Jen's Journey

Snow!!!!!!!!!!!!

2011-03-07T08:45:00.003-05:00

So earlier this weekend it was nice and warm (by warm I mean about 40 degrees), raining and most of the snow had disappeared. I woke up this morning and there was another foot of snow on the ground. The weather in Potsdam, NY is CRAZY! This happens every year, one day it will be warm outside and the next there will be snow! Last year we got a ton of snow at the end of April during finals week, who knows when it will stop snowing this year. By this point of the year, I am so sick of all of that fluffy white stuff. The first snow fall is always nice, and I do like to occasionally go skiing but by mid-March seriously, enough is enough.

The picture I posted here is from a few weeks ago. Just wanted you to see that I wasn't kidding around about the amount of snow around here. Believe it or not my car is under there and I had to dig it out. Luckily, some random people helped me unshovel my car and then push it out. Here's to hoping the snow stops!

The end of an era

2011-03-02T11:16:00.004-05:00

So Senior year is flying by, we only have 7 more weeks left and then graduation! It is hard to believe that 4 years has almost gone by already. We got our exam schedule for finals yesterday, I have 4 finals but will be done by Wednesday night. I have never been done before Thursday, so this is exciting news. I am moving to Boston in June so I need to start doing some serious apartment hunting. I will be flying a lot for my job so I would like to live somewhat close to the airport. I am definitely ready for some big changes after being at Clarkson for so long. :)

3 weeks until spring break!

2011-02-22T11:07:00.002-05:00

So I finally booked spring break the other night, and I will be headed to Orlando, FL! My cousin goes to college in Orlando, and said that I could crash at his place so I was definitely not going to turn down a free place to stay. I am a little disappointed that I won't be on the beach, but his apartment has a pool so I can still work on my tan, lol. I was just in Orlando in November and had a great time, I went to Disney World and stayed at the BoardWalk Inn. Matt and I are thinking of going to SeaWorld this trip, and looking into what else Orlando has to offer. We might head to one of the water parks that are in the area, or even check out Disney again. It is funny how I hadn't been to Orlando in years, and now I am going to be there twice in six months. This will be Matt's first time there, I am excited for him to have the experience! He has never been to Disney World so I don't think we can pass up Disney. Anyways, I am so excited for warm weather and hopefully sunshine!

Heart Day

2011-02-16T14:10:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone had a really great Valentines Day this year! This was the best one I have ever had, thanks to Matt! :) In the morning Matt brought me home-made, strawberry, heart shaped waffles! They were so delicious, and I was so surprised - it was a great start to the day! Then later that night we went to the 1844 House for dinner and had the best meal that I have ever had! We each started with a glass of the riseling wine, which was delicious. We have tried this type of wine on a wine tour we went on over the summer and knew that we loved it. The waitress then brought out delicious bread with homemade honey butter. We ordered 1844 house salads which consisted of romaine lettuce, apple pieces, walnuts, blue cheese and a house vinagairette dressing. It was seriously one of the best salads I have ever eaten. I ordered the herb-dijon encrusted salmon, and Matt ordered a strip-streak with mashed potates. Both of our dishes were fabulous, we were so impressed. After that we ordered dessert, which was an espresso chocolate mousse. Again, it was so delicious! When the waitress brought us out the check we were given a complimentary chocolate covered strawberry. The food was seriously so good. It is a bit pricey so we can't eat there as often as we like but it was defintely worth the price.
On top of the food, the ambiance of the restaurant was also really cool. There was a woman who walked around playing the violin. There was also a magician there who acting as the house entertainer. He was very good and at first we were hoping he wouldn't come bother us but after he did his magic tricks we were glad he stopped by. Overall, the perfect Valentines Day. :)

2011-02-07T13:32:00.002-05:00

So I guess I am going to tell you briefly about the classes I'm taking, I'll try not to bore you. On Mondays my only class is neurobiology, which so far hasn't been too bad (with the exception of the first test :x), but I am really worried that it is going to be very difficult for me because I don't have much of a background in Biology. I had to take this class because I had a conflict with another Psych class I needed to graduate, and neurobiology was the only other option I had. On Tues/Thurs I am taking Advanced Topics in Supply Chain Management, a Negotiations course and Environmental Supply Chain Management. On Thursday I am in a night class, Quality Management. So most of my classes are pretty supply chain intensive this semester.

We have a break coming up so it will be nice to not have to attend class for a couple of days!

