Weeks 8 and 9: Edinburgh and London

R.I.P McGonnagall

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! The holiday spirit is in full swing in England. There are Christmas trees in all the malls and carols play while you shop. We’re expecting snow next weekend which will further increase the festive mood. My weekend travels are winding down so I have time to work on my essays. Come December though, I’ll be country hopping for 3 weeks straight.

Edinburgh Castle

My last getaway with my Nottingham friends was to Edinburgh. It was a 5 hour train ride north from Nottingham and we arrived early Friday afternoon. After nearly freezing to death in Bath the week before I made sure I had layers upon layer of clothes. Edinburgh is notorious for being cold and despite all my wool and fleece I was still chilly. By the time we settled into our hostel and walked into the city center it was starting to get dark. The city is equally beautiful at night as it is during the day. All the buildings, bridges, and the castle are lit up. To warm up we stopped in Elephant House. This is the café where J.K Rowling wrote the first two Harry Potter books. She would sit for hours in the café staring out the window which overlooks an old school (inspiration for Hogwarts) and graveyard. Somehow my friends convinced me to wander the graveyard at dusk in search of a few notable graves – Tom Riddell and McGonagall – two more Harry Potter inspirations. The night finished back at our hostel for dinner where we heated up delicious soup and bread.

Inside the castle walls

Saturday morning we rose early and headed towards the castle. There is no way you can go to Edinburgh and miss the castle; it is perched on a hill in the middle of the city. The view from every angle at the top is spectacular. A visit to the castle includes touring a few royal chambers, prisons, military museums, and a view of the royal jewels (England’s are way better). We had lunch along the Royal Mile (the street that stretches from the castle to Queen Elizabeth’s current Scottish residence) in a pub. Thankfully the restaurant part was not as packed as the bar. Scotland was playing a rugby match and the pubs everywhere where filled with very noisy fans. As in Bath and Dublin, free tours are offered to visitors. The Edinburgh tour covered every major sight in the city and was extremely informative yet entertaining* We headed back to the hostel after the tour for a short warm-up/rest. 

Dinner on Saturday was at another pub where I sampled the traditional Scottish dish – Haggis. For those of you who don’t know the composition of Haggis here is Wikipedia’s definition: Haggis is a dish containing sheep’s ‘pluck’ (heart, liver, lungs) minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, and mixed with stock and traditionally simmered in the animal’s stomach. It sounds revolting, but it was surprisingly delicious! The original plan for Sunday morning was to climb Arthur’s Seat (a hill outside the city) for the best view of Edinburgh. Mother Nature had other plans though so we ended up avoiding the rain in the National Gallery and Royal Museum of Scotland. We were set to arrive back in Nottingham at 10 on Sunday evening. Our last train change was only 30 minutes from Nottingham, but we didn’t make it back to campus until 2.5 hours later. I maintain that we were at the right platform at the right time, we just got on the wrong train. 2.5 hours later, after a VERY expensive cab ride we returned home from Edinburgh.

The rolling hills of Scotland and the infamous grey sky

This past Saturday I returned to London again to spend “Thanksgiving” with our family friend Meg, her husband, and a few of their friends. It was so great to be in a kitchen again! We had chicken with cranberry sauce (because turkey isn’t available until December), stuffing, roast veg, and sweet potatoes. Dessert was pumpkin pie made by an English guy who actually prepared the pumpkin himself. Canned pumpkin does not exist in the England! Thanksgiving would not be complete without football, just of a different variety here. The Arsenal vs. Tottenham game was the main focus for part of the evening. Arsenal lost to the great disappointment to all guests. Our pseudo Thanksgiving was a great success!

*interesting fact learned on the tour: Grave robbing used to occur frequently. The thieves would arrive at dark and exhume the recently buried corpses to sell them to medical schools. Wealthy families could afford to hire a person to watch the grave for6-8 weeks after burial (the time it takes for a body to decompose so it is no longer of use to medical schools). Poorer families had no choice but to sleep on the grave to deter thieves. This is where the term “doing the graveyard shift” originated. 

