It's 11 pm here in London and I leave in the morning back to the US of A. I have extremely mixed feelings about this, but all in all I'm excited to see my friends and family again. I can't even express the quality of the experience I've had in England and beyond, I feel so lucky and so blessed to have had the opportunity to come here to see the amazing things I've seen and to have met all the wonderful people that I have. Speaking of meeting wonderful people, it just wouldn't have been Kyra's luck if she hadn't met a boy she had to say goodbye to forever, now would it? These things are true, I met a lovely English bloke and he helped make the last few weeks I had here all the more wonderful. I'll never forget him and his interesting friends so I'd like to thank them for taking the American girls under their wing for a few weeks and showing Paula and I how wonderful and hilarious English people can be! It wouldn't have been quite the experience it has been without them. So while I saying thanks I mind as well thank everyone that got me here too. If you're reading this, I guarantee you helped me take this step to go on this adventure. I'd like to thank everyone that encouraged me and supported me, your blessing means the world to me. And I'd also like to thank the other lot. The one's that broke my heart or did me wrong and made me want to get away and surround myself with some new people for a while. So in a weird way thank you for taking me down to my knees, because the journey to being able to stand on my feet again has been the highlight of my life so far.
I'd also like to thank my host family. Wow. How a group of such wonderful people got stuck with a kid like me is beyond me! All I can say is I hope they've enjoyed having me as much as I've enjoyed sharing a home with them. My host mum Jan is a complete angel and made me feel so comfortable and safe the whole time I was here. Truly like a second mum she took Paula and I to go do things, she always made sure we had full tummies, and she genuinely enjoyed talking with us and learning about us. It really couldn't have been any better. And Jan's family... what a beautiful one it is. To her daughter Kate and her son Michael, daughter in law Michelle and their children Bethan and Nathan- thank you all for being hilarious, for laughing at my jokes, and for wanting to get to know me. Spending the last of our time tonight quizzing on Cockney rhyme words and making music videos was the best going away night I could've asked for. Bethan (age 12) and Nathan (age 7) are going to grow up to be FANTASTIC people, I wish I could follow them through that journey. I've gotten really close to the kids in the last few weeks and I'm truly sad to have to leave them. I just hope I've made a small lasting effect on these people, my goal was to never let them forget me!! And if all else fails, I created a personalized Mii on Jan's Wii... so I'll always kinda be around and they shan't EVER forget me even if they want to! muaha!
And I'd definitely like to thank my European roomie/travel companion Paula McFadden! We have been through SO much these last few months and the least I can say is... we survived :) Paula you are such a kind, wonderful person with a heart the size of Texas! I'm really sorry the whole trip hadn't quite worked out the way it could have, but I think we can both say we learned small lessons and became better people out of the tough situations. I can't even begin to recall all the adventures we've had and all the places we've been together, too many good stories!! But I can't wait to be able to look back on this trip again with you someday and laugh about the good times. Oh, and thanks for mapping out my every footstep both in and out of London. If it weren't for you I'd be in Guam right now without any shoes going door to door asking for raisins and a plane back to the Kingdom of Eastcote! I cheese you to the MAX my dear Polla, thanks for everything.
I've had so many awesome adventures and seen things I never even DREAMED of seeing. It's amazing what you can do in life if you just set your mind to it. I recommend traveling to anyone who has ever thought about it. It'll change you, for the better.
I hope you have enjoyed reading my blogs. I'm sad to say I didn't get to post everything I wanted before my leave, simply because finals week was, let's be real here, a b****. So I will end on a note saying that this might be my last post. Jeez it seems like just yesterday I was in SeaTac mapping out all the people to avoid on the plane, and now here I am hours away from heading to the airport and continuing my life in the states. But hey, if you're interested let me know! I definitely have more to write about and if I think people might be wanting to read more then I would take pleasure in recounting some of my other adventures. Thanks again for reading, I'm so glad I did this blog. I'll be in the homeland soon and I can't wait to see each and every one of you.
<3KYRA:)
Friday, May 13, 2011
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Royal Weddings, Shakespeare, and more!
