Course Work

I have now had 3 weeks of classes and I must say I could get used to the schooling system here. I only have class monday through Wednesday and I only have about 7 hours of class a week! I am taking 4 classes:

Psychology of Language and Cognition

Linguistics of Sign Language

Ancient World History in London Collections 

and my fourth course is helping with a research project called Famous Face Recognition in Deaf users of BSL. 

I am enjoying all of my classes and the reading for them. It is a fair amount of reading per week because of the small number of hours in class, but it's manageable and I find it interesting. 

Last week my history class was held in the British Museum. I had not been to the British Museum and found it impressive. There are so many large sculptures from Egypt. Including the Rosetta Stone which helped linguists a great deal in deciphering hieroglyphics. The artifacts that are in the British Museum are much different from the artifacts we saw the week before in the Petrie Museum. These artifacts are much smaller, but there are many more of them and tell us more about Egyptian life. In comparing these two museums we will be exploring what it is that museums tend to tell us. The comparisons will also help us see how a people and culture can be displayed and thought about. 

I also just started the research project I will be helping out with on Thursday. I had a meeting with a Deaf woman named Jo. She learned American Sign Language (ASL) quite a few years ago but remembered most of the language, which was helpful as I know virtually no British Sign Language (BSL) and the languages are vastly different. It was exciting to communicate with her in sign language, because I hadn't used the language in so long. She seemed to appreciate the fact that I signed and we didn't need an interpreter. I am pumped to do some research on the subject and analyze the results of her study. I will also be creating a new test tailored towards Deaf people which she will use in a clinic! Stay tuned for more information about the study as I will keep you updated on what I find to be the fascinating aspects. 

Have a wonderfully marvelous day, cheers! ~Laura 

Tea and Crumpets

I had a lovely late night snack of tea and crumpets. To feel more British I had my tea the way the Brits do, with milk and sugar. My mates and I had taken a Jack the Ripper walking tour in the bitter cold so the hot peppermint tea helped to thaw my hands. It was just what I needed. For a mere 53p (pence) the grocery store will sell you eight crumpets. They tend to expire quickly so they are great for sharing. We don't have a toaster so the stove gets fired up to toast them. Our stove is quite slow at heating up so it's quite the process to cook anything, but so worth a warm delicious crumpet. We then butter both sides of the crumpets, place them on the stove, and wait.

When they are slightly brown on both sides, the crumpets are ready! They are too hot to hold or take a bite, but this is immediately done. Slightly crunchy on the outside, but fluffy and a little sweet in the middle, a crumpet is a scrumptious, perfect snack. They remind us a bit of popovers. I only hope I am able to find them in the states, as they have become a staple here and I don't want to have to miss it. You all should start on a search for these so we can eat them together when I get back! 

Have a wonderfully marvelous day, cheers! ~Laura 

Hyde Park and Buckingham Palace

The birds here are not afraid of people. When running through a group of them the ones you get closest to nonchalantly take a few steps out of the way. The rest just stand there watching and hoping you have food. I find this kind of cool and scary at the same time. I hear that geese can be aggressive and mean but I still couldn’t resist getting as close as I could to them and the swans, this distance being about a foot. I had never seen a swan in person, let alone gotten close enough to touch one, until Megan and I went to Hyde Park on Friday. The swans were my favorite of the many birds flying around. I couldn’t believe how much snow accumulated as I heard it hardly ever snows. So we decided that Hyde Park would be beautiful covered in snow, and it was. It was a bit cold, but totally worth it.

This bird had so much attitude! 

This is my favorite picture of a swan that I took

We went to a café by the lake in the park called Serpentine Bar and Kitchen. We both bought a chocolate croissant and hot chocolate, which were a bit pricy but ended up tasting delicious. The warmth of the café was also totally worth it.

After warming up we made our way to Buckingham Palace. Can you imagine 1. Living in a castle (which is my dream by the way) and 2. Having your home guarded by men who are not allowed to smile? I certainly can’t. The Palace was huge and the architecture gorgeous. The gate was adorned with golden lions and other beautiful details. The lawn was covered with a perfect sheet of snow. We asked a man to take a picture of the two of us standing in front of the gate. I simply couldn’t believe the grandeur of the site. Unfortunately we couldn’t get close to the guards because Megan had some jokes at the ready.

We will definitely be going back when it is warmer out to see it again.

Have a wonderfully marvelous day, cheers! ~Laura 

The Weather

I had heard that British people love to talk about the weather. I have found this to be true. Apparently agreeing with whatever they say is one's best bet. If they say "It's rather cold out today!" Just agree. Even if, like me, you have left two feet of snow and below freezing temperatures behind at home. Contrary to what is said about constant rain, we have had a few sunny days; Although, it is cloudy and grey most of the time here. It is even snowing right now which doesn't happen all that often, or so I'm told. It is supposed to snow 4 out of the next 5 days. But I'm sure nothing will stick, and whatever does will melt quite quickly.

