First Pub, First London Trip

Hello! You found the compass!


     When I last wrote, I barely knew anybody here. I am pleased to say that I now have a core group of friends who I get along with quite well. We got to know each other mostly thanks to a fun event that Kingston sponsored on Wednesday night: An outing to a pub called the King's Tun for the international students where the school pays for the first drink of each student! (I ended up getting two free drinks; they forgot to take my coupon the first time.) It was quite a good idea (who wouldn't pass that up?) and the area that Kingston had reserved was full of international students. I spent the night getting to know a girl from South Carolina (Lauren), a girl from North Carolina (Becca), a girl from Missouri (Amy), a boy from Egypt (Sufi?) and a group of Nigerians whose names I can't spell (one of them was Chisom, but that's all I know).

     Thursday was a day off, and largely uneventful. I did some exploring and shopping with Amy. I was in need of a good pillow and found an extraordinarily comfortable memory foam one for cheap. Oddly, I found it at a clothing store. At some point I'd like to go back to the store (Primark) as it has very fashionable clothing for reasonable prices. The other clothing store in the area similar to it is Topshop, which they have in America. Topshop is very expensive, but Amy and I went in to explore anyway. The only thing I could justify buying was a pair of gloves (which I needed anyway). I don't know what the original price was, but these were on sale because one of the gloves was missing two of the three decorative buttons on the side. Yes, that's right: Topshop is so pricey that I could only afford "broken" gloves. They're still good gloves though, and I think they look nifty. So there. (I will say one thing, though: Topshop is almost justifiably expensive because the sweaters and such things are not cheaply made. They are thick, warm, and look like they would last for a long time. $125 dollars for a pair of shoes, though...)

     On Friday, I attended a walking tour of London. Students were told to meet at Westminster Station, meaning we had to figure out our way into the city on our own. Amy and I met up at campus and I led the way to London (I spent Thursday night checking and double-checking train and tube maps). The lesson of the day: Always leave early, because things can and will go wrong. I guess it was an omen when I got to the bus stop and the sign for incoming bus times looked like this:

Mah bus dun broked.

     We got to Surbiton Station and went to buy tickets for the train to Waterloo; I was able to get my ticket without a problem, but something was going wrong with Amy's machine. At first it was refusing to take her credit card and it printed her a ticket that wasn't valid for travel (I haven't the slightest idea what the point of that ticket was). She used cash and it printed a proper one, but it still wouldn't let her buy an Oyster card (cards used for buses and tubes). We decided to get on the train and buy her a card at the next station. Before I go on with the stories of mishaps, I'd like to tell a brief story of a funny encounter on the train. Amy was wearing rain boots with a zebra pattern on them. We have clear American accents and were discussing how excited we were for London. The man across from us, a middle aged British man, pointed to her boots and said, "When did they start making zebras out of rubber?" As we were laughing, he seemed satisfied and explained, "The quirky English sense of humour and wit, it's all true. Especially for us middle-aged English. Everything you read about the English is true, except for the American War of Independence, the civil war, and the War of 1812. Those never happened." He had to leave the train shortly after, but he certainly gave us a funny and welcoming start to our journey to London.

     Now back to the series of mishaps: As we arrived at Waterloo, I used my oyster card to get into the station (I could have used my all day train ticket, but didn't realize it at the time). Amy asked if she could use my card, so I passed it back over to her. It wouldn't scan. She tried several times but the gate wouldn't open for her. She handed me back my card, found her ticket, and used that. Onward to the tube we went, first stopping at a station to buy Amy an oyster card. Once again, her credit card "could not be read" by the machine. (Note: This card worked in shops and grocery stores.) She gave up and tried using cash, but the machine only took coins. After digging through for enough pound coins, she began her payment. Halfway through, the machine spit out all her coins and ended the session, claiming that coins couldn't be used to pay for a card. At this point I used my credit card to pay for her, and she paid me back with paper money. Finally we were ready to continue. She scanned her card to get into the tube without a problem. I scanned mine and it was declined. After an "are you kidding me?" moment, I asked her to wait and went back to the machine to top off my card. The balance was negative sixty pence. So, I went to pay to top it off with my credit card and it said "credit limit exceeded" and ended my session. (Note: Amy's oyster card was the first thing I'd used my credit card on since arriving.) Luckily I had enough paper money to cover it (paper money is allowed for topping off a card, but not for buying a new one), and successfully proceeded through the station and onto the tube. We got to Westminster (finally) with time to spare. This is why you always leave early.

You never know what could happen.

    When we left the station, we were facing the London Eye. It was across the river from us and looked absolutely beautiful. Our tour guide told us later that each of the cars on the wheel represents a borough of London, and that on a clear day you can see for 25 miles from the top. We took some pictures before joining our tour group.

It's really, really, really big.

      

Statue of Queen Boudicca (or Boudica, or Boadicea) and the Eye. Queen Boudicca fought the Romans when they conquered Southern England.

Nobody knows where she's buried. She committed suicide rather than let the Romans kill her.

They had a pancake cart outside of the station!

     London was extremely cold that day. I plan on going back to the city when I feel I can appreciate it more, as do most other people who went on the tour. For the most part, we couldn't wait until it was over so we could get inside and eat warm food. I'll relay what I remember from the tour! Let's start with the pancake cart picture: if you walked up those steps and looked right, you would see this:

Couldn't fit it all in one picture...

