On Top of the World

Since arriving in Richmond, I have had the opportunity to do so many amazing things and see many amazing landmarks. During the first week we were taken into London to see Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, and Big Ben but we never got the chance to go near the London Eye. After seeing it from a distance many times, I had made it my goal to go on and see the whole city from one of the highest points possible. I had heard that going at night was the best time to go on because the whole city is being illuminated. One weekend some friends and I wanted to go into London and we decided the tube would be the best way to get there. By this point we felt like we have mastered the district line, which is the main tube line we take into London and back to school, and felt comfortable taking it with just a small group of people. Once we got on the tube, we picked a random stop to get off at. To our surprise when we walked outside, we were right underneath Big Ben and the London Eye was to the left of it. We had no specific plans for that night so I considered it fate and convinced some of my group members to go on the London eye with me. After waiting on line for a little while, we purchased our tickets and got onto another line that was right underneath the eye. Surprisingly the line moved rather quickly and the people in line were sectioned off to additional lines that lead into different pods. Something that I found really interesting was that the pods never stop moving and everyone has to quickly step on before the doors close. Luckily my friends and I were at the front of our line so we were the first people to get onto the pod. We quickly jumped on and headed straight to the front of the pod so we could get the best views of Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and the city. The pods moved so slowly that we could not physically tell we were moving we just noticed that we were getting taller than the buildings we were looking at. The view from the top of the eye was absolutely magnificent and I am so glad that I had the chance to experience it. Even though we have almost been here for half of our stay and there is a lot that I have done, there is still a lot more I want to see and more adventures to be had.

Portobello Market

Since coming to London I have seen so many new and amazing things. Past weekend we took a trip with our Marketing class to Portobello Market. It was so fascinating. This market consisted of many stands set up along the road as well as little shops that sold a wide variety of things. There were a lot of antiques for sale along the road. They had old cameras and boxing gloves, jewelry, shoes, and clothes. There was even an antique lace dress priced at over one thousand pounds. As we walked down the road it through the antiques there were stands that sell newer items such as clothes, purses, more jewelry, and pictures and posters. Then even further was where all the food stands were where one could buy produce or snacks and candy. There was so much to look at and so many people it was a bit over whelming. What seemed even more interesting to me was that even with all those people, cars would still try to drive down the road in some places. It was pretty crazy and a bit scary. This market has been around for a long time and conducted business for many years it is quite amazing. There were so many abstract items for sale; I really wondered who buys some of these things. Other than a collector I do not think many people have any use for old cameras and watches that do not even work anymore. It was interesting to get to see all of these things but I did not buy anything and with most of the antiques, I did not see many others buying anything either. I really wondered how the sales people could make a living off of it. The experience of Portobello Market was different from anything else I have ever done and it was awesome to be able to see how people conducted their business right on the side of the road.

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Latimer Road

Since arriving in England I have diligently searched for any opportunity to play football. In America, football (soccer) is very much underappreciated and it is hard to find people who share the same amount of passion for the game as I do. Europe it is a whole different story. It seems like everyone I meet can not only play the sport, but can hold a conversation for hours about what is going on in the professional football world. In fact, every weekend we all sit and watch football on television, cheering on our favorite clubs. We have even gone to downtown Richmond to catch a game on the big screen of a restaurant. As i will admit watching the games are fun, the real reason I wished to meet people who play football is so that I could actually play with them. Before last weekend I had played some small pickup games and such on the green outside the main building, but never anything too organized. Therefore, when I got the opportunity to jump on the tube and play some five aside football I took it. Our team consisted of five Richmond students, an Englishmen, a Greek, a Dutchmen, an Omani, and me, the American. As you can see the team was very diverse and everyone had their own playing style to bring to the team, causing me to wonder how well the team would be able to work together. So we arrive in south London after about a half hour on the tube, and take another short train ride over to Latimer Road where the field is located. Leading up to the match I had no idea what to expect. I pictured an open field with a couple of goals and sidelines, but I soon found out that this was not nearly the case. As I arrived at Latimer and walked towards where the fields were, I saw a large bridge in the distance. Little did I know that under that particular bridge is where I would be playing football for the next hour. I know it seems weird to picture five football fields all crammed under one bridge, but despite what your brain might be telling you it was remarkably clean and had nice goals and a turf fields. I never thought when I came here I would be playing under a heavy traffic highway, but England never ceases to amaze me. My team and I went on to easily defeat our opponents, despite my previous doubts. It was shocking just how quickly we were all able to mesh and feed off each other’s individual skill. In fact we had so much fun, that two days later we returned and played under the lights, once again coming up victorious. We could have lost both games and I still would have valued every minute of it. Just getting the chance to play the sport I love, thousands of miles away from home, with people from all over the world was rewarding enough for me.

