The World in Britain

As you’ve heard, it’s Spring Break for us! The University of Reading students have a whole month off, but we only get a week. That’s okay, though - they still have a summer term to complete! I can’t imagine having to go back to campus for May and June in order to take a bunch of stressful exams and to write long papers! While it has been fascinating to learn about the British system, I am SO glad that I have my lovely liberal arts option and no summer term!

At any rate, I was ready for a break, so I planned a trip out of Reading for the first day possible! Two of my friends came as well: Gloria is one of my best friends from the US; by coincidence, she is studying abroad in London this semester, so we’ve been able to see each other! Bethan is one of the (few) British (she’s Welsh) friends that I have made on this trip; she and I both go to the monthly pagan “moots” (meetings) at a pub in town, and we really hit it off! Since Glastonbury is such a spiritual, mystical, pagan-y place, we were both definitely interested in visiting. She even has a car, so we didn’t have to worry about finding trains and buses to get there!

The three of us left on Friday afternoon for Glastonbury; it’s a 2.5 hour drive from Reading. We arrived at our lovely bed and breakfast around 5 and met Amanda, the owner. She was delightful! Like a mother hen, she bustled about the place (really, her own home, with a guest room) making us tea, providing snacks, talking to us about our plans, and even doing some oracle readings for us. Her home was filled with bright colors and paintings and crafts. She and her friend had begun erecting a yurt in the backyard for us to stay in - we helped them finish putting the siding on and setting up the burner so that we’d have heat! We threw pillows and blankets and sheepskins on the floor and a basket of wood next to the burner, and it already felt like home. Amanda went off to an art exhibition in town (a ten-minute walk from her house!) while Gloria, Bethan, and I relaxed for a while before heading off to find dinner in town. We ended up at a very comfortable restaurant with all sorts of food; Beth and I both ordered a spinach cannelloni (I think I’ve remembered the correct word) while Gloria enjoyed an Indian rice dish. During our search for a restaurant and on our way back to Tir Na Nog (what Amanda calls her home, referring to the “Land of Eternal Youth” in Celtic mythology), we peered into all of the closed shops and excitedly planned our next day - shopping!

High Street in Glastonbury is absolutely amazing. There are countless bookshops, filled with the most eclectic book collections I’ve ever seen. I suppose the whole town has an “alternative” feeling, which I love! It’s perfect for a pagan hippy’s weekend retreat. The shops sell t-shirts, buttons, patches, mugs, postcards, and other touristy things, of course, but also beautiful medieval-style gowns, enchanting figurines, all sorts of herbs and incense and candles, pagan jewelry, and even broomsticks, athames, and cauldrons! Gloria, Bethan, and I all agreed that we would love to live there. There is such a sense of peace and comfort, of everyone accepting each other for who they are, and of equality. The only problem is that we would probably spend all of our money in the bookstores! I did make a few purchases… among my favorites are a pair of earrings, a dress, a South African bush hat, and some “blessings” coffee mugs!

Our second (and last full) day in Glastonbury was devoted to seeing the sights. We had a wonderful breakfast in the morning, courtesy of Tir Na Nog - porridge with brown sugar and milk - plus some pumpkin seeds sprinkled on top! - and a hot mug of tea for each of us. Full of energy, we set off for the Tor, the famous tower-on-a-hill that is the heart of Glastonbury’s magic! It’s said that Glastonbury is really Avalon, the land of Morgaine and King Arthur, of Viviane and Lancelot. The Tor is supposed to be the heart of the magical island of the Lady of the Lake, although there’s certainly no lake in sight today! Our climb up the hill to the Tor took us quite a while, and it got windier the higher we went. But it was definitely worth it! What a view! The town was laid out below us, and we could see fields and towns in all directions around us. The sun was brilliant, but the wind was gusty! We took out the picnic that we had brought and sat on the hillside with the other clusters of visitors. Many had brought their dogs, and there were lots of young children playing hide-and-seek or tag. It was a wonderful atmosphere, and the three of us sat in the sunshine, leaning against the Tor itself, for a good hour or so. When we eventually made our way back down to the town streets, we stopped by both the Chalice Well and the Glastonbury Abbey, but both charged admission that we hadn’t been expecting, and we satisfied ourselves with a few photos near the entrances, then left.

