I've been here for 18 Weeks, a little over 4 months. Wow. I still love every minute of it, even when nothing exciting is happening, when I'm just going to class, and band, and grocery shopping, and discussing homework problems with people, I love it.
Public transportation is amazing! its nice to not have to worry about parking a car, and how long its been parked, and if your going to get a parking ticket, you just get on a bus and go wherever your going. It is a pain to carry groceries back on the bus, but once you get used to it, its not too bad. Being able to hop on a train and get anywhere I need to go is pretty fantastic too!
I've been to see an NHS doctor 3 times now, and that is always an adventure, the second time I went was good (I may have just told the doctor what tests to do, but he listened) the third time was very different then it would have been in the US. I went to have blood drawn, in the US they send you to a hospital, where there are these fancy chairs with arm rests, here I had a pillow under my arm and the nurse kneeling on the floor (not too big of a deal, NHS is poor, no fancy chairs, whatever). In the US they clean the skin twice with alcohol and wear gloves. Here they don't sterilise the skin and they don't wear gloves. It's fascinating, all the precautions we take in the States that no other country takes. I was shocked at first when she didn't use alcohol swabs, or wear gloves, I grew up in a society where they are overly clean all the time, I took a phlebotomy class, that taught me why we use alcohol and wear gloves, and stand to draw blood, and now I'm over here and they don't have the same rules. And probably the most shocking of all is that they don't do any of that, and everyone over here is still alive...
When I think of England, I've always thought of it as a place that mostly had the same standards as the US, I've quickly found out that that isn't true. Everything here is different, it truly is a different culture then the US. The standereds here are not higher or lower then the US, just different.
Nothing, and I mean nothing, is made with 'high fructose corn syrup', what you may ask could they possibly use instead? They use sugar, imagine that a non-man made substance in food. I couldn't believe it myself, but they do. look at the ingredients in your Coke, or your cranberry sauce at thanksgiving, check M&M's and maybe even ketchup....high fructose corn syrup in all of it, not here, here they use sugar. There are less preservatives, less added colours, and less sugar in almost everything.
England is a fascinating place to me still, because it so similart to the US and yet so different at the same time.
Friday, 30 January 2009
Wednesday, 7 January 2009
Christmas Holiday Part II (Wales and The Netherlands)
We spent the next 2 days, resting, watching movies, going to the grocery store, talking. On the 27th my Grandparents arrived and I took a train in the afternoon to meet them in Chester. We had dinner and headed back to their hotel, we spent the next day with my step-grandma's pen pal Shirley and her family. And the next day we went on a drive through Wales. It was really nice to see them. and Shirley was fun. They left the following day for Paris, and I went back to Lancaster.
Rayna had planned on going to see her cousin for New Years Eve, and so we had a ferry the following morning (Jan. 31st) to go to Rotterdam. Since the ferry left at 9am we had to take a train that night to make it. So we took the 8pm train from Lancaster to London. From there we took an 11pm train to Colchester where we had to wait from 12am to 5:45 am. Yes thats right 5 hours in a closed train station. I was not looking forward to it. We got there and there was a crazy girl who bought beer from some random people passing through the train station. She said she had fallen asleep on the train and missed her stop and now she was lost. She claimed not to be drunk, we still are undecided on this. She talked a lot, and lucky for us, she somehow talked the station guards, to put us in the 'white room' which supposedly had heat. It was freezing in there. We moved into a warmer waiting area at 4am, when the station opened. We got on our train at 5:45, we were at the ferry docks a little after 6. We slept in the waiting area until we got to board at 8. We were exhausted, we got on the ferry, and we had the bright idea to save money and not get a cabin, having been up all night, we slept on chairs pushed together in the waiting area, and played rummy until we docked at 4pm.
We took a train with Rayna's cousin to her moms house. Showered and left for a new years eve party, with some friends of the family. We had traditional dutch new years eve, oilie bollen, or something like that, and then watched the fireworks and had champagne at midnight. there were so many fireworks. Apparently its the only day they are legal, so people buy tons of them. and burn christmas trees, it was amazing, and crazy all at the same time. We stayed there until about 2 am and then went back to Rayna's second cousin's house. And finally got to sleep. We slept in until 3pm.
