Amsterdam!

Hi Everyone!

Sooo I know I'm not really good at keeping up with this, I'm sorry posts are so infrequent! I guess I'm just posting now after trips I take, so this will be the second to last one! Anyways, I spent this past weekend in Amsterdam! It was seriously amazing, and not all about drugs. I was a little nervous about that heading out, because I didn't want to spend an entire weekend surrounded by sketchy high people, but it wasn't like that at all! Amsterdam gets a really bad rep as far as that goes, it's way less prevalent than we hear about. It's an amazingly beautiful place, and I felt comfortable as soon as we got there! We had to scramble a bit when we were searching for a hostel, so I think all of us were a little bit nervous that the one we ended up booking would be not very nice, but we couldn't have been more wrong! It was in an absolutely perfect location, pretty much on Dam Square which is very central. The crazy thing about the hostel was the stairs, they started out pretty normal but as we got higher up they became mostly a ladder! I'm happy to say I survived though, not a single fall.

We fit so much into the weekend it was crazy, I'm not sure if I can remember it all! But I'll try. We got in kind of late Thursday night, so we just made our way to the hostel, quite easily and successfully. Friday we started out by going to the Flower Market, which is this row of stalls right alongside a canal, they all have glass on one side so when you're in them it feels like a cruise ship! And they sell a huge variety of bulbs and seeds, I wish I could have bought some for people back home, but the US frowns on that. There were also a bunch of touristy shops so we looked at all the cheap souvenirs. And Cheese! We probably went into 6 cheese shops over the course of the weekend, they have all of these samples out and the strangest things in their cheese, like Pesto Cheese! It was really good, tasted exactly like pesto. and it was bright green! Mom, you probably would have loved all of the goat cheese samples, but I stayed far away from them.

 Next we went to the Van Gogh Museum. They have a really big collection of Van Gogh and also other artists, so we spent a long time there looking at everything and taking it all in! They also had an exhibit on Picasso, that was really cool too. The weather was beautiful, so after the museum we walked over to the museum square and ate lunch outside, we also took pictures with the I. am.sterdam sign, along with every other tourist. That was fun though, we met some funny people waiting around for our turn. Later in the day we decided to wander around the canals and explore a different area. We ended up finding the Anne Frank House, and thankfully we decided to go in then, because when we passed it a few days later the line went all the way around the block! Being in her house was incredibly surreal and a pretty difficult experience, I'm really glad we did it though. I was amazed by how many languages the tour was available in, there were probably 10 different ones.

Saturday we decided to do a Bike Tour, which was probably the best decision of the trip. It was a gorgeous day, almost 70 degrees! We were biking around in t-shirts. It was a great way to get to know the city also, everybody bikes there so except for the mass of bright yellow bikes we were practically locals! It really helped to put everything in perspective though, and understand how the city was connected. We saw a ton more sites also, and the tour guide explained a lot about the history, she keept saying it's a new city; it's only been around since the 13th century!

After the bike tour we wandered around the city more, did some souvenir shopping, and met up with some Clark friends for dinner! It was actually a pretty clark-filled weekend, we randomly bumped into 2 separate groups of Clarkies! It was real crazy! On sunday, we did a Canal Cruise, which was a great other perspective to get on the city. It was really fun to be in a boat again too! Made me start to get very excited for summer. We ended the trip with one last walk around the city, and then spent forever at the airport.

Now I'm back in London for another 2 days of my internship, a few papers, and finals next week! I can't belive the program is over already, but I have one last trip to Rome and Milan, and then I'll be home on April 20th!!

Can't wait to see everyone!

Whoops, It's been awhile again!

Sorry everyone! Here's a new update on my life here :) Things are really good, I can't believe I actually come home one month from today! It's insane how quickly everything went. And I know this month is going to fly by, I have 2 trips planned, one to Amstardam and one to Rome and Milan. Also two more weekends in London. And then I'm home! So weird. Also crammed in there is a few finals, papers and presentations, so it's starting to be time to actually buckle down and do work here. I haven't really done much this semester, the classes don't seem as challenging as back home, but then again I haven't had much assessment, most of them are structured so that the only factors in the grade are the paper and final. So that's a little scary!