Greetings all! As promised I’m writing this to fill you all in on the adventures I’ve been so behind on lately! I’ll also have you know that I should be writing a paper right now… but I figured updating you all is a little bit higher on my priority list at the moment. Don’t worry, I’ll get it done because I always do! I last left you all off with snippets of my visits to Windsor Castle, Buckingham Palace and so on. Well as you all know, on Friday April 29 Prince William of Wales and Kate Middleton tied the knot here in London! Now what kind of tourist would I be if I hadn’t been a part of the festivities of that day in history? I won’t try to sugar coat anything and make it sound cooler than it was, because I basically sat in a park and watched the wedding on a humongous screen. BUT, it was a little cooler than it sounds. A bunch of the students from my school program stayed the night at our school facilities for the night (since it’s located in downtown London and transport is a pain) and woke up EXTRA early in order to get a good seat at the park. We probably would’ve tried to line up along the procession streets (where the royal cars drove down to get to Westminster) but people had been camping out for DAYS so if we wanted to see anything at all that really wasn’t an option. There were huge screens set up in Hyde Park which is just blocks from Buckingham Palace, and there were literally thousands of people there for the celebrations. Paula and I didn’t get to the park as early as we had hoped but we got there with about 20 minutes to spare and found a seat with a view of the large screens. Something like the picture below.
It was at that spot in Hyde Park, just blocks from the action that I watched history go down. I watched the cars driving the Queen and various other royalties from different countries approach Westminster and evacuate guests into the fabulous Westminster Abbey, and I also watched William and Kate arrive. The cheers that arose from the crowds when the Queen was on the screen were phenomenal. Not everyone is a royalist, but on that day most everyone was. Kate and William got equally as much cheering as the Queen and everyone was enjoying the excuse to dress up and drink wine on a blanket in the park with their friends. So there I sat with Paula and a couple other fellow students and friends and watched the ceremony take place. It was overwhelmingly powerful to know that I was watching history take place, history that would go down in the books of the British, right there in the very same city, an event that people all over the world were watching, and less than a mile from where it was happening.
I wish I had been feeling better, unfortunately, because after the official ceremony I had to part with the celebrating brits and everyone waiting for the very first kiss on the Buckingham Palace balcony. As you know Kate and William, from then on known as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, kissed TWICE on the balcony! Which was significant and really fun for the crowds who wanted more but weren’t expecting it. I wish I had been there but the truth of the matter is that a grumpy, not feeling well Kyra does not mix well with pushy anxious people that care about nothing more than trying to get a picture of the tiny figures of the new married couple millions of miles in the distance, so I just skipped that whole experience all together. I figured less people would get hurt that way.
So I told you all that it wasn’t that exciting, but I find the mere fact that I was there exciting all in itself. And what’s equally exciting was visiting Westminster Abbey less than a week after the wedding took place! Of course I couldn’t take pictures inside, but everything you all saw in pictures and on TV I saw in person and it was BEAUTIFUL. I updated my Facebook status that same day stating “ I’ve decided to begin a full-fledged pursuit of prince Harry so I can have MY wedding at Westminster as well. You shall all be invited”!!!! The most wonderful thing about Westminster, a part from the fact that the wedding was held there, is all the amazing people buried within the Abbey. I stood on the grave of Charles Dickens, walked around the tomb of Elizabeth I, as well as many other kings and queens, and studied the grave of the “Unknown Soldier” who is an unidentified British soldier from one of the World Wars who was brought back to Westminster to be buried near the entrance in remembrance of all the British soldiers who have given their service and sacrifice. And on the tomb of the Unknown Soldier was the bouquet that Kate held throughout her wedding ceremony starting to wilt and fade but still amazing none the less.
It cost me 13 GB pounds, which is about 20 US dollars… but I would have to say that it was worth paying the money to experience the history, especially at a time so close to a national history event. I’ll have you all know that I’ve been unable to catch Harry’s attention thus far, but I still have a few days so keep your fingers crossed! Below is me outside of the Abbey where Kate walked in!
Among some other adventures lies my experience with England’s national sport, Cricket! I’d like to start this spiel informing those who don’t know that Cricket is THE MOST CONFUSING GAME ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH. That might be the softball player in me (since my mind only works in such a fashion which gets confusing because the two games have some of the same core values) but I gave up after someone tried to explain wickets to me… So I’m sorry for not enlightening you further on the subject, all I can really do is show you some pictures and leave it up to you to research more if you so wish.
