Home

After five weeks, the trip has come to an end. All I have now is jet lag a lot of pictures to go through. Thanks to everyone who read the blog at various points throughout the trip. It's going on hiatus now, but if nothing else, will probably be back in December when I go to Guatemala for a week. Until then, cheers!

The Farewell Tea

Today we had our Farewell Tea at the Francis Hotel. We had to dress "smart" for the event, and had a nice mid-afternoon tea that included sandwiches, scones, clotted cream, jam, tasty deserts, and of course, fine English tea. The Dean got up and said a few words about each of the classes and the tutors and then we watched a nice slideshow of pictures from the past five weeks. I'd throw in some pictures from the Tea, but I've already packed my card reader, so those will have to wait. We then went to a nearby pub for a drink, and dispersed to pack. Tonight a lot of people are going to a pub called the Huntsman for our last night.

It's a strange feeling, leaving tomorrow. It feels both like five weeks just flew by, but also that I've been in Bath forever. Earlier this week I was excited to go home, but now that classes are over, I wish that I could stay a little bit longer and just goof off. But all good things must come to an end, and sadly, it is that time.

As for this blog, this is one of my last posts for this trip. Tomorrow when I'm in either the Bristol or Newark airports, I plan to post pictures from today and tonight and possibly reflect a little bit more on the best and worst of the trip, but that's about it. For those of you who have been reading since I left, I thank you very much. It has been wonderful getting comments and getting a taste of home every now and then. I've been trying to decide what to do with this blog now that I am done with the trip, and I think that I will probably just leave it dormant until my next big adventure. If you've enjoyed my writing here, there are a few other blogs that I contribute to:
-WDUB New Music Blog: The music blog for the Denison radio station, where I am a DJ and the Music Director. It's on hiatus until the fall, but I post there regularly while in school.
-The Oceanographer's Choice: The music blog that my brother and I run. It's been kind of down lately, but we're picking it back up.
-Television Rules the Nation: A TV blog that I contribute to with my friend and roommate Jon.

Well that's all for now. Thanks for reading, and I'll see those of you in Indianapolis soon!

More of Bath/Almost Done

First of all, sorry that I've been inactive for a few days. My last paper was due today, so I now have a lot less to worry about.

Since I don't have too much to report, I thought I could share some pictures from a few places around Bath that I've visited since my video post around Bath. First up is Prior Park, the estate of businessman Ralph Allen. He owned a quarry in Bath that produced what's called Bath Stone, and he built his estate on a hill above town so that it could be seen as a sort of billboard for Bath Stone. Here are a few pictures:




The other big site that I visited was Beckford's Tower, where my Georgian Bath professor is the curator. The building was built by eccentric aristocrat William Beckford after he moved to Bath in the early 1800s. Beckford had spent a good deal of his fortune, and could no longer afford a lavish estate, so he moved to a house in Bath and built the tower just outside of town to be a place for him to hold his extensive collection of antiquities and go for a few hours everyday to read and relax. From the top of the tower, there is a stunning view of the English countryside below, but, at Beckford's request, you cannot see Bath. Here are pictures:



As of this post, I only have three more class periods to attend today and tomorrow and then a farewell tea on Friday before leaving Saturday morning. I'll probably post on Friday after the Tea and then possibly again as I'm en route back to the States. Thanks for continuing to read, even this close to the end!

Dublin

I'm back from Dublin and it was quite a weekend. We started out on Friday by visiting the Old Jameson Distillery, where Jameson Irish Whiskey was distilled for about 200 years. The tour was really interesting as far as learning how Jameson is different than American or Scotch whiskeys. The best part of course was the tasting portion at the end of the tour, where I tried Jameson and ginger ale. It doesn't sound like a winning combination, but it was quite good.


We then walked around a bit and saw the two big churches in Dublin, Christ's Church and St. Patrick's. We couldn't go in either as they were preparing for Friday night services, but we were able to take a look at each of them. St. Patrick's had scaffolding around the outside, but we still could see a lot from walking around it.

