Adventure to visit a little piece of home!

I was SO excited to go to London this past weekend to visit my wonderful roommate from College of Charleston, Shelby! She is also doing an exchange program, but hers is through London Metropolitan! When I found out Shelbz would also be studying in England, I just about had a heart attack with excitement!!!

This trip was really exciting, not only because I was spending time with someone from home, but this was also the first time that I was traveling someplace by myself and tackling the train system. Not gonna lie, I was pretty nervous about the train system. One of my friends that I've made here used the trains the weekend before and had a pretty bad experience, but I knew if I wanted to get to London I was just gonna have to conquer my nerves! I woke up super early Friday morning (7:15....which I guess isn't really that early, but I thought it was haha) and caught a bus to the train station. Since coming to Nottingham I have been very paranoid about being late, so I was at the train station about 45 minutes early....oops! I took the train from Nottingham to Grantham then switched to a train destined for Kings Cross Station in London! It honestly could not have been more successful!!! The final anxiety was trying to find Shelby in the station. Unfortunately, I lost my local phone the day before I left, so I sent Shelby a facebook message telling her the area that I would be in and sent a BIG prayer to God to help me find her!! When I first got off the platform and was looking around I didn't see her. For anyone who doesn't know, I tend to be someone that over thinks everything! Before I got off the train I already had back-up plans in case I didn't find her, all of which were incredibly irrational. Luckily, just when I thought I was going explore London alone and homeless, Shelby walked from behind a massive group of people!! I don't know if it was relief, excitement to see Shelby, or a mixture of both, but I immediately burst into tears....leave it to me to make an embarrassing scene in Kings Cross Station hahahaha

Once I pulled it together, Shelby took me to the student apartments where she is living and then walked me down to a very trendy and delicious place for lunch called The Elk in the Woods. After lunch we went back and I utilized my time the best way I could think of...I took a nap. Yes, I went all the way to London to visit my roommate and I took a nap...and it was great!

That night we met up with some of the friends Shelby had made and we went to perhaps the best Indian restaurant I have ever been to. Oh man! It was awesome!!!!!! Now to get to the restaurant we had to conquer another one of my weak areas...the tube. I am a firm believer that God gave us feet that belong on the surface that he provided, so things like airplanes, tunnels, and undergrounds really challenge me. I tried really hard (and I think I was successful) in not letting anyone know how freaked out I was by the Underground. Honestly, of all things to be scared of haha
After dinner we went to this really cool bar that was actually very Texas reminiscent called the Blues Kitchen. Really cool atmosphere and there was a band that played that was amazing! They were Irish, but they broke into this awesome country-ish music. I don't like country, but I loved what they were doing!! We went back to Shelby's and I absolutely crashed on the floor!!

Saturday, Shelby was woken up by a very excited Kate. Poor girl haha. We got up and decided to do some of the touristy things in the morning, first stop Trafalgar Square :) There were lots of street performers, a countdown to the Olympics, and this just happened to be the location of the last Harry Potter movie premiere....yes I am one of THOSE Americans that gets excited over anything Harry Potter that they see in England. Nothin' I can do about it!! We got breakfast overlooking the square, then walked over to the London Eye, Big Ben, Parliament, and Westminster Abbey. Several photo ops later we got back on the tube and went to Buckingham Palace. Finally, we ended up in Piccadilly Circus where we walked to Leicester Square for lunch. We literally walked into the restaurant and 2 seconds later it started raining....PERFECT TIMING! After lunch we just went back to Shelby's flat and hung out. That is one thing that I miss a lot about my friends back home. We have all hit a point where we don't have to try anymore...we can just hang out or watch TV and it just works.

That night, we met up with a BIG group of girls for a birthday dinner for one of the exchange students. It was chaotic to say the least, but I think we can all laugh about it now....just picture trying to get 17 chicks from one location to another via tube....it was funny. We went to a really really good Chinese place that served very very little portions haha. We all left wanting burgers! After dinner, the girls that we went out with the night before and myself went to a bar right down the street from their apartments called the Lexington. Another really fun night and a cool place!!

It was so much fun hanging out with Shelby and I had a couple moments when I asked myself, "I'm sorry why am I leaving one of my best friends and a super cool city?", but Nottingham is starting to feel like home in its own weird way haha

The next two weeks I think will be just as packed as the previous ones! I'm going to a place called Whitby in Yorkshire on Saturday and next week I will be preparing for a very special visitor.....JOHN!!!!!!! Watch out Nottingham, you're about to get both Barrys!!

