The Perfect End

I can't believe this semester is already coming to an end.  It feels like I've been here for just over a week, like spring break just happened two nights ago.  Every semester seems to fly by, and yet somehow each semester after that seems to go a little quicker.  I've never quite figured it out, and I don't think that I ever will.  I have come to realize it's going to happen, though, so I knew it would feel like no time had passed when I was packing up and moving out of 37 Hyde Park Gate. 

The farewell week of this semester has been busier than most, which I didn’t know was possible.  We had theatre, meals, and museum visits.  This week sounds very similar to most other weeks of the program, except for what happened at the end of it.  On Thursday night, we had a surprise event for our farewell dinner.  It turns out this event was a river boat cruise on the Thames.  It couldn’t have been a better experience, a better night.  The food on the boat was delicious, it was a vegetable and brie starter, a cranberry, mushroom, spinach, and tomato puff pastry entrée, and a chocolate mousse dessert.   We also were joined by Mary, Josh, Steven, and our professor Justin along with his family.  Justin’s son made the night!  He wandered around dancing, taking photos, and being the life of the party. 

There was a point in the night where I was able to spend a little time on the open upper level of the boat.  The view was indescribable.  To be riding down the River Thames on a boat with the city of London lit up all around me was something a lot more magical than I was expecting anything on this trip to be.  And it is not because I wasn’t expecting magical things, it’s because this blew any expectation I ever had clear out the window.  It definitely made it obvious to me how lucky I am, how lucky we all are, to have been able to spend an amount of time, however small, in this wonderful place surrounded by each other. 

I like to think I’ll be back here again before too long, but I can’t say with certainty when it will be.  I can say with certainty, however, that I know it won’t be the same.  Nothing can top, or even match, this experience.  My time spent in London has truly been a fairytale. 

End of the Semester Checklist

At the beginning of the semester, I created a checklist for myself of everything that I wanted to get done in my time abroad.  It ranged from countries to theatre to shopping to beaches.  I heard over and over again from others who had studied abroad that unless you wrote it down and worked every day on crossing things off, you’d leave with regrets that you didn’t do everything you wanted to.  And this was the absolute LAST thing I wanted to have happen.  So far, I’ve crossed out 95% of my list.  I’ve visited all the important sites, like Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, the London Eye, Parliament, and Abbey Road.  I’ve also visited a lot of the nearby cities including Brighton, Windsor, and Salisbury.  I also paid visits to many of the countries that I wanted to- Ireland, Portugal, Denmark, Holland, Italy, and Scotland.  All this traveling hasn’t even begun to satisfy me, though.  I want to do more, I want to see more.  This trip has made me want to travel more than ever before. I want to walk the streets of Central Park in New York City, and cross the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.  I want to go skiing on the mountains in Colorado, and visit the Space Needle in Seattle, Washington.  I want to experience the cold beauty of Alaska. I want to try a fishing trip to Canada. I want to visit other places in the UK and England like Wales, Liverpool, and Manchester.  I want to visit other places in Europe including France- to see the beautiful countryside, Spain, Greece, Germany, Turkey- to lay on the clear blue beaches of the Mediterranean, and Iceland.  I would like to be able to pay my respects at a concentration camp in Poland.  I want to visit other areas such as the rainforests and waterfalls of Brazil, Peru, Venezuela, and Chile.  I want to see the kangaroos and koala bears of Australia, and take a boat over to New Zealand.  I want to visit the hot humid desserts of Africa and ride around on a camel’s back.  I want to dig a tunnel to China to get a glimpse of the great wall, and then head over to Japan. I’d love to zip line through the trees of Costa Rica, or take a cruise around the Bahamas. I feel like I’ve seen and done so much, and yet I’ve only just begun my journey around the world.  There are so many things to see and do; there are so many experiences to be had. 

