I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

November 17, 2011

I have been looking forward to seeing my first British play production since I have arrived in Southampton and tonight I finally experienced the theater magic in the UK. After three very long hours of a geochemistry practical that seemed to drag on with no end; Emily, Claire, and I walked over to West Quay (pronounced: West Key) to grab a quick bite to eat and meet up with Rachel and Emmeline. 

The Christmas season has definitely started here in Southampton, as evidence of the grand decorations in the mall with giant ornaments and white Christmas lights hanging at least 3 stories from the ceiling. A church choir performing on the main floor had audiences huddled by the stage and others peering over from the floor above. Rachel and I definitely approved of their music choices which included ‘Forget You’ by Cee Lo Green and ‘He Lives in You’ from The Lion King II. When we were done manging on our burgers and sandwiches we hot footed it over to the theater jaywalking and dodging traffic on the way. 

The theatre in Southampton, named The Mayflower, was very similar to the theatres I have been to in the U.S. and similar to the theatres in the U.S. - you cannot enter one without being in awe of the architecture or grandness of it all. Meeting up with some of Claire’s housemates we left the lobby to take our seats. I was a bit surprised to find out that it cost money for a theater programme (like around 5 quid!!! Which is roughly $7.90) so being a poor university student I decided to opt out of buying one. 

When the lights dimmed and the announcer’s voice came on to remind members of the audience to turn off their cell phones and that recording devices are prohibited during the performance, the excitement and anticipation was brimming in all of us. Finally the moment of experiencing live English theatre was any minute now. The curtains parted and next thing I know I am looking at a back drop with the American flag with a time setting of Christmas Eve 1944. The actors all had American accents, which I guess makes sense since it was adapted from the 1954 movie with Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney. The U.S. setting did not hinder my enthusiasm for the play, but I was a bit surprised. You could kind of tell that the American accents were fake well for starters it is curious why one sister has a west coast accent while the other donned a New Jersey accent; though at least for the main characters the accents were not that bad. The production was enchanting and Act I ended on one of my all-time favorite songs, Blue Skies, which I had no idea originated from this play. 

Lights came on indicating intermission and Claire uncovered the mini minced pies that we smuggled into the theatre. Everyone grabbed a mini pie and they looked over to see what my reaction was to my first ever mince pie. I took a bite- the filling was (I think) figs, like a fig newton, or other dried fruits with spices like cloves, cinnamon, and who knows what else. It was pleasant!

Before intermission was over, I talked Rachel into joining me to see the orchestra (kind of a tradition I have with my dad when we go to plays). Roughly two minutes after disturbing the three elderly women to sneak past them in the aisle so we could make it to the orchestra pit, we had to head back to our seats because Act II was about to start.

The actors on stage were donned in great costumes styled in the time period of the 1940s and 50s. It was nice just relaxing and enjoying the numerous dance numbers (which included tap!!!). By the end of the play I was so captivated that I nearly forgot that the actors were not really American, or that we haven’t even had Thanksgiving yet. The finale was spectacular with audience participation in singing White Christmas and then it started to snow on the audience!! I was so excited and my face brightened up like a 6 year old on Christmas morning. 

As the music came to an end and the curtains closed once more, I looked behind me to see that my friends were as enthused as I was at the performance. I was a bit shocked that no one gave the actors a standing ovation, which I could tell if it was performed in the U.S. it would have definitely had the audience at their feet. 

On the bus ride home after my friends got off at their stops, I was experiencing a bout of serious homesickness. Earlier this year I decided I wouldn’t return home for the holidays because for starters, I don’t have that kind of money to make a trip home and back and would rather spend it traveling within Europe since I am only here for a year. Additionally, the past few Christmases I have experienced at home were dismal, especially last year when my grandfather had broken his hip and we spent Christmas morning in Swedish hospital rather than around the Christmas tree. Still as the actors sang songs such as White Christmas and I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm, I felt a pang in the fact that I won’t be home for the holidays. It will be my first Christmas away from my family. The past few weeks whenever I talked to people eventually they always seem to come to the question, “will you be going home for the holidays?” and they always seem to be surprised when I answered no. Back in my room, I spent a good hour listening to songs that indicated for me that it was the beginning of ‘Christmas time’. Every year my dad exhausts the stereo and the family’s patience with the CD player on repeat to Tony Bennett’s The White Christmas Album Snowfall. Now I find myself searching that very album on youtube to feel a bit at home.