As a class, we visited “Lords Cricket Grounds” (pictured above) which is usually shortened to just “Lords” to get a tour of the facility and watch a bit of a match. I don’t remember a lot of the history but I do know that Lords is one of the oldest Cricket fields in London (maybe England?) and is certainly one of the most extravagant. Though England is more known for its love of “football” or SOCCER, a word derived from “association” of football back in the day, Cricket really is the national sport and heavily competitive. So my class watched some of a Cricket game then made our way out after the tour. It was really fun to watch and to attempt to learn about. All I can really tell you about the game is that the equivalent to a pitcher in baseball, called a bowler, “bowls” the ball to the batter which usually ricochets off the ground before being hit by the batter, being hit in hopes of getting it past the fielders and scoring points. The fielders do not use gloves, the only person with gloves is the catcher equivalent player, which I do not understand at all because a Cricket ball is somewhere between the size and hardness of a softball and baseball. Crazy!
Well after my Cricket and royal wedding experiences, I made a visit to Oxford, home of the prestigious Oxford University of England. But not only has this town hosted geniuses, it has also been used to film…. Harry Potter! Three of my lovely classmates/friends and I took our own little mosey around this town, which I would essentially describe as a town within a college instead of a college within a town, in search of anything interesting… especially Harry Potter interesting. It’s a nice quaint town of which includes, according to my trusty classmate Tessa, about 30 different Oxford University buildings which is why I described it as a town within a college because the buildings are so spread out and everywhere. The picture below is Pj, myself, and Tessa with a random part of Oxford University behind us.
One of my favorite parts of Oxford was visiting Christ Church (I know, ANOTHER church.) Christ church is extremely significant in Harry Potter because it holds the room of which the Great Dining Hall scenes in the first two movies were filmed!!
It looks a lot different than in the movie, it’s actually a very small room with only three rows of tables but the movie also has lots of special effects that make it a little different, but in all the same exact room! Fascinating and very beautiful building. There were lots of other little buildings where Harry Potter scenes were filmed, of course I come across that sort of thing nearly every day in London but it’s still fun to see anyway. Most of our time in Oxford was spent browsing and shopping, it was a very nice day to do so as well.
Now please excuse me for going out of chronological order in all these adventures but I recently went to a very special place and I promised in my last blog to share my Shakespeare experiences! Just a couple days ago I had a class trip to Stratford upon Avon, where Mr. William Shakespeare was born and where he died. To fit the significance, I visited the house, the room, the very bed Shakespeare was born as well as visited his grave, colorfully decorated with flowers and reeves leftover from his birthday on April 23.
Birthplace:
Chapel and grave:
As this being the last weekend before I leave England, I couldn’t have asked for a better note to leave on. So the first day we visited Shakespeare’s grave in the chapel where he worshiped and his birthplace, as well as a residence he held during his lifetime. There’s really no way to describe what I saw other than as amazing. I feel so blessed to have been able to visit, in spirit, the best writer in the world.
After we explored Stratford and saw all the neat historical things, we went to a production of Macbeth at a refurbished theater in Stratford. Macbeth is one of my favorite Shakespeare tragedies so I really enjoyed the play. And speaking of plays, a couple weeks ago I attended two other plays both being Hamlet! I saw a modern version on the National Theater in London and then a traditional version at Shakespeare’s Globe Theater itself. The kicker about the watching Hamlet at the Globe was that we got “yard” seats which are… not seats at all. I had to stand in the yard for about three hours and watch Hamlet. By the way, standing for a long amount of time is VERY distracting when you’re trying to focus on a play. I’m really sad that my London Shakespeare play experiences are over but the ones I had were amazing and I will never forget!! Everyone in my class got to stay in a cute little Bed&Breakfast in Stratford, so after the play we all headed back and got some rest for the next day! Paula and I had a purple room and and a "full English breakfast" in the morning!
Our Bed and Breakfast!:
The next day of which consisted of visiting Anne Hathaway’s Cottage. Who is Anne Hathaway you might be wondering? For some it may be obvious, but she was indeed Shakespeare’s wife. So I got to tour the house she lived in in her youth and that was very neat too. It had acres of beautiful Gardens!! All the houses we visited on this trip are hundreds of years old and a wonder to look at and think that people actually lived there. The floors were stone, the mattresses made of straw and so on.
