After all of the fun that was had the last few weekends, I'm grateful for a low-key weekend at "home". I've got to rest up for all of the excitement that is yet to come!
This past week has been nice. The temperature has warmed up a little bit and the sun has been shining quite a bit more the last few days. It's been nice to be able to go out in jeans and a hoodie. The wind has been a little rough at times, but I can handle that. I've been working on research for an essay that is due in my Trees in Their Environment class. The class is actually a lot more interesting than I was expecting. This paper is somewhat interesting, but it's still a paper. I have to write the essay for the Trees class and another essay for Human & Animal Cognition in the next week. I might just move into the library. Last night a few of us went out to Pizza Hut for dinner and then to see One for the Money with Katherine Heigl. The pizza was awesome (Pizza Hut here is quite a bit nicer than at home) and the movie was pretty good too.
The reason that I have to write both of those essays within the next week is Herman is coming to visit!! He arrives in 9 days and I'm incredibly excited! And to make it all even more exciting, Emily will be in London the week that Herman is here. Herman & I are going to visit Emily the day after he gets here. It's going to be so much fun and probably a little surreal. It's been great being able to talk to him on Skype but I absolutely cannot wait to see him in person! I'm also really excited to see Emily. Unfortunately, her school/work schedule has made it a little difficult to Skype with her. Our main communication has been through Facebook; which is fine, but seeing her in person is going to be even better! I realize that this paragraph has a lot of exclamation points, but that's the only way to punctuate my enthusiasm!
I also have some travel plans coming up. Next weekend, I'm going to London with my friends Katie, Bethany, Cory and possibly Jordan. The first three are Americans and the last is British. Katie's cousin is supposed to be in London on Sunday so we're tagging along while she goes to meet up with him. It'll be nice to know how to get there when Herman & I go the following Wednesday. The weekend after London, I'll be in Manchester. Herman & I are going to hang out there so that he's closer to the airport for his early flight out on Sunday morning. The plan is for Katie, Bethany, Cory and whoever else to join us on Saturday for some sightseeing. The following weekend is the trip to Edinburgh, Scotland that I am taking through the International Student Services office here at Keele. Yet again, Katie, Bethany, and Cory will be attending that excursion as well. There's also plans in the works for a trip to Liverpool. I'm excited about that one so that I can go to the Beatles' Museum!!
If you couldn't tell from the information above, I've made some pretty awesome friends so far. Katie and Bethany are from UNC Greensboro and Cory goes to ODU. It's crazy how you can go to the same school with someone for two years (and be in the same major) and not meet each other until you're across the pond. I'm really grateful that I have found great people to be around and travel with while here. God really answered my prayers on this one! (I mean, I knew He would. But He still amazes me sometimes!)
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Alton Towers!!
Today, we took a day trip to Alton Towers, one of the UK's biggest theme parks. It was loads of fun. I'm not going to lie, it was a little tough at first. When we got there, it was drizzly and cold. It down-right rained for a bit there. However, we persevered and had fun. Luckily it did clear up around lunch time so the entire day wasn't miserable. I didn't really take any pictures, sorry! I didn't want to get my camera all wet and my hands were so frozen that I don't know if they would've been capable of clicking the button. After today, I'm sure I'll be returning when the weather is decent. I'll get pictures then.
Only a portion of the park was open and tickets were discounted. It's Half-term for the school kids so I guess they figured they could make some money off of parents needing something to do with their kids. We were able to ride Nemesis, Air and Oblivion along with some of the other "thrill" rides. I'm going to try and explain these as best I can. The best way I can is to compare them with Busch Gardens, so bare with me. Nemesis was similar to Alpengeist. It didn't have quite as many twists and turns but it was inverted and had a few corkscrews and a loop. Air was actually the first coaster we rode. I was excited about it until I saw people board and it take off. When you get in the seat, it seems like you're getting into one for Alpengeist or any other inverted coaster...except that there are leg harnesses. Once you're secured, the floor goes down (like other inverted coasters) BUT THEN the seats pull up so that you are essentially dangling, face down along the track. It was pretty awesome! I definitely want to go back and ride it when it's not raining. I was having a hard time keeping my eyes open because they were being pelted by rain. The last coaster we rode was Oblivion. It's claim to fame is "the world's first vertical drop coaster". If you can't tell by that description, it's the great-grandaddy of Griffon essentially. However, you can definitely tell there have been some advances in coaster technology. All Oblivion does is go down at 90 degrees, bank around a curve and go back into the station. It was fun, but definitely not as fun as Griffon. I didn't realize how spoiled I am to have Busch Gardens in my life.
