The United States Again

Summer 2008 has started and gotten well underway.

I've been home for a couple of weeks now, and I'm quite happy to be here. I got off the airplane to my dad waving a tiny American flag, my mom happily smiling, and Kay telling me about a pint of Ben and Jerry's waiting for me at home. In spite of the scary "leaving Bath" talk about how awkward it would be to come home nothing seemed out of place. I mean, a little, I guess. My mom had moved my room around so all the furniture was in a new formation. My cat, Sphinx, did not remember me (although Kelly seemed happy to see me). But as far as fitting back in-- no problem. Kay and I had a lovely time catching up that afternoon, and the day after I got home my cousin, Josh, came over. We always have the best time hanging out! The Tuesday after I got home Jacob arrived! The very next day we drove four hours up to Pittsburgh to see Eddie Izzard's new stand-up "Stripped." Eddie Izzard!!!!!! Eddie Izzard!!!!! The show was excellent, and the drive was actually fun-- we passed farms which are infinitely amusing to Jake.

May 3oth was Kay's 21st birthday! A group of us went out to dinner at a very nice Caribbean restaurant. We were all dressed up and pretty and I finally got to see Mike Johnson again!!!!! After dinner all of us went back to my house for a champagne toast and merriment. The next day we all gathered at Kay's for a luncheon. Generally a fantastic time (and I hope she felt the same, since it was her birthday).

Now I'm back in Williamsburg with Jake. He's taking classes while I do... absolutely nothing. I'm waiting here for my job to start on June 18th. I'm going to be an RPA for NIAHD again (basically I'm a camp counselor for a high school history camp). In the meantime I'm trying to teach myself French and I'm trying to read as many books as possible. I just finished reading Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire, who I love with a passion, and Perfume, a book recommended to me by Josh while we were hanging out. Perfume was a subtly intriguing book-- I really, really liked it. Now I'm trying to read Charles James Fox, a book by Leslie, and Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen. So that's how I'm keeping busy. That and trying to keep up with friends. Tonight I'm going to see the Sex and the City movie with Katie! Am quite excited.

So that's life... welcome back to the Many Adventures of Me... Stateside.

Bath Says Goodbye Sometimes

I've left Bath for the last time.

The last few days-- well, the last week really-- have been a whirlwind. First of all, I forgot to mention that last Thursday (before the Dorset Hike) I decided to go exploring. It was gorgeous sunny day so I walked all the way to St. Stephens Church. I could see it from my window in Nunes House but it was so far away and I'd never even thought of going to it before. I wanted to see what I would find on the way there... turns out, Bath is beautiful. I came across lots of little antique stores, some cafes, Georgian houses with beautiful flowers in front and ivy on the walls, two crescents I'd never heard of before, little winding paths, and large public parks. One crescent I went to was called Camden Crescent, and the other was Lansdown Crescent. Both were beautiful, but Lansdown Crescent was like something out of a fairy tale. I would rather live there than the Royal Crescent even. I could see far off into the distance rolling hills with small houses clustered together, and directly in front of the crescent was a field of sheep. In front of each door was a bower; some were covered in flowers.

This last Monday afternoon my friends put on the play they had been working on since Oxford. It was a retelling of Midsummer Night's Dream, except instead of Hippolota and Theseus' wedding it was Beyonce and Jay-Z, if that tells you anything... It was funny though, and nice entertainment. They had worked hard on it. Monday night was fantastic! We all went to Opa after the play because it was warm and sunny and Brooke and I got margaritas, then I got a kiwi martini, and we all had such fun standing around recounting funny stories and praising the play. Except, while there, I suddenly realized that when I get home I have two months before I can go to a bar and order myself a margarita or a martini... which really will be an adjustment, since I'm so used to being able to get whatever I please, whenever I please. Really unhappy about this.

Tuesday I finished up my finals and went to a "re-entry" session for returning to the States. I didn't really think it would be all that difficult, but they brought up some good points that I hadn't thought of before, so now I'm almost a little worried about how it will be to go back. I suppose I'll find out tomorrow afternoon. I guess I hadn't thought of the little ways in which I've changed over the course of the semester: for example, I have become more conscious of what I eat, how much what I eat costs, and how much food I waste. I've gotten used to walking everywhere and being able to walk everywhere. I've gotten used to English grocery stores and the products they sell, and as much as I'll be grateful to have Wheat Thins once more I think I'm really going to miss Waitrose Muesli and Sainsbury's Tikka Masala sauce. There were bigger things, too-- how our friends and families will react to us, for one. And how we will react to our friends and families. Andy pointed out that just because we've been gone for four months doesn't mean that things at home have stayed exactly as they were. Friendships will be different, because while we've been growing and changing our friends have been growing and changing, too... without us and in different ways from us. I think the session helped, though, and hopefully the transition to going home will be a smooth one if I bear in mind some of the lessons of the re-entry session. Afterwards, I went to Cafe Rouge with Brooke for one last bowl of French Onion soup and a Caesar salad, which perked me right up and once again made me anticipate coming home :).

Wednesday and Thursday were spent in a flurry of packing, doing last minute shopping, seeing people, going places... went back to Opa with Alli and Jon, hung out with some Linley girls, stayed around Nunes. Brian made me dinner, which was nice since I had absolutely no food besides oatmeal left in my flat. Then I packed some more. Thursday was similar, except that I had lunch at an Indian place called Rajpoot with Emily H., and then last night we all went out to a restaurant called The Slug and Lettuce (which is a disgusting name) and had a Nunes dinner. The food was actually pretty good. And, of course, the company was excellent. I sat near Brooke, Liz, Jen, and Jon which was quite entertaining. Afterwards we had a mini-party in Nunes then everybody went to the Porter... except me. I still had packing to do, and it's a good thing I did because I realized that I needed another small bag in order to bring everything home. Luckily, Shea was throwing out a very nice large pink handbag, so I took that and made everything fit perfectly :). Shea came home early to talk to Andrew, then Danielle and Alli came home slightly inebriated-- Danielle was talking about how terrible it was that the Mr. D's truck massacred cows for their hamburgers, which was amusing. Around 2:45 or so we finally turned in for bed, so we were up late today.

I got up around 10:30 or so, took a shower, returned some books to the ASE library (not that I ever took any out... shhhhhhh), and then came back to my flat just as it was stormed by Flat 3 girls. We decided we all needed to get dressed to go right away for a last walk around Bath and a final trip to Sainsbury's Local for coca-colas, and smoothies at Smooth Sensations in the Corridor, and in general to bid farewell to the city we have lived in for so long. Really, it was kind of sad. Walking up Milsom Street for the last time, walking into Local for the last time, seeing street performers in front of the Abbey for the last time, passing Retro's to Go for the last time, going into Nelson House for the last time... We got back to Nunes around 1:15 to start getting ready for Final Tea. I wore my new yellow seersucker dress from Jane Norman with a little yellow cardigan. As Nunes Flats 3, 4, and 5 we walked over en masse and took the entire center table for ourselves. Jonathon Hope sat with us since we were right in front of the projector for the Slide Show. It was really a High Tea-- we had little tea sandwiches, followed by scones, followed by little cakes. Then Barbara made a speech, both humorous and poignant, followed by a similar speech from Jonathon. Then Frank, a student, made a speech about how wonderful the staff was-- Andrew Butterworth asked him to say a few words and Frank really lived up to it with well-thought out, funny, touching speech to thank each staff member for looking after us and making us feel always at home. Then the Slide Show itself came on and suddenly we were being handed t-shirts and envelopes and being pushed out the door.

I went back to Nunes, finished packing my bags, and then my flatmates and Brooke walked me to the train station and I bid Bath goodbye forever-- at least as an ASE student. It was a gloomy day, much like the first day that I arrived in England, and I felt rather sad on the train passing the familiar stops that I once passed to go to Oxford. Goodbye towpath, goodbye little lambs in the fields, goodbye S.T.E.A.M Museum of the Western Railroad, goodbye Didcot Parkway with your smokestacks, goodbye goodbye. All the way into London Paddington and to Heathrow.

Currently, I'm sitting in the Yotel at the airport realizing I need to get some sleep before I have to wake up early for my flight tomorrow. I don't think it's hit me yet that I'm actually leaving Bath and actually going home: back to the U.S.A. I can't deny that I'm really excited to be going home-- I've missed my parents, my friends, my cats, my house, my car (guiltily enough), Hershey's syrup, and a land where the dollar is worth something. I feel like living abroad has, if nothing else, made me appreciate the United States of America more. It has made me appreciate my friends, my family, and the life that I have there. Sometimes it takes leaving a place to realize how wonderful it really is... I've learned that if I ever again "go looking for my heart's desire, I won't look any further than my own backyard; if it's not there, then I never really lost it to begin with," as Dorothy says in The Wizard of Oz.

