Rain and Tears

In England it has been raining, snowing and cold, which I thought I left at home, but I guess the weather followed me here.

So since the Olympics are going on I have been wanting to watch them, but of course there is a EIGHT hour time difference, however, since I do not have classes on Friday's I decided that I wanted to see some figure skating last night. The downside to that was that it was on at 330 a.m. England time, but I took a nap from 100 a.m. until 330 a.m. with 3 of my other flatmates. It was great to see USA take Gold in Men's Figure Skating, however, it did not end until 5 a.m. England time, so I was rather tried today.

Today, I did some work, which I needed to get done and then I went to the Guild Hall, which is an inside market where vendors can sell their products like used books, sewing and knitting supplies, fresh fruits and veggies, coffee or tea, and various other things. I was going to walk around the city and go into some of the shops but it was to cold, but I think some of us are going out of Sunday around the city and perhaps to a museum.

You are probably wondering why the title of this post is rain and tears, well it is because I have been sad recently. It only hits me when I have free time and alone, like tonight, since I finished a majority of my work. I am trying not for this to hinder my fun that I am having in Bath because I am having a blast, but sometimes I just want to go home to something that I am familiar and comfortable with and be with my loved ones. However, I know that this is normal and most people go through this same thing at some point while being abroad so I just have to stick it out. I am going to try and stay strong, but I know those moments of tears running down my white face are going to happen. I hope the frequency of my tears will subside as my time in England progresses, but time will tell.

On a more exciting note I booked a trip to SCOTLAND with 4 other flatmates in April, which I am excited about. Plus, my dad is coming to visit me at the end of April into May, which will be nice. Then later in May I believe my mom and sister are coming to visit too, but I am not sure how long they are going to stay, however, I know they will be here to help me pack all my stuff up to move out of my flat. I hope I will be able to fit everything in my suitcases, but I do not need to think of that now because I have plenty of time left in England!

So tomorrow, Saturday, I will be attending my first Rugby game, which in the UK is a big thing. I will take pictures and of course write a post of my experience. Plus at the game I need to show off my new Bath Rugby shirt, so I bet you will see a lot of pictures of me in my shirt and everyone else that has the same shirt.

Well, I better get some rest tonight because well I need it, plus it is going to be a busy day tomorrow.

Love to all,

Monica

A Busy week

A lot has happened in the last week, therefore, I think a new post needed to be written so here it goes...

On Sunday 2-7-2010 we went to Stonehedge, Salisbury and Lacock and I took a lot of pictures all of them are on facebook, but I will put some on here.

This is the house where Harry Potter lived when he was a boy, therefore, I needed to get a picture in front of it. This is in Lacock.

I am in front of Stonehedge, which is a pile of rocks that have a lot of meaning, but I do not remember the story that well. It was really cold that day too, like 38 F, which is cold over here for this time of year. At the end of the day we went to a restaurant where we had a traditional England Roast Dinner. I had a chicken breast stuffed with stuffing and then it was wrapped in bacon, along with my dinner was roasted potatoes and some steamed vegetables. As for my dessert, which most people know I LOVE, I had a chocolate torte with homemade whip cream, it was so delicious, yummy! After we headed home and it was now time to get ready for the first day of classes!

My first day of classes went well I have two classes on Monday, my Education class and Jane Austen, so I am done by 130. On Tuesday, I went to the Elementary School, which I am going to love working at for the rest of the semester, plus I get to teach two lesson while I am over here, which will be nice. Wednesday I have one class, which is Virginia Woolf and I am done at 1120. Thursday I also just have one class which is my other education class and I am done at 1120 again, therefore my weekend starts at 1120 every Thursday.

On Thursday it took me almost four hours to do my laundry, which I only had two loads, but the washing machine likes to take an hour and half just to wash my clothes, I guess that means my clothes are really clean. Thursday night we all went out to a club called XL and it was a lot bigger than I am used to in the States. There was two floors, three places to dance, and four bars, it was big. I have also noticed that people in Bath go out on Thursday nights, rest Friday night and then go out Saturday night, therefore my flatmates and I have started to follow the same rules.

Cheddar Cheese yummy! That is where my flat and I took a trip on Friday. The town was called Cheddar and we went and saw the process of how cheese is made. This place is the only place that makes cheddar cheese in the town of Cheddar, it was a great day tasting all the different kinds of cheese. I actually bought two kinds of cheese that I hope will last me awhile, I got a vintage cheese which is the strongest tasting cheese and the other cheese was a smoked cheese, which was also good, okay all of the cheeses were yummy.

Today, I went to the grocery store, which is a far walk from my flat, but I hope that the food will last me for a week and half. I guess I will find out soon...

Okay well I should probably start some reading or just watch TV instead.

