Hello!

As I mentioned in my last blog, I am currently on my 6-week-long spring break from Sussex.  The first 3 weeks of this break I am spending stateside, while the next 3 weeks include travels to various European countries, arriving back in England in time for the royal wedding at the end of April!  Before I continue with the main theme of my blog, I must inform you that it is almost culture shock hearing about the royal wedding in America.  When I am in England, I feel that the royal wedding is hardly mentioned, as I never hear about it.  Most days I completely forget about it.  In America, however, it is a completely different story.  All I need to do is turn on the TV at any hour of the day and I will hear about details as specific as ‘the royal menu’.  Basically, everything I know about Prince William’s upcoming wedding to Kate Middleton I have learned while home in America.

Moving on, the last 2 weekends have been spent visiting some of my best friends, who I miss very much while I am abroad.  First on my agenda was a visit to Holy Cross.  I was fortunate to visit in September before I left for England, but I did not expect to be back a second time this year.  It was great, however, to see not only friends but also to soak up the campus atmosphere.  One thing about Holy Cross that I really miss while being abroad is the whole community atmosphere.  There is so much to say about my visit that I can’t include it all here, but some of the highlights of the weekend included attending Fools-A-Palooza in the Hogan Ballroom, hanging out with friends both on campus and in Worcester, getting back into my Ballroom Dance groove (I was seriously out of practice!), and chilling in Cool Beans, a classic part of my HC life. 

While it was great to get back into my old familiar routine for a few days, I couldn’t help but compare my life at Holy Cross to my new life in England, and I kept feeling as if I was living a double life or in a dream.  Although England took me a long time to get used to, there are definitely things about it and people (especially my flatmates!) whom I will miss next year.  I was so afraid to break away from my Holy Cross routine, and now I have created a Sussex routine which will also be scary to break away from.  Basically, I wonder how my experiences this year abroad, combined with my past 2 years on the Hill, will affect and shape my senior year.  Only time can answer that question, and I am excited to find out!

Hey everyone,

So, officially the Spring term at Sussex is over.  Where did that time go?  Although Sussex has three terms (Autumn, Spring and Summer), many of the classes from the spring term continue into the summer term.  So, basically it is like having 2, uneven semesters.  The autumn term classes last for 10 weeks, and the spring and summer term classes last for 10 weeks in the spring term and 5 weeks in the summer term, for a total of 15 weeks.  If this is confusing for anyone, don’t worry, it has confused me for quite awhile!

Anyways, Friday I flew back home to New York, and today, I woke up to snow!!!  Seriously?!  Sussex has had flowers in bloom since early February, and now there are tons of daffodils all over the campus!  Needless to say, although the Northeast has had a messy winter, I have definitely been used to mild weather lately.  Although, it was like 65 degrees when I got off the plane at Newark Friday night.  So strange.

Anyways, another thing that is definitely different about Sussex is the 5-week long spring break that we are all just at the start of!  From March 18th to April 27th, there are no classes!   And, the royal wedding is the 29th of April, followed by a bank holiday in early May, which basically just means more time off!  Another thing to mention about the royal wedding – I NEVER hear about it in England, pretty much all I know about it has been from magazines and news programs I read and watch when I am home in America.

OK, hopefully everyone is having a good Monday!

As mentioned in my last blog about Pancake Day, last weekend I travelled to Spain!  Along with fellow blogger Nora and our friend Kelsey, we all had a great time travelling and seeing all the sites of Barcelona.  Carnaval weekend is a large festival weekend before Lent, and seems to me to be a much bigger deal in Spain and Italy (called Carnevale there) than it is in England. 

Leaving England, which had been freezing cold last week, I arrived to warm and sunny Barcelona last Friday.  Now, for those of you who have never been, put Barcelona on your must-see list of Europe!  I have been there 3 times now, and I have seen new things each time!  It is right on the Mediterranean, so it has nice mild weather and is very touristy.

