Eden-burgh

Wow. So this past weekend in Edinburgh constitutes the most fun I've had this trip in the UK. It would be ironic if the most fun I have studying abroad in London takes place in Scotland, wouldn't it?

I can't even express how much happened while I was there. Allow me to lapse back into list-form, for simplicity.

1. Edinburgh Castle: Big castle, big hill, awesome Scottish tour-guide. He was funny and told us all about the history, but I feel like he played off of Scottish stereotypes for jokes too much. It's not that I'm a very PC-advocate kinda person, but his jokes were getting a bit stale. Nice guy though. I was disappointed that the castle was mostly rebuilt; very few of the original structures still stood, which is half the fun for me. Also, did you know that the motto Poe uses for Montressor's family crest in "The Cask of Amontillado" is actually an old Scottish Motto? Check out the picture on the right...I nearly flipped when I saw it, and the tour guide explained it later on, though he seemed unaware of Poe's use of it.

2. Arthur's Seat: While I'm talking about things on big hills, let me mention Arthur's Seat, which is a huge hill/mountain right beside Edinburgh. It was pretty incredible; the views were unreal, and I love running up big hills. The safety stuff would never have flown on the US, since there was basically nothing stopping you from falling off the side, but that just added to the sense of adventure. Pictured Left: Jackson achieving zen on top of Arthur's Seat overlooking Edinburgh.

3. The Scotch Whisky Experience: I don't especially like Scotch, but after going to this museum, I have a new appreciation for the art behind it. They gave us all samples of Scotch and told us how to detect the flavor notes in them. We also got to see the worlds largest Scotch collection, which you can see me and Bennett in front of in the picture. I'm hoping that one day I'll be able to appreciate Scotch, but it's sort of dubious. It seems like much too masochistic of a pleasure for my taste. That might have been a pun.

4. Other Stuff: I'm getting kind of lazy, so here's the run-down: Bus tour of Edinburgh, danced in a beer-garden (lots of fun), Saw the Scottish Parliament (gaudy, pretentiously modern, expensive), Almost bought haggis but came to my senses, Wandered around taking in the sights, Had tons of fun. It's a nice city. That's about all.

Zoom

Hi everyone who's reading this. Believe it or not, I'm on a train. Weird, right? We're heading from London to Edinburgh, and we're stopped on a bridge somewhere in between the two cities. Somehow I got internet, so I'm going to make the most of it and set up a post.

Unfortunately, the connection's too slow to put up pictures. Sorry, you'll have to wait.

Katie, who is sitting next to me, wants to tell everyone: "It's early Jackson, I'm not a morning person."

Indeed. It's 10:30am, and given that everyone woke up around 6:30, we're all exhausted. Rob asked me if we were in Wales, which is fact in precisely the opposite direction from where we're heading.

London's been great for the last few days, though. We visited Parliament, and I got to see the House of Lords in progress. As I recall, they were bickering in high-brow language about the maintenance of the building. The room was also smaller than I thought it might be, given how grand the building is.

We're all kind of bored on this train, and resorting to different methods of staving off boredom. I'm asking people for quotes.
Rob said: "Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance."
Ryan says: "A penny saved is a penny earned."
Gretchen, Prof. Maune's young daughter, says: "Uh?"
I asked Prof. Maune if he were going down on the Titanic, and I were on a lifeboat and he only had time to call out one thing to me what he would say. He replied: "Mind the gap." I thought that was clever.

Rob, Katie, and I ordered Papa Johns the other night, because when we tried to go to Scoops, a gelato place in Covent Garden, it had just closed. We ordered pizza instead. I have to say, though, it wasn't as good as in the states. The cheese didn't have the characteristic thickness, and the sauce was lackluster. Nonetheless, I enjoyed it tremendously. The scenery has improved, since we're in scotland now on bluffs overlooking the ocean, with low grass spotted with sheep.