Love to you all,

 Elisabeth

Week 8: Bath

Oh beautiful, glorious Bath! What a wonderful city that has now topped my list of “Favorite Travel Destinations”.

Roman Baths

My journey started fairly early on Friday, as, usual, to maximize travel time. Though Bath is only 3 hours away, trains directly there from Nottingham do not exist. Therefore, we had 2 changes along the way. Due to delays at Birmingham station (point of first change) our train was late in arriving. The next train was meant to depart at 12:35 and it was right on time…I waved to it from the platform as it left 12:35 and 25 seconds (when my friends and I arrived, huffing and puffing). Thankfully changes on trains are not nearly as complex as layovers. Since we missed our train we were able to hop on the next one without a change of ticket. Unfortunately on the “replacement” train we did not have reserved seats and ended up sitting in the vestibule right next to the toilets for the 90 minute journey.

Overlooking the river Avon

The majority of my Friday afternoon was spent at the Roman Baths. The Romans were way ahead of their time. The Baths were certainly a feat of engineering. In my opinion the British could learn a few things about plumbing from the ancient Romans. The Baths were renowned in Roman times as well in the late 18^th and early 19^th century for their restorative powers and the water was said to cure anything from gout to infertility. I was able to drink some of the legendary waters after touring the Baths. YUCK! Warm drinking water is bad enough, but add the taste of sulfur and it’s 10 times worse.

I’m slowing get accustomed to staying in hostels. I can handle communal showers and bunk beds that creak but the “snoring man” made me long for my own room. This guy needs to see a doctor. I had no idea that humans were capable of making the sound of a lawnmower/chainsaw/machine gun. My friends I laugh about it now but being kept awake by that horrendous symphony at night was not funny at 5am! I’m going to invest in some very heavy duty ear plugs for sure.

We awoke very groggy next the morning for a full day of sightseeing. My fellow Jane Austen groupie and I headed to the Bath Abbey for our Jane Austen tour. In short, I was in heaven! The tour covered all the locations referenced in Jane’s books and the places where she lived during her time in Bath. Our adorable tour guide even had quotes from her books that matched up with certain points in the tour. We rushed from this tour back the center of town to meet with the rest of our group for a trip to Stonehenge. The bus ride took about an hour and was a simply gorgeous drive through the country. The Avon Valley right around Bath is the epitome of the idyllic English countryside. The hour at the Stonehenge site passed quickly. Here’s what I learned about the fabled stones: no one knows how they got there, who put them there, or why they are there. Nonetheless, it was neat to be there in person. Later that night we braved the cold to see fireworks in celebration of Guy Fawkes Day.

Don't let the blue sky fool you...it was COLD!

On Sunday morning a few of us attended service at the Bath Abbey. It was magical to hear the boys choir sing in such a spectacular setting. Immediately following the service we left on a 2 hour tour of the city. I think we made it 45 minutes or so. None of us had expected Bath to be so cold, but it was absolutely frigid! After excusing ourselves from the tour we immediately headed to a coffee shop to warm ourselves with hot chocolate. I better get some warmer boots and gloves for my winter travels. I’m sure Prague is going to infinitely colder than England. 

We spent the rest of the day going from warm building to warm building. First were The Assembly Rooms, where the cream of British aristocracy spent their evenings listening to concerts or dancing. Next we visited the Victoria Gallery, a small museum with a collection made up almost entirely by loans from local residents. The afternoon finished at the Bath Tea Rooms for a spot of tea and scones. My train ride home was uneventful and I arrived back in Nottingham late Sunday night cold and tired, but ready to turn around and go back to Bath again.