Then next day we met Raynas great aunt, and her family. Raynas great aunt is adorable, and funny. I have never kissed so many strangers before. by the end I got used to the three kisses on the cheek, though. We ate dinner with raynas extended family, and then headed off to Rotterdam. We talked to Rayna's cousin Nina for a while and then went to sleep.
Nina is a squatter which means she lives in an abandoned building and doesn't pay rent. The first night it was freezing. but after that it warmed up. The next day we went and explored Rotterdam. We went to museums and had drinks and dutch food at the New York Hotel. Apparently there was a photo-shoot going on there and we saw some models. Rayna and I went into a 'coffee shop' just to see what it was like. The coffee shop is where they sell marijuana, we were buzzed in and immediately had to show id. There were all different brands for sale.
The next day we went to Amsterdam and had raw herring, I don't even want to talk about it. We also went into Anne Franks house. Which was very interesting, I loved her diary when I was little, and so walking up the stairs behind the bookcase was amazing. We walked around for awhile, and then headed back to Rotterdam. The next day Rayna and I went to the Hague. We saw the peace palace and the peace flame, and took some crazy pictures. We went to the sea, looked at it and decided it was too cold. We got on the tram and just rode it for a while, then we went back to Nina's spent the rest of our euros, and got on the Ferry. We took the night ferry and got a cabin so it went much smoother.
The back to Lancaster for a day and a half, before rayna went home.
All of the pictures that were taking in The Netherlands, are gone, my camera says they aren't pictures and they are no where on my computer....I'm pretty sad about that.
Rayna had planned on going to see her cousin for New Years Eve, and so we had a ferry the following morning (Jan. 31st) to go to Rotterdam. Since the ferry left at 9am we had to take a train that night to make it. So we took the 8pm train from Lancaster to London. From there we took an 11pm train to Colchester where we had to wait from 12am to 5:45 am. Yes thats right 5 hours in a closed train station. I was not looking forward to it. We got there and there was a crazy girl who bought beer from some random people passing through the train station. She said she had fallen asleep on the train and missed her stop and now she was lost. She claimed not to be drunk, we still are undecided on this. She talked a lot, and lucky for us, she somehow talked the station guards, to put us in the 'white room' which supposedly had heat. It was freezing in there. We moved into a warmer waiting area at 4am, when the station opened. We got on our train at 5:45, we were at the ferry docks a little after 6. We slept in the waiting area until we got to board at 8. We were exhausted, we got on the ferry, and we had the bright idea to save money and not get a cabin, having been up all night, we slept on chairs pushed together in the waiting area, and played rummy until we docked at 4pm.
We took a train with Rayna's cousin to her moms house. Showered and left for a new years eve party, with some friends of the family. We had traditional dutch new years eve, oilie bollen, or something like that, and then watched the fireworks and had champagne at midnight. there were so many fireworks. Apparently its the only day they are legal, so people buy tons of them. and burn christmas trees, it was amazing, and crazy all at the same time. We stayed there until about 2 am and then went back to Rayna's second cousin's house. And finally got to sleep. We slept in until 3pm.
Then next day we met Raynas great aunt, and her family. Raynas great aunt is adorable, and funny. I have never kissed so many strangers before. by the end I got used to the three kisses on the cheek, though. We ate dinner with raynas extended family, and then headed off to Rotterdam. We talked to Rayna's cousin Nina for a while and then went to sleep.
Nina is a squatter which means she lives in an abandoned building and doesn't pay rent. The first night it was freezing. but after that it warmed up. The next day we went and explored Rotterdam. We went to museums and had drinks and dutch food at the New York Hotel. Apparently there was a photo-shoot going on there and we saw some models. Rayna and I went into a 'coffee shop' just to see what it was like. The coffee shop is where they sell marijuana, we were buzzed in and immediately had to show id. There were all different brands for sale.
The next day we went to Amsterdam and had raw herring, I don't even want to talk about it. We also went into Anne Franks house. Which was very interesting, I loved her diary when I was little, and so walking up the stairs behind the bookcase was amazing. We walked around for awhile, and then headed back to Rotterdam. The next day Rayna and I went to the Hague. We saw the peace palace and the peace flame, and took some crazy pictures. We went to the sea, looked at it and decided it was too cold. We got on the tram and just rode it for a while, then we went back to Nina's spent the rest of our euros, and got on the Ferry. We took the night ferry and got a cabin so it went much smoother.