Er, no, normally it isn't sideways. For some reason, Blogger won't let me save or publish this post with the picture right side up. Just save it to your computer and rotate it, or use your imagination.

     Bam. Some of the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben. As I learned on the tour, Big Ben is the name of the bell itself inside the tower. (Fun facts: the bell is cracked, and the same company that made that bell made the Liberty Bell.)  The official name for the tower is the Elizabeth Tower, or the Clock Tower of London. Of course, everyone just calls it Big Ben anyway. Moving along past Big Ben we see:

Really, Blogger? Why are you acting like this?

Again, they aren't really sideways. Just use your imagination or fix it yourself!

     There are more pictures of Parliament! Sideways pictures, because Blogger is being mean to me and pitching a fit if I make them normal, but pictures nonetheless. We learned a good bit of London history on the tour, as well as British history in general. I would relay more if I remembered it. The cold was rather distracting and the city was loud, which made the guide hard to hear at times. Around this part of the tour we were learning about a time period where the ruler changed frequently, and each ruler alternated between Catholicism and Protestantism. Hetalia fans may recognize this as the part when the character of England is at a bar, drunk and lamenting, "Am I Catholic, or am I Protestant? Oh, God, I just. don't. know."

It's okay, England. You'll figure it out eventually...

    

     There are a few statues in front of Parliament that you might recognize. One of them is of Richard I, or Richard the Lionheart. (Who, might I add, looks exactly like Graham Chapman's King Arthur in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.)

Let us ride to...Camelot!

     The other one is Oliver Cromwell. If you're English, he is a hero who is responsible for ending the reign of Charles I. If you're Irish, he is a right bastard who "walks hand-in-hand with Satan" (words of a girl from my Irish History class) for his invasion of Ireland and campaign against the Catholics. 

Ugh, again? ...Actually, you know what? He can stay sideways. Take THAT! I sure showed him!

     The next stop was Westminster Abbey, which I definitely want to have a look around in next time I'm in London. The outside has beautiful Gothic architecture and the statues and carvings in it are unbelievable! 

Again...

Sorry about the blur. Took this while walking.

Various martyrs. 5th from the left is Martin Luther King.

     Next we went into Hyde Park and saw the biggest crows I've ever seen, as well as the most socialized squirrels I've ever seen. Yes, the squirrels will bite, but they will also hop into people's laps and eat food from their hands if offered. Very strange.

Monument outside of the palace.

The queen's home. She wasn't there at the time, otherwise her flag would be flying instead of the regular one.

     Final stop was Trafalgar Square. Sherlock fans will recognize the National Gallery from The Blind Banker!

I hope I figure out the problem for the next post...

     After the tour was done, most of us scrambled back into Kingston as fast as we could to get food and warmth. Even though we wanted to try a new pub, me, Amy, Sufi, and a Nigerian boy whose name I can't even pronounce, let alone spell, found the King's Tun first and decided to just go in there rather than wander around any more. We all decided to try a calorie-stuffed Brunch Burger.

I didn't finish.

    

    Once we were done eating, we parted ways. I headed back to my lodging and got rest. So ends my first day trip to London!

     I was going to talk about my trip to Windsor today in this post, but it is rather late over here (1:30AM) and I think this post has gone on long enough. I'll write about Windsor tomorrow night!

     More stories to come...

The Adventure Begins...

Hello! You found the compass!

Where am I? What time is it? Who are these people?

   

     Well, I've made it to England! (This post will be a bit long, as it thoroughly covers my first night and day here.) The plane ride was both smooth and shorter than expected. I was so tired (I didn’t sleep the night before) that I fell asleep before the plane took off. Of course, once it started moving I was awake again (sigh). I got breakfast on the plane, which was a surprise. Passengers were offered either an omelet or English breakfast. I figured that I could start my blending in early and ordered the English breakfast (everyone else was ordering it, too). An English breakfast is (apparently):
 -Scrambled eggs with whole grilled mushrooms, a grilled tomato, a sausage, and a slice of meat that I think was bacon, but it didn’t look too appetizing and I didn’t want to test my stomach on a plane
-Plain, nonfat yogurt
-A roll with jam and butter
-Some sort of apple pastry
-Orange juice

     (Most of food didn't taste great, though I blame the fact that it was airplane food for that.) After eating a bit of my English breakfast I was offered tea in a plastic teacup. I only drank a few sips before I got sleepy again. I didn't sleep much when we were in the air, but I appreciated any snoozing I could get. For the last part of the journey I watched Rock of Ages, which apparently is another musical-turned-movie, though instead of original show tunes it uses classic rock songs. It was a decently cheesy and predictable comedy, but I found the main characters completely boring. The supporting cast (Tom Cruise, Alec Baldwin, Russell Brand) completely outshined them. Overall it’s really not that great of a movie (in my humble opinion), but I would see it again on some cheesy movie night in a heartbeat (again, mostly because of the supporting cast).

