Well, I have half an hour to kill until my next class today (and after today, I will only have three more days of classes!), and so I thought that I would update my blog using the school computers. Surprisingly, for once, there's an open computer. Most of the students brought their laptops with them so they could finish up their paper (which is due in half an hour) at the last minute.
And so here is today's installment in the 10 things countdown list. It has just occurred to me that the number one slot will be on Saturday, and that is the day I leave. I probably will not update on Saturday, so look for the number one slot late Friday night!
Tonight, I have another paper to work on, which is not due until Thursday. However, the goal to get it finished early has been set so that I may go to Harrod's with Annie tomorrow (followed by one last Wine Tuesday) without having to stress out about my paper. And my final exams begin on Wednesday. Friday is a free day to pack and enjoy my final day in London, and then Saturday I GET TO GO HOME! Hurray!
The 10 things I have learned in Europe:
5. If you are relying on the Tube as your mode of transportation, expect delays, line closures, and just a general headache. If you give yourself plenty of extra time, you will, naturally, arrive early. However, if you expect things to run smoothly, your journey will somehow take two hours. And you will need to take 5 lines, as opposed to taking the one line which is a straight shot. For more tips on surviving the Tube system, see my past rants on the bloody system.
Sarah's Cross-Atlantic and Cross-Country travels are documented in this blog, from a semester in London during her undergrad to her graduate work in Savannah, Georgia. It may also contain the occasional griping about mundane things in her everyday experiences; oh, how we do love our double meanings.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Number Six: The 10 Things I Have Learned in Europe
Good news; I now have two paragraphs written in my paper! Well, at least it will be finished on time, and I am retaining my sanity. After this paper, I have one more paper to write (by Thursday), and four final exams to take (one on Wednesday, three on Thursday). The good news about having so much homework is that it means that time will fly by until I get to go home! At this point, 6 days feels like an eternity, and I just cannot wait to be surrounded by American accents, eating fatty foods, hugging people, and snuggling up with my cats. But, until then, it's finals week...
The 10 things I Have Learned in Europe:
6. Most of Europe does not appreciate the awesomeness that is mayonnaise. Instead, the common condiment on sandwiches is butter. Now don't get me wrong, I love butter, but it is really not supposed to be layered on centimeter-thick on a sandwich! That's what mayonnaise is for. The Belgians, however, are my kind of people, as they appreciate the delicacy that is fries dipped in mayonnaise. Mmmm. Most of my American friends think that's gross, but Aurelie and I thought it was quite delicious!
Peanut butter is also under-appreciated in this country, but they make up for that by having a plethora of Nutella and generic brands of Nutella-like products. The US could learn from that one.
Number Seven: The 10 Things I Have Learned in Europe
I am not making much progress on my paper, which is not a good sign. I have written out the opening paragraph, which is good.
Well, while my brain is trying vainly to turn itself on and wake up, let's check off another point on our count down!
The 10 things I have Learned in Europe:
7. Bring some form of student ID with you everywhere you go. Then, remember to ask everywhere if they offer a student discount, because most places will give 10% off, but they do not advertise it. Similarly, being under 25 constitutes you as a youth, which gets you discounts on travel. The one place where you don't need some form of ID is in a pub, where they rarely card anyone, despite all the signs saying "if you appear under 21, we will ask for your ID". (That's right; it's easier to drink in Europe than it is to ride on a train or make a purchase)
Number Eight: The 10 Things I Have Learned in Europe
Well, I am back from Oslo and I have survived on the limited sleep that I was able to snag from Norway. A blog entry about Norway will come soon, but that will take some time and I have a paper due tomorrow which needs writing!
So far now, you will need to be happy with a few updates to the 10 things countdown list. Also, for a quick update, for anyone wondering, the production of Midsummer Night's Dream which I saw Thursday night was absolutely fantastic! I will elaborate on that later as well, so stay tuned!
The 10 things I Have Learned in Europe:
8. Food or drink purchased elsewhere is not allowed inside restaurants in Norway. Apparently, this is a law, not just an arbitrary rule by individual establishments. Side note: I was also informed at the border control in Norway that Sweden and Norway are "virtually the same". Huh.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Number Nine: The 10 Things I Have Learned in Europe
Tonight, I am off to The Globe to see a touring production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, and then I'm heading to the airport to spend the night before catching a morning flight to Oslo for the weekend.
But before I leave, here is the second installment in the ten things list, as we are now 9 days away from my homecoming! You'll have to wait a few days for the next installments to the list.
The 10 things I have learned in Europe:
9. It is important to understand how people in different countries greet each other. While most people are content to stick with a simple handshake, other countries, such as Belgium, will want to kiss on the cheek (but only one cheek). In England, people don't like each other much and so minimal touching is preferred, such as a brief handshake. And in France, everyone just walks around with their nose in the air while blatantly ignoring everyone around them and refusing to speak English.
