My Virginia Woolf Pilgrimage and Belgium

Hey everyone,

So, two things to update you on!

1. What my professors referred to as our "pilgrimage": my trip to Rodmell and Monk's house, Virginia Woolf's country home, as well as to the River Ouse, the river where Woolf drowned herself. An uplifting reason for our journey? Definitely not. A little creepy? Definitely yes. However, I should add, as I hope my photos reflect, that Sussex, the area of England where Rodmell is located, is beautiful. It reminded my fellow Californian classmate and I of the area around Gilroy, with hills surrounding golden fields. It was wonderful to get out of the city and into the countryside. When we got to the river, we read Woolf's last letters and took a moment to think about what an influential writer she really was. After our fairly long hike back to Rodmell, the town, we had our sack lunches in the tiny town hall there. One of my professors had brought tea and biscuits, and two of my adorably British classmates were kind enough to make everyone tea - it was delightfully English and my American friends and I got quite a kick out of it. Overall, it was a great way to spend the day, and the bus ride there was just as beautiful as the town itself. I got to pay homage to a writer who has certainly changed my views on literature and writing itself, and enjoyed a lovely day in the countryside.

2. Belgium - Brussels and Bruges! So I got to Brussels at the rather early hour of 9 a.m., after taking a Eurostar train through the Chunnel that left at 5:57 a.m. I dragged poor Roger, whose train didn't leave until noon that day, to St. Pancras at 4:30 a.m. and am forever indebted to him for running with me, backpacks and all, to make our bus. Suffice it to say, I was a little sleepy, and slept on the train ride there. Once I got there I quickly discovered just how small the city is, as I was able to walk around the whole city very easily. Katie got in a little later, and after dropping our stuff off at our hostel (which was VERY nice! very clean, nice staff, good roommates - an all-around great hostel experience), we explored the city. We saw the Cathedral, the Grand Place (when I say Place think French/Belgian version of Piazza), had chocolate (I will never be able to truly enjoy Hershey's EVER again), found some absolutely breathtaking architecture, and enjoyed the flowers that were all over the city. After a late dinner and some reading, we called it a night. The next day we got up, enjoyed breakfast at the hostel (it came with the price of the rooms, hooray free food!), and grabbed a train to Bruges, otherwise known as the Venice of the North thanks to the canals throughout the city. The train ride was gorgeous - the Belgian countryside doesn't even look real it's so green. Bruges itself was also very small, so after checking out the Madonna and Child, some churches and generally cool architecture, we hit the Chocolate Museum. This was arguably my favorite activity of the weekend - it was absolutely hysterical, as were the English translations. Plus we got to watch hazelnut-filled chocolates made, and then eat them, and really, who can say no to that. After delicious coffee and chocolates, we headed back to Brussels for another relaxing evening. Overall, a delightful weekend!

Pardon me while I wax philosophical here for a moment. On my various train rides this weekend, I devoured several books (including Woolf's last... surprisingly saddening), and had a lot of time to reflect on my experiences in foreign countries thus far. While I always claim that I am sympathetic to immigrants in the United States, and while I was sympathetic to as much of an extent as possible, I have a new, much deeper appreciation for just how much they go through to "find the American dream". It baffles me to think that here I am, in England most of the time, where I speak the language, am generally familiar with the norms of the country, and am fortunate enough to easily blunder my way in and out of customs and immigration with my American passport, and yet I still am overwhelmed by at least one thing each day. I cannot even begin to imagine how emotionally and even physically taxing it must be for immigrants in the United States, who often don't speak the language, often have no concept of the social, political, or economic norms in America, who often have no friends to ask for help, and who are surrounded by a country that is constantly trying to keep them out and then even push them out, to the extent that we literally have fences separating our country from Mexico (and might I add here that our economy would crumble if we were actually successful at keeping immigrants out). While getting kicked off a train or yelled at in a grocery store for making, what must seem to the British to be stupid, mistakes can ruin my day for a few hours, imagine the plethora of day-ruining events that happen to immigrants in the United States every day. They just want to live a happy, healthy life - and isn't that what we all want? Thanks for bearing with me - suffice it to say that when I return, I will have so much more patience and empathy for anyone unfamiliar with American customs.

In upcoming news, next up, Wales adventure weekend! I hope you are all happy, healthy, safe, and enjoying the coming of spring! (The arrival of sunshine in London has improved my day-to-day life beyond measure!)

Peace and love,
Jordyn

Getting Excited for April!

Hey there folks,

So it's been a while since my last post, so I thought I'd update you all on my life.