The back to Lancaster for a day and a half, before rayna went home.
All of the pictures that were taking in The Netherlands, are gone, my camera says they aren't pictures and they are no where on my computer....I'm pretty sad about that.
Christmas Holiday Part I (London and Prague)
What a break! Christmas holiday was non-stop, it started on Friday 12 December. Lindsey and I left that Friday for a few days in London. We met up with my friend Zaid who I met in India, and stayed with a friend of a friend of Lindsey's called Joey. We stayed in a house he lives in with a bunch of other people about 20 min from central London, in the living room, which was fine, and cheap so aside from the fact that we had to have a day tube pass for everyday, and it was hard to go back to the house and then back into town it was fine. I took Lindsey to all of the usual places, Big Ben, Buckingham, Tate Modern, ect.... And we found some new places with Zaid, like a museum that featured an exhibit of wax old men in electric chairs moving around the floor. it was weird. and we had the best cookies ever at Uncle Ben's. We went on the London eye, which was cool, but not really £12.50 cool. It was a whirlwind trip but also a lot of fun.
We came back on Sunday the 14, Lindsey left Monday the 15, and I went to the GP to see if I was anemic, they told me I didn't have a bladder infection...no really? The rest of the day I spent preparing for Tuesday. on Tuesday the 16 Rayna and Casey got here, I picked them up at the train station at 12ish, and we found a bus (that was almost and adventure, sonme buses say they are running over uni break, but they aren't), and got back to lancaster. On 16 Wednesday, we got up early to get to Birmingham international airport to leave for Prague. The flight took off on time, and everything went smoothly until we landed. By landed I mean until the plane fell onto the runway with a very loud "Thump!", so loud and hard in fact that everyone started clapping. Never a good sign. But we all survived and we were in Prague.
From the airport we took the Metro to a stop that was completely unpronounceable, since it was a stop we needed to remember I started calling it the closest english word to what it looked like 'smirnoff'. And so started the renaming of all the Metro stops we used. The common ones were 'jello and pudding, stair master, music, and milkshake' sounds stupid, but it kept us from getting lost. Unlike what lonely planet claims, not that many people in Prague speak English, it happens, and its doable. The metro was busy, so we implemented 'emergency emu', in the event that you get separated from the group and can't see anybody you hold your hand up in the shape of an emu, and anyone who sees it follows suit. We got some interesting looks from people around us, but it helped a few times so it was worth it. The hostel was not to far from the metro, but up about 74 steep steps, unusually unpleasant steps. The hostel was cute there were 7 beds, and the most people in there were 6, including the three of us. We did unfortunately have the 30 year old drunk guy, but he was pretty harmless. The hostel had free breakfast so everyday we had breakfast, and made sandwiches to take with us for lunch. Prague was gorgeous. There was a christmas market in old town, that was very cute, and busy, and at night it was lit up. We went around and saw all the stuff your supposed to see, the random art around the city (which included two guys peeing into a pond, babies on the TV tower, and a freud look-a-like hanging from a pole) We also went to the castle which was interesting because it isn't just one main building, its almost like a city within the walls. We also went to Franz Kafka's grave, statue, and bookstore. the 3 of us are now major Kafka fans. We spend most of the time just wondering around climbing hills, and finding new things, somehow we managed to go to Prague and not go to a jazz club, or any club of any kind for that matter, still not sure how that happened.
We left Prague on the 21 December, to go to London. (this was my 3rd time in London, for anyone keeping track) The first night there, I dragged for Casey and Rayna all around, from Russel Square to Buckingham, on the way back, I got us lost, but we found a bus and made it back to our hostel. We stayed in Smart Russel Square. Which had pod beds.....i can't describe it so I'll post a picture. we were tightly packed with 21 others. It was 'smart' russel square because it was a green hostel. Apparently this means that the showers should be in the basement? I don't know why, but they were, down 2 flights of stairs, around a corner town 2 more flights of stairs, down a long white hallway, and another hallway and then on the right. Not only did we have to hike 6 miles to get to the showers (which was not that big of a deal) but the showers were 'push-on', you know, like the sinks, where you press the button and the water stays on for 90 seconds and then turns off....yeah but a shower. The first night this was interesting, especially since it was all open and the only changing area was outside of the main shower room. By the second night we had a routine, and figured out the best way to keep the showers on, it pretty much involved a dance, but I'll spare you the details.