Secondarily, it is okay to pick on the French; nobody really likes them, and they don't like anyone else. So it all evens out in the end.
But before I leave, here is the second installment in the ten things list, as we are now 9 days away from my homecoming! You'll have to wait a few days for the next installments to the list.
The 10 things I have learned in Europe:
9. It is important to understand how people in different countries greet each other. While most people are content to stick with a simple handshake, other countries, such as Belgium, will want to kiss on the cheek (but only one cheek). In England, people don't like each other much and so minimal touching is preferred, such as a brief handshake. And in France, everyone just walks around with their nose in the air while blatantly ignoring everyone around them and refusing to speak English.
Secondarily, it is okay to pick on the French; nobody really likes them, and they don't like anyone else. So it all evens out in the end.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
The Countdown Begins
Well, today is Cinco de Mayo, meaning that in ten days' time I will be returning home!
I thought that it would be cute to do a blog post every day, with ten things I have learned while in Europe. Unfortunately, I will be in Norway this weekend and will not be at a computer for a couple days. It also happens to be finals week next week at school.
However, I will come up with ten things off the top of my head, and I will post blog entries for those ten things. You'll just have to wait until Sunday to get the weekend's items.
For now, here is number 10, from a list that is in no particular order!
The 10 things I have learned in Europe:
10. Ash clouds in volcanos from Iceland can screw up an entire continent. In such an event, panicking will lead to all other modes of transportation filling up and becoming ridiculously expensive. Unless you are a rich Monty Python comedian, you probably will not be able to afford the journey back. So you had better be prepared to sit back and enjoy your extended vacation and wait for the Royal Navy to come rescue you.
Forget Chocolate Factories; The Chocolate Museum is Where It's At!
Last weekend, I booked it out of class on Thursday straight to St. Pancras International Train Station, where I caught the Eurostar to Brussels, to spend a weekend visiting with Aurelie!
I arrived at the train station in Brussels (or Bruxelles, to the Belgians) at 9:30 PM and ran and attacked Aurelie, who was looking for me. We hopped on the metro and went over to Aurelie's adorable apartment where we dropped off my stuff. Then we walked down a few flights and went to a birthday party with Aurelie's friends. I don't speak a word of French, so I sat there smiling and nodding and occasional talking to people when they remembered to speak in English to me. Aurelie's friends were very friendly and it was fun to hang out with them drinking Belgian beer (yum), even if I didn't understand anything they said!
One of Aurelie's friends kept asking me about America, which was very funny. She was shocked to hear that it is not uncommon for American teenagers to have alcohol before turning 21. But then she also asked me if we celebrate spring break with big large beach parties (like Laguna Beach, on MTV). Before I could really answer, Aurelie told her that she watches too much MTV. It was very amusing. This same girl also wanted to hear about my cats, which I was more than happy to talk about! She was very sweet and friendly, and I really liked her.
An interesting little thing about Belgium, is that they are one of those European countries where the standard greeting is to kiss on the cheek. One cheek, not both. Now, this had not occurred to me, and so I had an awkward moment when meeting Aurelie's roommate; she got up to kiss me, and I went for a hand-shake. For a second, I thought we might compromise with a hug, and Aurelie saved the moment by reminding me that they kiss in Belgium. I said that I am down for anything, I just need to know what to do! Regardless, it still took me a while to get used to the kissing-as-greeting thing. Everyone does that in greeting; if your friend introduces you to a complete stranger, you greet the stranger with a kiss. It's not reserved strictly for good friends.
So, at the party, I was kissed left and right! I didn't quite have the hang of it, so I usually offered my cheek for the girls to kiss and didn't try too hard to kiss back. But whenever a new guy would come in to the party, he would walk around and stick his face out for the girls to kiss him. So every now and then I would discover a face next to me, and it always took me a second to remember to kiss it! I hope nobody felt insulted by the dumb American girl who wasn't kissing people immediately. By the time I left the party, however, I was much more familiar with the routine and I
was prepared to kiss new-comers as necessary.
On Friday, Aurelie and I dragged ourselves out of bed (it was a difficult process, as we were both very sleepy) and went in to Brussels. We were going to take a bus tour of the city, but we decided it was too expensive, and so we walked instead. So Aurelie showed me around Brussels, pointing out various buildings and explaining the history to me. Then Aurelie had an interview she needed to conduct for a radio show, and so I returned to her apartment and finished up some homework. We were going to go see the Atomium, which was built in 1958 for the World Expo, but Aurelie's metro train had a problem and it took her over an hour to get back. By the time we went out to see the Atomium, it was closed. So we saw it, but were unable to go up inside. Oh well, I've never been to the top of the Space Needle, either.