But at the same time, I already miss hanging out with Nunes House and having Nunes family dinners, going to sun myself in the park with Brooke, late nights talking with Alli, Shea, and Danielle, and being able to travel to any locale in Europe cheaply, with the click of a button and at the drop of a pin. Still, there really is no place like home, even though I'll miss my new found friends from Bath immensely and leaving them this afternoon was hard.

So, goodbye Bath. Goodbye England.

Tomorrow I fly home to continue the Many Adventures of Me in a brand new way. See you all on the other side of the pond.

Summer '08

I'm done with finals!!!!!!

I just finished up my Irish Lit final and I took my Tudors/Stuarts final earlier this morning. Now I'm done! I'm not sure how I did on my finals... but at least I managed to write something for every question asked of me. I was thinking about it last night, and I discovered that the reason that it has been so hard for me to study for these is that I haven't had to take an unseen final in a year (except in LCST, but she gave us a very generous study guide). I haven't had to study for a history final since last Spring. Even then he gave us the questions beforehand and said that he would pick a few to be on the test. I haven't had this little guidance in studying for an in-class final ever and I haven't had to take one in so long: I'm fantastic at take-home finals, however. I really do prefer them, especially for history and English. History is less about memorizing dates and regurgitating than it is about analysis, which is much easier to do if you have ample time to really contemplate instead of doing an info-dump. English, too, usually tends to be more thoughtful when there's really time to peruse texts. I can see giving an English in class if the possible essay topics are given first and you have to prepare a few at home. I've done that and like that, but these unseen, entire semester-cumulative exams were killer.

But oh, well. They are done and I managed to write all five essays required of me today, even if they are rather average compared to the work I like to do.

So now it's summertime!!! I need to pack, go to the park and sit in the sun, do a little last minute shopping, have a few drinks at Opa, and enjoy my last few days in Bath!!!

Chefs and Sunburns

Thursday night was the long anticipated Nunes Iron Chef competition! We all knew Brian could cook, but what about Jon and Gabe? This was our chance to find out.

We gave each guy 7 pounds and then they could spend up to 5 pounds of their own on food, two hours to run to the grocery store and cook, and they had to incorporate a secret ingredient--apples. At 7:40 the food was presented to six taste-testers (one from each house). I was runner for the Flat 5 kitchen, which was assigned to Gabe. Basically, if he needed anything from any of the other flats, such as cooking wine or tongs, I ran and got it for him during the two hours that he was grocery shopping/cooking. Gabe made an incredible dish of chicken marsala with an apple/lemon flavor over fettuccine.

Meanwhile, Jon was working on a similar dish and Brian made a salmon dish with spinach, tomato, and apple. At 7:40 came the moment of truth. The food was brought before the taste-testers, who then scored each dish, and Jen, Charlotte, and Liz calculated the winner. Everyone came within three points of each other. In third place, with 42.3 repeating points was Brian, then came John with 44.2 points, and then Gabe, with 44.7 points (I think those decimals are correct). Gabe was Nunes Iron Chef 2008! Everyone's food was excellent though-- Brian's salmon was AMAZING, but some of the judges didn't like seafood, so he had taken a risk. Gabe's chicken marsala, the winner, was excellent. The flavor combinations in the marsala were great!!! I didn't really get to try Jon's, but everyone said that it was pretty great, too. So, Iron Chef 2008 was really fun, and everyone enjoyed themselves. We had a huge turn-out from the other houses, too. About 30 people were crammed into the common room to hear the winner announced.
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Yesterday was hiking in Dorset. I can't believe we've actually done it. We learned about the Dorset hike at the beginning of the semester-- it was the last 'event' of the semester for us to look forward to... I never really thought we'd get to May 9th. But we did, and yesterday we went hiking.

Dorset is a county on the southern coast of England, pretty much directly south from Somerset (where Bath is). There's a coastal hiking path around the cliffs of Dorset; the path starts in Cornwall, continues through Devon, and into Dorset-- it's one of the longest coastal hikes in the UK. We took a two-hour bus ride to Dorset, were dropped off at a little village church, then began our trek on the path. The coastal hike is along soil cliffs, which apparently have the chance of landsliding into the sea-- a few days ago 100 yards of coast went into the ocean about a hundred miles from where we were walking. We were told also not to go to close to the edge of the cliff because sometimes the ground stretched farther than the landmass to which it was connected, so though it may look like we were on ground it was quite possible we were standing on thin air, and could like Wiley Coyote go crashing down. Someone remarked: "Is it too late to turn back?"

But alas it was, so after the speech about how our hike was certain death, we hiked for 7 1/2 miles along the coast, through fields, through valleys, up huge hills and back down again... at one point we came to a hill with 204 steps up. I felt like I had run a mile once I reached the top, and last night the 63 stairs up to Flat 5 were NOTHING. The walk was gorgeous. When we were by the sea we could smell the saltwater and see all the way out nothing but blue ocean. At the end of the walk we came to a small pub called The Square and Compass where we got pasties and cold drinks (I got a coca cola) and relaxed in the outdoor seating. After we ate, we took the bus to the village of Corfe, where we could visit Corfe Castle and village. I opted to stay in the village part-- once you've seen one castle's ruins you've seen them all, I think. I got ice cream, then went to the Greyhound Inn with Cally, Ashley, and Galina.

We got Pimms! I'd never tried Pimms, and it's such an English drink I felt I needed to-- it was quite good. I'm not sure what it is, but apparently it's the official drink of punting, and everyone has told me to try it before I leave England, so I'm glad I did. We also got seasoned potato wedges, which made me want a swimming pool. For some reason I associate seasoned fries with the swimming pool. Overall, it was an excellent day, except upon returning home I realized my shoulders were badly sunburned and my legs weren't fairing too well either, mostly on the left side of my body for some reason. Oh well...

Overall, a fantastic day with ASE.

Last Tutorial

Today was my last tutorial with Leslie. He had us read two plays The Rivals and The School for Scandal by Richard Brinsley Sheridan, then take notes. We didn't have to write a paper!!! In tutorial we just discussed the plays and how topical they were, and he elucidated some of the comedy. We only discussed for about 45 minutes and then Leslie told us he had enjoyed having us in tutorial, we gave him a bottle of port which we (being me and Greg) went in on together for him, we shook hands with him, and then we left. And I got on a train and bid Oxford farewell. I feel really quite sad about saying goodbye to Leslie. My tutorial has really made my experience here in England. I've learned more than I thought I would ever learn about Georgian England and I think my academic writing has improved immensely, as well. And I respect Leslie. I want for him to like me and I want to do well. I feel like my work is not in vain for him. I think I'll write him letters, as he detests e-mail. Sigh. I will genuinely miss my tutorial.

The rest of the day was spent napping (I've been really exhausted this week) and then I had dinner with Danielle, Shea, and Sylvia at a Thai restaurant near Sainsbury's Local. Tonight we are watching the movie Serendipity together, and then possibly eating the cake that Shea baked for Alli/Danielle's birthdays.

A few items I've forgotten to mention: Cinco de Mayo!!! On May 5th Nunes House decided to celebrate in style. We all got together to cook an amazing dinner of tacos and burritos-- Shea made guacamole and it was excellent. We all sat down and had an obligatory tequila shot before dinner and Coronas with dinner. Then we had pinatas!!! Unfortunately, the candy made a mess all over the floor of the common room and ASE thinks that our attempts to clean up were paltry and we got a typed note insinuating that we had a large drunken party (which we did not) and that they were disappointed in us. It's a little ridiculous. Anyways, Cinco de Mayo was great.

Another thing I haven't written about is going to Oxford last Saturday night to hang out with some of my WM friends. We went to Hertford College Ball, which was pretty much exactly like prom except with free alcohol. We had a never-ending chocolate fountain, a buffet, an open bar, and a dance floor playing hits such as 'YMCA' and 'Low.' We had a good time, but really, it was like prom, which is always so overbuilt and then doesn't quite live up to expectations. Although, the free beer made everything seem extra fun... something I certainly wouldn't have had at prom-- either before or after. My prom after-party was a sleepover at my friend Naomi's. We made s'mores and drank Sprite and watched Phantom of the Opera and I drove home at 5:00 in the morning while the sun was rising. Hahaha, oh memories...

Also, it's birthday week!!! Alli's birthday was yesterday and Danielle's birthday is Friday. I guess that's about it for now. Strange thought: Only 10 days until I come home!

