I love England :). Yesterday, Jason and I decided to take our first weekend trip to Oxford. We figured it would be the ideal first trip since Oxford is only a hour and a half away via coach (bus) and because the city of London has coaches that run every 20 minutes to Oxford high street. We ended up getting into Oxford around 1:15, and promptly made our way to the tourist information center to figure out what we wanted to do in the city.
Upon arrival in the info center, we discovered that there was a 2:15 two hour official guided walking tour of both the city and the universities. With just enough time to grab a panini next door, we waited for the rest of the tourists to arrive. Fortunately, the 2:15 tour had been added at the last minute, and since it wasn't widely published, only two other students also went on the tour. Since there were so few of us, our tour guide let us tailor the tour a little more to our likeing. This meant that we were able to combine the themed "Pottering in Harry's Footsteps Tour" with the "University and City Tour." Since the first "Pottering in Harry's Footsteps Tour" is not set to run until late February, I felt extremely lucky...and Jason felt a little annoyed (he didn't realize my intentions with visiting the city :-P). However, since Jason is a bit of a fan, he wasn't going to complain.
The tour mainly consisted of visiting three of Oxford's colleges and seeing some major city sites along the way. The highlights of the tour definitely included seeing the Bodleian Library (used in the Harry Potter films as both the Infirmary and for the dancing lessons before the Yule Ball), New College (used in the Harry Potter films both as the corridors and as the place where Malfoy got transformed into a ferret), and Christ Church (used in the Harry Potter films for both the original entrance scene into Hogwarts and as an inspiration for the Great Hall). We also saw other important buildings regarding literary history, such as the school J.R.R. Tolkien taught at along with the locations for the inspirations behind the Golden Compass and Alice in Wonderland. I absolutely loved the city, which was definitely more relaxed and much more green than London.
After the tour, Jason and I headed to the Covered Market, which in all reality is a combination of London's Camden Market and Borough Market. I had an tasty, warm, double chocolate cookie from Ben's Cookies and Jason explore a few of the men's shops. We then figured we should go grab dinner and ended up eating at Las Iguanas, a Latin American Restaurant. We had the most amazing tapas since we got there during their happy hour, and ordered Rioja Chorizo, Gambas, Lamb Empanada, Calamares, and Albondigas. I would certainly go back, and am quickly realizing that I love trying new foods.
All in all, I cannot wait to do more weekend trips. Since I don't have classes on Mondays or Tuesdays, I know I can enjoy them without having to worry too much about missing out on homework time :). I'm sending lots of love across the pond!
Sunday, 24 January 2010
Friday, 22 January 2010
Fabulous Food and London Fashion
Even though its only been one week since I last blogged, a lot has definitely changed. I'm slowly getting settled, and finding what I need is becoming less of a challenge. I'm also starting to get the feel for my classes, and while some seem incredibly interesting, others seem a little overwhelming. The main concept behind British learning is learning for the sake of learning, which is in all truth is very different from the American system. For example, in my Practice of Medicine class, I am expected to read papers and listen to podcasts to prepare for class. However, I will never be assessed on my participation or in fact on what we are covering for the majority of the semester. The only two things that will determine my grade are a paper on any topic of my choice regarding medicine and a power point presentation. For what seems like the first time in my academic career, I am expected to keep up with the reading without any incentive besides knowledge. While this is different from what I am used to, its a refreshing approach and I have been looking forward to attending class. I also really enjoy my medical microbiology class thus far, as we spent class this week learning about the history of the subject and about biological warfare. The professors are incredibly interesting and while some of my classes, such as health psych, are mainly review, its nice to learn about the British system of education through being apart of it.