That evening, Aurelie's brother Michael picked us up and drove us to Enghein, the city where Aurelie grew up and where her parents live. We had dinner with Aurelie's entire family, and everyone was speaking in English for my benefit. They were all very sweet and a lot of fun, and we spoke a bit about the Lake family, who had visited Belgium a few years ago. Aurelie and I stayed in Aurelie's old room, where I found various mementos from Aurelie's year at my high school. We spent the night reminiscing a bit about those days, and then we went to bed.
In the morning, Aurelie's mom provided me with a bag FULL of Belgian goodies. I have been placed under strict orders to share them with my family at home (in Seattle, not London, she clearly specified). After breakfast, Aurelie's dad drove the two of us into Enghein and dropped us off, so Aurelie could show me around the park. She made me drink from "the witch's fountain", claiming that everyone who visited had to drink from it. It looked disgusting, but I figured after haggis in Scotland and the bath water in Bath, why not? And so I drank; and it tasted like iron. I felt as if I had just drank blood! No wonder it's the witch's fountain...
After exploring the park and taking a few pictures, Aurelie's dad picked us up again and we returned to Aurelie's house for lunch with the family. After lunch, Aurelie and I said goodbye to her family and we took the train to Bruges. Bruges is known as the Venice of the North, because the city is full of canals. First things first, Aurelie and I went to the chocolate museum in Bruges. We learned the basic history of chocolate, and then learned the history of chocolate in Belgium (and pralines, which were invented in Belgium). We received a few samples of chocolate, saw a demonstration of how chocolate is made, and saw various chocolate statues, including a life-size milk-chocolate sculpture of Obama.
Next on our list of things to do, we took a boat tour around the canals. Aurelie and I wound up sitting at the front of the boat, on either side of the tour guide. The tour guide was a young guy who kept making various jokes and picking on people. He especially liked picking on Aurelie and me; me, beca
use I am American, and Aurelie because she speaks French, and in Bruges, most Belgians speak Flemish. It made for a very entertaining and fun boat tour. I was sad when it ended! Also, as Aurelie and I later discussed, our tour guide was not sore on the eyes. After our tour, we went to a cafe where we had some hot chocolate and treats. Aurelie got a crepe, and I had my first official Belgian waffle! (It was delicious)
We left Bruges then, and took the train back to Brussels. We were planning to go out to a pub that evening for a drink, but we were both pretty tired. So instead, we curled up with blankets and watched Serenity before going to bed. It was a very nice evening just hanging out and having fun.
Sunday morning, we once more dragged ourselves out of bed and caught a train, this time to Liege, where Aurelie's older sister Christel lives. Christel took Aurelie and me to her apartment, where we met Christel's girlfriend Laurence and the four of us had breakfast; I had tea, the others drank hot chocolate, and we all enjoyed toast with Nutella. Then Christel and Laurence took us out for a tour of Liege. We climbed up billions and billions of steps to get to the h
ighest point of the city, where we could look out at the city. After this, we were wandering around the city when we came across a street market. So we wandered around the market, admiring cute animals and waiting for Christel and Laurence to do some vegetable shopping.
We got lunch at a restaurant nearby, and then spent a little bit more time hanging out in Christel's apartment before Aurelie and I caught a train back to Brussels. Once we arrived in Brussels, Aurelie took me over to the platform where I needed to catch my train back to London, and we said goodbye. It was a very busy but very fun weekend in Belgium.
And here, in closing, is a brief video of Christel explaining to me about an explosion:
I arrived at the train station in Brussels (or Bruxelles, to the Belgians) at 9:30 PM and ran and attacked Aurelie, who was looking for me. We hopped on the metro and went over to Aurelie's adorable apartment where we dropped off my stuff. Then we walked down a few flights and went to a birthday party with Aurelie's friends. I don't speak a word of French, so I sat there smiling and nodding and occasional talking to people when they remembered to speak in English to me. Aurelie's friends were very friendly and it was fun to hang out with them drinking Belgian beer (yum), even if I didn't understand anything they said!
One of Aurelie's friends kept asking me about America, which was very funny. She was shocked to hear that it is not uncommon for American teenagers to have alcohol before turning 21. But then she also asked me if we celebrate spring break with big large beach parties (like Laguna Beach, on MTV). Before I could really answer, Aurelie told her that she watches too much MTV. It was very amusing. This same girl also wanted to hear about my cats, which I was more than happy to talk about! She was very sweet and friendly, and I really liked her.
An interesting little thing about Belgium, is that they are one of those European countries where the standard greeting is to kiss on the cheek. One cheek, not both. Now, this had not occurred to me, and so I had an awkward moment when meeting Aurelie's roommate; she got up to kiss me, and I went for a hand-shake. For a second, I thought we might compromise with a hug, and Aurelie saved the moment by reminding me that they kiss in Belgium. I said that I am down for anything, I just need to know what to do! Regardless, it still took me a while to get used to the kissing-as-greeting thing. Everyone does that in greeting; if your friend introduces you to a complete stranger, you greet the stranger with a kiss. It's not reserved strictly for good friends.