Last Week of Classes

I had my last Tudors/Stuarts class and my last Irish Lit class today. Tomorrow is my last tutorial. It's strange. Everything is coming to a close. I'm happy, but saying goodbye to Adrian was kind of sad today. We got to have Irish Lit outside today at a park across Pultuney Bridge. I made a tiny daisy chain, like Alice in Wonderland. The weather is beautiful and it stays light so late now. It's past eight o'clock and the sun still hasn't set. I love it.
A picture of Adrian, my Irish Lit tutor, in Dublin.

Tra La, It's May!

Happy (belated) May Day everyone!!!

What a whirlwind few days it has been. I suppose the story really starts on Tuesday, as I struggled to complete my Religion paper and 'what-I-learned' paragraph for Leslie. I was so close that I could taste freedom from papers. Also, it was free cone day at Ben and Jerry's, which was much needed. So Tuesday flew by in a flurry of paper-writing, ice cream cone eating, classes, and, oh yes, a chicken, cheese, and salsa panini which tasted nearly like the Southwest Chicken Wrap at Aroma's... it made me so very happy. I miss salsa. I finished my final paper around 9:00 at night, so not too late, then tried to go to bed around 12:00, but Shea's typing kept me up until about 3:00-- I was not a happy camper. I ended up getting about six hours of sleep... which would have been ok except that it was April 30th-- the beginning of May Day.

I got on the 11:43 train to Oxford, arrived, and went straight to my tutorial. It was Greg's week to read his paper. He didn't mention Methodists, which I told him was important. Methodists were all over our readings and he said they were 'bull-shit.' I knew better-- I studied the Baptist movement in Colonial America. Perhaps it was at Greg's expense, but I talked a lot in tutorial. I felt like I had things to say. I knew what an advowson was, and I knew about the way Methodism could have been revolutionary and could have kept a revolution from happening-- much like Baptism did in America.

Tutorial ended with a promise to meet Leslie at Univ at six o'clock to go to dinner, then I headed over to the Porter's Lodge of Hereford College to meet up with my friend Sean. We went to the King's Arms for a half-pint of cider. It was so nice to see someone from William and Mary!!! I can't wait for Saturday when I get to see all of the WM kids, and go to a kickin' dress party, as well. After cider with Sean I walked to Magdalen College to meet up with Greg and to wait for Danielle to finish with her tutorial. We had an hour to kill, so the three of us went over to Blackwell's (this absolutely amazing bookstore) and spent an hour enthralled with all of the knowledge, all of the stories, and all of the little slices of world around us. At six we met Leslie and went to the King's Arms (again) for dinner.

At the King's Arms we met up with Felicity James, the Jane Austen tutor. All of us sat down to a happy dinner whereat I learned that Leslie likes Disney World, loves Mr. Toad, had longish hair in the sixties, stayed up all night for May Day when he was ten because he stamped his feet and his mother let him, and that he thinks creative writing is a bullshit course because there is no body of knowledge behind it-- writing is a talent, not an academic subject. Leslie is amazing.

Around 7:30 he and Felicity left, and a few more ASE kids arrived. Greg wanted to go watch a football match, so we headed up Cawley Road to a pub... but Danielle, Emily, Andrew, Megan and I didn't really want to watch football, so instead we went to an Irish pub that Fiachra, Danielle's (Irish) Latin tutor had recommended. Apparently there is a way to store Guinness and to pour Guinness that makes it taste at its best-- which is why it tastes better in Ireland than in England--and this pub does Guinness as close to the correct way as possible. Plus, the owner/bartender was an old Irishman. We all ordered Guinness, of course. The owner poured it in such a way that in the foam on top there was a shamrock!!! We all found this stunning. After about forty-five minutes Fiachra himself randomly showed up!!! Amazing! He's such a darling man, very chivalric, very Irish (his first language was Gaelic for heaven's sake!), very smart. He gave Danielle his address and number in case we were out at four in the morning, drunk, with no where to turn. Danielle was ecstatic.

Fiachra sat with us, and about an hour later our Irish Lit tutor, Adrian, met up with us. Then the ASE students who had been watching the game came over to the Half Moon (as the pub was called) It was about 10:00, or so. Our motley crew, including Fiachra and Adrian, stayed at the pub until 3:30 in the morning, when the owner/barman closed the pub. Apparently Half Moon is the only pub in Oxford with a 24 hour license (most pubs close either at 11:00 or 1:00) and the only contingency is that he can't let anyone in the door after 12:30. Anyways, at 3:30 we all left, Fiachra had gone home, and the rest of us had to cross the Magdalen Bridge before 4:00. They close it at 4:00 on May Day because people like to jump off the bridge to celebrate, except that in recent years the water has gotten so shallow it's dangerous to do so. People still tried, however, so the bridge had to close. Some of our crew got food off of a truck (the popular thing to do at 3:00 a.m in England) and then we all went to Worchester College, where Adrian is a fellow, to relax in their common room. By this time, though, it was past 4:00 a.m and Danielle and I wanted to go back into town-- everything starts to open around 4:30 on May Day. Everyone else wanted to collapse on the couches in exhaustion, but Danielle and I triumphantly walked back to town, taking pictures of the sky lightening-- it promised to be a sunny day. We got coffee and pastries at a little take-away restaurant and mosied up to Magdalen College. People were already gathering.

At 6:00 in the morning on May 1st the Magdalen Boys Choir sings from the top of the Bell Tower and there are Morris Dancers and bagpipers and everyone is merry and the singing kicks off a big street party with champagne breakfasts. We didn't get to partake in most of this, as we were pressed to catch a train back to Bath, but Danielle and I did listen to the boys choir, listened to the bells, and ran merrily through the streets. We were back in Bath by 8:30 a.m where I proceeded to fall into a happy sleep.

Oh, but that's not all: May 1st was also Nunes Potluck dinner!!! I made pizza bites. We ate in the dining room in Flat 3 (managed to squeeze all 11 of us in) and had an amazing dinner of a tapas potato dish, Greek salad, guacomole and chips, french fries and fried chicken, bruschetta, garlic bread, bean salad, toblerone, strawberry shortcake, and strawberry cheesecake. It was perhaps my favorite night with Nunes House. We had all filled out superlative sheets earlier this week, so the Nunes superlatives were given out. I was voted "Smartest," "Lightweight," and runner up to "Most Likely to be President of the United States." I really do like my house. Sometimes I complain, but generally I could not have lived with a better group of people.

Finally:
Tra la! It's May!
The lusty month of May!
That lovely month when ev'ryone goes
Blissfully astray.
Tra la! It's here!
That shocking time of year
When tons of wicked little thoughts
Merrily appear!
It's May! It's May!

Ok, now THAT'S really all. :)

One To Go

I have one paper left to write.

One. The topic is Religion in 18th Century England. I'm not exactly excited about this one. But, by Wednesday I will have no more papers left to write. And it will be May Day! My friend Danielle and I are going to stay in Oxford on Wednesday after our tutorials to celebrate the sunrise on May 1st in the traditional Oxford way. At six in the morning the boys choir of Magdalen College sings from the Bell Tower and there's dancing, drinking, and joy.

I finished my Irish Lit paper this morning. I worked on it so damn hard and after about 10 hours of work, and notes, and reading, and writing I had only one paragraph written. I could not get this paper to start. I began to panic that I had started an un-writable paper. After a day of agonizing I finally narrowed down my thesis upon my friend Jessica's suggestion: "Are you writing a five page paper or an honors thesis?" Ah. Yes.

By the time I did get the paper going it had such potential to be good, but I think it suffered from lack of interest. Then I did most of the reading about religion, then I started looking up recipes online... whaaa? Obviously, I am slightly ADD right now. Luckily, I get a mental break this afternoon because Jess is coming over and we're going to watch either Eddie Izzard or Gilmore Girls!!! I am quite excited.

In other news, it has become tank-top weather at long last!

Bombfire

A few days ago I was invited to the event ASE Bombfire by my friend John. Apparently he didn't know that the word was "bonfire." I'm not kidding. Anyways, this bombfire/bonfire was supposed to take place from 8:00-12:00 p.m in a 'secret ASE location.'