While I have of course been attending class, in this past week I've been indulging a lot in two of my favorite things: food and fashion. While I am on a relatively tight budget, I have been discovering with the help of my peers many exciting restaurants that serve food from all over the world. A lot of the places have specials that are making trying new foods an inexpensive alternative to cooking in my freezing kitchen. Some of the most memorable restaurants include Wagamamas (a Japanese restaurant where they serve you at long tables), the Coal Hole (a British restaurant where I had venison pie), and Zen Sai (where I had my first dim sum with Jason Li). We have also been eating at a lot of Italian restaurants, but none of them have so far matched up to Little Italy in Cleveland. However, I am getting my fair share of wonderful Italian food thanks to the Borough Market, which is this truly amazing food market really close to my flat. Its actually celebrated throughout the city, and a lot of the great chefs come south of the river to pick up their ingredients. At the market, I purchased the most amazing pesto sauce I have ever tried, and also picked up a blood orange. While the blood orange was a bit expensive, I have always wanted to try one ever since I started watching Iron Chef America on the food network. The blood orange basically just tasted like a delicious orange, but the red color and the taste still didn't make it worth the price to me. They also were selling tiny truffles for 500 pounds! While its nice to get special things there, I can guarantee that will not be where I end up doing most of my shopping.
Another exciting foodie note is that I have chosen to start my own chocolate tour of Europe. Nicky, one of my best friends from high school, studied abroad in Florence, Italy last semester. She was always talking about her chocolatey adventures in London so I figured I should have on one too! While I have had my fair share of inexpensive cadburry and lint chocolates, I recently indulged in Prestat Pink Marc de Champagne Truffles from Harrods. While they have been absolutely delicious, I can't wait to try other varieties. Speaking of Harrods, the famous department store is an incredible place. There were so many levels, and the experience felt very regal. Apparently, at one point you had to dress up to go to the store, and you could find "anything from a hair pin to an elephant." While that doesn't necessarily hold true anymore, the place was very elegant and the food halls were outstanding. However, I am 100% positive that I will not be shopping for much besides chocolate at the lovely Harrods :).
Speaking of shopping, one of the most interesting, yet challenging, parts of my study abroad experience have involved London fashion. While what I packed would have been just fine for any amount of stay at a school in America, I packed absolutely terribly for a stay in London. Londoners love fashion, and the vast majority of women seem to only wear dresses and skirts with boots. And if they aren't wearing one of those, they are wearing skinny jeans. Did I pack any of the above? Of course not! I even forgot to pack rain boots for goodness sake, and I knew that London is a very rainy city. I also managed to pack coats that didn't suit London's weather and up until recently was always either too hot or too cold. Fortunately, I came to London at the right time of the year and have been hitting huge sales. Nevertheless, I still haven't purchased much yet besides a cute business casual dress from Top Shop and an inexpensive charcoal pea coat from Primark. Top Shop is an amazing store directed mostly towards a more trendy crowd and is more middle range shopping. Primark, on the other hand, is very similar to an incredibly large forever 21 and is absolutely crazy! While there are a ton of bargains, shopping at the store is very chaotic and queues are quite long. I also have been to Camden Market with Jason, which great alternative fashions and unique gifts. I'm still on the hunt for boots and hopefully I will be successful sooner than later!
With food and fashion being two of my favorite things, I am sure you all will be hearing much more about both. I miss you all and love getting your updates!
While I have of course been attending class, in this past week I've been indulging a lot in two of my favorite things: food and fashion. While I am on a relatively tight budget, I have been discovering with the help of my peers many exciting restaurants that serve food from all over the world. A lot of the places have specials that are making trying new foods an inexpensive alternative to cooking in my freezing kitchen. Some of the most memorable restaurants include Wagamamas (a Japanese restaurant where they serve you at long tables), the Coal Hole (a British restaurant where I had venison pie), and Zen Sai (where I had my first dim sum with Jason Li). We have also been eating at a lot of Italian restaurants, but none of them have so far matched up to Little Italy in Cleveland. However, I am getting my fair share of wonderful Italian food thanks to the Borough Market, which is this truly amazing food market really close to my flat. Its actually celebrated throughout the city, and a lot of the great chefs come south of the river to pick up their ingredients. At the market, I purchased the most amazing pesto sauce I have ever tried, and also picked up a blood orange. While the blood orange was a bit expensive, I have always wanted to try one ever since I started watching Iron Chef America on the food network. The blood orange basically just tasted like a delicious orange, but the red color and the taste still didn't make it worth the price to me. They also were selling tiny truffles for 500 pounds! While its nice to get special things there, I can guarantee that will not be where I end up doing most of my shopping.
