My Cloud 9

            Last night was definitely one of the highlights of my London experience. Our group had a fireside scheduled with an LDS Member of Parliament, Mr. David Rutley, at the London Centre. We found out in the afternoon that he had a late vote happening in the House of Commons and so he scheduled a committee room for us to come to parliament to meet with him instead! I was sooooo excited.

            Michelle and I left the centre early and stopped over at the South Kensington tube station to pick up Belgian waffles and gelato on the way to Westminster. The committee room was called the Grimond Room and was actually in the Portcullis House, across the street from the Palace of Westminster. We arrived 45 minutes early, so after we got through security we wandered the corridors looking at paintings and windows and the middle courtyard. There was one drawing that was like an over-sized political cartoon. It was a war scene and had all these different political interests labeled: Conservationists, Shi’ites, Pro-lifers, Smokers, Heterosexuals, Communists, etc, etc, until a particular faction caught our attention… Mormons! We were very surprised, considering how small the LDS population is here in England.

            I really enjoyed Mr. Rutley’s presentation. He told us how he decided as a young adult that he was interested in affecting business and the economy via politics and set hefty goals for himself. To achieve these career goals, he did undergraduate work at BYU and the London School of Economics, did internships in Washington and London, worked in Business consulting, received a graduate degree at Harvard Business School, and then worked in several different UK government agencies and business sectors before finally becoming a Conservative MP in the House of Commons. When he was about to be sworn into office, they offered him a Book of Mormon and so he chose to swear allegiance to the Queen on both the Holy Bible and the Book of Mormon. I thought that was so cool. I really enjoyed his story and passion for politics. He said that many people don’t think that politics are important, but he really believes that through politics he can make a difference. That is how I feel and I just loved listening to him talk. A real politician, thinking the same way I do. He deals more with fiscal politics; I want to do more in social. We had a question and answer session and I got to ask him several questions before he closed the meeting by reading a Winston Churchill quote and encouraging us to set outrageous goals for ourselves. As every other student rushed out the door, I jumped at the chance to ask Mr. Rutley about the topic for my term paper, multiculturalism in the UK. He was so friendly and helpful and gave me some great sources. I got to chat with him and two of the professors for about ten minutes and it was just so great. I almost didn’t want to go back to the centre because I didn’t want to hear everyone complaining about having to sit through a lecture on politics. I thought it was awesome. You know those women who scream because they got to touch Garth Brook’s hand? Well I got to chat with a British MP. And I was walking on Cloud 9. :D

The True European Experience: Football!

Tuesday 29 March 2011

            This afternoon we had a presentation by a visiting BYU education professor who is publishing a book about the candy bomber, an LDS air force pilot after WWII who, during the siege of Berlin, dropped many tons of candy (over several months) to the German children. The story was both historically educational and really inspiring. It reminded me how much I love working with children and made me question my choice of political science for a moment. I have known for a while that I want to be some sort of political lobbyist, but I think now I’ve narrowed it down a bit more. I would really love to work for a non-profit organization, perhaps as a political liaison, lobbyist, or community organizer. I think that would be such a fulfilling career. Perhaps my ASL courses could even be helpful in a non-profit organization.

            That evening we had the awesome opportunity to attend an England v. Ghana Friendly (exhibition) Football Match at Wembley Stadium. Prof. Dursteler asked us, for safety reasons, to travel in groups of five and to make sure we were wearing red and white (English colors). We mistakenly assumed that, since Ghana is a few thousand miles away, the stadium would be all red and white. When we stepped off the tube at Wembley Park station, we were shocked at the crowds of Ghana fans. There were red, green, and yellow flags waving everywhere. We somehow forgot about the substantial population of Africans living in London. I think we actually stood out more for being English fans. When we got to the stadium, we found it to be split about half and half and we were, gratefully, seated in the English section.