Despite the homesickness, it has truly been a fabulous evening. I am so glad I have friends like Claire, who brought up the idea of getting a bunch of us to experience some culture by going to the theatre! Not to mention experiencing some UK culture of minced pies- yum!

"Thanks for the Ride!"

November 16, 2011

Today I got the U1C to the NOC. Running late to class, I was in a bit of a hurry getting off the bus and I said what I always say to bus drivers: “Thanks for the ride!” and I was a bit shocked to hear this bus driver’s response “you’ll get more than that next time”. Goodness- I think I am going to start just saying thank you, at least to that particular bus driver.

In the evening, I went to a hillwalking social that was located at The Mitre, a pub I have been meaning to go to since day one (it just looks like what comes to mind when you think of an English pub- well at least for me!). While I was there, I played a game of pool with one of my friends in the club. The reaction on his face was priceless when I sunk three balls in on my first turn. After a neck and neck game he ended up winning, but when we rejoined the table he told everyone how decent I was. To be honest, I never thought I would fare so well against an Englishman in a game of pool, but I guess I got a reputation now- cool!

Saturday Excursion in Chichester

November 12^th

Today I woke up early to go hillwalking in Chichester, a 50 minute train ride from Southampton. On our walk we stumbled upon the most curious things. During the first half of the walk we came across a farm that had reindeer! Later we found a park where I couldn’t resist going on the ‘zipline’ from one wooden structure to the next. 

Arriving to the top of a hill in Chichester, we took some time for a proper lunch break with a great view of a horse racing track and autumn trees. John, James, and Tom climbed a post and were hoping to fit as many people on top of the structure, but it ended up just being the three of them. 

On the way back we kind of went off the beaten track and accidentally crashed a cross country race where we discovered that the path we wanted to take was not open to public. Walking back to the main road we tried finding another trail resulting in walking a few kilometers along a busy road which was a bit nerve wracking, especially when many of the drivers didn’t give us much space. 

Once we were back on a trail we took earlier that day, we saw normal deer and finally ended up at a tea shop where I had cream tea (absolutely scrumptious!). I was so excited about how the jam for my scone came in a mini jar- it was so cute!!! I ended up taking the jar home with me and it has been quite useful for my lunches (allowing for me to enjoy bread and jelly without having my bread soggy- brilliant!) 

Horse Racing Course

Lunch Break

Crashing a Cross Country meet

Roadside Hiking... I think I prefer a trail

CREAM TEA!!!

Summing up the happenings of October and some of November

WARNING: FIRST THREE PARAGRAPHS ARE A BIT OF A RANT (sorry!)

Settling into Uni has never taken so long before (compared with UW and BCC). Er… let me rephrase this, I have definitely had a bunch of mix ups, confusion, and feeling lost since arriving to the UK. Well maybe not all the time…

Ok, I am finally feeling like I have the gist of how things work here now; but that won’t hide the fact that I am still dependent on my parents to wire me money occasionally since the ATM machine in Portswood ate my card on October 17^th. I decided that I really don’t care for Bank of America: They had briefly canceled my account, have been sending my replacement credit/debit/atm cards to the wrong address or sending the card in general to my address back in the U.S. … they are a mess.

Transferring money has proven to be quite costly, as they take 10% of what ever amount you transfer, and with the currency exchange 400 USD becomes 234 GBP!! Unfortunately, everything here costs the same, just different units. Looking at the situation though I realize that I am frustrated with the U.S. side of things rather than what is happening here in Southampton. In fact, things in Southampton are starting to click for me, like where to look when crossing the street (finally!). 