There were many highlights of the absolutely gorgeous weather weekend (Friday-Monday) in Barcelona.  First of all, we found out about free tours from our hostel, and got to see the Old Gothic Quarter as well as several of Gaudi’s famous buildings throughout the city.  Both tours were great, and I highly recommend Gaudi’s La Sagrada Familia church, which is still not completed!  The last time I had been inside was in 2001, in which there was so much construction and scaffolding.  However, the inside is completely finished now, and it is absolutely stunning!  The outside is really a wonder too! 

Another main attraction which I had never seen before is Park Guell.  Situated high on a hill, the views looking out over Barcelona are incredible, and the park is beautiful as well.  Other parts of Barcelona worth visiting are the beach areas and harbors, Las Ramblas (a main street with street performers, lots of tourists, and an overall energetic vibe), and the Poble Espanyol (Spanish Village), which is like a mini-Epcot for Spain!  We also watched part of the Barcelona marathon, walked all over the city, and I personally got gelato every night from gelaati, gelaati, gelaati (dark chocolate and tiramisu flavors to be exact!).  Barcelona has so many great pastry shops, for those who love sweets as I do!

Basically, there is too much to say about Barcelona to describe in the blog, but I will post some pictures below!  I do recommend it highly as a trip (one of the other Holy Cross kids at Sussex is there right now actually!).  Ok, hope that everyone is having a fabulous weekend wherever in the world you are!

Plaza Real, where we stayed

the boats in the Barcelona harbors

awesome gelato! tiramisu and dark chocolate!

at the beach in Barcelona!

a parade float, evidence of Carnaval!

Sagrada Familia!

on the way up the hill to Park Guell

view of Barcelona from Park Guell

in the Poble Espanyol (Spanish village)!

Ciao everyone!

Welcome to the end of week 9 at Sussex, where one week from today the spring term will be over and I will be home in America!  First things first, before I get into the main message of this post, my thoughts and prayers go out to the people of Japan for the horrendous earthquake and tsunami that hit there yesterday.  One of my neighbors at Sussex is from Japan, so I’m hoping for the best despite the circumstances.

Anyways, although Holy Cross was on spring break this week, Sussex has been in full swing this week.  I for one was travelling this past weekend in Spain (my next blog will report all this).  Tuesday, March 8th, was a day with different meanings in different cultures.  In America, this is Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday.  In England, Pancake Day!  And also in Italy, because it was March 8th, l’otto marzo is ‘women’s day’, in which women traditionally receive cute yellow flowers!   How nice!

Now, Tuesday, March 8th is known as Shrove Tuesday, or Pancake Day, here in England.  Similar to the idea of Fat Tuesday in America (Mardi Gras), Pancake Day is an opportunity to eat certain things that may be given up during Lent.  The Christian Union at Sussex hosted ‘Dial-A-Pancake’, in which you place an order for a free pancake over the phone, and then it is delivered right to your door!  The facebook group had over 700 people attending, and the whole time I was wondering why the Christian Union would randomly give out free pancakes (this was before I heard of Pancake Day clearly).

A few interesting things to mention about pancakes in England, in case you were wondering.  For one thing, what we call a short stack of pancakes with maple syrup is what they call ‘Scotch pancakes’, and that is not the same thing that the Brits are referring to when they are making pancakes.  Actually, pancakes here look more like crepes, and they either roll them up or fold them over to eat.  And what about the maple syrup?  Well, maples are not really that common in England, so often times people will use golden syrup (a thicker consistency and lighter color than maple syrup).  However, the most popular pancake toppings, believe it or not, are lemon and sugar.   Very interesting!

Ok, hopefully everyone is having a nice weekend!  Pancake Day was 4 days ago now, and today (Saturday) I just spent in the library and in Costa coffee (a great coffee chain like Starbucks) in Brighton.  Oh, and I went for a walk along the seafront, because that really is one of the nicest things to do in Brighton, and there are usually lots of people there!  Ok, look for my next blog on last weekend’s adventure to Spain!!

Hey friends!

So, if you don’t know, Brighton is a shopper’s paradise, with more stores than you could ever count.  You can find anything you need here, and the only problem would be deciding which stores to look in.  Seriously, Brighton is known throughout England for its’ shopping amenities, and this weekend was a great chance to experience that.

