October in review:

Time has really gone by fast! October felt somewhat cut short because of Reading week and all the trips we were taken out on… so here’s what happened (that we promised we’d blog about) in pictures… after all, a picture is worth a thousand words :P

Dover Trip: (Dover Castle and Secret War Tunnels)

Windsor, Eton, Stonehenge, Bath, Lacock, Oxford:

Roma, Venezia, Padova, Paddington:

Cheers!

~Laura

P.S. Mary: this is your cue to write something inspiring :P

We're Back!

Technically, this past week was supposed to be used for reading and research and studying... but everyone knows that never happens.

Mary and I found ourselves in Italy--walking around ancient ruins in Rome and Ostia Antica, wandering down narrow streets and over bridges in Venezia (Venice), and becoming frustrated at the untimeliness of a strike in Padova :) (Don't worry, we got to see St. Anthony all right, and made it back to Venezia in time for supper)

Nonetheless, we made it back in one piece to Canterbury--but not without some cultural grievances towards the Italians for their wild queue jumping :)

Seriously though, being in the UK has had some effect upon us. As Mary stated in this post, queue jumping in England is almost a criminal offense. Not so in Italy. In fact, I might be so bold as to say that if you don't queue jump in Italy, you're weird.

Now, even though the Italians might seem rude at times, you have to forgive them because THEY HAVE SOME OF THE COOLEST RUINS!!!!! Ostia Antica in particular:


Mary and I had tons of fun walking around this ruinous city--there were tons of mosaics and frescoes still intact!! It was just cool to stand in the weeds in what used to be a house and say "Wow! Somebody actually used to live here!" And that reflection, of course, makes you think about who the people were--what did they do in their everyday lives? what were their problems? what did they hope and wish for? Domestic drama :)
Though of course, my Dad had to somewhat crush the coolness of the place by saying that it was probably mostly reproductions, and not originals... whatever, it was still really cool!

Our parents joined us for our week in Italy (for those of you who didn't get the memo) which had numerous financial advantages... such as eating out in a very nice restaurant after viewing:

But I think the Vatican deserves its own post...

Cheers!
~Laura

P.S. We will have to get back to you about Dover, Windsor, Oxford, Bath, Bristol and Stonehenge...sorry...

The English are very charming

Well, they are. Everyone has been so nice to us (excluding crazy British drivers who seem intent on killing American pedestrians--but I think this has to do with my inablilty to look to the RIGHT when I cross the street). Everything here is very clean. I was sitting in the library and there were these guys walking around with spray bottles and wiping off the tables. (Of course, students are allowed to eat ANYWHERE in the library, so this phenomenon is easily explained.

Today we went out and toured a Norman Castle. It was pretty cool.

The castle is called Canterbury Castle, the town prison. Apparently, they once kept a Saracen prisoner there (as the security guards at Uni tell me). A few days ago we got lost and had to consult the security guards at Uni where they gave us an impromptu history lesson about Canterbury. We learned about the castle and about some place along the river where they used to drown "witches." If the woman drowned, she was innocent, she was guilty (in which case the punishment was death by drowning). One of the guards informed us that "my missus passed the test." They were both quite charming. He said that there was a nice river walk near the spot where they kept the same cage they drowned the witches in. We plan to do more exploring tomorrow.


We also had Afternoon Tea today at Tiny Tim's Tearoom. Expensive, but charming. The meal was VERY filling. I won't have to eat dinner. We had cucumber sandwiches, smoked salmon sandwiches, egg salad sandwiches, ham sandwiches, scones (like, HUGE scones), some sort of currant biscuit, a chocolate thing, a lemon thing, and a cupcake. And tea, of course. I tried Tiny Tim's special blend. It was very tasty.

We also visited The Canterbury Tales Museum which has figures act out the stories from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. It was very charming.

So far, I haven't been homesick. Dorm life takes a little getting used to. There are a few things I find annoying (such as the people who get drunk, get their keys stolen, and pound on the door at 2 AM *cough, cough*). Other than that, I'm quite enjoying myself but just wait until I have to turn in an assignment :).

Cheers!
--Mary

It's getting close. Too close.

Well, we've received half of our class schedules, one day late. You would think that since they told us precisely what date we were to receive our schedules, that they would stick to it. No. Nevertheless (love that word--three for the price of one) we got them the very next day. Our email included the handbooks (syllabi to us American folks) for the two required classes as well as instructions on how different classes and learning will be in the UK. You should see the reading list. Two or three books per week. A few days later I recalled that class takes place only once a week, which made me feel a lot better about it. There is hardly any homework (except these two required ones have more to make the Americans feel more at home). Personally, I would rather have less homework. The only unfortunate thing is that our grades will be based on one paper (or two). In the required classes there are more papers, but nothing like we have at home. We already have the paper topics. For an early bird like me, this is pretty cool.

We are both required to take Modern Britain (which, I suppose, is about Modern Britain) and British History, from the Romans to the Tudors (I am quite interested in their point of view on the Reformation). We could have taken Brit Lit, but I am already taking two other Lit classes, so I didn't want to overload too much. We find out the other half of our class schedule when we get there.

It's getting close. Only a couple more weeks until England! I can hardly wait. It's kind of scary actually, but exciting nonetheless (another cool word).

In preparation for our departure, Laura and I have been going shopping. About every other week. Every time we go, we forget something and have to go back the next week. It's amazing to think of all the things we use on a regular basis (during a three month period).

The day after we got our schedules, we pulled out our suitcases. We didn't start packing, we just pulled them out. (funny story: One of the suitcases that we are going to use was locked. we tried several keys in the house [you know, the ones that you never use so you don't know what lock they belong to] but to no avail. I resorted to picking the lock with a hairpin, the old-fashioned way. Let me just sat that I would make a terrible criminal. After that, my twin accomplice tried. She wasn't much of an accomplice. Somehow or other, we found a key that worked. Amazing.)

(Another funny aside: One of the workers in the cafe where I am typing this, just randomly started singing "Figaro!" from the Barber of Seville. Crazy Americans!)

We should be getting the last (hopefully!) of our papers in the mail next week. Then, the craziness of packing (actually) begins.

Cheers!
--Mary

First Post

Welcome to our blog!

Here we will post our musing, thoughts, and adventures from across the pond, as well as the days leading up to our eventful departure.

"Art, like morality, consists of drawing the line somewhere." - G.K. Chesterton

M and L