Around 6:15 p.m Brooke from Flat 3 came upstairs to invite us all to dinner. Her mom and dad were visiting and they were cooking a home-cooked meal of chicken parmesan, penne alla vodka, salad, string beans, French bread and wine. Of course, we accepted. The meal was excellent. All of Flat 3 and all of Flat 5 (minus Alli) were there, and Brooke's parents were incredibly nice. It felt so homey to be sitting around a real dinner table eating with everyone and talking about our experiences since we've been in England and beyond. I really enjoyed it. Dinner didn't end until around 8:15, though, so we were late for the first wave of people heading up to the bonfire. We called over to Prior Park and were told that a second wave would wait for us. We headed over about 25 minutes later, and soon began a thirty minute trek up the hill, past a residential area, through a football field, down a creepy little path, and into another field where the bonfire was started. Just as we neared, however, we got a phone call saying that everyone was leaving and we should, too, just because they felt like it. We had come all that way, though, so we were in it. We headed to the bonfire anyway.

Once there, we found out that everyone had left because John told them to-- for some reason he, an Eagle Scout, thought that lighting a fire in a tree would be ok. Granted, the tree was charred so he was not the first to light a fire there, but it was a windy day. The fire had caught and the inside of the tree was glowing bright red. They refused to call the fire department, though, and we carried on making a smaller, more controlled bonfire next to the tree. The tree continued to smolder though, and the winds whipped up the fire again. I, and a few others, kept advocating calling the fire department, but instead a few guys ran back for a fire extinguisher from one of the houses. Of course, that did nothing because it took them about 45 minutes to go and come back and by that point the fire had grown. We stood watching the flames for a long time-- people were throwing mud in the tree, like that would help-- and still no one called the fire department. Finally, John gave in and did. No harm, no foul-- the firemen thought it was funny, apparently, but I had left by that point because John didn't want ALL of us standing by the tree when the firemen arrived, and it was cold and late so I was only too happy to leave. Especially because when we left the bottom portion of the tree had pretty much burst into flames and as we walked back down the hill we saw the fire engine with its lights and sirens on coming up to the bonfire location. At that point we still weren't quite sure if it had been legal for John to start a bonfire; we were all a little fearful that he would be deported.

Ooodalalee what night!

Bizarre Bath

Yesterday my mom and I took the Bizarre Bath tour which meets outside of The Huntsman. Our tour guide arrived in a bright purple jacket and proceeded to explain that Bizarre Bath was not a tour of history and facts, but rather an evening of entertainment. It certainly lived up to its name. Our first stop was across from Sally Lunn's, where he established his credentials by reading the sign ("To prove that we know what we are talking about we will in fact start with a little history: Sally Lunn's House is the oldest house in Bath, built in 1450. Sally Lunn lived in this house in 1680."). Next, he told us about lay lines, blindfolded himself, and walked to the plaza outside Bath Abbey as a blindman. Later we ended up by the river, where he presented Stewart the Stuffed Rabbit, a direct descendant of the rabbit Houdini told his secrets to before he died (yeah, crazy backstory). Then he chained the rabbit up, padlocked him twice, put him in a bag, put dumbells in the bag, and then threw Stewart into the River Avon. Stewart, like Houdini, managed to escape his bag in 10 seconds. The funny thing was, that we all felt so bad for the rabbit, and our guide was like, "Why are you 'ahhhh'ing??? This is a toy! It's a stuffed animal toy!"

Perhaps the scariest trick for me involved my Found Ring, the one that my friend Blair Hall gave to me last year in Latin American History class. Our guide asked if anyone had a ring he could borrow, so I said yes and handed him mine. He was going to do some magic trick with it, so he wrapped it up in tissue paper and tied it to a balloon. He was stepping up onto his crate and tripped and accidentally let the balloon with my ring fly off into the air. Everyone gasped. My heart sank. I know the ring isn't 'mine,' but it is. I've had it for over a year now. I wear it every day-- in Italy, on the cruise, all last semester, in England. Jacob has worn it once, even. I could have cried. He apologized profusely. I tried to be nice, I told him I hadn't even bought it myself, not to worry, it wasn't a big deal. But really, I was torn up inside. I kept hearing Kay's voice telling me that the ring went to whoever needed it most and I hoped that whoever found the ring next, on the ground miles away, would treasure it.

Then he turned to Bath Abbey and said, "We could use a miracle right now, and this is a place of miracles." And then, from around the corner, came Stewart the Rabbit on a little motorized car. And in his paws was a package. And in the package was a ball of wound wool. And after the wool was unwound there was a little leather purse. Our guide had me come up and open the purse and inside was my ring!!!! I have no idea how he did that. I was happy, though, to see my ring and get it safely back on my finger. A little later on in the tour, he made me a balloon animal as compensation for my initial distress.

In other news, I have completed my tutorial paper for tomorrow and I'm down to two papers (I hope!) for ASE!!! Three and a half weeks until summer!

Highland Adventure

My mom is visiting! She arrived Thursday afternoon. I had gone to the train station to meet her, but she got in earlier than I had anticipated so she actually came back to the train station to meet me meeting her. Such is life. We went to lunch at Cafe Rouge (soooo good!), then since it was sunny, we walked around Bath. We walked up George Street and past the Jane Austen Center up to the Circus, then headed out of the Circus towards the Royal Crescent. I pointed out the road leading up to the Northhamptons. They are far away. We walked around the Crescent, where I discovered a new museum, although goodness only knows if I will have time for it. We walked down through Victoria Gardens and past the playground, lake, and mini-golf course. I wish I had time to mini-golf. We even stopped into the Jane Austen center-- I feel like while I'm here I should do a Jane Austen walk (and a Bizarre Bath walk). I can't wait for May 1st-- no more papers! We went to Martinis for dinner, which was excellent, then I headed back to Nunes to pack for Scotland!!!!

Inverness Castle: Inverness, Scotland

Friday morning at 7:00 a.m I was in a taxi heading to Bristol Airport for my flight to Inverness. The flight was fantastic. We had these two drunken queens sitting in front of us and they were hilarious! One of them grabbed a (male) flight attendant's butt ("I want some of that!"). He had also lost his boarding pass, and said to his partner? "They are looking me up in security, like I'm a threat... do I look Arabic?" They also sang along to the iPod they were sharing the whole time. One of them, who looked like Christian from Project Runway, was meeting his mother and he said, "Oh my God, what's my mother going to think when she sees me in this state (i.e- drunk)? She hasn't seen me in 10 years!" to which my mom whispered to me, "Oh dear, I hope she's seen pictures!" Overall, an amusing flight to the Scottish Highlands.

Inverness--and the whole Highland area-- is beautiful! We checked into our hotel then began to walk around. We walked down by the River Ness, composed of overflow from Loch Ness, which is both one of the shortest rivers in Europe at only 6.5 miles, and a tidal river flowing to the sea. There, we stumbled into a little cafe for lunch. I had Scottish salmon and cream cheese on a warm croissant and a bottle of Nessie's Monster Mash brewed in Scotland by Cairngorm Breweries. The beer was excellent! It reminded me of the beer we brewed in CW at the Governor's Palace last year.

We walked a little more, stopped into a few shops including Highland House of Fraser, then went into the tourist center to book tickets for some tours we wanted to do the next day. The tourist center changed our plans: instead of two tours on Saturday, we ran to the Jacobite Tours bus stop for a tour of Loch Ness that afternoon. On the Jacobite Temptation tour we spent twenty minutes on a bus driving out to the Clansman Hotel Harbour with a wonderful tour guide named George pointing out sites along the way. Then we took a half-hour cruise on Loch Ness, but we didn't see the monster (affectionately known as "our Nessie" by the Highlanders). Loch Ness has black water, though, like nothing I've ever seen before. It did not reflect the blue of the sky. The foam our boat churned up looked yellow brown, like we were sailing through Guinness. It felt really weird to see water so black. We got off the boat at the ruins of Urquhart Castle. We had an hour to explore the ruins and the visitor's center. The area was beautiful and the history of the castle was interesting. More interesting was the fact that for the entire weekend I saw not a single Union Jack flag, only the flag of the Cross of St. Andrews-- the Scottish flag.

Leslie mentioned in tutorial last week that Scotland was advocating once more for independence from the UK, and everything I saw pointed in that direction. In the video about Urquhart Castle there was this quote:

...for, as long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be brought under English rule. It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom – for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself. - The Declaration of Arbroath

We saw the same quote the next day on a t-shirt at Culloden Battlefield. Culloden Battlefield really was awesome. The battle took place on April 16th, 1746, so the brand-new Visitor's Center was swarming with Highlander's showing their pride. Nearly every man wore a kilt with his clan colors, and women too had on some bit of tartan. Even little boys--probably only five or six at oldest--sported kilts. They also had festivities planned, including Highland Music, Highland dancing, costumed interpreters explaining camp life and life in the Highlands before (and after?) the battle, and guided battlefield tours. Furthermore, the Visitor's Center was one of the best museums I've been in, and I've been in quite a few thanks to my Saturday Seminar with Whittenburg, being an RPA last summer, and taking a course in Public History. It presented both sides of the story equally and fairly without bias: a hefty feat, considering we were in the heart of the Highlands. On one wall was the Jacobite story and on the other was the Government story. It explained the background really well, and combined technology with traditional museum approaches to be both entertaining and education. I was muchly impressed.