2011-01-31T09:20:00.003-05:00

Well I am about a month into the second semester of senior year, and it is about the time I typically start looking forward to spring break. Unfortunately I am having a difficult time finding a place to go for Spring Break this year, . .I want to go some place warm, but I don't really want to spend too much money. I am going to need to save all the money I can now for when I move to Boston this summer. A few ideas that have been tossed around for spring break are an all inclusive resort in Cancun, staying in Miami, staying with my cousin in Orlando, trying to find an affordable spa/resort in the North East, or Las Vegas. So clearly I am all over the place.

Last spring break my boyfriend and I went to Fort Lauderdale and had a great time, but this year everything is so much more expensive.

Well heres hoping that warmer days are in my future! :)

Senior Year

2010-12-15T09:51:00.003-05:00

So I just finished another semester at Clarkson, leaving one more to go! I thought I would give a quick update on my senior year, and my plans for after college. Right now, we are on Christmas break, we have about three weeks off in between semesters. I don't have too many big plans for the break, I have a lot of extended family in Connecticut so I visited them over the weekend, went to a family Christmas party, it was really nice to see everyone. I just plan on relaxing for the majority of break, and eating a lot of food, lol. Once New Year's comes around I am going to start some serious New Year's resolutions with working out 3-4 times a week and eating a lot healthier. My eating and work-out habits have gotten awful, I was actually better when I first got to college than I am now. I did the same resolution my freshman year of college and I actually stuck with it really well. When I was in England I didn't work out or really eat healthy and that has pretty much been the same path that I have followed since. I think I should be able to stick with it alright, New Year's is a time for fresh starts! :)

Enough about that, I have some exciting news - I have a job for when I graduate from Clarkson! :D I will be working for IBM as a Global Business Services Consultant in their Consulting by Degrees Program! I am so excited, I think that this is the perfect job for me when I graduate! As part of the consulting by degrees program I will be able to learn about all areas of consulting. The job will entail a lot of traveling which right now is very exciting to me, but I am sure over time this will become less exciting. . .

Oh another exciting thing! I am part of an Exchange Buddy Program that Clarkson offers where current Clarkson students become "buddies" with International students that study abroad at Clarkson. Last semester I had the best buddy ever - her name was Amelie and she was from France. I said goodbye to her a couple of weeks ago, and although I didn't get to hang out with her that much I will miss her! It seems like just yesterday she arrived and I was taking her to the bank and Wal-Mart and now she is gone. Anyways, next semester I have a buddy from England and I am really excited - I miss the English accents and fashion. :)

I think thats enough for now!

<3 Jen

Who knew getting home would be such an adventure?