Tea Parties

When I was 6 years old, I used to throw tea parties for all my friends.  Getting dressed up , drinking out of plastic cups, and eating cookies was our definition of an afternoon well spent.  I don’t think I ever imagined (or ever could have imagined) what it was actually like to go to a real afternoon tea in England.  Afternoon tea at the Gore Hotel last Wednesday was everything I could have imagined and more.  It was fancy, filling, and delicious!  We started out with just some tea, and then went on to enjoy crust less sandwiches.  There were sandwiches of all varieties, my favorites being the cucumber and egg with mayo.  The sandwiches were followed by scones, one plain and one raisin, served with clotted cream and homemade jam.  Last but not least, we finished with some desserts.  The varieties of desserts were all rich and scrumptious.  They included éclairs, chocolate fudge brownies, and lemon tarts.  By this point in the meal, I was completely full, but I definitely made room anyways.  I made it through one éclair, one petite lemon tart, and halfway through the most rich and filling brownie I had ever tasted.  I could barely move after the meal, but I felt it was for a good cause.  The atmosphere was also really great.  It was a beautiful spring day (warm enough to wear a simple spring dress), and I was surrounded by all my friends.  The tea was also followed up by my first ever trip to the ballet.  We went to the Royal Opera House to watch a performance of Cinderella, which was also breathtaking.  The gracefulness of the dancers and talent of the orchestra really combined to put on an exceptional show.  Being that I had never been to the ballet before, I had no idea what to expect.  I was once again blown away (I have started to expect this of my London experiences).  The fluidity and movement of the dancers painted the ever-so-familiar story in my head with a very unique and distinct style.  It was definitely an experience which inspired me to attend more ballets.  Although we are all trying avidly to avoid the fact that our beloved UW London Semester is coming to an end, it makes it a little bit easier to face knowing that I have seen and done so many wonderful things in my time here.  In just one day I was able to experience two things which I would have never had a chance to do on my own, but things I will definitely now try.  And that’s what I had the most desire to get out of this experience. 

39 Steps to Piccadilly Circus

Theatre was never something I had much interest in.  I saw West Side Story when I was younger, and that's about as much experience as I ever had.  I knew coming to London meant new things, and I learned from students who had been in this program previously that theatre was something new I got to enjoy.  Little did I know that going to see "The 39 Steps" was one of the very first things we would be doing.  This was an exciting first step for me to take.  Though I was still a little jet lagged and overwhelmed, I was exhilarated as I began to explore what London had to offer.  As I stepped off the tube for the first time ever, and began to climb the never-ending stairs out of Piccadilly Tube Station, I wondered what this place could be like.  I’d heard about Piccadilly Circus before, people talked about it all the time.  But when I reached the top of the stairs and looked around me, I couldn’t believe my eyes.  The dark night sparkled contrasted the appealing bright, shiny lights on the ever-changing billboards and illuminated the statue in the middle of the circle.  There were tons of shops, restaurants, bars, and clubs.  People of all shapes and sizes were walking around, talking, and generally seemed uninterested in what was going on around them.  To me, this was all fascinating.  If I could have imagined what a night out in London would look like, this was ten times better than that  If it were up to me, I could have stayed and watched the scene for a lot longer, but everyone else was starting to make their way towards the Criterion Theatre.  We managed to make our way inside, and searched the building for the correct entrance to our seats.  The theatre was very much how I expected it- a picturesque old-time theatre with velvet seats and two different levels.  I sat down next to some of the people who would become my closest friends, and watched a frenzied comedy- frenzied because it only contained 4 actors acting as many more than one character each.  I really enjoyed the show, and I enjoyed the experience even more so.  It gave me more motivation than I already had to not let one minute go to waste while I’m fortunate enough to be in London. 

A Daily Routine

Life in Madison is pretty basic.  95% of the time, life revolves around school.  Waking up for lecture, finishing up homework for discussion, deciding which library to study at, preparing an analysis for lab.  Oh, and then doing it all over again.  I don't know how anyone could ever get by if they didn't enjoy what they were studying.  But, here? Here everything is different.  Here every day is a new adventure, here every day is filled with new people and new places.  Here there's never an excuse to be inside (even if it's raining).  Here is never the same thing twice.  Here I wake up in the morning and get to go for a jog in the beautiful Hyde Park.  Lately, there has been all types of flowers blooming, and leaves have begun to grow on trees.  There's people walking dogs, people walking, people paddle boating.  All new people, all new adventures.  After that, I usually shower and make breakfast.  Then, depending on the day, I'll either head off to class, head off to do errands.  These errands can range from grocery shopping to mailing post cards. My least favorite of these errands I occasionally have to run is doing my laundry.  The "crypt" laundry room in Metrogate really freaks me out, and it takes forever!  After that, I usually stop by a sandwich place or run home to make lunch- anything from pizza to stir fry.  If I don’t have class in the afternoons, they are usually spent shopping.  Sometimes for shoes, sometimes for school supplies, sometimes for souvenirs, but mostly for clothes.  Anywhere from Camden Market to Kensington High Street to Oxford, I'm usually down to go on a shopping spree.  My wallet doesn’t generally have as much fun as I do, though.  After this, it’s dinner time.  I didn’t realize how much my schedule revolved around food until I began to write this week about my daily routines.  Anyways, dinner comes next. Though normally I make myself dinner at home, sometimes there’s more exciting plans such as going out to dinner for a friend’s birthday, or eating a delicious dinner at an Iraqi restaurant for a pound.  After dinner, I’ll usually catch up on some TV shows or do some reading.  I also get my homework done, unless we have an evening event such as a pound trip to the theatre or to a ballet.  The thing is, I don’t usually get up and do it all again the next day.  Each day is different, new, and exciting.  It’s definitely a lifestyle I could get used to.