Christ's Church

The site where St. Patrick performed baptisms

The rest of the day and night, we went record shopping (no purchases, far too expensive) and hung out in the Temple Bar section of Dublin, a trendy area filled with pubs and expensive restaurants. The next morning we walked up the Dublin Writer's Museum, where we learned about Irish born writers including James Joyce, George Bernard Shaw, W.B. Yeats, and many more. This was coupled with a visit to the James Joyce Center which focused specifically on Joyce and his life. After a stop at Dublin Castle (the inside was not opened so we wandered around outside), we went to the Guiness Storehouse, the birthplace of Guiness from 1795 until 1988. The Storehouse is an awesome seven story building that's shaped like a pint glass. The self guided tour starts out well, as we got to learn about the history and process of making Guiness. As the tour goes on however, the exhibits sort of taper off as you approach a bar on top of the building, where you get a complimentary pint and a terrific view of the city. The rest of the night was spent again wandering around Temple Bar, but we weren't out too late, since we had to leave for the airport this morning at 7:15.

Dublin Castle


A view of Dublin from the Guiness Storehouse

Other Observations:
-U2 is everywhere. "Vertigo" was playing on the radio when we got on the bus from the airport and heard them in every pub we went to. There's a huge poster of them that dominates The Dublin Music Wall of Fame in Temple Bar.
-Our hostel was pretty nice. We shared a room with ten other travelers who at various times could be annoying, but for the most part, it was clean and well situated in between the City Centre and Temple Bar.
-I didn't think I'd find a city more expensive than Bath, but Dublin made it look cheap

So now I'm heading into the last week of the trip. There's a couple activities this week, but my big priority now is going to be to finish the papers I have left for my classes. For now however, I'm going to relax for a bit and watch Wimbledon. Hopefully Federer can pull it out!

An Unnecessary Pre-Dublin Post

Since I have to leave for the airport at 7:30 tomorrow to head to Dublin, I'm staying in tonight, and boredom has led me to this unnecessary post of miscellaneous musings. Read on if you want, but it has little to do with my actual trip.
1. Wimbeldon:
After watching Nadal rip apart Murray the other night, I'm fairly convinced that he's going to give Federer a run for his money this year. I definitely prefer Federer, and he's unstoppable on grass, but Nadal looked better than I've ever seen him on grass last night. It helped that Murray really was having awful luck, but you gotta get the ball over the net to win, and he couldn't do that. Either way, I'm excited that I'll be back in Bath for the final, so I can watch it on the BBC and get a true British sport experience.
2. MLB All-Star Game:
Now the rosters won't be released until tomorrow, but it appears that Geovany Soto and an injured Alfonso Soriano will be voted as starters. Kosuke Fukodome appears to be on the bubble and Ryan Dempster and Ryan Theriot are strong contenders to be selected by the NL manager. I'm happy for the Cubbies mentioned, but I think Aramis Ramirez really deserves a spot. He's played great this season and has come through in the clutch, which sure seemed to guarantee David Ortiz a spot of the roster in 2005 and 2006. Derek Lee has been having a dynamite season as well, and I wouldn't be shocked to see him make it as well. Either way, it looks good for the North Siders.
3. Garfield Minus Garfield
One of the funniest websites I've ever found is Garfield Minus Garfield. The site takes Garfield comics and takes out Garfield, Odie, Nermal, and all other characters, leaving a sad, lonely, and insane John Arbuckle. It's truly hilarious. Here's a sample:

Well that's it for me. Check back Sunday for a Dublin recap!

Mid-Week Update

I don't have too much to report, but I thought I'd check in and give a quick mid-week update for those of you anxiously awaiting something new to read. Monday night, I went to a club in Bath called Moles which has live music almost every night. We went last week as well to see a Scottish band called the Yellow Bentines, who were alright, but this week the music was pretty terrible (imagine a thrash metal band randomly busting out "Deck the Halls"). The club is a cool place though, and many famous bands, including The Jam, Oasis, Radiohead, and last week, Franz Ferdinand have played there over the years. Yesterday was a fairly mundane day that ended with watching "Top Gun" with some friends across town. Tonight is yet another night of karoke at the Huntsman, so that should be fun. Not much going on again until Friday, when I head off to Dublin for a few days. I may not post until I'm back, but be sure to keep checking in for updates. Who knows, I may have a thrilling adventure to report.

