I took my neurobiology exam today (worth 75% of my grade!). So happy to be done with it. The entire process was actually pretty unorganized. I'm used to taking finals in the normal classroom with the professor there. Here, they separate all the classes into different exam rooms, which made it so much more complicated. I found my exam room and desk and once I started, I realized I was missing a whole section of my answer sheet. The invigilator didn't speak very good English and it took me like five minutes to get him to understand I was missing a piece of the exam. Finally, I got it and at the same time all this was happening, there was a group of guys who thought they were taking one exam and then when they showed up, were told they were taking a completely different portion of the exam. Throughout the entire two and a half hours, the people running the exams kept coming in and out of the room. I guess its just such a different process than what I'm used to! The exam went pretty well, I'm just glad its done!
I think I've come to the conclusion that I like the American education system so much better. At least at Southwestern, every single one of my professors I've ever had is so passionate and truly wants to help their students learn. They all know me personally and are willing to spend extra time with me outside of class. Here, I feel like I didn't learn near as much because I only had class once a week and all the professor did was give a brief background on the subject. Everything else they would tell you what to read and they expect you to learn everything else on your own. I definitely feel like everything I've learned here was self-taught. I'm sure British students are used to learning everything on their own, but it was hard when you're used to the American system to adjust. Not only do you have to learn everything yourself, you don't have much time to figure it out. All my classes only had two grades. Two of my classes had 2 exams (each worth 50%), one class had an essay and an exam (75%), and one class coursework and an exam (worth 75%), so you better hope you understand it the first time! And other than my drama professor with a smaller seminar, none of my professor even have any idea I exist. I have loved every minute in London and have learned so much about the world and myself. I would never give up this experience for anything, but it definitely makes me appreciate SU and how much I love it there!
Anyway, I went to Borough Market after my exam this afternoon as a reward :-) delicious lunch! We leave for Italy in 1 day and 14 hours!! I have one more exam on May 24 (Abnormal Psychology). Then Ireland in 26 days and 1 hour! And home in 39 days and 16 hours!!
Monday, April 29, 2013
Friday, April 26, 2013
Lovely London :-)
Over the last two days, I've managed to take some nice touristy breaks from all this essay writing and revision! Thursday morning we got up at 5 am (YUCK) and caught the first Tube train at 5:28 to make it to London Bridge in time to watch the sunrise! It was really beautiful with Tower Bridge in the background. From there we walked all the way past Southwark Cathedral, Borough Market, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, St. Paul's Cathedral, Fleet Street, the Strand, Trafalgar Square, St. James Palace, Buckingham Palace, and Green Park. I think it was about 3 miles, but we got to see so much of Central London in those 3 miles! We got on the Tube from Green Park and went to King's Cross (where we had a brief Harry Potter moment at Platform 9 3/4) and continued on to Aldgate east, where we got off to get breakfast at Brick Lane. The American pancake place was closed (sad) but we ate at the famous Bagel Bake! We did all this and got back before 10 in the morning!
Today, we went to Notting Hill Gate. I absolutely fell in love with the area, it is just so adorable!! The market there is called Portobello Market, I think it is my favorite of London's markets so far. They had several unique shops and Friday through Sunday there's a huge vintage market. From the film Notting Hill, we got to see the bookshop and the blue door from his house. (Yesterday we saw the Ritz and the Savoy which are also in the film!). They were some nice breaks encouraging me to get through all this studying and reminding me why I love London so much! So blessed to be living in this AMAZING city!!
We leave for Italy (Venice, Florence, then Rome) in 4 days! I finished my last essay, two more exams to go before I leave June 8. My first exam is on Monday (Neurobiology)... prayers would be much appreciated (AHHH).
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Thatcher funeral
Since I got back from the big trip, I have been working on revision and essays before the exam period starts at the end of April. I haven't had the chance to get out and do much around London. But, on Sunday, we went to Brick Lane. Its only about a 20 minute walk from campus and it was such a beautiful, sunny day. It was like 70 degrees and we were actually sweating outside for once! We ate some amazing food and shopped around the markets. I love Brick Lane, its always so much fun! I've finally been able to go to the gym every morning, now that classes are over. Yay!
