11/3/13 (Trip to Devon)

Well I am back from my HOST Visit, and it was so much fun! I will go into as much detail as I can, and will upload photos tomorrow, being I am exhausted right now.

8/3

I got on the train at 12:20 from Waterloo Station. Why this is a big deal is because I got to the train station at 12:17. I timed it perfectly! The ride was not bad. I arrived in Exeter (three syllables) at 3:45, so it was a relaxing time just for myself. I started reading The Hobbit, which I bough Thursday. I finished reading at the end of Gollum's cave.

I got to the station and met both the Director of HOST in County Devon, and Ray, the man with whom I'd be staying. Together, we went in and I was introduced to his wife, Jenny, and Khalid, a Saudi Arabian who was also staying with us. We jumped in their Scotia and away we went. To get to their farm, it was mostly one lane roads. Not only that, but they were also lined on either side with 15 foot tall hedges. So it made sightseeing hard, but it was stunning to see. Riding in the car really made me want to drive.

Their home is to the left and the bottom window is their sitting room, overlooking
the picture below

When we first arrived, we had some cakes and tea. We had two cakes, one with apricot filling and another with dried fruits. Both were delicious. The tea was of higher quality than I am used too as well.

After that, since the weather was nice, we went for a walk on their land. They owned two fields adjoining their backyard, so we walked through those. In the summer, they let the farmer put sheep in the fields to keep the grass short. There were sheep in the other fields, which they are interesting characters. The view from their house was amazing. You could see the entire town, and in the background of that was Dartmoore National Park.

Outside of my window

Dinner was served around 8 and we got steak and mushroom pie. It was amazing. Grandma Connie would be proud that I am starting to eat mushrooms (Note: I have had a few grilled tomatoes that I haven't hated, so maybe I will even come around to those). Desert was meringue with clotted cream and jams. Amazing. More than amazing. We went to bed, which I got my own room around 10:30. On the ceilings were two windows, with a remote to control the blinds. I was in awe

9/3

At 9:00, breakfast was served. It was a mighty healthy breakfast, with fruits, yogurts, Brand Flakes and Corn Flakes. It was weird because we all made bowls of cereal, but they all put yogurt in the bowl. I ate mine straight. It was too good to waste with soggy Corn Flakes.


We departed in an old school camper-van for a festival. It was in a small town, but it was a food and drink and music festival. Which, I don't know how they knew, is my favorite kind of festival. It was called the Moretonhampstead Festival of Food, Drink and the Arts  If you click Festival, it will take you to the site. Maybe there is a photo of me there. I don't know. If you ask, I can tell you more about the festival. If there is a big enough demand, then I will write more about it. Just tell mom to tell me or shoot me an email.

We did stop off for a spot of tea here. The grounds were beautiful and the biscuits
delicious

Afterwards, we went to Dartmoor National Park. We parked and climbed up a huge hill to get to the top (I know, terrible sentence) but once there, we got a stunning view of the environs an we got a chance to explore the remains of a village used by someone over 3,000 years ago. It was funny because most of the huts had 2 rooms. My take on it is that Brits have loved their tea forever, so the entrance room was a sitting room for entertaining guests and serving tea, while the second was the bedroom. I wanted to stay there forever, but Jenny and Ray were getting hungry, so back to the van we went for lunch. We got some nice cheeses, bread, and some cold vegetable stew, which again Grandma, had chunks of tomatoes that I ate without a flinch. Also some artichokes. I like them though, so no complaints.

The camper-van

There were sheep everywhere. No jokes

When we got back to their house, it was about 4:30. So we had a cup of tea (I think my fifth at this time) and waited for the rugby match to start .Ray is big into rugby and there is a big tournament going on so we watched that together. Rugby is a fun game to watch, even if I don't fully understand the rules. After, came dinner, which time time was a fisherman's pie. In it was salmon, prawns, white fish and cod (maybe?). To go with it were peas, which I still love, so everyone knows. Desert was amazing again, being a fruit pie that Jenny made with some creme friche  on there.  The cream was french sour cream, which is like cream cheese but has a sour taste to it. It was a perfect compliment for the pie.

