Left with Lovely Memories...

I have been home for two weeks now, and I still cannot believe that I was fortunate enough to spend a month in England. I have to keep looking back at the hundreds of pictures I took to make sure that it was not just a dream! Now that I have had some time for reflection, I want to give some advice for anyone who is considering travel to the London area:

1-Public transportation is your best friend. Despite the few troubles I ran into with the trains being cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances, the scheduled trains to London were smooth and efficient. The Tube system will take you pretty much everywhere you need to go once you are in town, and if it doesn't there is almost certainly a bus that will. It is helpful to memorize the Tube lines and stops as well as key bus routes if you are planning an extended stay.

2-Exchange money before you leave the United States, and have more than one method of payment available. I ran into a problem where I had to cancel my debit card. Thankfully, I had enough money to last me for a few days before my parents could wire me some money. Always have a back-up plan when you are traveling. You literally never know what could happen, and it would be the worst to be stuck in a foreign country with no money.

3-Carry an umbrella with you at all times. If you don't, you will most likely get caught in a downpour. If you do, you will most likely get caught in a downpour.

4-Take advantage of all the free museums in London. I spent hours and hours in them, and yet it still wasn't enough time. They are a great way to spend time without spending money.

5-If you are traveling for longer than a few days, take multiple travel-size products like shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, etc. You will save room in your suitcase for the souvenirs you buy!

6-When eating out for dinner, opt for a pub. The food is often decently priced and very good. A lot of places don't have table service, so, you order at the bar. And don't tip the bartender as it is more of an American custom. At lunch, a favorite among Londoners is Pret A Manger. I ate here many times. The food is always fresh, very reasonably priced, and extremely tasty.

There are so many other pieces of advice I could give, but those are a good place to start. The bad thing about travel is that I now have been infected with "the travel bug" and am looking for my next opportunity to go somewhere. It really is addicting, and I can only hope that other people will see how important it is to gain an understanding of other cultures as our world becomes more and more integrated.

Cheers!

The End of the Beginning

During World War II, Sir Winston Churchill once said, "Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. but it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." I feel that these words are true on so many levels no matter what life's circumstances bring. I am now back in Ohio, and the past three days have been a complete blur of activity.

Thursday was the last class for Shakespeare. There wasn't much on the schedule besides turning in our final essays and doing a course review. I walked to campus early to go to the library before class, and just after I had my essay printed off, the fire alarm started sounding! We exited the building and made our way to the "assembly point". We had followed the librarian to this designated area and waited for about 15-20 minutes before we were allowed to go back inside. (It must be a safety precaution that all school faculty and personnel are trained in what to do in case of emergency because all the staff I saw had neon vests with the words "Fire Marshall".) Once we got to class, we talked about what we had learned through our month abroad in the class and overall. We talked with our instructor a bit more about what he planned to do since he was retiring once Summer School ended, and then we were free to enjoy the afternoon.

I did some last minute shopping with some of my classmates, and then it was time for the Farewell Reception at the Holiday Inn. We were told that the dress code for the event was "smart casual", meaning for the ladies to wear dresses, skirts, or nice slacks and for the gentlemen to wear a dress shirt with slacks or nice jeans. (I had never heard this term before and had to look up what it meant just to be sure!) The food was good. We weren't served anything that was too out of the ordinary, but the DJ played very odd music. I guess techno is really "in" throughout Europe because that was all he played. It made dancing difficult, but we still had a lot of fun! My flatmates and I took a group picture so that we could have book-ends of our first and last days together.


On Friday, I took a test for British Art & Architecture that was a lot harder than I thought it would be. Still, I enjoyed the look back over what we studied. I took a final walk with two of my mates back to the flats along the River Thames, and it was bittersweet because I was looking forward to going home, but I knew I would miss what had become my routine.

I spent the afternoon at Hampton Court Palace, one of the homes of King Henry VIII. It was so magnificent both inside and outside. The gardens were breath-takingly beautiful, and I know I could have spent more time there than I already did.




I ventured back to Surbiton and began packing while a few of my flatmates fixed dinner. I ate and then went out to meet some other friends for good-bye drinks. It was a really fun time to just hang out before we went our separate ways.


I was up bright and early yesterday morning. KU arranged for group travel to Heathrow, and the shuttle was picking us up at 6:30AM. I finished my last bit of packing and cleaning and said farewell to one of the best experiences I have had in my 21 years of life.