Lincoln and Manchester

Greetings from the Harlaxton library! I've been spending much of my time in a little cubical in here lately thanks to British Studies. I thought it was time for a break and time to give you all an update!

Thursday night Harlaxton held the Meet-A-Family Reception, where Clay and I met our "family" for this semester. Our "dad" (David Duerden) was on business but our "mum" (Ruth Duerden) came along with her two daughters (Rosaline and Francis). The couple owns a management business and even a little house in France, where they vacation often. It was so neat getting to talk with them! We talked about the differences between American and British culture. It's so odd that although we speak the same language, we still have no idea what the others are talking about a lot of the time. Everything from food to school grades to slang terms are totally different. We gave them a Kentucky Derby cup to commemorate KY and we made a little cook book with all of our favorite American meals. Maybe a hint of what to cook in the future. The food here is truly quite bad, so maybe we'll get lucky!

Friday morning we left for our school field trip to Lincoln. It was possibly one of the worst days on the planet to be receiving an outdoor tour; it was freezing with a cold, misty rain blowing about. We got to explore about the town for a bit and went into several shops and walked down "Steephill" which WKU's hill really cannot rival--Steephill was practically vertical!

We took a tour of Lincoln castle and luckily we had an awesome tour guide who was just very passionate about what he was doing. He said he didn't get paid for what he did, so he had volunteered to teach us about all kinds of history on such a nasty day. Some of the castle that is still standing was built by William the Conquerer, who was the leader of the Norman invasion in 1066. Almost 1,000 years of history in front of our eyes! We learned about the protection the castle used to offer troops and about the prison located inside the castle. Many hangings also took place there and we learned some of the specific stories which were really frightening to think about.

There were four original copies of the Magna Carta (signed by King John in 1215) and one of those resides in Lincoln. Unfortunately, it was being restored from making a trip to America so we got to see a copy of it. It was still very neat to see the actual handwriting though. Apparently we weren't allowed to take pictures, which we didn't find out until a British security bloke told us to sod off (English slang) so I got a few pictures of it. We also got to see where the prisoners used to go to church. They had to stand in cubicles with bags over their heads to ensure they could see no one but the priest. Scary stuff!

Next we headed to Lincoln Cathedral, which was absolutely massive and gorgeous. The walls and decorations were all very ornate and the ceilings were incredibly high with so much intricacy it blew my mind. It's hard to imagine how all of these things were built without even half the technology we have today. We headed to the Magna Carta Pub after taking a tour of the Cathedral and warmed up there. Then we listened to Harlaxton's choir sing in the church and hopped back on the bus to Harlaxton.

Once we returned, we had about 15 minutes to grab our luggage and a quick dinner. We (Chelsea, Clay, Sarah, Molly, Alex, Kyle, Susan, Jarrod, and Jeremy) took cabs to the Grantham Train Station and boarded our train to Doncaster, which connected to a train going to Manchester. It was a neat experience riding on the train. Traveling really takes so much careful planning and I feel like I'm learning how to do it.

Once we arrived in Manchester we checked in at Hatter's Hostel and met our Australian roommate (Steve/Eddie--he told us two names) and settled in. Most of the crew went out together but Sarah, Clay and I walked around the city and checked out a few of the pubs before calling it a night.

The next morning we got up and got tram tickets to get to Manchester Stadium. Once we were arrived we had a bit of a walk, and then we found ourselves among people selling Manchester United gear everywhere, crazy fans screaming and getting ready for the game, all on a very chilly day. Walking into the stadium was an awesome moment...the field is SO huge and SO green and SO perfect. I stopped in my tracks and stared at it. It made me miss soccer so much! But it also got me hyped for the game.

Manchester City (who I fully supported in my Man U scarf and tee) played Hull City. The atmosphere was so intense! The separation between the Man U and Hull City fans was lined with security guards who have probably taken several punches to the face in the past. Wayne Rooney played an incredible game. He had four goals! The playing was seemingly flawless because these people are professional at what they do. It was far different from American sports. Most of the people at the game probably have season tickets and go to every game because they love their team so much. There's so much history that goes with it! We learned a few Man U chants and tried not to tell too many people we were American--an American (Glazer) bought the team recently and has apparently been putting it in debt. Most of the chants were, "We want Glazer out, we want Glazer out!" sprinkled with positive cheers for the team like, "Glory, glory Man United, the Reds go marching on, on, on!" Manchester won 4-0 and I couldn't have been more pleased with the fun I had watching the game.