Week 7: Notes on Nottingham

No exciting trips to report on this week. I must say though that it was nice to have a quiet week and be able to do a little studying…which is supposedly why I’m here :) Besides a few trips into town, the only excursion of the week was to Wollaton Hall, an Elizabethan mansion only a 15 minute walk from the University. The walk through the grounds to the hall was beautiful. I loved the autumn colors! The majority of the grounds have been converted into a golf course. Deer roam freely across the course and don’t seem to be bothered by the stray golf balls. It’s not rare to see a few deer in my backyard so I was content to just snap a picture and move on. To my friends though, deer were an exotic species. Deer (and squirrels) to Australians are like Kangaroo to Americans.

The exterior of Wollaton is very impressive and reminded me of one of the stately homes I’d see in one of my favorite Jane Austen films. I had expected that the interior of the home would be equally as remarkable. The Great Hall is one of the only rooms in the whole mansion that gave an idea of the former grandeur of the mansion.  The rest of Wollaton has been converted into what one of my friends called “a dead zoo.” Officially the menagerie of stuffed animals is called a National History Museum. I have never seen so many stuffed birds, insects, snakes, porcupine, armadillo…the list goes on and on. I marveled at the stuffed giraffe, but I was perfectly happy to walk quickly past the rest of the poor animals.

And now for a few notes on Notts…

The Good:

Gregg’s: The hybrid of a fast food restaurant and a bakery. They serve delicious cheese and onion pasties and donuts for cheap. I’d choose that over McDonalds any day

Primark: All university students shop here. Cheap (yet trendy) clothes, shoes, bags, pajamas, jewelry, homeware. This place has it all!

The English Vocabulary: It’s so endearing to be called ‘love’ or ‘deary’ by the person who rings up your groceries.

Cheese and Cookies: No Kraft American slices here. Even the inexpensive cheddar is amazing. As for the cookies….Digestives, tea biscuits, and hob nobs have become a staple in my room. I’m contemplating brining a separate suitcase of biscuits home with me.

The Bad:

Where are the outlets?:  All the dorm rooms I’ve been in have one group of four outlets (called power points) in a non central location. If I want to curl my hair, charge my laptop etc I’m restricted to a little corner of the room where the garbage can is found. Luckily I have a mirror in sight but most of my girlfriends don’t. Hot appliances + no mirror = danger! 

Where are the vegetables?: The choices for sides are: rice, potato  one, potato two, or plain pasta. If you’re lucky you get very undercooked carrots. Have the English never heard of a salad bar?

The Ugly:

The faucets: Instead of having one tap with a handle for hot and a handle for cold, all the taps in the halls have two separate faucets for hot and cold water.  To wash my face I’ve had to develop a method of alternating between scooping cold and hot water and attempting to not burn myself. The hot water gets ridiculously hot.

The fire alarms: I will never understand why the Uni students find it amusing to pull the fire alarms at all hours of the night. It’s happened 9 times since I’ve been here so part of my bedtime routine has becoming setting out my fire alarm shoes, pants and jacket. I learned after the first time that standing outside at 3 in the morning gets chilly.

And this weekend: Bath…and the Jane Austen Center. I will be in heaven!

Love to you all,

Elisabeth

Week 6: Dublin

 Another stamp in my passport! This time Ireland. Not to be confused with Northern Ireland or associated with the UK or Great Britain. Definitely not!

I left very early Friday morning…very early. The taxis arrived at 4:45 so that myself, along with 11 others could catch our 6am flight. Ryan Air (the airline we flew) is the Walmart of the skies. You get cheap flights but pay the price in other ways. We got to Dublin safely and on time so I have no complaints.

The Temple Bar neighborhood in Dublin

After dropping our bags at our hostel and a grab and go breakfast we met outside city hall for a free 3 hour walking tour of the city. Our guide was a history student at UCD and was incredibly knowledgeable about Ireland’s, and more specifically, Dublin’s history. The tour was in a word – fantastic. It covered almost every note worthy site in the city.

