Library Life: Dickinson vs. UEA (Sadness Fills me!) --mid-October

As an English major, it's really quite critical to establish your study spot in the library early on in your Dickinson career. 

Sunday afternoons are FIERCE with competition as everyone struggles to find a spot to settle in and hunker down for the day, but me? I have very specific areas that I like, and will sometimes leave the library itself if I can't sit where I want....

There have been times when I've sat IN book stacks (this is a regular occurrence during finals season to be honest) because I like the quiet section best-I need silence to fully concentrate and absorb what I'm reading or writing about! I love getting a table in little nooks and crannies-places where there is very little "traffic" to distract me.

In any case, I was rather curious to see what the library situation would be like at UEA. The campus itself has some pretty harsh/aggressive architecture (think: concrete EVERYWHERE) and it is SO different from Dickinson's campus-part of the reason I fell in love with my school.  Naturally, I was all set and ready to go the library on a Sunday morning, BUT, it seems that this is really quite an unusual thing to do!

WHAT?? you may ask, what do you mean no one goes to the library on Sundays to do homework? It is basically a 20 minute commute to the library from the village for one thing, so most people (flat included) prefer to just stay in their rooms. 

I cannot do that!! I need a productive learning environment to get my work done! I really dislike doing work where I sleep at night-it sends my brain mixed messages. 

I shrugged it off the first couple of times I went, only after realizing that the library is a horridly ugly building with TERRIBLE lighting, and limits on where you can talk and drink water!!! Normally at Dickinson I go straight to the library from the caf or the quarry so I have my tea with me-nope, not at UEA! You have to be VERY, very sneaky about bring drinks and food into the library because it is only allowed on certain floors. Signs are everywhere explaining what is/is not permitted on each floor: talking, phone use, eating, drinking...HARSH people!! I need my study snacks! Sheesh. 

What really made me realize how different my study methods are from the average UEA student was the first time I went to the library with Georgia.  We both had things to print for class, and I had figured out the system already (which by the way is SO unnecessarily complicated) so I went with her and showed her what to do, etc., BUT THEN she was all set to leave and go back to the flat afterwards, and had the most bewildered look on her face when I said I was going to stay there and do some work! Shocking, I tell you!! At Dickinson, you are considered strane if you DON'T go to the library to do work-oh how the tables have turned.

Turns out that there are no nooks and crannies for me to hunker down in. No small desks or tables either, no cafe to get a study snack or beverage...just big, long tables meant for sharing (in the middle of the room) and two-person cubicle sort of things all around the perimeter of each floor-these face the windows. Lots and lots of windows. Basically a glass wall situation going on in front of you (and yet the lighting is still so bad!! How???) 

So, basically anywhere you sit, you are faced with either the prime people watching visual aids of the window-walls (distracting) or a long table which inevitably by mid-afternoon becomes the home base for  people working on a group project (even more distracting). Sometimes I forget that there are 15,000 students attending this school...

Sigh. I suppose I will have to try out the room studying after all! I hope the flat will come to accept my weird study antics (let's be real, sometimes I just need I lie down on the floor to read) soon enough...and maybe flat mama (aka, me) will be able to convince them to do the same.  These are distracted times we live in, people. 

Xx

A Dickinson Trip to the Sea (Oct. 19th)

Another edition of "Perks of Being on a Dickinson Program!" today.  This time?  We get to go on fun, all-day field trips to the sea!!!  How lucky were we that we got to see the coast?? Completely different environment (literally) and feeling than in Norwich, even though we only drove about two hours to get there.  

We left early (like woke up at 7:30 in the morning on a Sunday early) so that we would be on time for our boat tour-because SEALS!!  I did some napping and reading for class on the way up, and it was actually a pretty pleasant ride.  We had a little breakfast action en route (thanks Perabo-she's really such a gem!) and pretty much everyone passed out at one point or another.  Nothing quite like a bus full of sleepy college students.

Well, the trip was WELL worth it.  The departure point was BEAUTIFUL!!!  Postcard worthy shots all around.  It made me feel like I was in Rhode Island which was so pleasing!  Boats of all sizes all around, the smell of the sea, a nice crisp breeze….I love the coast. 

