5/19 First Day Of Classes

Today we had our first day of class. The first session was all about different pubs and nightclubs that are in the area. It was real hard material so I took good notes. We were also given a tour of the University after our first session. It is a pretty cool campus that offers a lot of student activities. The University is known as an international university and has about 30,000 students. Our tour ended at a cafe on campus and we were left to fend for ourselves to find food. David (my roommate) and I lucked out, our host mom made us sack lunches. So we didn't have to pay or wait for our food like everyone else.

After lunch, we had our first real class. It was about language barriers between different cultures. Our professor made us do a few weird activities. On one of them, she has us be with a partner and stand with our toes touching and talk to them. It was very awkward for all of us. In Europe they are more ok with people being in their personal space. I find it interesting that even though both the U.S. and the U.K. speak English, our languages are still very different. Overall the first day of class was really easy and I don't anticipate it getting harder.

My other 2 roommates (Harid & Lawrence), were going to go see Angels and Demons. We thought it would be a good idea to go with them to get to know them a little bit better. We invited along Stephanie, Elizabeth, and Wallet (their other roommate who eats dinner with my host family). They movie was really good and did not ruin the book. I recommend it.

I am having a great time so far. The UK is a lot more diverse than I thought it would be. I was kind of expecting a lot of pasty white people. The UK is just as diverse as back home. The other thing about the UK is that everything is smaller here. Fat Fitz would never have been able to get through a doorway here (DC hahah). The best way to describe the streets here are that they look like they are from a movie set. It is a strange feeling. I kept forgetting to look the other way first when crossing streets and have almost been hit a few times.

Trying To Blend In...Is It Working? Bristol's Cathedral

Hannah Does Your Gym Back Home Look Like This?

(can't believe i found a local gym out here)

Found Fitz and Aldo's Office

Graffiti Is An Art Form In Bristol

This Is Where I Live (the blue door is my house)

More Pics

The Gorge that the Avion River flows through

(I am on a suspension bridge that goes over the gorge. About 3 people jump off this bridge everyweek to kill themselves. Last years group missed a jumper by a few min)
A Small Fraction of Bristol's Cathederal

Dr. Goebal and I have a Pint Together. (I had Hobgoblin, it was pretty good)

Since Wed. I have taken about a 150 pictures. I will show them all to everyone when I get home. They will be easier to explain that way. I will continue to post new pics now that I have access to the internet.

Pics

My Group on the Xmas Steps in Bristol
Old Trafford (where Manchester United Plays)

First Meal in the UK is Arab

Finally Internet

Sorry for not updating on a regular basis, but I have not been able to access the Internet. I had been keeping a daily journal on my computer but when I tried to turn it on this morning it told me it could not find the operating system. So I will play with that a bit when I get back to my host family. Any ideas jim?

I caught a 4:30am coach to London after being out at a club with Ayman and his friends. When i arrived in London I had to figure out how where the tube (train) was. It turned out that it wasn't to hard to find and use. Very similar to the trains in Chicago, just have to look at the map and figure out what stop to get off at. I met up with my group at Heathrow airport. From there we took a 2 hour coach to Bristol where we were picked up by our host families. My host is named Barbara, and she has a daughter who is away at school. I have 3 roommates; David is from my program and we share a room, Harid is from Saudi Arabia, and Lawrence is from China. Barbara is a bit cold and rough around the edges but I'm starting to warm up to her. She gave us a list of rules to follow, most are common sense, but I don't like the one about having to take a 5 min shower and not being able to shave in the bathroom. We have to use a bowl of warm water in the room.

On Sunday, Dr. Goebal led us on a walking tour of Bristol so we could get our bearings. Did I mention that it was still raining? We saw the famous Christmas steps but no one seemed to know why they were given that name. Some other sites that we saw were a couple bridges, one was dedicated to a slave from the 1700's and the other still had its original foundation from 1120 when it was built. There was also a church that had no roof because it was bombed in WWII. The Lord Mayor of Bristol left the church standing without the roof and dedicated it to the people from Bristol who lost their lives in the war. There were a few other sites, just can't remember them off of the top of my head at the moment.

On Monday, we had a walking/bus tour of Bristol again but this one was led by someone from the university. I was able to get inside the Cathedral of Bristol today. It was amazing, can't even begin to describe the experience of being inside it. The architecture is amazing. Our tour ended at the University where we had lunch provided to us and a welcoming session. This is a short summary of the last couple days, wish I could remember the one that I had typed out originally. It is a lot more detailed.

5/14 Day 2

Well it is still raining here. Ayman is convinced that I brought the rain with me, but when I left Chicago it was 65 degrees and sunny. I got to sleep in a bit today to help me recover some from the long flight. When I woke up, Ayman's mom made me some proper British tea. It was better than the tea I have had in the states, but I am still not a big tea person. I will stick to my hot chocolate. For breakfast we had meat and potato pasties. They were pretty good, reminded me of being in Michigan. When I look into my wallet I actually feel like a world traveler because I 3 different currencies in it.