Like father like daughter :) 

The final stop of the day was the Guinness storehouse. The massive building (shaped like a Guinness pint glass) was part factory part museum. Most visitors would agree that the highlight is the free pint of Guinness included with entry. I was able to pour my own, which it turns out is an exact science. Fun fact: it takes 119 seconds for a freshly poured pint of Guinness to settle. Learning to pour was easy, finishing the pint was quite a bit more challenging. Guinness is definitely an acquired taste, but the Irish certainly do love it. One of our cab drivers told us that to this day doctors even recommend that pregnant women have Guinness daily! I’ll have to do a little research before I buy into that.

View from the top...the island in the back is called
the Eye of Ireland

To be honest, I was not a huge fan of Dublin. All the major cities I visited have a unique feel, but Dublin was a little blah. I’m sure the rain didn’t help J It didn’t feel very cohesive, more like a mish mash of awkward modern buildings and historic monuments. My group was in agreement that we were going to spend our second day outside of the city. Our pick was Howth, a very small coastal village 30 minutes from the city. Howth is one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited! 

A find while walking through the park..a culinary
school called Kitchen in the Castle

We started off by walking through a park, which turned into golf course, which turned into a very steep hill. The leisurely walk we had all anticipated quickly became a hike. I can’t complain since two very sweet 70+ women were hiking in front of us. The view from the top of the hill was spectacular and encompassed the lush green rolling hills Ireland is known for along with the rocky beaches and intimidating cliffs.

Don't worry Mom, I'm not as close to the edge as it looks like

We worked up quite an appetite so fresh fish and chips were in order. After lunch, we walked along the cliffs. Those afraid of heights are advised to stay away. I’ll admit that I stayed as far from the edge and looked down as little as possible! We headed back to the bus just in time, as the gorgeous sunny day turned to a torrential downpour as soon as we got to the station.

Saturday finished with a good pub meal and a few card games in the hostel. Then it was up at the crack of dawn again for our flight home. Flying in Europe is so convenient; the flight from East Midlands (basically Nottingham) to Dublin is only 45 minutes. It took longer to get a bus back to campus from the airport!

Happy Halloween everyone!

XXOO-

Elisabeth

Weeks 4 and 5: London!

My friends and I (a group of 7) left early Saturday morning. The train ride into London is about 2 hours, just the perfect amount of time to get some reading done for class…if you choose to do so that is :) My friend Steph was quite the experienced London traveler so for the first day she was our tourguide. The first stop was platform 9 ¾ (not actually between 9 and 10)

After dropping our bags of at our hotel we headed to Oxford Circus, and to Camden Market. Camden market is like Pike Place, just intensified. The vendors were quite varied, some selling neat jewelry and crafts and others selling souvenir magnets. Camden definitely has an indie/alternative feel – and is known for being a haven for tattooed and pierced punks. There were few standout shops that catered to this crowd such as the mega store called CyberDog that sold neon space suits. My favorite part of the market was the food. I finally got some Mexican food. Granted it was the British version of a burrito but there was a tortilla and cheese so I was happy. I also had the best donut of my life. The Brits may not know how to make a stellar quesadilla but they’ve got donuts down to an art form.

We next headed to Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus nearby Westminster Abbey and Big Ben. I had one of those “pinch me I’m in London” moments when I had my picture taken in the well-recognized phone booths with Big Ben in the background. Very touristy yes, but a rite of passage for any visitor to London. It was getting dark by this point so we headed back to our hotel in Russell Square to prepare for our big night out for Steph’s 23^rd b-day! Our night turned out to be quite an adventure. Simply put, cabs in London are everywhere but never available for hire. Even a 3 am they are all pre-booked. Lesson learned: if you want to experience London night life bring a full wallet, do NOT wear heels, and book cabs in advance!

Looking fine for our night on the town

Check-out Sunday morning came way too early since we were all exhausted from the night before. I left the group to meet a friend in nearby Covent Garden for lunch. Covent Garden is probably my favorite area of London. It was filled with markets and cafés. Meg and I ate a crêpe shop. Très bon! After lunch we walked around the National Gallery…I stayed mostly in the Impressionist rooms. One plus about London..most museums and galleries are free. It’s wonderful that anyone can simply walk in and enjoy a Monet or a Turner at no cost. All the girls (including myself) were feeling pretty sluggish we decided to have a leisurely end to our Sunday. We took lots of photos at Buckingham Palace, explored Regence Street (lots of upscale shopping) and SoHo and had a nice break sunning ourselves in Green Park. We finished our day with a delicious dinner of bangers and mash in a pub.

