Erika in Europe

WEEK 3: CAMBRIDGE

2011-07-22T15:42:00.002+01:00

11 JUL, MONDAY:
Monday was a day full of studying (writing my paper for Spooks & Spies) and class.

It was great to take a break then, and see Transformers 3 in 3D with Kate, Danny and Sam for Danny's 21st birthday. They were complimentary tickets that we were able to get from the cinema messing up our tickets for Harry Potter.

The movie was great! It was a lot of fun and quite funny (even if it didn't mean to be). Transformers was also really intense and the CGI was just fantastic.

At midnight, Kate and I came with party poppers to do a mini celebration at midnight.

12 JUL, TUESDAY:
After turning in my paper, we were able to celebrate Danny's 21st Birthday in true Cambridge style. We first went to the Junior Parlor (very similar to the pub at UCI) and had a bunch of people meet up to go to a pub. It was a really good time and it was also a nice way to celebrate the almost end of midterms (I already studied earlier for my midterm on Wednesday).

I would also like to take this short part of the week to start giving shoutouts to all the sweet Program Assistants (PAs) that are reading my blog. First one I'll do is Joe, who has always been there when Kate and I go out and really watches out for us (it was because of him that we were able to get to the hostel from Fabric in London). He's also letting me borrow his robes for the Harry Potter preimere! The best.

13 JUL, WEDNESDAY:
I officially finished midterms on Wednesday, which was really nice. Everyone had the second Formal Hall, which would have been really fun to go to, except for the fact that I went to see a speaker which was required for my Spooks & Spies class.

The speaker was Sir Richard Dearlove of is the Master of Pembroke College and the previous head of the MI6. There were many students from the "Pembroke-King's College Program" (aka PKP) and then there was the 40 or so kids from my class (everyone else was at Formal Hall). He was an interesting guy, but his actual talk was pretty general. He wasn't going to give anything away (he's obviously knows how to keep a secret!). What really disappointed were the questions that were asked. Honestly, it was a bunch of pretentious students who were trying to show off what they knew, and some had no idea what they were really asking. They were asking questions that weren't very interesting either - I really wanted to know about what it was like to be head of MI6 during 9/11 and being one of the head people instigating the war in Iraq.

Overall, it wasn't a bad experience and I definitely don't regret going to it. Since my class missed Formal Hall, we have a make up one just in our class on 25th of July, so that'll be fun. :)

14 JUL, THURSDAY:
This day is probably the most important day in my whole trip in England. This is the pinnacle of the end of my childhood and the end of an amazing impact in my life. Obviously, I'm talking about Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Part 2. The movie itself was emotional - I cried in the same spot that I did in the book (when Harry realizes that he must die) and it was hard to think that this was really the end. Kate and I decided to go ALL out and dress up. We were having different ideas, before I decided that I wanted to be Bellatrix Lestrange and she was going to be Harry Potter. During previous premieres I have been Harry Potter, a Ron-obsessed girl and Hermione Granger. It was great to draw a Dark Mark and wear Joe's robes.

Poor Sam and Danny had no idea what they were getting themselves into when it came to Kate, me and Harry Potter. It was such an amazing experience, but I really feel like I need to see the movie again (People back home - who's down?!)

Harry Potter & Bellatrix Lestrange at Pembroke!

The greatest battle of Good versus Evil!

Emotional that it's all over.

15 JUL, FRIDAY: LONDON
The awesome foursome (Kate, Sam, Danny and myself) decided to do something a little crazy to end our halfway point here at Cambridge. We pulled an all nighter to go to Fabric (the club we went to on the London trip last week) and see some cool DJs that Kate, Sam and Danny all know pretty well.

We were able to get a really nice group rate of £15 per train ticket (round trip) to and from London. The club closed at around 6:00 AM and the first train back to Cambridge was at 4:40, so there was plenty of time to figure out how to get back.

The club was really fun, but we were definitely tired by 5:00, so we somehow figured how to get back to King's Cross (we had to find a taxi at 5:00 in the morning - that's nearly impossible) and made it back to Cambridge at 7:00 AM on Saturday.

It's definitely one of those few, rare experiences that I won't be able to do again (an all nighter at one of the best clubs in the world and then be able to sleep in my own bed?).

Kate and I on the train to King's Cross in London

The greatest friends - getting ready to go inside Fabric!

--

I've definitely putting the 'study' in study abroad this week. With two midterms and lots of classes, it makes it hard to NOT realize that we are here for classes. It was a pretty fun week otherwise, especially since I have been looking forward to Harry Potter for so long!

LONDON TRIP (PROGRAM)

2011-07-14T17:29:00.000+01:00

8 JUL, FRIDAY:
The hostel we stayed at was the Generator right by Russell Square. It was a lot bigger than the Clink (you could fit over 300 people) which meant that it was a little dirtier and louder. The free WiFi and security though as really great which made it a good hostel.