These are barely even edited--the early start/nice weather certainly added to the photo-taking opportunities. 

One thing I will say: whenever we are doing something kind of off-site as a Dickinson group, it is always so much colder than we think it is going to be!!!  (think: globe monsoon.)  I obviously dressed for the occasion in a bunch of layers, but even that wasn't sufficient while we were on the boat-luckily it was a fairly small zodiac sort of boat, so body heat solutions for all of us. Here everyone is huddling before we got on the boat:

Walking over to the dock we left from…looks like some kind of procession, HA!  But the sky…c'mon.  Blakney Point is a lovely, lovely place. 

Then for the real reason we were there: SEALS! Yes, we did drive two hours to go on a seal-watching tour.  And was it rewarded?  YUP.  So many flubby, bouncy, happy seals all over the place.  So what if it started raining in the middle of the tour and we had to turn back?  The seals were just so fun to watch, and we were able to get pretty close to "observe them" (very scientific purposes, of course). 

Tips for going to the sea: wear appropriate footwear.  Obviously Haley, Rachel and I donned our Hunters, to which we got quite the rise out of the boat captain.  I believe his words were, "Crickey, they sells Hunter boots in America??"  Like where are you actually from sir…?  But nonetheless, a perfect shoe choice, liners and all.  At least our feet were cozy!

After the seals and lots of scenic photos, we hopped back on the bus and drove to Great Yarmouth.  Now, none of us really knew too much about GY, but we had the whole rest of the day to spend there.  Yay for free time!  Started off exploring a bit along the pier (I don't think I've ever been to a pier like this before!) so that was nice to see and experience.  Quite picturesque, once again.  (It seems like everywhere I go there is a perfect photo-opp!!!)

We went to lunch and walked around the town-area a bit, stopping into a few stores here and there to check out the scene.  Nothing super exciting, but there was a store called "tickles" and I just found that so hilarious and could not stop laughing.  We went in, of course.  

After walking around uptown (I sound like such a New Yorker, good lord..) we went back over to the beach area to meet up with the rest of the class.  We still had a loooong time until we were heading back to UEA so we just sauntered along for a bit.  Checked out some rocks and shells, tested out the water (everyone thought I as so brave, I was just embracing my Albright family traits really) and took some more scenic candids and such.  

Hay sustainability!  Such a cool shot of the wind turbines across the water.

View of the pier/park area from across the beach. We didn't go on any of the rides or anything because it didn't seem worth it, but looking back, it would have taken up some time and probably would have been fun to do.  Oh well!  

We had more than enough time after playing a few of the games on the pier (hello, tourism), so we met up with some of the class for a group shot.  Also, we obviously went to Starbucks (we also got ice cream…hot and cold treats were slightly counterproductive, but we searched for the ice cream for a solid 25 minutes!) 

This makes me happy….so nice to spend time and catch up with these guys.  It's hard to do so now with all of our classes and flats and everything!  (Also hard to find a place other than Perabo's for 29 people!)

And what would a trip to the sea be without a Theta kiting photo???  So necessary.  Love these two, this one is totally getting sent to HQ with the caption "Theta's kiting the North Sea". 

Such a fun, relaxing day with the group!  It was a nice escape, for sure.  

xx

This isn't Dickinson Part Deux: Lecture vs. Seminar (Oct.)

How strange it is to be an English major and find yourself placed in a weekly lecture…and oh how glad I am that we do not have them at Dickinson!!

As a part of my "Gothic" course, we have a lecture and seminar each week on Monday; mine just so happen to be consecutive, so that's rather convenient and produces great conversation in seminar, but all the same, it is so odd to be "talked AT"!!  Thank goodness Haley is there with me-I don't know what I'd do otherwise.  

Each week during lecture a different professor rotates (there are three total), so that adds to the level of unfamiliarity…I like one professor's lecturing style the best (he happens to be different from my seminar professor), but I don't think that I would enjoy him as a seminar professor.  Then again, it is odd for me when my seminar professor lectures..Don't get me wrong, the three of them are al completely brilliant people, but I don't know as though the lecture really ADDS anything to the course experience.  It mostly just leaves me kind of confused because it is almost always a topic that we don't circle back to in seminar-usually only happens when it is my seminar professor lecturing and she asks us for comments on her lecture!