Now for round two. Meg and her husband Calem, very graciously offered their flat to me last weekend. I loved London so much that I was not about to pass up an opportunity to visit again. This time I went alone though…and I’ll admit it was a little daunting at first. I arrived in London early Friday evening and took the tube to Ealing (the borough where they live). It was a pretty long tube ride which wasn’t helped by the mass of evening commuters squeezing into each car. We had dinner in town followed by drinks at a pub for a friend’s b-day. It was nice to get away from the crazy 18 year-old partiers for a weekend and enjoy the more intimate atmosphere of a pub.

Off with her head!

Saturday I was on my own as Meg and Calem had weekend schooling (poor things). My first stop was the Tower of London. After a coffee and muffin in Ealing I took the tube towards the Tower. So far I had not had any problems with the tube, but public transportation was not working in my favor this particular day. The combination of ‘signal delays’, engineering work, and ‘security alerts’ (which I later discovered meant suicides) caused severe delays on many of the tube lines. It took me over an hour to get to the general vicinity of the Tower. I ended up getting off before my stop and walking. I’ll admit that I was a little lost but I found my way eventually and got nice tour of the Southbank in the process.

The Tower was so much fun. The tourguides are the Queen’s royal guards. Mine was knowledgeable, but hilarious. He enjoyed terrifying his group with detailed descriptions of the many torture techniques practiced on Tower prisoners. In addition to the site of Anne Boleyn’s beheading, the Tower also draws crowds to see the Crown Jewels. They were so elaborate and gaudy I had a hard time believing the golf-ball sized object I was looking at was actually a diamond. The main exhibit was the massive display of armor. Suits, swords and shields from many of the royals were displayed. Personally I preferred the jewels :)

The tube back to central London was painfully slow so I was happy to get off early again and walk through Covent Garden before heading to the British Museum. The museum is fantastic but absolutely huge. I saw the big-ticket items (ie. the Rosetta Stone and Egyptian mummies) but my favorite exhibit was the ancient Lachish reliefs. So beautiful. Luckily the tube had picked up steam by the time I headed to Ealing again. I had dinner with my hosts and joined them for a cheese and wine party. I stayed close to the cheese table the whole time. I think I ate my weight in Brie and Cheddar.

Portobello Road

Sunday was a quiet day. After a nice sleep-in Meg and I headed to Notting Hill. I am a HUGE Notting Hill fan so I was beyond excited to see the Travel Bookshop and blue door. To my utter disappointment the shop has (very recently) been replaced by a clothing store and the blue door was replaced with a….STARBUCKS. How dare they! I am now officially boycotting Starbucks. Nevertheless, I enjoyed quirky Portobello road.

22,115 fans in attendance

Nottingham is quite tame compared to the hustle and bustle of London. Although, I went to a Nottingham Forest football match last night, and the crowd was anything but docile. I had a blast and I’m happy to report that Nottingham beat Middlesborough 1-0. I’d love to go to another match and hopefully make kick-off this time. (The stadium turned out to be a lot closer than we anticipated so we ended up missing our stop by a long shot and getting to the match after half-time. I still saw the winning - and only - goal though!)

This weekend is Dublin! Guiness factory here I come.

Lots of love to you all!

Week 3: Sights Around Nottingham

      Hello October! I did a little research and found that October is usually the rainiest month here in Nottingham. So far, that seems to be the case. I asked a local when the rainy season begins and he, looking puzzled replied “it’s always the rainy season here.” How silly of me. I know all about that being from Washington. The English do not let the rain keep them from activities and my friend Casee and I were determined to be the same. On a very dreary Friday we ventured out in search of the oldest pub in England, Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem. It was quite the hunt but in the end we found it. Even with my heavy duty raincoat I was still soaked. I had a beer and a selection of “pub nibblers” while I attempted to dry myself. The pub was charming! The main part of the structure is built into a cave. There are a variety of little rooms, each shaped by a crevice in the cave. It is estimated that the pub itself is over 800 years old. Crusaders would break their journey at the inn and pub on the way to Jerusalem.