      We flew in over Ireland so I got to see Cork at night. Heathrow is a large airport. The one terminal I flew into was enormous in itself, and there are (I think) four other ones that I didn't see. When I arrived in Heathrow I had no idea where I was going, so I chose to follow the pack. Everyone got in a lift; I followed. They hopped on a subway (yes, in the airport); I followed. Sure enough, they led me right to baggage claim and the UK Border Agency. I grabbed my luggage and got into the country without a hitch. I managed to find a man holding a Kingston University sign and went over to join him. He was supposed to be picking up different students, but told me to stay with him until my driver arrived. He was very funny and had a marvelous accent (of course), and kept me company. Once I found my taxi, I got into the "passenger's seat" (the seat I'm usually driving in) and got my first on-the-ground look at England. One of the first things I noticed (besides the small cringe I gave whenever we drove the "wrong way" into a traffic circle) was that the traffic lights here are different than in America. The colors and position are the same, however they go from green, to yellow, to red, back to yellow, and to green again. Once the red light turns yellow, the driver can let go of the brake and start forward. Another thing I noticed early was that there are urban foxes running around in the area. I saw two of them my first night here!

            My taxi driver was nice. We chatted for most of the ride to the house. It turns out that he lived in America for awhile because of work (he was out in Oregon). He wondered what my big “English moment” would be. I wasn’t sure what he meant, so I asked what his American moment was. He told me he was riding a motorcycle next to a lake when “a big bald eagle swooped down and started flying next to me. I wanted to cheer ‘Yeeah! U-S-A! Goddamn, this is a great country!’” When I have my English moment, I shall report back. As we continued our drive, we turned down a street in town near my residence and he remarked “Here is a nice English street! You’ve got your Papa John’s, McDonald’s, and Kentucky Fried Chicken…oh, there are the pubs. That’s better.” There were nice pubs at the end of the street, but it was very funny and surprising to see a Papa John’s. I knew that McDonald’s and KFC were all over the world, but Papa John’s? I can’t even get that in Fairhaven anymore!

            He dropped me off and I got to meet my landlord, Miss Palmer. She was very welcoming and made me dinner before showing me the bus to get to campus, what the campus looked like, and how to get to the grocery store (Sainsbury’s). A note about dinner: it seems that when a British family cannot eat on a proper table (due to clutter, etc) that they eat off of trays. Granted, I am basing that statement on only two instances (us eating off of trays and that moment in Sherlock when John and his girlfriend did). Anyway, it is very practical and I think that America should take this up! Think about it: If you spilled food it would land on the tray; if you have hot plates they don’t have to go directly in your lap; you have a level surface to put your plate and drink on! It certainly makes eating on a couch easier. As we ate, we watched a British comedy that was very funny despite the fact that I had no idea what was going on. We also talked about American politics. As I’ve found out, everybody here and even the people from other countries love Obama. Everyone asks about him and if I saw his speech (which is a no, as I was on a plane). It’s kind of funny how much people ask about him. Miss Palmer said that everyone in England supports him because Romney was too extreme for them. She looked totally shocked after I told her that Romney is considered moderate in the states. After dinner and driving, I went to bed. Aside from waking up on and off because of those “late for school” dreams, I slept well.

            I woke up early the next day (today) to take the bus to the school and go to the International Student Welcome and enrollment. At the welcome, I got to know a few students I was sitting next to and we all heard several speakers. One woman talked about a course she was doing called Understanding Britain (which is basically a shorter version of my British Life and Culture course, which is a “real” course in that I get credit). One of the things she brought up is that the Britons always talk about the weather. This is true. The first thing the Vice Chancellor (president) of the school talked about was the snow, which is unusual for the area. When he found out there were a few New Yorkers in the room, he asked, “How much snow does it take before the trains stop in New York? Two, three meters? Well here in London it takes two or three centimeters. So, really, that means our snow is about ten times more efficient than your wimpy American snow. You are in the place with the most efficient snow...Welcome to Kingston.” I was also asked by several people, immediately upon finding out where I am from, what the weather was like in Massachusetts. When in doubt, discuss the weather. Everyone can talk about weather.

            During the welcome reception, we played a game called the Country Game. Everyone stands up, and when the woman running the session (her name escapes me) says the name of the country you’re from you sit down again. She got the big one, the United States, out of the way first; there were a lot of Americans! (There were about 150 people in the room, and I’d say half of them sat down when the United States was called out.) The president mentioned that Kingston is the most international school in the area, with a little over 20% of the students being from a different country. (Pretty cool, right?) Sure enough, we had students from all over: Korea, Sri Lanka, Serbia, France, Italy, Australia, Iraq, Ethiopia, Jordan, Turkey, Norway, Egypt, Spain, and one Canadian. (There were other countries, but I can’t remember all of them!) After the welcome, I went on a walking tour of Kingston (town, not school) where I met a pretty girl from France. She has a very heavy accent, but for the most part we were able to understand each other. Her name sounded like Ellen or Elaine, something like that. I also met a girl from Pennsylvania, a girl from Michigan, and a girl from Australia. The Australian was amusing; she admitted that at one point she thought that Mexico was not a country, but the 52^nd state in the U.S. (No word yet on what the 51^st was.) We got to talking about school holidays, and she said that Australia doesn’t even get Australia Day off! One guy asked what Australia day was, and if it was like Independence Day. The girl replied, “It’s more like a ‘hooray for being Australian’ day. It’s not an independence day because we’re not independent; we’re England’s bitch.”

I guess the flag sums it up.