Hope everyone is having a lovely February!!! I know I am :)
Kate

                              Trafalgar Square with Big Ben in the background....no big deal :)

                                                             Cold at the London Eye

                                                Goofing around at Parliament with Shelby!

                                             Buckingham Palace! (once again, cold haha)

Bath, Stonehenge, and Windsor Castle

I may need to try and start blogging more frequently! I have packed a lot into a week here!!! I watched the Superbowl, started my classes, explored a town near Nottingham called Beeston, and took a little trip to Bath, Stonehenge, and Windsor Castle. Here we go :)

I thought that I was not going to be able to watch the Superbowl this year which broke my heart! Although I generally follow college football and I avidly cheer for my Virginia Tech Hokies, as an American how can I not watch the Superbowl?! Luckily, there are other Americans here who feel the same way! We went to a bar called Walkabout which is Australian themed to watch the game! Of course it was much later where I was due to the time difference, but it was DEFINITELY worth seeing a Giants victory!! It was also worth watching a bunch of English guys pretending like they knew what they were cheering for when actually they don't know the rules to American football haha


After missing my first week of classes due to orientation (still something I don't quite understand), I finally went to my courses! Of course I'm only in a classroom 6 hours a week. At UoN (University of Nottingham) they really emphasize independent study, especially in social sciences. Being a sociology major, that means I have a lot of reading to do! I think its going to be good though. It will definitely continue to prepare me for my senior year as a Sociology major at CofC. I'm taking a Urban Life and Social Theory class, a Housing and Society course, and a Belief, Spirituality, and Religion class. I think they are all going to be interesting in their own ways. We'll see! Of course, I finish with classes on Tuesday....so every week I have a 5 day weekend. Totally unplanned by me, but I'm not going to argue!

One thing I'm trying to figure out is what to do with my three days during the week that I don't have classes. I have designated Wednesday as my reading and course work day, but typically I finish my work on this day, leaving me with wide open Thursday and Fridays. I knew that I needed to go on an adventure to find a coffee shop/cafe to be my go to for both coffee and an escape. This past Friday I walked about 10 minutes to a little town called Beeston, my goal: coffee and a bank! My wonderful Nottingham family, the Pawleys, told me there were several coffee shops in Beeston and they did not lie! Beeston has a lot of little shops, ranging from clothes, to bakeries, to chocolate shops, to cafes, and beyond! I found 5 coffee shops that over the course of the next 2 weeks I will be trying out! SO EXCITED! At the College of Charleston, coffee is kind of a big deal. Basically, coffee is how we socialize and function. I can't wait to explore these new places! I also found the bank that I use here in UK in addition to the Wilkinson (like CVS) and Tesco (like CVS on crack) that I found! Very successful trip to Beeston. I've decided this will definitely be my Thursday place to be!!

Ok so that was my week....now my weekend :)

I was very lucky to talk to my friend Claire and find out about a Saturday/Sunday trip to Bath, Stonehenge, and Windsor Castle. The price was just too good to be true and I knew several of the exchange students going, so I signed up!!

We woke up bright on early Saturday morning and got on a coach to Bath, England. It took about 2 1/2 hours, but when we pulled up we all knew that it was WORTH IT! Bath is a place that historically has drawn in the very wealthy and royal people of Europe. There is a definite Italian architectural influence in Bath, which was the most apparent at the Roman Baths. Everything was simply gorgeous!! The ceiling alone in the lobby would have been good for me, but the tour and the baths were extraordinary! It took about an hour or so to get through the entire tour because there was so much to take in! When we finished the tour, a small group of exchange students and myself decided to explore the city and hit up some other must sees in Bath. After exploring for a bit, we went to the Jane Austen Centre. I happen to be a big Jane Austen fan, so this was super exciting for me!!!!! There was a lot of history about her life in Bath and the literature she created there, not to mention lots of fun Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth memorabilia :) From here, we walked down to one of the wealthiest districts in Bath called the Royal Crescent. The name is deserved! It was insane!! The giant crescent of wealthy homes was absolutely beautiful! I keep having moments where I feel like I'm in a Disney movie, because everything seems like it can't be real. We spent a lot of time there goofing off on the green in front of the crescent and enjoying the beautiful day! After the Royal Crescent we made our way to the world famous Sally Lunn's to get the specialty buns we had been hearing about. The cafe itself was adorable, but the food and drinks was what made it really stand out. Oh boy! I got the most delicious Bailey's Hot Chocolate and a coffee and walnut bun.....I really could have just come back to SC after that! Another place that we wanted to see was the bridge that looked over the waterway. It was really pretty and had lots of different shops to go through. We also discovered a really nice park, tucked away in a neighborhood, where we could let out some of our energy from Sally Lunn's. Eventually we settled into a Starbucks for a bit to warm up and to get some wifi, but then went and got dinner at a pub called the West Gate. Finally, it was time to get back on the coach to go to the hotel where everyone crashed! I was sooooo tired after Saturday, but I knew I needed a good night sleep to prepare myself for another full day of traveling on Sunday!!