Today was the funeral of the former prime minister, Margaret Thatcher. We were planning on going until last night when several people had told us there were planned protests and it could be dangerous, so we ended up not going. I was able to watch the whole thing live online and it was really so cool! She was honored with full military honors (excluding the military fly by, at her own request). For the first time in a long time, Big Ben was completely silent the entire morning. Shots were fired from the Tower of London once every minute. The entire procession began at Westminster Abbey and went past Parliament Square, Trafalgar Square, Courts of Justice, the Strand, Fleet Street, and finished at St. Paul's Cathedral. As far as I could tell, there were only a few shouts and posters in protest, nothing too bad. It was very sad to hear booing and shouting at a funeral. But overall, the entire procession and ceremony was really beautiful. The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh were in attendance, which was cool since she hasn't attended a big funeral like this since Winston Churchill. It was so cool to watch knowing it was only a few miles away! (If I look out my flat window, I can see the Shard and from the other side of the building you can see the Olympic Stadium. Such an awesome location!)
Well, now to get back to work :/ Only one essay and two final exams to go for the semester! And Italy in 14 days!
Today was the funeral of the former prime minister, Margaret Thatcher. We were planning on going until last night when several people had told us there were planned protests and it could be dangerous, so we ended up not going. I was able to watch the whole thing live online and it was really so cool! She was honored with full military honors (excluding the military fly by, at her own request). For the first time in a long time, Big Ben was completely silent the entire morning. Shots were fired from the Tower of London once every minute. The entire procession began at Westminster Abbey and went past Parliament Square, Trafalgar Square, Courts of Justice, the Strand, Fleet Street, and finished at St. Paul's Cathedral. As far as I could tell, there were only a few shouts and posters in protest, nothing too bad. It was very sad to hear booing and shouting at a funeral. But overall, the entire procession and ceremony was really beautiful. The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh were in attendance, which was cool since she hasn't attended a big funeral like this since Winston Churchill. It was so cool to watch knowing it was only a few miles away! (If I look out my flat window, I can see the Shard and from the other side of the building you can see the Olympic Stadium. Such an awesome location!)
Well, now to get back to work :/ Only one essay and two final exams to go for the semester! And Italy in 14 days!
Friday, April 12, 2013
A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes
I just got back from the trip of a lifetime! The whole trip was 9 days, including Prague, Salzburg, Munich, and Brussels. Laura, Sophie, and I began the trip by flying to Prague! We got there around 8 at night and walked to our hostel. The hostel was super nice and still pretty cheap! After checking in, we found a cute Italian restaurant around the corner and ate some tasty pizza! We headed back to our room and got some sleep. The next day, we got up and went on our tour of Terezin concentration camp. The town of Terezin was originally built as a military fortress and then used by the Nazis in World War 2 as a concentration camp. Terezin was not a death camp. Instead, it was used a holding camp, keeping Jews there until they were transferred to a death camp. Hundreds of thousands of Jews went through Terezin and thousands died there due to terrible living conditions. They even ran out of burial space, so began cremating bodies. They had 4 ovens and at its height, each oven cremated over 300 bodies a day. The entire town had an eerie, depressing feel about it. We headed back to Prague after the tour and explored the city a bit. We found the Old Town Square, which is the main square in Prague where everything happens. There was a huge festival going on for Easter for a whole month, with entertainment and tons of food! We hung out there a little bit before heading back to our hostel to get ready for the bar crawl that night. The bar crawl picked up right from our hostel and took us to several bars around the main square. We had free drinks everywhere, so I tried some beer (which I didn't like) and some wine (which again, I didn't like). It was really fun, we met an Australian guy and 3 girls from Dubai studying in England. We hung out with them for the night. The next morning, we decided to go on a 3-hour free walking tour of the city. It turned out to be an amazing tour and we had the best tour guide ever. I think my favorite thing I learned was about name days. In the Czech Republic, on the day you are born, the parents are given a list of about 400 names to choose from and each name corresponds to a certain day. Therefore, there a ton of Czech people with the same name, but its kind of cool because you sort of have two birthdays. On the astronomical clock in Old Town Square, there is a dial with all the names and their corresponding days. We learned a ton about the history of the Czech Republic and walked through the Jewish Quarter. Sophie downloaded an app that allowed us to track how much we walked and since the morning, we had walked over 10 miles! That afternoon, we walked across Charles Bridge and spent more time in Old Town Square (of course, eating more food). The next morning we went back to the square (and yes, got more food) before our train departed at 1:30. We had about a 6 hour train journey to Linz and then a 1 hour train to Salzburg, Austria. It was a really nice train and we even had our own compartment for most of the way!