Love to all,

Monica

Learning experiences

Week 1- Orientation Week

These past couple of days have been busy, but that is a good thing. On Wednesday, I traveled by Bus, well bus 14 to be exact, to the school that I will be in for the rest of the semester on Tuesdays. Once I boarded the bus I was unsure of where I had to get off but I told the driver where I needed to go and he helped me, which was great. I arrived to the school early, but that was fine because I looked at the handbook. After some time had passed two fifth year students gave me a tour of the building, however, I did not get to meet the teacher I will be working with, but I found out that I had to be there at 8 a.m. even though school does not start until almost 9.

After leaving the school I had to get Bus 14 back to the bus station near my flat. What I did was cross the street to the other bus stop and looked to see if Bus 14 was on that list, but it was not. I then asked someone where I had to go to catch Bus 14 to go towards Bath Bus Station and they said around the corner and across the street. I did that but then another person told me to go cross the street and around the corner. Now this might not seem difficult, but where they were telling me to cross and go around the corner was a round about, so I did not know which way to go. To make this a shorter story I ended up walking downhill for about 45 minutes trying to find the bus stop and I ended at the Bath Bus Station. Let's just say my feet were killing me! I now know where I have to get Bus 14, the same place it dropped me off. Oh goodness!!

On Thursday, as a group we all went to the Bath Abbey, which is beautiful and has amazing history, just like everything else in Bath. I did post pictures on facebook, so please take a look. Friday was more of a relaxing day, and I think this is when my jet lag caught up with me, therefore, I took two naps! Friday night was the first of three formals we have throughout the semester. The formal was at the Victorian Art gallery and this is where we met our tudors, which are professors in the U.S. This was good because now I can put a face to a name and I feel a little more comfortable going into classes starting Monday. After the reception was over all of my flatmates (8 including me) decided to go to a club, to say the least it is a lot different than at home. A lot less clothing on the woman and the males wear button down shirts and travel in packs and yes the males dance with one another. At the club there was Karaoke, so five of us decided to do it, but while we were waiting we met a local university male and when he found out we were Americans, he got really excited and dedicate a song to us. Some people are just so friendly.

Today, Saturday, nothing to much went on. A group of us went to go play football, or soccer and I got to play goalkeeper, which is not my cup of tea, but I did it anyway. One shot was hit pretty hard at my stomach, and I was more shocked than anything, but it still did hurt. Tomorrow we go on our first day trip, to Stonehedge, than to Salisbury where there is a Cathedral and then to Lacock for a traditional England Sunday Roast Dinner. Some point we get to see where part of the Harry Potter movies were filmed. Don't worry I will be taking pictures and posting them for everyone to see. Also to come is pictures and/or video of my flat. Questions/Comments are welcome.

Love to all,

Monica

I MADE IT!

I am now in England it was a long journey, but I made it. It was hard at the airport to say good-bye to my loved ones, but I know that I had to do it. The first plane was fine and I arrived at Washington Dulles and only had a little bit of time before I had to board my first international flight. I tried getting on email but of course I had to pay for internet, therefore I did not pay. My flight to Heathrow, London was okay I did not sleep much, but I hope tonight that I can sleep.

When I arrived in Heathrow I tried looking for my roommate, but the airport is big and we did not do a good job of communicating with one another. To make a long story short, I got lost in the airport, tried to ask a man how to get to Bath (which is where my school is), he did not know and said that I should know this information. I then asked him for directions to another train station and that is where I finally got on a Coach bus, the same in the USA. The bus ride was about two hours long and gratefully I fell asleep for a little while. However, when I arrived at the Bath Bus station I did not see anyone, so I had to take out my laptop and figure out where I was supposed to meet everyone. Because of the delay of getting on the Coach Bus I was one of the last two people here at the program.

I came to my house (flat) and everyone, so seven other people were all waiting in the living room if that is what they call it in England. The flat is set up nicely, the kitchen, dining room, and full bathroom are in the basement, on the ground level is a single room and the living room, the 1st floor is two double bedrooms and two half bathrooms, the 2nd floor has a double bedroom and a single bedroom, with a bathroom with no toilet, don't ask me why.

A person from ASE came to the house to show us how to use the house, like running the washing machine, dryer, turning on the showers and other basic things that you would think would be the same as the U.S. but they are very different. After the orientation with the house we all decided that we were going to go out to dinner, because there is not a lot of food in the house for tonight and tomorrow. However, I still needed to unpack, but I got most of it done before dinner. We went to pub, but first we had to find a place that was open because it seems like a lot of places close early. At the pub this gentlemen in his 50's just started talking to all eight of us about random things but we all laughed even though we were so hungry. The last stop on our journey was a small grocery store.

Tomorrow will be the start of orientation and the school has us doing a lot in the next couple of days, so I am going to say so long for now because I need to catch some rest and start being on ENGLAND time. Pictures and perhaps a video of my flat to come soon, of course when I have free time.

Love you all,

Monica