Sunday was filled with more amazing adventures! First stop, Stonehenge! It was about an hour away from our hotel, which was great and allowed for a quick nap. Stonehenge is in the middle of nowhere. When we got off of the bus all you could see was huge fields and sheep. SO MANY SHEEP! It was also the coldest day since I've been in England (around 15 degrees F). Cold. Very cold. We went and walked around Stonehenge, which was really amazing. They shared many myths about how this structure was formed, from giants to the ever popular alien theory. Regardless, it was really cool!! Unfortunately, it was very cold so we didn't stay very long because frankly it was beginning to hurt to stand outside ha. Our final stop before going back to Nottingham was Windsor Castle, one of the Queen of England's many residences. That drive from Stonehenge to Windsor was about an 1 1/2 which meant another nap (thank goodness!). The castle was beautiful, along with the city. I wish so badly that we were allowed to take pictures of the inside of the castle because it was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. Much of the castle is the exact same as it has been for hundreds of years, while other parts were restored to a near exact replication after a fire in 1992. Honestly, it was stunning! Another cool thing about the castle was that when we arrived we found out that the Queen was actually at Windsor Castle for the weekend and while we were there! Ummmm what?! 2 weeks in England and I'm already on the same property as the Queen....pretty great. Then I accidentally got lost down this corridor and bumped into the Queen herself. She was such a lovely woman! She invited me for tea and biscuits and we discussed the weather and politics.......ok that last part was a lie, but in my mind that happened haha. We really did go to the castle cafe and my hot chocolate did have a chocolate crown on top :) Finally, before we got on the bus to go home, we made one last stop at a shop called candy cupcakes....oh man. Seriously the best cupcake I've ever eaten and they were little works of art!!!! So cool!


 At the Roman Baths!




 The Bath Abbey





Getting my English pride on with two exchange students I met, Claire and Elnaz



The Bridge in Bath

Elnaz and I at the Royal Crescent


 Stonehenge!!















 

A small portion of Windsor Castle




My fancy Hot Chocolate from Windsor Castle

Delicious cupcakes from Candy Cupcake!



Overall I guess my week was alright.... haha

So excited to continue my adventures over here! I've been blessed with about a million opportunities so we'll see what I actually have time for!
I'll try to blog more so that the posts won't be so long ha

I'll write soon!
Xx (how English people end almost all of their texts and notes)

Let it SNOW?!

What a week!!!! It's hard to believe that one week ago tomorrow I was getting off of a plane! I have to say, it feels like I've been here much longer than a week, but not in a bad way. I think there is just so much going on between organizing classes, learning how their university system works, meeting friends, and exploring my new city that its hard to imagine I've only been here 6 days!

Just as a side note, I'm not great about updating things like this, so like I've said before I will try and post one or two times a week, but if you haven't heard anything...I'm fine...I'm just the worst at keeping any sort of journal.

A good part of my time spent in Nottingham, thus far, has been organizing my modules (classes) and trying to prepare for them adequately. The way that orientation was set up for exchange students required them to miss at the very least Monday and Tuesday modules. Well as fate would have it I ONLY have modules on Monday and Tuesday, so I missed all of my classes the first week....great. I was able to talk to all of my professors and it is all fine, but that means that I'm doing 2 weeks worth of course work to catch up. To make things a bit more interesting, you don't buy textbooks, which means for someone like me, a Sociology major, I will be living in the library renting books for 5 hours at a time. Very interesting.