Another exciting foodie note is that I have chosen to start my own chocolate tour of Europe. Nicky, one of my best friends from high school, studied abroad in Florence, Italy last semester. She was always talking about her chocolatey adventures in London so I figured I should have on one too! While I have had my fair share of inexpensive cadburry and lint chocolates, I recently indulged in Prestat Pink Marc de Champagne Truffles from Harrods. While they have been absolutely delicious, I can't wait to try other varieties. Speaking of Harrods, the famous department store is an incredible place. There were so many levels, and the experience felt very regal. Apparently, at one point you had to dress up to go to the store, and you could find "anything from a hair pin to an elephant." While that doesn't necessarily hold true anymore, the place was very elegant and the food halls were outstanding. However, I am 100% positive that I will not be shopping for much besides chocolate at the lovely Harrods :).
Speaking of shopping, one of the most interesting, yet challenging, parts of my study abroad experience have involved London fashion. While what I packed would have been just fine for any amount of stay at a school in America, I packed absolutely terribly for a stay in London. Londoners love fashion, and the vast majority of women seem to only wear dresses and skirts with boots. And if they aren't wearing one of those, they are wearing skinny jeans. Did I pack any of the above? Of course not! I even forgot to pack rain boots for goodness sake, and I knew that London is a very rainy city. I also managed to pack coats that didn't suit London's weather and up until recently was always either too hot or too cold. Fortunately, I came to London at the right time of the year and have been hitting huge sales. Nevertheless, I still haven't purchased much yet besides a cute business casual dress from Top Shop and an inexpensive charcoal pea coat from Primark. Top Shop is an amazing store directed mostly towards a more trendy crowd and is more middle range shopping. Primark, on the other hand, is very similar to an incredibly large forever 21 and is absolutely crazy! While there are a ton of bargains, shopping at the store is very chaotic and queues are quite long. I also have been to Camden Market with Jason, which great alternative fashions and unique gifts. I'm still on the hunt for boots and hopefully I will be successful sooner than later!
With food and fashion being two of my favorite things, I am sure you all will be hearing much more about both. I miss you all and love getting your updates!
Friday, 15 January 2010
The Begining of a New Year
Wow! I can't believe that I've already been in London for two weeks and I definitely can't believe that I am going to be living here for the next five months. I wish I would have started writing this sooner since so much has happened since New Year's Day. After a bit of chaos at home, I wasn't able to leave until a day after my flight out of the states was originally scheduled. While I was looking forward to spending my New Year's Eve counting down the minutes till midnight over the ocean, I am glad that I was able to sort everything out before leaving the country for such a long time. The majority of New Year's Day was spent waiting in airports, but the long layovers gave me plenty of time to do a little bit of catching up with family and friends. Upon arriving in London on January 2nd, I was fortunate enough to have one of the people from the Butler Institute for Study Abroad pick me up at the airport. This was incredibly convenient since I'm pretty sure I didn't have the skill set yet to navigate London at 7:30 in the morning after not sleeping very well on the plane rides.
The hardest thing I experienced so far was having to start Butler's orientation immediately after arriving. While everyone else was given a day to rest after arriving, I had to try my absolute hardest to stay awake since I arrived late. A lot of important details regarding the study abroad experience were covered, and fortunately for me, most of their documents were given to us on a flash drive so that we could pursue them on our own time (aka when I was less sleepy!). Once the meetings were over, we had a few hours break to relax before we went to go see the musical La Cage Aux Folles. While I wish I would have seen it when I was more awake, the experience was certainly memorable! I hope to see as many shows as possible while I'm here, as I absolutely love musical theater.
The rest of orientation went by quickly, with lots of information given about the city and student life in London. We also ate at an amazing Turkish restaurant which reminded me of Aladdin's at my home school, Case Western Reserve University. I have a feeling I will be going back again soon! We ended the day with a walking tour, which was nice since it got us all a little more acquainted with the city. My favorite site so far is definitely Trafalgar Square, which has these absolutely beautiful quartrefoil fountains and lion statues. It reminded me of Phi Mu, and I knew I wanted to take Alissa, one of my sorority sisters, to the site when she came to visit in a few days.