So, at the party, I was kissed left and right! I didn't quite have the hang of it, so I usually offered my cheek for the girls to kiss and didn't try too hard to kiss back. But whenever a new guy would come in to the party, he would walk around and stick his face out for the girls to kiss him. So every now and then I would discover a face next to me, and it always took me a second to remember to kiss it! I hope nobody felt insulted by the dumb American girl who wasn't kissing people immediately. By the time I left the party, however, I was much more familiar with the routine and I
was prepared to kiss new-comers as necessary.On Friday, Aurelie and I dragged ourselves out of bed (it was a difficult process, as we were both very sleepy) and went in to Brussels. We were going to take a bus tour of the city, but we decided it was too expensive, and so we walked instead. So Aurelie showed me around Brussels, pointing out various buildings and explaining the history to me. Then Aurelie had an interview she needed to conduct for a radio show, and so I returned to her apartment and finished up some homework. We were going to go see the Atomium, which was built in 1958 for the World Expo, but Aurelie's metro train had a problem and it took her over an hour to get back. By the time we went out to see the Atomium, it was closed. So we saw it, but were unable to go up inside. Oh well, I've never been to the top of the Space Needle, either.
That evening, Aurelie's brother Michael picked us up and drove us to Enghein, the city where Aurelie grew up and where her parents live. We had dinner with Aurelie's entire family, and everyone was speaking in English for my benefit. They were all very sweet and a lot of fun, and we spoke a bit about the Lake family, who had visited Belgium a few years ago. Aurelie and I stayed in Aurelie's old room, where I found various mementos from Aurelie's year at my high school. We spent the night reminiscing a bit about those days, and then we went to bed.
In the morning, Aurelie's mom provided me with a bag FULL of Belgian goodies. I have been placed under strict orders to share them with my family at home (in Seattle, not London, she clearly specified). After breakfast, Aurelie's dad drove the two of us into Enghein and dropped us off, so Aurelie could show me around the park. She made me drink from "the witch's fountain", claiming that everyone who visited had to drink from it. It looked disgusting, but I figured after haggis in Scotland and the bath water in Bath, why not? And so I drank; and it tasted like iron. I felt as if I had just drank blood! No wonder it's the witch's fountain...
After exploring the park and taking a few pictures, Aurelie's dad picked us up again and we returned to Aurelie's house for lunch with the family. After lunch, Aurelie and I said goodbye to her family and we took the train to Bruges. Bruges is known as the Venice of the North, because the city is full of canals. First things first, Aurelie and I went to the chocolate museum in Bruges. We learned the basic history of chocolate, and then learned the history of chocolate in Belgium (and pralines, which were invented in Belgium). We received a few samples of chocolate, saw a demonstration of how chocolate is made, and saw various chocolate statues, including a life-size milk-chocolate sculpture of Obama.
Next on our list of things to do, we took a boat tour around the canals. Aurelie and I wound up sitting at the front of the boat, on either side of the tour guide. The tour guide was a young guy who kept making various jokes and picking on people. He especially liked picking on Aurelie and me; me, beca
use I am American, and Aurelie because she speaks French, and in Bruges, most Belgians speak Flemish. It made for a very entertaining and fun boat tour. I was sad when it ended! Also, as Aurelie and I later discussed, our tour guide was not sore on the eyes. After our tour, we went to a cafe where we had some hot chocolate and treats. Aurelie got a crepe, and I had my first official Belgian waffle! (It was delicious)We left Bruges then, and took the train back to Brussels. We were planning to go out to a pub that evening for a drink, but we were both pretty tired. So instead, we curled up with blankets and watched Serenity before going to bed. It was a very nice evening just hanging out and having fun.
Sunday morning, we once more dragged ourselves out of bed and caught a train, this time to Liege, where Aurelie's older sister Christel lives. Christel took Aurelie and me to her apartment, where we met Christel's girlfriend Laurence and the four of us had breakfast; I had tea, the others drank hot chocolate, and we all enjoyed toast with Nutella. Then Christel and Laurence took us out for a tour of Liege. We climbed up billions and billions of steps to get to the h
ighest point of the city, where we could look out at the city. After this, we were wandering around the city when we came across a street market. So we wandered around the market, admiring cute animals and waiting for Christel and Laurence to do some vegetable shopping.We got lunch at a restaurant nearby, and then spent a little bit more time hanging out in Christel's apartment before Aurelie and I caught a train back to Brussels. Once we arrived in Brussels, Aurelie took me over to the platform where I needed to catch my train back to London, and we said goodbye. It was a very busy but very fun weekend in Belgium.
And here, in closing, is a brief video of Christel explaining to me about an explosion:
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