      The tour of central Kingston was very pretty. I didn’t have my camera, but I wish I did! We walked along the Thames, which was gorgeous, and saw shops, pubs, and a market. Now I’ll just have to learn my way back there to do some exploring on my own! I think I can remember the route we took; there were a lot of landmarks, like a big sculpture of paper airplanes, a theatre, the Thames (big landmark), and a mall.didn’t know this until Miss Palmer told me, but apparently Kingston is a well-known shopping area and people will travel to get to its department stores and shops. Our tour guide pointed out all of the student-friendly (i.e. cheap) shops to go to. One of the shops we passed by was T.K. Maxx. Yes, T.K. It had the exact same logo as T.J. Maxx, so I don’t know if they are sister stores or what. All of the Americans in our group looked at it and went, “hey, wait a minute!” 

            After the tour we got a free lunch, where I met a student from Memphis. He got my idea and already tried the McDonald’s around here to see what is different, and he also found a pub with great fish and chips. I want him to show me the way sometime soon, as it’s in the town I am in (Surbiton). I then I officially enrolled in Kingston University! It turns out that enrollment has nothing to do with classes, but rather just clarifying visa and financial information, and getting a student I.D. So, this means that the modules I signed up for are the ones I am taking! (Happy days.) While I was at the school I also signed up for a few social events that Kingston has for the international students. On Friday I get to go on a walking tour of London, and the following Friday or Saturday I get to participate in Photo Frenzy. Essentially it is a photography scavenger hunt in London and I think (hope) we’re in teams. Whichever team takes the best pictures of all of the correct monuments wins something, and all teams get a free meal after. I think being in a team environment like that will make meeting people very easy. Let’s hope!

            Once I was done at the school, it was time to go grocery shopping. I am proud to say that I successfully figured out the bus to take to the store, did my shopping, and took the correct bus home. For the ride home, I sat in the top section of the double-decker as a reward to myself. It was fun being up so high! I think I’ll ride on the top from now on. At the store I got myself a Nectar Card (the equivalent of a Stop and Shop card), and I felt all official and happy inside. I also managed to stay well under my budget limit for weekly grocery shopping, as I got only a few cheap basics that can be my meals for the week. (I did forget to buy crumpets, which is a must-try for me. Also, the supermarket has its own section for tea cakes. Another random fun fact: Frosted Flakes are called Frosties here.) When I got home I tried to figure out if my grocery budget was also my dining out budget, and it turns out that I already did all of that math back in the states. I feel so proud and efficient. I know that, financially, I will do just fine. It was a great way to end the evening.

            I took an involuntary nap halfway through writing this, which I guess means I should be off to bed (though I’m not as tired now). Tomorrow we have orientation. I’m not exactly sure what we’ll be doing, but it should be another fun day. Hopefully I can find my way to the student council and ask about clubs and societies and the campus gym. Tomorrow night there is a meet-up for international students at a local pub, which I am definitely attending. I just have to find my way there...For now, I'm off to sleep.

That was me writing this.

Will talk soon! (I’ll actually have pictures next time.)

    

Dawn of the Final Week: 7 Days Remain

Hello! You found the compass!


     Oh, boy. So here begins my final week in the United States before I go off and live in England for five months. I woke up this morning with next to no plans for the week, but have since made several arrangements to keep myself distracted and avoid panicking. I think I have a decent list going, but other suggestions from friends include:
A) Eat burgers.
B) Run around the house naked with an American flag draped over my shoulders like a cape. (Sounds fun, but I think I'll pass.)

     All things considered, I've actually been relatively calm so far. I have contacted my landlord and she sounds like a very kind woman, I have completed the first step in enrolling for my classes (second step takes place face-to-face), and I am more excited about leaving than I am nervous. Of course, I say that now knowing full well that on Sunday night I will look like this:

Beaker says it best.

     No doubt I will barely be able to sleep that night, or on the plane. I can't sleep on flights, and I envy those who can! I suppose this isn't worth worrying about just yet, though. I have my final week here to relax. The only important things left to do are: tell my bank that I'm leaving the country for a few months and ask them to please not freeze my account when a transaction takes place in England (always good to remember this step when going abroad), print out lots of documents to prove I belong in the U.K. (pro tip: if you decide to study abroad, make sure you have access to a reliable printer), do laundry, and pack. I am only bringing one suitcase and a backpack, so figuring out what to bring and how to pack it will be an interesting little challenge. The lighter I pack, the easier it is to travel. When I was in Japan, Tim only brought one backpack; no suitcase. He certainly had an easier time getting from place-to-place than the rest of us. Packing light is the way to go! Maybe I'll get some of those fancy plastic bag things that you put clothes in and then push all the air out of to save space. Actually, that's not a bad idea...

     Yesterday I came to the conclusion that I definitely caught the travel bug. I am about to go to England for five months and already some friends and I are planning our glorious return to Japan at some point in the next few years. I have also been planning a late-summer trip to Gettysburg, a place I went often when I was younger. (The plans for that trip have been in the works since before I applied to Kingston!) I haven't begun my next adventure and I'm already planning the one after it! What can I say? Exploring new places is absolutely thrilling, and returning to old ones (like Gettysburg) for the first time as an adult will be heartwarming, though it will probably make me feel old.

     Well, there isn't a whole lot to say. This is definitely one of the worst parts of planning a big trip: waiting. After all of the paperwork that I had to fill out, all of the things I printed or photocopied, all of the email exchanges in preparation for my studies, it's almost uncomfortable not being busy. I keep worrying that I am forgetting something, but I have yet to find anything missing. Once I get to England, things will be hectic again; My first two days will be very busy, but if I can survive them I think I'll be okay. I just need to get through class registration and orientation in one piece! 