We went back to the hostel and rested up, then got ready for the night and went to a club downtown. It was a considerable amount of fun although I spent much of my time making sure everyone was being smart. Which they were! So we headed back to the hostel late in the evening and woke up to be gone by 11 the next morning. Half of the group stayed and shopped while Chelsea, Jeremy, Clay, Jarrod and I caught an early train back to catch up on some homework and be ready for bed by a decent time. On the train ride home we got to see a lot of English countryside, which is what you might imagine with you think of England. It was very beautiful!

Today we had our first British Studies quiz, and if I'm not mistaken, I earned all 10 points! They don't count for much, but hopefully if I can do well on all of them then it will help me on anything I miss on the test. I've heard so many awful things about British Studies that I was glad to get the first quiz over with. Our lecture today was over Henry VIII and his children who became King and Queens after him, so I hardly had to take a note. It was probably one of the most awesome hours of my life. Tonight is our first basketball game (I'm a Harlaxton Lion!) so I'm really looking forward to that. Tomorrow night I'm heading to Edinburgh, Scotland with Sarah, Molly, Alex, Kyle and Eric. Can't wait to update you guys on that! Cheers.

London

I was right when I said I would have so much to update you all on when I got back from London!

Thursday night several of us walked about a mile (we have to save money any way possible!) to a pub in Harlaxton Village called "The Gregory." It was a cute little place and we all ordered drinks and hung out. We met a British man at the bar named Jim, who was quite fun and really receptive when we started asking him all kinds of questions about British culture, language, traveling tips and his life. We learned the term "cracking" which means something is really awesome. It was so neat to hear about life from someone who was born here.

Friday morning we left for London on three coaches at 9 o'clock. It was about a three hour ride and once we arrived, we stayed on the bus and took a tour of the city for about two hours. We got to see so many things and learn about them from the tour guide! It was such a hard concept to grasp that we were actually there; it was difficult to believe. We stopped on the Thames River and got to see the Tower Bridge (not the London Bridge, which is rather ordinary) which was really neat.

After the tour we regrouped in the hotel and set out to see all we could with what daylight we had left on the cloudy London day. We started out in a big group, but Clay, Chelsea and I ended up together and it was easy to travel with just us to start out with. We took the classic London telephone booth pictures and explored the streets. We went to Picadilly Circus, which is a famous intersection in the streets of the city. It was the first place in London that used electronic advertising! Then we tried to check out Chinatown, which Chelsea and I assumed would have all sorts of fake Coach and Chanel purses, but we were disappointed to find it was simply a load of Chinese restaurants. Bummer!

We headed to Trafalager's Square, where the four famous lions and tall tower sit. Clay helped Chelsea and I climb up on them and get our pictures made, which turned out to be awesome! We continued to walk around and take in the city. We saw the Banquet House, which is the building Charles I was beheaded in front of, and we saw 10 Downing Street which is were the Prime Minister, Gordan Brown, lives. We went to where Royal Stables but unfortunately it was getting dark at this point, so the horses had gone to bed. We did get to take a few pictures with a guard and Clay even made him crack and grin when he asked what his name was so we could tag him on Facebook! We found a cute Italian restaurante on a side street and ate dinner there. It was authentic, so it tasted different but it was good! We ordered water to save money, however, but the bottle of water cost £3.40 which is just completely ridiculous. It was tasty though! We finished out the night by shopping on Oxford Street, where we took advantage of some awesome sales! We were so tired that once we got back to the hotel room we took showers and watched a couple movies on TV and just hung out. It was necessary resting for the long Saturday we had!

We (Clay, Chelsea, Sarah, Molly, Jeremy and I) began the morning by attempting to get the complimentary breakfast at our hotel, but they were so full it was impossible. We grabbed breakfast at a chain restaurant called Pret a Mangerie, and headed straight for the Underground to buy tickets for the whole day. After planning out our day, we decided riding "the Tube" would be our best option to do everything we wanted to. Unfortunately for us tourists, it was a regular old rainy day in the city so we had our umbrellas out most of the day. After the madness of purchasing our tickets, we went to get a close up of Big Ben, which in all honesty isn't quite as big as you might think. Still gorgeous though! We went to Westminster Abbey, a place where many kings have been crowned and all kinds of history has taken place. It was a beautiful, majestic building.