Gloria had homework to do, so she went back to Tir Na Nog after we had perused the Abbey gift shop (where, predictably, they don’t charge admission!) and Bethan and I went our own way. We had both really wanted to see The Goddess Temple, so that was where we headed!  The Temple is the only one of its kind in the UK, if I remember correctly - an official building devoted specifically to worship of a female deity. Although Beth and I don’t quite adhere completely to the Temple’s beliefs, we found it to be a truly wonderful place of calm. There were throw pillows all over, and beautiful flowers and candles and wall hangings everywhere, even though there were only two (spacious) rooms. The altars were set up to celebrate the Spring Equinox, a time of balance and rebirth; we had only just missed the official ceremony by a day! We sat on cushions and drew pictures and messages in the guestbooks, then just basked in the gentle incense for a while. What a way to relax and de-stress! We each got “smudged” before leaving - cleansed, sort of, with a special incense, and blessed. Both of us wished that we could have stayed longer!

To celebrate such a fantastic afternoon, Bethan and I stopped at The Blue Note Café for some chocolate fudge cake and hot chocolate. Mmmm! We also enjoyed people-watching out the window, loving all of the unique and eccentric people who passed us by… and loving that we felt completely at home and free to be ourselves!

We had to leave the next day, but all three of us would like to return to Glastonbury sometime in our lives! It would be fun to stay at Tir Na Nog again, too - Amanda was very sweet, and her tuxedo cat, Boppy, loved all of the attention that we lavished on him!  Now I’m back in Reading, though, with most of Spring Break left ahead of me. It’s great to be able to relax, but I know I still have assignments to work on! There’s that French paper on Renouart, from “Aliscans;” the numerous sketches and paintings to do for Drawing; a lot more work to do on my story for Creative Writing; not to mention gearing up for the intensive course on Mass Extinctions that begins next week! Wish me luck for my last month spent in England!

Last week,  my best friend Geri Smits, came to visit me from the home campus! I was so excited, and it was sooooo good to see her. I really had missed her a lot, and once we were together again it was as if we had not spent a minute apart! She was here for a week, and in that week we went shopping in Reading’s the Oracle, went to the Abbey Ruins (which fell into ruins once King Henry VIII disbanded all the monasteries) and Forbury Gardens, which has a giant stone Lion that looks like Aslan from The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis! It was really nice to get a deeper look into Reading. After all that, we saw the movie He’s Just Not that Into You. Then we went to Wales and stayed with Kyle for a night; he took us to two different castles, one in Caerphilly and one in Mertha. It was really cool! Caerphilly has the nicest castle I have ever seen - even better than Edinburghs! It has a moat that still has water in it, a drawbridge which still works, iron gates which still open and close, and it is massive! It is a castle that has not been commercialized, and it was so cool to see it! The other castle, in Mertha was nice too - and looked like a typical medieval castle, yet it was built in the 18th century by a man who wanted his own castle during the Regency period. The castle was splendid inside, and had displays of modern art as well as a museum downstairs which chronicled Welsh life from the earliest point to modern times! It was completely free to go to as well, which was a bit surprising. Thursday night I had to work at Chili’s but afterwards Geri and I and some of my co-workers and good friends went out on a bit of a pub crawl, and Geri was able to see pub life in Reading. Friday we spent all day in London, and we saw London Bridge, Tower Bridge, the Clink Prison Museum, the oldest galleried pub in London: The George Inn, Sir Francis Drake’s Galleon: The Golden Hinde, the Tower of London, and we ended the night with a bottle of pink champagne watching the fabulous play Chicago. At first we were disappointed in the play because the American accents were truly awful and the singing seemed to be hit and miss - but by the end we were huge fans! The choreography was amazing, and the costuming and lighting were truly splendid…the actors who could sing really pulled the play together nicely.