     I didn't make plans for today, but I think I'll go out and do some travel-shopping so I'm not just sitting around. That suitcase isn't going to pack itself, and I need to be prepared for England!

 

     The next time I make a post, it will be from London. Goodbye for now!

Rule, Britannia!

Hello! You found the compass!


Today marks a glorious day! (Okay, technically the glorious day happened four days ago. Just work with me.) Earlier in the semester, I had applied through CCIS (College Consortium for International Studies) to Kingston University in London. I experienced three of the most anxiety-ridden weeks of my life before finally getting an email saying...


...that they had accepted me as a student for next semester! Huzzah! I cannot adequately depict the glory of the happy dance I did when I opened the email, so here is Christian Bale doing something similar:

Judging by the thing over his suit, I'm assuming this is American Psycho. Can anyone confirm? I'm too scared...

So, dear reader, this means that I will have plenty of pictures to post and stories to tell from good ole England. I arrive in late January and will be there until some time in May. If you have any suggestions regarding things to do, places I should visit, things you want me to take pictures of, and so on, please leave them in the comments! (I love comments!)

I am extremely excited to be a part of Kingston University in the coming months! Three cheers for England!
 
"England," you might say, "you mean the place with all the gross food, bad teeth, terrible weather, bulldog-lovers, and people who always say things like 'spiffy' and 'cheerio'?"

No. That's not right. England has far more to offer, as you shall see...

Now that the stereotypes are out of the way, let us focus on a few things we can thank England for and what England means to me. For writers, England had Arthur Conan Doyle, Shakespeare, and John Milton (to name the first three that come to mind). TV shows: Sherlock, The Office (yes, the U.K. had that first), and Monty Python's Flying Circus (again, only the first three to come to mind). Music: The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and The Moody Blues. (Remember the rule of three. I know there are MANY more.) England is also very culturally rich and I cannot wait to dive in headfirst! I want to see and do everything I possibly can in the time I am there. If I am not tired from running around, exploring, and learning new things at the end of almost every day I will be disappointed in myself. I want to take advantage of the four months I will spend in England and make sure that I have plenty of photos and stories that I can share with you!

So where exactly will I be and what will I be doing in college? Well, here is a map of the Greater London area with the Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames highlighted in green (courtesy of the official website of Kingston):

 That's where I will be, at Kingston University. Here is a website for some fast facts about the school:

http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/kingston

As for what I will be doing: taking classes and adventuring! It looks like I got into all of my first-choice classes, which is absolutely thrilling! I'll be taking British Life and Culture (the class for international students), an independent creative writing study, a songwriting class (which makes me nervous as I've never written a song, but it sounds fun), and Japanese I. Japanese language classes aren't available at MCLA, and I want to go back to Japan someday, so I figured that I should take the class at Kingston! If my schedule changes due to time conflicts, Kingston University offers many other courses that I would be happy to take. They have a wide variety of subjects that MCLA doesn't. I'll have access to great classes that I can't get here, which makes me a happy student. To top it off, Kingston is only a 25 minute train ride from the City of London.


I am already extremely excited about studying abroad! I've started making a mental list of places that I want to visit (which I should probably turn into a real list, as my memory isn't the best). Of course I am nervous as well, but the excitement helps balance the nerves. I have a feeling that I'm going to enjoy England very, very much. I hope I do! (Really, though, how could I not? This is all so amazing!)

Now, I am afraid I must go finish a short paper that I have been putting off for a little while now. At least I'm staying on the same subject (England): the paper is an analysis of a monologue in John Milton's "A Mask Presented at Ludlow Castle".

Oh, Milton. What a fine writer were. Good man!

I Took A Visit To Our Nation's Capital

Hello! You found the compass!


For my twenty-first birthday, I took a trip down to Washington DC to see the capital of the United States for the first time. My brother was an excellent tour guide, and I have plenty of pictures to post and stories to tell!

To begin, have a look at this picture of the city (courtesy of visitingdc.com):

Notice anything? There are no skyscrapers in DC! That is because no building in the city is allowed to be taller than the Capitol Building, or so my brother told me. Out of curiosity, I did some research online and found that my brother's explanation was not exactly accurate (sorry, Mat). Back in 1899 that was the case with a building height regulation act (saying that no building could be taller than the Capitol), but in 1910 the act was amended by stating that no building could be twenty feet taller than the width of the street that it faces (so if a street was 80 feet across, the building could only be 100 feet tall). Then again, the internet isn't always entirely accurate so perhaps the explanation that I found isn't correct either. You decide!

No matter the reason, I was pleased that DC didn't have the skyscrapers of a "regular" city. It makes the city feel lighter, and I didn't feel as small as I do in Boston or New York City.

After picking me up at Regan International Airport, my brother decided that we should hit as many of the big monuments as we could in one night. I liked the idea of getting to see the famous monuments at dusk, so off we went. Our first stop (after dropping off my overnight bag, that is) was the White House. We weren't sure if the President was home or not and, though I tried, I couldn't catch a glimpse of any snipers on the roof (which I suppose means that they're good at what they do). Rather than seeing the White House from the front (google "White House" and it's probably the first picture that comes up) we decided to check out the back. It turns out that even though the iconic pictures of the White House are taken from the front, people can get much closer to the building if they go around back.