Upon our arrival to the university, our group of 16 students had only a few hours until we our bus tour around London. Shortly after placing down my luggage, we started our walk down to the Richmond tube station to head towards central London. By the time we had reached our buses, the entire group was practically sleep walking. But once the bus tour started, I was rejuvenated by all of the scenery around me. When we stopped at Buckingham Palace to walk around, there were crowds of people all around. Besides the amazing sights, what I was surprised by was the massive amounts of people that were out and about. Even people who are from England are drawn to London to walk around and see the sights and old architecture. In addition to the well-known sights to see there is also a very diverse array of stores, restaurants, pubs, clubs, service shops, and outside vendors. London has just about anything one could ask. It is because of this that there so much diversity, and respect for diversity in London. If I had not came here to London, I would not have had the opportunity to speak with people from Ireland, Scotland, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany, Venezuela, France, and many other places. Speaking with these people gave me a great appreciation for people of other cultures and languages. Speaking with individuals who are still learning to speak English is not something I had previously done on a regular basis. But now that I have been, it is very interesting to hear their views, and to see what they are interested in. Now that I have spent a good amount of time here in London I really appreciate the mixture of cultures that is present. There is always an experience out there for anyone, no matter what kind of things are of interest to them. As of right now, with all the possible adventures that are here in London, I think it will be hard for me to leave come mid December.

The Highlands of Scotland

Last weekend, I embarked on a journey to Scotland with other members of the University of Richmond. However, I was the only student who signed up for the trip from the Richmond campus. All of the other students were juniors and seniors and lived and took classes at the Kensington campus. I was already thrown into a situation where I didn’t know anybody. I managed to get over this when most of the students on the trip went around to different pubs the first night and had a good time. Soon after that we were all friends. As for Scotland itself, it is so far my favorite place I have traveled. The trip to Scotland consisted of a bus tour through the Highlands of the country. In the Highlands, there are steep, jagged edged mountains with rivers and streams flowing in between. Most of the land is uninhabited which allows for some of the best nature shots you can imagine. One of my favorite stops on the trip was when our bus went to the Isle of Skye. Our bus stopped alongside the road and we walked out right up to the edge of the cliff. The view from there was spectacular. Out across the view was the ocean and mainland Scotland. To the sides you could see how high up it was and the couple hundred foot drop to the rocky waters below. You cannot find this in the United States especially near Springfield. While our tour guide drove up, down and around these mountains, he was telling us about the history of Scotland and how the country because who they are now today. Myself having Scottish ancestry wanted to learn more about the country where and how my ancestors lived. The Scottish people are all about living free and for the people themselves. A man named William Wallace is mostly to thank for helping Scotland gain its freedom. Mel Gibson’s, “FREEDOM!!” yell from the movie Braveheart was referenced many times throughout the tour. Scotland is a country for the people and has been throughout its history. This is why there has never been a King or Queen of Scotland, yet there were Kings and Queens of the Scots. This trip was my first major trip outside of London so far. It is my favorite spot that I have traveled so far in my life. I will hope to be taking a trip to Ireland in a few weeks and further explore the rest of Europe while I’m here.

Welcome to Monkey City

When I found out that I was selected to come to London, I was more than excited to be able to travel to surrounding countries as well as cities around Richmond.  Knowing that so many places were within my reach was a huge excitement.  What made it even better was knowing that the University put on trips throughout the semester at reasonable prices.  Trips were to all different places: Brighton, Camden, Gibraltar, Wales, Poland, Italy, etc.  All of which I wanted to travel to.  My first weekend trip with the University was this past weekend to Gibraltar.  Of course I was excited to see all of the “famous monkeys” although they are known as thieves.  We had to be at Heathrow Airport for six in the morning on Friday for our flight.  We were on our own to get there but I was not on my own.  There was two WNE students that also joined me, Lindsey and Chris.   We were thinking about taking the tube at five in the morning but was then asked by another student to join in on a cab with her, which we did.  It ended up only costing each of us around six pounds, not too bad!  It was to my surprise that landing in Gibraltar meant that we were going to land on the main road and they would have to close the road down to civilians in order for us to land.  Never heard or seen that one before!  After arriving and making our way to our hotel, we had some free time to explore.  Saturday, was the day in which we would make our way to The Rock, home of the monkeys!  It was a rather long hike to reach the monkeys but totally worth it.  It was to everyone’s surprise when one monkey came out of nowhere and jumped on Lindsey’s back.  Her reaction was priceless.  After watching that, I was rather hesitant about turning my back to them because I didn’t want one to jump on me next.  After enjoying the monkeys for the morning, we walked around for the remainder of the day and had to end our journey the next morning.  All in all, the trip was definitely worth it and I am looking forward to Poland as my next adventure!