First thing that we did when we got to London was go to one of the top clubs in the world, FABRIC. It was really really fun and a lot of people on our program made it! It was only £10 to go in (student price) and the music was great!

Jack Beats, a pretty cool DJ duo that rocked the house. I was able to get up really close and it was so much fun! It's usually not my kind of scene, but with all of my friends there it was a really cool experience. :) The night ended really late, but it was well worth it.

Jack Beats was featured!

9 JUL, SATURDAY:

On Saturday, Kate and I got to a late start and met up with Danny, Robbie, and Sam at Westminster Underground. From there we walked to the Waterloo station (mainly trying to find food for lunch since Kate and I were really hungry) before we went to the Tate Modern. Along the way though we stopped for some picture opportunities by the London Eye.

The weather was really pretty great. It was supposed to rain all weekend, and it did 'spit' a few times but I was fine wear a skit (and usually I get freezing at the slightest dip below 70) so it was great. So far on this trip I have been really lucky with the weather - a few times it's been rainy and cold but the sun has been out the majority of the time.

London Eye

From lunch we went to the Tate Modern, a free art museum full of modern art (you can kind of tell by the name). It was really cool to see some artwork that I haven't seen yet at the LACMA (though you have to pay to get in there). I saw Monet and Pollock and a bunch of other different art pieces and exhibits. Danny and Sam were really stoked on the whole thing because they are art majors. It was cool to see everything they knew and what they enjoyed.

Tate Modern

Pollock was so cool to see up close!

After a couple of hours at the museum, everyone got tired so we went back to the hostel to take a quick nap before heading out to see Hamlet at the Globe.

I really wasn't looking forward to watching Shakespeare and standing for 3 hours (we got 'peasant' tickets for £5. Shakespeare was always difficult to get through in middle school and high school, and watching the movies would be even more confusing.

I was really surprised then that I actually really enjoyed watching it. The players made it really funny and were really engaging. Standing after walking around all day was still a little lame, but the Globe had a great atmosphere. We were also really lucky it didn't rain on us... Thank goodness for California weather in England! :)

Sam, Kate and I at the Globe

Afterward Hamlet, many people on the program wanted to go out to the pubs or clubs, but Kate and I were just exhausted and went straight back to the hostel. We did set up a plan to get up earlier because of this, just so we can hit some big things on Sunday before we left.

10 JUL, SUNDAY:
Kate, Sam and I woke up early to go to the British Museum. It was great going a second time because I was able to walk through everything and enjoy all the little details. I missed seeing the Parthenon, and it was great to see something so wonderful as that. I did a major project in 6th grade around the Parthenon and took Art History fall quarter.

So excited about the Parthenon!

Having fun with the Egyptians (Me, Sam, Kate)

I also saw a cool exhibit about clocks, which brought back many memories of my Grandpa Hennon who built all of his kids Grandfather clocks (my Aunt Judy, Uncle Paul and my dad).

Grandfather clock!

There was also a really really cool room that we saw at the end that had hundreds if not thousands of book all written during the Enlightenment.

The "Enlightenment Room" full of amazing books and artwork from that period

Danny, Sam, Kate and I in front of the British Museum!

At the Russell Square Underground station, I saw a memorial for the 2005 Terrorist attack that happened on the Tube. It was really cool to see because I've been learning about how the British Secret Intelligence (SIS) combats terrorism, and we will be learning about terrorists attack in the next couple weeks.

Memorial for the 2005 London Bombings that hit at King's Cross

The thing that I had been waiting for (and the biggest reason for me to study in Cambridge) was the HARRY POTTER TOUR. My first goal was to make it to the World Premiere, but that would have taken about four days of camping out and missing four days of class (which you can't do when you only have 4 weeks of class). Since I couldn't see that (I barely could watch it on the terrible internet here) in person, I had to at least see all of the movie locations I could. To see Alnwick Castle (where many Hogwarts scenes were shown) would have cost about £70 for the train ride, so I couldn't go to 'Hogwarts'.

I found this Harry Potter tour for £20 per person, which made it worth it for me. The tour guide was over an hour late, which meant that Kate and I were worried about making it back to the bus. Waiting ended up being great, because it went a lot faster than we thought.

Becky was our tour guide, who knew enough about Harry Potter. She was a really cute blonde Londoner and she was a great tour guide.

Kate and I ended up being the only people who were taking lots of pictures (I have about 100 from the tour). I recognized so many different places and it was so cool to see all of the locations in person. I was able to reenact some scenes (seen below) and I was so happy to also get some major pictures with different London landmarks too.

Inspiration for Diagon Alley (used in films)

Trafalgar Square (where the World Premiere was 3 days before!)

Ministry of Magic!

Hiding the bodies like Ron did in Deathly Hallows Pt 1

Creepin' like Ron did in Deathly Hallows Pt 1

Got to see Big Ben on the Thames River Cruise!

Millennium bridge which was destroyed in Half Blood Prince!