There you have it: The White House. (I apologize for the over-exposure. I hadn't practiced with my camera before the trip and I was rusty.)

After getting the best picture I could (which involved wading through pools of other tourists), I turned and noticed a tent was set up across the street in Lafayette Park. I snapped a photo and my brother told me a story.

Apparently, there is an elderly woman living in that tent and she has lived there since the early 1980's. She is there to protest the use of atomic weapons and have a permanent "peace vigil" outside of the White House. Any money people donate to her is used to buy food, and she has friends watch her tent if she needs to use the bathroom (as you can see, she was not home at the time we were there). Here are a few more pictures of Lafayette Park:

Ugh, so much over-exposure. I get better.

Our next stop was the Washington Monument, and I got some pictures along the way. One was of the Treasury Department, and the others were of a beautiful monument that we found. Neither one of us was sure of what the monument was commemorating (the area was closing, so we had to take the pictures and skedaddle) though we deduced, judging by the uniforms, that it was something to do with the Civil War.

The Treasury Department

The Washington Monument (or, according to some, the Clinton Memorial. Har har.)

All of the famous monuments are very close together. From where I took the picture of the Washington Monument, directly behind me was the World War II memorial. If you are ever in DC, you absolutely must go visit the World War II memorial. Both sections (one for each war theater) are beautiful. Here is the Pacific Theater memorial: 

Each of those columns has the name of a state on it. Mat and I walked around until we found Massachusetts, our home state and the state that our grandfather (who fought in the war) lived in. 

Aaaaand, it's crooked. I'm sorry. Someday I'll go back and re-take it.

Moving right along from the World War II memorial, we saw the memorials for Korea and Vietnam, as well as the Lincoln Memorial. We didn't get close to Lincoln, so I don't have a picture of him. Here is what I got:

The Korean War Memorial.

 I wish that I had remembered how to make pictures darker when I was at the Korean War Memorial. When Mat and I got there, it was already pretty darn dark out (much darker than the picture makes it seem). The darkness made the horrified, pained, and zombie-like expressions on the soldier's faces that much scarier. It is a disturbing memorial, both in how terrified and soulless (read: like they had lost their souls, not that they never had them) the soldiers look and in that it rings true to how they must have felt.

We passed through the Vietnam Memorial next, but no photographs were allowed of the actual wall  so you'll have to Google that. Needless to say, it was sobering. The sheer number of names on the wall is both overwhelming and angering. As my brother said, "Look at all these names, look at all the people who died. And for what?" No doubt that crosses the minds of anyone who visits. Here is the one statue of Vietnam that could be photographed, and my picture doesn't do justice to the intricate detailing of the soldiers. They looked real!

Shortly after the Vietnam Memorial we saw Lincoln's Memorial! We decided not to walk up the steps as it was getting dark (my camera is good at brightening things, because it was really dark at this point), so here is the one halfway-decent photo I got.

The reflecting pool, Washington Monument, and Capitol Building. Also crooked. Sigh.

That wrapped up the first day in Washington DC. 

The next day was mostly filled with resting, but since it was my birthday we hit a restaurant and a few bars. The restaurant we went to was called Hill Country. Let me tell you that if you are ever in DC and like barbeque that you are doing yourself a serious disservice by not going there; this place is delicious. I had the most scrumptious corn bread with Ancho Honey butter, green bean casserole, and beef rib of my life. All of the meats are smoked, which makes them so incredibly delicious. I also tried my first margarita, courtesy of my brother, which he had to finish for me. I stuck with Amaretto for the rest of the night. (Even now, the only alcohol that I like the taste of is Amaretto. I've tried just about everything else with no success.)

After Hill Country, we went to a "speak-easy" of sorts. It's a hidden bar in a Living Social building (you need to be an employee to access it), and you can tell that the bartenders are true professionals by the way they make their drinks. When we told the bartender what I like (Amaretto) she recommended I try an Amaretto Sour. I had never had a sour drink before (and the thought of drinking egg whites seemed odd) but I gave it a shot. It was delicious!

Thanks, Living Social!

That about wrapped up day two.

Day three, the final day where we could do just about anything (I had to leave early the next morning), kept us busy. My brother lives in Virginia, just outside of DC. He knows that I love Civil War history, so after a stop at Dunkin Donuts we headed out to Manassas Battlefield (one of the few major battlefields in Virginia that my family hadn't visited). My history on Manassas was a bit rusty so,when typing this, I'll have to look up a few facts. Hopefully I can get across the story well enough, along with pretty pictures to assist me! Before I get to Manassas specifically, here is a graph that was in the Manassas Battlefield Museum:

Unbelievable, isn't it?

To avoid confusion (though, actually, this might cause more) I should probably explain that there were two battles at Manassas and that Manassas has two names. The battles were called "The First and Second Battles of Manassas" by the Confederacy (the South) and "The First and Second Battles of Bull Run" by the Union (the North). For the sake of keeping things straight, I'm going to refer to it as Manassas, the Southern name. (Manassas is the name of the city that the battle took place near, so I think it's fair to say that is it's proper name. Bull Run was just the name of a stream. Come on.) Moving on to the history lesson...