2010-01-12T10:59:00.002-05:00

So, I have been back in The States for about 3 weeks now. Matt and I flew home on the 21st, and we were lucky to make it back because of the way the weather in Europe has been. My last week in Europe was so much fun, but again because of the weather some of our plans got cut short.
Matt arrived at Heathrow Airport in London at 10am on the 13th so I had to leave Brighton super early to make sure I was there when he arrived. I wasn't sure how everything was going to work out, so I wanted to make sure I had plenty of time to be there. I had to take a bus, train, and then another bus to get to the airport, and we did the same thing getting back to Brighton. That night I showed Matt Brighton, we had fish and chips and by then it was already late so we had to go home and pack. The next day we went to London and I gave him a tour of London, we saw all of the major sights. That evening we took the Eurostar to Paris. Days after we were on the Eurostar it got stuck in the tunnel because of the weather. I am so glad that I wasn't on it for that, I would have been so scared. That night we had dinner in Paris, and then checked into the worst hotel ever. It was so disguting and there wasn't anyone even working at the desk so we had to go to the hotel next door to check in and then go back to our hotel. Every time we showered the entire hotel room would flood with water, nothing in the world would make me stay there again. The next day we walked through Paris - saw the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Napoleon's Tomb, and Notre Dame. I went to Paris about a month before so I had seen all of the sights but Napoleon's Tomb - that was so cool, I think it was one of Matt's favorite parts of the whole trip.
The next day we went to Berlin. That night we had dinner at a german bistro, we both had schnitzel. It was delicious and the man who owned the bistro was so nice. He didn't speak much English, but we found out that they didn't accept credit cards and we didn't have very much cash on us so he gave us a discount on the food. We ordered cheap food but then he brought us out more expensive food and didn't charge us for the difference. It was so nice, definitely one of my favorite moments from the trip. You probably had to be there to get the whole feeling of it.
The next day we went on a walking tour of Berlin. It was soooo cold, and the tour was really long but it was worth every second! We saw all of Berlin and some amazing sights like the memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe, the Reichstag, Hitler's Bunker, Berlin Dome, and so many more places! It was seriously such a good tour!! I like to do walking tours more than bus tours because I think you can get more out of the experience that way, and it is easier to take pictures. That night we had brotwurst and currywurst for dinner at a little German restuarant and then had german pastries for dessert at a bakery. It was a really fun day, but we did not know what tomorrow would bring.
The next day we were suppose to leave for Rome but when we got to the airport we found out that our flight was cancelled. We were at the airport for so long, and were getting so discouraged when we met a girl who was suppose to be on the same flight, and she helped us out. She spoke German so it was easier for her to communicate with the employees. With her help we got a hotel and free meals for the night. We flew a discount airline, EasyJet so they almost never give you a hotel or anything if your flight is cancelled. They didn't even have a customer service desk, you had to use the phone to call their customer service department. So we were really upset but we decided that we would try to stay postive about making it to Rome tomorrow. The next day we went to the airport again and our flight was once again cancelled. At this point I started to get really worried because our flight back to London was scheduled from Rome and our flight back to the US was in just a couple of days. If we didn't make it back to London we wouldn't be getting home! Also, we were going to book tickets straight from Berlin to London but almost all of them were already sold out and it was risky because the weather was bad and flights to London were still being cancelled. Eventually Matt called the customer service department and they gave us a few options. We chose an option that required us to be at the Munich airport and catch a flight from Munich to London. So, we had to take a 6 hour train ride across Germany in the middle of the night, and then sleep in the airport when we got there. So many things could have gone wrong with this, but we made it to the airport and luckily it stayed open all night or we would have been outside in the freezing weather. After all of the stress we had gone through, we actually slept pretty well in the airport, which is pretty sad, haha. We made it back to London, but when we got there, a lot of trains were shut down or late so we had to wait a really long time to get a train to Brighton and we are so lucky that we did get one. London cannot handle the snow like Northern NY, that's for sure. We made it back to Brighton hours later, but the story gets worse. I thought that I had enough minutes on my cell phone to make a call to a taxi company to have a taxi ready for tomorrow to take us to the bus station, but when I went to use my cell phone it ran out of minutes. Then, I had just enough pounds to make a phone call using my pay phone in the flat, but the pay phone ate my money so that didn't work either. Where I live there is nothing around, so we would have had to go into town to go to an ATM and the buses were not running, so that wasn't an option. So, I had to skype my mom and she called the taxi company from the US. She talked to a man and he said everything would be fine, he'd be there in the morning. The next morning we waited for our taxi for a half an hour and it never showed up. Buses weren't running so we couldn't use that as an option and we had already missed our bus to Heathrow Airport by this point. We were freaking out, I was so upset that the taxi driver didn't show up. I didn't have a cell phone with money on it, so I couldn't call and I had already packed up my laptop and checked out of my room so there was no way to have my mom call again. We ended up hauling 4 huge suitcases down flights and flights of icy stairs through mud and slush to get to the nearest train. From there we got on a train to get to the center of Brighton. From there we caught a taxi to take us to the bus area. We had no idea if there was going to be a bus or what, the place to buy tickets wasn't even open because it was so early(about 4:30 in the morning) but we didn't know what else to do. We had to get on our flight back the United States. As the taxi driver helped us get the luggage out of our car, we saw that there was a bus waiting and it said HEATHROW AIRPORT on it. What are the odds that the exact bus we needed would be waiting there? We had the wrong tickets because we missed our bus, so the bus driver said we needed to buy new ones. I didn't have enough cash on me, and they didn't accept cards. He said we could still get on the bus and we could get off on one of the stops and quickly buy tickets. He didn't have to do this, most drivers would have just said, "sorry, you are out of luck". We were so thankful, and just when we were already appreciative, we went to get off the bus to buy tickets and he told us to sit down. We were confused at first but when we got off the bus at Heathrow Airport, he said "Merry Christmas". The tickets would have cost us the equivalent of $60 when we had already paid that much for the original tickets and he let us ride for free. This was potentially the worst morning of my life up until that moment.
In every city that we went to we would get discouraged about all of the people being rude to us, and then someone would come and help us out. In Paris, we were lost downstairs in a subway, . . we followed the signs and then when we got there no one was around, there were rats and it was all blocked off. We were scared and confused and then out of no where this girl came and took us to a different route that we could take. She walked us all of the way to where we needed to go, even when it was past where she was going. When we first arrived in Germany we were staring blankly at a sign trying to get to Oranienburg to see a concentration camp when a German man directed us where we could go and explained to us a little about how the German trains work. This stuff kind of just made me think about how there are people out there who are mean and rude, but there still are the kind of people that will help a stranger out, even when it is not in their best interest and that makes me feel a little better at the end of the day.