Next we went to Buckingham Palace (also a sight to see!) and saw the Changing of the Guard, which was a lot less extensive than I expected. It was mostly a band playing music for about an hour as the two guards outside the palace doors "changed." Several of us got on each other's shoulders to take pictures because there was such a ridiculous amount of people there. They played Somewhere Over the Rainbow which was alright with me! We then headed to the Tower of London which was probably my favorite part of the trip. I have read about this place hundreds of times and I was so excited to actually see it! It's a huge, intricate place from the outside and although you wouldn't expect it, it's very open on the inside. It makes a small kind of village once you get in. There are all sorts of towers you can go up in and see where certain people were held captive. There was a memorial for the place where Anne Boleyn, Catherine Howard, and Lady Jane Gray were beheaded which gives me goosebumps just thinking about it. It was such an awesome thing to be able to see. Maybe I even stood where they stood! Although the Tower was used to keep prisoners, it was also a place of ceremony and celebration where many kings held their coronations and even wedding celebrations. We got to see the Crown Jewels and there was an exhibition of Henry VIII that was open from April 2009-January 17, 2010--it ended the very NEXT day. I was so lucky to have seen it! I loved it.

We grabbed some toasted subs for a late lunch at a Cafe Nero, then hopped back on the Tube to check out the British Museum before it closed. We weren't there for too long before it did, so hopefully we'll get to return later in the semester and see more of it. After it closed we did some more shopping and went to the famous, extremely expensive department store called Harrod's. The Queen shops there! Definitely meaning that we weren't able to, but it was neat to see. We finally gave in to the golden arches and ate some recognizable food at McDonald's which was spectacular. We returned to the hotel and showered again. We accidentally had somewhat of a hotel party, which turned out to be a blast. We headed to the lobby to go out to a pub or a club, where we ran into some students from Spain. I used what little knowledge I had of Spanish and we had a rather extensive conversation with them in the hopes we could have a free place to say in Spain! It was quite an experience.

The next morning we went to Hampton Court Palace, one of (my boy) Henry VIII's favorite palaces in the 1500s. It was AMAZING. The actual building and architecture was beautiful and just knowing all the things that happened there was something that's hard to define. We got to see his kitchens, his actual apartments with all the tapestries he loved, and all kinds of paintings of him and his family and those he worked with. My favorite part was the gardens, no question. We walked outside and the sight was breathtaking: enormous trees, shaped to please the eye, a little pond containing a fountain shooting water all around, a swan swimming in the pond, perfectly green grass, and to top it off the sun was shining for once creating a seriously beautiful picture. It was breathtaking. We walked around and took pictures, although I hate to report that the swan was so used to people he barked (if that's what swans do) at me when I tried to take a picture with him! I got to take a picture with an actor who was dressed up like Henry and I was so freaking excited about it. Super dorky, I know, but I loved it! We went through the Hampton Court maze (very Triwizard Tournament-esque), then continued exploring the gardens which were simply beautiful. There were so many twists and turns inside and out that it would take days to see the whole place! We got lunch from a cafe (which had a real orange juice squeezer--very neat) and got back on the bus for the journey home. And by home, I mean Harlaxton...which this place has become for me.

Last night was an interesting evening at Harlaxton; we had our first basketball practice, which was potentially one of the worst displays of basketball I have ever seen, and then Paige helped me cut Clay's hair via Skype, which actually turned out quite well! I'm having so much fun here and I feel lucky to have met the people I have. The semester is only going to get better and I can't wait. Hope you all have a cracking good week! Love from England.

Classes Begin

My schedule looks like this:

Monday

8:30-9:30- British Studies Lecture

11:00-12:00- British Studies Seminar

3:10-4:00- Intro to Psychology

4:10-5:00- Intro to Theatre

Tuesday I only have my afternoon classes.

Wednesday I have only my morning classes.

And Thursday I only have my afternoon classes.

No classes on Friday!

It's a pretty awesome schedule for those of us attempting to travel around Europe. Classes began on Monday; British Studies is a 6 hour course, so it has two parts. For the lecture, the entire school goes into the Long Hall and listens to lecture from one of a few professors for 50 minutes. Our seminar classes have about 20 people in them, and we discuss what the lecture went over more in depth. It seems like it's going to be extremely challenging. The lectures are long and somewhat difficult to understand at times because I'm not used to the accent. Every class session, our class is divided into four groups and we each have a question to answer about what we'll be discussing in class the next time. Essentially, we will be teaching our seminar classes, complete with handouts for the class, as students. So we have to do a lot of reading and organizing before class. It makes it easier to understand when you've already read about it when it's discussed in class. And on the bright side, these are the things that I love learning about it! I just think it's going to be tough--but it will be worth it for sure.