    Among the many rainy days have been a few beautiful sunny ones. Yesterday I took advantage of the clear skies and toured the campus. At Linfield, touring the campus would take 30 minutes max. I spent twice as long just walking around the lake. The University Park Campus (where I live and have class) has its own - quite large - lake. It looks nice from a distance, but up close one can tour the surrounding grounds which are spectacular. I feel so lucky to have such beautiful scenery just steps from my hall. On sunny days students and visitors can rent boats and row around the lake. There is also a putting course and croquet lawn. Those activities are weather dependent of course, but I’m happy to walk/run around the lake regardless of the weather.

The Trent Building - Can you believe I have class here?!

     Has anyone heard of the Goose Fair? I hadn’t either. It’s a big deal here though. The fair is said to be the largest traveling fair in Europe and has ties to Nottingham for the past 700 years! The Goose Fair is similar to a US county fair with rides, game booths and lots and lots of food. I was disappointed though to not see any giant zucchinis or adorable goats like at my county fair. The fair food was your typical greasy grub with some interesting additions. Mushy peas were a fan favorite. I tried them at the uni and was not a fan. I had chips (fries) with gravy and mayo. Delicious! My American friends and I were craving elephant ears, but sadly there were none to be found. However, we found a tiny booth selling funnel cake! The man making the cakes told us he was the only one in the UK! I raved about the cakes to my Aussie friends and I’m happy to report that they were all in agreement about the deliciousness of the fried treat.

Stef, Corey, Me, Casee, Eliza and Ari. 

Off to London this weekend. I’m sure I’ll have lots to report when I return!

Elisabeth

Week 2: Getting in the swing of things

Two weeks down! I feel as if I have been on an extended vacation which is just now coming to an end. Classes started on Monday so now the real work begins. I can’t really complain because I only have class three days a week. The English university system is very different though. Most classes only meet twice a week – once for a lecture (50 mins) and once for a seminar (1hr). My lectures have ranged in size from 20-50+ people. The seminar groups are considerably smaller. There are only 9 people in one of my groups which is impressive for a uni of this size. The classes I’m taking this semester are Introduction to Cultural Studies, Emergence of Mass Culture, and Immigration and Ethnicity in the United States. It feels weird to not be taking any science courses but all of the modules I am taking count toward Gen Ed requirements at Linfield.

The party scene is dying down a bit but the hall is still quite rowdy. I prefer to get away from campus on the weekends and see the surrounding area. On Sunday a group of my friends and I went to Manchester for the day. Trains here are so quick and efficient it makes traveling very easy. Our first stop was Old Trafford – the Manchester United stadium. I’m not a big Man U fan but I have to say the tour was pretty cool. Some of my friends particularly enjoyed the visit to the player's changing room J The Labour Party Conference was in session while we visited so the streets were filled with police and a few protesters. Other than that town was very quiet. The downtown area is very similar to Nottingham and has some beautiful old buildings. The most spectacular building in my opinion was the Manchester Cathedral. We were able to look around right before mass started so the choir had already begun singing. So beautiful!

Old Trafford

Downtown Manchester

...serving Sunday roast. 

