The love of my life

Queen Elizabeth II AKA my babi gurl came to Worcester today. It was the grand opening of the newly built public library here. She is 5 foot nothin and 86 years old, I can make that work.

Olympics Hysteria

Everybody from the Ball State crew made it back from London...even Bad Luck Dan. For being such a sprawling metropolis, London is pretty simple to navigate. We stayed at a hotel called the Bankside by the Tate Modern museum. It was close to all the tourist attractions but not too close to where it was crowded, perfect location. For three days straight I went exploring, I got a good taste of London. My eyes witnessed many uh spectacle, I was overloaded with breathtaking views of historic buildings and bridges. There was plenty of Olympics excitement going around, the Olympic rings are hanging from Tower Bridge which is a pretty sweet sight to see. Staying in London for a weekend is not enough time though, I gotta get back there. Traveling around like this has provoked my inner explorer. I'm not coming back to America. haha

Strawberry Fields Forever

I'm back up on my blog grind. Haven't been doing the best job at blogging all my experience, tons of amazing stuff has happened in the past week. Last Saturday we traveled to Liverpool and took a trip on the Magical Mystery Tour. I got schooled by the tour guide, he knew an ample amount about the Beatles. Some friends I went to high school with might love the Beatles more than him though. PROM 2010! Anyways, we visited each of the Beatles boyhood homes, it was pretty neat. The most fascinating spots were Penny Lane and Strawberry fields. These sites inspired the Beatles, especially John Lennon. The picture below will show you that Strawberry fields isn't actually what you would think. We finished off the tour with a visit to the Cavern Club. This is where the Beatles played 300 plus times and really hit it big. Dozens of famous artists play in the Cavern Club now, most recently was Adele. I would have loved to stay longer and hangout in the Cavern Club, great atmosphere. 

Spreek jij Nederlands?

My first weekend trip was to Amsterdam. I'd like to think this was one of the best decisions I have ever made, quite a life changing experience. Holland is beautiful and the Dutch are very nice people from my experience. Before I left for this study abroad program, I had countless people telling me the do's and don'ts of traveling and living in another country. A couple of people told me horror stories of traveling, most of which ended with tragic outcomes. Occasionally I was reminded of the movie Taken. Not sure why. I'm not a 16 year old girl bro? On the other hand, some of that information was helpful and its important to stay alert in any situation. I would like to thank the people who informed me about traveling abroad and living in another country. I think I actually retained some of that information and its made this experience much smoother. When traveling to foreign places you always feel like you must keep your guard up. While meandering around Amsterdam I noticed that I was so worried about everything else, I forgot to enjoy what was going on around me. At this point, I began to notice what truly made Amsterdam great. It wasn't the red light district or the coffee shops. It was the beautiful canal system. It was the street performers that loved to show off their talents in front of a big crowd. It was the fear of getting hit by a bicycle rather than a car! It was the motto "I AMsterdam". I met people from all walks of life and all of them were very nice human beings. The citizens of Amsterdam seemed more sociable and connected with each other than the average neighborhood in America. In our fast paced society we appreciate moments after they have happened and forget to live in the present. If I met someone today that was about to travel abroad, my tip to them would be to live in the moment. Too often do we forget that. Too often do we build a barrier to protect ourselves from the monsters. The truth is, the monsters are few and far between. People do truly care about other people. People are truly interested in getting to know each other. Not everyone is out to get you. Live it up!

You are probably wondering, what about Amsterdam? Tell me more about Amsterdam!!!
I can't articulate just how amazing the place is. I could tell you all about it but you won't understand until you go. 

Haunted Hellen's and first day of classes

A couple days ago we went to a haunted manor for our first official UK trip. The architecture and landscaping of the place was amazing. This place had sculptures and paintings from the 1800's all over the house. It had quite an eerie feeling to it, its supposedly one of the most haunted places in England. It was a great experience, stoked for our next trip. Our first day of classes was yesterday, it wasn't too terrible. I went into it with a positive attitude...I'm here to learn, not makeout with you! GO ON WITH THE CHLOROPHYLL! All of us seemed to enjoy the classes much more than the classes we take at Ball State. The teaching style is very informal and personal. We had pretty solid engaging conversation and very little note-taking. Sometimes this way of classroom teaching is not seen in large universities. I think Ball State professors do an excellent job at engaging students but you don't always see that at division one universities. CHIRP! CHIRP! we fly high, no lie. I'm attempting to constantly blog while I am in the UK. To be honest though, I'm having way too much fun and I forget

First night on the town!

Well we made it to England without any problems at all. That's not a joke, nothing hindered our travels. That usually isn't said after traveling to a different country on multiple planes. Jet lag was a serious issue for some of us on the first day we arrived, I went to bed a 8 pm and woke up at 10 am. I feel wonderful now. Yesterday we took a campus tour of Worcester, they have a bar in their student center...little different than the United States. We all went to a club called Tramps last night. Tramps was an old church turned into a club....I need to douse myself in holy water after last night. I'd like to think I was one of the better dancers in that place. Nobody from our group had a bad time, this could have been from watching me shake my money maker on the dance floor. So far its been great here, cant wait for next week.