My favorite quote about the weather to date happened Monday in my 9:00 class. I had walked 10-15 minutes to get there and it had snowed in the early morning but then stopped. There was no snow accumulation on the ground but some on the cars. Upon the start of class my tutor said this, "We'll wait a few minutes to start, because many people are not here. I'm sure it's weather related." I chuckled to myself as in Vermont we get many inches of snow at a time yet have had maybe one or two snow days in the past 10 years which have all fallen during break. But people here are not used to the snow; It's like the first snow fall back home. People forget how to drive in it and it seems to cause more accidents than the rest of the winter.

The other thing about the weather is I don't think anyone really knows when it's going to rain. One day last week it was supposed to rain, and it hadn't yet since I'd arrived. The weather people predicted rain starting around 1:00. It didn't rain then so they pushed it back to around 3:00. This kept happening until all evening and it didn't rain until that night when I was already asleep. Alas you never know what the weather is going to be like around here so it is always a good idea to have an umbrella! Which of course I don't have with me today...

Have a wonderfully marvelous day, cheers! ~Laura

Amazing Find

I would say today was quite successful. It started with a module (class) I am taking called Ancient World History on London collections. The "collections" part means we go to museums in the area, mainly the British Museum which I am extremely excited about. We will learn about what museums have to offer and what that means about the places and peoples where the collections came from. Today we visited the Petrie museum which is right on campus. Petrie was an archeologist who spent a lot of time in Egypt mostly along the Nile and found and collected artifacts. He collected mostly day to day artifacts seeing value in practically everything, not only the big, gold, flashy stuff. This makes the 80,000 piece collection at the Petrie museum one of a kind. This is my kind of history course; we learn about a civilization through the physical evidence we are provided of it. With no final exam at the end, it is a win, win, win situation!

After class Megan and I spend the rest of the afternoon together first going to an Indian restaurant before walking 10 minutes into the town of Camden. The Indian food was amazing and we hadn't had any yet, but had been eager in the past two weeks to do so. In Camden we stumbled upon a used book store. I have been looking for children's books because I think they will be amazing memorabilia and a good way to share this experience with my very future children. They had an amazing selection of children's books which I looked through thoroughly. Much to my delight, I found two elaborate pop-up books which were both only £5! I couldn't believe it. They were both such steals.

Picture courtesy of Megan 

Megan was very amused by how geeked I was about these books! In particular the one I am holding in the picture above. It is The wizard of Oz and yes, it even comes with green spectacles so you will not be blinded by the gleaming city of Oz. The real reason they wear these spectacles being something entirely different...

The second book I found is We're Going on a Bear Hunt! This is a book I only recently heard about but it is one I also love. So, having semi sentimental value I bought it as well. 

Then I finished off the day with a short run with my new running buddy, Liz! We have also gotten in the habit of eating dinner quite late, so as it is now 20.00 (8:00) it is dinner time. 

Have a wonderfully marvelous day, cheers! ~Laura 

Rushed Lunch and a Show

Our food was served around 2:20 and the show started at 2:30! The name of the restaurant was what intrigued us, The Porcupine, and the food was very good, but not the place to go when you have 40 minutes before the show starts. I ordered a pulled beef sandwich with chips (fries) which was absolutely delicious. But we didn't have much time so I hurriedly wrapped the second half in a napkin which I clutched in my hand as we sprinted through the streets of Leister Square. Leister Square is the theatre district here in London. It seems quaint compared to New York City, but the buildings are all much older and the architecture is beautiful. Although it is all similar looking when you're new to the place, which we realized a block after running past the street we needed to turn down. Breathing heavily we looked around before running back the other direction to find the theatre. We finally arrived just after 2:30 and much to our surprise many people were still queuing (in line) out the front doors of the building. Getting out and reading our tickets we realized that when the man at the box office said 2:30, he was indicating when doors open. "3:00, so we barely finished lunch and sprinted for nothing?" Nonetheless, we had plenty of time to get into the theatre, sit down and marvel at the beautiful theatre.

What show did we go se you may be wondering? Funny enough, we saw Jersey Boys. Yes, we came to London and saw a show set in New Jersey. The accents were pretty well done with a couple not well understood people and lines here and there. I was not expecting the speed or amount of narration, but throughly appreciated the number of props and quick set changes as well as very much enjoying the music. I didn't know much about Frankie Valli or the Four Seasons so that insight into their stories was interesting. All and all a great meal and a fun performance!

Have a wonderfully marvelous day, cheers! ~Laura

Tourist Things

Only in London could I have had a 2-hour class in the morning then taken the tube to see Big Ben in the afternoon. The architecture in that part of London is extremely beautiful and so different from the buildings in the area where I am living. My friends and I climbed the stairs out of the tube, turned around and there was Big Ben and Parliament stretching up to the beautiful blue sky, which we were so luck to have on this outing.