Last night we had a briefing over our London weekend trip, which we leave for on Friday morning. I am SO excited for my first trip! It seems like it will make Harlaxton official. Monday night I played basketball with several friends (new friends too!) and we all went to the Bistro, which is similar to a pub in the basement of Harlaxton, looking sweaty and nasty--the looks we got were hilarious! It was so much fun though, getting to know other people and listening to their stories. It's looking like it's going to be an absolutely awesome semester--how could it not be?!

I've been trying to work out my sleep schedule but I took a two hour nap today, ensuring I will stay up late tonight. I don't have class until 3:10, so I can sleep in, but I have to go to the manor and get some money exchanged for the trip. My group is also meeting tomorrow to work on our mini-presentation for Monday before the weekend. I'm sure I will have much more to update after London. Have a great weekend!

Grantham Adventures

I can't believe I've only been here for a few days! It seems like so much longer with all the things I've done. I got a good night of sleep on Friday, and Saturday we had several orientation and ceremonies to attend. They pertained to school and class, etc. We had a chance to explore around the grounds a bit and it still hasn't sunk in that I'm actually here in this place I've seen in so many pictures. It snowed on and off all day Saturday--enormous snowflakes!--and the grounds are beautiful.

Saturday afternoon we traveled into Grantham, a town about three miles from Harlaxton, and checked it out. It was such a cute town! There were restaurants, coffee shops, and lots of shops everywhere. It kind of resembled what we would think of as a downtown area. I ate at The Goose with my friends Mark, Jeremy, Jarrod and Clay. I made my first British enemy by asking a guy to move who had taken our table! Oops. Everything is done so differently here...we chose a table, then ordered our food at the bar. It was actually cheaper to get a drink with a meal, so the bartender recommended Smirnoff and Coke which was delicious! I enjoyed that with a "beef burger and chips" which was pretty good. We shopped at Morrison's, similar to a Kroger, and I got all sorts of school supplies and little things for my room like more towels, shampoo and conditioner, and snacks. When I asked a worker where the Q-Tips were, however, he was quite stumped. They're called Cotton Buds here! Makes much more sense. We caught the bus back to Harlaxton at 4:30. It's just a different lifestyle here...the accents, the food, the road signs, everything. It's so very neat.

The High Table Dinner last night began with "wine punch," which really tasted nothing like wine at all and was quite delicious. We were assigned to sit at tables mostly with people we didn't know, but the numbers got mixed up and we ended up sitting randomly--which turned out to be great. I sat with a few people from Western and made a new set of friends from the University of Evansville. It seems they have a similar group to ours and we may be traveling together soon! The food was the best meal we've since since arriving--grilled chicken with a type of marination, cooked carrots and potatoes, and chocolate cheesecake (I ate all but the 'cheese' part of the cake).

After dinner Clay and I called a cab to pick us up at 10:30 outside the manor; apparently, half of Harlaxton had the same idea and we were waiting on a cab for over half an hour. We decided we might as well live it up, however, and headed to Grantham around 11:30. We went to a night club called Vibe and it was quite an experience. It started out pretty slowly but once more people arrived it was basically out of control. It was so funny. It wasn't like an American club where guys try to dance with you; instead they just dance really close to you and stare, or right behind you without touching, so it just super creepy and you can't really tell them you don't want to dance because they aren't dancing with you. We danced in a big group of girls though (the ones I met at dinner!) and we had a lot of fun with it. I even danced with about a 50-year-old woman in what appeared to be a bathing suit tankini top. It was a night to remember.

After only a few hours of sleep, we went to the Harlaxton Village Church this morning. I now know what it means to be cold. The church was built in 1170 AD and looked gorgeous from the outside, complete with a cemetery on the grounds which was eerie but cool, and it was beautiful on the inside too. It had absolutely no form of heat and we sat (and stood) in there for an hour and a half. It was a very neat experience but I will never complain about our church being cold again!

Afterward I had some brunch and Clay and I went off to explore the castle a bit more. We were absolutely frozen from church and asked a professor, whom we refer to as the "blanket lady" if there were any blankets we could use. She stole us a couple of purple wool blankets from housekeeping and we found a room full of couches that we put to use quickly. We were awoken by Principal Kingsley, who informed us we were missing our first activities, and I proceeded to freak out knowing that I had missed something school-related. We ran to where we were supposed to be and it turns out we didn't miss much--I ended up signing up for basketball and the special events committee. It should be fun! We got our Harlaxton ID pictures taken and turned in a few papers they still needed from us, then ate a dinner of roast beef, Yorkshire pudding (delicious), potatoes, and chocolate ice cream.