I was also asked about how classes were going (you know, a minor part of the trip). Both classes are very different. My Triumph of Georgian Bath class is all about how architecture ties into to the polite society in Bath during the 1700s. Our tutor is brilliant, lecutring a full hour and a half without any notes, throwing out dates left and right. Most of our class, myself included, have never studied architecture, so at times it can be a little tedius, but it's interesting and there are a lot of field trips. The Hitchcock class is really awesome. So far we've watched "Strangers on a Train", "Rear Window", "The Man Who Knew Too Much", "Vertigo", and my favorite, "North By Northwest." We've spent a lot of time discussing American Cold War ideals of gender roles and visual motifs that Hitchcock uses to make his films more than just basic thrillers. The professor is great and part of me wishes I was an English major so I could take classes with him at Denison. It also helps that the work for that class is mostly pleasure as well.

Well that's all for me for now. There might not be anything until Sunday, but like I said, who knows what I'll feel like posting before then. Cheers!

Euro2008

So Spain won Euro2008 last night. They were the team that I had picked from the start, so it was cool to see them pull it off. We did a bit of a pub crawl to watch the game, starting in one closer to our side of town and walking at half time over to another one closer to another set of ASE houses. I'm sad that football is over now and we have no more sports to watch. Oh well, in two weeks I can come home and watch the Cubs slow, painful descent from first place. Hooray!

London Town

So yesterday and today I was down in London for a study weekend with my Alfred Hitchcock class (8 students, our professor, and another person from the program), and it was quite the adventure. We got down Saturday morning and we were supposed to take a tour of London with a woman who actually interviewed Alfred Hitchcock in the 1970s. This woman was absolutely nuts. She essentially dragged us around London for close to four hours showing us sites that Hitchcock used in a few of his films, but she seemed to be making up facts not only about the locations but about how Hitchcock used them. At one point she told us that when the studio asked him to cut a scene from one building, Hitchcock broke down and wept. We did get to hear the tape of the interview that she did with him, which was fascinating, but the meal we had with her (at a pub featured in "Frenzy") was quite bizarre. She told us it was impossible for any of Hitchcock's leading actors, such as Cary Grant of Jimmy Stewart, to play bad guys or villains simply because they are Cary Grant or Jimmy Stewart, despite the fact that Jimmy Stewart seems certifiable in "Vertigo." If nothing else, this woman was entertaining and made for great conversation for the rest of the trip.

Hitchcock's Childhood Home


After that, we went to the London Eye, where our assignment was to take pictures and come up with an idea for a scene in a Hitchcock film in which a man gets on the Eye, and by the time it comes back around, he's dead. This morning, we made storyboards for the scene based on the pictures we had taken. My group wove a story of a woman with a mean husband who pushes him out of the doors to his untimely demise. We had time after the eye to walk around a bit, and I ended up with a few people at an arcade. We won styrofoam airplanes. It was productive. The rest of the evening was spent at the hostel and at a wonderful pub across the street where we got to sit on the Thames and reminisce about Crazy Hitchcock Lady.
The Houses of Parliament from the Eye

The London Eye

Today we got to go to the Tate Modern for about 3 hours. The museum is fantastic, with work by Roy Lichtenstien, Andy Warhol, Jackson Pollack, Pablo Picasso and many, many more. We got to hear a short talk about Maya Deren, the first great American avant garde film director, and then see her seminal piece, "Meshes of the Afternoon." I'd seen the film before in school, but it was cool to learn more about it there. After the museum, a few of us walked across Millennium Bridge to see St. Paul's Cathedral and grab a quick pint before getting back on the bus for Bath.

Street Art on the Front of the Tate

Tower Bridge, as seen from Millennium Bridge

St. Paul's Cathedral

The rest of the weekend is quiet. Tonight I'm going out with some friends and tomorrow night is the Euro2008 Final (GO SPAIN!) so that should be a lot of fun. I'm sure I'll check back in following that game. As always, thanks for reading!

MMJ and Sports in Indiana

First things first. Last night rocked. Very hard. They play with such intensity everytime I see them. Terrific.



