Cromer, UK

Cromer is a little beach/coastal town in England, very close to Norwich.  Back in October one of my flatmates took my friend (who was visiting me from the States) and I to it for a half a day.  Unlike the lazy beach days I am used to in (Southern) California, our "day at the beach" turned into a hike, first along the sand, and then up a steep hill and along the cliffs, back into the main part of town.  Since my friend and I are both retired skaters - retired, being the key word in that sentence - we were very out of shape, and often found ourselves panting as we made our way up the hills.  However, despite being out of shape, it was a great walk to take.  The beach was beautiful, and the weather in October was chilly compared to the beaches I am used to (though I honestly prefer cold beaches to Southern California's warm, touristy ones), but it wasn't too cold to be un-enjoyable.

(Beach towns are also supposed to be some of the best places to get fish and chips.  I had a really good one here, but I'd still say the best fish 'n chips I've had so far was at the Eagle pub in Cambridge.)

The Pier.

Old cathedral.

 

 

The water is so much bluer here...it's not all brown and polluted.

Beach huts.

Halfway up the hill we climbed.

As an American I find this funny...though lots of the houses here in England have names rather than/along with numbers.

Light House.

Heading back to the Pier.

A game of cricket!

Thoughts on being home...

So...I fail at trying to post consistently here.  I want next term to be better - more posts, more trips, more to talk about, but I always seem to get busy (or feel busy) and never post anything.  I still haven't posted for my trips to Amsterdam, Spain, or Brighton, UK....I just get caught up with schoolwork, friends, or taking time out to relax, and kind of forget about, or put-off, posting here.

Being home has been weird...as I keep telling people, I experienced more culture-shock and homesickness going to San Francisco than to England.  I guess mostly because I expected everything to be different in England, so the changes caught me less off-guard.  I looked for them, delighted in the differences I found here, unlike some of my other American peers who didn't seem to take as easily to the changes they found abroad.  When I first went to San Francisco, however, I had no idea what to expect.  All the changes surprised me, and I wasn't mentally prepared for them.  It was also my first time away from home, and I found myself feeling very homesick the first year.  Now, being away from home (...I should probably define my use of the word "home" here - I usually use "home" to imply my childhood home in Southern California.  Though I also occasionally use home to describe California, or the States.  Sorry for the confusion here.  - I should also clarify, more for myself and my memories that my use of "home" doesn't really mean So. CA is my home, that this is where I want to settle down, rather it's more so just the fondest place in my memories as well as the place I have remained in the longest.  Southern California is the place I feel most comfortable calling home.)  Anyway, being away from home, or even California, has begun to feel normal, if only a temporary normalcy.  When things get bad or stressful in England, I just remind myself my time here is temporary and to enjoy the good stuff about England.  (When I stress out in SF, however, I usually feel trapped, waiting impatiently for when I can get out or escape whatever situation I am in.  When back in Southern California, my stress is even more amplified.  I feel I have no where to escape to, and when things go bad here, it feels worse than it really is.)

Upon returning home, here to Southern California (I have yet to go back to San Francisco) from England, it has felt nice to be home, but also feels kind of empty.  My first few trips returning here after going to San Francisco kind of felt surreal and like a fairy tale.  Everything enlivened my memories of Southern California and of my childhood, and coming home felt, well, like coming home, but being given a chance to see it in a fresher, newer, more exciting way.  After awhile it became the norm to be going between the two.  Coming back from England, however, has been different.  It feels more like everything is changing here.  (Never have I felt that experience of You Can't Go Home Again (Thomas Wolfe) - a book I still need to read (I have yet to read it as I've been waiting for the "right time" in my life to read it).  Steinbeck talks about it in his Travels with Charlie, how when he returns to Salinas on his trip around the States, some memories come back, but everything feels different.  Things have yet to feel so alienated for me here...though maybe if I read the book, it will make more sense in relation to my experience.)  More shops are closing, buildings are being torn down.  As the recession ages, it is finally starting to show outwardly, like plastic surgery, on the face of Orange County.  Odd scars indent the strip malls and storefronts, leaving marks no one wants to discus openly, even though they are ones that can't be ignored.  It makes me really wary to return to the US, especially So. Ca if this is where I need to live after I graduate from University in SF. 

