1/30/2008
I've completed my final exam, my bags are packed, and we just finished our last tea at the college. Studying in England has been a great experience, and I have learned so much about the History of Math along with the culture and life in England. There are some things I will take back with me about this trip that I will never forget.
1) April Fool's Day originated because the first of the year used to be in April until they changed the calender. Therefore if you celebrated the beginning of the year on April 1st, you were a fool--From the History of Math
2) The British and Americans had a disagreement about how to spell License in the James Bond movie License to Kill--From a Pub Quiz
3) You should play all your high cards in spades before people can trump you with a spade--From Late Nights in the Abby
4) There are a lot of low ceilings, so you really do need to "Mind Yer Head"--From Climbing Many Towers
5) Bollocks is a bad thing, but the Dog's Bollocks basically rocks!--From the Brit himself, Dr. Rice
6) A cup of tea and a cookie in the middle of the afternoon is a great way to slow down and reflect on all the opportunities we have been given. We are so blessed to have been given to opportunity to take such a unique course in such an amazing place. Thanks to everyone who has made it possible!
Permanent Link
1/29/2008
We have found out while we have been here that the English are OBSESSED with American politics. At every meal, the Dean of the college will ask us something about the primaries or what our thoughts are on the canidates. Today, while walking through the streets of Oxford, we came across a small town house and in the window was a campaign sign for Obama in the 2008 presidential election. I don't think he will be able to vote?
Permanent Link
1/27/2008
This weekend we were in LONDON! Of course I had a wonderful time and got to see tons of sights. The pictures basically tell it all. But of course there were a few, at times funny, highlights of the trip.
1) We played London Bridges on the 6th London Bridge. The 5th one is in Nevada...random!
2) On Friday my friends and I went to see Caberat. In case you were wondering, during one scene a man dances COMPELETLY naked. My innocence was taken at that very moment.
3) While on a tour of the London Tower, a Beefeater told us that the letters ER2 don't stand for Elizabeth the Second but rather for "Extremely Romantic...for Two minutes."
4) At King's Cross Station they really do have a Platform 9 and 3/4's.
5) The British Museum holds the Roseta Stone, Chinese Terricota Warriors, Mummies....really just about everything except anything that is actually British.
Permanent Link
1/23/2008
Wroxton, the town we are in, puts Ashland to shame when it comes to college towns. It is literally just a church, two pubs and a couple of houses. It doesn't have a grocery store and to mail something here, the address is Wroxton, near Banbury. So of course the fun thing to do at night is go to the pubs. On Wednesday, the North Arms holds a pub quiz. Everyone puts in a pound to play and they ask 20 trivia questions. The team with the most points wins the pot. Its loads of fun and this week surprisingly, our team-Mind Yer Head-won! We even beat the local British team-The Badger's. Here are a sampling of some of the questions. How would you do?
1) Name the THREE states in America that start with the letter A
*If you don't know why this is funny, brush up on your geography
2) Does Bart Simpson have ears?
3) What song do they play on the bugle at military funerals
*Its not called TAPS in England
4) Humans produce 2 swimming pools of this in a lifetime.
5) What British soap opera just moved to Sunday?
*Yeah...I don't even watch American Soaps.
Permanent Link
1/21/2008
During the morn, the intellectuals departed for lands unknown to explore the wonders of the island in the northern Atlantic. After crossing treacherous hills and traversing ravenous rivers, the intellectuals arrived in the birthplace of Shakespeare. Battling the elements of water, wind, and ice they began to explore the new found territory. Visiting the house of worship, they viewed upon the place that Shakespeare lies as well as partook in the wonders of the ground he took his first steps. After replenishing the toils of our stomachs, we explored the local merchants, exchanging notes for frivolous goods.
If you have NO idea what I just wrote about, you now feel exactly like my classmates and I did while watching Richard II. We went to see this play preformed by the Royal Shakespeare Company. The language was very difficult to understand (plus I'm a math major), but the costumes were amazing and the different effects were great. There was a very gruesome death seen at the end with tons of blood! Even though I didn't understand exactly what they were saying, I really enjoyed seeing the play and Stratford was such a beautiful and quaint little town.
Permanent Link
1/19/2008
Today we went to Warwick Castle, my future home. For those who don't know, I have wanted to be my princess my whole life, so going to a real Castle was my idea of heaven. When we arrived, it was like we had stepped into the pages of a fairy tale (except it was raining, which never seems to happen in those tales). We walked across the mote, via the drawbridge, where they would lure their enemies before dumping boiling lead on them. Luckily we came with only good intentions so we were allowed to pass peacefully.
Dr. Rice, our teacher and now personal tour guide, took us around the grounds telling us funny little stories and pointing out interesting spots. There was a ghost tower, swords, and armor. One of the hot spots was the dungeon. It was just this little hole underground where they would keep all the prisoners. Of course my friends and I had to stop and pose for a cheesy picture.