The battlefield itself was... small. It's hard to believe that in one hour in such a small space 1,500 Highlanders died and the Highland way of life was subsequently destroyed. There are mass graves on the field with markers naming which clansmen are buried beneath the earth. One rock said, "Here marks where the leader of Clan McGillivray fell" with a Scottish prayer beneath it. The whole thing felt rather sad and hopeless.

My mom and I went back to Inverness around 3:00. We stopped in at a shopping mall (the first I've seen in Europe!) for some mindlessness and American-ness. We got some shirts at H&M, a store I hate in America but love in Europe, then we went to some traditional Scottish shops... ok, tourist shops... in the center of town and bought ourselves some Fraser gear (yay Jamie Fraser! Yay Outlander!) and some Scottish Tablet fudge and some Celtic style jewelry and some Loch Ness Monster/Nessie souvenirs.

We ate dinner at a Scottish chain called Jimmy Chung's, which is a Chinese Buffet. Why Scotland has a Chinese Buffet chain I am not sure, but the food was excellent and extremely cheap. The rest of the evening was spent walking around Inverness-- along the river, through some side streets, past rows of houses and B&B's... the town is quite lovely. Just charming. I think the best way to visit would be to stay in a B&B, rent a car, and travel around the tiny villages surrounding Inverness. Just getting out and exploring the Highlands. The area is beautiful. I think of all of the places I've visited Scotland wins as most beautiful, except perhaps Garmisch, which has the advantage of being situated in the Alps. But Scotland had a haunting beauty, especially the area around Loch Ness. I hope to go back someday, to explore it more fully.

This morning my mom and I got coffee, then walked up the River to the Ness Islands, a series of three islands connected by bridges. There's really not much on them besides trees and running paths and an occasional sculpture or two, but the walk was beautiful. It was even warm enough to take off our coats! After our walk it was time to fly home to Bath... where English hills hide quaint villages, fog obscures the countryside, and baby lambs have appeared in the fields with the arrival of Spring.

A Pineapple For Me

I came back from Irish Literature to find a dozen perfect red roses and a pineapple sitting on my bed waiting for me. Friday was ten months. :)

Busy in Bath

I have completed my paper on "National Identity" for Leslie, and now I need to start in on my Tudors/Stuarts paper, which I got an extension on. I have absolutely no desire to work for that class. John Stevenson doesn't even know who I am in a class of 15, despite the fact that I talk, so why should I write a paper for him? Also, I figured out that between my Tudor England class with Hoak and my tutorial with Leslie there are roughly 80 years of British history from 1485-1832 that I don't know. Pretty great. Unfortunately, that 80 years includes the English Civil War, which I should have more than a vague idea about. I'll work on that-- I have to for my paper due Thursday.

Crazy thought: my next paper for Leslie, "Leisure Space" is my penultimate paper for my tutorial (unless of course "To Be Arranged" means another paper of my choice... Greg and I are hoping it means Leslie will take us out for a drink).

In other news, Bath continues as usual and each passing day brings with it more and more a feeling of Spring. Yesterday it rained while I was walking home from Sainsbury's Local and for a moment I was upset, then I realized that the rain was warm. I had on a t-shirt and the droplets on my arm felt like Spring rather than Winter. It was actually quite pleasant to feel Spring rain. Today the sky is blue and it's warm in the sun, though rather cool in the shade. I love it. I love, love, love that the days are growing long and warm. Though, such weather makes it hard to concentrate on work and reading. Instead, the afternoons seem made for laziness, as did yesterday afternoon-- I wasted away two hours (quite unfortunately, as I hastily wrote a paper into the wee hours of the morning) on Eddie Izzard: Definite Article with Jess. It was the first time I'd been to Linley House-- it's so pretty! It all felt so relaxed, almost like last semester, how I wasted my time stretching out on the floor in Stith with Kay, Katie and Callie, only to have papers rear their ugly heads in the evening. But what glorious sunny afternoons!

Hello Spring!

Oxford and Other Foibles

Sorry to have gone AWOL for awhile, but the past week the program was in residence at Oxford where there were three computers for fifty-five people and no wireless internet. Lovely.

Oxford, though, really was lovely. I almost wish I had done the WM Oxford program, just to live in that city instead of Bath. I like Bath, but I love Oxford (although if I had three tutorials like the WM program makes everyone take I'm not sure that I'd actually leave my college very often). I'm so glad I get to go there every week for my tutorial. It was also nice because while everyone else scrambled to try all that Oxford had to offer I was serenely writing papers and casually saying, "Oh, well, I'll try a milkshake when I'm here next week," or "Maybe I'll decide on those earrings for next week." That was quite nice. Another perk was that I actually knew my way around. Instead of pretending to know where Christ Church Meadow was, I actually DID know. Instead of groping about in the dark for my way to the market or Primark I could just walk there no trouble.

Oxford has so much more than Bath. The most amazing discovery was a restaurant called The Mission: Mexican Grill which was Chipotle. I could not have been more pleased. It also has a more diverse history, as a Civil War Walk with my Tudors/Stuarts class proved. It was such a beautiful morning for a walk--bright and sunny--and we got to see lots of buildings associated with the Tudors as well as with Charles I, since Oxford was the King's Capital during the English Civil War. After the walk Danielle, Katie and I went to the covered market for some hot, caffeinated beverages-- that's another thing! The covered market! I love it so much. I wish I could pick it up and move it to Bath... or Williamsburg. I really do love Oxford. Another thing Oxford has is punting, but our punting day got snowed out. Yes, it SNOWED the first day we were in Oxford, but by the end of the week it was warm enough to just put on a hoodie instead of a full coat. English weather is very strange. Leslie quoted, "April is the cruellest month." But yes, I didn't get to go punting. Maybe next week.

The best part of staying in Oxford was that I got to meet some new people, especially some of the Linley girls. My roommate for the week, Jess, was amazing!!! She's so nice! She also likes just about everything I do plus some-- Firefly, Gilmore Girls, Labyrinth, Ralph Fiennes, etc. She also watches Doctor Who, which most of my friends do (and I feel that I have woefully neglected... I should take that up). And she loves Shakespeare! She's going to loan me her Twelfth Night DVD. I'm really excited about that. Generally, getting to know some new people was awesome. I'm also getting to know a girl named Emily H. who is an amazing singer/songwriter (I first heard her play at Write Nite about a week and a half ago). She's such a great person, and she's friends with a couple of people that I know from Shakespeare in the Dark! Then, there's a girl named Danielle who lives in Prior Park that I started to get to know over Spring Break (she was in Munich with us) but who I feel like I talked to much more in Oxford. We're going to go to the May Day celebrations at Magdalen College together, which I'm really looking forward to.

The downside about Oxford was that I had two papers due, both for Leslie. I love my tutorial (I'm trying to figure out how to make Leslie my best friend), but the papers are taxing. They usually end up being quite long and he expects a lot from each paper. The other ASE papers I can semi-half-ass, but not the papers for Leslie. I have another due Wednesday (plus a Tudors/Stuarts paper). On a happy note, Leslie said that my paper on Marriage and Gender was my best yet, which I think means I got an A, since my last was an A-. Nevertheless, I got hot chocolate after the tutorial, simply because I deserved it after having double session. I've found that Caffe Nero has the best hot chocolate in England. It's like drinking melted chocolate bars. It's so incredible.

There were two nights of note: the first was Indian Food Night, and the second was formal dinner night. ASE took everyone out for Indian food for 12 pounds, which Danielle, Andrew, and I thought was ridiculous. Instead, we went up Cowley Road and found an Indian food restaurant where we got four curries, two naan breads, two rices, chips (french fries), and a 1.5 litre of Coke all for 13 pounds (total). Since we saved so much money we went to a pub called Cape of Good Hope and got ourselves some pints to celebrate. As Danielle said, "I haven't been this happy since Munich!" We were very thrilled with our bargain finding.