Saturday I had to work a night shift, so during the day we went and saw Shopaholic which was really cute and funny! I felt like it was the story of my life. We then came back home and had nachos and spent some time together just relaxing before I went in to work. I got back late, and after a snack, we knew we had to go to bed since we had to wake up at 6 am to get her to the airport on time. Taking her to the train station to leave was hard but I was so glad to have spent this time with her!

This week is finals week! I have a 3000 word essay due Friday as well as 100 pages left to read of The Old Wives Tale and then a 6 page essay for cognition and a 7 page essay for Victorian Heroines. Luckily I have until the end of April to do the Cognition essay. I feel like my head is going to fall off, especially as I have travelling ahead of me next week, and still have to prep for that! After my last class lets out at 11 am Friday afternoon, I have to book it to the train station - because my train leaves for Cardiff at 12:11! But I still have a lot of homework and writing to do, and it is a bit stressful - especially as St. Patrick’s Day fell in the middle of Finals Week! Last night the celebrations were crazy, and O’Neills Irish Pub was jam-packed! It was so much fun though! Did a lot of reading and errands during the day, and booked all my travel plans so that once night fell, I could enjoy my first legal St. Patricks Day in the UK! Joanna and I started off by putting on as much green as we possibly could, and then headed over to our local pub, The Three Tuns who had a special! For a fiver, you received a pint of guinness, 2 green glowsticks, a shot of guinness and baileys, and either a shirt or a hat! I got both the shirt and the hat, and the shirt is black and celebrates 250 years of Guinness!!!! The hat is a huge hat shaped like a pint of Guinness with a shamrock for the brim, celebrating St Patricks 2009 and 250 years of Guinness - everyone was wearing them! After downing our pints of Guinness, we went in to town to O’Neills, which was very busy - but still a lot of fun! Irish music and the most popular tunes played, and there was shamrocks, irish flags, and leprechauns everywhere!!! It was a good night all in all, and I had a blast! But, I came home reasonably early, because I knew that today I have to finish my 3000 word essay! Tomorrow I have two classes, reading to do, and work at night! So, there will be no time for my essay! It must be done today - and on that note, I’m off to go write it!

Our second Seminar Trip was to Liverpool! Friday we left and made a stop at Blists Open Air Museum, which is a fully functioning Victorian Community - complete with old fashioned buildings, shops, goods, and even money! When you first walk in there is a bank which changes your modern money into old fashioned money: guineas, shillings, farthings, and pennies! There was a grocer, a sweet shop, a stable, an iron working factory and shop, a copper store, a milliners, a photographer, school room, and dress-making shop. Victoria, Joanna, and I got our photos taken in Victorian garb! They look stunning! The museum was probably my favorite part of the whole weekend. Afterwards, we made a quick stop in Iron Bridge, England - home of the world’s first Iron Bridge. It was really scenic and breathtakingly beautiful.

Liverpool is really far away from Reading, and it was a long and miserable bus ride there and back. But, once in Liverpool so much cool stuff was at our feet. Liverpool is on the river Mersey, and there was an awesome Merritime Museum, a Titanic Memorial, several wonderful museums and theaters, an amazing shopping district - and of course all the Beatles sites! John and Paul’s childhood homes, the Cavern Club and Cavern Pub (where they first played), Jackaranda (where they played as well), and The Beatles Story! Several Beatles Museums, and all sorts of souveniers! It was really cool, and Liverpool is the European Cultural City of the Year for 2008, so the museums, monuments, and art are really top of the line. Friday night groups of us toured all the beatles pubs and clubs and danced to music in the same rooms where the Beatles first played! Saturday we went to several museums and the Albert Docks! Sunday morning we left for Reading, but on the way home we made a pitstop in Port Sunlight: the cutest and quaintest community village I have ever seen. In the Victorian era, a man by the name of Lever made changes in soap (made it smell good, not be harsh on the skin, and come in nice packaging). He needed a larger factory, and bought out the land near Liverpool. He was a firm believer in providing good environments for employees so that they would be happier, healthier, and work harder. He made an entire community for them, so that they could all own their own houses, with private bathrooms, have their own church, park, pub, and gardens. He allowed women to work for him, and believed in education for all children as soon as possible! He was a big believer in sanitation, and made many important improvements for his workers and factory workers country-wide.