The Original Leaky Cauldron (for Philosopher's Stone and Chamber of Secrets)!

Near the Bank Underground Station

Beautiful buildings... Bank of England

It was an incredibly successful trip to London, but I still feel like I haven't seen everything yet! Kate and I will be going back on July 23 to see Kate Middleton's dress at the Buckingham Palace, reenact the wedding at Westminster Abbey, watch the changing of the guards, and have tea at Harrod's and feed the pigeons at St. Paul's. Can't wait for more London adventures!

Links to learn more from my trip:
Jack Beats
Fabric
Tate Modern
Hamlet
The Globe Theatre
British Museum
London Terrorist Attack (2005)
Harry Potter Movie Locations

WEEK 2: CAMBRIDGE

2011-07-11T13:02:00.002+01:00

4 JUL, MONDAY:
For many Americans, Independence Day was full of drinking, BBQs, fireworks, beaches, and happy USA-ing all over the country. Plus those little perks like no work or school (if in summer school). I still had class and it was the most uneventful July 4th I have ever had (not surprising though when I have celebrated Independence Day in Newport Beach).

In the morning after class Sam and I went to have tea/coffee at a local shop. It was a really great away to start of the day and I felt very English (even though it was an American holiday). There was even a man next to me reading a very old-fashioned book while sipping his tea. So British!

In the afternoon I had another class and I also got lunch with Kate and All One Bar. We were able to eat for just £6, which was cool. Lunch was closed at the college today, so we had to eat out of it.

The Program Assistants put on a BBQ for us at dinner which was great. There wasn't any real hot dogs though, which I was sad about, so I just had a burger. It was pretty good and I devoured it because I was hungry. They also had £1 drinks and had American beer, BUDWEISER! I had one and it reminded me at home.

After that we all went to the Anchor again (a pub we went to the first night) and it was fun because we sat outside. No one was really celebrating (obviously) but it was still kind of fun to go out for a bit for Independence Day!

5 JUL, TUESDAY:
Having class everyday isn't just abnormal for the average UC student, but we have class everyday here. Actually, I have class at 9:00 everyday for the rest of the session. Today though I was able to 'sleep in' and have class at 10:25. What is nice though is that there are only 2 classes and they are far enough apart in time that I have time to do a lot of things during the day, like go into town or hang out with friends.

I had lunch and dinner on campus today, which was great. At lunch they had herb encrusted salmon, which was crazy to have at a college cafeteria!

I also cleaned my room, which was really nice. I'm able to post pictures of what my room looks like now! :P

My clean room!

View from my window!

6 JUL, WEDNESDAY:
I started studying at the Pembroke Library. This place is so cool! I've actually never gotten so much stuff done and I'm reading real books instead of looking up articles online. I am next to a head bust that Kate and I have deemed the inspiration to do well here at Pembroke.

We decided to name him Sir Edward Wiseman, but we call him Eddie. It was one of the most productive times in a library and I loved how everything was so old. There were also seats specifically reserved for Fellows who want to work at certain places... It made me want to become one!

Today I also went to the Vue Cinema to buy my Harry Potter ticket. Kate, Danny, Sam2 and I were able to get VIP seating (leather recliner seats) for only £9.50 each. What's great about British cinemas is that they also learned to do assigned seating so inside the theater it won't get so crazy.

7 JUL, THURSDAY:
I noticed that our Harry Potter tickets seemed to be off. Instead of saying 00:15 on Friday July 15, it said 00:15 on Saturday July 16. I thought this was strange and that it must had been a mistake on the computer or something... who would want to go see the Harry Potter movie 24 hours after the midnight premiere?

Kate and I went for Sam and Danny to get it sorted (they had class) at the cinema. Turns out, the person who helped us out so easily really messed things up for us. It turns out the tickets really were for 00:15 on Saturday and it wasn't even 3D. The guy who helped us this time was really really nice to us and tried to help us out the best he could. We weren't able to get VIP seating because it was sold out, but we got pretty decent seats and we are seeing it in 3D. We also got 4 complimentary tickets that we can upgrade to 3D and VIP for free. Danny's birthday is next week so we will go see Transformers 3(D) which the boys are obviously stoked about.

The food here is getting a bit better. I get scared of cafeteria food, but so far it's turned out pretty good. I just miss some American stuff like yellow mustard, lemonade, and regular sandwiches without mayo already on it. Such as life.

8 JUL, FRIDAY:
I had my first seminars with my professors this week. Seminars are just a smaller version of our classes, but it was pretty good. Dr. Sian Pooley (my Intimacy and Morality in Britain professor) already knew most names and she was really helpful in figuring out our 2500 word paper we will have to turn in by the end of the program (not that long from now!).

In my other seminar (Spooks & Spies) we watched a very old but cool video about World War I espionage in Britain and Germany. We have a 1500 word essay due next Tuesday and that will help us out.