1. School - Turns out the British DO in fact do work... they just do it all at the last minute. While I am by no means doing work at the last minute, I am doing a lot of work right now in an attempt to finish as much as I can before my April adventures. I've gotten my first graded papers back now (and am happy with them), but now am starting on my final essays (yes, I do know it's only March). I'll explain - in the UK they only have 12 weeks of class, followed by all of April off for Easter Break, followed by all of May and part of June dedicated to final essays and exams. I have no final exams, only final essays, which are all due the first week of May (except for one due March 23rd, at which point I am done with that class... again, believe me, I'm just as confused as you probably are right now). I'm nearly done with the one due on the 23rd and am trying to finish another one, or possibly two, of the others before I leave. We'll see if that happens, haha.

2. London adventures - Since I've had a bunch of people visiting, I've knocked a bunch of stuff off of my London Must See's list. I went to St. Martin's-in-the-Field and the Crypt Cafe - absolutely loved this and also stumbled upon the St. Martin's symphony having an open practice... Saturdays around 3 people, go check it out. I went back again today and heard them rehearse Vivaldi's Four Seasons. Absolutely breathtaking. I also have now taken the token Harry Potter Platform 9 and 3/4s pictures (to be added to my picasa account soon). I've checked out the Strand, walked through several of London's parks (Hyde Park is truly beyond beautiful and somewhat magical in that I forget that I'm in the city when I go there), went to Kensington Palace (my favorite of the palaces thus far!), and found DELICIOUS Mexican food in Highbury and Islington. Oh, and discovery of all discoveries... I found Primark. My life is O.V.E.R. Think Forever 21 but cheaper and ORGANIZED, MUCH nicer quality clothes, and adorably British fashion. I don't think I can go back there ever again because I wanted to buy the entire store. I also have come to love 4 o'clock tea but have tea all day every day. Don't get me wrong, I've always loved tea, but it's become a bit of an addiction now.

3. Travels - I AM SO EXCITED FOR APRIL! Literally, words cannot describe. However, equally exciting, next weekend I'm going to Brussels and Bruges with my friend Katie, who's flying to Brussels from Rome to meet me! I get to take the Eurostar, which is the train that goes under the English Channel - I'm quite excited for that. Plus I've heard great things about Belgium, so I'm psyched for that! Also, on Thursday of next week I'm going to see Virginia Woolf's country house... and the river where she drowned herself. Uplifting field trip, thank you Virginia Woolf class. On a side note, though, I cannot stress how much I'm loving my classes and my professors - I really didn't think that I was going to be a huge Woolf fan, but I have to say that I've grown quite attached to her - I'm really very sad that I'm reading her last book, "Between the Acts," now. Back to travel schedules - I then go to Wales for my "adventure weekend" (all I know on that subject is that we get to talk to a mountain rescue team at one point, which sounds interesting!). Then I'm back in London for a few days to do a little bit more work, and then I'm off to Europe! A quick rundown of my plans - I should preface this by saying that yes, I know this a rather roundabout route, but I love trains, so really I don't mind that I'm back-tracking.
Part 1 - Granada to see Kendra, Cordoba to see Catherine, Seville with both of them
Part 2 - Catherine and I take on Italy! We're going to Rome and Florence and hopefully will get to hang out with Siena for a little bit (haha, maybe we'll even GO to Siena... haha, get it, the city? Oh man, I'm trying to make this post live up to the e-mail update I just got from Sam about Isreal but I'm just not as funny as he is).
Part 3 - My Eurail journey begins. Let me insert here that I LOVE the Eurail office in London - they helped me make all my train reservations and taught me so many things I never would have known. Thank you Eurail! Anyways, I take the train from Florence to Milan then an overnight train from Milan to Barcelona! In Barcelona I'm going to see Greg and explore the city while he studies for his final exams. I'm really excited judging by the photos I've seen from my friends who have been there already - plus I get to use my Spanish! Though evidently they speak something different there... still, I'm curious to see how much of my Spanish comes back to me. My hostel for Barcelona also looks awesome.
Part 4 - Another overnight train, this time from Barcelona to Paris, where I have 2 and a half hours to switch train stations and maybe buy a baguette. Then a train to Stutgart, Germany, and then a train to Tubengin to see Meike! I'm excited to see Germany through the eyes of a German - should be quite fun!
Part 5 - I go through Munich (sadly I won't get to see much of the city as I'm just switching trains there), to Prague, where I reunite with Claire! Here my journey ends, and I return to London, but Claire is going to come back with me for a few days and Greg is going to meet us here as well! Then he'll go check out Dublin for a few days and I will finish whatever finals I haven't finished before Catherine comes to visit, and then my parents come, along with Kendra! It should be a very action packed month, and as many of my hostels have free wi-fi, I will keep you all updated along the way with blog posts and photos!

I hope you are all having a wonderful month of March and that you are all safe, happy, and well! I miss all of you and can't wait to see you soon!
Jordyn