Once we got to Salzburg, we walked to our hostel and checked in. It was very close to Salzburg Fortress and Nonnberg Abbey (the abbey where the real Maria von Trapp was a nun). The hostel was more of a family place, with lots of high school groups and older people. The next morning, we went on the Sound of Music tour! It was amazing, we got to see several of the sites from the movie and from the true story of the von Trapp family. We even got to ride into the mountains to see the countryside and the church where they filmed the wedding. We listened to the music along the way and it was so beautiful! Afterwards, we went to Mirabell Gardens (also used in the film) and then to the main town centre. There were lots of cute little shops and restaurants. We went through Mozart's birthplace, which was pretty cool! We ate some dinner and went back to the hostel. The hostel played the Sound of Music movie for everyone to watch. It was really cool to be able to watch the movie after seeing everything that day! The next morning, we went to the Salzburg Fortress and back to Mirabell Gardens (it was really so beautiful!). I think out of all 4 cities we went to, Salzburg was my favorite. It was such a picturesque, peaceful city (more of a village actually!)! After leaving the gardens, we boarded our train to Munich. It was only about a 2 hour train ride and again, the train was really nice and comfortable!
We got to Munich in time for a quick dinner and walked to our hostel, only about a 3 minute walk from the station. After checking in, we went to the main city centre to explore a little bit. We discovered the amazing Glockspiel building and then Hofbrauhaus! Because its the Hofbrauhaus I tried some beer and didn't like it much... Sophie had one that was good (only because it was mixed with lemonade) We decided to come back the next night and have dinner and I could get the better one. Hofbrauhaus was really fun and had an amazing atmosphere! The next morning, we walked to the train station and got on the train to Neuschwanstein Castle (only about a 2 hour train ride). Once there, we immediately spotted the castle up on the hill and it was stunning! We bought our tickets and walked up the hill to the castle. The surroundings were snow-capped rocky mountains and just took our breath away! The castle was nestled into the mountains with snow all around it. I have never been anywhere so beautiful! We weren't allowed to take pictures inside unfortunately, but it was even more stunning inside! It truly felt like the Disney castle. I could really feel the inspiration for all the Disney movies. In the King's bedchamber, his walls were painted with the story of Tristan and Isolde. The king's favorite animal was the swan, so there were swan paintings, sculptures, etc all over the castle. The whole castle had a fairy tale feel to it. The king actually died before the castle could be completed. They wanted to get rid of him, so they declared him insane without any medical examinations at all. The next day, he went on a walk with his doctor and neither one of them ever returned. They were found dead in a waist-high lake. Their deaths were never explained and it is still a mystery to this day. Very interesting! After we finished the castle tour, we took a million more pictures of the outside and then walked back to the little town. We went back to Munich and rested for a bit before going back to Hofbrauhaus. We got some dinner, which was actually really good! I got a liter beer (the white beer + lemonade one) and it was actually pretty good. We decided we felt like vikings or something with our very hearty/simple, but delicious meals. The next morning, we got up and explored the town centre a little more before our train left for Brussels in the afternoon. We got lucky and caught the show in the Glockenspiel right before we had to go!
We got to Brussels pretty late at night, so caught a taxi and went to our hostel. Our hostel was really more of a bed and breakfast, it was so nice! We finally had a room to ourselves and A TV!!! We kind of freaked out a little bit when we saw the TV because we really haven't seen one since we left the US! The bathroom was super nice, with a heating towel rack! Mamma Mia was on, dubbed with French and Flemish subtitles. Weird! But the songs were still in English. The next morning, we went down for our delicious breakfast and then headed out to explore Brussels. We found the main square, which had a TON of Belgian chocolate shops and Belgian waffle stands. We decided to do our own walking tour, so we went to the famous peeing little boy fountain, the Law Courts, a flee market, a park, and the royal palace. It was all so beautiful! Sophie's walking app informed us that we had walked another 10 miles :-) We made our way back to the main square and got our Belgian waffles! They were amazing. The waffle was the smallest part. It was stacked high with strawberries, bananas, whipped cream, and chocolate. So delicious! That night, we went back out for dinner and found a nice little cafe. The next morning, we slept in a little bit (finally!) before finding our way to the coach station to catch our bus back to London.
Over the entire trip, we guessed we had walked at least 50 miles. We really walked everywhere and it started to feel like almost nothing! Its catching up to me a bit now though... pretty exhausted! But it was such an amazing trip. Every single city had such a unique feel to it! All the pictures (theres an album for each city) is up on Facebook!
