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Shabbos with ADVENTURE.
I made it in time for shabbos! Which was actually fantastic. The family I was staying with were very friendly and we went out for dinner to a student house, so I got to meet a lot of Liverpool University students. I also saw Penny Lane, of Beatles fame.
Shabbos morning was the most adventurous, though. I woke up in the morning to walk to the old shul, which was about an hours away, but was utterly gorgeous and totally worth the walk. They had a choir balcony with these domes and pillars and the whole thing had gold trimming!
Lunch was also lovely, and I slept in the afternoon in preparation for the next day. Shabbos didn’t go out until 11, but then there were a few British experiences to be had! I ate beans on toast with real British tea — for possibly the last time in a while — and we all watched the mid-season finale of Doctor Who.
Britain! Woo! Then I repacked everything and triple-checked my trains and set my alarm clock with five back-ups.
Friday – full of ADVENTURE
Crewe ended up being a great stop. First, a woman on the train, who saw me neuroticaly pulling my suitcases into the vestibule ten minute before we were due at the stop, offered to help me unload the bags. In the end, a guy getting off the train helped me, and they were both very kind.
I fell asleep for about half an hour at the begining of the ride to the airport, but I was so afraid of missing my stop an hour later that I couldn’t do it again.
Anyway, in Crewe I didn’t see any elevators and I had a panicked vision of myself trying to drag both suitcases up the stairs to another platform only to miss the train to the airport. I huddled next to an information kiosk, scanning for my train time and platform number. (To clarify, I had an open ticket, so I could take any train from Crewe to the airport. So if I missed a train it would be ok except for the running stairs with two huge suitcases.) But when my platform appeared on the screen and I looked wildly around for directional signs, I found out that the platform was only a walk of fifty feet or so — no stairs!
Manchester Airport was interesting. I checked my bags, no problem, and then I traced the route to my check-in counter, so I would be prepared on.Sunday. I’m cutting it slightly close.
The guy who design that airport was clearly just having a good time. Terminal three is only a short, twisty walk from terminal one (where the baggage check is) and then up another flight of stairs. To check in, you go left. But for security, you go right! Which makes no sense! Becauee you have to retrace your steps after checking in! Oh, and the American Airlines check in area was deserted, so I couldn’t ask if I could check in without my suitcases and then bring them later. I’ll have to figure that out Monday morning, I guess.
So far, Liverpool seems like every other industrialized British city, in both good and bad ways. I went down to the port, which I thought was lovely, and went through the Maritime Museum, which is also host the the Slavery Museum. I felt they were both somewhat poorly laid out, but the information was fascinating.
And now i’m waiting for my bus to go to my shabbos hosts. I got lost and turned around getting to the bus stop, so I’m already.late. and my bus has yet to show. Adventure!
My weekend of ADVENTURE! Or, how I left the United Kingdom.
I was going away for my final weekend, but I had a problem. My suitcases were huge and unwieldy, but I wouldn’t have time to go back to London and pick them up before my flight out of Manchester airport Monday morning. (Why is a long story, let’s skip it and go straight to the action!)
So, I decided that before I went to Liverpool for shabbos, I should check my suitcases in at the airport, and I could just pick them up again Monday morning. According to the internet, this would cost me £20-£30 which was more than worth the hassle.
Ok! So I had to get from London to Manchester airport, Friday morning! Booking the tickets was fun. Because I was booking late, as usual, even the morning tickets were something like £110. Which is ridiculous.
But I noticed that none of the trains were direct. They all stopped over in Crewe or Manchester Picadilly. So in my only moment of clever train planning this term, I booked a ticket from London to Crews and Crews to the airport, saving myself over £50. Woot!!
Ok, the train was leaving Euston at 7:35. I wanted to take a train from King’s Cross, but no luck. Now, Euston isn’t that far from me. Imagine a straight line. On one end is my dorm. On the other end is Euston station. In between you have a few blocks of shops, King’s Cross, St. Pancras, the British Library, a Novotell, an office building and a student bar. Now, it is a straight line, and it only takes me about 20-25 minutes walking, most days.
But I wasn’t just walking. I was walking with the aforementioned wobbly suitcases. I arranged my morning to wake up at 5, and be out by 6. I figured, even with them slowing me down, an hour and a half should be plenty. But people did recommend taking a cab, which shouldn’t cost too much for that distance. I wrote down some local minicab numbers, just in case.
I decided to walk to King’s Cross and see how I was doing. The guard from my dorm helpful walked one suitcase to the first road with me, and then I began.
