Football in Warwick

The pitch we played on in Warwick was perfect, and very picturesque. The sky was dynamic and the sun was just setting near the end of our game.

Pregame shenanigans.

Warwick was the most competition we've seen. The first 20 minutes of the game were fairly equal, and the ball moved from one end to the other. They scored the first goal, which made me nervous. We possessed the ball most of the first half, and got two in before halftime. There was a definite shift after that, as we gained momentum and they became demoralized. In the second half it was clear we were the stronger team, and we scored six more goals. Final score: 8-1. Our closest game so far...

National Gallery Favorites

From the National Gallery in London, these were my favorites by Monet.

The Gare St-Lazre

Bathers at La Grenouillère


The Museum at la Havre

The Thames at Westminster

When I first saw this painting, I was struck by its subtle use of contrast, and how beautifully Monet captured a foggy morning. It wasn't until later, after I had been there, when I was looking at the postcards of these paintings, that I realized it was Big Ben and Parliament and the Westminster Bridge. Now I love it even more.

Camille Pissarro
The Boulevard Montmarte at Night

London!

I really did have an incredible time in London. It was better than I imagined it could be. But it made me really miss Jeffery, and long for March. There were times in London when I questioned my adventuresome spirit. Like when we first got there we wandered around for hours not knowing where we were, we couldn't decipher our map, we had no landmarks to go off of, and then it started to rain. We had been up since 4 am, because we caught a 5:30 train, and so when we got there, nothing was open yet and we were exhausted at the start. And I thought, "this is not fun. My feet hurt already, my back hurts...." and I started to think I wasn't cut out for traveling. It was the first time I have been in a new city on foot without my parents. But then as the day progressed, we became more decisive. There was a definite learning curve, and as we figured out the tube system (absolutely amazing!) and the street maps, it became so enjoyable. It was really rewarding figuring it out. And now I feel like I know London and could get around no problem. My favorite part of the trip was the National Gallery, where there was a Monet exhibition, but I couldn't take any photos. I just loved all of the parks and museums. It reminded me of Paris. I love that walking around and taking photos doesn't cost anything. The Tower of London was the only thing that we paid for.

The London Eye

Big Ben and Parliament

I think people were afraid of the little bit of rain we got, because there were no crowds on a Saturday. Sunday was so beautiful that all of the museums were packed, but we covered so much ground on Saturday that we really had a leisurely day Sunday, and spent most of it in the Kensington Gardens/Hyde park area.

St. James's Park

Buckingham Palace

Green Park

The funniest moment came about because I had to pee incessantly. Finding a bathroom was always a problem. I was delirious from walking all day, and I told Alex, "I've had to pee a lot since I got here. I think it's the minerals in the water building up on the inside of my urethra" and we had a good laugh. Alex was a really good traveling companion. He relinquished the role of map holder to me early on, and I enjoyed navigating.

Kensington Gardens


Royal Albert Hall

Part of the Albert Memorial

Natural History Museum

Hyde Park

Eaton Park

This is Eaton Park, a five minute walk from campus. I scheduled a "kick about" here with the football girls a couple weeks ago. It is so nice to have accessible a group of girls who enjoy kicking the ball around. I have never before seen a park with so many football pitches. ♥

A Space of My Own

This is the view from my window. Though beautiful when the sun sets, the noise my fellow students make while I am trying to sleep is enough to make anyone go mad.
My backdrop for skype conversations.


I have finished decorating my room, and it definitely feels more like home. England is not what I expected. I think people did what they could to prepare me for the worst. My expectations were fairly low coming into this, but I was optimistic. The optimism has paid off (as I'm learning it usually does), and I am glad to be exactly where I am.

UEA Women's Football Club Debut

This is the pitch where we played, it was beautiful out, though a bit warm in our long sleeved "kit." We won 9-0. I scored two with my head and one with my foot and had an assist, all in the first half. I sat out the second because I've been nursing a cold. I really like the girls I play with, they are all so supportive and encouraging. I look forward to training on Tuesday.

I have chicken soup on the stove.

I have ventured to the Norwich City Center a few times, and each time I am amazed by its beauty. Norwich has a lot of history. The library built down about ten years ago, and they built a really modern new one. Directly across from the library is an old church. The original city wall still stands in pieces.

This morning I had my Gender and Development lecture. It was really interesting. So far we've only learned about the different feminist theories, but I think the class is going to be a little like the Contemporary Sexuality class I took at State, which focused a lot on gender, and a bit like the Developmental Play Processes course I took, where we learned about the developmental differences in children, among other things.