So, there is more after departing from Stratford on that day but I shall save that for my next post!! I hope to write at least one more juicy blog for you and then one right before I leave (which is at this point in six days, SAD!!) I miss you all and I shall return soon and be able to recollect all my adventures in the flesh!! Thanks for reading; hopefully I’ll get my next post up soon. And until then, paper writing here I come…. Ugh finals week!
-KYRA:)
It was at that spot in Hyde Park, just blocks from the action that I watched history go down. I watched the cars driving the Queen and various other royalties from different countries approach Westminster and evacuate guests into the fabulous Westminster Abbey, and I also watched William and Kate arrive. The cheers that arose from the crowds when the Queen was on the screen were phenomenal. Not everyone is a royalist, but on that day most everyone was. Kate and William got equally as much cheering as the Queen and everyone was enjoying the excuse to dress up and drink wine on a blanket in the park with their friends. So there I sat with Paula and a couple other fellow students and friends and watched the ceremony take place. It was overwhelmingly powerful to know that I was watching history take place, history that would go down in the books of the British, right there in the very same city, an event that people all over the world were watching, and less than a mile from where it was happening.
I wish I had been feeling better, unfortunately, because after the official ceremony I had to part with the celebrating brits and everyone waiting for the very first kiss on the Buckingham Palace balcony. As you know Kate and William, from then on known as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, kissed TWICE on the balcony! Which was significant and really fun for the crowds who wanted more but weren’t expecting it. I wish I had been there but the truth of the matter is that a grumpy, not feeling well Kyra does not mix well with pushy anxious people that care about nothing more than trying to get a picture of the tiny figures of the new married couple millions of miles in the distance, so I just skipped that whole experience all together. I figured less people would get hurt that way.
So I told you all that it wasn’t that exciting, but I find the mere fact that I was there exciting all in itself. And what’s equally exciting was visiting Westminster Abbey less than a week after the wedding took place! Of course I couldn’t take pictures inside, but everything you all saw in pictures and on TV I saw in person and it was BEAUTIFUL. I updated my Facebook status that same day stating “ I’ve decided to begin a full-fledged pursuit of prince Harry so I can have MY wedding at Westminster as well. You shall all be invited”!!!! The most wonderful thing about Westminster, a part from the fact that the wedding was held there, is all the amazing people buried within the Abbey. I stood on the grave of Charles Dickens, walked around the tomb of Elizabeth I, as well as many other kings and queens, and studied the grave of the “Unknown Soldier” who is an unidentified British soldier from one of the World Wars who was brought back to Westminster to be buried near the entrance in remembrance of all the British soldiers who have given their service and sacrifice. And on the tomb of the Unknown Soldier was the bouquet that Kate held throughout her wedding ceremony starting to wilt and fade but still amazing none the less.
It cost me 13 GB pounds, which is about 20 US dollars… but I would have to say that it was worth paying the money to experience the history, especially at a time so close to a national history event. I’ll have you all know that I’ve been unable to catch Harry’s attention thus far, but I still have a few days so keep your fingers crossed! Below is me outside of the Abbey where Kate walked in!
Among some other adventures lies my experience with England’s national sport, Cricket! I’d like to start this spiel informing those who don’t know that Cricket is THE MOST CONFUSING GAME ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH. That might be the softball player in me (since my mind only works in such a fashion which gets confusing because the two games have some of the same core values) but I gave up after someone tried to explain wickets to me… So I’m sorry for not enlightening you further on the subject, all I can really do is show you some pictures and leave it up to you to research more if you so wish.
As a class, we visited “Lords Cricket Grounds” (pictured above) which is usually shortened to just “Lords” to get a tour of the facility and watch a bit of a match. I don’t remember a lot of the history but I do know that Lords is one of the oldest Cricket fields in London (maybe England?) and is certainly one of the most extravagant. Though England is more known for its love of “football” or SOCCER, a word derived from “association” of football back in the day, Cricket really is the national sport and heavily competitive. So my class watched some of a Cricket game then made our way out after the tour. It was really fun to watch and to attempt to learn about. All I can really tell you about the game is that the equivalent to a pitcher in baseball, called a bowler, “bowls” the ball to the batter which usually ricochets off the ground before being hit by the batter, being hit in hopes of getting it past the fielders and scoring points. The fielders do not use gloves, the only person with gloves is the catcher equivalent player, which I do not understand at all because a Cricket ball is somewhere between the size and hardness of a softball and baseball. Crazy!