The suitcases were really heavy, and I needed to take a breather, but I figured I could do it in the amount of time I had. But the weight in one suitcase sliiiid over to one side, and the suitcase kept tipping over and wrenching my hand. It took forever to get it back up and not let the other one fall. By King’s Cross I was worried.
And then, revelation.
Outside King’s Cross, there were luggage trolleys! I paused, bcause I was pretty sure you’re not supposed to walk one of them quite as far as I was going, but there was no one to ask. I read the back of the trolley and they all basically said, “This trolly is the proper of Euston Station, if found please call —-” Euston Station? Perfect! That was where I was going!
So I grabbed trolly, hauled my suitcases on it, and off I went!
I got some weird looks, but let me tell you — it only took me another 20 minutes to get to Euston, despite the weight. 😀
Of course, the information boards in Euston weren’t working, but I was early enough that I didn’t care! I sat outside for a bit! I went to the information booth to ask where my train was leaving from at my own sweet pace! I started writing this blog post in my phone’s WordPress app! I was the only person I saw with a trolley. In fact, I didn’t see any trolleys at all, but I parked it neatly in the empty trolleys stop on my platform before my train departed.
Of course, the story doesn’t end there. The trains were the worst-constructed trains I have ever seen, first time I was seriously disappointed with the Virgin Empire. I requested a seat near luggage storage, no other requirements. So they gave me one…in the middle of the train car. Instead of big luggage storage at either end of the train, they had little ones scattered around the train. Great for weekend commuters. Bad for me. I dragged my suitcases down the narrow aisle to the nearest luggage thing. I’m only worried about getting off now – the train doesn’t terminate at Crewe, so I’m going to have to have my luggage ready when we pull up, but I have no idea when that is going to be.
Part one of MY ADVENTURE!
Tagged Study Abroad, trains!
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King’s Cross and Harry Potter.
I live within a few minutes walk of King’s Cross rail station. A big transport hub in London – busses, tubes, trains.
It is also, of course, an infamous Harry Potter site. Since I arrived, friends have been asking me for a picture at platform 9 3/4. But King’s Cross, like many, many other London transport hubs, is in the midst of construction and renovation. London is hosting the 2012 Olympics, you see.
So despite the fact that I have taken a few trains from King’s Cross, I have yet to find the tourist photo spot. On top of that, most of the platforms are only accessible if you have a ticket to get through the ticket barriers.
So…no picture of me pushing a luggage trolley halfway through a wall. It’s probably under construction somewhere.
Last week I went to Scotland. And despite the fact that I froze for a solid week, I had a brilliant time. Except my camera started acting oddly in Linithgow Castle. Wouldn’t focus, didn’t zoom properly. And then.
Stopped opening entirely.
The lens will not come out. The only pictures I have of Blackness Castle were taken on my phone. Which is a shame, because the seaside view was stunning, and my cameraphone is ok, but not as good. The pictures tend toward blurriness. It also seems to be a pretty powerful battery drain.
I googled around, but I don’t have the time to mail my camera to anyone, despite the extended warranty I bought. Every few hours I turn it on, in hope. Besides a few half-hearted whirrs, my camera isn’t giving me anything. It’s my last week in the country and I can’t take pictures.
And today, as I walked by King’s Cross station, guess what I saw?
They’ve set up a new Platform 9 3/4, outside the station. Complete with half a trolley and a sign.
Great.
(Yes, I still have my phone. But while handing my camera to a complete stranger is nerve-wracking, giving up my phone is worse. Not to mention that most people had enough trouble sorting out how to take a picture on my fairly standard digital camera. This phone camera is pretty awkward.)
I have passed the Oxford University Press building at least five times.
I have been typically terrible about updating, so I though I would give you a quick State of Me!
I’m in the middle of exams right now, writing up extensive papers on subjects as varied as Victorian-era Philanthropy and Social Control to Media Tourism and Cardiff, Wales.
And in the middle of that, I decided to trot off to Oxford (of OXFORD UNIVERSITY) for the weekend. I’m going to bring my laptop to a cafe and see if the ambiance of brilliant people helps me write better.
I also hung out with a bunch of Jewish students yesterday. We went to see some of the colleges after lunch, and they swing from gorgeous to 60’s era architecture. Didn’t see the most famous ones, but I did see the super-famous Ashmolean museum! Which we were kicked out of because of a wedding. Cool place to have a wedding.
Last night we attempted to have a Eurovision party! And…well, we caught the last vote tally, and the winning performance, so congrats Azerbaijan. But we missed everything else, and BBC hadn’t uploaded the whole show by the time I decided to call it a night at around 00:45. I’ll attempt to catch up later. The UK did predictably eh-eh, and Ireland didn’t do much better, which made it tough to root for any of the top countries at the end. One guy was rooting for Sweden because they have the most lax internet-piracy-type laws.