After that I found the mail room and got a letter from my mom. It made me cry instantly. After getting my mail I came home and cleaned my room. It is very tidy and a pleasant place to be. I don't know what prompted me to do so (intuition?) but I decided to look in my day book. That's when I realized I had a meeting scheduled with my adviser in 10 minutes! I had totally forgotten about it, so I rushed down there, wasn't late, and had a very nice (and brief) chat with her. She is very lovely, and it is nice to know that there is an adult out here who genuinely cares about my well being. She said, "well, it sounds like you don't need any help with anything!" And she's right. I am feeling on top of things. I still have to register with the medical center and get a meningitis vaccination, which I might to later on today. At 6 I have a tennis match, and at 7:30 there is a social event/meet and greet for the Women's Football Club at the pub on campus. So after tennis I'll get all pretty and head on down.

I fully had the intention of getting a job while I am here, I even updated my "CV" (resume). But now I'm thinking that it might be nice to have the extra time to exercise, socialize, and do homework, not that there will be all that much extra time. I think I can live here quite cheaply. We'll see. If I start feeling pressed for funds, I might look into it a bit more. But as of now, I want school and soccer to be my priorities.

I had a lot of trouble getting to sleep last night. My room is directly above the entrance to our flat and flat 2, and everyone stood outside socializing till after 1 last night. I didn't want to be the jerk who calls and complains, or even the person who yells from out the window. But I do need my sleep. It's "Fresher's week" so all of the first year students go out and are up late every night this week. Also, we were supposed to get our flat cleaned today, but if the surfaces aren't cleaned in the kitchen, they won't get wiped down and we get written up. The boys have some trouble cleaning up after themselves. They leave out wrappers, empty beer cans, cereal boxes, drink glasses with rings around the bottom....so after the cleaning lady came and left and didn't clean our kitchen, I cleared the surfaces and wiped up. I think I'll have to have a little chat with them...

The weather changed today. There's more of a cold breeze and it's overcast.

Week one in Norwich

Today was amazing. I signed up for tennis and soccer, went to Poetry in the Dark Times: Rilke, Holderlin, Celan. It's a seminar, so there's only about 15 of us and we sit in a circle. So far both of my classes are like that (Poetry Writing is the second). Tomorrow I have my Gender and Development "module" which has an hour lecture, then a two hour video viewing on Friday. Tomorrow after lecture I have some time off for me, then a mixed doubles game of tennis with my flatmate and a couple we met at a club last night.

But soccer practice. That was after my dark times class, and I thought I would be late, because my class was set to end at 5, which is when practice started. But class ended an hour early and arrived at practice early. So I sat in the middle of an enormous field (see photo) and watched the sky. It was so beautiful. There is a lot of sky here. And the clouds moved and there were a whole bunch of swallows, and it was the first time since I arrived that I had a solitary, motionless moment outside. It was so beautiful. And then I went to practice and all the girls were really nice. I found out that they play competitively, traveling to all the schools, you know, in England (in their division). Ridiculous. I had no idea. None of this info was available on UEA's website. It was just practice, they practice twice a week (Tues, Fri) and compete with other schools on Wednesdays, and local women's teams on Sundays (recreationally). 4 days a week. All of which fit into my schedule. So then our coach arrived, and he's a student here, and he made us run. And run, and run. And then run some more. Apparently he's really into fitness. I have never ran so much in my life. Or if I can it was 3+ years ago and I forgot what it felt like. But it hurt. And then it felt really good. After running for a couple hours, we kicked the ball around. And I have never played with such skilled girls before. And then we took some shots and all mine went in. I just hope my quadricep will hold up. So far so good. I am really excited about the potential for this team. When I was running, I was thinking "I don't even know if I want to push myself this hard. Is it even worth it?" And I have decided, yes, it's worth it. I want to be in the best shape of my life. I want to travel with these girls around England. So, I'm going to keep pushing myself. It is so nice to finally have something I want to work really hard for. I haven't had that....ever? I feel the same way about my classes.

In class today, I realized I have never taken a European History class. Ever. And I don't know anything, and I feel like an idiot. I wish I had read European history over the summer. But I didn't. But I still can. After practice I was so exhausted (I haven't felt rested since I arrived) that I just wanted to cry. And I did. But I'm really happy and excited about the future. I successfully cooked myself another meal. I showered. I met some really cool people today. Things are going to be really good.