On the seaside

The cherry blossoms bloomed and leaves are budding on the tree outside my flat- spring is officially here and the sun hasn’t even set and it’s 6:30pm, thankfully! My term is coming to an end this Friday, along with the last regular lectures of my graduate career. It’s a strange feeling to think after this week I’ll be done with my regular-season graduate program (exams and dissertation aside), but in reality, I’m ready. My six-months in London mark came and went last week, making this the longest time I’ve ever been away from someplace I call home. London is amazing, but I’ll be heading back to DC for two and a half weeks this Saturday and I’m really excited to catch up with everyone I know and love over there.

For the past month I’ve just been city living, but a few weekends ago I headed to the seaside with a few of my friends for a two-day trip. My friend Tom is from a town called Chichester on the south coast near Brighton, and while his dad was away for the weekend, my friends Felix, Shady, and myself joined Tom at his dad’s house for a short city break. (For anyone who is curious, “Chichester” is apparently a very simple word to pronounce in the English language, as the train information attendant demonstrated for me. The conversation went a bit like this: “Sir, could you tell me where I can purchase a ticket for, um, I don’t quite know how to prounouce it.. Ch-eye-chest-er-rr or Chee-chest-her-rr?” “Ah! Of course Chehchehstah! Well pop ’round the corner…” -subtext: “Silly American girl and her incompetent grasp of our shared language”)

Shady and I took the train down from London through the countryside, met up with Tom and Felix, and toured the town. We had some tea, visited the 900-year-old Chichester cathedral (famous for the modern art that’s scattered throughout its chapels and altarpieces), and did some shopping on a drizzly English countryside afternoon.

Chichester cathedral

One of the best parts about the trip though, was feeling like I was at someone’s home, far away from the city noise in a quaint little town. We took full advantage of both Tom’s dad’s spacious, airy kitchen/breakfast nook and four people who like to cook, and made ourselves a slow (European-style) lunch, dinner, and breakfast.

Lunching in Chichester with Felix, Shady and Tom

The next day we went to the seaside, where we took a long walk on the widest sandy beach I’ve ever seen. We walked for quite some time past beach houses and cabanas, with the Isle of Wight visible in the distance. It was a gorgeous sunny afternoon, but the wind was intense!

A panorama at East Wittering beach

Shady and I at the beach at East Wittering

Felix, Shady and Tom (those structures that look like old piers in the background on the left are actually for docking boats- the tide comes up THAT high!)

At one point on the beach, dry sand was blowing over sand high up on the beach that was still wet from high tide. The result looked like what I imagine the dunes in the Sahara may look like, or a bit like low fog moving over the ground in fast-motion. It was so surreal it felt like a different planet!

The crazy sand-fog (pic courtesy of Shady)

Beach cabanas on the sea

All in all, it was a lovely seaside trip!

I can’t wait to spend some time back in the states, but I also look forward to many more adventures back here in the Spring!

The neighborhood sights

It’s snowing for the second time in London, and big shave-ice style flakes are collecting on the tree branches outside my window. It’s a little warmer tonight and the snow is barely sticking to the ground, which means, probably for the best, I won’t have a weather-related reason to miss class tomorrow.

The morning after it snowed last weekend my flatmate Kayla and I walked along Regent’s canal to the park to see our favorite park in London in all its snowy glory. Here are some pictures from the adventure:

Wintery houseboats on Regent's canal

Walk along Regent's canal

Frosty paddleboats

Regent's Park

There was a dog in a cone of shame running around in the snow somewhere here...

I spent Superbowl Sunday across the street with my former hosts. The Superbowl in UK experience pros: a bit of America brightened up some dreary weather; the cons: no American TV commercials. Oh, and UK football commentators that I’m fairly sure were not making coherent sentences or saying anything relevant about football. Mind you, 2 out of 3 of these commentators were Americans themselves.

The next morning I met up with Kari and headed to the St John’s Wood high street (aka our main street) to bid the Royal Horse Artillery goodbye from our neighborhood. The sight of troops bobbing down the road atop their cannon-pulling horses has been unique to St John’s Wood for over 200 years. Thats a mere 35 years shy of the US “being born.”