This day I also got an ear ache and that was really disappointing. :( It got better throughout the day, but today was also the day we were leaving for London.

Overall, a pretty good first full week at Cambridge. I explored the city, went to all my classes and had a fun week. I didn't go out in the night though because I have class everyday at 9:00! It's very early, but I do enjoy the classes so it's worth it :)

SCOTLAND TRIP (PROGRAM)

2011-07-05T21:03:00.003+01:00

So for those who have been wondering why I haven't been online or where I have been for the past 5 days - I have the answer. Edinburgh with no internet access! It's been a crazy experience and so much so I ended up getting sick with a cold (a pretty nasty one too).

29 JUN, WEDNESDAY: TRAVEL DAY

I woke up much earlier than I ever wanted to, to go on a bus for 8 hours all the way to Edinburgh. We had many stops on the way, which I didn't take because I was just sleeping on the bus the whole way up. I was still exhausted and didn't get a full rests sleep yet, so this bus ride probably saved me from being sick on the whole trip.

We did make a nice stop at Richmond Castle which had AMAZING views. I was in my sweats and flip flops since I didn't think I would be taking many pictures, but I couldn't help myself. I have too many pictures of this place and I got a lot of great panoramic views.

Soaking up the sun in the soft grass at Richmond Castle.

Using my sweet panoramic feature on my camera to show off the castle.

After we got on the bus for another few hours (and another lovely nap for myself) we arrived for dinner at the University of Edinburgh. We were able to eat dinner (for which I was incredibly hungry) for free which was awesome. We stayed in one of their dorm buildings called Baird. We all got our own room which was slightly smaller than our Pembroke dorms but I had a full length mirror which I don't have at Pembroke.

Later that night some of the Program Assistants took us out to see Edinburgh nightlife. My friends and I ended up at a bar called Southern which has been one of the cheapest places to drink yet. It was fun, but a few of us (Sam, Kate, Scott, Mikey, Edgar and Robby) decided to continue on the street. We were recommended by our awesome Program Director, Nick Godfrey, to a bar called "Frankenstein." It was a bar that used to be a church, so the architecture was really cool. There was only 5 people in the whole place, but we could tell that on a fun Friday or Saturday night, this would be cool.

After that we went back to the dorms and had a good nights rest for our big day on Thursday.

30 JUN, THURSDAY: DAY 1 IN EDINBURGH

Kate, Sam and I woke up early to have breakfast for free at the dorm. What I have noticed here in the United Kingdom is that their food is honestly not that good. I have been borderline hungry for at least half of this trip because the food is just weird or too cold. For example, I love eggs. I'm not that picky as long as they are scrambled and I will eat them no matter what they look or taste like - except the eggs in the cafeteria at the University of Edinburgh. I got a big plate of them thinking how it was going to be great to start of the day so nicely, only to find out that the eggs literally tasted like powder. AND they were cold. I was disappointed, but thank goodness they have Frosted Flakes so I just ate a lot of cereal.

Thursday was the only day that the program was going to bus us in and out of the main part of the city, so I took full advantage of that. This day was also the big walking tour day. Nick Godfrey took a walking tour called 'Saints and Sinners' and loved it so much that he signed up our whole program to do it! It was great and the best part was that it was free.

Before I did that at 1:30 however, I went to the National Gallery of Scotland. It was a very quiet, calm place and you also can't take pictures. I was a bit bummed about that but otherwise the place was really cool. They had one painting that was just larger than life and I loved looking at the detail of just all the strokes that the artist made hundreds of years ago. I'm a bit of a nerd like that. :)

National Gallery of Scotland - No pictures allowed inside! :(

After that wonderfully free gallery, we went on the walking tour. It was great! We learned a Scottish song about Burke and Hare (really intense serial killers) and walked all over Edinburgh. We learned a lot about the city and how it's built in Old Town and New Town. We took a ton of great pictures. It's great to have a buddy like Kate too where we switch off cameras so we can be in some pictures too! Below is a picture of Kate and I in front of the Edinburgh Castle at the East Princes Street Gardens.

We were incredibly lucky throughout the trip to get such amazing weather. I love having blue sky in pictures. It was a bit chilly (I'm wearing lots of layers in most of the pictures) but it was so beautiful that you didn't even really notice it. Whenever the clouds would pass over the sun it would get cold again, but otherwise it was just wonderful.

Kate and I in front of Edinburgh Castle

Monument for Alexander the Great's horse!

After the two hour walking tour we took, Kate and I were really tired. We had been walking all day since 9:30 and we needed a break. We could either choose to take a cab back to Pollock Halls and pay about seven pounds, or we could wait an hour and a half to take the bus. The grass at East Princes Street Gardens looked warm and inviting, so we decided to be cheap and take the bus.

We were just lying out in the sun napping a bit (don't worry parents... we were safe and aware and nothing was stolen!) with all of the locals. It was GREAT. The thing that ended our relaxation time was cannons going off. It happened to be at the right time to catch the bus back to Pollock Halls though, so it was kind of lucky!