Manchester Cathedral

I had heard from past students that accommodation at the uni was nothing to be excited for. I am definitely enjoying the peace and quiet of having my own room and bathroom but the food is less than desirable. I have never eaten potatoes in so many different ways…boiled potatoes, ‘jacket potatoes’, mashed potatoes, chips, potatoes piped into rosettes and fried, potatoes breaded and fried, roast potatoes…the list goes on and on (remind anyone of Forest Gump and Bubba Gump Shrimp?). I’ve had a couple of decent meals here but nothing that I couldn’t make better. I have a friend who is Italian and gags every time she tries the Brit’s attempt at pasta. I’ve got a nice stash of cheddar and digestives in my room to snack on when the meal is inadequate. The saving grace of English food…Cheese! Each student is given £4.90 for lunch. This balance works at any of the cafes or bars around campus (of which there are at least 20). Lunch is by far the best meal of the day. There are good salads, sandwiches, paninis and soups in the café right by my hall. In fact I’m headed the Willoughby Mix Bar right now…until next time I love and miss you all!

Week 1: Welcome to Nottingham!

Greetings family and friends,

It’s so hard to believe that just one week ago I was getting off the airport coach and starting my journey in Nottingham. I was nervous…well more like terrified...but still very excited for the many new experiences the semester would bring. After one week there are still a few jitters but I’ve really started to adjust to life in the UK and I love it.

The first 5 days were devoted solely to International students, not including EU members. We all stayed in temporary housing which was a pain because we basically had to live out of a suitcase. It was great to meet so many people from all over the world. To date I’ve talked with people from Nigeria, Malawi, Hong Kong, Argentina, Brazil, Canada…the list goes on and on. I can’t forget my Aussies though. I’ve become quite close with some really sweet Australian girls (3 of whom are named Stef). Every Aussie that I’ve met has been so friendly which is a relief since I won’t know a single person when I head to Australia.

There were a few mandatory events during International week but for the most part my schedule was open. My new found friends and I took advantage of every opportunity to explore the surrounding city and village. Beeston is the nearest town and is very typical of a small British town. There’s one high road (see the picture) that has small shops packed right next to each other. My favorite pub, The Last Post, is at the end of the main road. I discovered a cheese onion pasty my first time there, and I’ve gotten it every time I go back. Everyone laughs because I don’t branch out. English cheese and onions wrapped in a flaky crust!! Why would I even want to try something else? My Dad will be happy to hear that I’ve tried quite a few brews here but I can’t say I have a favorite yet.

I’m used to living in small towns so I was hesitant about living in such a large city. I have to say though, that Nottingham is fantastic. I can walk 5 minutes, hope on the #13 coach and be in a vibrant and bustling city in 20 minutes. The city centre of Nottingham is where everyone congregates. Shops, restaurants, and of course pubs are packed into a relatively small area. I’m pleasantly surprised by the prices here. It’s a little dangerous because I can get a pasty and a pint for £1.50. Everything I could ever want I can find in Nottingham. Primark is the largest department store and has been a haven for all us poor exchange students looking for cheap towels and duvets. The pound store (think dollar store) is also amazing.  

People have asked what the biggest difference between school in Nottingham and school at Linfield is. The answer is simple: alcohol. The drinking age here is 18 so nearly everyone I’ve met is able to buy and consume alcohol. There is a bar in the lobby of every hall that serves every type of beer, wine, and cocktail. The student union store also sells large quantities of vodka, beer, you name it. Of course Linfield students drink, but they have nothing on the students here. “Week One” or “Freshers Week” is a week only for new Notts students. This week is hosted entirely by the student’s union. Every night is a themed night at a different club. When I say every night I mean EVERY NIGHT. From Monday to Sunday students are encouraged (almost required) to dress up, drink at the hall bars, and dance their hearts out at the clubs til at least 2am. Clubs are a huge part of the young people’s culture here and it’s so weird to think that I can’t even get into most until I’m 21. I’m happy to go out with friends but I’m getting so tired!

As of yet I haven’t ventured outside Nottingham. I’ll have my timetable confirmed tomorrow so I can start planning weekend trips. I don’t have class on Friday which means more time to travel! Me, along with 7 of my uni friends have booked our tickets to Dublin for the end of October and there are also plans to travel into London in a couple of weeks. I’m so excited to see more of the UK!

Thank you to everyone who has supported me in getting to this point and everyone who wished me well at my Bon Voyage party. Cheers!

My love to you all,

Elisabeth