“The King’s Troop” as it’s known, is moving to a different neighborhood, and this warranted a field trip ALL the schoolchildren in the NW8. The kids came out in full patriotic force- apparently they had been learning the farewell songs for this occasion for a while in school, and all of them sported their adorable little uniforms as they squeezed along the road to catch a glimpse of the horses.

Farewell parade for the King's Troop

The troops on horseback

The last High Street passing in St John's Wood for the King's Troop

Scott is coming to visit in less than 36 hours and I couldn’t be more excited!! We’re spending a few days in town and then heading off to Hanover, Germany to visit one of Scott’s good friends. Hopefully the weather holds out for us over on the continent- It could be one of the coldest few days yet! Sauerkraut and pretzels, here we come!

The first snow in London

I was merrily eating my pasta dinner in my room tonight when I heard my flatmate scream from the kitchen “CHRISTY!! Come here, QUICK!!!” My initial thoughts- Oh god, I left the oven on and now the kitchen is on fire; Oh god, I left the stove on and now the kitchen is on fire; Oh god, I left the tea kettle on… you get my drift.

When I rushed in she pointed to the open window and gestured, “It’s snooowwwinggg!!!” to which I replied “OH MY GOD IT’S SNOOOOWWWWWIIINNNGG!” See, snow is still a novelty for me. I especially love snow in places where it’s a rare thing- DC, London for example, where the potential to cripple the public transportation system for a day or two (and thus an excellent excuse to stay home from work, play in the snow, and head to the pub) brings joy and excitement to people’s lives. I’m especially happy that my flatmate, who is recently from Ithaca, NY (which is quite a bit snowier than here) is also as excited as I am.

On my newly updated plan for Superbowl Sunday: walk in the snow, snowball fight, pretty much any snow-related activity available in London…

Outside my kitchen window- a red Mini Cooper in snow

C’est Belgique!

The past month and a half has been packed with activity- hoofing it around the sights of London, exploring Stonehenge and Bath, roadtripping through the Cotswolds and Wales and holidaying along the Algarve coast in Portugal with my parents. These are all big posts, so to get back in the swing of updating this thing, I’ll start with my most recent adventure first- Brussels, Belgium.

Last Wednesday I took the Eurostar over to Brussels (and through the chunnel!) for a two and a half day conference  on International Water research and cooperation issues with three friends from my program. The conference, put on by the European Center for Research in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, ran the gamut of water issues and included speakers on topics like water sanitation technologies, maritime security, women’s role in water issues, and even mapping water management issues in cities using social media. The conference started off with a half-day session and followed with a full day of presentations- leaving the evenings for me and my friends to check out the sights of Brussels and indulge in some delicious Belgian frites!

Grand Place, Brussels

The conference was right across the street from the European Parliament building, and our hostel was right in the center of town. Brussels as a city mostly felt like a downtown area with lots of administrative complexes and supporting cafes, eateries, and meeting spaces, but there were a few old European gems in the city that we explored while trying to find the best moules frites, or mussels with fries, on our way to the Delirium Cafe. The first evening we wandered through the Grand Place- the large central plaza in Brussels, complete with lots and lots of gold filigree on all the buildings and spectacularly lit up at night.

The Brussels Town Hall at night in the Grand Place

Brussels was also great for practicing my extraordinarily rusty French! The signs themselves in Belgium were fascinating- they were always displayed in both Flemish and French, but nearly everyone speaks English too. Good thing we had another francophone on hand in our group, and a friend who speaks Dutch (which, don’t mention it in Belgium or in the Netherlands, but is pretty close to Flemish. Like British English to American English close. Almost.)

Brussels town square

I managed to resist the Belgian chocolates and waffles -tragedy!- but can’t say the same for the fries, which I ate with mayonnaise (in the classic Belgian style) for every meal or snack I could. Our last day we explored the town on foot with our luggage, running into the Manneken Pisor “little pee man” (I kid you not) the famous Brussel-ian fountain statue of a little man above a pool of water who is in the midst of, well, you can imagine.

In front of the Manneken Pis-they even change his costume throughout the year!

I’m back to the daily grind in London and am in some serious need of a frites detox from my quick and fun Belgian adventure!