(I will try to make this brief. If you wish to research more details, I encourage you to do so!) The Battle of First Manassas began on July 21, 1861. An army of men lead by Union General Irvin McDowell was trying to break through Southern lines to capture Richmond, Virginia, and end the war. It was in this battle that Thomas Jackson got his nickname "Stonewall". The Confederates were being pushed back, and some type of exchange happened between Jackson and a fellow officer (I can't find anywhere that seems sure of what exactly the exchange was). Either way, the other officer shouted "There stands Jackson like a stone wall! Rally behind the Virginians!" Hence the name Stonewall Jackson. Much of the fighting took place on Henry Hill, so named after the house of Judith Carter Henry. Judith was an elder who either couldn't leave or refused to leave her house once the fighting started. As Captain James Ricketts (of the Union) received fire from Henry Hill (where the Confederates were), he believed that some of the fire was coming from the house and turned his guns on the building. A shell went through Judith Henry's bedroom window and mortally wounded her. I won't go into excessive battle details, but essentially the Union retreated and the Confederates won the day. 

The Battle of Second Manassas was fought on the same ground from August 28-30, 1862 with many more soldiers than the first one. It was fought between Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and Union Major General John Pope's Army of Virginia. Quick summary so we can get to the pictures and more stories: Stonewall Jackson's army was posing a threat to John Pope's men. Pope retaliated on August 29th and bloodied up Jackson's men. On August 30th, he thought that he had cornered Jackson, so he initiated an assault against him. Little did Pope know that General Longstreet had arrived to assist Jackson, and Longstreet's men crushed Pope's men. The Union retreated, and Confederates won the day again.

(How did I do, Dad?)

It always amazes me how beautiful the battlefields are, considering what violent acts took place on them. Manassas was no exception.

The restored Judith Henry house.

There was one really amusing thing at Manassas:  the statue of Jackson. Standing where Jackson stood upon getting his nickname is a statue of his "likeness" (assuming that Jackson's father was Thor and his horse belonged to one of the Four Horsemen).

He was kind enough to share his leftover breakfast steroids with his horse. How sweet.

After departing Manassas, we went to the famous Spy Museum! It is absolutely worth checking it out if you ever get the chance to. If possible, pay the extra ten bucks and do the interactive spy mission. It's a lot of fun! Essentially, you play the role of a spy in a team of anywhere from four to eight people and try to get to the bottom of a betrayal that involves nuclear weapons and all sorts of James Bond-y stuff. At the end, you get a score out of five and our team got 3/5! (According to the guide, 3/5 is pretty good. Apparently most groups get 2/5, rarely is there a 4/5, and the only people who get 5/5 are employees.) Right near the Spy Museum is a pizza place called Pi, and there I ate one of the best white pizzas ever made. The pizza isn't greasy, the crust is crunchy, there are deep-dish options, and (of course) create-your-own pizzas. It's a great place to go after working up an appetite by solving an international crime. Spy on!

Our final stop before ending our DC adventures was Ford's Theatre, the place where (as you should know) Abraham Lincoln was assassinated.

The new theatre.

The old theatre.

The house across from the theatre, where Lincoln died.

That's about it for my DC adventure! It's a marvelous city. I didn't get to see the Presidential Motorcade (now THAT would have been cool), but I did get to see some beautiful memorials and got to experience my country's capital!

Thank you for reading! Hopefully, I will be going abroad again soon and can post more often. Farewell for now!

Looking back at Japan...

Hello! You found the compass!

Here is the final post about Japan. I miss that country very much. The people were nice, the language was comfortable to speak, and the food was quite good (I only recently stopped craving udon, though I miss that too). Without further delay, here are a few stories about Japan followed by my lessons learned there.

Fun story about Japan #1: Tim discovered that he got discounts for being black. He ran into some African merchants, and they talked about their troubles with being allowed to live and work in Japan. (It's a tough country to get into.) Turns out that one of them had a Japanese girlfriend who apparently was a huge help with the whole process. Anyway, they liked Tim and happily gave to him what they called "brother discounts". So, if you are of African descent and ever visit Harajuku, hit them up!

Fun story about Japan #2: Outside of a strip club was a sign that said "Sexual Harassment Zone."

Fun story about Japan #3: When I gave up my seat on the subway for that elderly man, I only knew how to say "please". So I just kept saying that, bowing, and gesturing to my seat. He smiled and said a few sentences before finally sitting down, probably realizing that I had no idea what he was saying anyway and I was going to keep standing. When I got off the train, he smiled and bowed to me. It was endearing.

Fun story about Japan #4: Kristen got serenaded by a young man as we were leaving the karaoke bar. I may have told you that already, but it deserved mention.

Fun story about Japan #5: Soft serve ice cream is to Japan what Dunkin Donuts is to Massachusetts. Soft serve ice cream is available just about everywhere! In fact, I never saw "regular" ice cream stands (which was fine with me, because I prefer soft serve). They also have many different flavors of soft serve, including: sakura, rose, banana, green tea, and sweet potato (which I tried; it really does taste like a cold sweet potato). 

      I'm sure that there are other little anecdotes that I forgot to write about. However, the five above plus all of the blog entries I wrote during the trip ought to suffice.

      Now, to wrap up, some lessons learned in Japan:

-Cheesecake Haagen Dazs needs to come to the states.

-There is a lot to see in the world, and it’s never a bad time to start exploring. 

-It is okay to reflect back on things, even tragedies, so long as lessons are learned and used to help the present and future. 

