The Past Couple Weeks...

   A couple of weekends ago on a Sunday morning a couple of friends and myself went to the markets near Liverpool Street. I wasn't sure what to expect... I didn't know whether it would look a flea market, a farmers fresh market or just something straight out of the Middle Ages. As it turns out its a mix of all three. There are individual booths with anything from books, movies and CD's to jewelry, used, new & vintage clothes, and hats! They also have fresh food and drinks that you can buy, like delicious pastries and mulled wine.
   The first market we went to was called Spitafields Market. It was very neat to see all the little stalls with their different handmade products. There were a lot of clothes, bags, jewelry and other trinkets. this market was probably favorite of all the different ones we explored along with the last market. The last market we went to was the flower market, where all these old timer English men whose families have passed down their stalls through the family sell fresh flowers. It look and smelled wonderful.
     I been in school for about 3 weeks now and it is pretty different from the American higher educational system. First of all they go to college for only three years, but they decided what they want to do when they are 15 and then do a lot of prep work in what is equivalent to our high school preparing for those three years of college. It is a very specialized system and requires you to figure out what you wanna do at a much younger age. It is also very individualized and you spend very little time in the classroom and a lot of time outside it doing individual work. Also the classes are most of the times split into two parts, a lecture which usually lasts for about an hour and a tutorial which also lasts for an hour. The lecture part is exactly what it sounds like, a professor giving a lecture & you take notes. The tutorial part is conducted in kind of a more loose structure, sort of a free debate so that students can discuss the lecture and its subject with the teacher and a smaller section of the class.
     However, I must admit although I'm sure at the end of all their education in England these students have learned a lot. But just attending a couple of these classes I can already tell that I am receiving a much more intense course load at Loyola and I have never felt more appreciative of my university for preparing me for the big bad world. This is only the start of the semester, but I feel that it is going to be an easy one. I have already studied most of the subjects that I am covering in my classes and it makes me proud to know our higher educational system is doing it job, well in my case anyways.
    This past weekend me and about 15 other study abroad students that I have become friends with in my dorm went to Munich, Germany for about 4 days. It was quite the experience, Germany basically consists of Beer, Meat, Pretzels and more Beer lol. I saw a lot and was very humbled by my experiences and have never been more appreciative of being an American than I am now. Germans are not very friendly, the barely tolerate each other let alone foreigners and they do not like Americans. It was very strange to be in a place where you can not read any street sign or understand anyone because you don't speak the same language. They never give out free water, they basically drink beer with every meal (which doesn't sound bad to begin with) and they very pushy. Aside from all my negative opinions about Munich, it was altogether a great trip. I saw a lot of different places and visited a couple beer halls. I even got to retrace some of the event that took place in WWII and what made the trip most worth while was my visit to Dachau which was the first concentration camp started by the Nazi's during the Holocaust.
    Dachau was a very humbling and eye opening experience. You learn about these things in school but it is quite different to see it in real life. One of the girls I went with is actually Jewish and all of her family except her two grandparents died in concentration and death camps during the Holocaust and I can not imagine what that experience was like for her. Its winter in Munich so being there and walking around the camp and knowing how cold I was while I had a coat and all other warm clothing on and knowing that these people only had thin linen clothes and absolutely no meat or fat on their bodies just overwhelms you with sorrow. I will never understand this period in world history, how people were able to subject other human beings to the most painful and harshest extremes imaginable will always be a mystery to me and it make me extremely sad to say that humanity still has not learned from this. There are areas in Africa like Dar Fur, where people are still killing one another and conducting mass genocides without a second thought. It will truly be a miracle if the world ever stops looking at how we are different and starts to focus on how we are alike and will end all this turmoil that plagues the human race.