Hello everyone, sorry to be so long in writing! Ever since I returned to England after my Christmas travelling extravaganza (in Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Belgium, and Amsterdam) I have been ridiculously busy with school work and a certain friend I met in Wales. While in Amsterdam, I found out that my job, Chili’s had a kitchen fire that would shut Chili’s down for a couple of weeks. Turned out to last from January 9th, until today March 11! Today we are finally re-opening, and while it has been a struggle to come back from an expensive vacation and not have a job to come home to, I dont know how I would have balanced all my school work, my new relationship, and working 4 days a week! I am grateful that it is re-opening though, because now that the hardest part of the semester is past, I can work with a more eased mind.

When I came to Cardiff, Wales to meet up with my co-worker and fellow student Cian, I was introduced to his friend Kyle. I guess it was attraction at first sight, and we have been seeing each other every weekend since. It has been amazing, and has blessed me with further opportunities to explore Wales - which is beautiful! Kyle has taken me to see Tinturn Abbey, which is in Wales, and is probably the most gorgeous sight I have ever seen in my life. It was so special to share that experience with him, and Tinturn Abbey still retains the spirituality it was originally intended to serve. In the rain, in the sunshine, in the overcast weather - it does not matter, Tinturn Abbey is ALWAYS gorgeous and moving. Kyle has also taken me to see St. Faggans, at the Museum of Welsh life, which was so educational and intriguing. It is a large site, with several houses and buildings that span from the Celtic period of Welsh history, to the nordic, to the agricultural, all the way up to the more familiar 19th century style buildings! All set in the gorgeous Welsh landscape, there were Celtic huts, middle aged village shops and cock-fighting rings, farm houses, and a wonderfully Romantic castle! The coolest part was that St. Faggans Museum of Welsh Life is free!

In case anyone reading this is a romantic at heart, there is happiness to be found while in Reading if you just open your eyes, mind, and heart and put yourself out there to meet all kinds of different people. I am glad I stepped outside my levels of comfort and met someone who makes me really happy! Kyle plays football (soccer) and rugby, and is a firefighter! I have seen so many fascinating things, and spent time with someone suited to me! The best part of it all, is that he has been offered a full-ride scholarship to a university in Texas for soccer! So, he will be in America for the next 4 years. =]!! I am very happy now, and while the semester has been hectic, having someone to support me and help me through it all has proven invaluable.

 This semester I am taking a cognition course in Memory and Language which focuses on reading and how our brains process written and spoken language, and how we store memory! Very interesting, but once a week lectures for 50 minutes have proven a struggle for me. My literature courses though have been fascinating and thoroughly enjoyable. I am taking a womens writing and feminist theory course, which is so good! We have read a series of literature written by women, about women, and about women’s lives. It has been very enjoyable! In addition, I am taking a Victorian Heroines class, taught by Doctor Ivy himself, and it focuses on Victorian literature with heroines of different sorts. The literature we read for this class is very difficult, and very long (one book was 850 pages!!) but really good - and I dont think I would have read them without this course, which I now believe would have been a shame!

Our seminar papers were due last week, and now that those papers have been turned in - a lot of my stress has been alleviated. I have also turned in 2 out of 3 of my essays for Victorian Lit, and have already completed my lesson for Womens Writing. I taught the class for 45 minutes, and now all I have left for the semester is a multiple choice exam for Cognition, as well as a 6 page essay for Cognition, and an essay for each Lit course!

For Spring Break I plan on going to Wales for the final Rugby match of the season, Prague, and Berlin!!!! Wish me luck!