After the dungeon, we went into the castle itself. Inside they had set up a wax exhibit of what the castle would have looked like in the Victorian era. The wax figures totally freaked me out. They had a maid peering out the window and a butler whose eyes followed you around the room. In the horse stables, they made it smell and the horse was doing his dirty buisness. That was just a little TOO realistic. Even though they were creepy, they were still fun to goof around with. Check out the pictures: who is real and who is fake?
Finally we climbed the 500 steps to walk around the castle walls and go up to the top of the tower. Of course the views from here were fabulous.
My day as pretending to be Cinderella was great and who knows, maybe one day I really will live in that fairytale castle on a hill!
Permanent Link
1/16/2008
I have quickly found while I am here that the British are a very blunt society. They don't seem to mince their words and they leave no room for doubt when it comes to informing people about what is going on. For this I have several, quite funny, examples.
Example #1
While walking along the streets in Cambridge we came to a crosswalk. Above the crosswalk was a typical road sign, but in America it would say something along the lines of Pedestrian Crosswalk. Well here, it just said "disabled people."
Example #2
At tea, I was standing in line in front of a lady who works at the college. To be polite I said hello and then proceed to ask her how her day was. Silly me, I was thinking as an American where this is more of a formality than an actual question. Well in England, it really means tell me the truth about your day. So she quickly replied "Shit."
Example #3
During our time in Cambridge, we went into a history museum that had really cool dinosaur exhibits. Well, there was a ramp for handicap access. On the ramp was an old piece of paper that said "This ramp is for use of people with wheels ONLY!"
Example #4
Upon careful examination of the electrical poles, one will realize that the danger of electrical shock image is quite disturbing.
I hope everyone has found these little cultural differences as funny as my friends and I have. With all the hype about being PC and polite, signs like these would never occur in America, but here they truly tell it like it is.
Permanent Link
1/12/2008
Today we went to Cambridge, which I thought was a college, but really it is just a college town. There are about 30 different colleges within the University of Cambridge. In the old days, everyone who had studied at the different colleges would take their final exams through the University. If we think we have it bad on exam week, there's lasted from 8am until 5pm for five straight days! YIKES!! And why is the History of Math class visiting Cambridge you might ask? Well this is where all the greatest mathematicians studied, DUH. Yeah I'm a nerd.
So a few highlights from Cambridge is of course, Issac Newton. He studied at Trinity College and outside there is a regular old boring looking tree. Unknown to many people walking by, this tree is an offspring of THE tree that had THE apple that made Newton make THE discovery about gravity. Of course I had to take a picture. Also, at Queens College there is the Mathematical Bridge so of course I thought this was the coolest thing ever. It was apparently put together without any nuts or bolts, then someone decided to take it apart to see how it worked and couldn't put it back together again. I bet you he got in a lot of trouble for that!! The final thing I thought was pretty neat was the man who invented Venn Diagrams went to another college in Cambridge, and there is a stained glass window of a Venn Diagram in his honor at the college.
Surprisingly today was a very sunny day but it was FREEZING. And because England is so far north, the sun only gets to just above the trees and then it starts going down again. After we had finished looking at all the touristy math things, my classmates and I all decided to climb the tower of St. Mary's church. This tower had at least 125 steps and was a complete spiral upwards. It was the most precarious climb of my life, but the view was amazing.
Well that is all I have to report from Cambridge. Check back next weekend when we go to Warwick Castle and Stonehenge. Cheerio!
Permanent Link
1/10/2008
After months of planning I have finally arrived in England, a place where having an extra 100 pounds is a good thing, Cheerio has nothing to do with breakfast, and rain is pretty much the forecast for every day. The plane ride was...well a 7 hour plane ride. It went as well as can be expected. Getting through the London airport was an ordeal though. Immigration grilled us with tons of questions asking us how much money we were carrying with us, where we were staying and why an adult wasn't traveling with us (though...we are all 21 so aren't we considered adults here??). My heart was pounding out of my chest; I thought I would be deported! After we finished up with that, we had to get our baggage. That went well but I definitely over packed. Dragging that through the airport was a workout! After that we headed to the college.
The place we are staying at is called Wroxton College and it is actually the UK campus of another college in New Jersey. The college itself is actually the old mansion for the North Family. For those of you who don't know much about English History (don't worry, I'm here for a math major so I didn't know this either) Lord North was actually the Prime Minister of England when they lost the American colonies. So, if you are following this, we not only stole his colonies, but we also bought his mansion. Two points America!! But anyway, the mansion is beautiful. Our rooms are in the carriage house, how cute is that, but our classrooms are in the actual mansion. It has all these winding stair cases and ornately carved fire places. It is seriously like living in something out of a fairy tale.
As for the food, well surprisingly to all of us, CHARTWELL'S DOES THE FOOD!! How funny is that, we get Estes even when we are in England. But attention Randolph-Macon students, we now have proof. England is known for having horrible food but here, Chartwell's does good food. It just be Estes fault. Though it may be they only have 60 people to cook for....
Well, that is all I have for my first day in England. I'm pretty much just getting over jet lag and getting a feel for the campus. Look back for more from jolly old England. Cheerio!
Permanent Link
|
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)