Since the start of school, I have made a good group of friends who I have had fun excursions with. So far we have enjoyed a true English picnic in a park complete with cucumber sandwiches and scrumptious scones with cream and jam. We also celebrated Halloween- UK style; which I must say I am very impressed at how creative the outfits got for a party with a dead celebrity theme. The extents of decorations were also quite a sight… I mean we had a bonfire incased in an old metal barrel out in the garden!!! (I think the metal barrel was courtesy of the kayaking club..) It was so cool!!!!!   Also, I am really glad that I have joined the hillwalking society for weekend trips. Finally I am starting to make a niche for myself socially. Life is good!

Picnic in the Park!

Favorite part about Halloween= dressing up!

some of my oceanography peers

Remember, remember, the 5th of November

November 5th 

I have had fireworks going off outside of my dorm complex for the past week and a half. Where were these people getting so many fireworks? As Halloween passed and the week progressed, I finally figured out why there was an ample supply of fireworks ready to buy. “Remember, remember, the 5^th of November”, no I am not referring to the film V for Vendetta, though it is loosely based off of the day I am referring to, Guy Fawkes Day.

Hillwalking in Winchester was simply lovely, at lunch we stopped on a bridge and I went on a rope swing nearby that went over the water. Around three, we made it into the town. The club broke up into groups, I went with a few others to the Cathedral. Then we checked out a book sale that was around the corner, no matter how tempted I was in getting a book, I resisted since I couldn’t bring it home anyways. Then we explored King Arthur’s round table which was really neat!! Meeting back at the Irish Pub, O’Neil’s, my group ordered right before the whole line of orders got in, so we were able to receive our meals without having to wait over an hour! It was great!

Back on the street, it was dark and there were hordes of people. We got torches and slowly you could see down the street that more and more torches were being lit and were slowly making their way towards us. Then a parade broke out, where the band came through and as they passed everyone just joined the parade following the band. Carrying lit torches through town was definitely an experience I will remember, it was so surreal! Ash and embers flew in my mouth and down my shirt, but I was happy that at least my hair didn’t catch a light. We made it to the field where the bonfire was going to take place. The bonfire was about 2 stories tall, it was really glorious, though I wonder how they ever got it out…Later we sacrificed our good spots to the side of the tree to unite with the other hillwalkers… or actually, I am still not sure why we had sacrificed our good places, but all is well. The fireworks display was quite the spectacle, roughly £3,500 of fireworks were ignited and we oooed and ahhed a little. By the time the first fireworks were going off, I decided I was tired of my torch which was miraculously still going, so I gave it away. Guy Fawkes Day had to be one of my favorite days that I have spent in the UK thus far. The day had everything, exercise, culture, yummy food, fire, and great company. After the fireworks we went to another pub called The Black Boy, which had keys and medieval weaponry hanging from the ceiling. I got back home around 11pm, which some might consider early, but with such a full day, I was ready for bed.

Happy Guy Fawkes Day!!!!

Rope Swings!!!

Hillwalking in Winchester

Hillwalking in the hills of Winchester

Winchester Cathedral

King Arthur's Round Table

 

Weekend in Wales, Soaked in Snowdonia

October 30th

Finally my first true weekend trip out of Southampton- packed in a minibus the hillwalking club went off to Snowdonia. It was roughly a four to five hour drive there so we arrived in darkness going on a gravel road, trying to make the turn off to the bunk house without scraping the van against the stone walls that lined the entrance. Once at the bunk house, I quickly claimed one of the bunks which were slightly short in number to allow all of the sleepy hillwalkers a comfy nights rest. Luckily I avoided having to sleep on a mat for the weekend.