The next was the Formal Dinner Night. I was seated in a corner with Andy Venn, Adrian (my Irish Lit tutor who is fantastic), Emily W., Kiki, and Galina. Basically, I had a loaded corner. Adrian and Andy are hilarious and with the rest of us joining in the conversation was great. Then we had these awful singers and the whole time I was trying not to laugh while Kiki and Adrian were doing their best to make me laugh, especially Adrian. After dinner we went back to the University College bar (yes, each college has its own bar) and Emily H. played some songs which literally bring tears to my eyes they are so gorgeous and in general we had a merry time, until the bar closed. Then we went to some club called Baby Love, which was less fun, but ok. I left before everyone else, because thanks to my double session of tutorials I had been sleep deprived. And I needed to pack. And I wanted to call Jacob. You know how it goes.

This weekend I went to London to stay with my parents!!! It was so nice to see them. My mom will be back on Thursday, so it wasn't a goodbye until May with her today, but it was with my dad. London was quite nice. We saw the play God of Carnage with Ralph Fiennes. OMG! I adore seeing him on stage. He's such a great actor. Sadly, he didn't appear at the stage door this time, but it's ok, since I got to meet him after Faith Healer (which I didn't actually see, but oh well). God of Carnage was a great show. It was described as "a very funny tragedy" and I think that's apt. Very witty, very well acted, I want the script. My parents and I also went to the National Portrait Gallery to see a new exhibit on the Bluestockings and today we ate lunch at Ye Olde Cheddar Cheese Pub. Generally, a very good weekend. But now I'm back in Bath and back to the books! Less than five weeks until I'm done with my studies and I'm back stateside!

Papers x8

I had a paper due Wednesday.

I have a paper due Wednesday and Thursday.

I have a paper due the following Tuesday and Wednesday.

I have a paper due the following Tuesday and Wednesday.

I have a paper due the following Wednesday.

Anyone sensing a pattern? Basically, I will never see the light of day again. Unfortunately, ASE doesn't understand this, so I am being forced to see the light of day-- the light of the Oxford day. Tomorrow the whole program moves to Oxford for a week in residence. I was really looking forward to this week, as I've heard that it is a lot of fun, and the packet they gave us with our schedule looks amazing! But now, Oxford just sort of stresses me out. If I could stay in Bath for the week I know I would be able to get everything done, but as it is I'm struggling. Furthermore, with all of this looming ahead of me it's more paralyzing than motivating. There's no "Well, get it done and you can have fun!" Instead it's "Get it done and there's more to do!" Of course, I will get it done. I always manage.

In other news, to distract myself from the horribleness of my academic life and to honor the coming of spring, I bought myself a new dress. It is a yellow seersucker dress and I absolutely love it. I feel like I should buy a big hat to go with it and then go out to the Ascot or the Kentucky Derby. If I could wear it all the time I would, just because it makes me happy. It's so cheerful and the skirt twirls. It's a pretty, in the words of Kaylee from Firefly. Shiny.

Winter's on the Wing

Happy April 1st everyone! I can't believe it's already April, but I must say that I'm quite pleased that it is. The past three days have been gorgeous here. I can even go outside without a coat! I knew Spring was coming when I saw the trees blossoming on South Parade as I walked back to Nunes House on Saturday. But I had forgotten how glorious Spring really is!!! I feel as though I've made it through some dark night and emerged on the other side with a lightened spirit.

"And you'll be here to see it
Stand and breathe it all our day
Stoop and feel it, stop and hear it
Spring I say!"

And, finally, a few pictures from Spring Break. The first is me on the Aran Islands, the second is of the Cliffs of Moher, the third is the Frauenkirche in Munich from the top of the Peterkirche Tower, the fourth is a view from a hill in Garmisch, the fifth is a flower-shop in Garmisch.

Auf Wiedersehen and Welcome!

Hello everyone! I've returned safely from my Spring Break travels and am now back in Bath. Spring Break was great. I've already written a little bit about Ireland, but to finish up-- Easter night John, Emily, Sarah, and I went out to the pubs. Yes, all of the pubs were open on Easter Sunday, as a very rude woman who worked in our hostel informed us.

John: Will the pubs and things be open tonight?
Rude Woman: (using a 'tone' with some 'attitude') Yes, why wouldn't they be?
John: Well, because it's Sunday... and it's Easter.
Rude Woman: Things only close for Good Friday, why would they close for Easter?
John: Ok, well thanks.

Which, I mean, makes some sense. Everyone in Ireland takes off not only Good Friday and Easter Sunday, but also Easter Monday. So Sunday night is apparently a perfect night for hitting up the pubs. We went to a traditional one which was PACKED. It was called Twas Coilis, I think. It had traditional Irish music played by three (slightly drunk) Irishmen and everyone else there had Irish accents and was singing along and in general quite boisterous. I had a half-pint of Guinness, because I was in Ireland after all.

On the last day we were in Ireland we went on a tour to the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher. It looked just how you would expect Ireland to look. I bought myself a little instructional guide to Irish faeries that day for fun and it's actually quite fascinating. I love Irish myths and legends. And looking around the Burren I could totally believe in falling into faeryland. All you have to do is walk around a faery rath three times and in you go to their splendid crystal halls, according to the book. At any rate, the scenery was gorgeous, and the Cliffs were spectacular!!! They took three million years to evolve. They are over 600 ft. above sea level. The wind up there was so strong that I worried I would blow right off, which could have been problematic not only for me but for my tour company. There was no voucher to sign before letting us loose on the Cliffs (though, luckily, most of the Cliff area had a wall). We also saw some other sites-- an old Celtic tomb, an earthwork fort from around 2000 B.C (I had my faery book by this point and if there are faeries in Ireland they are IN THAT EARTHWORK FORT), a castle that the Irish National Theatre was dreamed up in (Yeats was there, and Lady Gregory!), Lisdoonvarna-- the Irish town of the Matchmaking Festival, and a few other places. It was a good tour, I thought.

The next day we had to get up extremely early in order to catch the bus to the Shannon airport. We were leaving the hostel by 6:30 in the morning (I think we woke up the other people in our hostel room, specifically a Russian couple who tickled each other until the wee hours of the morning-- swear to God, hostels are not an experience that I want to repeat). We met up with Andrew and his girlfriend at the bus station and then us ASErs bid Megan goodbye and headed off to the airport. We made our flight, got to Stansted, spent six or so hours sitting in the airport, then we were off to Munich! We got to Munich with very little trouble, negotiated our way to the hostel, and got our room. This hostel was better than the one in Ireland-- with Danielle G. arriving we filled a room for six so we had no strangers staying with us, plus the atmosphere was more like a hotel lobby than like summer camp. Still... I think I'm over the hostel thing.

Ahem...Why I Should Have Studied Abroad in Germany:
1) Munich has really great food.
2) Munich has nightlife-- things are open past midnight.
3) Munich is cheaper than Bath.
4) Munich has a wider array of (cheaper, more interesting) day-trips than Bath.
5) I could have learned a foreign language.

The first day in Munich we took a walking tour with a native English speaking guide (it was a free tour thing for backpackers and the guides work for tips-- they are all in their twenties-- it was a really cool thing). I think this guy was a history major, because he talked a lot about history and memory. We saw the Frauenkirche (which Betsy Ray visits in Betsy and the Great World!) and we walked by the Old Town Hall, and saw the Glockenspiel, and we went into the Hofbrauhaus (not for the last time). We also found this gorgeous church called Theatinekirche. I've never seen anything like it. I wanted Jacob there, because I'm pretty sure he would have appreciated the artistic interior far more than I did. It had these twisty columns and some paintings which were probably quite famous, but I wouldn't know. We also went to the English Gardens for a bit and I swear I saw the spot where Betsy and Helena ate lunch before going to the Bayerische Nationalmuseum. Btw, Betsy is the fictionalized version of the author, Maud Hart Lovelace, so really I'm seeing all the places Maud saw... just to clarify for all you non-Betsy-Tacy lovers out there (most of you, I'm guessing). Our tourguide also talked a lot about Hitler and Nazism. I never realized how much of that had happened in Munich-- I guess I always sort of thought it was more of a Berlin thing-- but really it all started in Munich. It made me sad, because I have rather thought of Munich as a Betsy-Tacy rosy glasses city-- and for her it was! She was there in 1913! WWI hadn't started much less WWII! But we saw a lot of sites that had to do with Nazi protesters and Hitler and a memorial at the University to the White Roses-- a student organization which opposed Nazism (it's leaders were executed under the regime). We could have gone to Dachou Concentration Camp, but we decided against it. If we had been in Germany longer we probably would have gone, but we didn't really feel like spending Spring Break crying.