Cool park that Kate and I had a lovely nap in.

Kate and I ended up back into the city at night for dinner. We ate a this great student friendly restaurant called Biblos. Earlier for lunch Kate and I had Pizza Hut (£6.99 for pizza buffet... let's just say I ate a ton of pizza and was still relatively full even after walking all over the city) so we were looking for another reasonably priced place. It was amazing! They had drinks for students that were less than £3.50 (some of the best prices on the trip) and 30% food for all students. Everything tasted good and we had Danny and Sam2 meet up with us at the place. They loved it too! I would love to go back to the place, though it reminds me a lot like Yard House when it's happier... except that this is a good deal all the time.

Overall, Thursday was an awesome day. It's probably why I started to feel sick though because of how much I did.

1 JUL, FRIDAY: DAY 2 IN EDINBURGH

I had a late start to Friday because I was so tired. I also was trying to make sure I wasn't going to get that sick (I failed) so I didn't want to do too much. Kate also happened to wake up later so we were able to go into town together for lunch. We both had been fighting the cold coming on for a few days. We kept it easy and just went window shopping. We discovered POUNDLAND which everything is a pound (obviously). Best deals ever. I got my flu medicine there which helped me a lot for Saturday.

We also decided to go into the Scott Monument, which cost £3 to walk all the way to the top. Kate didn't know that I could be so scared of heights. I was just concentrating on breathing but on the first 'level' I couldn't take any good pictures. Eventually I sucked it up long enough to take a few good panoramics and some of Kate and myself at the top. Thinking about it still kind of scares me, but I am so happy that I did it. You could see forever and it was really cool to get such a good view of the city.

Scott Monument

Conquering (or trying to) my fear of heights!

Afterward, we just went back to Pollock Halls and figured out how to order a pizza. We both had a early night in so it was great.

2 JUL, SATURDAY: SICK

When I woke up on Saturday I was just felling so awful that I didn't do anything. So with no internet access or a TV, I had to just sleep all day. Most of my friends went to Glasgow for only £6 round trip, and I was really sad I missed going.

It was kind of a blessing in disguise though because it was one less day that I spent money!

3 JUL, SUNDAY: TRAVEL DAY
I felt a lot better (I could move) on Sunday which was good since we were traveling. I hadn't had too much a real meal since Friday (and I still considered 'yesterday' 'Friday' which just confused everyone else).

For our big stop, we went to Fountains Abbey which is this cool national park type place. It reminded me a bit of California national parks like Yosemite, except that this park also had an Abbey from the 1100s. The Abbey was really really cool and (embarrassingly enough) reminded me a lot of what Hogwarts Castle would look like in Harry Potter. There was also a river running near it that Sam2, Kate, Danny, Robby and I sat by to relax before we got on the bus for home.

Fountains Abbey in panorama!

It was such a crazy trip and even though I got a cold (I'm still fighting a cough that started on Monday) it was so much fun. I wasn't really excited to go in the first place, but it makes me excited to visit Scotland again some day.

Also when one of the girls on the trip said that they saw JK Rowling I almost died. I couldn't believe that I would miss her! :-P So now I HAVE to go back to run into her at a coffee shop or something :)

Thank you for reading all of this for those who will! I appreciate it. It took a really long time to write but I'm happy that I finished it!

Links to learn more about my trip in Edinburgh!
The City of Edinburgh
Richmond Castle
National Gallery
Burke and Hare
Scott Monument
Fountains Abbey

WEEK 1: CAMBRIDGE

2011-06-28T16:59:00.002+01:00

26 JUN, SUNDAY:
After dinner, I was really tired so I decided to just go to sleep. In the morning Kate and Sam traveled together to Cambridge by train on Platform 9B (almost 9 3/4!) from King's Cross. It was beautiful but just very very humid and warm. When we got there we met a few of the Program Assistants who were really cool. Most of these 'PAs' are there to help everyone on the social aspect of being in Cambridge. They know where the best pubs and clubs are, and they are there to keep us safe and accounted for.

My room is great! Sam is across the lawn in building AA and Kate is next door in building R. My room is in Q on the second floor. I have a fantastic view of the lawns and it's great that I can see all of my friends who walk by to and from class.

My dorm room! This is the grass that we are allowed to walk on :)

On Sunday Kate, Sam and I walked around the small Pembroke campus to take some pictures and have some fun. We freshened up and changed and did a bunch of different photo shoots. Thanks to Sam, I have a great picture with the library :) It was great to get to know Kate and Sam a lot more before the dinner.

The Library! I actually can't wait to study here with the Fellows :)

Myself, Sam and Kate. Wandering around Pembroke College.

