BES Journal 6

      I didn't do much during the week aside from going to class, but I did go out Wednesday and Thursday night. After class on Wednesday, I came back to the flat and took a nap. After my nap, I felt like the day was wasting away and there was much of London to see. I felt like going out on my own and exploring. When I've been inside for too long I always get restless and need fresh air. I left Woburn and just started walking, going into tourist stores. I went into Primark and bought some clothes because I can never resist shopping. It was nice having alone time and just doing my own thing for a bit.
     Thursday night I went out with Kiley, Jooson, Hannah, and Kate to a bar/club called the Zoo to celebrate the Chinese/Korean New Year. It was really fun and they played lots of good music, including Spanish songs, which made me happy.
     Sunday we continued with the festivities and went to a parade that was going from Trafalgar Square to Chinatown that was still celebrating the Chinese New Year. The parade was fun and very colorful. There was a dragon as well as little children dressed in karate uniforms practicing there karate, which was very cute. There were men and women wearing colorful, elaborately designed costumes and masks.

     Chinatown was very nicely decorated with paper lanterns stringed over the streets. It was beautiful. The streets were also extremely crowded. People were pushing back and forth. At one point, we couldn't even move, and I being claustrophobic sometimes, was starting to panic. I'll admit I pushed some people trying to get out because there was a creepy man behind me with his hand on my back.

      In Chinatown we went to a Chinese buffet and were luckily at the beginning of the long line. I was hoping the food there would be good because I usually don't really like Chinese food, but I've decided to try everything before I completely reject it, and I'm glad I did. The food was really good and left me full. I definitely plan on returning one of these days. We walked around Chinatown, going into souvenir shops, and when we walked out of a bakery, we literally walked into a parade. A man dressed as a dragon was dancing right in front of us. We immediately pulled out our phones and tried to record as much as we could before he moved along. That was pretty cool. After that I came back to my flat for some Netflix quality time, ha, and that's about it.

Hampstead Village

     Saturday I, Kiley, Kate, Hannah, and Jooson went to Hampstead Village. It was a nice little village to explore. We arrived and walked around the neighborhoods. It was quite a workout going up and down the hills. We went into an art shop and a nice shop full of books, cards, clothes, and house decorations. It was very calm and not as big or busy as Russell Square.

     We went to a church on Church Row that was really beautiful inside. It was very old and historic with certain stones in the floor that had people's carved names. An old man in the church started talking to us and said that sometimes at night when he's in the storage room he hears the sound of calico like the clothes people used wear in Victorian times. He thinks that it's the ghosts in the church, but that they don't scare him, that they make him feel peaceful. After we left however, Kate mentioned that they didn't wear calico in Victorian times and that the old man didn't know what he was talking about, which was funny. So I don't know if he was being honest or if he just imagined he heard the sound. I think he probably just thought he heard something.

      We also went to the graveyard beside the church. It was nice and calm. You could hear the birds chirping and at strange as it sounds, it all felt peaceful instead of creepy how you'd imagine a graveyard to be. The dates on the headstones were extremely old.

      We walked down the hill after the graveyard and just continued to walk around. We explored a bit more and took different paths. We walked a lot and overall it was a nice way to pass the day, exploring new parts of London.

BES Journal 5

     This week I went to class and went food shopping. This weekend I was able to explore of London. Friday I went to a tea party with Mark and Jen and other students. It was the cutest little set up of lovely food and teacups. I definitely had a sugar overload, but it was delicious. I usually hate hot drinks which is why I always drink frappuchinos or caffeine that's cold, but I surprisingly enjoyed the tea I tried. It made me want to try to start drinking coffee from now on and lattes. There was a lot to eat and I was full for most of the day after that. I want to sign up for another tea time because I liked the one I went to so much.

     On Saturday, Kiley and I decided to go in search of Buckingham Palace. It was a nice little adventure because we walked there and stopped in shops we passed on the way there. I bought a souvenir and Kiley bought a new phone case. Buckingham Palace wasn't as grand as I'd expected, but still cool nonetheless. There were lots of tourists there and I wanted to take a photo of the guards there, but they were inside the gates. We also went to the Queen's Gallery and shop. They had beautiful teapots and teacups. It was nice to see the the Queen in her youth and how she'd changed over time. She's very stylish and I love seeing photographs of the past, and present.

     On our way back, we passed through Leicestor Square and just walked around there to see everything. We ended up seeing a breakdancing show on the street. 

     On Sunday, I went with Kate to see the choir at St. Paul Cathedral's. We stayed for a service and it was interesting to see the differences in church since I'm Christian and not Catholic. Nonetheless, I miss going to church, so it was nice to feed my spiritual side. The choir sang absolutely beautifully as well. The St. Paul Cathedral is beautiful on the inside and I loved all the paintings on the walls, and roof. Afterwards, we walked to Tiger and just walked back. That night along with Joosun, Kiley, Hannah, and Kate, we went to see 50 Shades of Grey. It wasn't as big of a deal as everyone made it out to be, but I still liked it. 

BES Journal 4

     This week, I went to class and for the weekend I went to Bath. I loved Bath. It was very historic looking and made me feel like I was walking through a Jane Austen novel. I am a Jane Austen fan, so I had no problem with that. It was different from London. Life at Bath seemed to be more slow-paced and people were friendlier. It was easier to walk everywhere because everything was close by. Before Bath however, we went to Stonehenge. I was really excited about Stonehenge and was surprised that it was well, just a pile of rocks. It wasn't as big or as grand as I'd imagined. That's not to say that I didn't enjoy it, because I did, but it just wasn't what I'd expected. Although it was freezing and I could barely feel my face, I liked the walk there. Seeing so much land made me miss seeing green everywhere back home. Although I love the city, I also love nature and I'd missed seeing something untouched by man.