It's certainly interesting to have the lecture experience, because even when we do have "lecture" at Dickinson, it is usually VERY rare, and only lasts about half a class period, maybe once every-other-week (at least in the classes I've taken so far).  I definitely like the seminar environment more because I feel more involved.  I might not talk very much, but I am WAY more engaged when there is conversation flowing and questions being pelted across the room, rather than being a witness of a one-sided discussion and simply taking notes.  

xx

Flat Movie Night (Oct. 16th)

I am sure it comes to no one's  surprise that I organized flat movie night this week-mum to the rescue, as usual.  We all took a trip to Tesco to get snacks and ice cream (I think I've gotten everyone addicted to Ben & Jerry's…whops) and then sprawled out in the corridor.  Somehow, we were able to position S's TV in just the right spot so that we could all see it and it didn't fall (quite shocking, I gotta say…)

Are we not the most precious flat you've ever seen?  We've all gotten so close so quickly, and I am so happy with all of them.  So lucky…

We somehow all agreed on Sourcecode which was kind of intense and had mixed reviews from the lot…but it was nice to just all hang out together and snuggle!  I borrowed H's stuffed-animal sloth so that I could get my cocoon on properly.  Such a nice, cozy, relaxing night!  It's nights like this when I am so thankful that I have the opportunity to get to know people in a different country-such a different experience from Dickinson, but I have developed a new kind of family here all to myself!  

Flat 7 next-door was totally jealous…but B. got some quality candid photos of us getting out lounge on.  Was a quality bonding sesh…I just love these people!!

I mean really…the photo is kind of blurry, but look at that big smile on my face!!!  Says it all, folks…

xx

Breaking Bad. We have a problem. (October)

You know you have a problem when you watch an entire season of a TV show in 24 hours…well, that seems to be the new trend with Flat 8 and Breaking Bad!  

S got us hooked, and it is so, so addicting.  Oh my goodness, how have I never watched this show before??  I love the drama, the suspense, the law breaking, and the family portions…just can't get enough.  It really tugs at your heart strings, but also really gets your adrenaline going!  I sound like such a TV freak right now, but I cannot get enough.  It has been something that P and I look forward to at the end of the day, and I can't tell if it is annoying everyone yet..I don't even care.  If anyone is looking for a new TV show, make Breaking Bad yours-you won't regret it.   

The storyline is so, so well done, and I have already become so invested in all of the characters.  When I was in Munich I was actually dying a bit because I wanted to watch.  That's when you know it's bad!  New challenge: finish the series before I leave in December.  Five seasons and 62 episodes? 

Challenge. Accepted.

I LOVE THE BUS (October)

OH HOW I LOVE THE BUS!!!!!  Why don't we use these to our advantage back home in the US of A?  I will be sending some transportation suggestions around when I return, mark my word.

There is really nothing better (or relaxing!) than getting on the bus and heading into town.  I usually go in with Haley and Rachel for groceries and shopping, etc., but I have been with the flat, Abby, and various other mixes of people too.  It's so nice to just sit there and take in the city, it's people, and the cute homes along the route.  I think I could be happy living out my life here…

It takes about 40 or so minutes to get from UEA into town, so there is a good chunk of time to people-watch (YES!) and eavesdrop on various conversations. And, I guess, talk with the people you are with….but it's so much better when you are all listening in on the same conversation and burst out laughing at the same time…these are the moments that I will miss!

But anyways, back to the bus: it is perfect, and so easy and fun to use.  Dickinson gave us an unlimited bus pass which is SO handy (thanks tuition!) and I use it all of the time.  I do kind of wish that the ride were a bit shorter, only because it is a bit of an ordeal to get into town and back (it's typically a 2+ hour excursion between the ride, the shopping, and the return), but all the same, it's a great convenience and fun to try something new.  I am DEFINITELY still not used to driving on the opposite side of the road though!!

xx

The Duo Takes Munich (Oct. 10-13th)

THE MOMENT WE HAVE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR: THE DUO REUNITES!!!  