We also rode Hex. It's somewhat similar to DarKastle in the way it sets itself up as a legend. This legend is actually about the Earl who owned the castle at Alton and there's still proof of the legend on the property. It's not 4-D though, which was nice for me because I don't do well with those kinds of rides. However, I wasn't quite prepared for this one. When we got in the last room, we sat in what looked like church pews that were connected, two rows on each side and the sides faced each other. Then we started to rock back and forth. Then the room started to move as well. By the end, it seemed as though we were flipping upside down because we were rocking opposite of the way the room was turning. Once I got off of that thing, it took me a few minutes to figure out which way was up. It was fun, but it's one of those that I could only handle once in awhile. We also rode a few smaller coaster-type rides. One was called Sonic Pinball. They did a really good job of making you feel like a pinball in a machine. It was similar to the Wild Maus that used to be at Busch Gardens. There were 4 people per car, two facing front and two facing back. As it went along the crazy track, the car would spin. That was another ride where I had to regain my bearings once I got off.
I'm definitely excited to go back once the weather gets nicer and the rest of the park opens up. There's a coaster there called Thirteen. The new coaster at Busch Gardens, VerBolten, has been compared to Thirteen. I am stoked to have the chance to compare the two myself! There's another coaster that wasn't open today as well, Rita I believe. I'm sure that one will be good too.
My cheeks are a little rosy from the wind burn and pelting by the icey rain. It was definitely worth it though! I'm glad I toughed it out and dealt with the ridiculous weather. A few of us made the statement that if the weather had been like this in the States, none of the rides would've been running. I guess they have to be prepared for rain here since that's about all it does.
Only a portion of the park was open and tickets were discounted. It's Half-term for the school kids so I guess they figured they could make some money off of parents needing something to do with their kids. We were able to ride Nemesis, Air and Oblivion along with some of the other "thrill" rides. I'm going to try and explain these as best I can. The best way I can is to compare them with Busch Gardens, so bare with me. Nemesis was similar to Alpengeist. It didn't have quite as many twists and turns but it was inverted and had a few corkscrews and a loop. Air was actually the first coaster we rode. I was excited about it until I saw people board and it take off. When you get in the seat, it seems like you're getting into one for Alpengeist or any other inverted coaster...except that there are leg harnesses. Once you're secured, the floor goes down (like other inverted coasters) BUT THEN the seats pull up so that you are essentially dangling, face down along the track. It was pretty awesome! I definitely want to go back and ride it when it's not raining. I was having a hard time keeping my eyes open because they were being pelted by rain. The last coaster we rode was Oblivion. It's claim to fame is "the world's first vertical drop coaster". If you can't tell by that description, it's the great-grandaddy of Griffon essentially. However, you can definitely tell there have been some advances in coaster technology. All Oblivion does is go down at 90 degrees, bank around a curve and go back into the station. It was fun, but definitely not as fun as Griffon. I didn't realize how spoiled I am to have Busch Gardens in my life.
We also rode Hex. It's somewhat similar to DarKastle in the way it sets itself up as a legend. This legend is actually about the Earl who owned the castle at Alton and there's still proof of the legend on the property. It's not 4-D though, which was nice for me because I don't do well with those kinds of rides. However, I wasn't quite prepared for this one. When we got in the last room, we sat in what looked like church pews that were connected, two rows on each side and the sides faced each other. Then we started to rock back and forth. Then the room started to move as well. By the end, it seemed as though we were flipping upside down because we were rocking opposite of the way the room was turning. Once I got off of that thing, it took me a few minutes to figure out which way was up. It was fun, but it's one of those that I could only handle once in awhile. We also rode a few smaller coaster-type rides. One was called Sonic Pinball. They did a really good job of making you feel like a pinball in a machine. It was similar to the Wild Maus that used to be at Busch Gardens. There were 4 people per car, two facing front and two facing back. As it went along the crazy track, the car would spin. That was another ride where I had to regain my bearings once I got off.
I'm definitely excited to go back once the weather gets nicer and the rest of the park opens up. There's a coaster there called Thirteen. The new coaster at Busch Gardens, VerBolten, has been compared to Thirteen. I am stoked to have the chance to compare the two myself! There's another coaster that wasn't open today as well, Rita I believe. I'm sure that one will be good too.
My cheeks are a little rosy from the wind burn and pelting by the icey rain. It was definitely worth it though! I'm glad I toughed it out and dealt with the ridiculous weather. A few of us made the statement that if the weather had been like this in the States, none of the rides would've been running. I guess they have to be prepared for rain here since that's about all it does.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Off to Manchester!
Yesterday morning, we got up at an ungodly hour for a Saturday and took a coach bus to Manchester. There were five of us, Cory, Katie, Laura, Travis and I. Before arriving, we had decided we wanted to visit the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) and a few other places.
Let me tell you, MOSI was amazing! I felt like a giant nerd, but it was so great. They had a bunch of stuff about Joule, Dalton, Bragg and all of those crazy old science nerds who basically discovered half of what we know now. It was so much fun...for me at least. The others in the group enjoyed it, but not nearly as much as I did. I caught myself smiling as I was reading the information about Joule's calorimeter. Everyone else had walked on and I was just standing there smiling like a geek. It was great!