Of course, as a fan of shopping myself, I have spent many weekends wandering the streets and shops of Brighton, but I had such a fun weekend in town that I thought I might as well blog about it.  On Saturday, I ventured to Churchill Square Mall, a very nice mall in Brighton which is always packed with shoppers!   There were so many sales this weekend, it was great!

Today (Sunday), I attended church at St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church in Elm Grove, which is a section of Brighton not too far from the center of town.  I have been to that church a total of 3 times now, and it is so beautiful inside and the Mass is really nice as well.  After church I then decided to do some shopping in the North Laine, which is more of an eclectic, Bohemian-type area of Brighton, so it is definitely unique and a good place to shop if you get sick of the high street stores (or if you just prefer really interesting unique things!).  There are so many cafes and places to eat in there, as well as second-hand bookshops, vintage clothing stores, and independent boutiques selling everything from shoes to accessories to clothes.  There is a used CD shop which always plays great music, there are often street musicians, and there are so many places for having a snack, including a great fudge shop which handmakes fudge in front of you, and a nice French cafe called Chez Dimitrina, which has great coffee!  No traffic is really allowed through the North Laine, so you can completely wander around or eat at one of the many outdoor cafes. 

Anyways, although it started out as a beautiful sunny and somewhat warm day, during my shopping adventure it started pouring rain, the really damp and cold kind.  So, I took a break in Costa coffee, which is a chain here just as Starbucks is in America.  I highly recommend it.  The good news though, even though it has been rainy a lot lately, the weather isn’t too cold, and there are even some yellow and purple flowers that have been in bloom for a couple weeks now!  I tried to take pictures the other day but there were too many bees, so you will just have to imagine the sight of spring in February (definitely more appealing to me than the snow that keeps pounding the east coast at home).

Alright, not much more to say except that it is Week 8 now (so scary how fast the time is going!).  I hope that everyone enjoyed their weekends, and I am off to make some exciting pasta for dinner.  Talk to you soon!!

Hello,

I’m sorry that not all of my blogs can be about fun and exciting travel adventures (although, stay tuned!), because in general daily life at Sussex revolves around lectures and seminars (my flatmates tease me for calling them ‘classes’, as they don’t generally say that here).  Anyways, week 7 is a notoriously busy work week in the term, with lots of deadlines.  This week I have just been crazy working on two essays, one for health psychology and one for philosophy, but I can thankfully say that they are finished now!

Of course, life is not all work and no play.  Last night, one of our neighbors, Kat, was in an actual play, the Greek tragedy Antigone, which was put on by the drama society at Sussex.  The acting was excellent, and it was so nice to have the majority of the neighbors from our block supporting Kat, and enjoying the night as well!

Additionally, on a somewhat frightening note, today marks 5 months from the time I boarded that plane at JFK and began my official abroad journey!  In some senses this seems like ages ago, but to consider the fact that I only have 4 months left at Sussex (well, only 2 and a half actually on campus, as we have a 6 week long spring break) is really scary!  Not gonna lie, the autumn term was full of adjustments and seemed to move quite slowly.  However, this spring term is completely flying by faster and faster each week!  I can only imagine what the summer term holds in store (well…I know there will be finals or final papers from 6 of the 8 classes I took this year, but let’s not think about that now!).

Alright, off to turn in my philosophy essay at the school office (there are no online submissions of work here, as you have to write out a cover sheet and scan your student card…a quite formal process to turn in work!).  Before I go, good luck to the Holy Cross Ballroom Dance team this weekend at the Holy Cross competition!  And for everyone else, enjoy your upcoming weekends and have a great day!  You deserve it!

If you have been following this blog, you may or may not remember my extreme disappointment back in early December over not being able to re-unite with other Crusaders, some of my very best friends, in Ireland.  My flight that time was re-scheduled 3 times, and all were cancelled because of a whole couple inches of snow (yes, Gatwick airport closed for three straight days, and it was not fun).

Thankfully though, I was still able to go to Ireland, just instead of seeing it at Christmastime, I had the lovely week preceding Valentine’s Day.  This was actually my first adventure outside of England since I began studying abroad (other than flying home for Christmas).  I was visiting my friend Amanda (fellow blogger!) at Trinity College in Dublin.  We had such a good time catching up on life, exploring the great city of Dublin, and even touring the surrounding area, which was beautiful.