And the French presenter was the funniest thing ever. Everyone else presented their votes in English, but NOT FRAAAANCE! Oh, French.
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I don’t think I’ll have time to get them a present, now.
Instead of playing catch-up (Passover was great, I met Benedict Cumberbatch, weather was lovely) I’m going to tell you guys about the great stuff coming up!
Namely, the Royal Wedding.
In case you’ve been living under an extremely large rock without internet access for the past few months, you know that Prince William is marrying Kate Middleton on Friday. And odds are, if you’re American, you find this somewhat interesting. If you’re British, my informal, non-scientific study (conducted by informal conversation with friends, mostly) suggests that you are only about 15% likely to find this even remotely exciting. There’s a 10% chance you will complain that your tax money is going to pay for it. Despite the fact that the royal family is actually quite wealthy (they own lots and lots of land) and the wedding will definitely bring in lots of tourist money.
Mine, for example. I plan to buy a bunch of cheesy souvenirs for gifts. Of course, London has gotten plenty of my money, so I suppose I don’t count.
My dorm is hosting a party in the lounge with tea and biscuits, and youtube has a Royal Wedding stream (which you can check out around the world!) but I’m planning to be be in the streets, waving a Union Jack and shouting. The Great Internal Debate is Where to Stand?
Remember, there are already people lining up. I’m definitely not going to do that. At best, I will wake up early on Friday.
The route is going from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey and back. Now, the event is inside, but Westminster will be the best place to be to see the newly-married couple. And maybe the dress. On the other hand, the couple is going to do the stand-on-the-balcony-and-wave-and-probably-kiss at Buckingham Palace after the wedding. On the other other hand, I probably won’t see anything at either of those locations, and my odds are far better standing somewhere along the route, on the steps on a few suggested buildings, and try to get a glimpse of the dress and the carriage and everything.
Oh! And it might rain. If it does, and you’re watching on TV or youtube, be sure to look for a hilarious giant green poncho. I’ll be in, possibly waving a flag. Not sure exactly where, though.
___
This post was prompted by an email from TFL (Transport for London, the MTA of London) telling me of all the trains being redirected/cancelled/etc. this weekend. Most of the lines aren’t particularly important to me, but the public transportation here is so organized. But as I’m in Central London, I’m not terribly worried. I can always walk.
Last thing to add! This is a trailer for a film based on the meeting and romance of William and Kate. It is also possibly the single most hilarious thing on youtube right now, so I suggest watching it while not drinking hot beverages.
I am attending university here, you know.
And yes, it’s called “university.” Not “college,” and most definitely not “school.” School is for children only in the UK.
Even more confusing is college. Your first two years of secondary school (what we would call high school) are in preparation for a standardized test called the GCSEs. They are subject tests, so students choose specific subjects to study fairly early on in the schooling system here. After GCSEs, a student might stay in the same 4-year primary school, or might go the a 2-year college. At the end, they will take A-level exams. Closest equivalent are AP exams in the states, but A-levels are harder, and count for more. You can use them to go to uni or you can apply to a job on your A-levels alone.
Ignoring that. I’m at uni here. And I’m here for a term, not a semester. And I’m going to have exams, not finals.
The quirkiest thing isn’t universal, though. It’s just my university, London Metropolitan, and it’s simultaneously cool and extremely frustrating.
When we hand in papers here, they are entirely anonymous. We are not allowed to put our names on the paper, nor do we hand the papers in to our professors. (Fun Side Fact: We don’t call the people who teach us “professor.” They are lecturers, or seminar leaders, and most students refer to them on a first-name basis. Which I cannot do. Thank you, Macaulay Orientation, for rendering me incapable of using any term less formal then “professor” when trying to speak to my teachers after class.)
Instead of handing the papers to the teacher, we have to print off special cover sheets from one of our online student accounts. (Like at QC, I have a variety of accounts to choose from. This one is called “evision”) The cover sheet has, I kid you not, a BAR CODE. We have to hand in the paper to the Undergraduate Office on the day it is due, and the bar code is scanned to confirm that the paper has been handed in, and students are sent a confirmation email.
One advantage is that while a normal paper is due at class time when the professor wants it, I can hand in my papers until the Undergraduate Office closes. Which could be at 5pm, but the drop box stays open until 9pm or so. That’s a whole lot of time I have to hand in my paper.
