Prague

Prague is beautiful! It is full of tourists on New Years. People have gathered from all over, and English is the common language.

This is one of Jewish cemeteries. We didn't pay to go on the tour but there was a garbage door open, and a handful of people were lined up taking turns standing on a rail and looking over the fence. It was all very diplomatic.

View of the West bank of the Vltava river.

View of the East bank of the Vltava river. This is Charles bridge. We made the mistake of crossing it to get back to Old Town, and there were so many people on foot crossing from both directions that when the two sides met it created a massive traffic jam. It took an hour to cross. Fortunately the clouds held.

Happy New Year!

A White Christmas

When I left Northumberland, Nick's parents insisted on walking me into the train station because I was anxious about my journey. I hadn't traveled alone since I arrived in England 3 months ago. I got teary eyed saying goodbye. I had to cross over a bridge to get to my platform, and when I looked back, they were still watching me go. They are probably the nicest family I have ever met.

I took the train from Newcastle to London King's Cross, where I had to take the tube to London Liverpool St. before transferring to a train to Essex to see Lois.

The view from the train was so spectacular, that I didn't even want to read the last 50 pages of Isabel Allende's Eva Luna (my favorite book of all time, re-read and reconfirmed 6 years after first reading) fearing I would miss something. I was in such a content and happy place on that train ride. I had a lunch packed, it was warm, my heart was full. The snowy hillsides were riveting. I realized then that I would experience moments in the near future that would not be as blissful as that train ride, but it all comes in turn.

View from the train

It was 11 o'clock in the afternoon, and Newcastle isn't that far north, which was why I couldn't understand why it looked like the sun was setting. There turned out to be a power plant in the distance.

Transferring at Liverpool St. was easy, and when I arrived in Braintree, I saw Lois on the platform. I love traveling by train.

Snowy park in Colchester where Lois and I went to the spa.

Chelmsford Cathedral

Beautiful bread market in Chelmsford where we did Christmas shopping and watched Avatar.

After Essex I moved into my new house, which was a little scary. It is enormous and old, and with that comes scary sounds intensified with night and imagination. But I made my beautiful new room a safe haven to spend the night. The next day I took another train to Lowestoft to spend Christmas with Will and his family and friends, which was full of adventures impossible to articulate. Hopefully I can rely on my memories. Currently my brain is writhing with them. In a good way.

Boys live here.

Newcastle upon Tyne

Nick and I took the bus into Newcastle. It is a spectacular city with an interesting mix of old and new architecture.

We went to the Laing Art Gallery, where there was an exhibition exploring the theme of dance. It centered on Edgar Degas' A Group of Dancers, which was absolutely stunning. Degas' ability to capture movement is incredible. The red, white, and greens in this painting make it so Christmassy. This painting reminds me of going to the ballet with my grandmother.

The Laing also had a lovely collection of watercolors of Newcastle from the 18th and 19th centuries.


It started to rain, so we hopped inside a pub for a pint and our lunch of leftovers.

Newcastle Brown Ale in Newcastle. The butternut squash in the lasagna brought out the sweet aftertaste of the Newcastle. Delicious!

The Tyne Bridge

Gateshead Millennium Bridge

Glassy water

The decorations were up and people were shopping for Christmas!

Barter Books

Nick took me to Barter Books in a neighboring town called Alnwick. It is one of the largest second hand book stores in Europe. They had a impressive Christmas tree and an impressive selection of books.






After a perusal and a cup of tea, we shopped for our evening meal. We made three cheese spinach, roasted butternut squash and minced turkey lasagna, with green beans and garlic bread. Complete with Chilean wine and apple crisp with yogurt for dessert. It is so nice having an oven after going without for the past three months.

Northumberland

After driving five hours from Norwich to Northumberland, Nick and I arrived at his home to a warm fire, hot meal, and Christmas tree prepped for decorating.


The entire house welcomed us with delicious smells. The kitchen smelled like meat stewing in red wine and rosemary and the front room smelled like a Christmas tree. After dinner, Nick and I got to decorating.


The next morning, Nick and I decided to do some baking. We made banana nut bread, and apple crisp with apples from the garden. Before that we had to go get eggs from the neighborhood egg lady.

View from my window of Nick's family's garden. Notice the sheep lined up on yonder hill.

This is the Felton Christmas tree. Nick lives in a small village with a pub, a paper shop, and a post office/general store.

Nick's dad told me that last winter the river reached the top of the arches.

Making a List

I move out of this room in a week. I have never lived somewhere for so short a period of time, and it is amazing how quickly it has become my home. I started thinking of all the things I am going to miss (and not miss) and what I am looking forward to when I move.


I will miss how many faces I look forward to seeing in the kitchen multiple times a day.
I will miss the conversations that take so many hours away from us.
I will miss tea and biscuit breaks.
I will miss impromptu movie nights.
I will miss living in such a close vicinity to the library, my lectures, football training, and the pub.
I will miss having more friends than time to spend with them.
I will miss how it is always warm when I come home.
I will miss the male energy.

I will not miss the obliviousness of boys, who turn and leave lights on, leave the fridge open, leave the dirty sponge on top of the clean dishes.
I will not miss the buzzing of florescent lighting.
I will not miss the crumbs in the kitchen or the trails of food, evidence of consumption.
I will not miss Mary the cleaner's voice booming early in the morning or the pungency of her prefume.
I will not miss loud voices outside my window.
I will not miss the electric hobs on the stove.

I look forward to serious girl talk.
I look forward to hosting friends in my new home.
I look forward to having an oven.
I look forward to my huge room.
I look forward to being closer to the city center.
I look forward to getting my money's worth out of my bus pass.
I look forward to the pubs.
I look forward to having a sofa.