One morning, Amanda and I ventured to Howth, which was a cute fishing village near Dublin.  Another day we went on a tour of the Wicklow Mountains area south of Dublin, which was absolutely stunning in beauty.  We saw the film locations for Braveheart and P.S. I Love You, as well as Loch Tay, Glendalough and Avoca.  Our bus driver / tour guide was hilarious, singing lots of songs as we drove along through winding roads…very funny!  On the days in between, Amanda showed me all around Dublin, which was very beautiful and reminded me of a bigger version of Boston a bit.  Unfortunately, one of the days I was sick with a stomach bug.  However, since I was spending so much time in Amanda’s flat, I got to have nice conversations with her flatmates and watch some Irish TV, which broadcasted American, British and Irish shows – a great combination!

One of the greatest things about visiting friends abroad who are studying at other places is that it gives you perspective about your own study abroad experience.  So far, I have only seen Trinity and Oxford, as well as living everyday at Sussex, and the culture and communities in each location is completely different. 

So, now that I have returned from Ireland, classes are continuing as usual, only now we actually have to do work in them.  Can’t believe that 4 weeks from today I will be on a plane back to America, with 2 of my 3 terms at Sussex completed!!!   Time really is flying, so for all  those abroad, soak up every minute before its’ all just a memory!

Howth

Walking around Dublin and Trinity College

St. Stephen's Green in Dublin - very serene and pretty!

Grafton Street - a very happening place!

After shopping at Carroll's, a very Irish store!

Amanda and I on the Wicklow Tour

Loch Tay

Celtic Crosses at Glendalough

Hey all,

So last night was the epic superbowl xlv, which was shown live at sussex starting at about 11:o0 pm (due to the time difference with America).  Now I am definitely not a huge American football fan myself (last year, I distinctly remember asking a friend in Kimball about an hour before the superbowl who was playing and who we should root for…you can tell I watch a lot of sports!).  However, since the campus pub, East Slope Bar, was broadcasting it, I figured I should at least go see where every other American on campus would be.

I got there with my British flatmates and neighbors at about 9:30, 2 hours before the kick-off and in just enough time to get a seat on the floor (it was packed!  and mostly with Packers fans too).  The weekly pub quiz was going on, and it was themed with American trivia and guessing the lyrics to mainstream American music (for once, something I was good at here!).  I also couldnt get over the decorations – basically, every bit of wall space was decorated with an American flag or some kind of sparkly red, white or blue streamer.  It was patriotism overload – it basically looked like a 4th of July celebration (except that everyone was wearing coats) only with way more decorations than you could imagine.  I couldnt stop laughing over it, and I forgot my camera so I didnt get pics sadly.

They were also selling hot dogs and hamburgers, and it was so exciting to see how many British people get excited about the superbowl!  And yes, I ran into pretty much every American at Sussex I know, including all of the Holy Cross people.  The pregame show started at 11, broadcast on a projection screen in the jam-packed pub (quite claustrophobic actually).  I had been really raving to my flatmates about the commercials or “adverts” as they say here, but little did I know that the superbowl was going to be shown on BBC, which does not show adverts!  So no commercials for me this superbowl.  Also, since the game didnt start until 11:30, I left way before the 3:30 AM ending.  I had a great night, and it is definitely still the buzz on campus!

Hey guys!

So yesterday, Saturday, I went on an exciting adventure to the lovely Stratford-upon-Avon, in Warwickshire in the South Midlands.  I love travelling to that part of the country (it was only a few miles away from the Warwick Castle, which I visited back in November) because it has so much traditional English charm and cozy little villages, a lot of them near rivers.  Very pretty area and just a general different feel than Brighton (although don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love Brighton and couldn’t have picked a better city for study abroad!).

Despite waking up to a sore throat, I had a great day!  Last term, I went on a bunch of weekend trips with my friend Anna, who goes to Oregon State.  However, since she was only here just for the Autumn term, I missed our travel adventures together and was forced to make new friends!  So, I met this girl named Elan on the bus and we had a great day together! 

