Bath & Bristol (Among Other Things)
It’s been a while since I’ve written anything here, sorry about that, but like Leanne wrote, life in Reading does get hectic sometimes…
Classes are in full swing now. In fact, we are about to start wrapping up our first semester here - that’s both scary (because of how fast the time here is going) and real exciting (because it means I survived my first term in England!). This term I’m taking the “normal” class load of three class (plus the World in Britain seminar) - Intro. to Shakespeare, Intro. to Law, and Intro. to Japanese. Shakespeare is far and away my favorite course (or module, as they say here). The professor is American, which, at first was a little strange, but now it is just a wonderful experience. Like Leanne said, the courses here vary widely in how they are taught, but the main thing people applying to the program in the future need to know is that the program is very much dependent on the individual. It’s up to each person to determine what they get out of this program.
OK, enough with classes for now. This past weekend the Fall ‘09 Readingites participated in one of the best parts of the program - the Seminar Trip. We take one each semester and this semester was a trip to Bristol and Bath, two towns about an hour away from Reading. We left early Friday morning and, after a stop at Stonehenge, we spent most of the day in Bristol. As a group, we explored John Wesley’s Chapel, the oldest Methodist chapel in the world. After that, with most of us tired from being up so early and all of the traveling and exploring, we headed back to the very nice hostel and called it a night. The next day we were up early for our day outing to Bath. Our first destination as a group in Bath was the Roman Baths from which the town takes its name. It was really an amazing experience being in such an ancient site, and, even though the site isn’t completely Roman, the addition of actors portraying Romans definitely added something to the experience! The group spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon exploring the Fashion Museum and the Royal Crescent, an architectural masterpiece and well-known Bath landmark. In the late afternoon, the group broke up and we each explored different sites in the city. I went with Annie and Anna to explore the East Asian Art Museum and the Jane Austen Centre. We then moved on to Sally Lunn’s, where we joined fellow Readingites Liz and Katie and enjoyed a famous Sally Lunn Bun in the oldest house is Bath. After waiting out the worst of the afternoon rain (this is England, after all!), Annie and Anna and I moved on to tour the immense Bath Abbey and then crossed the Pulteney Bridge to get amazing views of the River Avon. It was a hectic, busy day and I’m pretty sure most of us were glad to board the bus and get back to Bristol! Sunday was our final day in Bristol and we spent the morning as a group exploring the history of slavery in Bristol and then visiting the Georgian House, a wonderful example of both Georgian architecture as well as how life was lived in Georgian England. The group split again in the afternoon and Annie, Anna, and I headed to find the Red Lodge, a strange piece of architecture that’s an amalgamation of many styles and a wonderful place to visit! After a quick walk to the Bristol Cathedral after Red Lodge, I broke off from Annie and Anna in an attempt to find another Bristol landmark - Brunel’s Clifton Suspension Bridge. This mission was, for the most part, a failure. I saw the Bridge but never reached it. But it wasn’t all in vain, as I saw a side of Bristol that not many in our group saw. After my trek around Bristol, I rejoined Annie, Anna, and Leanne and we wrapped up our Fall Seminar Trip by stopping into St Mary Redcliffe in Bristol, and then in a quick stop on our way home, the group stopped at Lacock Abbey (as seen in the Harry Potter films!).
All in all, it was a good, if tiring, trip and I think I speak for all Readingites when I say it will probably be one of the things that stick out in their memories from our time abroad!
