The Bucket List

London has so much to see and do. Before I left for London, I sat down with my Aunt and Uncle and they gave me a list of places I should go and things to see. I have also accumulated a list of my own since being here. The first few weeks of my trip I started going through my list and saw a good portion of the city. Needless to say my list has continued to grow and I still have so much I want to do.

The view as we walked across one of the bridges

Today I had the day free because I packed and cleaned last night. I decided to start checking more things off my bucket list. Colleen and I went to The National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery. There are many amazing pictures in both Gallery's. I love that they have descriptions next to each picture giving the background. So many famous artists have pictures hanging. My favorites are the scenery ones. The colors that are used are beautiful and it is fun to see where the scene is. Some of the places I have been to or will be going to before I leave in December!

The Patriots are in town this weekend for their game on Sunday. Unfortunately I will not be around to go to the game or anything but outside the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square they were setting up for the Fan Rally. So many tourists are in London this weekend for the game so I am sure it will get crazy around here. It would have fun to be around and watch the game at a Pub. I guess The Patriots practiced in Hyde Park earlier today. Colleen and I talked yesterday about trying to figure out where they were practicing but the schedule we found never said. My dad was the one that told me because he was watching channel 4 who is out here covering the game. My dad said they were drinking on the street and was shocked that there are no laws against that out here. Europe sure is different then America!

Cheers,
Allie

The British School System

I can't believe that I am half way through my semester abroad. I have only had 5 weeks of classes but for England that concludes the first half of your semester. I have found the one thing I do not like about London. I know I didn't think there would be anything I didn't like about London. But I did and it is the school system.

Classes are so much different out here. It is hard to explain but I will do my best and try not confuse you. They are more self driven then classes in America. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind the self driven structure. Doing readings on my own I do anyway. There is just not much guidance when it comes to assignments and class time can be pointless. I have a seminar and a lecture for each class. Lectures I find pretty pointless. For some of my classes, I can get the same amount of information out of reading the slides myself in my room than I get sitting in an hour and a half lecture. Seminars are better and a little more like classes in America. It gives you more one on one with your tutor. The seminars are helpful with group work that I have for two of my classes but often times the tutor just goes over what was discussed in the lecture and you get no extra detail.

I only have 2 assignments for each class usually including a presentation and a paper.. No tests, quizzes or any other type of assessment. I have found it very hard to learn with this system. As annoying and stressful as tests can be, they at least make sure that you are staying on top of your studies and understand the material. Papers and presentations focus on one topic that we may or may not have covered to a large extent in class.

My level 5 classes are better than my level 4 class. My market research class is my favorite real class that I am taking here. I actually feel like I am learning something from the lectures and within my group and during the seminar. It is a good thing I am actually learning something from class because this class actually counts for my market research credit back in Plymouth. Global markets isn't horrible but it can get pretty boring. I have not learned much in that seminar or with the group work. The Role of a Manager is the worst class I have ever taken. I have not learned anything in this class and always leave frustrated with my tutor. We do the same thing each class with a different article that ends with the same result. My theater class is definitely my favorite. It is fun to go to shows and I actually feel like I am getting something out of this which is funny because this is strictly a study abroad student class.

I find the British school system confusing. They do not guide you through your assignments and assume you understand the project. It is not easy to ask questions or get help with your assignment. This makes it more frustrating and stressful. It seems to be a general consensus of American students that we learn more at home and like the American school system better. I have been thinking of doing my masters program out in London but the more I get into this semester and learn about the school system I don't think I actually will. I will not get the proper knowledge if I take my classes out here. It is slightly disappointing because I love living in London and being in Europe. I still have time to think about it but it seems like getting a masters out here would not be the wisest decision.

I have mentioned before that my finals are different then the full year students. It is quiet bizarre to me that finals are in May for your fall courses.  It seems that in a sense study abroad students have it easy for finals and only have to write papers and not take tests. I say that now but if my other papers like the one I passed in today I will definitely have a stressful last two weeks of classes.

I know I came out here to study so it is kind of unfortunate that I don't like the school system, but don't think that I regret my decision of doing a semester in Europe. I am learning much more from this experience between traveling, meeting people from all over the globe, and being in London in general. I would never take back this experience. It is still the best decision I have ever made. I still think that everyone should take a semester abroad because you really do learn so much outside of the class room. I am glad in a way that my work load is lighter. It gives me extra time to travel and explore. I just wish classes had more guidance and that I actually felt like I was learning something. Who knows I could finish out the semester and learn to like how they do classes or I could get back to Plymouth and miss the light work load and "joke" classes. But that I will not find out until I get home. I only have 5 weeks of classes left. I am sure they will fly by just as fast as the last 5 have unfortunately but maybe I will get lucky and everything will slow down for the next 7 weeks.

Well that is the British school system. I work much harder at home and learn much more. Teachers are nicer and much more helpful and understanding when you do not understand something. I hope I didn't confuse to many people on how their school system is. I will be curious to see how the last part of my semester goes and I will be sure to update you when I am done.