The dinner was very... interesting. There is this guy that is charge of organizing them who looks like a skinny version of Robert Downey, Jr. He is has this slight look that puts fear into you and you ALWAYS listen to his directions. The food was really cold and Italian. I normally like my pizza, tomato soup and pasta warm so it was very interesting to eat. I also had sparkling water for the first time - I decided I didn't like it. Otherwise it was a great dinner to meet new people and I talked a lot to Ruth, a really cool PA who gave a lot of advice where to shop.

A few the PAs invited us to go to the Anchor because the Junior Parlour was closed (the on campus pub). Around 15 of us went and it was a lot of fun. The punting place is next door so a lot of us got excited to try that after we get back from our 5 day trip to Scotland.

When I ordered a pint, I thought I ordered Stella. Instead it was Fosters, but that was okay. It was pretty good and a bunch of us were talking and telling random facts about each other to get acquainted. It was a lot of people's first time out of California and there were also a lot who had been traveling before.

Kate and I also decided to try some cider and asked the bartender what they thought was the best one. She said the 'premium' cider was Rekordalig (I don't know if I spelled that right). It was seriously the most delicious cider I ever had. It's seasonal, with a strawberry and lime flavouring, so it was just fantastic. It's just a shame that it's on the more expensive side so I won't be able to get it all the time when I go out.

Probably the most amazing cider ever on the planet.

27 JUN, MONDAY:
On Monday was Orientation where we met some really important people. I was lucky enough to not have class that day, so I mainly relaxed and unpacked. It was also really hot and humid - about 90% humidity at 85 F. The Porter (basically security) gave a fire & safety tour which was much more enjoyable than I though. He was hilarious and made me feel like he will really watch out for all of us.

There was also the Formal Hall dinner, which was going to be the last one inside the 'Harry Potter' esque hall. It really needed repair work since it's so old (the College is about 400 years older than the US!) and it's really a shame we don't get a chance to do it every week. My friends and I took the most of it though, and our Program Director, Dr. Nick Godfrey actually sat with us. It was really nice to know that he is a funny and normal individual. He's also young and it's his first year running the program. He told us many stories and he even studied abroad at the University of Redlands!

The food was amazing at the dinner. The roast beef was some of the best I ever had and it's making me hungry again just thinking about it. I also ate the dessert in about 2 seconds. I really like that they have served coffee after every dinner meal because it helps me get out of my food coma so I can enjoy as much time here as possible.

The Fellows, who are special faculty who are some of the most elite at Pembroke ate at the 'High Table'. It was really interesting to see how different the ages some of them were. A couple looked just to be about 25 while the oldest must have been at least 70.

The dinner was just a fantastic experience and I'm so glad that I had the chance to eat at least one Formal Hall dinner there. From now on they will be in a marquee right next to it.

Dr. Nick Godfrey (Program Director), Danny, Kate and me at Formal Hall dinner.

New friends! From left to right: Sam, Robby, Kate, me, Danny, Sam2 and Sam.

28 JUN, TUESDAY:
After dinner, I felt really tired so I just went to my room early instead of going out. The next morning, I went to morning prayer at the College Chapel. It's a beautiful small chapel and about 4 students went. Even though I'm not terribly religious, it was a nice place to be after finding about Kristen passing away so suddenly. I also had class at 9:00 and at 11:50. Both of my classes were GREAT and I am so happy that I am in them. I am in Spooks and Spies (History of British Secret Intelligence) and Morality in Britain. Both are going to really complement my experience here in Cambridge. Most of the time my classes will be 1 in the morning and 1 in the afternoon. Hopefully I will have enough time to do exploring in between those classes.

Today Kate, Sam and I went to the 'Official' Cambridge store. I got a really cool crewneck Pembroke sweatshirt and I checked out cufflinks for my friend Issei. It was raining, so Kate and I also went to get some clothes (I got boots and a sweater).

It's beein raining all day today, a huge contrast to the past few days. And when I say raining, I mean the thunder is so loud that even the locals scream from fright. It feels nice to be in my dorm. :)

Tomorrow morning I am leaving for 5 days to Scotland, which I'm a little nervous about. The bus ride is really long and I just don't like traveling for very long... lol. My next post will be all about SCOTLAND!!

Pembroke love,

Erika

LONDON: DAY 3

2011-06-28T11:32:00.002+01:00

26 JUN, SUNDAY:
My final day in London was literally all over the place. I knew I had to leave for Cambridge with Kate (we were meeting up at King's Cross Station), but that wouldn't be until around 2:00 PM. What I really wanted to do more than anything was the British Museum since it's free and I am a huge Ancient Egyptian/Greek/Roman history nerd (thanks to my 6th grade history teacher). I was incredibly disappointed to find in my London guide book that it is closed on Sundays (my luck of course). I wanted to do something (since I had to check out at 10:00 AM) so I went to the Camden Markets thinking it would be fun.