Lyrics of London

It's always exciting to be able to relate to celebrities.  Whether your high school, hometown, or state is mentioned in a song, movie, or book, there's definitely a feeling of enthusiasm.  Being from Memorial High School, Eau Claire, WI doesn't give you many such opportunities.  Chippewa Falls, WI, is mentioned in the movie Titanic, and Milwaukee is referenced in Love Actually.. and that's about all I've got.  I've been listening to songs about London my entire life, most the time without even realizing it.  So, as I began to look into traveling here, I became accutely aware of all the London references I heard in songs I played on a day-to-day basis.. and those I was just hearing for the first time. 

So, as I decided to write this week about my favorite musical London references, I had to figure out a way to group them.  I thought grouping them by places I've been, and places I have yet to go, would be the easiest way to go about this.

Places I've been.  Along with Cat Stevens, I've visited the infamous Portobello Road.  Both Elton John and I have gazed Across the River Thames, and I can relate to Third Eye Blind when they mention a party in somebody's London flat.  Lily Allen talks about a woman "struggling with bags from Tesco".. and as my arms throb from my walk home from the grocery store yesterday, I realize this song probably could have been written about me.  Kate Nash, the Postal Service, and I have all experienced impatiently waiting for a tube at an underground station; I've been to Earl's Court along with Morrissey.  I know what it looked like when the Red Hot Chili Peppers walked through Leicester Square, and I can relate to Bon Jovi's midnight in Chelsea.  Both the Rolling Stones and I have hit up Knightsbridge.

Places I haven't been (or places I wouldn't want to be).  I have yet to walk on Abbey Road- made famous by the Beatles, and haven't had the experience of waking up on a doorstep in Soho like the Who.  The famous nursery rhyme is the only time I heard London Bridge is Falling Down, and I've never waited for the last tube of the night like Simon and Garfunkel. 

The most recent song I've found I can relate to is due to the beautiful, sunny, recently-present spring weather.  In Lily Allen's song about London she says, "The sun is in the sky, oh why, oh why, would I want to be anywhere else?"

Danmark: København og Århus

Having only spent one week split between two different Denmark cities, I can't even begin to do it justice.  I loved everything about Denmark: I loved the people, the architecture, the streets.  I loved the bakeries and the small canals.  I loved having familiar faces to show me around, rather than having to figure it all out myself.  It was nice catching up with friends, though it seems like just yesterday we were discussing how crazy it would be to hang out in Europe the following semester. 
When I initially asked my friend Sam why she wanted to study in Denmark, she told me she wanted to travel somewhere "off the beaten path".  Well, she definitely did.  Though Copenhagen does attract a fair amount of tourists, Aarhus, even though it is the second largest city in Denmark, does not.  It consists of mainly locals: hanging out at their favorite pubs, riding on the buses, grabbing a cup of coffee.  It's definitely a different feel than traveling in the touristy cities; there aren't annoying tourist shops every time you turn around, there aren't bars or pubs where only tourists hang out.  I couldn’t even find a postcard to bring home!
There are a lot of fun things to do, though, especially when you have your own personal tour guide.  Not only was there a lot to do, but a lot of the things things I definitely hadn’t gotten to do in a while.  We went ice skating, biking, shopping downtown (that, I must admit, does not fit in the category of things I hadn’t done in a while), we rode on a ferry, and dressed up for Halloween. It was a mixture of old and new all wrapped in to one.  It was comfortable where it was also fresh and unique.  It was making new friends and getting to spend time with the ones you already have, and have missed. 
I’m so glad to have had the experience I did over spring break.  Denmark was breathtaking, and not as cold as everyone said!  Both the people and the landscape were welcoming, and I was able to instantly feel at home.