10/3

Breakfast was the same this time but I didn't mind at all because I haven't had that fresh of fruits in a long time. We were taken by Ray to Castle Drogo, which was a fantastic castle, and the last castle to be build in England. It is currently under a 6 year, 11 million Pound ($19 million) restoration to correct water damage and leakings. Nevertheless, it was still great. It had a wonderful view that was impeded by copious amounts of snow, which fell throughout the day.

The last built castle in England. 

Gardens, which I expect are beautiful in the spring

We made it back to pick of Jenny and head to the pub, which was amazing. The pub was a small local pub in the town they live in. They had this thing called beer tapas, so I got to try each of the three local ales that they brewed from the area it was great. To tell you a little about the situation of the pub though, would surprise you. Anyways, here it is. It has been blessed to have about 538 years of continuous work. Everyone is welcome in the pub and no questions are asked. This was a perfect example of how a pub is supposed to be: There were two older people who were locals; two travelers, one tasting the fruits of the area's labor, the other a Muslim who does not drink alcohol, but still partakes in the culture aspect of it; a family having a traditional roast dinner, baby and children and dog included; a cat sleeping on a bar stool; and the bartender having looked like he'd been there for close to all 538 years. Just fantastic.

We then returned to the farm for our roast dinner. It was roasted lamb, which is a favorite of mine, so plus one to start. We got some roasted vegetables, some of which included beetroot. I don't know if you have ever had beetroot, but it is not terrible. I actually quite enjoyed it. For dessert, we got apple crumble. It made me realize how much I need a good apple season this year so mom can make me some apple crisp, every day. I want it a lot even right not.

We left the farm for good and headed to ---sorry, I am calling it the farm because it is an old converted farm from the 17th century, Exeter early so we could see the city a little bit. We went to the cathedral there, which was build in the 1350s. It was huge! Surprisingly big for a smaller city, and twice as elegant. We were in there and got a chance to hear the organ being played. I grabbed a thing about it for Mez. We left there after about 35 minutes and got a coffee to wait for our train. At 5:10, we bid them farewell and boarded our train at 5:17. I read a great deal more of The Hobbit, I believe I am around page 230 now. I got to London at 8:35 and home at 9:05, so not terrible either.

Now, as I finish up, seeing that this took about an hour made me a little sad, but it needed to get done. During all of this, I was catching up with Rory too, so that was nice too. Soon enough, I will be off to bed and look for these pictures and tomorrows post... uh tomorrow. Ok Cheers!

7/3/13

Well, I still feel quiet down, but my laundry is in so I will try my best to get you caught up on my life here.

Tuesday 5/3

I went into work on Tuesday, and ended up getting a nice lunch by myself at the cafe by work. I ended up getting a prawn salad sandwich. The best part about it was that it was about 60 degrees and absolutely lovely. I ate it outside in the garden. It made my day. I also got to leave work early because we had an event that I had to go to.

At 5:15 I made it to Store Street, where there was pizza and perspective students from Barton College in North Carolina. So we did a meet and greet with them and rotated around the building answering their questions and telling them about our experiences. At 6:30, we left to head to south London. We  had tickets to a football match that the program made us go to. No complaints from this end.

Our seats were amazing. Like when I say amazing, I mean, we were sitting in the front row. Like no one was in front of me at all.

Going off of that, the teams we were watching are numbers 2 and 3 in the league. It is one league under the top league, so it was still good football. The biggest draw was a midfielder for Crystal Palace. His name is Wilfried Zaha and he was quite good. He actually signed a contract so that at the end of this year, he will go play for Manchester United, one of the best teams in Europe. So next year when he goes on ESPN, I can say that I have seen him in person and up close. Close enough to yell at and for him to hear me.