It was a lot more touristy than I thought and I mainly did window shopping. I did get 2 small presents for Hayley and Richard (you two will see what they are soon hehe) that were cheap and I couldn't help but get it for them. I did a long walk from the Camden Underground Station to Morning Crescent Station. I was pleasantly surprised on how old the station was (many other ones that I used were modernized to the nth degree). It reminded me a lot of what it must have been like in the 1920s to the 1940s, and I love that time period. :) I took a lot more pictures than necessary, but I couldn't help it!

Morning Crescent Station was in a beautiful area.


The low ceilings and tube shape were very very cool!

I took the Tube to King's Cross again back to Clink 261 to maybe rest for an hour before meeting with Kate and friends at the train station (It was around 12:45). I decided to just ask the receptionist at the hostel if the British Museum was open because I thought that MAYBE my handy guidebook could have been wrong. Turns out, it was! Even though I was already really tired from walking so much in Camden Markets, and I decided that I really did have to see the British Museum.

The first thing I did when I got in the area was visit Russel Square. My parents stayed there about 10 years ago on their first trip to Europe ever. They told me stories of getting lost and turned around before surrounding and buying a map and compass (My parents... the surveyors... getting lost! It's laughable. ;]). Now I could see why because I was just starting to get a bit turned around. Luckily I found the beautiful park. It was incredibly humid (about 80%) and 85 F that day and I was just so uncomfortably hot. A lot of girls were laying out in the sun lazily and many kids were playing in garden. I took a picture of the map in case my parents will get lost the next time they go to Russell Square ;)

Russell Square's map.

Afterward it was just a quick walk to the British Museum. I only had about 45 minutes to be in it before leaving for King's Cross so I decided to just do a 'crash' course and go everywhere I could as quickly as possible. I was able to see all of the Egyptian, Greek and Roman artifacts, though not with as much detailed as I liked, so I can't wait to go back! Also a really nice French couple took my picture for me in front of the museum :)

The British Museum! It was so hot I could not imagine the people in the back wearing pants and jackets!

Even though I was so exhausted, tired, hot and sweaty, I pushed myself to get my luggage out of the storage (in the way back and the bottom of about ten 50 pound suitcases!) and make it in time to meet at King's Cross Station. I met up with Sam and about an hour later (her flight got delayed) Kate joined us and we were off to Cambridge! The people on the train were so incredibly polite and nice. They helped all of us with heavy luggage and putting it away for the 45 minute train ride. It was great. :)

For the next 5 weeks my posts will be all about my times at Pembroke College and the adventures I go on with my friends! I am so excited to finally be in school here. :)

LONDON: DAY 2

2011-06-28T00:16:00.002+01:00

25 JUN, SATURDAY:
After an early morning breakfast (and check out) I wandered around getting ready to do my own version of the Harry Potter walking tour from a free online booklet. I took the Tube all the way to Temple and waited to hang out with Zoey, who's in my program. I realized while waiting that the "Harry Potter" tour was a bust and it was actually mainly just really random sites and only 5 out of 30 were legitimate Harry Potter sites. So instead Zoey and I wandered around London together and went to a few pretty cool places. Somerset House in Westminister, Trafalgar Square and an M&M store near Leicester Square.

Somerset House in Westminster! It was so cold and windy.

Zoey was a complete trooper with me even after flying in on Saturday as well. She let me take on a journey for me to find cheap (ish) Wicked tickets for that night because I desparately wanted to see the musical! I was a bit nervous to go buy myself because the Apollo Victoria Theatre was about 6 stops away and I wasn't familiar with the area (Victoria) like I was around King's Cross. I decided to just go for it - because how often would I be able to do what I want in London, and how often would I actually be traveling in Europe by myself? Going to Europe in the first place is all about getting out of your comfort zone (but still safe). Since I had Brittany on hand (she was up in northern England with her sister and mother for the day and her train was getting into the Victoria station about the same time Wicked would end), I felt the need to be adventurous.

It was really exhilarating to get to Victoria and go find the theatre on my own. I ran into a lot of friendly Brits who were nice enough to take my picture since I wanted some with me in them (what can I say, I'm a picture happy person!)


I didn't even get lost to the Apollo Victoria Theatre! :)

I had never seen Wicked before, but I thought - Hey, I'm in London. What a better place to see a new musical as amazing as this one? It was actually completely different than what I expected (I've seen the Alpha Phi - FIJI 2008 Songfest version on YouTube that got 3rd Overall) and I got goosebumps and emotional throughout the whole thing. My seats were a bit far, but I had a great view and I though the theater was much better than Pantages in Los Angeles (though I love going there with my family :]). The actress who was Glinda wasn't the headline girl - the standby Chloe Taylor was but she was fanatastic so I didn't mind.

As I was walking (the wrong way I found out about 5 minutes after this story) I saw about 6 people waiting in line by the stage door. Brittany hadn't gotten in yet (we were going to meet up for a quick good bye) so I decided to join the line. I met to girls from another part of England (I can't remember where) and we helped each other get pictures and signatures from the cast! The cast was really really great and were really friendly to me and happy to talk to me (they said they love when they get people outside of England in the crowd - the group behind me was from France). I got some great pictures of the main actors.