-No matter how curious you are, some things are best left unexplored. (Looking at you, Maid Dreaming.)

-Though I still don’t get along with most seafood, the sashimi wasn’t bad. Branching out and trying new food is a fun experience. 

-I’ve always wanted to build my own home someday, and I’d certainly model a room after the traditional inn that we stayed in. Everything was simple, elegant, and comfortable. (Especially the tatami mats and futons.)

-It is refreshing to see ancient religions being widely practiced in peace and, sometimes literally, side-by-side. There was something very relaxing and rejuvenating about the shrines and temples.   

- Fashion is fun. Expensive, but fun.

-Not knowing a language is a minor barrier. Everyone speaks charades. 

-No matter where you are, cute animals are a valid temporary distraction from your goal.

-Chopsticks are far more fun than a fork.

-Nature is always worthy of admiration.

-Sakura is a great flavor for just about anything.  On the food note, curry is delicious and sweet potato ice cream is weird.

-Getting to know people in a different country makes for more interesting bonding than on a campus where we all know the language.

-Oh yes, I do Kyoto.

      And finally, the thing that most often pops into my head when I think of Japan and all of the fun experiences that I had there with my peers is:

 

 WE HAVE TO GO BACK!

 

         Thank you to everyone who followed this blog. (Sorry about the font being all weird with the lessons list. Didn't care to fix it. It adds character...?) Oyasuminasai!

Day Ten: The last hurrah...

Hello! You found the compass!


      Bah humbug. Today marked our final day in Ikebukuro, and none of us are fully ready to leave. I miss the United States, but Japan is a really cool country.

      Today was simple. Tess, Tim, and I ate breakfast at a bakery in Ikebukuro Station. After that, the group headed into Harajuku to do some exploring and shopping. Right when we got out of the train station, I saw a familiar street name: Takeshita Street. I had read about it on a tourism website and heard that it was great for shopping, so we took a stroll. We were originally planning on finding a store called the Oriental Bazaar that we had read about, but had no success.

Entrance to Takeshita Street.

      After leaving Harajuku, I returned to Sunshine City in hopes of finding either a hat or some shoes. (I like Japanese fashion!) I did find a fedora to replace the one that I lost on the plane ride from Newark to Tokyo, and I like it much better than the one that I lost. Tess seems to think that it looks good. Eric thinks I look like a mobster, so I'll just take that as a compliment. I ate a crepe for the first time, too. It was a "berryberry cake" crepe, or something like that. Essentially it was blueberry juice, strawberries, whipped cream, and pound cake pieces. It was an excellent dessert!

      I got back to the hotel and sat down for a little while before Eric and Kristen asked if I would like to join them for dinner and a last visit to Akihabara. We went out with almost everyone (Tim stayed in because he didn't want to spend more yen) and grabbed something to eat. We checked out a few more anime and game stores in Akihabara. I found a trinket for a friend, but nothing that I wanted to spend my money on for myself. Ah well, I have photos!

      Tess and I left Akihabara before the others and took the subway back to Ikebukuro. While walking to the liquor store from the train station, a Japanese man who looked about our age approached us. He had glasses and was wearing a sparkly black fedora. He spoke a little English, and asked if Tess and I would care to join him for a quick drink. As polite as he seemed, Tess and I politely declined. We thanked him and said we had other plans (not entirely untrue). I felt slightly bad, so as we walked away I shouted "kawai'i desu!" back at him. ("It is cute!" I think he knew what the American was trying to say...) Better than nothing, I suppose.

     One trip to the liquor store later, Tess and I headed back to the hotel loaded up on soda and booze (and by "loaded up" I mean I bought one bottle as a gift and one bottle for fun, and Tess bought a gift). They didn't have the small Disaronno bottles, so I got the next size up and we had a get-together in our room with Tim, Eric, Franco, and Kristen. Drinks were on me! We reminisced about our adventures and talked about what we were going to do after Japan. None of us had really gotten a chance to interact with Tim or Franco before, so now we'll just have to have more parties and make sure to keep up with each other!

      I'll take the time now to discuss some interesting tidbits about Japan and revelations that I (or someone else) had while here. Firstly, did you know that it is polite to slurp loudly when drinking the broth from things like Udon?

     Second: the cities here are extremely clean and yet finding a trash can is extremely hard. We're not sure how Japan does it, but whatever they do works. There is rarely litter. Also, cities are much quieter. Ikebukuro is silent outside right now. Even during the daytime in Kyoto, there would be lulls where everything would just be quiet right in the middle of the city! There isn't nearly as much angry beeping as is in the United States.

     Third: Everyone is polite. I gave up a subway seat for an elderly man and at first he refused, but I insisted that he sit. When I got off of the train, he looked at me and bowed his head. Shopkeepers will always greet you when entering and exiting their shops, and the language barrier doesn't phase them. I don't know if I told the story of the woman in Asakusa who sold us yukatas and kimonos, but she was wonderful! She was a middle aged woman who was able to help three customers at once without skipping a beat. She was attentive to everyone's needs and would communicate with us using any English she knew and miming. When she was explaining the proper way to wear a kimono, she showed us the right way and nodded. Then she showed us the wrong way, shook her head, crossed herself, pointed to the sky and said "amen". (The dead wear their kimonos differently than the living.)
 

      More lessons to continue in the next blog post, which I wrote before realizing that I hadn't published this one...

Oyasuminasai!