After breakfast we headed into Manchester. Ayman took me to Old Trafford, this is where Manchester United plays a strange form of football. We took the tour of the field and learned a lot about the history behind Manchester United. During the tour we went in the players lounge, down both tunnels, and got to walk next to the pitch. We also saw the ball boys room, I was surprised that Fitz wasn't there. I have decided to h0p on the Manchester United Bandwagon and become a fan. I may even have to watch a game.

Ayman took me to the Trafford Centre, the local mall, after our tour. Yes Hannah, I actually went to a mall. Our number one priority was to find some food. We had some burgers at a bar and grill called the Giraffe. For some reason the burgers did not come with American cheese. We were both tired after lunch and headed home to take a nap.

After our nap, it was time to go experience the night life in Bolton. Ayman introduced me to several of his friends and his girl friend. His girl friend is nice and pretty cute, and his friends are hilarious and remind e of mine back home. My cheeks are still sore today from laughing all night. We went out to several local bars and a night club in Bolton. It was an interesting night filled with some drama, lots of laughs, poor dancing (mostly by me) and ended around 6:30 this morning.

Replies

Well I was just informed what getting pissed really means in the UK. Thanks for the late advice. Yes Ayman got his hot fries in good condition and was very happy about it. Aunt Robyn I will try and get to some of those places if I am in the area. I assume that last comment was from fitz or tom, I will try and stay away for as long as possible. No promises though.

Day 1

Well my flight touched down at 9:36am local time. The flight lasted 8 hours and 11 minutes. It would have been about 25 in faster if it wasn't raining in London. When it rains they slow down the number of flights going into Heathrow airport which caused my plane to circle the airport for a bit. When the plane made it to the terminal, I had to wait an additional 15 min before they let anyone off the plane. Apparently the set of steps the airport personnel had brought to the plane did not work and it took tie to find a working unit.

There weren't any problems getting through customs or finding my bag. Ayman and his friend Brian came to pick me up from the airport. They decided that I needed to have some breakfast and took me to a local Syrian/Lebanese place where we ate Fataveh. After breakfast, we went back to Brian's place, which is in London, to relax for a few hours.

Ayman and I were supposed to catch a coach to Manchester at 4:30pm. Brian tried his hardest to get us to the bus station on time. I have never been in a car with a more aggressive driver. In all fairness, Brian knew exactly what he was doing. I really believe he could be a professional get away driver in London (he attributes his driving skills to having to drive in Syria where one has to expect the possibility of having another car land on top of the one that you are driving). After, flying through London's narrow traffic filled streets, oncoming traffic, shortcuts, barley avoiding getting sandwiched between 2 buses, and pissing a lot of people off, we arrived at the bus station at 4:30pm (this description still does not give justice to the experience of being in the car with Brian at the wheel). For some odd reason the coach actually left on time, which is rare I a told, and we missed it by about 1 minute. It just wasn't meant to be.

We got tickets for a later coach. To pass the time we went to another local Syrian/Lebanese place for dinner. There I tried both a chicken and lamb Shawarma. Bother were good but i recommend the chicken one. To ensure that we got on the next coach, we decided it would be a good idea to show up a bit early. This idea seamed to work out because both Ayman and I got on the coach after parting with Brian.

About 4 hours later we rolled into Manchester. Ayman's dad and brother picked us up from the bus station. We went back to Ayman's house for some food and played some video games of course. This is where I will be spending the night. All in all it was a great day, and could not have started off the trip any better.

*Having issues posting pics to the blog at the moment. Attempting to fix this prob.

Well I am on the plane and waiting to take off. Take off should be at 715pm and I should arrive in London at 920am local time.

The Packing Starts

There was no time for relaxation after graduation. Packed up my room and headed north. I know Mother's Day is supposed to be dedicated to my mom, but it was spent helping me find everything I needed for my trip. Thanks for always sacrificing your time mom to help me figure out how to put one foot in front of the other. LOVE YOU......

After a lovely dinner, it was time to start packing for my adventures in Europe. Just about 43 hours away, who's counting though?

Shocking News, The Packing Actually Started A Couple Nights Early

I Think I Can Get It All In One Bag
(Damn I Am A Good Packer*)

*The reference to the term "Packer" has no ties or connection to the mediocre football team from Green Bay Wisconsin,** in case there was any confusion.

**Just mentioning this area leaves a bad taste in my mouth, time to go brush my teeth.

Its Official

Cookout At The College Of Business

Bandit Came Tooo!!

Thanks For Coming Everyone

Me And Reggie

Two Studs

On The Stage, It Really Happened

Me And The President

They Really Let Me Keep It

Proud Parents

The Three Stooges