|
salami07
|
read my profile
sign my guestbook
Name: Rob
Country: United Kingdom
Metro: London
Birthday: 5/3/1985
Gender: Male
Interests: hiking, biking, long walks along the beach... hmm what else? Since I was quite young, I have found particular pleasure in electronic devices. Cell phones, computers, radios -- you name it -- there is a strong chance that I either 1) own it 2) attempted to make one 3) owned it, but took it apart.
I also have some level of interest in Soups. I love soup. Its my favorite food. But that's not interesting. I like to sing (or at least try to), I like to play the piano (thats a def), and I like to read, write, watch MST3K movies, and perhaps, if the time is right, converse with people long into the night. So those are my interests. I'm sure there's more... but its 7am... i'm not exactly bursting with hobbies right now.
Message: message meEmail: email me
AIM:  Iam alas aSalami
Member Since:
2/4/2004
|
|
| Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary & Germany pictures are up!
Here's the Link
| | |
| Athens Photos: Here's the link
| | |
| Hello from England!
This week’s word: sponge.
Since
I last wrote, I have explored the cities and surrounding areas of
London, Westminster, Exeter, Lyme Regis, Bishop’s Itchington, Warwick,
and Stratford-upon-Avon. All trips have been worthwhile and
educational, probably teaching me more about myself and how I fit into
the world than what they’ve taught me about their own histories and
tourist attractions.
For the skimmers among you, I will list in
bullet-form a handful of interesting highlights from my life so far.
If you’re intrigued enough to check out the details, just keep going.
HIGHLIGHTS:
-
A discussion about "feminism and computers" in my IT in Society
class- made interesting by the conservative-Islamic perspectives in the
diverse group of 95 students.
- Explaining to Simon, a guy on my
floor, what “church” is. When I said “you walk in the door, shake
someone's hand, and receive a bulletin that tells you which prayers
will be said and what songs you’re going to sing...” he responded, “oh!
I’ve been to one of those. I thought they called it Catholic.”
- I saw the crown jewels.
- I saw where Shakespeare was born (in Stratford-upon-Avon) and where Charles Dickens’ worked (mostly at a pub on the Thames).
-
I have been reading Shakespeare and Dickens for my literature class,
picking up on small details where they subtly refer or would have
pulled inspiration from the locations I've now visited.
- I stayed at a husband & wife’s small B&B in Exeter, and fixed their computer.
- I spent three nights living with an English family. (Brad’s).
So,
I'm having a wonderful time in England and it's only been getting
better now that the arriving Spring season is starting to scare off
coldness and fog. [Salutation: All the best, Rob].
OR FOR THE BRAVE AMONG YOU:
STORIES!
Chapter 1 : "London."
London
is a beautiful city; an open-topped tour bus ride carried me past all
of the main sights to see: Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, London Bridge,
Piccadilly Circus (home of Harrods), Charles Dickens’ house, the church
where baby William Penn was baptized, etc etc. My tour of the Tower of
London was surprisingly fascinating and in addition to that I can
officially announce that I’ve been within 12 inches of every one of the
Queen’s crown jewels. My tour bus ticket also included a Thames river
cruise through cold wind and pouring rain.... so I can say that I've
done that too.
While in London I also saw a comedy that wasn’t
funny (but an interesting study in the peculiarities of British humor),
walked across Abbey Road (the crosswalk where a Beatles album cover was
photographed), and witnessed a 20,000-person Islamic Anti-cartoon
protest on Trafalgar Square/Speakers corner. It was an incredible
weekend and impacting on my perspective of the true depth and breadth
of human history. It’s humbling to consider just how much “time before
me” there actually was.
Chapter 2: "Exeter."
The following weekend was Exeter, a destination indirectly recommended to me by my dad’s high school soccer coach. Don’t ask.
After
planning to travel by myself and make Exeter something of a
“pioneering” journey, I asked Brad if he wanted to join me. As it
turns out, one of his best friends attends the University of Exeter and
before long, my random tourist-trip to the southern coast of England
became a wonderful visit with friends and acquaintances.
Instead
of taking a "guided walking tour" provided by a local tourism bureau,
Brad's friend (John) took us around town following a new kind of
protocol: volunteerism. After a slight amount of prodding from John, I
spent 3 hours on a saturday walking into Exeter shops, introducing
myself as "Rob from Cancer Research UK," and asking "would you allow us
to hang a fundraising advertisement in the front window?". My American
accent probably exposed my true identity, but nonetheless most shop
owners accepted.
The weekend also included fossil hunting along
the beach, talking to other fossil hunters, enjoying tea & pasties
(not pastries), church at the 900 year old Exeter Cathedral, English
billiards, fixing the bed & breakfast-owner (Kiran's) computer, and
a conversation following that about how she got into the B&B
business. It was a story that started in 1972 and went through her
experience as an Indian woman in an arranged marriage, divorce,
depression, being rescued by a kind and loving Austrian named Meinrad,
moving to England and fighting for months to renovate an old building
in Exeter so she could rent it out to guests. The trip was a wonderful
experience and entirely made possible by the kindness and generosity of
other people: not by my meticulous planning and time budgeting.
Chapter 3 : "Bishop's Itchington"
After
a third week of excellent classes, days spent in the library and
another long but enjoyable night of University Choir practice, I left
campus again on Friday- this time to spend the weekend with Brad’s mom,
dad, grandma, granddad, and two sisters an hour north of Cheltenham in
Bishop’s Itchington. While there, I was welcomed into the home and
treated like a king. I enjoyed home-cooked meals day after day
(including my first Yorkshire pudding… which turned out not to be
pudding at all), and being introduced to their collection of
“traditional” English-comedy videos at night (Has anyone ever heard of
the “Black Adder” series?). They also treated me to a show at the
community hall, a tour of Warwick Castle, and a walk through the
well-maintained 16th century house known as “Shakespeare’s Birthplace.”
Brad even gave up his bedroom for me to stay in, so I slept for three
nights in a ridiculously comfortable feather bed.
So yeah, the England trip has been going pretty well so far.
On
campus, relationships with my floor-mates are building steadily thanks
to a shared kitchen and a combination electric oven-stove contraption
that is in constant use. And recently I started attending Christian
Union “youth group” nights, so that also helps with getting to know
more English students.
This Saturday I’m touring Oxford, and
then two weeks after that is a 4-day weekend in Paris and Amsterdam.
Dublin over St. Patty’s needed to be cancelled so I could have more
time to work on essays before the big Eurotrip in April.
Chapter 4: "In Conclusion"
The
reason this week’s word is “sponge” is because just in this first month
I feel like I’m approaching some degree of a “saturation point.” I’m
bombarded with hundreds of little things each day (especially over the
weekends) that give me a lot to question, ponder, and process. I
journal regularly and am trying to keep up with the ever-lengthening
list of things I’ve learned and challenges I’m facing, but most of all
I’m just trying to soak all of this up.
It's a lot.
For my updated pictures, I have posted slideshows at
http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=sj7pc84.pk3ttc0&Uy=-b6w6t5&Ux=0
. This form of sharing them is a bit more efficient than the "live journal" method I used earlier.
That's all for now. Take care, all.
All warm wishes,
Rob
| | |
| For my photo albums: Click here
For Mary's photo albums: Click here
| | |
|
Click this to go to the site with all my photo-slideshows
-- Find the button that says "View photos without signing in."
-- Then find the button that says "View all albums."
(The one that opens automatically is just Exeter)
| | |
|