And the annonymonus system is nice, in theory. It does prevent favoritism and such from the professors. But as a study abroad student, unfamiliar with the citation style and basic spelling rules of the UK, I would like the graders to be aware that I do not have same background as the rest of the students.
For the curious, I’m wrapping up mid-terms now. One last paper due tomorrow, and I’ll be done with the midterms at last. I still have a group project, final papers, and a running log I need to work on. And readings. Lots and lots of readings.
A Week of Theatre!
I’m still playing catch up, so this isn’t about this past week, but the week before.
In brief, I spent a lot of the week trying to arrange a meet-up with Rachel, a friend from midrasha, before giving up an goign to her for shabbos. But that is another post. Instead, let us talk about the theater I got to see!
My Theatre in London class finally went to see a play. Clybourne Park. It’s actually an American play, but it’s having its first extended run in London. It’s about the white family in A Raisin in the Sun that sold their house to a black family in the 1959, and then the changes in the neighborhood until 2010. It’s a fascinating play, and it very strongly comments on all the things we are trained not to talk about in polite society. I have never sat through such an awkward play. But it was amazing, and while all of the actors but one were British, the accents were perfect. I do highly recommend it if it ever makes it to New York.
Wednesday after class I went to the Apple Store (as in the computers) in Covent Garden, which is the most gorgeous Apple Store I have ever seen. It used to be a carriage-house or something similar, and it’s all very old brick and glass. Anyway, I’d been having problems with my laptop, and they ended up replacing my batter for me, which is wonderful. There are some things I don’t like about Apple (price, for one) but the system of international customer support they have is simply unparalleled.
I walked from there to the theatre which will later be playing Much Ado About Nothing, staring Catherine Tate and David Teannant. Now, I should have bought tickets much earlier, as it was nearly sold out. It’s a summer run, so I’m only going to be here for the first few weeks of the run, which was kind of bad. I ended up buying a not-so-great ticket for more than I wanted to spend, but I absolutely have to see the show. Timing is a little odd for it, but I’ll work it out when the time comes.
Anyway, I met Peter at the theater, as he was thinking of getting a ticket as well (he’s also a big Doctor Who fan.) He had found out that Catherine Tate was in a play at the National Theatre, so we decided to grab the tube down to the National and see if she happened to be playing Wednesday night. No luck, and advance tickets were all sold out.
BUT we found at that the National Theatre holds a certain amount of £10 tickets until the day of the performance, and the box office opens at 9:30 AM, and the play was on for Thursday night! We were warned that some people do line up as early as 6 o’clock. We decided to leave our dorm at 8 and see what happened.
When we got there the line wasn’t terrible. The National Theatre had 3 theaters inside, and one of them was playing this crazy-popular new version of Frankenstein, directed by Danny Boyle and starring Benedict Cumberbatch, so we assumed most people were in line for that. But when we got to the desk there were only two tickets left, literally at opposite ends of the theater – one in the first row, left hand side, and one aaaaaall the way in the back, right hand side. We got both and decided to swap seats during intermission.
The play is called Season’s Greetings and it’s one of those holiday plays, where the whole family comes back for Christmas and there is tension. It was a comedy, but it was also a bit sad. I wasn’t particularly enamored with it, and I’m glad I didn’t pay over £10, but the actors were all very good.
And of course, we met Catherine Tate afterwards, which was the whole point. I bought the programme just so she could sign it.
Shabbos, Take Two! (Feb. 11-12)
So, I didn’t really think about shabbos until Wednesday, when Dasi pointed out that she already had plans, and I panicked.
I called Becky, who left early from Lindenbaum our year in Israel, so I hadn’t seen her in years and thought it would be a lot of fun to catch up! After reassuring her that I was not a picky eater or a vegetarian, she gave me some basic public trans directions. (Take the Northern line to the last stop – Edgeware – and text her.)
I showed up an hour or so before shabbos, and I bumped into another friend getting off the tube, and I told her to ask if she could come to Becky’s on shabbos! (We ended up getting a bunch of people and having a blast on shabbos afternoon.) I brought M&Ms from America, because they aren’t kosher here, and they were EXTREMELY well received. 😀
Friday night was wonderful, Becky’s family was a lot of fun, and the food was absolutely delicious. I was running a slight cold, and I felt terrible because I kept running out of the room to blow my nose, but everyone was really nice about it. (No one admonished me for bringing disease into the house, which I felt TERRIBLE about, but I didn’t have the cold until after I had confirmed shabbos plans!) Becky and I stayed up chatting until the lights turned out on us, which was hilarious. It was pitch-black, but I found my way the four feet back to my room. Becky is majoring in English, and her classes are really fascinating, so we just lost track of time!
