The first few days...

Hello Everyone!

I have officially and safely arrived in England! It took me a few days to have access to a computer, so I haven't been able to update this until now. I'll give you a brief overview of what I've been doing so far:

On Friday, May 1, I arrived at the London airport at around 7am (England time, so it'd be 2am Michigan time). I only slept about 10 minutes on the plane, so it was a very long day! I then got on an underground train that took me to a station in London. Then I walked in London across a street (I wasn't really in the mood to look around much yet because I was feeling pretty lost) and went into another train station. From there I took a second train to Brighton. My professor picked me up from here and drove me back to the dorms at the University of Brighton. It was a very long and exhausting trip, but I am glad I'm here now!

I haven't had a chance to explore the campus much, but so far the University seems really nice. The dorms are great. Each of us have our own room and bathroom. We share a hallway (called a flat) with other people who have their own rooms, and we have a common kitchen and living space. Europeans apparently think we're neat freaks and don't hold my passion of keeping the kitchen clean, so it's pretty gross. None of us are going to use our kitchens much because of this and the meal plan that we're getting from the cafeteria. The cafeteria is sort of like a restaurant, but reminds me of the Eastern Dining Commons One hall. The food the first night was alright, and I haven't eaten there since.

On Saturday morning we got up bright and early and got on a tour bus with other American students who have been at the University of Brighton all this past semester. We traveled to Oxford, where the Oxford University is located. We walked around it and saw the University, which is absolutely beautiful and really really old. It's basically considered the Harvard of England. We also walked around and got lunch and shopped a bit. Then we all piled back onto the bus and travelled to Stratford-Upon-Avon. This is where Shakespeare was born, lived, wrote his plays, and died. He's also buried there in a huge old Anglican church. We walked around a bit and got some fish and chips (which is pretty good) and ate in a park by the Avon river. Then we went to the Shakespeare theater in Stratford and saw his play "A Winter's Tale." The play was really good. It was definitely typical Shakespeare in that it was very depressing and had really random parts and the people were all very connected in unique ways, but was definitely worth attending. After this we went back to the Bed and Breakfasts (called Guest Houses here) and crashed. Then Sunday morning we got up and had breakfast together. Then I (and another guy) walked across town to the only Catholic church for morning mass. It was a low mass, so there was no music, but it was still interesting. They say the creed a tiny bit differently. I'll go more into detail on this another day.

After church, I met back up with the group and we went on a walking tour of Stratford. We saw all the Shakespeare monuments and buildings where he lived, the church where he's buried, and many cool old buildings that have carvings of Shakespearean scenes from his plays. Then we got some lunch and got back on the bus. We then went to Warwick Castle, which is a really really really awesome old castle that many of the royalty lived in and used throughout the centuries. The earliest date that I found on the informational signs were in the 1000's. That's really old! They also had a lot of people dressed up in time period clothing walking around, shows going on of jousting and sword fighting, birds of prey shows, the personal quarters that many royal people lived in, and tons more. It was really awesome. Then we rode the bus back to campus.

Needless to say, I am exhausted after a really long 4 days. I feel like I've been here for weeks already because each day lasted so long (especially since I didn't sleep for about 24 straight hours the first day). I am definitely looking forward to a full night's sleep tonight!

The next two days I have free, so I'll be resting, checking out Brighton and campus, and finding out about where my field placement will be. Tomorrow (Monday) night I'm having dinner at my professor's (Laura) home that they're renting on the beach. That's when we will find out our placements and hopefully meet some of the U of Brighton students who will be coming to Eastern in July (they're also Social Work students, so we're doing an exchange).

More updates to come! I hope that gave you a bit of an idea of what I've been up to! I can't use Skype at the moment because I don't have my own internet (I'm in the library right now). When I am able to use it in my dorm room, I'll let you know so that I can contact you easier! I hope everything is well back in Michigan. Keep me updated! :)

Here's a link to pictures from this weekend:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2185834&id=30308465&l=f82265f0ba