Kitchen Windows

The view outside the kitchen window in my flat is not one that everyone would like.  There is a wide space with open grass, then an iron fence that is partially lined with trees and bushes.  Beyond that, is a cemetery.

I've already heard some people mention how depressing it is, having a graveyard as their view.  But somehow, I find it neither morbid nor depressing.  I find it oddly peaceful and calming.  In a way, it helps me center a bit.  A reminder that, in the long run, there is more to life than the many small problems that crop up along the way. Every single person in that cemetery probably had many times when life's little problems piled up to seem like huge insurmountable ones.  But they don't matter now.  What matters is that they lived, that they loved, and the legacy they left behind in their loved ones.  They may be missed, but they are not totally gone; not as long as their legacy remains.

My Visit Thus Far: In Pictures

I realized recently that I have absolutely zero pictures up so far, despite being here for coming up on two months now.  So this entire post will be based around pictures from the time that I left California for England.

First up, my flight!

On the runway, about to leave LAX, at a bit past 9pm

And the plane I came in on from across the terminal, at 3:30-4ish in the afternoon, ten hours later.

There are quite a few lovely pictures I have of MK; but none of them quite capture how just plain pretty it is there quite the way this one of the canal does.

And then, C and I went to London to meet D:

Taking a break in Hyde Park toward the end of the day

And a trio, all finally able to hang out together :)


And then came move-in day and the various Fresher's Week events.  Beginning with, the walking tour of London:

The very typical photograph of the London Underground sign

A view from a quiet courtyard of Westminster Abbey.  So peaceful when seen from here rather than the main area, with all the tourism and traffic.

I never was very good at taking pictures of myself; this is the best of my attempts at a self-portrait with Big Ben

And me with the three other girls who I walked around with, on a bridge over the Thames.


The rest of my pictures are generally going to be from trips specifically for the Study Abroad students. 

The entrance to the Royal Pavilion in Brighton.  Decorated Indian on the outside, Chinese on the inside.  Or at least attempted Chinese, as nobody who worked on it had ever been to China.

I just like the juxtaposition in this photograph: The very old, with the moderately new.  This kind of contrast is noticeable just about everywhere here.  Like the marketplace in Kingston.  It's over 800 years old, with quite a few old-looking buildings around; yet the things being sold are very modern, such as DVDs and BluTack.

And finally, Brighton Pier.  It really was a lovely day out, surprised the instructor, but made for a pleasant day.

The only photos I have left are from Stonehenge and Bath.  But as I have not posted about those tours quite yet, I think I'll put those photographs in with my post about the tours, when I do that.

In the meantime, the tours are through a class available only to Study Abroad students, and I now have to go finish a short essay on it before bed.  Goodnight.

Classes, Pubs, and More Random Observations

And once again, it has been nearly two weeks since my last blog post.  I'm doing well at this, really.  I have a couple in the works, but they require some thought put into them, so they're taking a bit more time.

The last few weeks have just been busy getting settled in with classes.  There is much more free time here, although it's expected that you do more independent work and reading.  Of course, in the time before my books arrived, that made life a little bit dull.

I have also discoverd that, while I do not enjoy the clubbing life (as my flatmates seem to), I do really enjoy the pubs.  It's a nice quiet atmosphere in which you can meet up with people, have a drink (alcoholic or not), maybe get some food.  I really wish we had this in the States; it's kind of a cross between a restaurant and a coffee shop.  And they have phenomenal desserts there; at least at the ones that I've been to so far. 

A few other interesting things that I've noticed while here:
-Traffic is always really busy, but nobody's pushy about it the way they are in California.  In Cali, it's as though certain people feel entitled to the road, and therefore drive as though they are the only ones on it.  Here, people are generally actually polite about their driving; they even know how to merge politely.

-Jaywalking.  Here, it is completely legal, and even normal.  If the walk signal is red but there's no cars coming, it's perfectly acceptable to ignore the signal and cross anyways. And I must admit it is quite handy, saves quite a bit of time.  The only danger is, of course, accidentally looking the wrong way before stepping out into the street.  I'm getting better at that, and looking right is becoming more habitual.  And of course, remembering to look at the ground for a lot of them, since at some of the crazier crossings where the crossing areas have "look left" or "look right" painted on them (and even one of my British friends here has admitted to needing/using them).  Of course, now that I've said I'm getting better, it would be just my luck to go down to the shops tomorrow and get hit by a bus.  But I promise I'll try to avoid that.

-People also seem much more prone to, or accepting of, standing in the middle of walkways.  Even groups of people in the middle of walkways.  Store aisles or sidewalks, it really doesn't matter which.  And foot traffic just goes around them, even though it does slow down some.  Nobody gives evil stares at those blocking off part of the walkway, or deliberately brushes against them to make a point as they go past.  They just go around.  There's accidental bumping for sure, but it's hit or miss whether the person actually moves.

-Retail workers, and lines (queues) do not seem nearly as rushed.  The workers do not seem as harried as they do in the states.  It's okay to go a little slower when there's a line and take your time with the customer you are ringing up, rather than trying to go fast to keep the line as short as possible.  It is also okay to sort a few things to be re-shelved if there is one or two people in line, rather than helping everyone in the line first and only doing other work when there is nobody in line.

-Charity shops, the equivalent of thrift stores, are also smaller, and far more varied in causes than in the States.  California only seems to have Goodwill and Salvation Army, which take care of a variety of issues in different areas within the charity, and are huge stores.  Here, however, they are small individual shops, for causes ranging from the British Heart Association, to cancer research, to a particular hospice.