Waking up before the sunrise I discovered that there were sheep in the fields around the bunkhouse! Outside the scene was quite rural with a countryside charm. Stone walls gated the sheep off from the Bed and Breakfast part of the property. It was nice being in an environment with some elevation or at least small mountains to surround me. Around 10am the group of us split up into groups of 13-15 people per hike. I joined the group that was going to Mt. Snowdon, figuring Snowdonia was named after the mountain for a reason. The roads were very narrow on the way over to where we were going to hike, where the minibus had to slow down or kind of pull over in order for cars coming the other way could pass. Either side of the road was lined with the old stone walls making some of the turns a bit unnerving seeing how close the cars were to them. At one point we accidentally scraped the stone wall when trying to pass a car. I have no idea how the locals navigate through the streets day in and day out without encountering some nasty dings to their vehicles!

Finally at the base of Mt. Snowdon I decided to add a few more layers of clothing and to put on my waterproof pants, and good thing I did because after a little ways up it started misting outside. Vibrant green pastures on either side of the trail, lined by stone walls, and sheep were everywhere it seemed. What I found quite surprising was that the sheep in Wales for the most part had long tails. I have never seen sheep with long tails before this trip except in a Modest Mouse music video for ‘Float On’; where I thought the long tails were the band trying to make a statement about whether something is predator or prey (the tails look kind of like a wolf tail). But sheep really do have long tails?!?!!! Pretty spiffy. 

After we passed a gate that marked the boundary for where the sheep could no longer join us on our hike; the mist became thicker and the trail became mostly composed of stones laid down together. The elevation started to become steeper shortly after that too. It was a really good hike, one that was definitely more like the level intensity of the hikes I have done back home. It was great feeling the blood pumping through my veins and getting a good workout.

The higher we trekked up the mountain, the thicker the rain fell and the stronger the wind became. My mittens had transformed into sponges literally saturated and dripping wet. My shoes became portable puddles with my every step and thanks to the wind blowing the rain horizontally I was soaked through every layer. Dampness became a state of being as we persisted up even steeper trails that switched back and forth up the mountain. The rain became so thick we had a stream form on the trail, which was difficult to dodge creating if possible wetter feet.

I love the rain and I love the wind, but 30 minutes from summiting the mountain enough was enough and I decided to join the portion of the group that was heading back. Coming off of a cold from the previous week, I didn’t want to take any chances with my health by continuing to the top when the café up there was closed. At the beginning descent, the hike down was painful as the wind’s force made the rain sting my face. Fortunately the wind intensity lessened as we went further down the mountain. My camera was definitely feeling the effects of the water, where in some cases the lens wouldn’t open fully creating a few neat effects in my pictures. 

Back at the base, we ate our lunch in the van and afterwards walked over to a nearby tea house where I ordered some scrumptious, but most importantly warm, hot chocolate. The walk between the van and the tea house my hands were so numb that I didn’t notice that my umbrella was cutting into my knuckles. We all shed our wet layers and placed them on the heaters to dry; taking turns in the restroom to use the hand dryer to warm up our hands or blow dry our many wet pieces of clothing.

Dinner and dessert was great as we all gathered around talking till late in the night, which thanks to daylight savings resulted in being able to stay up a little longer to talk with the intentions to take advantage of the extra hour of sleep in the morning.

Sunday morning came and my extra hour was cut short as my cell phone alarm went off without the time being readjusted. I spent most of the morning in the restroom trying to dry all my gear from the day before with some success. My shoes were only slightly damp by the time we were heading off for our next hikes, this time I joined Cheddar and his group on a lovely hike in the forest. It is amazing what the sun can do for the scenery. The trail was next to a river that had coffee brown water and lined by trees with brilliant autumn colored leaves. It was such a picturesque fall day; relaxing yet still a good hike and we found another tea house where I ordered a cup of hot chocolate. A perfect way to spend a Sunday!

Back in the minibuses all packed up we headed back to Southampton. Everyone was exhausted, trying to nap as much as possible on the ride home. We stopped for dinner at a restaurant/pub which was pretty nice and had a good deal on food. It took ages for the food to be ready, but it was worth it once it was out. We had a great weekend of hikes and when I got back to Montefiore around 11pm I slept like a log. I love Wales!

30 minutes from the top of Mt. Snowdon