After I managed to pull myself away from that, we checked out a few other things in the science museum and then moved on. We went to the Manchester Gallery. It was a really nice gallery with a lot of nice work. As you can probably tell by the lack of '!'s here, art isn't exactly my cup of tea. I can appreciate it, but I would have much rather been looking at pictures of Lawrence Bragg's x-ray crystallograms (at least I think that's what they're called) and Joule's calorimeter. I'm just putting that out there. Anyways, it was quite nice. If I had more time in either place, it would've been better.
Once we finished up at the gallery, we walked towards Picadilly Gardens which is just the center square of the city essentially. Everyone else wanted to go inside where it was warm so they went into a nearby store. I stayed out to check out the local stuff. They had a market set up in the square and I bought some "American muffins" and some jewelry from one of the local fair-trade businesses that had a booth set up. It was pretty cool and I hope to go back again, maybe when it's a bit warmer.
All-in-all it was an awesome day. It was nice to get out and have some fun. Hopefully I'll be able to do some more traveling in the weeks to come and see even more fun stuff!!
Let me tell you, MOSI was amazing! I felt like a giant nerd, but it was so great. They had a bunch of stuff about Joule, Dalton, Bragg and all of those crazy old science nerds who basically discovered half of what we know now. It was so much fun...for me at least. The others in the group enjoyed it, but not nearly as much as I did. I caught myself smiling as I was reading the information about Joule's calorimeter. Everyone else had walked on and I was just standing there smiling like a geek. It was great!
After I managed to pull myself away from that, we checked out a few other things in the science museum and then moved on. We went to the Manchester Gallery. It was a really nice gallery with a lot of nice work. As you can probably tell by the lack of '!'s here, art isn't exactly my cup of tea. I can appreciate it, but I would have much rather been looking at pictures of Lawrence Bragg's x-ray crystallograms (at least I think that's what they're called) and Joule's calorimeter. I'm just putting that out there. Anyways, it was quite nice. If I had more time in either place, it would've been better.
Once we finished up at the gallery, we walked towards Picadilly Gardens which is just the center square of the city essentially. Everyone else wanted to go inside where it was warm so they went into a nearby store. I stayed out to check out the local stuff. They had a market set up in the square and I bought some "American muffins" and some jewelry from one of the local fair-trade businesses that had a booth set up. It was pretty cool and I hope to go back again, maybe when it's a bit warmer.
All-in-all it was an awesome day. It was nice to get out and have some fun. Hopefully I'll be able to do some more traveling in the weeks to come and see even more fun stuff!!
When I saw this, I knew I was going to like Manchester. =)
The Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI)
Joule's calorimeter =D
Lawrence Bragg and some of his x-ray crystallography work
And my "American muffins" that I bought at the market (I guess they don't like the word cupcake?)
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Change of plans
Well, things are still going well here. There's still a bit of snow on the ground from when it snowed last weekend. Most of it has melted/turned to slush and then has refrozen because it's so darn cold. It's been an adventure walking around campus. I'm not the most graceful person in the world and one of my biggest fears is slipping on ice and hurting my bum! Other than that though, it's been going well.
The plan for this weekend was to go to York where they are having a Viking Festival. Apparently there's a museum there and everything. We were going to go and stay the night on Saturday that way we could visit the museum and different things on Saturday and Sunday. Then, we checked on accommodation for Saturday night. I guess we didn't realize that the Viking Festival was so popular. There's nowhere to stay. So now we're essentially back to square one. There's still the possibility of going to the festival next weekend because it runs through then. But now we're trying to figure out where to go this weekend. We've been here three weeks and haven't ventured outside of Newcastle. It's a beautiful place, but I'm ready for a change in the scenery. Hopefully we'll be able to figure out somewhere to go. If we don't come to an agreement, I may just have to venture out on my own...or with some other students who are going somewhere this weekend. I'm ready to see some more of the UK!
The plan for this weekend was to go to York where they are having a Viking Festival. Apparently there's a museum there and everything. We were going to go and stay the night on Saturday that way we could visit the museum and different things on Saturday and Sunday. Then, we checked on accommodation for Saturday night. I guess we didn't realize that the Viking Festival was so popular. There's nowhere to stay. So now we're essentially back to square one. There's still the possibility of going to the festival next weekend because it runs through then. But now we're trying to figure out where to go this weekend. We've been here three weeks and haven't ventured outside of Newcastle. It's a beautiful place, but I'm ready for a change in the scenery. Hopefully we'll be able to figure out somewhere to go. If we don't come to an agreement, I may just have to venture out on my own...or with some other students who are going somewhere this weekend. I'm ready to see some more of the UK!
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Hey, what's that stuff falling from the sky...?
That's right folks, it snowed here at Keele University. I was in Newcastle with some friends and the white flakes started falling. It started around 12:30 in the afternoon and went until at least 8 tonight. There's a good couple of inches on the ground out there. We had to do some grocery shopping and pick up a few other things so there was some walking that had to be done. I was quite nervous because I'm not graceful AT ALL!! Luckily, I didn't fall. However, my legs are quite sore because I was tensed up so that I could walk very carefully. I don't know how long it's going to stick around but everyone is enjoying it while it lasts. I'm not a huge fan, but it is pretty to look at!
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