The Land of Shakespeare

2009-12-10T18:49:00.005-05:00

So last weekend I went on a trip to Oxford and Stratford-Upon-Avon. The area was so nice, especially because it was all decorated for Christmas. In Stratford on Saturday night we saw a performance of Arabian Nights at the Courtyard Theater put on by the Royal Shakespeare Company - it was so cool! The way that they used people as props and just the entire performance was like nothing I had seen before! I also visited places like the house where Shakespeare was born, and the place where he lived most of his life.
Here are some pictures of the weekend!

I only have a few more days left at Brighton now. I have already had to say goodbye to some of my friends here who have gone home. My boyfriend will be here in 2 days and then we are traveling to Paris, Berlin and Rome. I will officially be back in the US on December 21st!

Me amo Barcelona!

2009-11-30T18:01:00.007-05:00

So I spent last weekend in Barcelona and it was definitely my favorite weekend so far!!! I went with my friend from Brighton, we got there Thursday night and hung out with some people that we met at the hostel and then saw the city on Friday and Saturday. Our hostel was so nice, and it wasn't sketchy at all to sleep in a room with a lot of people. Everyone that we met was so nice!!! We saw the FC Barcelona Stadium, the Olympic Stadium, went shopping in Las Ramblas, went to a Spanish market, sat on the beach, and saw all of the sights of the city!
On Saturday night we had a traditional Spanish meal of paella, which is some type of rice and we had seafood in ours with sangria to drink. It was so delicious, and I can't wait until the next time I am in Spain to have it again!

I had such a good time in Spain, and I am starting to get sad about coming home for good! I am ready to come home for a break and see everyone, but I am starting to get sad that I will not be coming back for more of this experience. Part of me wishes that I had stayed a whole year, but I probably would get homesick if I decided to do that, and I would be broke. I have met so many cool people, and I think that everyone should have this experience! I have been so lucky to be able to travel to all kinds of places, and now I don't want to stop traveling! I know that I will be back to Europe, but I will never get the experience of being a student in Europe again.

On Saturday I am going to Oxford and staying the night there, and then Sunday night my flatmates are throwing me a going away party! They are staying until the end of the English semester, which goes until February, but I am leaving early so I can start school at Clarkson in January.

I only have a few more posts left about my experience abroad. I will definitely make the most of my last few couple weeks here!

Leprechauns & Rainbows

2009-11-23T18:38:00.006-05:00

So, my trip to Ireland actually turned into quite the interesting journey. I went with one of my friends that I met here, and we ended up missing our flight there because we didn't read the small print on our boarding passes and didn't realize we needed to get our passports checked somewhere before we went through security. So because of this we had to find a different way to get to Ireland and went by train and ferry. We took a train from London to Birmingham, spent the night in the Birmingham Airport, took a 4 hour train to Wales, and then took a ferry from Wales to Dublin (3 hours later because our first ferry was canceled due to terrible weather). We got in a whole day later than we were originally supposed to, so we only got to see Dublin in a day. We still got to see a lot, but it would have been nice to not have to rush and enjoy the city more. Dublin was really pretty, and all of the Irish people were really nice!
We went on a bus tour on Sunday and saw all of the major sights. Of course we went to the guinness factory which was pretty cool. I learned how guinness is made and at the end of the tour you get a pint of guinness in the galaxy bar which has an awesome view of the city.

There was even a rainbow that day, which I thought was sweet because when you think of Ireland you think of pots of gold at the end of a rainbow. :)

I went to a place called Kilmainham Jail, which used to hold some Irish war heroes. I got a tour of the jail including the cells, and where executions took place. The picture is me in a jail cell. I actually met some girls who were studying abroad in Spain and go to Plattsburgh State - small world!

That night we went to the Temple Bar and had a pint of guinness and listened to some traditional Irish Music to get a feel of the whole Irish culture. The picture is of me and my friend outside the bar.

Despite the problems with getting to Dublin, it was still a lot of fun. Everything was really expensive there, but I think I read that Ireland is the second most expensive country in the world, next to Finland, so that explains why. On Thursday I fly out for Barcelona to spend the weekend there. The weather is suppose to be warmer than the UK so I am hoping for that! I will be missing Thanksgiving with my family, but I think Barcelona will make up for this - I will have to have a turkey sandwich or something on Thursday!