Wednesday 6/3

I went to work again, so nothing changed there. I did get an extended lunch though because there was a meeting for the whole charity that I wasn't invited to because it had to deal with a lot of personal HR things. So I went and got some Vietnamese food again because why not. My lunch was about an hour and a half long. I ended up leaving work at 6:30. Then, we went to ULU to watch the football match. It was a little boring, but it was nice to talk to everyone.

I was exhausted though, so I went to bed at about 11:45. I haven't been able to sleep well at all lately, because of my cold. So hopefully tonight I will sleep better.

Thursday 7/3

Instead of work, I got to go to class. I had to give a short report on what I do at my internship, so I did that as quickly as I could because I didn't want to do a lot of talking as stuffed up as I am. During seminar,  I didn't participate much because my head was too full of pressure. So I walked home and couldn't take a nap because I couldn't fall asleep.

In Religion class, we moved on to Hinduism. It was quite interesting, being that some sects of Hindus deal with decadence like feasts and bright colors, something that western religions usually stay away from. After class, I went to this bookshop to buy a book. This bookshop was in a basement, with books thrown everywhere. It was amazing, confusing and great all in one. I bought The Hobbit, so I will read that this weekend. I am very excited.

Then I went down to Piccadilly Circus to go and buy my HOST family some jams as a gift for letting me stay with them this weekend. So I leave tomorrow at noon or something that that. I don't know if I will have any internet access, so you are aware. I will be home Sunday around 7 I think. I will check my tickets before going to bed. Just don't want to miss the train. It should be a great experience and I will tell you all about it Sunday night. Cheers!

6/3/13

Hey! I have caught an illness. I am not feeling well at all. I figured I should let you all know that I am not feeling up to par, so instead of writing my blog, which would be about my internship the past two days, plus a compulsory football game I had to go to last night, I am going to put that off until tomorrow. Tonight, I am going to bed early. I hope everyone is more healthy than I (simple because I think I will die, that is how stuffed up my head it.) and I will be sure to write a more comprehensive blog when I get better. Cheers!

Internship Blog Week 6

This was a very busy week at work. I enjoyed it though because be keeping busy, the time literally flies by. I got into work on Tuesday at 10:30 and I was told to take a look at the bank reconciliations for the past year. Something got screwed up in October and we figured we should cross reference the ledger to the bank statement to the checkbook. After spending all morning on that, I took lunch around 2:30. I got a pizza from the place down the road. It had ham and onions on it. Just delicious! The second half of my day was pretty much the same as the beginning: looking for the error. At 4:30, all that I figured out was that the error might be from a previous year. The next hour, Karina and a few of the other volunteers and some of the students were talking, so I listened in. It was not too business related, but it was still fun to listen.I left around 6, after Karina because I wanted to finish up looking over some things and put everything back in its place.

Wednesday, I was asked to start coming in earlier because Karina is bringing her daughter to the Breakfast Club, so she can get in earlier. When I got in, I was asked to do a little research on the website. I emailed a few people about it, asking questions and started to look for some quotes. I drew up a map for the website. At 10:30, we had a meeting with a lady who specializes in human resources. She was very sweet. After that, I worked more on the website design. Around 1:30, Karina offered to take to take me to lunch, which was very sweet. We went to this Vietnamese place, where we got a prawn rice roll, crisps, and for my entree, a pile of Shanghai noodles. It was wonderful. We spent about an hour and a half there talking. We compared a lot between working in the US and in the UK, along with my goals and she told stories from her past. It was a great lunch. I finished the day working on the budget, which became a little tedious. I left at 7:00, just in time to make it to ULU to see my friends for the night.

Thursday, I had to do a little bit of extra work to make the budget kosher. The budget we were working on had codes that were different than the ones we have been working on. So I went through and made an entirely new budget. I have to go over it with Karina, because there are some differences, but that will make it easier for us going forward. That only took about two and a half hours, so no big deal.