Big Ben!

Parliament 

That's Liz on the left, me in the middle and Grace on the right. 

This is not a great picture of it but the River Thames is beautiful.  

We also saw the London Eye and got a student discount to get an audio tour of Westminster Abbey. The Abbey was absolutely gorgeous. Photographs were not allowed inside which we were sad about at first, but I would have taken an overwhelming number of them had they been permitted. We were however able to take pictures of the outside, which only gives you a sneak peek at the amount of thought and detail put into every nook and cranny inside.

The London Eye 

Westminster Abbey 

This is the oldest door in Britain! 

The Abbey was amazing and I was astounded at how old some of the tombs and artifacts were. Many famous people are buried there. 

We had another adventurous day today which I will be posting about soon. Going to try and be better about not waiting so many days before posting... 

Have a wonderfully marvelous day, cheers! ~Laura 

When in Rome

"When the term is over in six months, you'll be just like a Britt!" I heard at a meeting for students in my program. Apparently it is common for affiliates (students at UCL studying abroad) to start speaking like Londoners, which I do believe after listening to a few speakers from America who have been here a while. They all seem to slip into the accent for certain vowel sounds and words. Many American's come to London with the preconceived notion that because they speak the same language, it will be just like home; While in reality it is a foreign country with a foreign culture. The norms are different as are many of the phrases and words people use here. It will take a bit to get adjusted, and I will always be a foreigner here, but I am willing to change my ways. As they say, when in Rome...

That being said I have settled here much faster than I anticipated. With pictures and a map of London on my walls, all of my belongings unpacked, and a group of American's right downstairs, this transition has been easier than expected thus far. There are three other girls and two other boys living in the building and we have been finding our way together. Being extremely directionally challenged, this has helped me out a lot. We all want to see shows and other sites, as well as travel to surrounding countries, which I believe we will all do together.

Our first big accomplishment was mastering the grocery store! We found many grocery stores just a couple of blocks away. Now, we finally have food in our flats so we don't need to eat out every meal which was getting quite expensive. We had to find pots, pans, and other kitchen appliances to cook with. Still looking for a coffee maker because it will be less expensive than buying coffee every morning... I hear that food goes bad here much quicker and upon seeing the expiration dates that is very true. One detail I am not in favor of is the fact that eggs are not refrigerated here. This kinda grosses us all out.

It's been a little hard to meet other non affiliate students. This I'm sure will get easier with time as we get more accustomed to our surroundings and understand what's expected of us. I will be finalizing my modules (classes) and posting about them this week.

Have a wonderfully marvelous day, cheers! ~Laura

Portobello Road

Portobello Road! Portobello Road! Streets where the riches of ages are stowed. Anything and everything a chap can unload is sold off the barrow in Portobello Road.

The lyrics from this song in the movie Bed Knobs and Broom Sticks pretty much hits this market on the nose. They have everything from leather bound books, to jewelry, to artwork, to clothing, to furniture to kitchen appliances and silverware. Many items are dated back before America existed.

The number of street vendors and little antique shops is countless, we didn't even see the entire street.

A casual conversation included the phrase, "paintings from the 16 and 1700's" And this is what was heard from the man selling artwork on the side of the road. Prices climbed into thousands of pounds, But many reasonably priced items can be found as well. Located in Notting Hill, this is a must see market if you are ever in London. I know my friends and I are planning on going back many more times while we are here! Hoping to buy some things in the future, including a mirror I spotted today. I got a semi blurry picture of it so watch for a new one I will take soon.

Have a wonderfully Marvelous Day, cheers! ~Laura

Give Way

I have survived one and a half days in London! So much to see and do, but modules (classes) must be chosen and I must get acquainted to the University of College London (UCL) where I will be a student this semester. In the meantime, no sign of jetlag! Time difference is a bit weird because I know people are still up and about at home when I'm going to bed. It's hard to get in touch with my new American friends because they don't have British phones yet so we keep trying to find WiFi, but it's not working so well. We actually had to set up a meeting place and time today, and it worked! It's weird to think that there once was no internet and cell phones didn't exist. How did people stay in contact? We now rely so much on these types of technology.

At orientation today we learned more about the schooling system here and different vocabulary for different aspects of school. It was good to start to get a grasp of what modules will be like, but I don't think I'll really know until they start on Monday. 

Also, took the tube for the first time today! My building is a block from two different tube stations, so it will be so easy to get around. Got lots of ideas for musicals to go see on the walls of the tube station. One of my favorite differences thus far is that their yield signs say "Give Way". I'm sure I will include a picture of this soon. I forgot my camera in my room today but I'll be sure to bring it tomorrow as we are going on a walking tour. There will be lots of pictures to come very soon! 

Have a wonderfully marvelous day, cheers! ~Laura