Second, goodbye Greenspan. Thanks for messing up Indiana Basketball.

Thirdly, This is Larry Bird's last chance. We need a good team this season. I don't know if he got good enough players, but this season is his last at bat for me.

London, etc.

So tomorrow I'm off to London for a study weekend. I'll report on that when I return on Saturday night. In the meantime though, here's a little update on a few things as well as a little ramble or two:
1. Tonight I'm going to see My Morning Jacket in Bristol with a bunch of people from the school. They're one of my favorite bands and they are terrific live. I'll probably add a post on that later.
2. Sport and Karaoke:
Yesterday was a pretty awesome afternoon. We went to Victoria Park to play football (or soccer as you Yanks call it). It was pretty cool to play football in England, and even cooler to have Japanese tourists sit and watch us and take pictures.
Later that evening, we went out the Huntsman for some karaoke. My housemates roped me into a little "Bohemian Rhapsody" before I got up with a few people to sing Outkast's "Ms. Jackson." That's the picture below.

EDIT: Here's a picture of the people from our trip that showed up to play football.

3. Jermaine O'Neal:

I just read a report that said the Pacers were going to trade J.O. to the Toronto Raptors for T.J. Ford, Rasho Nesterovic, the 17th pick in the draft and a player to be named. I must say that it's a little bittersweet. Jermaine was a big part of the team for a while and really was becoming the face of the franchise around the time Reggie Miller retired. The last few years have been very disappointing, with all the knee problems. I think the move is definitely for the best. The Pacers are obviously trying to rebuild and rebuild young. Based on the fact that they don't have room in the salary cap and he's really their only tradable commodity, it's a smart move for the team. Plus it will give him a chance to get back on a decent team. All in all, good luck J.O., and thanks for all the good years in Indy.

The Grass is Always Greener

WHY LIVING IN ENGLAND IS BETTER THAN LIVING IN THE STATES:
1. Everyone walks everywhere, which means people are in better shape.
2. People don't buy in bulk. You get what you need as you need it.
3. Going to the pub isn't the same as going to the bar. You're going to relax and socialize not have a crazy party.
4. Everyone is a lot more environmentally conscious.
5. Football is awesome.

WHY LIVING IN THE STATES IS BETTER THAN LIVING IN ENGLAND:
1. Everyone smokes here. Everyone.
2. It's so expensive. It doesn't help that Bath is the most expensive city in England.
3. Five channels of TV.
4. Ketchup is so much better than mayonnaise.
5. Football is awesome.

Go Cubs Go!

"The White Sox, who have lost 8 of 12 overall and had their lead in the AL Central over the Twins chopped to 1½ games, didn't win a game this weekend. But before and during the series they took some shots at the Cubs' old ball park and the team's emotional fans.

Guillen told reporters there were rats as big as pigs in the batting cage; pitcher John Danks said Wrigley smelled of urine; and catcher A.J. Pierzynski, who is always booed loudly, weighed in after fans directed a profane chant in his direction Saturday.

"They're idiots," Pierzynski told the Chicago Sun-Times. "It's like what Lee Elia said: 'Eighty-five percent of the people work, the other (bleeps) come out here."'"

Sorry White Sox, whining won't erase the fact you got swept.

A Video Tour of Bath

Hello everyone! Here is a little video I made yesterday that shows you some of the biggest sites in Bath, all of which are on my route to school everyday. Enjoy!

UPDATE: Since the video quality isn't great, here are some of the pictures from the video:

Day Trip to Cardiff

First of all, so sorry that I disappeared for a while. While the first week was all about getting used to Bath and seeing some sites in England, the second week was all about work. In both of my classes, we had 5 page papers due on Thursday, so much of my week was concentrated on that. The only other highlights that I can think of were trips to the pub to watch Euro2008. I've put my money on Spain. With all that work behind me, Jon and I decided to go to Cardiff, Wales for the day yesterday. It's a solid day trip and the train only takes an hour from Bath. We had the plan of doing the following: 1. Tour Millennium Stadium, home of Cardiff Rugby, 2. Visit the National Museum, 3. Go record shopping, and 4. Visit Cardiff Castle.