While in London, we took a duck tour, which was fun, who knew the going into the water part actually was dangerous, went to the florence nightingale museum, saw, big ben, and buckingham changing of the guards (they played Santa Baby, as one of their songs) and walked around alot. We left london on the 23 of December, and headed back to Lancaster
We came back on Sunday the 14, Lindsey left Monday the 15, and I went to the GP to see if I was anemic, they told me I didn't have a bladder infection...no really? The rest of the day I spent preparing for Tuesday. on Tuesday the 16 Rayna and Casey got here, I picked them up at the train station at 12ish, and we found a bus (that was almost and adventure, sonme buses say they are running over uni break, but they aren't), and got back to lancaster. On 16 Wednesday, we got up early to get to Birmingham international airport to leave for Prague. The flight took off on time, and everything went smoothly until we landed. By landed I mean until the plane fell onto the runway with a very loud "Thump!", so loud and hard in fact that everyone started clapping. Never a good sign. But we all survived and we were in Prague.
From the airport we took the Metro to a stop that was completely unpronounceable, since it was a stop we needed to remember I started calling it the closest english word to what it looked like 'smirnoff'. And so started the renaming of all the Metro stops we used. The common ones were 'jello and pudding, stair master, music, and milkshake' sounds stupid, but it kept us from getting lost. Unlike what lonely planet claims, not that many people in Prague speak English, it happens, and its doable. The metro was busy, so we implemented 'emergency emu', in the event that you get separated from the group and can't see anybody you hold your hand up in the shape of an emu, and anyone who sees it follows suit. We got some interesting looks from people around us, but it helped a few times so it was worth it. The hostel was not to far from the metro, but up about 74 steep steps, unusually unpleasant steps. The hostel was cute there were 7 beds, and the most people in there were 6, including the three of us. We did unfortunately have the 30 year old drunk guy, but he was pretty harmless. The hostel had free breakfast so everyday we had breakfast, and made sandwiches to take with us for lunch. Prague was gorgeous. There was a christmas market in old town, that was very cute, and busy, and at night it was lit up. We went around and saw all the stuff your supposed to see, the random art around the city (which included two guys peeing into a pond, babies on the TV tower, and a freud look-a-like hanging from a pole) We also went to the castle which was interesting because it isn't just one main building, its almost like a city within the walls. We also went to Franz Kafka's grave, statue, and bookstore. the 3 of us are now major Kafka fans. We spend most of the time just wondering around climbing hills, and finding new things, somehow we managed to go to Prague and not go to a jazz club, or any club of any kind for that matter, still not sure how that happened.
We left Prague on the 21 December, to go to London. (this was my 3rd time in London, for anyone keeping track) The first night there, I dragged for Casey and Rayna all around, from Russel Square to Buckingham, on the way back, I got us lost, but we found a bus and made it back to our hostel. We stayed in Smart Russel Square. Which had pod beds.....i can't describe it so I'll post a picture. we were tightly packed with 21 others. It was 'smart' russel square because it was a green hostel. Apparently this means that the showers should be in the basement? I don't know why, but they were, down 2 flights of stairs, around a corner town 2 more flights of stairs, down a long white hallway, and another hallway and then on the right. Not only did we have to hike 6 miles to get to the showers (which was not that big of a deal) but the showers were 'push-on', you know, like the sinks, where you press the button and the water stays on for 90 seconds and then turns off....yeah but a shower. The first night this was interesting, especially since it was all open and the only changing area was outside of the main shower room. By the second night we had a routine, and figured out the best way to keep the showers on, it pretty much involved a dance, but I'll spare you the details.
While in London, we took a duck tour, which was fun, who knew the going into the water part actually was dangerous, went to the florence nightingale museum, saw, big ben, and buckingham changing of the guards (they played Santa Baby, as one of their songs) and walked around alot. We left london on the 23 of December, and headed back to Lancaster
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