After orientation ended, a coach came and dropped us all off at our prospective flats. My flat is within walking distance to one of the two main campuses that I will attending while I am going to school here. This is incredibly nice since it should save me over 100 dollars a month on transportation expenses. I don't have any roommates, which has its pros and cons, and I live in a suite with 10 other people. However, we only share the kitchen space since we all have our own bathrooms. It is a bit of an experience living here for a few reasons. The first, and biggest for me, is the heat situation. Every hour you have to press a button to "boost" the heat and then it turns off. In other words, my room is never warm enough, at least in comparison to living in the Village at Case! The other odd part of my flat is that the toilet is inside the shower. I'm not sure I will ever fully understand it, but I'm slowly getting used to some of the differences.
Wednesday the 6th involved registration, orientation, and seeing Alissa Ostrove. I am really excited and happy to be attending King's College London this semester, which is one of the top 25 universities in the world. I also was accepted into their Pre-Medical Program, which I know will be an amazing experience that will certainly help me to become a better doctor in the future. Registration was definitely different from that in the U.S., mainly because where at Case it takes a few clicks of a mouse, at King's it took two hours of waiting in queues (or lines) to just get an email address and my student ID. Its crazy, cause while American's think they are doing everything the right way, the English think that they are doing everything the right way. I know its going to make for a fun semester and I know that I will come back with a different viewpoint on American Education.
One of my favorite parts about my stay so far was definitely when Alissa came to visit on her way to study abroad in South Africa. In the two days she was here, we were truly tourists and went around London taking pictures of all the sights. We visited Trafalger Square, Big Ben, and London Eye along with seeing the Twiggy exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery. Shopping was also quite necessary, so we spent a little bit of time at Top Shop and H and M browsing the sale racks. Once we were done shopping, we had to run back to my flat where we could get ready for our night out, which included seeing the musical Blood Brothers with Jason Li and Jamie B. (Jason going to school at Case with Alissa and myself and Jamie is in the Butler program with me). While I had never heard of Blood Brothers before coming to London, it was Alissa's childhood dream to see the show that had been running on the West End (London's equivalent to Broadway) for over 20 years. It was absolutely amazing, and at the end I couldn't stop crying. I also absolutely loved the fact that Sporty Spice was the female lead! Even though I went to the Spice Girls concert in third grade, seeing Sporty again was amazing :).
Since classes didn't start until the 13th, I had a few more days after Alissa left to get settled and to keep acquainting myself with my new surroundings. I also went to the British Museum with Dana Q. (another American in the Butler program). It is an incredible place that definitely has characteristics that make it similar to the Smithsonian. We spent over four hours there and still didn't see a large portion of the museum. Some of the coolest parts included seeing the Rosetta Stone and Egyptian mummies. I know I will be heading back there again soon as there is so much to see and learn.
Finally, classes started this week. My schedule is quite nice since I only have classes Wednesday-Friday. The days are all very full but I'm happy to have four day weekends to travel, explore, and of course, study. This semester I'm enrolled in Medical Microbiology, Social and Psychological Studies (similar to Health Psychology), Physiological Control: Exercise and Environment, and the Practice of Medicine. While all of my classes seem incredibly interesting, I am definitely looking forward the most to the Practice of Medicine Module. We will be learning about National Health Systems, Medical Practice, Medicine and Ethics, Medical Anthropology, all along with having Clinical Rotations. I can't wait to keep learning about Medicine and Ethics, and know it will add to my current background in Bioethics. I also just learned that the professor for the module hired professional actors to help us learn how to talk with patients about tough issues. It will definitely be a challenge, but it is one I can't wait to begin.
With so much more to see and learn, I'm sure you can all look forward to many more posts. I miss everyone from home so much, and as always, feel free to email or skype me :).
The hardest thing I experienced so far was having to start Butler's orientation immediately after arriving. While everyone else was given a day to rest after arriving, I had to try my absolute hardest to stay awake since I arrived late. A lot of important details regarding the study abroad experience were covered, and fortunately for me, most of their documents were given to us on a flash drive so that we could pursue them on our own time (aka when I was less sleepy!). Once the meetings were over, we had a few hours break to relax before we went to go see the musical La Cage Aux Folles. While I wish I would have seen it when I was more awake, the experience was certainly memorable! I hope to see as many shows as possible while I'm here, as I absolutely love musical theater.