I'll leave y'all with that. Not much by way of information, but I'll update again soon. Keep an eye out for pictures, which may or may not manifest themselves via Picasa account depending on how motivated I'm feeling. Feel free to comment on this and tell me how your life is going.
-Jackson

Two(ish) Weeks

I'm about to recap two action-packed weeks in one post, so I'm pretty sure I'm going to leave out some details. Despite that, though, this will be absurdly long. Sorry about that. Credit for the photography goes (mostly) to myself.

Anyways, for those of you who haven't figured out yet why I'm standing in front of the Tower Bridge, it's because I'm studying abroad in London for two months. Thus far it's been an incredible trip, and even though I've been here before, I feel like every day I find something new and discover more about British culture. Sounds a bit like a pamphlet when I put it like that, but it's true. Here's some stuff I've done while I've been here.

Some Of The Stuff I've Done While I've Been Here: 


A) Gone to Classes: I keep forgetting I'm in classes...between the long weekends and Britannic distractions, it's easy to forget I'm here to study. I like all the classes I'm in; they're all electives that interest me, but that I wouldn't have had the time to take at JMU. Here's the list: The London Theater, Writing in the Public Sphere, Culture by Design, and The Online Travel Blog (which is why you get this spiffy blog to read).


B) Seen Two Plays For My Theater Class: Warhorse and The White Guard, both of which strongly exceeded my expectations. Warhorse was all about the tech: the full-sized ridable puppets of horses were breath-taking. The White Guard was a powerful tragicomedy, juxtaposing humor with more serious issues, something I particularly appreciate. Random Note: I met several of the cast members of Warhorse at a pub the night of the World Cup game between England and USA. They're nice guys/gals.

C) Been in Old Buildings: Tower of London, Westminster Abbey (See Right), and my favorite: St. Paul's Cathedral. I had a free day one week ago, so I went by myself to check out the cathedral I'd failed to see on my last two visits here. It was beyond breathtaking. I just sat in the nave for 40 minutes and looked around. Then I made the 15-20 minute spiral-staircase climb to the top of the dome. I'm not going to give away how epic that was. You have to do it yourself. I liked it so much I did it twice.

D) Gone Up The London Eye: You know that huge ferris wheel right across the Thames from Parliament? I went up in it. Honestly, though, I thought that climbing the dome of St. Paul's was more satisfying. Can't deny the view was spectacular, though.



E) Perused Open-air Markets: Londoners shop differently than we do. Their stores are smaller, more local, more copious, and more personal. It makes sense that such a culture would breed a plethora of open-air markets. I love exploring the stalls; it's at once both exotic and personal. And the quality's a lot better than that of a supermarket.

F) Imbibed Coffee and Tea: I came expecting drink tons of tea, but it seems like coffee is actually more popular here. There's a great place near where I'm staying called the Forum Café that serves a mean cappuccino for a pound fifty. And it's run by Italians so you know it must be authentic. I actually just got back from a late breakfast there. Pictured Right: Espresso from the Forum Café.

G) Gone to Pubs: ...yeah. For the food, of course...Speaking of which...

H) Watched England vs. USA World Cup In A Pub: That was pretty epic. The pub was split about 50-50 Americans and Brits, and the banter, though always friendly, was laid on pretty thick. We both sang national anthems at each other, as well as other vaguely patriotic songs, such as "America, F*ck Yeah," from the movie Team America. It was a good time.

I) Planned Trips: I'm set to go a bunch of places, which are all listed in the sub-header of this blog. Most exciting for me is Marrakech, Morocco, to visit my friend Judd. I'm headed there in two weeks. I hope I don't get malaria.

J) Saw the Queen At Trouping of the Colour: We had tea. Liz is well, if you're curious. She said my haircut complemented my features nicely.

But yeah, that's most of it. I've left some stuff out, but those are (some of the) hilights. I'll try to update this twice weekly while I'm here, so feel free to follow it, comment, or check back. Oh, and if you want to skype me, let me know and I'll send you my ID.