Something that I have learned about working in the UK this week is how cozy everyone tries to make it. Work is not an uncomfortable place to be. When we had the meeting, I was asked to get some biscuits and tea for our guest. Also, Karina and I talked about how much conversation goes on at work, but we still seem productive. At home, the amount of conversations we have would not be tolerated. It is nice and honestly, I feel more welcomed here in most settings than I did at home. At home, all of my jobs have just been jobs, working here is honestly an experience.

It is a little messy, but to the left is where I work. 

4/3/13

Sorry for the little break. The reason why I didn't post anything is because I haven't really done anything of note of late. I told you about the Greenwich trip, which was great. Saturday, I didn't do a thing. I woke up, watched a movie, took a short walk and then a group of us went out to the East End to finally explore that area. It was neat but that is about all. I would like to go back and I know I have said it and will say it again, I am so excited to bring mom there.

Sunday I woke up and cleaned my room a little. After, around 4, I met up with everyone and we watched the North London Derby between Tottenham and Arsenal. It was a very exciting game, but that was the only excitement of my day. I spent the rest of it just lounging around and I finished the night by watching The Gladiator with Russell Crowe.

Today, I got up bright and early and wrote a paper in Store Street about the Jews in England. It took about 2 hours and ended up being just over 1025 words (it was 1000 minimum). From there, I went for a jog because it was lovely. It is amazing how excited the entire city gets when it is nice out. The streets were packed. I ran down to Big Ben, crossed the bridge, ran by the London Eye and scampered back home. It is great how fast one gets out of shape. I can walk forever, but running is not my fort de gras. The rest of the night I will finish picking up my clothes and read a little before heading to work. I am sure there will be more to talk about tomorrow.

2/3/13

1/3

Today, we were fortunate enough to go on a boat trip to Greenwich. We decided to walk down to the pier, which was no longer than a 30 minute walk, so not bad at all. The only bad part of the boat ride was that it was quite chilly. We left from Westminster Pier, which is literally right next to Big Ben. 

See no joke.

It was a real nice boat trip. It took an hour to get to Greenwich, but it was quite chilly on the top deck. I stayed up there while we passed under Tower Bridge though.

So you know, it was quite cold there. I am surprised that I could open my eyes. They were tearing up like no other.

When we left the boat, we walked up a huge hill up to the Greenwich Observatory. It was there that a conference was held, led by the United States, that created the time zone. There, going through the middle of it, was the Prime Meridian. I actually got to straddle the Western and Eastern Hemispheres at the same time!

For some reason, I never take a picture of me doing things. Just my feet

After that, I walked through the museum which was quite interesting. It dealt a lot with clocks, time, instruments measuring time and distance, and astrology. 

Then, I visited the Royal Naval Museum. 

It was huge, but a lot of it was closed for the installation of new exhibitions. It was really nice to be in Greenwich though because it was quiet. There were a decent amount of people in town, but nothing like it is at home. I went to the market there, which it had a lot of cool things there, especially artwork. However, it was quite expensive. I am a little excited to get home and not spend $15 on anything that I purchase. But so be it. For now, c'est la vie. 

I broke off from the group to explore on my own. I walked under the Thames in a subway tunnel. It was the first time I really felt claustrophobic in my life. I am guessing the fact that I was under a river and if the subway broke, I would die. So you know, I did survive. 

I know you can't tell, but that is all a downhill gradient. It was about 200 yards
long once it was flat, then another hill to start climbing up.

It had a very New York City feel to it. It was all lines and corners. Not like the
rest of London. 

I started walking, and I ended up in Millwall. From there, I followed signs to Canary Wharf. What Canary Wharf is is the epicenter of the financial doings in London. There were buildings for HSBC, Citi Bank, and KPMG, along with many others that I didn't see. I rushed through there because I was getting tired. 

