So this is it. I am officially finished with the semester.
And I can't say I'm not happy it's over.
It was a stressful, mostly good stress though.
Things I really enjoyed about UEA:
-the pub quizzes
-the classes
-the professors
Things I won't mind leaving behind:
-3:30 PM darkness
-the party atmosphere
-the 3.50 pound bus fare to and from town
-microwave meals
Overall I enjoyed my semester. I think I am glad I came. I learned a lot about myself and what I can and can't do. Studying abroad is good prep for the real world. It's like a test run because you're not with your parents and you really are on your own. While technology like Skype was a godsend, I really had to be independent. I couldn't just call home when I had a question, like I do when I'm at my home school. I had to think for myself.
All that being said, I want to thank all my loyal readers who have followed my trials and tribulations through England. I'll post periodically throughout my adventures in Europe and continue to post pictures. Since I won't be able to talk to most of you, I wish everyone Happy Holidays and Happy New Year, and I'll see you all on the stateside.
Cheers,
Liz
Friday, December 12, 2008
Monday, December 1, 2008
World AIDS Day
They unfolded your lives one by one
They laid out your patchwork under the sun
And people gathered from miles around
To witness your quilt spread on the ground.
And then they called out your name
Oh yes they called out your name
Oh and you will live forever
You know that I'll be loving you
Just like a patchwork quilt.
Well there were men and women, mothers and fathers
Sisters and brothers, daughters and sons
And children and babies, and lovers and friends
They all lay before me sewn into one.
Your lives had meaning and your lives had joy
You touches so many peole, many more than you will know
And you wrapped yourselves around me
As I walked along these rows
You're letting me feel your beautiful souls.
I feel the warmth of your lives
Oh and you will live forever
You know that I'll be loving you
Just like a patchwork quilt.
My heart spills over, flowing with tears
I cry for your suffering and
for your shortened years
And I'll take you with me as I walk away
Remembering you who have died with AIDS
Yes, I remember your names
Oh I remember your names
Oh and you will live forever
You know that I'll be loving you
Just like a patchwork quilt.
In memory of those who have died from or are suffering with AIDS or HIV
Saturday, November 29, 2008
A lot more pictures!
Barcelona 2
Barcelona 3
Paris
Enjoy!
Sorry I haven't given you a real post in a while; it's been kind of crazy with work and all. And to make it worse, I lost a whole day of working because I got snowed in at Schipol (that's missing a letter somewhere, I know). Norwich's airport is like a farm with airplanes, and their one snow plow broke on the one day so far that it's snowed. Brilliant.
16 days still I start my travels, and I am counting the hours and minutes. I've got 4 assignments left before then, so things are going to be hectic, but the light at the end of the tunnel is getting closer.
I hope everybody had a good Thanksgiving. While I didn't have off from classes, I went to a Thanksgiving dinner at the chaplaincy. There were about 20 people there, only 4 of whom were American. It was really nice, but amusing. (Oh, and speaking of Thanksgiving, read this article about Bush pardoning the turkeys. It's priceless.)
So I'll post at least once more before the end of the semester, but for now, enjoy the pictures. I'm not the best photographers, but hopefully you'll be all able to live vicariously through them.
Take care!
Liz
Barcelona 3
Paris
Enjoy!
Sorry I haven't given you a real post in a while; it's been kind of crazy with work and all. And to make it worse, I lost a whole day of working because I got snowed in at Schipol (that's missing a letter somewhere, I know). Norwich's airport is like a farm with airplanes, and their one snow plow broke on the one day so far that it's snowed. Brilliant.
16 days still I start my travels, and I am counting the hours and minutes. I've got 4 assignments left before then, so things are going to be hectic, but the light at the end of the tunnel is getting closer.
I hope everybody had a good Thanksgiving. While I didn't have off from classes, I went to a Thanksgiving dinner at the chaplaincy. There were about 20 people there, only 4 of whom were American. It was really nice, but amusing. (Oh, and speaking of Thanksgiving, read this article about Bush pardoning the turkeys. It's priceless.)
So I'll post at least once more before the end of the semester, but for now, enjoy the pictures. I'm not the best photographers, but hopefully you'll be all able to live vicariously through them.
Take care!
Liz
Friday, November 21, 2008
My whirlwind adventures
Hi everyone!
Sorry it's been so long since I've posted, but I've got no time to breathe! I got back from Barcelona on Tuesday, and it was amazing, and Tuesday evening I came down with a cold! Yuck! So I have three days in Norwich, and then tomorrow I am going to Paris for the weekend to see a friend who I have not seen in six years! I can't wait!