Last weekend, I went to Scotland to visit my roommate at Clark, Hadley. I took a train there, which took about 5 hours. I probably should have spent that time working on all of these projects I have coming up.. But I didn't. It was really amazing to watch the English Countryside go by, So beautiful and different from anything we have in the States. I tried to take pictures but it didn't really work. Saturday in Scotland we woke up to Snow! Not really pretty snow like I've been missing, more like wet rain/snow. Oh well! We still walked around her town, Stirling, for awhile, got soaked and freezing, and then hung out in her flat. Her life is so different from mine here, because she is in an actual University, and she's kind of just thrown in with everyone else. Where as I take classes and live with all Americans, she has roommates and classmates from all over Europe. It was really cool getting to meet all of her friends! Sunday, We took a train together into Edinburgh, which is an amazingly beautiful city. We had about two hours there before my train home, and we spent it wandering around just looking at everything, the sun was out and it was absolutely incredible.

Back in London the weather is getting nicer too, this week we have had multiple sunny days! That's pretty much a first since I've been here. On Thursday another friend of mine from home, Allie, came to visit. After work on friday I went shopping and wandering with her, but that day was not one of the nicer ones, so she didn't get to see London in all of it's beauty. Yesterday though was a perfect day, by far the best weather since we've been here. It was warm and sunny! I met up with a friend in Camden Town, which has this huge market area with stalls selling souvenir-y things. We walked around there for awhile, and then went to Regent's Park which is not to far from me to explore that area. From there we walked to a few more parts of London, we pretty much walked around for four hours straight. It was really fun though! And I started to understand how areas I know in London are connected- Since I don't drive here I know how to get to the places I go on the Tube obviously, but I'm not always fully clear on where they are in relation to other places I go. Really I should just look at a map.  

So that's mostly it for now, it looks like it might be another nice day today, but I think I'm finally going to spend it on homework and things.


Love and Miss you all!! <3

Copenhagen!

This past weekend, I made my first real European excursion, and went to Copenhagen! It was really fun and incredibly beautiful, but also really really cold. I didn't mind that too bad though, as a lot of people know I've sort of been missing the snow. I guess I'll go through the day by day of our trip! 

Friday, after a kind of long journey, which started at 2 am, we got to Copenhagen! We first found our Hostel, which luckily ended up being really really nice! It was very close to the center of the city, so we could pretty much walk everywhere. The guy who worked there was super helpful in telling us where to go, and we set off to wander the city. Walking past a cemetery right near the hostel we accidently stumbled upon Hans Christian Anderson's grave, that was pretty cool!  We then found this shopping area which is supposed to be the largest pedestrian thoroughfare in Europe- it was pretty crazily huge. It felt like you could pretty much walk forever, it was like an outdoor mall the size of a city. Very cool. For lunch we ended up finding a falafel place, which I have to say was the best falafel I've had since I was in Israel, we were very impressed!  After crashing for a bit in the afternoon, we found ourselves dinner and hung out in the Hostel. We played pool for awhile with some Australians who were really nice, and then went out to a bar. 

Saturday, we decided to check out the Carlsberg Brewery. Carlsberg is really big in most of Europe, but people in England kind of give it a lot of crap. Anyways, we thought it would be fun to take a tour as none of us had really done it before. We also got to see a lot of the city on the walk there, including a protest (for something we couldn't really figure out) It was kind of funny watching to protest because it was around 2 and everyone marching had beers, including a man pushing a baby carriage. The Brewery was cool, but it was more of a museum than a guided tour. 

On Sunday, we decided to go check out this place called Christiania. It's a neighborhood which was settled in the 70s, it's supposed to be separated from Danish Government. I think this is mostly self-proclaimed, as the drug trade which is very prevalent there has recently had to move underground. You're not allowed to take pictures inside, according to my guide book this is because of said drug trade. Anways, it was cool to see and walk around in, there were lots of kiosks selling various paraphernalia (No jeremy, I didn't buy anything) 

After that we walked to the Citadel, which is a preserved military fortress from the 1600s. It was amazingly huge, it's still being used by the military today. (more for living than for defense) It's surrounded by these big, steep hills that slope down on either side, I can only imagine how this was created. It's a gorgeous place to walk around, and I was very jealous of the many locals who jog there. 

Our last activity in Denmark was a visit to the Jewish Museum. I was really excited to see this because of the protection Danes provided to Jews during the holocaust, but surprisingly there is very little mention of this in the museum. Still it was interesting to see some very old jewish artifacts and prayer books and things, the museum actually had 4 Torah's on display. 

Returning to London turned out to be a bit difficult as our plane was delayed and then had to be de-iced (see everyone back home? I deal with it too!) We ended up getting back to our flat at about 1:30am, but it was worth it! 