The second day in Munich we just went to some museums. First, we all climbed the tower of Peterkirche. It reminded me of climbing the Duomo in Florence, except less claustrophobic on the way up (and not as high, I doubt). There were some excellent views of Munich, however. Then we went to the Munich Hunting and Fishing Museum, which was actually pretty awesome. It had all these old crossbows and beautiful intricately jeweled and carved rifles, and some old hunting toboggans used by the rich and powerful. It was much better than expected. Next, us girls went to the Residenz Museum. It was pretty much like any other pretty, rich house. It reminded me of Versailles, Hampton Court, The Governors Palace... anything in a Georgian-style, really. It had an awesome treasury, though! There was this one small... jeweled thing... of St. George slaying the dragon-- it was beautiful!!!! And so intricate! I also went to the toy museum, which was a let-down. It was small. I also shopped in Promod, my favorite store from Italy, though I didn't buy anything. AND I got a Mezzo Mix, which is the soda at the Coke Stop in Disney World where there are sodas from around the world. I really kind of thought Coke made up those sodas, because I haven't seen any for real anywhere else. I love Mezzo Mix. It was kind of a dreary day, though, and I felt very homesick all afternoon. Sigh. That night perked me up though! We went to the Hofbrauhaus-- the most famous beerhall in Munich. It celebrated its 400th Anniversary last year the waiter told us, to which I replied "So did Jamestown Settlement!" We had AMAZING FOOD (Bavaria has incredible food-- I'm not sure why no one ever talks about their culinary experience in Germany, because mine was beyond belief) and we each drank a FULL LITER OF BEER! Some people finished TWO LITERS (not me, though... I'm not sure my stomach would have allowed it). We were all very happy that evening. I fell asleep the second we got back to the hostel, but apparently everyone else stayed awake for awhile and had some Smirnoff... bad call, guys. "Beer before liquer, never been sicker." I, however, woke feeling perfectly peachy.

Our final day in Germany us girls took a day trip to a beautiful little Alpine village called Garmisch, where the 1936 Winter Olympics were held, apparently. The place was classic Germany. I loved it. We had lunch outside surrounded by the Alps and I bought a little German teddy-bear (I still haven't named her) and I got some gifts for my parents. We also found a wonderful chocolaterie. I really think Garmisch was my favorite day of all of Spring Break. It was relaxing with walking trails and a peaceful church and a little restaurant on a mountainside and beautiful Alpine houses.

Final Munich note: They have much better street performers than Bath. In Bath we have some homeless men with tin pipes and guitars scattered around. If we are lucky we get a man playing the violin on a tight rope or the men who put sparklers in their behinds. In Munich, however, we got a classical pianist on a baby grand and a string trio playing classical music. In general, I would have to say that Munich is superior to Bath. Except in Bath I understand the language without trying, which is a plus.

I got back to Bath today. I had a good time going through customs:

Airport Employee Manning the Passport Line: Well, well, you've arrived at a perfect time, eh? We just got this flight in from backwoods Turkey and none of them speak English or know what they are doing. It's terrible. It's like they are from a whole nother world. Oh, I guess they are. I think it's called the third-world.

Then, Passport Control Man: Oh thank God! People who speak English! I might just keep you here for the next half-hour so I don't have to deal with any more of those Turks. It's bloody ridiculous they don't know what they are doing.

Needless to say, we were the English-speaking hit of the Border Controllers hour, so we got back into the UK with absolutely no trouble at all. Probably they would have waved us through even if we didn't have our passports with us.

So, now I have three papers and a presentation to work on. Ouch. It will be lots of working for the next couple of days. Luckily, I will sleep well now, because my bed here has back support and my room isn't occupied by strangers. Yay! Hope everyone else has had a good week!

And congratulations to Callie on getting into GRAD SCHOOL!!!!

Once Through Tara's Halls...

Happy Easter, everyone! I'm in Ireland! We arrived late Friday night and have been on the go ever since. I'm traveling with some of my friends-- Emily, John, Andrew, and Sarah, and in Munich we are going to meet up with Danielle.

The group of us left Bath on the 1:24 train to Bristol Temple Meads, then promptly got the Bristol Flyer to the airport. We left early because John was worried about Good Friday traffic (although he's the one who had to run back for his passport), and we had hours to sit around the airport doing nothing. After several hours of nothingness we checked into our flight and made it through security where we found Sylvia waiting for her delayed Venice flight. It was nice to see Sylvia one last time before everyone seperated for the week. Anyways, our flight was on time, nice, easy, quick-- and we were in Ireland! I listened to Great Big Sea the whole flight and bus ride from Shannon to Galway. Once at the bus stop, Andrew met up with his girlfriend, Megan (she's studying abroad in Ireland), and they headed off to a hotel while the rest of us trudged to our hostel.

Our hostel is much like a summer camp. They have a board saying where all the craic (fun) is, and they push tours, and the room we are in has eight beds (we fill four) and they are all bunked. Last night we had two Swedish girls and two German girls with us. We have new roommates tonight, but we haven't met them yet. Friday night we didn't really do anything, because everything was closed for Good Friday.

Saturday, however, we went out to the Aran Islands! We went to Inishmore, the largest of the Islands. We all rented bikes, which might have been a bad idea, considering I'm horrible at bike-riding and terrified of bikes, but I managed to overcome my fear (sort of) and rode around the island. We went to this old Celtic Fort built in 2000 B.C-- it overlooks the Atlantic and is absolutely beautiful. We rode by the sea quite a bit. It was a really nice day. After we got back yesterday evening we tried to go to a pub for dinner, but everything was packed! After much walking around we finally found a little American style diner called Eddie Rocket's (Johnny's brother? His Irish cousin?) and got hamburgers, fries, onion rings, and milk shakes. I think it was much needed. We're all kind of missing America right now. After dinner we all went to a pub called "The King's Head." I stayed for a few minutes, but I was pretty tuckered out from the day, so I headed back to the hostel to rest.

Today, Easter, has been amazing! We woke up, got toast at the hostel, then headed out to church. We went to a Catholic Mass at Galway Cathedral-- the Cathedral is beautiful, and the mass was very nice. They opened with the hymn "Jesus Christ is Risen Today," the same hymn that all Episcopal Easter Services begin with, and that made me really happy-- it can't be Easter without that hymn. Strangely enough, everything has been open today. Apparently Good Friday is the day that everything is closed. We spent the day in Galway shopping (I got a scally-cap for Jacob!) and looking around. Emily and I got some Irish donuts which were AMAZING but I can feel them clogging my arteries, and we got a traditional Irish breakfast at 12:30 at Riordan's, which was sooo good. Everything here is about Claddagh-- all the tourists shops sell the rings, there is a museum dedicated to it (closed today, though, ironically) and everyone wears Claddagh rings. I like that I already had one-- it makes me feel special. It also makes me miss Jacob more than ever. Everything here is also about Guiness, which I have yet to drink in Ireland-- I may do that tonight, just to say that I got a pint while in Ireland. Also, I've seen about eight rainbows since I got here. Now I know why the rainbow is a symbol of Ireland-- they are around everyday! Which makes sense, because everyday is the kind of day while the sun shines as it pours rain.

Tomorrow we're going to the Cliffs of Moher, which promise to be amazing.

Hope everyone is having a great Easter!

Gearing to Go...

Tomorrow Spring Break starts.

Everyone here at ASE is in a flurry of panic. It sort of crept up on us. I don't have little bottles of shampoo, and I need to change money into euros, and I finally did laundry today, but now I have to figure out how to get it all in a little duffel. Someone suggested buying a lock, because apparently at hostels they give you little lockers if you supply a lock, but I have no idea where to find something like that here in Bath. Another rumor is that hostels don't supply sheets unless you pay extra, so after weighing the options, I've decided just to pony up the pounds instead of cramming a blanket into my full duffel. Furthermore, there is no food in our flat but we're all leaving tomorrow so there's no point to buying more, so basically we're all starving. *Dies a little*

I should be doing several things today: packing, getting together necessary odds and ends, and writing a paper about Parliamentary Reform. Hm. That would be productive.

Addendum: Pictures

Hey, I just noticed that it's been awhile since I posted any pictures, so here are a few from Jake's visit to England, and a few from France. The first six are from London, the last four are from Biarritz.







Here's where the Biarritz pictures start.





Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Told Him I Knew Too Many People in Biarritz; True, Too.

First of all, Biarritz is gorgeous. Secondly, it is a bitch to get to and from London Stansted Airport.

Thursday morning I woke up around 9:00, as I do, ate breakfast, finished up writing a letter to Jacob, and popped into the post office to mail it. Then I finished up packing for France and headed out to the train station to catch the 11:13 train to London Paddington. My flight wasn’t until 6:30 that night, but I had read that it takes quite awhile to get to Stansted, and everyone knows that for international flights you have to get to the airport quite early. So off I went to on the train merrily towards London Paddington. I ought to have been reading for Irish Lit, but instead I took along Betsy and the Great World and began to read that as we rolled towards London. I love my Betsy-Tacy books. Honestly, it’s like opening an old friend to read—and lately I’ve felt in desperate need of old friends.