            The strange thing for me was that all my friends who are actually from London (read: not BYU students) are the Africans in my ward on Sundays. I really felt like a traitor for cheering for England.

            The football match was so much fun! The whole atmosphere was awesome. I learned the England cheer (clap, clap, clap-clap-clap, clap-clap-clap-clap, ENGLAND!) and pretended to know the words to God Save the Queen. We left the match ten minutes early to try to beat the crowd of 80,102 people to the tube station. When we left, England was winning 1-0. As we hurried from the stadium, we heard a huge ruckus and knew someone had scored. We learned later it was Ghana and the match ended 1-1. Oh, well. It was still an awesome night J

English Breakfast v. (real) Continental Breakfast.

21 - 23 March 2011

The city of Brugges, Belgium was basically a dream come true. It was just the epitome of a European city. It was fairly small and historic, but still a city. Everything was in at least three languages, usually four: French, English, German, and Flemish. There were Belgian chocolate shops everywhere. Just from the street in front of our hotel I could see five little gourmet chocolate shops. And, trust me, they lived up to all expectations. While there, I bought nearly two kilos of Belgian chocolates for myself and my family. The waffles were also amazing – I had three in the 22 hours we were in Brugges. What I didn’t know about Belgium was that they were the real inventors of French fries! There was even a “Friets” museum in Brugges. We bought French fries from a little stand in the main square and the man fried them fresh when we ordered them. Might be the best French fries I’ve ever had.

On Monday our coach took the ferry across the English Channel into Northern France and then we drove up to Brugges. That afternoon Michelle and I walked out to the edge of town to see the windmills. We saw a man up on the porch of one and decided to follow suit and climb up. It was so scary!!! It was more like a ladder than stairs and it reminded me rather eerily of the Mount Widji climbing wall (at the summer camp where I work).  It was a cool view, but we kept calling ourselves stupid for climbing up.

On Tuesday morning we enjoyed an awesome continental breakfast (as opposed to an English breakfast – I finally get it!!!) at the hotel and then headed to the Chocolate Museum as a group. The chocolate museum was pretty fun and we got some delicious samples. Mostly we spent the rest of the morning wandering the city, buying chocolates and waffles, and enjoying the architecture and accordion music. We did happen into a basilica right as they were performing a midday mass. The inside was so colorful! We sat inside for about 15 minutes listening to the music and looking at the beautiful murals and woodwork. We foound the bus about 20 minutes early so we sat in a nearby park and ate chocolate and enjoyed the sunshine. It was 60 degrees and this was the first time I haven’t worn a coat since we got to Europe. It was an absolutely beautiful day. I think I’m in love with Belgium.

Tuesday afternoon we drove to the Ieper WWI museum in southern Belgium and then continued on to Amiens, France. Amiens wasn’t really a touristy town so it was kind of hard to find dinner. After wandering for a few blocks, Michelle and I found an Italian pasta shop that was about to close. I got pasta with spinach and hers had a vodka sauce. It was wonderful.

The next morning we went to a cathedral in Amiens that is also called Notre Dame. It think it might have actually been bigger than Notre Dame in Paris, but I think Notre Dame in Paris is probably prettier. I think my favorite part of the Amiens cathedral was in the outside wall where, among the rows of saints and apostles, two beheaded saints stood holding their heads in their hands. It was pretty funny.

I found an awesome department store in Amiens where I did some shopping and then finished out the trip with a nutella crepe at a sidewalk vendor. In the afternoon we visited the Canadian section of the Somme battlefield from WWI. The Somme battle was a disaster for the allied forces. The Newfoundland regiment (the Canadians) had an 86% casualty rate. The Battle of the Somme lasted for almost 4 months in total and was all trench warfare. It was a very interesting and solemn visit.

It’s always fun getting through the passport check. Europe welcomes you with open arms, but, for some reason, the UK is strict. To get your stamp, you have to fill out a “landing card” with your name, birth place, nationality, address, last destination, flight or ship #, etc… And you never know what they’re going to ask. Today’s line of questioning at the UK Border Agency:

How long will you be here for?