California (apart from feeling very Californian - I am starting to realize how Californian California looks - direct sunlight, wide roads, open spaces measured by dry hills - in comparison to England (at least) - which is very tight, has winding streets in its cities, and large open spaces unmeasured by hills - just green fields rolling and stretching across the country).  Anyway, California has felt hollow after England.  I keep looking for England here, especially in the small things - hearing "Cheers" everywhere, asking for crisps instead of chips, or chips instead of fries, commenting on a stray ladybird instead of a ladybug, etc.  Also the cadence of their voices and accents - coming back to America (or even hearing some Americans speak in England) our voices sound very whiny (especially girl's voices, which is depressing to me as I'm sure I sound as whiny and valley-girlish as the rest of them).  Maybe it's just in the words and voices that I find myself missing England...it is probably in other ways, but I can't think of any other specifics at the moment.  But, overall, California feels hollow compared to England.  It has it's own charm, but not the charm I have become accustomed to.  But even England's enchantment can't last forever, and in a weird way (probably from my disillusionment with certain experiences and people in San Francisco) I am glad I only have a year in England.  I would love it to be longer, but I'm scared it would loose its magic if I stay any longer.

First Video! - A brief tour of my room :)

So, I took this awhile ago, while it was still sunny in England, but here is a very short tour of my dorm room at my University.  Sorry for the mess and the shaky camera...video is not really the format I'm used to!  Regardless...I hope you enjoy!

Weird Funk + Coursework = No Blog Posts :(

It's been a month since my last post.  I'm very sorry to my few (possibly only) reader that I have been so inconsistent and utterly lazy with my lack of posts and updates.  I have taken pictures and videos I have meant to post, and just never gotten around to it.  I have found myself to be in a weird "funk", if you will, while here.  I love England, and haven't found too much of a culture shock here, and while I'm sure that culture shock is contributing to my odd mood as of late (or at least, I feel like it should be a cause), there are lots of other reasons to my odd mood as well.  For one, my best friend came to visit me from the States for a week, and ever since she left, England hasn't been the same.  After traveling and exploring with her, and having someone that is so easily to get along with, I really miss sharing my experiences with someone who is as excited about traveling and learning about a different culture as I am.  For another reason, I am also growing worried with what to do after I graduate.  I know this is a concerning question for everyone at the end of their college years, and even for a few years after, but the dread of finding a substantial job that can pay for my rent, of working towards a career-oriented job, and facing the bad economy and lack of jobs in the States at the moment, I have a small fear of returning to the U.S.  Not that I don't miss friends and family there, and not that I want to stay in England for forever (I am probably still in a honeymoon faze with this country), but I feel that there is not much back for me in the States...and while that isn't entirely true, the dread I have of facing my future makes me reluctant to go back.

Partly due to this weird funk, I have gotten behind in school work.  I am usually a fairly-hard working student, but while here, I haven't had the motivation I usually find I have with school.  I am still eager to learn, and when in class I appreciate what we are discussing, but outside of class, I don't have the will-power to make myself study instead of hanging out in the kitchen with my flatmates, or avoiding social events to study (which I am more prone to do back home).

So, with being in a weird mood, and always catching up with my schoolwork, I have put this blog as a low priority, for which, I am sorry, both for my readers, but also for myself, for I won't have the best record of my experiences here.

Things you can expect to see, if I ever get to working on and editing them, are a short video tour of my room, a video of the bus ride from the Uni into the city centre, and pictures from my latest travels to London, Cromer, and Amsterdam!  All is to come...hopefully sooner and with more frequency!

Norwich Cathedral

So, Norwich has two cathedrals in the city.  One is smaller and newer (built in the 1800/1900s?) but the other one is older (1096 is when the foundation stone was laid out).  I went on a tour of the Norwich Cathedral on the 4th of October and it was absolutely breath taking!  I am not a religious person by any means, but the arhitecture was gorgeous, and all the history that had passed through its walls was well worth learning about on the 1hour+ tour.  I cannot recount the history acurately of the church, but if you go to their website, they have a timeline you can scroll through if anyone is interested:

http://www.cathedral.org.uk/historyheritage/timeline-timeline.aspx

I thought I would, yet again, show off the cathedral with some of the photos I took.  Hope you enjoy :)

Entrance to the Cathedral.

Norwich Cathedral!

The organ.

Obviously, I am a little obsessed with this ceiling!  But it's so beautiful, how could one not be?

Day Trip to Cambridge

Wow, totally behind on updating, sorry about that guys!  I have been very busy catching up on my schoolwork and reading, and the outcome has been neglecting this blog...hopefully I can remedy this in the future!  I'm going to try to pick at least one day a week to update my work....Wednesday might be the best day, but we'll see how it goes!


Anyway, on October 1, my school organized a big day-trip to Cambridge.  They provided buses to get us there, and then we got to go on guided tours.  The history of the town was amazing!  They have buildings that were used in the medieval ages, and are still working today, and the history is still growing with various scientific discoveries and some of the "artwork" that is there (well, it's a clock, but it could be considered a type of performance art piece).