I'll let you know how Spain is, Happy Thanksgiving! :)

Smugglers & Castles

2009-11-14T15:17:00.005-05:00

So, this week I was on reading week, which means I didn't have any classes and instead am suppose to get caught up/ahead on work. I did some homework, and did a lot of relaxing. :) I went shopping in London on Thursday, and although I don't have any pictures, it was so beautiful because all of the Christmas lights are up all over the city. It was so cool, and I am so lucky I got to see the city like that! I didn't buy very many things, only a few Christmas gifts, but it was nice to get out of Brighton for the day. London is only about an hour away by train so it is really convenient to catch a train there.

Today, I went on a fieldtrip to Bodiam Castle and Rye. Bodiam castle is an old medieval castle that was built in 1385!!! It was like a castle from a fairytale with a moat and everything. We got to walk around inside of it and up the steep staircases that lead to rooms that look out above the castle. It was really cool.

After Bodiam Castle, we walked around the town of Rye, which is an old smuggling town. In Rye, there is a street called Mermaid Street which is part of the original Rye from many, many years ago. It was so windy, cold and rainy everywhere today, so I had some hot soup in a cafe to warm up. After that, we headed back to Brighton.

So this week wasn't as exciting as most weeks but next week I am going to be leaving for Dublin, Ireland on Friday and heading back to Brighton on Monday! I can't wait! I have heard that Ireland is beautiful, and I recently watched the movie PS. I love You, which some parts of the movie take place in Ireland, so that made me even more excited. My time here is going by so fast, but I am sure I will be back to Europe someday to see everything that I miss in this trip! :)

The City of Romance

2009-11-09T17:11:00.004-05:00

So, I had another very busy week in Europe! On Wednesday I saw a 3OH!3 show, which is band that is pretty popular in the US. They sing the song Don’t Trust Me, that is played on the radio a lot. It wasn’t the best performance that I have ever seen, but it was worth 10 pounds to see them.

On November 5th of every year, England celebrates a holiday called Guy Fawkes Day. On November 5, 1605, a man named Guy Fawkes attempted to blow up the Parliament building, but was caught before it could happen. Today, when England celebrates Guy Fawkes Day they have massive bonfires, and huge parades with people dressed in scary costumes holding torches. They also have a fireworks display after the parade is over. I thought that the holiday was really dangerous, there was fire everywhere and pretty scary! I don’t think that it would ever be legal in the US! If you look at the picture, you can see what I mean by it being scary!

Then, on Friday I departed very early for a weekend trip to Paris! Paris was such a nice city, and is definitely my favorite city so far! I went on a boat cruise on Friday night and saw all of the sights, which was pretty cool. The next day I went to the top of the Eiffel tower and saw an amazing view of Paris! The weather was pretty crisp, but it didn’t rain so we had a really good view. After this I saw the louvre, Moulin Rouge, went into the Cathedral of Notre Dame – which was gorgeous, and saw the Arc de Triomphe with the tomb of the unknown soldier. On Sunday I went to the Palace of Versailles and walked around the Versailles Garden.

After this I came home and was able to skype with my family, my boyfriend and his family, and my friends. This week I have Reading Week, which means I don’t have any classes and am suppose to catch up on work. I actually have a few papers that are due at the end of the semester, so I am going to get ahead on them. I am also going Christmas shopping in London on Thursday, and have a trip to Rye and Bodium Castle on Saturday.

That is all for now, I hope all is well in the US!

Football, Prague, and Stonehenge!

2009-11-02T17:44:00.006-05:00

I have had a very exciting 2 weeks with trips to London to see a football game, a few days spent in the Czech Republic to visit Prague, Halloween, and a day trip to visit Stonehenge, Bath and Salisbury Cathedral. On top of all of that, I also had to attend classes. So 2 Saturdays ago, my friend and I took a trip to London. It only takes an hour to get to London by train, so it is really not too far away. We walked around, went to Harrods, which is a really expensive store - we saw a cake that cost the equivalent of over $6000. The main reason we went to London was to see Tottenham play Stoke City in football (soccer). I wanted to see a real European football game while I was studying abroad, and this was a Premier League (I guess it is the best league, with teams like Manchester United and Arsenal in it) game, so it was really awesome! We had second row seats and were so close to the players!

Last Wednesday, I went on a trip to Prague! It was a pretty last minute decision, but I am so glad I went! I had heard that Prague was the most beautiful city in Europe, and it was really pretty. While in Prague I went on a tour and saw all of the major attractions, as well as the old Jewish part of Prague which contained a few synagogues, a museum and a cemetary where 12 layers of people were buried! We also visited the castle of Prague, and while on the tour saw places such as where James Bond jumped from the roof in the movie Casino Royale. Overall, Prague was a really nice city, and I hope to go back someday!