Is that the same as the rest of your group?

Where are you returning to?

Isn’t Nashville music city?

What are you studying?

What period of history?

Where are you coming from?

What did you do in Amiens?

Do you have a letter from your educational institution?

My thoughts: For pete’s sake, just stamp my passport!

We just drove off our ferry back to England and are now on our way back to London. I’m going home 3 weeks from tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am a little sad, but I am soooo ready to go home.

O Danny Boy!

15 – 18 March 2011

Ireland was really fun, but kind of rough at parts. I came down with an annoying cold two days before we left and it was just really holding on. Add to that the fact that we had to leave the centre at 3 am on Tuesday and I was a rather sick and sleep deprived girl.

Our first stop after landing in Dublin was the Guinness storehouse and museum. I walked through in kind of a haze, probably blowing my nose about every two steps. Professor Dursteler had the hardest time trying to explain that our group was Mormon and didn’t drink. The ticket counter finally just ended up selling him “Under 18” tickets so that we would be given soft drinks instead of Guinness. We thought it was pretty funny :) 

After that we checked into the hotel and Michelle and I opted to take an afternoon nap before venturing out on the town. We spent a couple hours wandering through shops, during which I kept the pharmaceutical store Boots afloat by buying up half their cold meds and supplements. We also walked by the old city wall and St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Our whole group met up for dinner reservations at the Brazenhead pub, supposedly the oldest pub in Ireland. The Brazenhead was definitely high-scale for a pub and I just really enjoyed it. I had a greek salad, roast beef and vegetables and a delicious slice of apple pie for dessert. The apple pie really wasn’t like American apple pie at all. It seemed more like sponge cake with layers of apple and covered with this delicious toffee sauce. It was heavenly!

Our second day in Dublin was my favorite. We were staying at the Jury’s Inn and just loved it. Most American-style hotel I’ve been at and it had a full hot breakfast buffet. There were also two computers in the lobby that had free internet. Just so you know, that is unheard of in Europe.

The first stop for Michelle and I was Kilmainham Gaol. When I asked the hotel receptionist how to take the public bus there, I learned the hard way that “Gaol” is pronounced “Jail.” What the heck? The tour of the jail was really cool. We learned a lot about Irish civil war and other history which really helped give some context for other things we saw on the trip.

Afterward, we got off the bus at Trinity College in the center of Dublin. Trinity College houses the Book of Kells – an illuminated manuscript of the gospels made by a group of Irish monks around 800 AD. I really enjoyed seeing the Book of Kells and some of their other ancient manuscripts. It was such a cool experience to be able to lean my face close to the glass to be just a few inches away to this ancient book. Trinity College also just so happens to have the longest one-room library in the world. It’s called “The Long Room.” The room is two stories high with a balcony around the top and it was just so amazing to stand at one end and look at the rows and rows of shelves of books.

Afterward, Michelle wanted to stop at the James Joyce Cultural Centre. This was basically a small museum in honor of a famous Irish writer that I could have lived my life happy without seeing.

 In the evening we walked to a little festival where we watched some Irish dancing, walked through Temple Bar district, and did some shopping for St Patrick’s Day hats.

Next - St Patrick’s Day! The next morningoOur whole group had the time of our lives getting all dressed up in green with our faces painted in green shamrocks and Irish flags. We walked out to O’Connell Street where there was just an awesome air of excitement with everyone dressed in green leprechaun hats and trying to find good spots to watch the parade. We waited an hour for the parade to start and then waited another 45 minutes for it to get down to where we were. Basically, it was the weirdest parade we had ever seen. There were a few of the typical marching bands and mounted police, but the main parade was apparently based on an Irish fantasy short story none of us had ever read. It was weird. Think Oompa Loompas. Or The Nightmare Before Christmas. Just weird. Very well done though.

