just come from to go to this club and everything was fine! I was with my girls and we all looked so cute.We got in line at this club, which by the way is super posh with 7 different rooms and 3 floors! We got hit on by these cute British boys in line and things were really looking up for me...or so I thought! I got up to the bouncer and I showed him my International ID....and he said I needed my passport since I showed him my International ID first....I had 3 other forms of ID with me but since I had shown an international ID I needed my passport. So basically, they wouldn’t let me in. I was so upset and I felt horrible because we had waited in line and the girls all got out of line for me. I told them that they should go in without me but they wouldn’t let me be alone again after my traumatic experience earlier in the evening!! I am the last person to ever be in that situation....I am always the most responsible and prepared in situations like this and it was completely horrible for me. I felt so bad because one of the girls didn’t even go in and walked all the way back to our flat with me.
I found out later that one of my flatmates tried to call us because once they got back in line the bouncer told them to call me because he would sneak me in, but we were already on a bus home. We got back home and I just went to bed. I woke up at 2 and my flatmates had come back already because they were bored without me and Rachel. They also told me that they got lost on the way back and have no idea how I made it back to the flat at all.
Saturday morning, I woke up early and walked to the grocery store to get eggs and bacon to make my flatmates breakfast for putting up with me the night before. I got back and opened the windows immediately because I was cooking bacon and I didn’t want to set off the fire alarm because they told us it was a 50 pound fine. Well evidently in this country you aren’t supposed to open any doors or windows when cooking because there are smoke alarms outside that are very sensitive. Well, as you can figure out, I set off the fire alarm because I was cooking with the window open and the detector outside went off. Long story short, the lady in charge of our flats was not a very nice person and ended up making me cry, which then softened her a bit. She began the conversation by threatening me and telling me that I needed to fork over 50 pounds to her now. By the end of the conversation she realized that I was trying to do everything the right way which just happened to be the wrong way and she was more pissed that no one gave up an introduction to how to used the equipment in our flats. Evidently, there is also a cord behind the refrigerator to turn in a fan in the kitchen. Note to self: Cook with all windows and doors shut and cook bacon in the oven (that’s what they do here I guess). You know what really got me though, I didn’t even burn anything! It was just the steam that set that stupid thing off. Oh well, things happen and I learned from it.
After that fiasco was resolved and I was through crying with my flatmates, we all showered and spontaneously decided to go to Brighton, the gay capital of England. When we got there we had to buy new train tickets because we had traveled out of our zone in Kingston. Then we walked out onto the street and it was like walking in San Francisco! The train station was set on a big hill so all of the hills were on an angle heading down toward the ocean. Once we got to the ocean, it was so incredibly windy! Had I not eaten anything that day, I very well could have blown away. We decided to walk along the beach and grab fish and chips from a beach hut food place (which was so good!) and then walk a bit along the beach up to the pier. The cool thing was that the shops lining the beach were all art galleries. Beautiful work too! We got to the pier and walked around a pit, took pictures and just talked and chilled! I was very relaxing to be by the sea and just unwind! The interesting thing was that the beach was not sand but smooth pebbles and rocks. It was definitely different! Before leaving I got a crepe with chocolate and cream (delicious again!) and devoured it in a second! We started walking back toward the station and stopped in some shops along the way. The other interesting thing we saw was the Royal Pavillion, where the architecture was amazing and so ornate! After that we grabbed a train back to Surbiton and ended up crashing because we were so tired from the last few days. Probably a good idea considering we still have 3 weeks of this.
That about does it for now….I think you are all caught up on my life thus far and hopefully I will be posting frequently and MUCH shorter so they are easier to read in one sitting. Thanks for sticking it out with me. More to come so be excited, and on that night I’m off to sleep.
xoxo Jackie
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