1. Tour Millennium Stadium

Sadly, our plans were thwarted by none other than Neil Diamond. Since he was performing in the Stadium that night, all tours were cancelled. It was disappointing, but I suppose could have been worse.
2. Visit the National Museum

This was a pretty cool place. Though a lot of it is a natural history museum, there is a large collection of French art that was left to the museum by a pair of aristocratic sisters. The exhibit featured works by Renoir, Monet, and Van Gough. As I said, the rest of the museum was based on natural history, with exhibits on natural wildlife in Wales and how Wales was formed.
3. Go Record Shopping
After searching around the City Centre for a while, we found Spillers Records, a store that holds the claim of being the world's oldest record store, having been founded in 1894. There, I was able to track down a few 7" singles, including Band of Horses' "No One's Gonna Love You," The Envy Corps' "Story Problem," and Cardiff's own Los Campesinos!' "You! Me! Dancing!" Overall it was a productive visit and the staff was incredibly cool.
4. Visit Cardiff Castle
Our last stop was probably the coolest of the day. Cardiff Castle is right in the heart of the city and dates back to the 12th century. We got there and explored the Keep, a large central tower surrounded by a moat. From the top, there are incredible views of the castle and the city. We then were lucky enough to be there during the first exhibition of jousting at the castle since medieval times. There was a sort of festival going on, complete with combat demonstrations (sword fights) and of course, jousting.




All and all, it was a pretty cool day. Cardiff is definitely a solid day trip, so we were pretty exhausted when we got back that night. Today I think I'm going to wander around Bath and finally take some pictures or video to show what the city is like. Be sure to check back tomorrow for that. Cheers!

Cornwall Weekend: Recap

So this weekend, all of ASE packed up and went to Cornwall. Cornwall is in the southern part of Britain, but is not part of England. After a long five hour bus ride, we arrived in Tintagel, the birthplace of King Arthur. Though not much of the castle is left, the mountain that it is on is absolutely stunning. The water is unbelievably blue and the view from the top tremendous. We wanted to go and explore what is thought to be Merlin's Cave, but high tide prevented that. Instead, we walked over to another set of caves. Though I opted to stay dry on the shore, a few other people ventured in. After Tintagel, we had a three hour bus drive to where we were staying, a sleepy little fishing town called Coverack. To give you an idea of how small the town was, our group filled up the youth hostel, two bed and breakfasts, and part of the only hotel (and pub). There I got to have my first taste of a Cornish pasty (pronounced p-ah-sty), which is essentially meet and potatoes wrapped in a flakey crust. Quite delicious. The next day, after having a traditional English breakfast at the hostel, we left for The Lizard, the southern most part of Britain. There, we took a three hour hike along the beautiful, hilly coastline with a guide who could easily host Survivor Man. After a quick lunch in the bus, we went to St. Ives, a very pretty costal town nearby. There, I went to the Tate Gallery of Modern Art, played frisbee on the beach (turns out there's some Ultimate players from Skidmore in our group and one of the ASE faculty members started the team at Oxford and played for the English national team), and lastly, went to sculptor Barbra Hepworth's house, which is now a museum and gallery of her work. That night, we had BBQ and ate Cornish clotted cream ice cream, the highest fat (yet most delicious) ice cream possible. This morning it was our plan to hike up a hill in Widcombe-in-the-Moor to see a view of the countryside, but rain prohibited that (luckily, the previous two days' forecast for heavy rain had been wrong), so we took the bus straight back to Bath. Now it's back to work for the week, with papers in both of my classes due on Thursday. The exciting thing however is that because I'm here during the Euro Cup, there's a lot of football, including a huge World Cup rematch between Italy and France with the winner advancing to the next round. I'll be sure to post updates as interesting things happen, but until then, thanks for reading!
Tintangel

Merlin's Cave

The view of the coast from our hostel in Coverack

The Lizard

St. Ives

Residential Weekend in Cornwall

This weekend, our entire group is off to Cornwall. Our schedule includes visiting Tintangel Castle, the birthplace of King Arthur, hiking around someplace called the Lizard, visiting St. Ives, and lastly Dartmoor. Check back on Sunday or Monday for pictures!