London in Fall

After a warm and welcoming Indian summer, the gloomy English weather has finally made an appearance, and fall is in full swing in London. I finally feel like I’ve finally settled in and am getting on a routine of living in the city. I’ve had several firsts in the past couple weeks- my first papers turned in, first grad school presentation, first proper English rain, first trip to the NHS equivalent of the ER (to sum up my experience with socialized healthcare- five hours later and after a consultation with a doctor that appeared to be 18 years old, I walked out of there all patched up, with immunization shots up to date, and with codeine painkillers- all for free).

My program has been great, but also peppered with eccentric lecturers. My favorite guest lecture quote of the month: “Well, I guess Icelanders wouldn’t wine and dine you… but they do make you feel pretty good.”

It definitely hasn’t been all work and no play, but I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface in terms of what London has to offer. To sum it up so far…

Fall catches up with London

Autumn in St. John's Wood-at a park near my flat

The leaves here are falling, but it has been gradual, and not quite in the same spectacular way as the East Coast. Fall here is still great despite the dampness, and the holiday season is of to a fabulous start. Halloween here is a bit different- it’s not that big of a deal to dress up and go out, and seems like if you happen to be invited to a party around Halloween there’s a chance it could be a costume party (or fancy dress party as they call it here), so people don’t really celebrate it if there’s no specific event going on. I found that the people I knew who dressed up were mostly from Europe (where it’s even less of a big deal), who were having a “studying abroad in the UK” Halloween experience. A friend of mine invited me to her dorm’s party, which was fun and made me feel a bit like I was back in undergrad- the best part was probably when an impromptu limbo contest started underneath someone’s light saber.

Halloween at Borough Market

But when I say Fall catches up with London, I really mean Christmas. I thought they started early in the US, but I also forgot we have a “median” holiday, Thanksgiving, which neatly breaks up the holiday triad into digestible portions.

Here, not only did Christmas lights start going up in places like Oxford Street and Picadilly Circus in September, post-Halloween it’s all Christmas, all the time. I went to the Regent’s Street lighting celebration with my flatmate, where they officially flip the switch for tons of Christmas lights running above the streets and department stores. Celebrity sightings at this event included Baby Spice (who was not representing her former band, but was there as someone who has a real job and a real name, which I can’t remember), Bill Nighy, and a performance by Kelly Clarkson.

Kelly Clarkson performing at the Regent Street lighting ceremony

The lighting ceremony was punctuated by an fireworks display from the tops of the surrounding buildings- I don’t think I’ve been physically so close to fireworks in my life!

Fireworks at Regent Street

Which brings me to my next British experience…

Fireworks season

One day at the end of October I was walking home from the tube when I heard fireworks go off in my neighborhood. A few minutes later, even more fireworks go off. I thought to myself “Fireworks for Halloween? They can’t be starting early for Guy Fawkes night…” Someone later told me that this time of year is like “fireworks season” in the UK, which I have found to be quite true. Fireworks season started that night (which turned out to be Diwali, the festival of lights observed by Hindus Sikhs, Jains, and Buddhists) and spontaneous neighborhood fireworks and big fireworks displays have pretty much continued ever since.

The next notable fireworks celebration after Diwali was Guy Fawkes night. On the 5^th of November, bonfires are lit and firework displays reveled in cities and towns across Britain to commemorate the failed attempt of the 1605 Gunpowder Plot. It’s a bit of an anti-Catholic holiday as Guy Fawkes was a member of a group of English Catholics who sought to kill the Protestant king by blowing up Parliament. Nonetheless, I headed to Greenwich with some friends to one of the biggest fireworks displays in London, and watched with tens of thousands of people gathered together on a field to see the show.

Fireworks for Guy Fawkes' Night

Lord Mayor’s Parade

The Lord Mayor’s parade is one of those quintessentially British experiences, representative of the country much like the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade is representative of our consumer society in the US (my roommate caught me saying the “Macy’s Day Parade” and pointed out the department store is not the thing celebrated. Freudian slip?) Anyhow, the Lord Mayor of London is an apolitical position where a member of a guild (as in clockmakers and glovemakers-no joke) is elected every year by all the guilds of London to represent the city. Every year the whole city center is shut down for the switchover ceremony which includes a parade which leads the Lord Mayor from the guild hall to the Royal Courts of Justice (and back again later in the afternoon) and where different branches of the armed services, local companies, and the city’s guilds march through the streets.