Well after my Cricket and royal wedding experiences, I made a visit to Oxford, home of the prestigious Oxford University of England. But not only has this town hosted geniuses, it has also been used to film…. Harry Potter! Three of my lovely classmates/friends and I took our own little mosey around this town, which I would essentially describe as a town within a college instead of a college within a town, in search of anything interesting… especially Harry Potter interesting. It’s a nice quaint town of which includes, according to my trusty classmate Tessa, about 30 different Oxford University buildings which is why I described it as a town within a college because the buildings are so spread out and everywhere. The picture below is Pj, myself, and Tessa with a random part of Oxford University behind us.
One of my favorite parts of Oxford was visiting Christ Church (I know, ANOTHER church.) Christ church is extremely significant in Harry Potter because it holds the room of which the Great Dining Hall scenes in the first two movies were filmed!!
It looks a lot different than in the movie, it’s actually a very small room with only three rows of tables but the movie also has lots of special effects that make it a little different, but in all the same exact room! Fascinating and very beautiful building. There were lots of other little buildings where Harry Potter scenes were filmed, of course I come across that sort of thing nearly every day in London but it’s still fun to see anyway. Most of our time in Oxford was spent browsing and shopping, it was a very nice day to do so as well.
Now please excuse me for going out of chronological order in all these adventures but I recently went to a very special place and I promised in my last blog to share my Shakespeare experiences! Just a couple days ago I had a class trip to Stratford upon Avon, where Mr. William Shakespeare was born and where he died. To fit the significance, I visited the house, the room, the very bed Shakespeare was born as well as visited his grave, colorfully decorated with flowers and reeves leftover from his birthday on April 23.
Birthplace:
Chapel and grave:
As this being the last weekend before I leave England, I couldn’t have asked for a better note to leave on. So the first day we visited Shakespeare’s grave in the chapel where he worshiped and his birthplace, as well as a residence he held during his lifetime. There’s really no way to describe what I saw other than as amazing. I feel so blessed to have been able to visit, in spirit, the best writer in the world.
After we explored Stratford and saw all the neat historical things, we went to a production of Macbeth at a refurbished theater in Stratford. Macbeth is one of my favorite Shakespeare tragedies so I really enjoyed the play. And speaking of plays, a couple weeks ago I attended two other plays both being Hamlet! I saw a modern version on the National Theater in London and then a traditional version at Shakespeare’s Globe Theater itself. The kicker about the watching Hamlet at the Globe was that we got “yard” seats which are… not seats at all. I had to stand in the yard for about three hours and watch Hamlet. By the way, standing for a long amount of time is VERY distracting when you’re trying to focus on a play. I’m really sad that my London Shakespeare play experiences are over but the ones I had were amazing and I will never forget!! Everyone in my class got to stay in a cute little Bed&Breakfast in Stratford, so after the play we all headed back and got some rest for the next day! Paula and I had a purple room and and a "full English breakfast" in the morning!
Our Bed and Breakfast!:
The next day of which consisted of visiting Anne Hathaway’s Cottage. Who is Anne Hathaway you might be wondering? For some it may be obvious, but she was indeed Shakespeare’s wife. So I got to tour the house she lived in in her youth and that was very neat too. It had acres of beautiful Gardens!! All the houses we visited on this trip are hundreds of years old and a wonder to look at and think that people actually lived there. The floors were stone, the mattresses made of straw and so on.
So, there is more after departing from Stratford on that day but I shall save that for my next post!! I hope to write at least one more juicy blog for you and then one right before I leave (which is at this point in six days, SAD!!) I miss you all and I shall return soon and be able to recollect all my adventures in the flesh!! Thanks for reading; hopefully I’ll get my next post up soon. And until then, paper writing here I come…. Ugh finals week!
-KYRA:)
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