Clay and I found a closet in the Entrance Hall which led to a secret sort of pathway that we explored and found little notes and tidbits of stuff in. It was so terribly creepy--I was expecting to find a dead body and second! As we were trying to leave, several professors planted themselves in a serious discussion in the Entrance Hall, so we had quite a spectacular exit, which I will tell those of you who are interested enough to ask about, later.

Classes begin tomorrow and I'm a little bit nervous but also excited! I'm ready to get a good night of sleep and get on a normal schedule and into a routine. We can begin planning our weekend trips soon which is so exciting! I added Facebook pictures today, so feel free to check them out. I'll write more soon! :)

Harlaxton

I'm here! I'm in my room at Harlaxton College, not completely unpacked, but I'm working on it. The past couple of days have been an incredible blur that I will try to recount for you.

Wednesday night dad, Sloan and I went to Nashville (after a delicious Cracker Barrel dinner) and took the shuttle to the airport at 7:30 the next morning. We got through security easily and dad and Sloan got passes to go to the gate with me, enabling my dad and I to recount some of my funnier childhood memories. I met up with my friend Chelsea at the airport, we said our goodbyes where I tried my best not to cry, and boarded our plane to Chicago. We took off around 11 and landed in Chicago a little before 1. The flight to London was FULL of Harlaxton students so we knew many of the people at the airport. Our plane was schedule to leave at 5:05 but it got delayed until 6:05, so we enjoyed a delicious meal at Macaroni Grill. After being told we would board by 6:45, we got on the plane at about 7:15 and didn't take off until after 8. Luckily, the plane provided little televisions in front of every seat that had a fairly decent selection of shows and movies to choose from. The flight was about 7 and a half hours and we landed in London Heathrow a little before 10. I got about 3 hours of sleep on the way over, thanks to watching The Office, Monk, 30 Rock, and the sheer impossibility of sleeping comfortably sitting upright.

After gathering our luggage, we took a coach that was supposed to be about 3 hours long--I don't know because I slept the entire way; I could not keep my eyes open!--to Harlaxton College. It's even better than the pictures. So much better, I can hardly begin to describe! The grounds are covered in snow and it's absolutely gorgeous. I'm living in the Carriage House which is about 100 yards from the actual manor. I wasn't disappointed though because I've heard the Carriage House is a lot of fun! I have three other roommates and our room is a decent size. We all have our own dressers and desks.

Dinner was at 5 and I had my first ever meal of fish and chips--how English! It was actually quite good. My friend Clay and I explored all over the castle and all the detail was honestly astonishing. There are hundreds of staircases so no matter where you're trying to go, you always get distracted by a turn here or a door or passageway there. We checked out the library and found our classrooms as well as several lounges, recreational areas, and computer labs. The Bistro, which is in the basement, appears to be pretty neat so I will have to check that out as soon as I don't feel like passing out on my bed. There are thousands of sculptures, lights, paintings and ornate decorations everywhere. It's like a dream! It was so neat to touch the structure of the building and know someone had built it hundreds of years ago.

After dinner we had our first meeting with our British Studies instructor. My professor's name is Dr. Bujak and we have been deemed his "lions." There are about 15 other people in my class. He was hilarious--it might have had something to do with the fact that I'm sleep deprived, he's got a British accent, or he actually really is funny. I enjoyed the time we spent in there and I think it will be a fun, but challenging course. Now I'm going to shower--something I have been looking forward to ALL night--and try to stay awake so I don't wake up too early.

Hope all is well back in the States! Miss you all.

Almost Time!

It's almost here! I'll be spending the last night in my own bed tonight and heading to Nashville tomorrow evening. Dad, Sloan and I are staying the night there to avoid snow and any chance of being late for my flight. My plane leaves at 11:05 on Thursday and will land in Chicago. We'll leave from there and land in London Heathrow Airport on Friday. I'm traveling with my friend Chelsea Burch from Nashville and we'll meet up with others in Chicago.

I can't believe, after knowing I was going to Harlaxton from the moment I heard about the program last summer, that I'm actually about to go. This is truly going to be the experience of a lifetime and I'm ready in every way (well, except for packing--I'm almost there!). I can't wait to update everyone on my journey!

Here are a few ways to contact me while I'm gone!

Snail mail:

Katie Knecht, Mailbox 54

Harlaxton College
Harlaxton Manor
Harlaxton,
Grantham,
Lincolnshire, NG32 1AG,
United Kingdom.

Skype:

katieknecht12

Facebook:

Katie Knecht

E-mail:

katie.knecht565@wku.edu

To share my blog use this address:

http://www.katieknecht12.blogspot.com/