The day after Halloween, I went on a day trip to see Stonehenge, Bath, and Salisbury Cathedral. They were all amazing sights, but Stonehenge was probably my favorite. It is crazy that no one knows why the stones are there, or how they got there. The stones were carried from miles and miles away and they weigh over 40 tons! Salisbury Cathedral was a really nice cathedral, but they were doing construction on the outside so that kind of ruined the beauty of it. Bath was a very pretty city, and at this time of year, it was even nicer. Brighton's trees don't compare to how the North Country looks at this time of year, but in Bath the leaves were prettier and the whole area was very peaceful and not as crowded as Brighton.

Next week I am going to a concert, and then partaking in festivies for Guy Fawkes Day, which I will explain in my next post! I am also leaving for the weekend to go to Paris on Friday, so a lot of excitement ahead! :)

Another week in the UK!

2009-10-19T11:28:00.006-04:00

So, now classes are in full swing, and I only have class 3 days a week for 2 hours each day! My classes are based on either one big exam or paper at the end of the course, but no homework assignments or mid-terms like Clarkson. I think that this leads to a lot of pressure to do well on the final assignment, but hopefully I will be fine! It is starting to get colder over here, but not Northern, NY temperatures yet (no chances of snow, thank goodness:))! Next weekend I am going to a football game with one of my friends! When I say football, I obviously mean soccer, which the rest of the world calls football. I am so excited, as it was one of the things I definitely wanted to do while being abroad!
This week I went to a museum in Brighton and saw all kinds of exhibits about Brighton, and other places in the world. In the picture you can see a mummy that was at the museum. It was a really interesting museum, and there was quite a lot to see. I also went shopping in the Lanes, which is an area of Brighton that has many small shops in small, narrow streets. You don't get to go shopping in a place like that in the US! I went on a ghost walk on Friday night, in which the tour guide took us around the town and showed us different places that are supposedly haunted. It was pretty neat, especially with Halloween coming up soon! I am not sure how many of the stories were actually true, but it was cool to learn some more about the town. Supposedly, Jack the Ripper spent quite a lot of time at The Cricketers, which is a pub in Brighton that we stopped at. On Saturday I went back to London, walked around again and then Saturday night saw The Phantom of the Opera. I thought that the musical was pretty good, but it did not compare to the musical Wicked that I saw the previous week. The picture that I have included shows the inside of the theater. On Sunday, I went to a place called the Seven Sisters, in which there are 7 different cliffs in a row. It was such a beautiful place, and the pictures definitely do not do the area justice. That's all for now, I will be sure to update next week! :)

2009-10-10T18:50:00.001-04:00

Today I spent the day in London and went on a tour so I could make sure I saw all of the significant places in the city. We started off the day with a train ride from Brighton into London and from there we walked to Buckingham Palace, and saw where the Queen of England lives. There was a certain flag up at the palace that indicated that the Queen was not in the Palace today. After that, we walked and saw the changing of the guards. I have included a video of this at the end of my post! It was pretty cool, but honestly not as exciting as I expected. We then walked around London and saw all kinds of sights like Big Ben, Downing Street (where the Prime Minister lives), the London Eye, Westminster Abbey, Parliament, and more! I learned that Big Ben is not the actual name of the clock tower but instead a bell that is inside of the clock tower and most people are just confused and call the clock tower Big Ben.
We also went on a boat cruise down the Thames River and saw all kinds of different sights like the Millennium Bridge and an old Boy's School where people such as Winston Churchill attended when they were children. I learned so much about the history of London today and am very glad that I was able to see such famous sights!
After the sight-seeing we were able to go shopping so we walked around for a while, had dinner, and then took the subway back to get to our train and then headed home. The weather was cloudy at some points but thank goodness the rain held off. It hasn't rained here as often as I thought it was going to but some days can be very dreary when it is cold and gray outside.

On Wednesday of this week I was actually in London too and saw the musical Wicked. I thought that it was very good and would recommend it to anyone who is thinking about seeing a musical. It was about the background of the Wizard of Oz and I thought that the story line was great.

My friends and I want to see the musical, Phantom of the Opera so hopefully we will head back to London soon to shop and see the musical. I am planning on going to Stonehenge within the next couple of weeks and in less than a month I will be spending a weekend in Paris!

Field Trip!