Fiyero (Mark Davis)

Elphaba (Rachel Tucker)

Glinda (Chloe Taylor)

Wizard of Oz (Clive Carter)

Eventually I met up with Brittany and we ended up going to McDonald's for some good old chicken nuggets. :) I had such a big day walking everywhere that it felt really nice to get back 'home' at the hostel!

--

Today I found out that my dear Alpha Phi sister Kristen Stit had passed away from cancer earlier in the morning. She was an amazingly strong and positive woman and incredibly inspiring. You will be missed and I will always think of you!

LONDON: DAY 1

2011-06-27T14:12:00.001+01:00

24 JUN, FRIDAY:
So I finally made it to Europe! I am so happy and excited that I'm here. I was a bit nervous getting on time for my flight (there was an hour plus wait to check in) but I made it in good time. The flight was... not the nicest. I was in the very middle seat in the middle row for 10.5 hours, but I tried to sleep as much as I could. I got a pretty good breakfast (egg and cheese with an English muffin) so that kind of made up for it.

As soon as I landed I had to go on the Underground to get to my hostel (Clink 261). I bought an Oystercard (it cost £4) but it has definitely been worth it. A single way cost £4 but with the pass it was £1.90. I used it A LOT and I will be going into London at least two more times where it will be useful. Taking the Underground (the Tube) from Heathrow to King's Cross/St. Pancras was about 22 stops... which is about an hour. It wasn't that bad though because I went on it when it wasn't that busy and I was able to see a lot of the residential areas just outside of London before it went underground. I was also checking and rechecking my map that I had to get to my hostel. As most people know, I can have a terrible sense of direction so I was nervous about getting lost. When I got off the Tube I was able to get a grip on myself and find the street with my hostel (Clink 261).

The hostel I stayed at! A 5 minute walk from King's Cross Station.

The hostel was really cool and I felt very safe there. My one problem was the fact that I actually had to check out of my room on Saturday and recheck into another room. It wasn't that much of an inconvenience, but definitely more of an annoyance. I didn't feel like I could just relax for a bit, especially since I was doing a ton of walking and still hadn't fully rested from my flight. Otherwise, the breakfast was simple but good (toast, cereal, NUTELLA) and the sheets were clean and it did it's job. It was also really cool because it was across the street from a Ear, Nose and Throat hospital (at least that's what we call it in the US). I thought of my brother and family all the time looking out on that. :)

The Ear, Nose & Throat Hospital right across the street!

I was able to meet up with Brittany, a friend from elementary school and high school that goes to a fashion university in London. We had dinner at a great burger place in Covent Gardens and it wasn't too badly priced. Then went to Earl's Court in Chelsea which is where she lives. The area was so cute and charming and her flat is so big! I loved it. It was actually raining at night, but we decided to go to a couple of pubs and had a few drinks. It was really really fun and I wished that I could have spent more time in London with her!

Brittany with me at the Troubadour Pub in Chelsea!

It was an excellent first day in London!

PACKING... AND MY BROTHER

2011-06-20T03:25:00.000+01:00

So not only do my parents get to send me off to Europe for nearly 2 months, they are also sending my brother on a 30 day trip. He is going with 19 other newly high school graduates with a teacher named Mr. Padilla. He brings students to Europe for about 26 years now and takes them all over. He had to do all of his packing today (he leaves the 22nd - I leave the 23rd) and it was funny to watch him pack with the cool air compressing bags. Usually I just pack the night before or even day of and hope that I remember everything. Since this will be the first time that I will be on my own, I feel like I should probably be a bit of a better packer.

I leave THIS WEEK and it's only 4 measly days away! I'm getting more anxious since I've been in Los Angeles. I officially left Orange County which makes me sad. This will be the longest I have been away from the beautiful county since I moved down there for my first year at UCI. Europe, I hope you're ready!

4 days!
Erika

PS. Kudos to my brother and the other new LCHS Alumni!

PREPARING FOR EUROPE.

2011-06-05T21:09:00.000+01:00

Sarah just forwarded me the itinerary we have for when we travel together for 11 days. Let me tell you - it looks freaking amazing. We are going to hit Munich (Germany), Salzburg (Austria), Vienna (Austria), Prague (Czech Republic), Berlin (Germany), Amsterdam (Netherlands) and Paris (France)! It's on average about two nights per city which is going to be perfect for us. I want to see as much as possible while I can - I know that I will have a chance to go back to Europe and travel more extensively at certain places.

It's now less than 3 weeks away from happening, which is just crazy. I only have finals and two more weekends here in the US before I leave (by myself) on a non-stop flight to London! I'm excited yet scared at the same time to be traveling alone for that first night. Hopefully I meet up with my friend Brittany or people who are going to be there ahead of time. Then it's off to King's Cross Station* to get on the right platform and off to school! ;)

18 days and counting (!!),
Erika