Of course I can't spend all of my time working! I've been able to meet several people through my Bible study and other exchange students so I've been able to get lunch or hang out with lots of different people. We've gone into town a good bit and I was able to go on a little adventure by myself walking around my beautiful campus and taking some pictures. Also, nightlife in general is not something I am used to, but I've been tagging along with some exchange students to check out some favorite student spots. Very different from America! Some of the places I've been seem to be straight out of a movie. It has definitely been a "We're not in Kansas anymore....or even the United States" experience.

Today has been one of my favorite days in Nottingham yet. I woke up and met up with 2 American girls and an Australian exchange student to get coffee at a cafe that is on the very opposite side of campus and seemed to be a place not many students go to. COFFEE! I was very concerned about the availability of Diet Coke initially, but that has not really been my problem. The issue has been trying to find a cup of coffee that doesn't taste like dirt water. Well everyone....I found a place! I finally had a cup of coffee that was able to meet the standards of Kudu and Hope and Union (2 local coffee shops in Downtown Charleston that I like). After coffee we went to a part of the city that I had not been to before and went shopping for a bit. I definitely need to continue investing in jumpers (sweaters) because it is cold....very cold. When we finished shopping we went to the train station and got railcard passes, which will reduce the prices of train tickets (which is good because, God willing, I'll be going to London next weekend to visit my wonderful, beautiful roommate Shelby!!!) We got to take lovely pictures where we were not allowed to smile. Of course when you are told not to smile...all you can do is smile. I look like a Russian spy. Ridiculous. hahaha.

Now to explain the title of this blog post. While walking to the train station from shopping it began to very lightly snow on the city. It was actually very pretty and to someone that can count the number of times she's seen snow on her two hands, it was very cool. When we came out of the train station, however, it was no longer a light snow. It felt slightly like I was being slapped repeatedly by a freezing cold washcloth. We decided that we needed to escape the cold, so we went to a pub called The Cross Keys. This was probably the moment when I really felt like I was in England for the first time. We sat down and got nice warm chips (french fries) and burgers. We also picked a great time because we were able to watch the England/Scotland rugby game!! Yes, sitting in a pub, watching a rugby game alongside passionate fans, and drinking a London Pride beer (obviously I had to), it was nearly exactly how I has imagined it. Of course, I also imagined Prince Harry would be there waiting to take me to meet the queen, but we'll save that for my next pub :)

When we walked out of the pub after watching an English victory, my jaw about touched the snowy, white ground. In the time we had been in the pub, the ground was COVERED in snow!!! it is currently still snowing and it is supposed to keep snowing. What do you even do in snow? I mean in Charleston if there is the potential for ice everything shuts down....how do I respond. The answer ladies and gentlemen (and my father would be very proud of me for saying this) is LAYERS!! Basically I've been putting on so many articles of clothing that I can't move my arms higher than enough to open a door.

Anyway, I'm now back and warm in my dorm and will be doing course work all night. Oh yeah, no one really goes out on Saturday nights...it's their off night. The biggest night of the week to go out is Monday. Oh so many changes. Tomorrow, if the snow isn't too bad I'll be trying out a church and going to lunch at the very welcoming Pawley household (family friends from St.Andrews)! I really want to watch the Superbowl, but it won't be coming on here until around midnight and pubs close at 12:00 here! Well anyway, GO GIANTS!!!!! (Yes, Brown family I cheer for the Giants specifically because you converted me!)

Well stay warm my wonderful friends and family! I'll throw a snow ball in honor of y'all!

This is the Hugh-Stewart Hall. This is a dorm.....yes just like McAlister or Berry for anyone that goes to the College of Charleston. Not all halls look like this, but this is just too much like a Jane Austen novel to pass up!

The Portland Building is where the student union is, along with a couple of food courts and stores. Also a Starbucks :) Another thing that this campus is not short of is bars. Almost every building (seriously, dorms included) have bars. It is still so weird to watch people not only drink openly in their halls, but have the ability to buy alcohol on campus!

This is the lovely Willoughby Hall where I live. Anyone that lives in Willoughby Hall, except for me, would say this is not a good dorm and is actually one of the worst on campus. I, personally, like it. Although it is home to primarily 18 and 19 year-olds, making my 21 year-old self feel old, I really enjoy the location and my room. I also have a great suitemate that I share a study room with.

The building that is the most recognizable on the University of Nottingham campus and is found on every brochure is the Trent Building. It is very big and looks over a beautiful lake (that today was frozen). I imagine that if I walked to the green near the Trent Building right now, it would look too much like this haha

Lots of Love from Nottingham!