Before I take them down.

I like the transitory nature of my situation. It enables me to appreciate more and not dwell on as much. I have so many things to look forward to in the coming months. I should finish my essays so that they get here faster.

Famous.

Smell the Roses

Jeffery is taking the rest of our furniture up to Willits today. It's his only day off after a work week with half a dozen hours of overtime. I watched Dan in Real Life tonight. Good movie. I am so glad that I have found the man I love and after all of this I'll get to be with him for the rest of my life. Getting through the next 12 days with three assignment due and an exam is going to be a challenge for me, but I'm going to do it well, and after that I'll have a month to travel and see this amazing country. I am learning a lot, I already have, and I know I have more to learn. It is exciting to be where I am. All I do is look forward to the future. But I should really try to appreciate the present as well. Smell the roses and all that (there are no flowers blooming here. They won't bloom until Jeffery come in spring--how appropriate).

I appreciate having a warm room and bed, and flatmates that are easy and fun to talk to. I always look forward to going down to the kitchen, because interesting conversations always await.
I appreciate the girls on my team, and how hard they all work to be good footballers.
I appreciate the lengths my professors go to to teach, even if it sometimes puts me to sleep.
I appreciate the welcomed distractions of Jane Austen novels and films, and I look forward to the class I'm going to take next semester.
I appreciate the support of my family and friends.
I appreciate having free health care for the first time in my life.
I appreciate the opportunity to wear boots, hats, gloves, scarves, sweaters, and layers of socks.
I appreciate the opportunity to talk to people and establish friendships across the world.
I appreciate that San Francisco and all my friends will be there when I get back.
I appreciate the uncharted cities that await my arrival.
I appreciate the invitations to Christmas and the homes that will be opened to me for the holiday season.

♥

An English Thanksgiving

Undoubtedly the best Thanksgiving ever. It started with a 6-0 victory over Warwick. Colney Lane (the pitch where we play) consistently gives us gusty conditions followed by incredible skies at sunset. I love my team. I can't wait for tour in Rimini, Italy in April!


I decided to organize a potluck Thanksgiving dinner, with the help of my fellow American girls in Orwell Close. Rose (from Arizona) found an oven off campus and ambitiously took on Tallulah, a 17 lb beast of a bird. I prepared apple crisp the night before, macaroni and cheese the morning of, and stove top apple sausage stuffing.

It was the largest scale T-day meal I have ever had. And the most diverse. We 21 attendees, representing 6 countries. Other dishes included: sweet potato mash, nut loaf, Greek salad, broccoli salad, orange cranberry sauce, roast turnip and carrots, mashed potatoes, the best gravy ever, couscous salad, rolls, steamed spinach, vegetarian stuffing, mixed berry cobbler, mince pies, chocolate turkeys, and Christmas puds. Needless to say, everything was delicious and tasted like Thanksgiving. The most impressive part was that everything but the turkey was cooked without an oven.

From left to right: Ingrid from Norway, Kat from Colorado/Oregon, James, Jamie, Alex, Bianca (all British), Tim from Australia, and Rachael from Southern California.

We went around the table and gave thanks. The consensus was that we were all thankful to be with one another, and to experience the diversity of holiday traditions. It's nice to be part of a international community of students. We live in the oldest, smallest residence on campus, and we all feel lucky to be the chosen few.

After so much food I felt like the one in the middle.

See's chocolate turkeys and mince pies.

♥

Jane Austen

Last night I watched Becoming Jane, which was absolutely beautiful. The cinematography was enchanting, the costumes, set design and location breathtaking, and the acting divine. The story itself is heartbreaking. But the three British girls I watched it with agree that if Jane Austen had had a happier ending, then she wouldn't have found it necessary to write such great love stories. It was a sacrifice. It was filmed in Dublin and rural Ireland instead of Hampshire, England, the birthplace of Jane Austen. The reason being because Hampshire is now groomed and manicured and they were looking for a sense of countryside that felt more unchanged. It made me want to start reading Pride and Prejudice again immediately, which I did.

I already received my syllabus for the Austen and the Brontes module I am taking next semester. I need to have Pride and Prejudice read by the first seminar in January. We will also be examining Sense and Sensibility, Persuasion, Wuthering Heights, and Jane Eyre. I read Jane Eyre cover to cover the first couple of weeks I was in England. I think I am at the perfect point in my life to appreciate true romantic classics. Even if one has read a book before, every time they pick it up again it has new relevance because the reader has changed. I feel very changed, and I have only been here two months.

Watching the movie last night made me realize how 200+ years ago, everything was poetic. I am currently finding it difficult to romanticize my memories and write any decent poetry. Then again, I spend a lot more time thinking about how I have nothing to write about than actually attempting to write. I have to have a 6-10 poem collection in the first week of December, and a 15-20 poem collection for my dissertation next spring. Better get writing...

Norwich in November

On Saturday Lois and I ventured into the city center for groceries. Because it was a beautiful day we decided to go to the castle and the cathedral, which neither of us had seen. We were impressed.

The Norwich Castle was built in 1067 when William the Conqueror (1066 - 1087) ordered its construction because he wished to have a fortified place in the important city of Norwich. In the event, it proved to be his only castle in East Anglia. Ninety-eight Saxon homes were demolished to make way for the castle.

Archway to the cathedral

Standing at 315 feet, the cathedral's spire is the second tallest in England, and dominates the city skyline; only the spire of Salisbury Cathedral is higher at 404 feet.

The cloisters at Norwich Cathedral (engraving).

The cathedral was built between the late 11th century and about 1145.