Finally, I made it home, exhausted. I ended up taking the tube for a little bit because I couldn't handle the walk home. I did make it a while though. I think I hoofed it about 5 or 6 miles before getting on the Tube.

That night, the place where we lived decided to buy us pizza. So we spent literally the rest of the night in the lounge either eating pizza or talking or both haha. I ended up getting to bed around 2, so I was happy with that.

2/3

I slept in today, so I felt bad about that. I gave it to myself as a little treat though for getting up so early the entire week. I met Matt, Leah, and some of Leah's friends and we went up to Camden Market. It was packed today. We mainly went for lunch. Matt and I decided to split everything we got. First, we got a chicken kebab (which was Turkish) with salad and some sort of sauce on it, wrapped in a tortilla. It is one of those things that I will make Mom try when she is here (only she gets lamb). It is so tasty and cannot be found at home. The second course we got was a Turkish wrap. That had sausage, spinach, and cheese in it. I swear to goodness, it tasted like a taco. There was also some chili yogurt in it. So tasty. For desert, I got a piece of banana bread. I really treated myself today. It was so delicious.

We went into the Stables after to look at some things. There were a lot of neat posters for a Pound (they were smaller, but still a good deal) that the girls bought. I looked at some shoes, I may purchase some by the time I leave. I am walking through my Converse here. We walked home and I ended up watching a movie just to relax.

Tonight, I am going shopping (in about 5 minutes) and then I am going with Joey to explore the East End. We are meeting Matt and Leah eventually and will explore that area tonight with her friends. It should be interesting and I will report back on that (maybe) tomorrow! Until then, I hope you enjoyed the photos!!

1/3/13

27/2

So my boss changed her schedule and now wants me to come in at 9:30 instead of 10:30, which isn't too bad. However, the bus to get to worked is packed for half of it. That means that I have to stand like right next to the bus driver for about 5 minutes. It is so stressful because it looks like we are going to hit everything, from cars to the sidewalk and especially bicyclists. Eventually, I do make my way back up to the top of the bus, where I just look out at the everything.

My boss brought me out to lunch. We went to this place to get some Vietnamese food. I had some sort of prawn rice roll and some Shanghai noodles with ham and shrimp. It was surprisingly good, but I had to use chop sticks. So that might be somewhere to avoid with mom (hahah I don't know if she can use them).

After work (I got out at 7:00), I went to ULU to watch a game. However, there was no game on, so we just got a drink and sat and talked for about two hours. We left and I wanted some dinner, so I broke off from the group and started looking for a place that sold kebabs. I walked around for an hour, and found not one place that sold a kebab. I made it home around 11:30, miserable and just had a sandwich instead. I am now on a hunt for a kebab, which I will get before the weekend is over.

28/2

Again, Thursdays are full of classes. We learned about sport this week, so that wasn't too bad. A lot of the conversation in seminar was comparing American and British views on sports, like national teams, who follows which sports, what specific sport fans are stereotyped as and things like that. It was quite interesting.

For religion we had to go to the Jewish Museum. It cost a fiver, which was terrible because most museums are free, but it had a very extensive collection. I learned a lot about the Jews from about the 1300s until the 1940s in Britain. Come to find out, they were expelled in 1295 and not re-allowed to enter until the 1650s. Also, I learned what professions they had in London, which usually were low-skilled ones because they were not allowed to join unions or guilds at the time.

Once I made it home, I worked on some more stuff for my internship. I had to make a new budget, which took about two and a half hours, but I finished at 7:30. Leah had some friends up from Spain, so we went out to dinner with them. We went to a pub and got pub food. I ended up getting a steak and ale pie with mashed potatoes. It was delicious and really filled me up. I am assuming one night that will be mom's dinner when she comes because it is literally steak and potatoes, which is her favorite and I expect she will be a little sick of trying food that she literally doesn't know what any of it is. After that we came home and watched half of a movie. We were all falling asleep so we decided not to watch it all and I was sleeping by 12:30.