Life in London's pretty good, Today was my first day in the new location of the school I work at, so I did a ton of unpacking and decorating. My own schoolwork is beginning to pick up, and I'm starting to realize that I do actually have to do some homework here, which is a bummer! I just planned two more trips though, Scotland in 2 weekends to visit Hadley (my roommate at Clark) and Rome and Milan at the end of my trip! 

The entrance to the Citadel

Protest

Gorgeous tree lined path near Hans Christian Anderson's grave

Leaving Christiania, the sign says "you are now entering the EU

Miss everyone! 

Mackenzie 

I guess I should probably give an update on my life?

It turns out i'm really horrible at this whole blogging thing, but since I last posted I've been incredibly busy! The craziness of beginning has worn of and I've settled down a bit, which means I've been super busy with work, school, sightseeing, and planning travel. Lets see, big things I've done- I turned 21! That was exciting, but pretty anti-climatic being in London where no one really cares, but I hung out with a bunch of good friends and had fun! It's still going to be strange when I come home.

Classes have been good recently, the coolest thing I've done is climbed up to the top of St. Paul's Cathedral  in my Art and Architecture class, it was on a sunny day and the views were incredible! We also learned a lot about the construction of the church and the different architectural features, something I know very little about so it was all very new and interesting. My other classes aren't as exciting, a lot of reading and lectures.

Work has been good lately too, I've settled in there so I have more of a routine schedule, I'm with one class every Tuesday and one every Friday, I've gotten to know the kids and staff in each of the classes well which is good, and on Thursdays I generally go to whatever class needs extra hands, so I've been in almost every classroom in the school, and I know almost all the kids. Things are about to be very different though, because the school is moving to a temporary location after half term (which is next week). This is going to be quite an interesting experience, the kids are probably going to have a hard time adjusting, and I get to navigate my way to a new part of London!

This past weekend, my parents came to visit, which was really great! We went to Paris, which was awesome! We took the Eurostar, which was really cool because it goes from pretty much central London to central Paris in 2 hours. The weekend was filled with lots of eating and wandering around, our favorite things! Sunday we went to the  Louvre, which I've never been to before, I couldn't believe how beautiful the building and everything in it is! Then we came back to London and had the great luck of a sunny day on Monday, something I've seen few times, but it seems to be happing more often recently! We took a boat down the River Thames to Greenwhich, where I've been before with my architecture class. It's a really cool town, still a part of London but with a much different feel- walking down the streets reminded us of Martha's Vineyard! We went to the Royal Observatory which is where GMT is measured from, there is a line there where you can stand in both hemispheres at the same time. It's a beautiful location, and the building is also designed by Christopher Wren (who designed St. Pauls Cathedral and many other famous buildings around here) so it's amazing!

I think that's mostly it for updates for now, next weekend I'm traveling to Copenhagen with some of my friends, so I will have much to say after that! Hopefully I'll also write before then too. I hope everybody at home and around the world is doing good too, email or skype me to say hi!

hallway in The Louvre

The Louvre

Mom and me in front of The Louvre

The Royal Observatory 

Dad (his hat) and me at the Royal Observatory

Being a tourist and starting work

Okay, So I haven't been very good about writing, but it's been a very busy few days! Over the weekend we did a bunch of really touristy things, and I got to know the people in my program much better. Friday we went on the London Eye, which was really cool, it had been rainy for most of the week but right before we got in it cleared up and had a really nice view! After that we walked around Westminster for a bit and then went home when it started to rain (a pretty much daily occurrence). Saturday, we did a walking tour of The City, which is a square mile where all of London used to exist- now it's all financial buildings. It's kind of interesting because during the week it is crazy crowded, but nobody actually lives there so on the weekends it is dead. The walking tour we went on was about Shakespeare and Charles Dickens, very little is known about Shakespeare in London, but what we found was interested. As for Charles Dickens I've never actually read any of his work, so I didn't know what the tour guide was talking about for most of it. Still, it was nice to get to know the area, and although it was cold the sun was actually out so that was nice.

Sunday we went on a bus tour which was really cool, they drove us all over London and the tour guide gave us a bunch of information about everything. Before then I hadn't really left my little area, so it was good to more- although I still haven't been all that far. At night we went to Piccadilly Circus and checked out some of the pubs there, that was really fun because there were tons of people around, it's sort of London's Times Square.