After the parade Michelle and I searched for a coffee shop and sat down for hot chocolate and pastries. When we walked back down O’Connell Street around 3:30 pm to head to our bus, we were shocked at the transformation. What had been a nice, modern metropolitan area had changed into a very eerie, sketchy, drunken street. Dozens of police officers roamed around while men and women downed pint after pint in the pubs. Teenage girls danced promiscuously on the sidewalk and boys peed in the corners. So this is what St Patrick’s Day means to Ireland? When we got on the bus, our driver told us we should be glad to get out of town, he said at night there would just be bodies lying in the street. We were glad.

That night we stayed at a hostel in Kilkenny and spent the next morning just walking around the town. In the afternoon we took the bus to the Rock of Cashel in Tipperary County. It was a fortress, but became a cathedral... or maybe it was a cathedral that became a fortress? Still confused.

Ireland was really lovely and I enjoyed Dublin immensely. However, I think we were all about ready to cry tears of joy when, at 12:30 am, we finally got to our beds in the Centre. There’s no place like… home? Well, I guess the Centre is close enough. :)

Singing Sheep!

10 – 12 March 2011

Wales!

Ok, this is going to be SHORT.

Well, if I wanted to make this truly short, I could summarize Wales in three words: sheep, singing, and daffodils. But I guess I’ll elaborate just a tad.

The first day in Wales was… not in Wales. Kind of confusing, I know. We left for a three day trip to Wales and we didn’t get to Wales until 10.30am the second day. Don’t ask.

The afternoon of the first day was spent driving around to different LDS Church History sites around southwest England. All the sites were really cool, but by the end of the day we were pretty much sick of being in that bus.

[Insert pics with captions… when the internet works… i.e. when I get to the states…]

The second day we say the ruins of Tyntern (sp?) Abbey and then went down into the Big Pit.

The Big Pit was the largest coal mine (in circumference, not depth) in Wales. It is not in operation anymore so we donned helmets, safety belts, and head lamps and went down a 300 ft shaft. It was so cool. My group got lucky – the first group apparently had a guide who told them about every accident he had ever witnessed. Mine told ghost stories and would randomly break out in the Welsh national anthem. At one point, we were all going through a narrow corridor with many low rafters. Two girls hit their heads in quick succession and somehow our guide at the front combined their two exclamations – “I lost my light!” and “Ah, Shizz…” – into “I lost my light and need a sh**!” He was decided to make the most of this and made fun of this one girl he pinned it on for the next five minutes, trying to get her to tell him how we cuss in America and how this cause and effect statement worked. We were all laughing so hard we couldn’t even attempt to explain that we don’t swear. When we got back to the lift up to the surface, we all crammed into the cage and he shut the gate. He then informed us that the lift wasn’t moving until we sang our national anthem. We all laughed. Then we realized he was serious. We finally just burst out shouting the Star-Spangled Banner. It was difficult, considering we were still laughing, and we eeked out “Home of the brave!!” as we saw sunlight again.

That night we were in Cardiff and went down to the Bay to take pictures and stopped at a pub for dinner. I ordered vegetable bangers and mash – sausages made of veggies with mashed potatoes and cheese.

The next day as we walked through Cardiff we enjoyed the pre-game festivities for the Wales v. Ireland rugby match. We walked amid the daffodils and leprechauns in the street and enjoyed the general splendor. Emily saw a book fair in front of a Baptist church raising money for their organ and I had fun chatting with some old people while Emily perused the books. I did a five minute “Fitness Challenge” out in the street and got a goodie bag full of Under-Armor stuff. All for men. Maybe I’ll give it to my brother-in-law…

Favorite foods: Welshcakes (between a cookie and pancake with raisins) and Bara Brith (kind of a fruitcake).

The last stop was a Welsh outdoor history museum. They had really good ice cream called “Celtic Crunch.” Ok, and there were some pretty cool buildings too…