We got to London Paddington around 1:00 in the afternoon, then I had to navigate my way through the tube system to Liverpool Street, where I switched onto the Stansted Express going to the airport. I managed it all without too much difficulty and around 2:30 we were pulling up to the airport. So, slightly earlier than I had bargained for, but at least I had gotten there without much trouble. Unfortunately Ryanair.com, who has the cheapest flights in the world (before taxes my flights cost me two pence, or four USA cents) doesn’t open their desks until exactly two hours before the flight is scheduled to leave, so I got to sit around the airport for awhile. I got a bag of crisps and a chocolate croissant from Pret-A-Manger, then I settled back into Betsy and the Great World. Betsy, like me, gets homesick (though she gets it much worse than me…usually). I was doing quite well until I got to the line, “‘Life is just too short,’ Betsy wept, ‘to spend a year away from home!’” Then I sort of broke down weeping myself, so I called my mom. We talked for a good twenty minutes, and by then the Ryanair.com desk had opened so I got my boarding pass and went through security. Past security were all the duty free shops and I browsed them for awhile, almost buying a fake-pearl headband, then settled back into my book when Shea called to tell me that she and Margaux were in the airport, just coming through security. We met up, got a little more food at yet another Pret-A-Manger, then headed to the gate. We had a relatively easy flight (I read more Betsy and the Great World and was delighted to rediscover that she spends a few months in Munich. I’m going to Munich for Spring Break and had absolutely no idea what to see there, but now I can be like Betsy!!!), and when we landed it was a warm clear night in the South of France, in the Aquitaine, in Biarritz.

We got a taxi which zoomed us to our hotel (how they go so quickly on such narrow streets I’ll never know), punched in the night code, got up to our rooms, and fell in love with Biarritz. The hotel was somewhat similar to Hotel Patrizia, where I stayed the first few nights in Italy, except cleaner, with slightly softer beds, and an actual shower. I had a single and Shea and Margaux had a double. My room was all light blue with a headboard (if you could call it that) embroidered with anchors. We changed into lighter clothing then headed out into the night. It was only 9:00 PM on a Thursday, but Biarritz was dead. There was no one out. We finally found the center of town where a few brasseries and bars were still open—there were people—but we didn’t go in. We also passed a few discoteques, but again, didn’t go in. Instead, we found the beach. We rounded the corner onto the Grande Plage and my heart just soared. There was a palais which Napoleon had built, all lit up, and—most importantly—a lighthouse! Jacob and I search out lighthouses and all I wanted was him next to me to enjoy this beautiful, beautiful sight. The lighthouse was even a functioning lighthouse, with an extremely bright light flashing in circles. We walked down to the edge of the sand, but only Shea actually went running towards the water. After awhile we simply walked back to the hotel. I watched a little T.V, something with James Blunt (apparently he was performing in Paris, which made me think of the “1973” song, which made me think of this one time that Jacob called me from the car and just held the phone over the speaker when that song was on, just to get it stuck in my head), then I fell asleep pretty much instantaneously.

The next morning we were up by 8:00, because the hotel served breakfast at 8:10. We went down to the little, bright dining room and our hostess (who, it transpired, spoke no English—thank goodness for my meager French!) seated us and brought out warm croissants, baguettes, butter, jam, and the rich, dark, flavorful coffee of Europe. The whole breakfast reminded me of Italy, and of Spain. In Spain we had the best coffee and my mom and I kept getting refills—that was how I felt with this. It almost—ALMOST—made me miss Florence. I noticed later that the hallways of the hotel smelled like Roberta’s house, and even my room smelled like summer in Italy.

It was a bit cloudy and cool that morning, even though weather.com had said it was supposed to be warm and sunny, so we put on pants and I put on my white tunic top, and we headed out to see the Musee de Chocolat, and in general to explore the area (Margaux, on chocolate: “I would eat a chocolate-shaped poop I love it so much. Err… a poop-shaped chocolate…ew.”) We walked forever, just looking at the ocean below us and at the little pretty houses, when we came to a sign that pointed to San Sebastian. Immediately, I wanted to go, because that is where Jake Barnes is in the end of the Sun Also Rises (not to mention in St. Jean de Luz, another close place) but we found out that San Sebastian was forty miles away, and St. Jean de Luz was half an hour by car, and that buses to Spain only ran one way…we were a little confused about that. Anyways, we stayed in Biarritz. The sun had gotten through the clouds and it was beginning to be quite hot, so we went back to the hotel and changed into our “resort wear.” I wore a white skirt, my Juliet shirt, and my grey flats. Then we decided to head over to the Grande Plage for picture taking. We ended up taking about a million pictures on a cliff overlooking the beach, and even some old French guy stopped and tried to talk to us, and took a picture of the three of us. He must have been about sixty-five, he was balding, and he looked slightly like Edgar from Aristocats, but he kept talking to us about going to Copa Cabana Discoteque that night. We declined. Finally he left and we headed down to the beach, where there were more pictures to be had. It was about lunchtime, so we went to a little sandwich food stand by the beach for lunch. I got a croque monsieur, an Orangina, and an apple tart all for 6.50 euro! We took our meals back to the seaside and ate while watching the ocean, and a bunch of Spanish schoolkids who had just arrived. After lunch, we went to Hotel de Palais, which used to be a residence of Napoleon and the Empress Eugenie, then we headed back in the direction of our hotel, and yet a different beach. On the way there we stopped by a little restaurant/patisserie, and I got a chocolate éclair, which of course made me think of eating in Paul’s with Jacob, and the coffee éclair he got. Sigh. The patisserie was fantastic though, and we decided to go back for dinner and eat in, because the restaurant had a lovely view of the ocean.

We spent the next few hours lounging happily on the beach. I continued reading Betsy and the Great World. She was in Venice. It made me slightly miserable. I tried to call Jacob, but my phone wasn’t getting any reception on the beach. Furthermore, the entire area looked like Cinqueterre, which was beautiful, but also slightly heart-string tugging. Still, it was very nice to have Betsy Ray with me on my travels. And goodness, it was nice to be reading on a beach again, and to feel the sand and the sun and smell the salt air.

We left the beach area around 5:30, took more pictures at la Roche de la Vierge, a memorial for the French resistance of World War II, then ran into the old French man again, who again tried to get us to go discotequing (and again we declined). We went back to the hotel to freshen up a bit, then headed back out to Miremont, the restaurant/patisserie. We had a bit of trouble with Margaux trying to order just tap water, but we secured it, and I got a Quiche Lorraine, in honor of Jacob. We spent the evening sitting by the ocean, watching the sky gradually darken, then we decided just to go back to our hotel. We watched the French Top 50 Song Chart (there were some good, some bad), then I feel asleep.

The next morning progressed similarly to the one before, waking early, eating breakfast. Then Shea, Margaux, and I checked out of the hotel and got a taxi to the airport. I had planned to switch from a 7:15 PM flight to the 12:10 PM flight that Shea and Margaux were on, except they wouldn’t let me do that without paying 352 euro, which I wasn’t about to do, so Shea and Margaux went on past security to their flight to London and I was stranded in the airport without recourse—I couldn’t even get my boarding pass until 5:15. I called my parents and began to cry, mostly with homesickness than with anger over the flights, and unhappy at the grim prospect of sitting alone in an airport forever. I cried and cried and begged to get on a plane to New York JFK, then I calmed myself down and walked back to the terminal. Immediately, an English woman came up to me and asked if I was alright, she had seen me talking on the phone. I explained the situation and she said, “Well, I’m just picking up a friend from the airport—her name is Charlee, and we are going for drink in Biarritz if you want to come with us.” So, I did. Kirstie, as her name was, and Charlee, and I went to a brasserie and got wine and spent five hours drinking and talking. They were both incredibly nice—didn’t even let me pay for the drinks when I offered. They had lived in St. Jean de Luz, close to Biarritz, for about a year, but before that they had been friends in London, and had grown up in Bath! It was such a fantastic afternoon that I hadn’t even hoped for hours before; very Sun Also Rises. Kirstie drove me back to the airport at 5:00, and we exchanged e-mail addresses, then I got on my plane and was off to London! Got back (nearly didn’t get back into the country because I didn’t have my letter saying that I was a student; must remember to take that for Spring Break), then trained home to Bath, where I arrived safe and sound at midnight.

"Told him I knew too many people in Biarritz; true, too." ~Lady Brett Ashley