I took lots of pictures on this trip, granted, not very good ones, but they are probably the best way to go through highlights of my experience in Cambridge!

Punting!  In Cambridge they have these canals, and you can pay to go on boat tours.  It's kind of like the gondolas in Italy, except it's called punting.  It's supposed to be a great way to see the city.  I didn't do this because I wanted to walk around the city, but I'd love to go back and try it someday!

This is obviously the job all the college kids get stuck with.

  

Which brings me to the bridge in the background of the above and below picture, it supposedly has no nails in it, it is held together by some physics/science logic that I can't understand, but still pretty interesting.

 

The book lover in me was delighted when I found out that the (supposed) oldest bookshop in Europe was in Cambridge!  It's the Cambridge University Press Bookshop.  Books used to be printed here, but now I think it is just a bookshop, (though I could be wrong).  I did go inside and buy some mementos for family back home, of course, but knowing the history of it made it really special :)

It's the white building in the middle.

There is a lot of academic history around Cambridge (obviously due to the college).  They have a large number of Nobel Prize winners (I believe over 50) and they are very strong in the sciences.  One of the famous discoveries related to the University is the discovery of DNA in 1953.  (The announcement of this discovery was made at The Eagle, which I'll get to later...)

 

Lab where DNA was discovered.  Supposedly some rooms are still radioactive from experiments done a few years back.

 One of the great things about Cambrdige (and England, in general) is the architecture!  Especially for the Uni. there.  I only saw Queens' and King's college, didn't see much of the rest of the Uni, but the buildings for King's College are just absolutely gorgeous!  Our guide said that the church was finished first, since the king who donated the building was very devout, which I find interesting since in my mind, a school's first priority is to be a school, but I guess life always depends where the money comes from.

I apologize for my SLR's lens bending the buildings...anyway, the church is on the left, and the entrance is on the right.

  Just gorgeous!

Now to the Corpus Clock (which I am officially in love with!).  It was built in 2008.  The grasshopper on the top references the grasshopper mechanism found in watches.  The grasshopper walks along the top of the clock, his mouth opening and closing to represent eating away at time.  The clock shows time with blue LED lights that light up the various holes on the watch.  The grasshopper speeds up and slows down, and the clock is only accurate every 5 minutes to show us the time is relative.  Also, it's said it was designed with a coffin behind the clock, and that chains are dropped into the coffin, to remind us that after our time here, we all end up in the same place.

Love!

 

In Cambridge there is an old church (I believe it is called St. Mary's) that lets tourists climb up it's narrow tower to see Cambridge from a bird's eye view.  It was a couple pounds to go up, but totally worth it!  Especially since I went on such a lovely day.

Tower that I climbed up.

Inside of church.

Narrow staircases I had to climb up...

...but the view is totally worth it!

King's college to the left.

Lame, but totally reminded me of the song "Out There" from Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame!

And finally, my favorite the the (personally) most memorable part of my trip to Cambridge:  The Eagle.  It was an inn & pub during the medieval era, and is still around as a pub today.  It's been around for so long that there is a lot of history to it.  Part of it (one room) is supposedly haunted by these children who died in a fire (a long time ago).  They couldn't get the window to their room open and sadly passed away.  The pub has to keep the window open, no matter how cold it gets, otherwise it is said that you can hear the screams of children at night.  (It's sad, but an interesting ghost story).  It is also where the discovery of DNA was announced. and, my favorite, it has a bit of American history tied in with it's past.  Not that I came to England to experience American history, but I just honestly didn't expect to find any here.  In WWII it was a RAF (royal air force) bar, but also was a place where a lot of American troops would go for food, drinks, and to try to forget about the war.  One day, an American troop stood up on a chair, and using a match stick wrote his name into the ceiling of the pub.  After he did it, lots of other troops started doing it as well, using matches, lighters, and their girlfriend's lipstick.  (While I find it a little sad that, of course the American's deface someone else's property,) I also found it oddly comforting to know that so many Americans had passed through these doors, and had found a safe place to stay and relax or catch up with friends.  The ceiling still has all of the signatures on it, and it makes for an interesting piece of history.  I'd recommend going to anyone who gets the chance (I also had my first authentic Fish n' chips there...and it was very good so definitely try the food!)

The haunted room is in the upper right hand corner, where the window is open.

RAF - Royal Air Force

The ceiling with the names of American troops from WWII!

Me, looking very tired but happy in front of the Eagle!  (Sorry for the exposure on this, it hasn't been edited.)

Well, I best be off, I'm already late for a society meeting since I got so carried away with this...hope you appreciated some images and a bit of history from Cambridge!