2009-10-04T17:36:00.009-04:00

So, this weekend I went on a tour of East Sussex as part of a field trip. For our first stop we went to an area called Beachy Head. It was so beautiful there with the cliffs and the view of the water. The cliff at Beachy Head is actually the highest chalk sea cliff in England and is about 162 meters above the sea level - pretty cool! Next we went to a location called High and Over and saw the beautiful scenery of the hilltops. After this we drove to the quaint town of Alfriston and visited St. Andrews Church which is also known as the "Cathedral of the South Downs" and dates back to 1360. The town had a very nice coffee shop, chocolate shop, and general store. After we left Alfriston we passed the Long Man of Wilmington which is a famous chalk carving in the hills. No one is sure how the man was carved out of the chalk in the hills or why he is there, but he has been a part of the hills for hundreds of years! After a lunch in a countryside pub we went to the Battle Abbey, which lies on the historic site of the Battle of Hastings. At this location, the battle between the English Army under King Harold and the invading troops of William, the Duke of Normandy took place on October 14th, 1066. The battle ended with King Harold's death from an arrow in the eye, and the English were defeated. Four years later, William built the Battle Abbey for penance of the battle fought at the location. Today, there are many ruins of the Battle as well as a school on the ground called Battle Abbey School where children actually attend school on the historic grounds! I think that would be an awesome place to go to school as a kid- for recess you could play in the ruins!

Tomorrow I am going to the Seven Sisters, which is going to have some awesome scenery! Also, next Saturday I am going to London to see all of the sights there!

Jen :)

My First Week in Brighton!

2009-09-29T19:55:00.002-04:00

So, I have been in the UK for a week now, and I am getting settled and use to life here. I flew out of the Ottawa airport in Canada last Monday at 6:40 pm and arrived in the UK at around 6:30 in the morning. The flight was 7 hours long, and there is a 5 hour time difference between the United States and England. I am studying at Brighton University while I am abroad, in the city of Brighton. Brighton is located about an hour south of London.

My parents took me to the airport on Monday where we had a snack, and they then waited until I made it safely through security. After that, I was on my own! On the plane I sat next to a girl from Canada who was going to be studying in London for the semester. It was nice to sit next to another student and I hope to see her sometime while I am studying here. After I got off the plane, I got my luggage and then met people from Brighton University where they put me on a bus and sent me on my way to the school. At the school they gave me some information and then put me on another bus to my residence hall. It was so difficult to carry all of my luggage by myself to my residence hall, but somehow I managed and got my room all set up before 11 am. Just a note – residence halls are called “flats” here. I didn’t sleep at all on the plane so after my room was set up I took a nice long nap, and then went to the library to let my parents and boyfriend know that I had arrived safely. I actually haven’t had any jetlag from my journey! I didn’t sleep at all on the plane, and then the long nap I took must have set me straight. Later that night, the international orientation began and I met a lot of new people from different countries all over the world. As of right now, I have only met 2 Americans and everyone else has been British or from another country.

The orientation program was really great and helped me to get to know both the town and the campus. We were given lots of useful information and also shown a tour of the campus. In order for us to know the town, there was a type of treasure hunt where we worked in groups and had to go around to all different places and answer questions. It was a lot of fun but also very tiring because we walked all around town for 3 hours.

I have already been able to do many things in Brighton such as walk along the beach and pier, have fish and chips, ride a double decker bus and drink a cup of tea! The link below takes you to a slideshow of my journey so far in the UK (Blogger wouldn't let me post pictures to my blog for some reason, so this was the best option). I hope you enjoy it!

Jen

http://cmd.shutterfly.com/commands/pictures/slideshow?site=jensjourney1&page=jensjourney1&album=26

Summer Fun

2009-08-18T13:12:00.002-04:00

School is about to start again for most students, but since I am going to England for my Fall 2009 semester, I don't start until the end of September. So I will be working while my friends are attending classes until I leave for the United Kingdom. I was really surprised when I first found out how late they start classes over there. Their semester goes until February, but I will finish the last month from back at Clarkson University while my classes here have also begun. I have pretty much everything I need to go, I have my plane ticket, visa, and most essential items. I ordered new luggage today, so hopefully that will work out well.

Now for an update on what I have been up to lately. A couple weekends ago I went camping at Higgley Flow State Park. It was a lot of fun, and I didn't realize that a state park was so close to Potsdam. There were a lot of things to do at the campground, from fishing, to hiking, and hanging out at the beach. I even went to a star gazing class and learned some pretty cool information about the sky. I definitely plan to go camping every summer now that I had so much fun this time. My boyfriend and I made eggs and bacon using tinfoil and cooked them over a grill. They actually turned out really well, suprisingly! We made smores of course, and overall had a great time!