Cheers,
Allie

Edinburgh, Scotland - October 19-22

This past weekend I traveled to Edinburgh, Scotland with Colleen and Roxanne. We had a great weekend. I really enjoyed Scotland. The city of Edinburgh reminded me of a fairytale. All the buildings looked like castles and were so medieval looking. Roxanne had a friend studying abroad in Edinburgh so we were able to save money on a hostel and stay in her friends dorm. It was really nice of her to let us do this considering she was away in Ireland for the weekend. Her dorm was a refurbished school which was so cute. I felt like I was back at OLV. I could picture all the children running around.

We were up at 5:00 on Friday morning so we could head to the airport. As tired as we were, it was way better than sleeping at the airport like we had to do for Ireland. Of course things have to go wrong as we try to get to the airport. We thought we had left in enough time but when we went to get on the train to the airport the time table said it wasn't leaving till almost 6:00 We were slightly freaking out but then we found out there was another area with trains that left every half hour or so. Luckily we could take one of those. We still had to rush a little through the airport but we made our flight and everything ended being okay.

Once we arrived in Edinburgh, we met up with Roxanne's friends roommate to get her keys and see where the dorm was. After that we started out on our exploring. We went to Edinburgh Castle first. You can see the castle from the main part of the city which was really cool. It wasn't that far of a walk up. We explored the different parts of the castle and got to see the 1:00 cannon shooting they do daily. Scottish History is really fascinating. I had no idea how closely linked it was to British history. I enjoyed walking through the museum parts of the castle. The view of the city from the castle was also beautiful. The buildings were so old looking that I could definitely tell I was in a different country.

When we finished in the castle, we walked down The Royal Mile to Parliament and the The Palace of Holyroodhouse. We stopped at the Tartan Weaving Mill where we got to watch people weave different pieces of clothing. We went into the Queens' Gallery which had a museum on the Queens Jubily and past Rulers of England. We walked through the Palace of Holyroodhouse next. This is where the Queen stays when she visit's Scotland. We were not suppose to take pictures of the rooms but the workers were never actually paying attention and I managed to sneak pictures in almost every room. It was really cool to see the video's of the Queen walking around in the same places we were standing. The Palace was beautiful. I can only imagine living there. Arthur's Seat is right outside the palace. It is a mountain that you can climb up and see the view of the city. We tried to venture up but didn't get to far because it was slippery due to the slightly rainy weather we had been having.

The Palace of Holyroodhouse

The Gardens

Arthur's Seat Walk #1

Robert Burns Memorial

Saturday was our day for the view. We started our day by going to Portobello Beach. We had to take a bus to get there and of course we took the right bus just going in the wrong direction so it would have taken us at least double the time to get there. Luckily when we switched buses the driver didn't make us pay again. The beach was beautiful but nothing like beaches back home. It was definitely the bay side but it was still so nice and I loved being at the beach. We walked on the sand in our boots so we wouldn't have sand in our shoes for the rest of the trip. I found some sea glass and pieces of broken pottery that had been turned into sea glass. It was pretty cool. Nothing like being at the beach in October. Once we got back we went back to Arthur's Seat and walked further up. It was quiet the hike and I wished I had sneakers but the view was amazing. The sun was starting to set at this point which added to the picturesque feel. We definitely took in amazing views that day. We did some souvenir shopping and went into Jenners which is a very expensive department store.

Walk up to Arthur's Seat #2

Cliff hanging

This trip entailed a lot of walking. On Sunday we walked through Dean's Village which is the oldest part of Edinburgh but to be honest it looked like the rest of the city, old and medieval. We walked up to the Botanic Gardens. It was beautiful their in October, I can only imagine how much prettier it is during the spring and summer when all the flowers are in bloom. I tried to take some artsy photos of flowers, I don't think I did to bad. The gardens finally gave me the feeling of fall I had been missing. Nothing beats a New England fall but this was close enough. It didn't take us as long to go through the gardens as we expected and we were back in the main part of Edinburgh early. We decided to do The Edinburgh Dungeon on Sunday rather then on Monday like we had planned. It was so much fun. It was kind of like a Haunted House except you had a tour guide for each room that told you true stories about Scottish past. We learned about witches, cannibals, ghosts, and many other things. It is the perfect thing to do around Halloween. We also walked up to Calton Hill. It had some monuments and again gave us a beautiful view.

Dean Village

Queen Elizabeth's Memorial Garden

The "North Bridge"- made me think of home

Cheesin it up on Calton Hill

View from Calton Hill

Monday was a much more relaxing day. Roxanne's friend came back so we got breakfast with her. She was very nice and we made sure to thank her and bought her a bottle of wine for allowing us to stay in her room. We went to The Scottish National Gallery. The paintings were all amazing. After that we walked to The Elephant House. This is where JK Rowling started writing the Harry Potter novels. This trip has definitely been more Harry Potter involved than I anticipated but I do not mind at all. The Cafe allows you to write notes on the bathroom walls to JK Rowling. We left our little note after having a quick snack. We lheaded for the airport after that. Our flight was delayed about 45 minutes but at least we had no rushing around airports and tube stations.

It was a very successful weekend. We did everything in Scotland that we wanted to and really saw all of Edinburgh. I hope I can go back to Scotland someday and explore another area. I loved feeling like I was in a Fairytale!

Cheers,
Allie