While I was still in London, Elizabeth and I worked to book this trip in early October so that we could not only start traveling, but share a bit of our abroad experience together.  I'm not really sure how we decided on Munich to be perfectly honest, but I am so glad we did!  It was such a great weekend, and so, so wonderful to finally be together again (80 days later, but who's counting??)

I left on Thursday and trained it to London to get to Gatwick (new airport, hay) for my flight to Munich.  Now, I am a pretty anxious traveller, and I am VERY OCD about making sure I have all of my materials, and am super carefully about arriving everywhere on time, etc.  So I sat in the airport for a casual three hours reading before my flight even got cancelled-joyful!  In total, I ended up being there for close to five hours, but I got some great people watching in, and I think I know practically every inch of the terminal now!  (Also went to Costa three times while I was waiting…they were all definitely judging me).

How pretty is Norwich station???  It looks so old-timey.  Just lovely.  

Now, when one is packing, one usually checks the weather to ensure that proper clothing and supplies are secured.  Well, not this girl!  Apparently I like to live on the edge, because I totally spaced out on checking the weather!!! Imagine by surprise when I checked at the airport and discovered that it would be SNOWING in Munich for part of our stay??  I was freaking out.  I did NOT pack a warm coat (just my raincoat and Patagonia sweater/fleece), no gloves, no hat….I knew we would be in for an adventure based on that fact alone. 

I took easyjet to and from Munich, and they were so nice and easy! (lol…)  I am pretty sure the flight crew thought I was actually German based on my looks, so maybe that made life easier?  But apparently I look like a true German because you would not believe the amount of people asking me for directions all weekend, thinking I was a local.  I think I will take that as a compliment!  

My flight got in a bit earlier than Elizabeth's, so I ate some chocolate (duh) while I waited for her to get in.  Luckily, we got in right in the same area so that worked out.  Daddy had texted me while I was en-route, so I sent him an "OMG, I'm in Germany!" selfie while I waited.  

Can you tell I've never been out of the country before??  I was just giddy beyond belief, and I love going to new places. 

When Elizabeth (finally) got there, we had to figure out how to get to our hostel…and THAT was  quite the adventure in itself.  Word of advice: do some serious research before going to Germany.  The loudspeaker/announcer messages are ONLY in German!!!  And we had basically no idea where we were going--half the time we thought we were on the wrong train, but it all worked out in the end!  We got to our hostel a bit after midnight and went right to sleep.  Bunk-bed status FTW. 

The next morning we didn't really have an "official" plan, so we just set out to explore.  If there is one thing Elizabeth and I are good at doing, it is exploring! We found the CUTEST little place for breakfast and had some noms-meanhwile, my contact decided to malfunction and was making me tear-up like CRAZY, so we had to run back for me to put my glasses on real quick.  Always something.

We walked over to the central-kind of area (near where the Glokenspiel is) and just wandered around for a while, taking it all in and trying to get comfortable with the area.  It. was. so. cold.  Oh my goodness!! We had to go into an H&M and buy gloves after a while because it was so bad!  Our cold faces:

Good times, good times.  So we conveniently scheduled our trip for the week AFTER Oktoberfest-not about that life-so it wasn't too crazy and I think it allowed us to taken in the area a lot better than some of our other friends who had been there the week before….but of course we had to venture into Hofbrahaus (most famous pub in Munich-kind of a big deal, really), but it was so busy we couldn't even get a seat!  So we just walked around for a bit inside, listened to some classy music played by the band, and watched people eat some rather large portions of unidentifiable meat.   

Seriously, this is a scene that you imagine, but don't believe it actually exists until you see it for yourself.  I was totally bopping along to the music, no shame. 

It was slightly anticlimactic especially since we had walked around for almost an hour trying to find it…(the one downfall of not having a working smartphone while abroad is you can't fully use the map/navigating system!  But, we were able to see lots of pretty architecture on our exciting walk, so that was a nice little bonus!

^Glokenspiel.  There is the most wonderful little performance/bell-ringing every hour, and there were LOTS of people standing around watching with us! The bells were beautiful-got a great recording of them to take home with me!

 Seriously, you don't even need a filter or anything to enhance the architecture.  It's all different and yet cohesive at the same time, and just looks so nice and put together.  I think I would feel pretty great walking down these streets every day and getting to observe all of the beauty around me!