Learning Something New Everyday

Living in Richmond, London has been such an adventure. I have made so many friends and have had the opportunity within such a small frame of time to learn so much about myself and the many cultures here.
So far, I have traveled throughout Central London, Kingston, and Richmond and each city has a different breath and vibe of its own. I have enjoyed going to the National Theatre where I saw One Man and Two Governors performed and to the Rose Theatre where I watched The Importance of Being Earnest. I was able to absorb many aspects of British culture that I was not able to initially take in just by roaming through town and interacting with people that I had the opportunity to by watching these plays. I learned much about British humor and some deep socially imprinted aspects of England’s history. It framed a kind of conviction or enlightenment within me as to how much there really is to learn although British culture and American culture do not seem extremely different.
Living overseas during a study abroad experience like this provides students with tangible tools that are inaccessible in a student’s native country no matter how much education one acquires. Knowing about cultural differences and experiencing them are two different things. Adapting and embracing a different culture or cultures brings a higher awareness to one’s knowledge of their own culture as well as the host’s culture obviously, and sharpens their social and interpersonal skills on a more global level. The work place is becoming more global as we speak. Without some form of intercultural experience, students are not fully prepared to enter the workforce, in my opinion.
There are some experiences that illustrate some important learning elements for me as of right now. One is learning how to balance the time that I spend between those from my native country and those with the students from around the globe that attend Richmond American International University. It is pretty easy to get comfortable with your own and not branch out. A second experience I can note that was really pivotal in my intercultural learning as of right now is when I attended a church in Central London and afterwards to fellowship the pastors encouraged us all to go to a bar across the street. That was a total shock because in the United States that would be considered taboo. This clearly drew out cultural lines within an international religion that I did not even know existed. That was a funny learning experience. The last one that I can note is the nightly college girly talks. Here, many of the girls that I have spoken with have traveled around other parts of the world before coming to London. During our nightly talks many of their crucial experiences seemed to have several different settings other than the country they spent a majority of their time in. Although I have lived outside of the country before, hearing these colorful and adventurous stories encouraged me to branch out even more and to look for as many opportunities to travel to expand my book of international adventures.
This is some of what I have experienced and learned so far and I am so excited and curious for the many ventures to come during my stay here in England.

Camden Market

Since coming to London, one of the biggest things I was looking forward to was going shopping. In my opinion, one of the best ways to remember a great vacation is by buying souvenirs for yourself and your friends and family. With getting caught up in schoolwork and exploring Central London and Richmond, I really had not had much of a chance to take the time to stop and shop around. After being here for almost a month, I still had not even bought a single postcard. This weekend, I made it a goal to do so. A few other Western New England University students and myself went to Camden market, which was a very long tube ride from Richmond, and despite taking the wrong train on the way back, we made it there and back in all one piece. The market was so great; it was such a different experience than something that I have ever done. There are so many vendors with so many different things to buy. There were mostly clothes within the market, but when we walked down the street, it had a lot of souvenir shops and tattoo and piercing places. Camden is very different from what we have seen of London so far. Since we live in Richmond, we see very fancy and upscale houses and stores every day. From the different people to the bizarre stores, and even the strange smell, it is safe to say that Camden is a very unique place. The best part was that everything was so inexpensive. My favorite part by far was bartering with the vendors. I was a little uncomfortable at first asking for a lower price, but after shopping and walking around for a few hours, we got better at it and more confident and comfortable. The vendors were overly friendly but also very pushy. They wanted us to buy their merchandise so they were often willing to give us very good prices. I even managed to pick up some postcards. Overall, I was very happy with my purchases and will definitely be going back there at least a few more times before our time in London comes to an end.