The Worst Thing to See on British TV

Last night, we got home from karaoke (I sadly sang the Beastie Boys' classic "Fight For Your Right to Party"), I turned on the TV, and to my surprise, found a simulcast from ESPN of the Cubs-Braves game. Despite being tired and having an early class, I decided to watch. What's the first thing I see? Alfonso Soriano getting hit in the hand. I wake up this morning to read he's out for six weeks with a broken hand. There's really no reason for this post, just an excuse for me to vent about Soriano. The Curse is awakening. I can feel it.

Stonehenge and Glastonbury

Today was our first adventure outside of Bath (pictures below, more on Facebook if you're on there). Our first stop was Stonehenge. I think that most noticeable thing is that Stonehenge is not exactly what you might expect. It's in the middle of the country, but in between two major highways. Secondly, it's smaller than you might imagine (not Spinal Tap small though). Either way, it's a pretty spectacular sight. The sheer idea that people about 18-20 years old dragged these rocks over is pretty amazing. I still think it was made by aliens.
Next we went to Glastonbury which is my new current favorite place in the world. Glastonbury is a small town that was once the site of the first Catholic church in England. The abbey, founded somewhere around 610, was once one of the largest churches outside of Rome, bigger than Canterbury. It is also a major site in the mythology of King Arthur, as he was said to have died near there. In the 1100's, the church even announced they had found the remains of Arthur and Genevieve on the site, but this is widely regarded to have been a publicity stunt to attract pilgrims and tourists after Thomas Becket was murdered there a few years earlier. The abbey was largely demolished by Henry VIII after he formed the Church of England in order to get rid of all Catholic sites, there are ruins remaining, including the intact kitchen. We walked around all of the sites, including a few ponds on the grounds. We had a short break and I went with two other guys to get fish and chips (my first of the trip) and had a pint of cider. We then found a little record store, where I naturally was in heaven (I picked up David Bowie's "Ziggy Stardust" and Lou Reed's "Transformer"). Our last big trek of the day was up a giant hill to St. Michael's Cathedral. The hike was rough, especially after that lunch, but payoff was incredible. There's not much left in the Cathedral, but the view was spectacular. We could see from up there the rain coming, so we took off, and headed back to Bath. Tonight there's a karaoke thing at a pub. We'll see about singing.
I want to thank all of you so much for reading and leaving your comments. It has been great to hear from home. To answer a question I got, there's a pub about 5 minutes away, and several that are more central for all the houses that are around 15 min. Tomorrow it's back to class, but Friday we're leaving for a residential weekend in Cornwall. I might try tomorrow to take a few pictures of my route to and from class each day. It's right through some of the more notable sights in Bath and will also help provide a nice insight into what the city is like. Enjoy the pictures below!

Stonehenge of Course

Glastonbury Abbey

The grounds of Glastonbury Abbey. The tower way up there on top of that hill is St. Michael's, where we climbed.

Me with the English countryside in the background

St. Michael's

A Video Tour of 29 Northhampton St

First Day of Classes

Before going into my first day of class, I figured I'd talk briefly about last night. Yesterday was the last day of the Bath Fringe Festival, and Jon and I ventured to go see the Complete William Shakespear Abridged, as performed by theatre students from Bath University. The show was at the Bath Works Museum which is just a short walk down the street from our house. The show was pretty good, and a fun way to end my first here.
This morning I had my first class, The Triumph of Georgian Bath. My "tutor" is not exactly what you would expect in a British professor. She's a younger woman, probably in her mid-30s, and is the curator of two museums here in Bath. The class is a very interesting one. Instead of focusing strictly on history, we're focusing on how the architecture and the buildings in the city shaped the history of the city. Since it focuses on the Georgian period, today was our day of covering Roman Period through the Medieval Period. After only about 10 minutes in the classroom, we took a walking tour of the city, walking around where the Medieval wall had once been. Our tutor is one of those people that just sort of knows everything and can't quite finish a topic because they just have so much to say. Tomorrow is a lecture, but our schedule has us doing a walking tour at least twice a week.
I just got back from my course on Alfred Hitchcock, and I'm even more convinced now that the course was designed specifically for me. We get to watch almost all of my favorite Hitchcock films, including Rear Window, Vertigo, Psycho, The Birds, and my all time favorite, North by Northwest (if only we were watching Notorious, but that was made before the time period we're studying). Dr. Davis, a professor from Denison, is probably the best person to be teaching the class. He's truely excited about he material and easily gets sidetracked with other interesting facts. We're going to focus a lot on Hitchcock's films and how they function not only as films (i.e. narrative, editing, etc.) but in how they reflect cultural and industrial context of their period. I have a presentation already on Thursday, but it shouldn't be too bad.
Tonight there's a reception for all of the students and professors at an art gallery here so that should be good. There's also a trip to Stonehenge (I hope it's as tiny as it is in Spinal Tap) and Glastonbury on Wednesday and another trip to Cornwall this weekend which will no doubt produce some pictures. Tomorrow in between classes I'll try posting a video tour of the house.