Monday I started my real life here- I had two three hour classes. The first one was Environmental Business Management, which seems like it should be very interesting, but three hours is a very long time for a lecture. My class is only 8 students (all American) so they will definitely know if we don't pay attention. After that I had a one hour break and then on to my next class, Art and Architecture in London. This class is actually really really cool, we met in the classroom and were told that we will never be there again until the final- the entire course takes place out in London. After a short introduction we went to the Banquetting Hall at White House Palace- all the remains of the Pallace. My professor lectured on the street about classical architecture- taking notes standing up is a new challenge, reading them will be even harder! I've never studied architecture before, but he went slowly enough that I was able to understand, and learn some really cool things! That building has been there since 1621, it was built for King James I. We got to go inside too, where there was an amazingly huge room with paintings on the ceiling. Next week we're going to the National Gallery, which should also be really interesting!

Monday night my school held a reception for everyone in the program to meet other students and professors, and they served wine! It was a pretty new experience seeing professors refill the wineglasses of students, but it was nice to speak to them in a much more casual environment.

Tuesday I had my first day of my internship, I liked it a lot! I'm working in a school for kids with special needs, and it seems like it will be really challenging work. I'll be moving around, helping out in different classrooms. Tuesday I was in the room with the most challenging students, it was hard being the new staff member, but I know that I'll get used to it soon and the kids will get used to me too. My coworkers are all really nice, I am introduced around to everyone as "the american" or "the new Michelle" (michelle is the intern who was there last semester) I'm going back tomorrow and am excited, but I know that I'll be needing a nap by the time I come home!

Today I only had one class, the 20th Century British Novel. Again we went on a field trip, we went to see the Gauguin Exhibit at the Tate Modern. It was a really cool exhibit, his work is all really interesting, and it was awesome that our program pays for things like that.

Thats it for now, I promise I will actually work on posting some pictures soon, maybe even of my flat! This weekend we're going to Cambridge, so I'll bring my camera with me then

Miss everyone!
The American

First Days in London

Soo, the first few days in London have been pretty hectic, but I love it already! The first day we get here was a little rough, our flats were not immediately ready so we ended up wandering around London on very little sleep. During that time though I was able to set up my cellphone which was good, I have a UK number now! The rest of the day was spent doing very little orientation stuff and a lot of getting things together, we went grocery shopping and tried to set up bank accounts and the like. After dinnertime a group of Clark people and I tired to find our first real London Pub, but that didn't really work out so well. We wandered around for a bit trying to find a fun looking place, but as it was 8pm not many people were out. We ended up finding a pub with some people in it so we went in- soon to learn that the people inside were all from Jersey and fit the stereotypes completely, and the bartender was Canadian. So not really a london experience, but the people were fun to talk to!

Yesterday, I had my interview at my internship. This was an adventure of its own, as me and another girl had to take the Tube together to get there. One thing we learned is that the tube is EXPENSIVE! especially if you don't buy tickets correctly, as we of course did not. Once we got through however it was pretty well organized and the trip is not very difficult, its going to take me 30-40 minutes to get to work. I'm working at a special needs school, specifically with kids with Autism. I'm really excited about it, I met my supervisor yesterday and she seems really nice! The school is really big, they have a swimming pool and everything! I think that will be one of my responsibilities; helping the kids with their swim lessons- or teaching swim lessons? i'm not really sure.

Last night I finally got to meet a lot of the people in my program, our orientation strangely did not include introductions! But we all hung out together which was fun, about half of the people here are from Clark, and then there's also students from Stonehill and Sienna.

Oh, and my flat! it's set up kind of strangely- we are on the 4th floor, but the main staircase only goes to the 3rd floor. To get into our flat we have to go in the door of somebody else's, and then up another staircase. But don't worry, the flat below us in also in our program so they're not creepy. We also don't have our own door at the top, so we're pretty much in a 2 level flat where each level has its own bathroom, common room and kitchen. I'm living in a triple which is nice- it's pretty big so there is enough space for all of us. We also have big common room attached to our kitchen. The flat is big in general but not very nice, it works for us though!

Alright, I think thats it for now, the rest of the week I'm doing more orientation-type things, tomorrow we're going on the London Eye, hopefully it will be less rainy than it is today!

Miss you all!
Mackenzie

Wow, it's here already!

I can't believe how fast this came, all of the sudden I am leaving for London tomorrow! I'm sort of on my way to being packed, Justin's room has been taken over by clothes and suitcases. I'm sure that I will get it all together soon though, and 8pm tomorrow I'm on my way! I can't wait to get to London and discover the amazing city, I've been there once but remember it only vaguely. On Tuesday I move into my flat and begin orientation, I can't wait to meet everybody!

I'm going to try and update my friends and family as much as possible over the next few months, So keep looking out for updates!


Mackenzie