Our First Adventurous Walk

   On Monday January 10th Jessica and I took our first adventurous walk together around London. We took the Tube from South Kensington station and started off in Green Park. They have so many beautiful parks in London it really is a wonderful place to live and everyone has dogs here. If you've ever watched 101 Dalmatians and remember in the first scene when it shows Pongo staring out at all the dogs in the park trying to find one that he likes, that is exactly what it looks like here. Everyone walking everywhere with their pooch, the park, the sidewalks, the tube and even bars. I know Patrick would love it here because he would be able to bring Butters with him all the time and I wish I had Chesney with me so I could bring her to all these cool places!
   After Green Park we made our way to Buckingham Palace. No matter how many times I see this building it will never cease to amaze me, as well as the grand monument built in front of the Palace of Queen Victoria who was the longest reigning monarch in British history who was Queen for 63 years! Although the current Queen Elizabeth II is approaching the record and may pass it up. We took pictures in front of the Palace and walked around the fountain, then we made our way down Mall Road and ventured into St. James's Park. The scenery was beautiful so we stopped took some pictures and sketched out some drawings. From there we made our way over to Westminster. We saw the Clock Tower. Our guide from our bus tour on Saturday informed us that we should not call it Big Ben because that is the name of the bell inside it and we should address the building as the Clock Tower with Big Ben inside. We also saw Westminster Abbey, the House of Commons, the House of Lords and even a statue of Abraham Lincoln. After taking a few touristy red phone booth and "Big Ben" pictures we made our way to Trafalgar's square. This is where you will find the national portrait museum and the huge lions everyone takes pictures with. We had some fun with that and took a bunch of silly pictures as well. One thing I have noticed while being in London is all the Latin on the buildings. I cannot understand a word of it, but it definitely makes me aware of how old the city is. It becomes very easy to forget that it has been around for centuries because it is so modern, even with all the old architecture and castle-like buildings.
   After that we made our way to the Thames river, but not before stopping into the Sherlock Holmes Pub for a nip and some fish and chips. It was a cozy little pub that allowed us to warm up for a bit. Once there it was only a short ways to the river. We crossed a bridge and took a nice little twilight stroll along the water. We saw a bunch of little shops, restaurants, pubs, art and even a skate park. The river was beautiful at night with all the lights lit up from the city and it gave me the feeling as if I was coming home. I felt content as if I was always meant for this and I was exactly where I should be. We passed the Globe Theater where they perform Shakespearean plays in the summer and walked across Millennium bridge, (aka the bridge that gets destroyed in the beginning of the 6th Harry Potter film). We stopped for a quick photo on the bridge with the view of St. Paul's Cathedral in the background and then made our way towards that very structure.
    St. Paul's Cathedral like Buckingham Palace is just astonishing. One look at the structure and your jaw will drop. Like many wonderful buildings in London it was designed by Sir Christopher Wren an architect from the 17th and 18th centuries who's responsibility it was to rebuild the churches after the Great Fire in 1666. By the time we had gotten to St. Paul's Cathedral we had walked about 3 miles and were a bit worn out. So although we had wanted to keep our adventure going we decided to set that aside for another date and we headed home on the Tube.

   This isn't the last of our adventurous walks so stay tuned... :)

1st Week in London

   I arrived in London's Heathrow airport last Monday, the 3rd of January and since then I have been going non-stop in this huge international city. I have made many friends in my study abroad dorm, most of which go to Penn State and I can already tell that I will continue to be friends with these people after my trip is over. I have explored my new University and registered for classes. I had the chance to see the sequel to the Phantom of the Opera play called "Love Never Dies" which is only playing in London, it was amazing and if anyone ever has the chance to come over here while it is still playing I highly suggest you go & see it! I have gotten down the layout of their subway system which they call the "Tube" or the "Underground", but still have some difficulty with the bus system because it is very complicated and their roads look more like a spiderweb then a grid like Chicago, but I'm sure over time that I will get the hang of it. 

   I went to a pub called the Churchill Arms on Wednesday which was the epitome of an English pub, and it is where Winston Churchill used to give a lot of his speeches during his time. He was the Prime Minister after WWII and was a key player and leader for England and the Allies during WWII. On Saturday I had a guided tour around London on which I saw Buckingham Palace, the Tower of London, the Clock Tower or "Big Ben", the London Eye, the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abby, St. Paul's Cathedral, Tower Bridge, and many more amazing sights!

  Yesterday I went to see Windsor Castle which is located right outside London. It was an amazing experience, I got to go inside the castle and see the state apartments & what a sight that was. This castle has been built and rebuilt and built upon some more since 1100 AD when William the Conqueror attempted to control the whole of England by controlling the Thames river which the castle rests upon. It was amazing to see where Kings like Henry VIII and Queens like Elizabeth I have lived. I got to see original Rembrandt paintings, the armor worn by Kings of the past, the rooms where they lived and died in and I got to walk the halls they used to walk! I got to see the Chapel where Henry VIII was buried in next to his third wife Jane Seymour, who he called his Favorite wife because she was the only one to give him the son he longed for. I can't wait to see every castle I possibly can after that experience, each one is so amazing and unique!

This is an amazing place full of so much history and I love just soaking it all up! I can't wait to tell you what other places I have visited & experiences I have had so stay tuned for my next post!

Love and Miss you all

Kira :)