On shabbos day, we made it to shul and it was a nice young adult minyan, and we quickly checked out the main sanctuary before walking back for lunch. It was huge, and it had a balcony for the choir, which I thought was pretty cool.
Lunch was wonderful again, and then a whole bunch of people came over. The only ones I knew from before were Rebbecca and Tomasina, who had worked on a kibbutz with me two summers ago. We hung out until shabbos was nearly over, and afterward we spent a while checking film times and other things in the neighborhood, before going out to see the film Never Let Me Go, with Rebbecca and Tomasina and another girl. I spent the whole car ride trying to convince myself that we weren’t going to DIE FROM ONCOMING TRAFFIC, being on the wrong side of the road and all.
The movie was heart-wrenching, and by the end four of us were sobbing. It was an all British case, which was fun despite the story! (Mom, if you’re reading this, don’t see it. Sarah…you probably won’t like it either, honestly. Leora, you definitely won’t like it. Ok, stopping now.)
I caught the LAST TRAIN back. And by last train, I mean last train that goes my way, because the Northern line spits twice. So I caught the last train from Edgeware going via Bank (it passes King’s Cross, my stop.) I am seriously unimpressed with this train system because it doesn’t run 24 hours. Having times for approaching trains posted at every platform? Having digital read-outs in all trains announcing the next stop? Making it very clear very quickly whenever there are delays? Pfffffft. The trains stop running at midnight!
Anyway, I got back in one piece and texted Becky to tell her I was back and I think I crashed around one. Pretty good, right? 🙂
The Second Day of the First Day of Classes
No train delays on day two! In fact, I arrived 15 minutes early and chatted with some other students. This class was Modern British Film, and I think I was the only American, but there was a Hungarian girl!
The class is set up differently from the film classes I had at Queens. It’s a one-hour lecture every class on different topics and then every week we switch off from a screening of a film and a small seminar for class discussion.
I’m of mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, the idea of a seminar is a good one. On the other hand, I’ve figured out that classes here are only 11 weeks, as opposed to 15 in America, so I’m already starting out with fewer classes. And it feels awkward to have a film class while watching about 5 films…
But it was a decent class. I’m really excited to see and learn about British film more. I already learned a new genre. Here, “Heritage Film” refers to films that are about/related to British history or valued British texts. Like, King’s Speech or Pride and Prejudice. Cool, right?
Then I had to find my next class, which is specifically aimed at study abroad students. It was in the this extra building connected in the back. It took me three staircases and an elevator to find it. It was a little crazy.
I found it half and hour early, and I just planted myself in a seat and ate my lunch rather than leave.
That class was cool. We’re going to see seven shows on West End and a few theater tours and study theater. The professor seems pretty awesome as well, even though I managed to embarrass myself utterly during the getting-to-know-your-rountable-name-games. (Leora, I know you know what I mean. D:)
Now, I’ve basically confirmed that I don’t have any exams for my classes. Which means, I should be FREE for the THREE WEEKS of exams. FREEDOM IN EUROPE. (Aaron, any advice!?) Now, papers are supposed to be graded much more harshly in this country. So, on the one hand, THREE WEEKS! On the other, OH NO PAPERS. I have to say, I’ve definitely gotten used to the grading standards of my country. And, you know, American spelling. So I’m nervous.
Last night, though, I came home and felt sick. Throat, ears, head. I chatted with a friend about some travel plans for the UK, but I crashed pretty soon after.
I woke up this morning over an hour before my alarm went off because my throat was hurting so much. I spent most of the day on tea on honey, and then Dasi (WHO IS AMAZING) made soup for dinner. Hopefully, hopefully, it’s just a one-day cold. It’s awful being sick in a foreign country.
So today I did very little, hoping that if I didn’t stress myself it would go away. I very much do not want to figure out the medial system here.
FUN FACT OF THE DAY: When our electric kettle is ready it makes a whistling noise LIKE A ROCKET LAUNCHER. WOOOOOOoooOOOOoooo. It’s hilarious, but Dasi and I will probably kill it at some point.
FUN FACT OF THE DAY THE SECOND: Our stovetop turns off every 15 minutes. I assume this is so we won’t accidentally burn down the dorm as we might if we were typical non-cooking idiot college students. But as both Dasi and I have cooking experience, it is extremely frustrating.
Tomorrow I’m off to shabbos at a friend’s house, who I haven’t seen in years and years. I’m really excited about it!
(SARAH W/K, HERE IS YOUR SPECIAL MESSAGE: Are you or are you not coming to France for Pesach??? THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT!)