 

     The Roman Baths were very cool. I thought we were only going to see the baths and liked that there was more than just seeing that. We learned the history of the Romans and got to see what used to be rooms and baths. There was also a nice little souvenir store there where I bought a Jane Austen notebook with quotes of hers in it. 

     The rugby game was similar to a futbol stadium. Although I didn't really understand how the game worked or why the players were allowed to tackle each other and touch the ball, I enjoyed it. It was a new, fun experience and I liked the atmosphere of the crowd. 

     I also went to the Jane Austen Centre with Kate and got to learn about Jane's life living in Bath. We also got to try on clothes from that time period and write with Quill pens. I bought a mug with a quote from her book Sense and Sensibility, and bought an I Love Darcy shirt. I had to. 

 

    Lacock was lovely as well. It was such a cute, small town. I loved seeing so much green land by Lacock Abbey. It reminded me so much of the walk in one of the final scenes of Pride and Prejudice (2005 version) where Mr. Darcy meets Elizabeth. The scenery was lovely and it made me wish I had a backyard like Lacock Abbey did. The tour of the inside of Lacock Abbey was really cool and interesting to learn about. It gives an insight on what it was like to live life in those days. I also liked the little museum of Henry Talbot and how he invented photography. I actually love photography so I like seeing all the photographs and have an appreciation for photos as art. 

     It was a good weekend overall and a fun trip. It was nice to see more of England outside of London and experience something other than the city life for awhile. 

BES Journal Week 3

     Week three of my time in London began with my first week of attending classes at London South Bank University. On Monday I went to South Bank to find the buildings where my classes would be so I wouldn't get lost on the first day.  I was beyond nervous on Tuesday because I didn't know what to expect and was terrified of getting lost, even though I already knew were my classes were. They're the kind of nerves that aren't really logical, but don't really go away. I loved my American Cinema class and someone else from the program was in the class with me so I didn't feel so alone. My next class the following day was a little more nerve wrecking because my student ID card wouldn't let me in the building and I was sent to the student center. I was sent there twice, then to the security desk, before my card finally worked. By then I was 20 minutes late to my first day of my Current Issues in Journalism class and was freaking out. Luckily, she let me off the hook.

    Friday morning I left with Kiley, Kate, and Hannah for a weekend trip to Ireland. I was beyond excited. I'd always wanted to go to Ireland. I wanted to go everywhere. After a long trip taking the train for 4 hours and then the ferry for 2-3 hours, we finally arrived in Dublin. The hostel was nice and the guy at the front desk was very funny and kind. Everyone I met in Ireland was super friendly and made lots of jokes. I'd grown accustomed to the more reserved, quiet Brits so I found myself surprised, but really liking the way everyone in Ireland seemed to be. We took a tour on Saturday to the Cliffs of Moher including Wild Atlantic way and Galway City. The Cliffs of Moher were absolutely breathtaking. It was like walking into a film. I was standing there marveling at the beauty of it and was just taken aback. I definitely want to return one day. It was my favorite part of the trip. It was extremely windy to the point where I had to hold onto a rock to not get blown away and I had to chase after my hat that flew off at one point. It was also very cold, but the sun was out and there were blue skies. It was very worth it. 

     

     Sunday was when it all went downhill. We woke up at 6:30 am and I used the last of my money to pay for the taxi to drive us to the ferry. It turns out that our ferry had been cancelled without anyone notifying us and the next ferry wouldn't come until 8 pm. Kate had her internship Monday morning, there was no wifi so neither of us could text anyone to let them know where we were, and three of our phone's weren't working because giffgaffe didn't work in Ireland. We didn't know where the airport or anything was and that would require us paying another taxi driver to drive us there. We didn't have money to stay another night in Dublin and pay for a hostel. We began to panic. Thankfully, the lady at the front desk must have felt sympathy for us because she transferred us for free to a ferry coming at 3:15 pm. So we sat there for 7 hours, starving, waiting for the ferry. I was so exhausted I fell asleep on the floor and Kiley thought it would be funny to take a photo calling me a hobo, haha. 

Walking to the ferry we'd been transferred over to with all our stuff.

     I felt motion sickness, had a headache, and my stomach hurt the entire ferry ride. When we arrived at the train station in Wales, we found out the next train didn't come until 4:45 am the next morning. It was horrible. We stayed in the train station for 9 hours overnight. The floor was freezing and we were starving. To make matters worse, a homeless looking older man at the station started talking to us and insinuated he wanted money. He decided he was going to get on the train with us and get off with us. He was nice, but by this point we all began to feel slightly uncomfortable. Hannah, who was outside checking for the train, called us and was yelling at us to leave. Fearing we'd missed the train, we took off running with all our bags and were horrified to find the train leaving. It turns out that it wasn't our train and Hannah had been panicking about us being alone in the station with this man. It was a huge misunderstanding and we were all yelling on the verge of crying. Finally with a beating out of my chest heart, I got on our train and passed out. I was beyond happy to arrive in Euston Station in London and lay in my bed Monday morning. The previous day had been crazy, unexpected, unwelcome, and a wasted day. It was both the best and worst trip of my life. Needless to say, I'm glad to be back in London.