Once we got to Salzburg, we walked to our hostel and checked in. It was very close to Salzburg Fortress and Nonnberg Abbey (the abbey where the real Maria von Trapp was a nun). The hostel was more of a family place, with lots of high school groups and older people. The next morning, we went on the Sound of Music tour! It was amazing, we got to see several of the sites from the movie and from the true story of the von Trapp family. We even got to ride into the mountains to see the countryside and the church where they filmed the wedding. We listened to the music along the way and it was so beautiful! Afterwards, we went to Mirabell Gardens (also used in the film) and then to the main town centre. There were lots of cute little shops and restaurants. We went through Mozart's birthplace, which was pretty cool! We ate some dinner and went back to the hostel. The hostel played the Sound of Music movie for everyone to watch. It was really cool to be able to watch the movie after seeing everything that day! The next morning, we went to the Salzburg Fortress and back to Mirabell Gardens (it was really so beautiful!). I think out of all 4 cities we went to, Salzburg was my favorite. It was such a picturesque, peaceful city (more of a village actually!)! After leaving the gardens, we boarded our train to Munich. It was only about a 2 hour train ride and again, the train was really nice and comfortable!
We got to Munich in time for a quick dinner and walked to our hostel, only about a 3 minute walk from the station. After checking in, we went to the main city centre to explore a little bit. We discovered the amazing Glockspiel building and then Hofbrauhaus! Because its the Hofbrauhaus I tried some beer and didn't like it much... Sophie had one that was good (only because it was mixed with lemonade) We decided to come back the next night and have dinner and I could get the better one. Hofbrauhaus was really fun and had an amazing atmosphere! The next morning, we walked to the train station and got on the train to Neuschwanstein Castle (only about a 2 hour train ride). Once there, we immediately spotted the castle up on the hill and it was stunning! We bought our tickets and walked up the hill to the castle. The surroundings were snow-capped rocky mountains and just took our breath away! The castle was nestled into the mountains with snow all around it. I have never been anywhere so beautiful! We weren't allowed to take pictures inside unfortunately, but it was even more stunning inside! It truly felt like the Disney castle. I could really feel the inspiration for all the Disney movies. In the King's bedchamber, his walls were painted with the story of Tristan and Isolde. The king's favorite animal was the swan, so there were swan paintings, sculptures, etc all over the castle. The whole castle had a fairy tale feel to it. The king actually died before the castle could be completed. They wanted to get rid of him, so they declared him insane without any medical examinations at all. The next day, he went on a walk with his doctor and neither one of them ever returned. They were found dead in a waist-high lake. Their deaths were never explained and it is still a mystery to this day. Very interesting! After we finished the castle tour, we took a million more pictures of the outside and then walked back to the little town. We went back to Munich and rested for a bit before going back to Hofbrauhaus. We got some dinner, which was actually really good! I got a liter beer (the white beer + lemonade one) and it was actually pretty good. We decided we felt like vikings or something with our very hearty/simple, but delicious meals. The next morning, we got up and explored the town centre a little more before our train left for Brussels in the afternoon. We got lucky and caught the show in the Glockenspiel right before we had to go!
We got to Brussels pretty late at night, so caught a taxi and went to our hostel. Our hostel was really more of a bed and breakfast, it was so nice! We finally had a room to ourselves and A TV!!! We kind of freaked out a little bit when we saw the TV because we really haven't seen one since we left the US! The bathroom was super nice, with a heating towel rack! Mamma Mia was on, dubbed with French and Flemish subtitles. Weird! But the songs were still in English. The next morning, we went down for our delicious breakfast and then headed out to explore Brussels. We found the main square, which had a TON of Belgian chocolate shops and Belgian waffle stands. We decided to do our own walking tour, so we went to the famous peeing little boy fountain, the Law Courts, a flee market, a park, and the royal palace. It was all so beautiful! Sophie's walking app informed us that we had walked another 10 miles :-) We made our way back to the main square and got our Belgian waffles! They were amazing. The waffle was the smallest part. It was stacked high with strawberries, bananas, whipped cream, and chocolate. So delicious! That night, we went back out for dinner and found a nice little cafe. The next morning, we slept in a little bit (finally!) before finding our way to the coach station to catch our bus back to London.
Over the entire trip, we guessed we had walked at least 50 miles. We really walked everywhere and it started to feel like almost nothing! Its catching up to me a bit now though... pretty exhausted! But it was such an amazing trip. Every single city had such a unique feel to it! All the pictures (theres an album for each city) is up on Facebook!
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