Finally in Bath

I've finally arrived! The flight over was okay, I had a row to myself so I got to stretch out which was nice. When I arrived in Bristol, I took a bus to the Bristol train station and then a train into Bath. Upon arriving there, I went straight into orientation, got a tour of the main building at the school, Nelson House, and lastly, schlepped my heavy luggage on the 20 minute, uphill walk to my house through the center of Bath. The house is fantastic. It's in a nice neighborhood (my roommate Jon, who is also my roommate at Denison, told me that he heard other houses in the neighborhood go for about 500 pounds) and our room is much bigger than I thought. Our room is right up front and there is another guy that lives in a single next to us. There are four other girls that live in the upper two floors. There are three bathrooms, but only two have showers. There's a nice common area downstairs that has a couple of couches and a TV, VCR, DVD player, and VHS library (complete with "Ghostbusters"). There's also a full kitchen and a washer and dryer. I'll post some pictures or a video tour when I get the chance. After a much need quick shower, I walked back to Nelson House for a "social orientation" about how to adjust to life in England. We then took a walking tour of notable shops in the city, half of which I won't remember in the morning. Then came the biggest adventure of my entire day: grocery shopping. Walking around the grocery store I felt like a lost kid. Everything is organized and packaged so differently it's hard to know what to do. We then trekked back to our house (another 15-20 min. walk) and that's where I am now. So far everyone seems really nice. All of the people working for the program seem great and the other students do as well. I'm sure that as soon as we get the chance we'll be able to "bond" a bit better. Tomorrow I hit the ground running with a 9:30 class, "The Triumph of Georgian Bath." Apparently my instructor is the curator of the Bath Museum and we're spending our first day on a walking tour of the city. I'll be sure to report once again once I've actually taken the classes. As always comments are welcome!

En Route

I figured that when starting this blog there would be a lot of really unnecessary posts, but what the heck. Travel Attempt #2 has so far gone pretty well, with a slight delay in Indy. My flight to Bristol is on time, and if I can stay entertained for another couple hours, I'll be on my way. More to come when I get there and get to report the oh so exciting details of my arrival.
UPDATE: My flight is about to leave. I stayed entertained long enough thanks to the wonders of "30 Rock" and "Arrested Development. (I told you there'd be some unnecessary posts...)

Well...

Due to some bad weather, I'm stuck in Indianapolis for another night. My flight to Newark was delayed and wouldn't arrive until about the same time my connecting flight was leaving, and unfortunately the next flight to Bristol isn't until tomorrow night. This will put me in Bath about 24 hours behind schedule. I'm a little bummed, but it could be a lot worse. I'm assuming I'll make it there tomorrow okay, but I'll be sure to post when I do.

The Journey Is About to Begin!

Hello everyone! To document my six week stay in Bath, England, I have set up this blog to spread stories, pictures, and the occasional video easily to as many people as possible. I have class Monday through Thursday, so I'm guessing that most updates will happen Sunday night or Monday afternoon, but I won't truly know until I get there. If you would like to receive the latest posts in your email, leave a comment by clicking the link under this post or email me at warsha_m@denison.edu. Otherwise, just check back periodically. I am leaving tomorrow, so look for the first post on Saturday or Sunday!