Left over from Oktoberfest.  Can I get one for my living room….? It's so cool!  So many little details make up the overall structure, and it looks like something you read about in an old children's book (at least the ones I read anyways!).

This is one of my favorite photos from the weekend.  Such a classic Eliz pose…but also so majestic at the same time!  Ride on, young stallion. 

Now, we came across this situation just wondering around the main square area…too cute!  I didn't take any photos of the area it was in, but it was kind of like a church-y looking structure-lots of great architecture.  Kind of HP-esque almost!  Stuck wearing my glasses still…stupid contacts.

So in the afternoon on the first day, we decided to go check out Olympic Park-because why not?  It was SUCH a beautiful afternoon, perfect walking temperature, and it was a pretty easy cab ride over to the main entrance.  I was in my element looking in on the pool (SUCH a beautiful one…the kind I loved swimming in!  Perfect water color, nice diving area, lots of lanes…ahhh. brings me back!).  Also, just the entire arena itself was so beautiful.  Definitely helped that it was a nice day, but c'mon!  Whoever designed it deserves an award or something.

This is right over by the pool area.  I loved all of the swoopy looking structures around the park balanced by the grassy hill areas.  It was so peaceful! 

ALSO: that time we were on Brazillian TV!!! Now, who knows how legit this was, but two people with a camera and microphone came up to us and asked it they could interview us for a TV program, so OF COURSE we agreed!  The Duo needs another claim to fame!  So that was pretty cool. Who knows if we made the final cut, but there was a camera involved, so that's all that matters as far as I'm concerned. 

It turned out that we were right by the BMW showroom and museum, so that seemed like a necessary trip to make!  We had so much fun looking at all of the cars, and tried out most of them as well…it's good to be prepared!  We also tried out a motorcycle (HA!), but that was not exactly my cup of tea.  I'll stick with the mommy-BMW, please.

We had a classy dinner (of course), and went to bed on the early side to prepare for our trip the next day to Dachau, a short train ride away. 

This sounds kind of disturbing, but I have always wanted to go to a concentration camp.  WWII has always held such an interest in my mind, and was one of my favorite periods to study during history class in high school-I am all about those facts.  But, the Holocaust was always something that interested me because I just couldn't even begin to wrap my head around the horror and death involved in the genocide by the Nazis.  I'm not going to get into it, because that could go on for ages, but let's just leave it at this: I wanted to see it for myself out of respect for all of those that were killed during the war, and to experience some real-life history.

So we hopped on the train after some difficulty obtaining our tickets (language barrier problems….) and accidentally sleeping later than we intended: note to self-do not turn off your phone when you have an alarm set.  It will not go off and you will wake up rather bewildered and frazzled.

Once we got off the train, we had to take a short bus ride to the camp itself-and it was PACKED.  Luckily once we got there people were more spread out so we could really take our time to walk through and see everything.

Let me just sum up the experience by saying this: walking through the concentration camp was one of the hardest things I've ever done.  I was a lot more emotional than I expected, and felt physically sick several times-we had to stop and sit down a few times because we both felt ill and I thought I was going to pass out.  I've heard about this happening to people, but I cannot even describe my mental and physical reactions to what I saw in words…it was just so powerful, and certainly an experience that I will never forget.  I would encourage everyone to see a concentration camp if they have the chance-it puts everything in perspective, and gives you a lot to reflect on.  You'd think that as a writer I'd be able to write beautifully about the experience…but for once, I think I am just going to let the photos speak for themselves:

I took a few more, but some are a bit more graphic and upsetting than I'd like to share on here.  Ultimately I am so, so glad we went, but it was a trying experience, for sure. 

Once we got back to Munich, the day was mostly over, so we walked around for a bit and then treated ourselves to a fancy dinner (of pizza and pasta, duh, our favorites).  

We were up and at 'em the next morning, both of us off to the airport to go "home".  I have to say though, by the end of the trip, I was giddy to see everyone back in the flat. I am so lucky that I got placed with such perfect flatmates that I look forward to coming home to!

What a great trip to start my travels for the semester!!!  Paris in 2 weeks with Eliz!

xx