So I have many a picture from Barcelona to post, but have not had time to upload all of them. Thus, to hold you over, here is the first album of pictures! Enjoy!
In less than two months I will be home! I can't wait to see everybody!
Take care!
Liz
Sorry it's been so long since I've posted, but I've got no time to breathe! I got back from Barcelona on Tuesday, and it was amazing, and Tuesday evening I came down with a cold! Yuck! So I have three days in Norwich, and then tomorrow I am going to Paris for the weekend to see a friend who I have not seen in six years! I can't wait!
So I have many a picture from Barcelona to post, but have not had time to upload all of them. Thus, to hold you over, here is the first album of pictures! Enjoy!
In less than two months I will be home! I can't wait to see everybody!
Take care!
Liz
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Shabbat at Cambridge
Well, the Jewish Society here finally held an event. We were invited to Cambridge University for Shabbat dinner. I hadn't had a Shabbat dinner in ages, so it was really exciting. Five of us set for a two hour journey to Cambridge.
When we got there, we went to the Orthodox service. I actually felt more comfortable davening the Orthodox service than I did the Progressive one for the High Holy Days. It was much closer to what I was used to.
Afterwards, we had Shabbat dinner. There were easily 80-100 people there. It made me feel like I was back at my home school for Shabbat dinner, and despite not having been to one for over a year, I really started missing my school Hillel. The food was delicious, and the company was great. ironically enough, I ended up talking to three Americans. One was in the Air Force and he was stationed outside of Cambridge. He was from the same area I was. The other two were 20 years old and were hitchhiking around Europe for the year. They were so cool. I traded email addresses and hopefully we can meet up somewhere during our travels.
During the dinner, there was a lecture from a Cambridge professor. It was intense and controversial. He talked ostensibly about Jews in the United Kingdom (and the United States, to some extent) are allowing the Jewish community to desintegrate by not learning more about the Holocaust and not going to Israel. It definitely made me think about my role in the Jewish community.
Lastly we went to their "house," I guess you could call it. It was pretty well hidden, and it was like a big game room. The stuff they had in their was amazing: a wide-screen plasma tv, a pool table, a massage table, and a lot of comfy pillows. It was quite impressive.
So, when we left at midnight, you would think that was the end of our excitement. But no!
Well, first of all, we got somewhat lost on our way home. (Don't ask me how, but the British road system is quite confusing to me, especially with all their roundabouts.) Anyway, once we got back on the right track, the battery on the little car we were in started to fade. It died on the side of the highway, so we got out of the car so no one coming down would hit us. We stood around in the cold and told jokes and waited to hear from the tow company. Meanwhile, our driver had realized he had a friend who was a doctor in King's Lynn, the next town over, and God bless him, this man came out at 3 AM, picked the four of us ladies up, and took us back to his flat so we wouldn't have to wait in the cold. When he got a call about an hour later that the tow truck wouldn't be there for a few more hours (I kid you not-because there was an accident and the only tow truck was occupied), we got a taxi to take us back to school, another 45 minute to one hour ride. We didn't get back to school until 5. I'm writing this at 4 pm, and I have been up for maybe 2 hours. It was a long-ass night, but I had a good time. It beat my normal Friday night itinerary, so it was worth it.
That's it for now. I should go do some work.
When we got there, we went to the Orthodox service. I actually felt more comfortable davening the Orthodox service than I did the Progressive one for the High Holy Days. It was much closer to what I was used to.
Afterwards, we had Shabbat dinner. There were easily 80-100 people there. It made me feel like I was back at my home school for Shabbat dinner, and despite not having been to one for over a year, I really started missing my school Hillel. The food was delicious, and the company was great. ironically enough, I ended up talking to three Americans. One was in the Air Force and he was stationed outside of Cambridge. He was from the same area I was. The other two were 20 years old and were hitchhiking around Europe for the year. They were so cool. I traded email addresses and hopefully we can meet up somewhere during our travels.
During the dinner, there was a lecture from a Cambridge professor. It was intense and controversial. He talked ostensibly about Jews in the United Kingdom (and the United States, to some extent) are allowing the Jewish community to desintegrate by not learning more about the Holocaust and not going to Israel. It definitely made me think about my role in the Jewish community.
Lastly we went to their "house," I guess you could call it. It was pretty well hidden, and it was like a big game room. The stuff they had in their was amazing: a wide-screen plasma tv, a pool table, a massage table, and a lot of comfy pillows. It was quite impressive.
So, when we left at midnight, you would think that was the end of our excitement. But no!