If you look closely, you can see the bear hats...

Lord Mayor's Parade- the sea cadets

The Lord Mayor himself (he would have a guilded carriage)

At the end of the day, I watched fireworks go off above the Thames to mark the end of the festivities from the pub at my school.

Windsor

Two weeks ago Trey and I made a day trip to Windsor to see the castle and the neighboring private school Eton (home to all of the past and future male members of parliament). The castle is expansive and so full of history- as a part of our visit we got to see some “apartments” that are regularly in use by royalty. Some of these apartments have been recently reopened after a fire in the 90s burned down several rooms- even though these rooms are “newer,” the striking colors and decorations were probably my favorite part about the castle. Being no royalty expert, the audio tour was excellent, and I felt a better sense of understanding the history of the Monarchy and how all the families and eras fit together after we left.

The Round Tower at Windsor Castle

After the castle we ate lunch at the Dutchess of Cambridge pub across the street (where I assume Kate would eat and drink for free), walked around the Eton campus across the river, and stopped for a bit of afternoon tea in the town of Windsor. It was very much the exemplar of a British day- filled with a castle, royalty, pubs, afternoon tea, and a lingering gray mist.

The Dutchess of Cambridge pub

Trey with our afternoon tea

Aside from these very British things, I’ve been exploring some other facets of living in the big city. Last week I went “bouldering”-essentially indoors rock climbing without harnesses-with some friends from my program, and needless to say, I was sore for days.  I also attended a cocktail-free cocktail reception for a non-profit organization in a contemporary Islamic art gallery, and watched my first full soccer match at a pub (with a full tutorial on the game). Scott is coming over from DC on Saturday (yay!) and we plan to explore the city even more!

Southwark Cathedral

Sunday’s on the phone to Monday

I would not call myself a celebrity gawker, not even a celebrity follower really. But when I turned on BBC news this morning and saw one of their correspondents outside of Paul McCartney’s house waiting for him and his soon-to-be-wife Nancy Shevell to part for their town hall wedding, I thought it would be a good neighborhood activity to check out. I wandered over to the general area I thought he may live on my way to grab a coffee in St. John’s Wood, and turned out my instincts were right. I found his house (with the help of several tv network vans and the same blue tarp over his driveway I saw on tv), but just missed the bride and groom…but I’m pretty sure I saw his daughter, Stella, getting into a car as I approached.

Sir Paul's entryway (and bodyguards)

Reporters & spectators looking for a glimpse of the couple

Clearly I may not have a future as a member of the paparazzi, but maybe that narrows down the career options post-school?

I’m finally settling into my new place across the street and had my first roommate dinner this evening! My program is really picking up and the weather’s been a bit gloomy so it’s been a lot of indoors reading the past week, but hopefully I’ll fit in some more adventures in the near future.

Back to School

I spent most of my day today in the King’s Library, even though today was also a glorious day weather-wise (and according to my Dad one of the hottest on record for October). Despite feeling like it’s the middle of summer, there are some telltale signs that fall is approaching. The leaves have just started falling in the last couple days, and the light in the afternoon is starting to wane a little earlier than even last week.

Maughan Library- formerly the Public Records office

I learned a good amount today, like how the library is not actually a medieval structure, but was formerly the public records office built in the 1800s. Everything on the inside of the building had to be fireproofed in order to ensure the legacy of the Empire’s official documents. What this translates to today is a maze of fireproof doors and zinc-plated (a fireproof material, apparently) window panes.

Another thing I found out is that my campus has one of the most amazing views of the Thames at night. The picture doesn’t quite do it justice, but I was definitely surprised by the awesome view.

The South Bank, London Eye, and Thames at night

On a different note, I think the most important lesson I learned today is that when you are traveling to a foreign country and anticipate to be significantly jet-lagged, write down your passwords to all your online accounts, even if you know them by heart. Otherwise, you may risk locking yourself out of your school account, your bank account, and even your zipcar account by reaching the maximum number of attempted logins. Life lesson: learned.