After leaving Sussex at 8 AM sleeping through a good part of the 2 and a half hour bus ride, we finally arrived in Stratford, which was such a cute town!  Despite the fact that it was cloudy and not very bright out, it was actually (for a winter day) quite warm and pleasant to be outside.  Since the bus got there early, we stopped at this outdoor market, which had cheeses, wines, desserts, vegetables, meats, and lots of freshly prepared foods, which all smelled delicious!  I went into a cute little coffee shop and got a much-needed white americano coffee…good day so far!

Anyways, the first tourist stop on our tour of Stratford was Anne Hathaway’s Cottage, which was so cute inside and had really good sales in the gift shop!  The ceilings were really low in the house and some of the rooms were quite small, so I’m not sure if I would recommend it if you are claustrophobic but it was really cool!!  The surrounding garden areas were really pretty and quaint.  I thought they looked nice in winter, but I can only imagine how gorgeous they must be in spring or summer!

Following Anne Hathaway’s Cottage, we visited the Holy Trinity Church, where William Shakespeare is buried inside.  Very beautiful church, and definitely worth the 50 p admission price to go inside and take pictures!  The tour continued into the old town of Stratford, and as we walked we passed by so many buildings from the Tudor era, which was a cool site.  We saw the grammar school where Shakespeare went to school (people still go to school there today) and passed a lot of shops and cafes.  From the bus we saw the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and the River Avon, but unfortunately I do not have pictures of these.

At the conclusion of the tour (we actually had the same tour guide, Clare, that I had on one of my Oxford visits), we all had 3 hours of free time to explore and eat.  Elan and I went to this great little cafe, and I had a delicious hot chocolate and omelette for lunch (seriously, eggs are a rarity for me in England, since they are generally not refridgerated here, but that is another story).  We went shopping for a bit after lunch, but unfortunately in many English towns (even Brighton too I believe), most cafes and pretty much all stores shut down around 4 pm on Saturdays, and probably earlier on Sundays.  So, there wasnt a whole lot to do in that last hour before we got on the bus, but just walking around the beautiful town was highly entertaining in itself!

Well, I know this post is long so I am going to stop writing now.  Except I do want to mention that anyone who studies abroad in England should definitely take advantage of exploring places other than London.  Although I love London, the towns are so quaint and full of culture, and there are lots of regional differences in England too, much as you would find regional differences in different parts of the USA.  So yea, I really think these weekend adventures are worth it!

Me at Anne Hathaway's Cottage

The cottage again (sorry, couldn't take pics inside!)

It doesn't look like much, but the surrounding area of Anne Hathaway's Cottage was really pretty!

Holy Trinity Church

Inside the Church (Shakespeare is buried in front of the altar)

Shakespeare's Birthplace

so many Tudor buildings!

Hey all,

So after reading the email yesterday that Father McFarland will be stepping down as HC’s president, I was quite sad.  Which is probably why today I am really missing Holy Cross.  Not in the sense that I necessarily want to be there right now – I have never once regretted this experience, am enjoying myself here, and certainly would not want to trade my mild European winter for blizzard-like conditions in Worcester.  But, it is not an easy thing to be away from the Hill for an entire academic year, and it is hard knowing that general life there is moving on without me. 

Anyways, I am defintely enjoying the spring term.  Since Sussex has about 5-6 weeks off in March and April (crazy!), I have been spending a lot of time planning some travel adventures for that time, which include coming home to America and exploring Europe with some good Holy Cross friends!   Additionally, I only have 8 hours of class per week (kind of like a typical day in high school I guess, or a regular working day).  Today I have prepped all morning for my philosophy of mind seminar this afternoon, and right now I am in the library (not as beautiful as Dinand of course, but still really nice!).  In a few I am off to have lunch at my favorite on-campus location, The Creperie!!  Although I have never tried one of their delicious-looking and sweet-smelling crepes, the galettes are amazing, generally filled with tomatoes, spinach, onions and lots of cheese!  OK, time for lunch!  Talk to you all soon!