Well, first of all, we got somewhat lost on our way home. (Don't ask me how, but the British road system is quite confusing to me, especially with all their roundabouts.) Anyway, once we got back on the right track, the battery on the little car we were in started to fade. It died on the side of the highway, so we got out of the car so no one coming down would hit us. We stood around in the cold and told jokes and waited to hear from the tow company. Meanwhile, our driver had realized he had a friend who was a doctor in King's Lynn, the next town over, and God bless him, this man came out at 3 AM, picked the four of us ladies up, and took us back to his flat so we wouldn't have to wait in the cold. When he got a call about an hour later that the tow truck wouldn't be there for a few more hours (I kid you not-because there was an accident and the only tow truck was occupied), we got a taxi to take us back to school, another 45 minute to one hour ride. We didn't get back to school until 5. I'm writing this at 4 pm, and I have been up for maybe 2 hours. It was a long-ass night, but I had a good time. It beat my normal Friday night itinerary, so it was worth it.
That's it for now. I should go do some work.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Election day in the UK
Wow. I am hung over. If it possible to be hungover on potato chips, diet coke, and glee, that is.
Since polls didn't close until midnight England time, I decided to join my friends for an all-night celebration in the on-campus bar. We had on CNN, and while I don't mean to say anything negative about my English friends, I don't think they understood what they were sheering for. They knew blue meant good and red meant bad (okay, that was sort of my thinking as well), but they would get excited when states were called with 0% of the polls reporting (my least favorite thing about CNN election results-exit poll projections). My American friends and I sat there, shaking our heads, knowing we had to wait for every last vote to be counted.
That didn't stop me from cheering with everyone else at 4 am, when polls on the west coast closed and California was automatically given to Obama. We knew he had the entire west coast coming his way, so it was no surprise. It was interesting to see how excited all the British kids were about Obama, though. There wasn't a single McCain supporter in the bar (or if there was, they kept to themselves, and I don't blame them).
I went back to my room and planned to just stay up until my 10 am class. That didn't happen. I crashed at 5 and slept right through my class, but woke up for my afternoon class. I am still so overtired. I am very glad I handed in my paper yesterday so I wouldn't have to worry about remembering it for today.
As a sidenote, there was a downside to this election, and that was the ballot measures in Arizona, Arkansas, California, and Florida. AZ, CA (despite the Supreme Court decision), and FL all voted to ban gay marriage, and AR banned adoption rights for gay couples. Colorado voted that life began at the moment of conception. In a world where we can elect a president who will be a champion of change, there are still flaws in the American patchwork that need to be rectified.
Notables: Michigan now allows medical marijuana, and Washington allows doctor-assisted suicide.
But for the first time in quite a while today, i belted Lee Greenwood's "Proud to be an American" in my room. It's not that I was never not proud to be an American, but there was such a stigma attached to this country these last eight years. I feel like Ronald Reagan in 1984: "It's morning in America again."
Yes, Sir, it is. And it's going to be a good day.
Since polls didn't close until midnight England time, I decided to join my friends for an all-night celebration in the on-campus bar. We had on CNN, and while I don't mean to say anything negative about my English friends, I don't think they understood what they were sheering for. They knew blue meant good and red meant bad (okay, that was sort of my thinking as well), but they would get excited when states were called with 0% of the polls reporting (my least favorite thing about CNN election results-exit poll projections). My American friends and I sat there, shaking our heads, knowing we had to wait for every last vote to be counted.
That didn't stop me from cheering with everyone else at 4 am, when polls on the west coast closed and California was automatically given to Obama. We knew he had the entire west coast coming his way, so it was no surprise. It was interesting to see how excited all the British kids were about Obama, though. There wasn't a single McCain supporter in the bar (or if there was, they kept to themselves, and I don't blame them).
I went back to my room and planned to just stay up until my 10 am class. That didn't happen. I crashed at 5 and slept right through my class, but woke up for my afternoon class. I am still so overtired. I am very glad I handed in my paper yesterday so I wouldn't have to worry about remembering it for today.
As a sidenote, there was a downside to this election, and that was the ballot measures in Arizona, Arkansas, California, and Florida. AZ, CA (despite the Supreme Court decision), and FL all voted to ban gay marriage, and AR banned adoption rights for gay couples. Colorado voted that life began at the moment of conception. In a world where we can elect a president who will be a champion of change, there are still flaws in the American patchwork that need to be rectified.
Notables: Michigan now allows medical marijuana, and Washington allows doctor-assisted suicide.
But for the first time in quite a while today, i belted Lee Greenwood's "Proud to be an American" in my room. It's not that I was never not proud to be an American, but there was such a stigma attached to this country these last eight years. I feel like Ronald Reagan in 1984: "It's morning in America again."
Yes, Sir, it is. And it's going to be a good day.
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