The rest of orientation went by quickly, with lots of information given about the city and student life in London. We also ate at an amazing Turkish restaurant which reminded me of Aladdin's at my home school, Case Western Reserve University. I have a feeling I will be going back again soon! We ended the day with a walking tour, which was nice since it got us all a little more acquainted with the city. My favorite site so far is definitely Trafalgar Square, which has these absolutely beautiful quartrefoil fountains and lion statues. It reminded me of Phi Mu, and I knew I wanted to take Alissa, one of my sorority sisters, to the site when she came to visit in a few days.
After orientation ended, a coach came and dropped us all off at our prospective flats. My flat is within walking distance to one of the two main campuses that I will attending while I am going to school here. This is incredibly nice since it should save me over 100 dollars a month on transportation expenses. I don't have any roommates, which has its pros and cons, and I live in a suite with 10 other people. However, we only share the kitchen space since we all have our own bathrooms. It is a bit of an experience living here for a few reasons. The first, and biggest for me, is the heat situation. Every hour you have to press a button to "boost" the heat and then it turns off. In other words, my room is never warm enough, at least in comparison to living in the Village at Case! The other odd part of my flat is that the toilet is inside the shower. I'm not sure I will ever fully understand it, but I'm slowly getting used to some of the differences.
Wednesday the 6th involved registration, orientation, and seeing Alissa Ostrove. I am really excited and happy to be attending King's College London this semester, which is one of the top 25 universities in the world. I also was accepted into their Pre-Medical Program, which I know will be an amazing experience that will certainly help me to become a better doctor in the future. Registration was definitely different from that in the U.S., mainly because where at Case it takes a few clicks of a mouse, at King's it took two hours of waiting in queues (or lines) to just get an email address and my student ID. Its crazy, cause while American's think they are doing everything the right way, the English think that they are doing everything the right way. I know its going to make for a fun semester and I know that I will come back with a different viewpoint on American Education.
One of my favorite parts about my stay so far was definitely when Alissa came to visit on her way to study abroad in South Africa. In the two days she was here, we were truly tourists and went around London taking pictures of all the sights. We visited Trafalger Square, Big Ben, and London Eye along with seeing the Twiggy exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery. Shopping was also quite necessary, so we spent a little bit of time at Top Shop and H and M browsing the sale racks. Once we were done shopping, we had to run back to my flat where we could get ready for our night out, which included seeing the musical Blood Brothers with Jason Li and Jamie B. (Jason going to school at Case with Alissa and myself and Jamie is in the Butler program with me). While I had never heard of Blood Brothers before coming to London, it was Alissa's childhood dream to see the show that had been running on the West End (London's equivalent to Broadway) for over 20 years. It was absolutely amazing, and at the end I couldn't stop crying. I also absolutely loved the fact that Sporty Spice was the female lead! Even though I went to the Spice Girls concert in third grade, seeing Sporty again was amazing :).
Since classes didn't start until the 13th, I had a few more days after Alissa left to get settled and to keep acquainting myself with my new surroundings. I also went to the British Museum with Dana Q. (another American in the Butler program). It is an incredible place that definitely has characteristics that make it similar to the Smithsonian. We spent over four hours there and still didn't see a large portion of the museum. Some of the coolest parts included seeing the Rosetta Stone and Egyptian mummies. I know I will be heading back there again soon as there is so much to see and learn.
Finally, classes started this week. My schedule is quite nice since I only have classes Wednesday-Friday. The days are all very full but I'm happy to have four day weekends to travel, explore, and of course, study. This semester I'm enrolled in Medical Microbiology, Social and Psychological Studies (similar to Health Psychology), Physiological Control: Exercise and Environment, and the Practice of Medicine. While all of my classes seem incredibly interesting, I am definitely looking forward the most to the Practice of Medicine Module. We will be learning about National Health Systems, Medical Practice, Medicine and Ethics, Medical Anthropology, all along with having Clinical Rotations. I can't wait to keep learning about Medicine and Ethics, and know it will add to my current background in Bioethics. I also just learned that the professor for the module hired professional actors to help us learn how to talk with patients about tough issues. It will definitely be a challenge, but it is one I can't wait to begin.
With so much more to see and learn, I'm sure you can all look forward to many more posts. I miss everyone from home so much, and as always, feel free to email or skype me :).
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