Last weekend, I spent a lot of time hanging out at Lake Bonaparte and doing a lot of skiing, wakeboaring and boating. It is finally starting to get nice now that summer is coming to an end. I wish that the weather would have been really nice the whole summer instead of wet and rainy. I better get use to the rain though, as I am going to be in England soon!

That's all for now. :)
Jen

Back in the Office

2009-07-28T14:54:00.002-04:00

Hello everyone!

I have not posted in a long time because I was working at the Horizons camp for a couple of weeks. The camp went great and it was a lot of fun but also a lot of work. Horizons is a camp for girls that excel in math and science, they continue to develop their math and science skills while at the camp while also having the opportunity to enrich their lives and grow through personal development. It is a very cool thing to be able to be involved in this whole process and to watch and help the girls to grow and form bonds during the week. I am very glad that I was able to be a program assistant at Horizons this summer, and hope to do it again next summer.

I finished working at the camp on Saturday and was back at the office yesterday (Monday). It is good to be back, I know that all of my co-workers missed me. ;-) I had been taking care of paperwork, and had to go to Syracuse at the beginning of July to get stuff ready for my Visa, and while I was at the camp I officially got my Visa! I was so excited that it went through, and I am getting very excited to go to England! I have a lot more to do still, I am booking my plane ticket this Saturday and am hoping that I will be able to get a non-stop flight! I think that I am going to fly out of Montreal so I won't have to deal with stopping at another airport. I will be leaving Montreal on the 21st, and flying into London on the 22nd! There is going to be a representative from Brighton University at the airport to pick me up; that is going to be a huge relief to not have to deal with lugging my luggage all by myself!

I think that is it for now, only a month of summer left- gotta enjoy it! :)

Flap Jack Attack

2009-06-26T09:10:00.005-04:00

Yesterday my co-workers and I went to the Village Diner in downtown Potsdam and attempted the Flap Jack Attack Challenge! Only 3 of us were succesful, watch the video to see all of the excitement!

Summer Days

2009-06-16T13:09:00.002-04:00

So it's been a while since I last posted, but I have plenty to update you on! I have been trying to keep busy in Potsdam and have been pretty successful so far. My on-line class is way more intense than I thought it was going to be, and I am about half way done with it. I am learning a lot of new information about Abnormal Psychology but I will be glad when I don't have to spend hours after work, working on homework. I have been playing a lot of tennis lately , and have been improving my game. Last Thursday my boyfriend and I went to the Morley LongBranch Restaurant out in Morley, NY and had 30 cent wings. They were pretty good, and the deal wasn't too bad either. Here is the website if you are interested in the restaurant: http://www.morleylongbranch.com/.

We also went hiking Sunday morning to a place called Stone Valley, which is out in Colton. It was a fun hike but it was so hot outside that day, that after an hour we turned around and hiked back down. It was nice to hike alongside the water. We even saw a couple of deer in the woods that ran away when they saw us.

As for the cooking situation, I am getting pretty good. I made taco salad last night, and have made chicken and baked potates, chicken and biscuits and some more dishes. My co-worker Nduka told me about making some delicious scrambled eggs, so I made them for breakfast on Saturday. That is all for now, I will be in touch. :)

An evening at La Casbah

2009-06-04T10:14:00.003-04:00

I think that I will tell you about a restaurant that I went to recently in Potsdam. Last night I went to the Moroccan restaurant, which is called La Casbah. My boyfriend and I have wanted to check it out for a while, so we finally decided to go last night. I had heard that it was very good and authentic so I couldn't wait to eat there. The waittress brought us an appetizer which consisted of a wheat pita and what I believe was a type of butter. It was very good, and a nice change from the usual bread that restaurants typically bring out before a meal. They offered dishes that you could get in American restaurants like lemon chicken, shrimp scampi, and swordfish. They also offered Moroccan meals like couscous, tagine, and kebabs. My boyfriend's parents have actually done mission work in Morocco so they had dishes to recommend to us. I ordered the chicken couscous and Matt ordered beef tagine. I was surprised with both the portions and how good the food was when it arrived. We ended up splitting our meals and I have to say the beef tagine was a bit better. Beef tagine is a type of slow cooked stew. The chicken couscous entree consisted of tiny pasta with chicken and vegetables on top. I would definitely recommend this restaurant if you are ever in Potsdam! :) Here is the website where you can view the menu, hours and other information on La Casbah. http://www.lacasbahny.com/

As I go to different local restaurants I will keep you updated so you can check them out when in Potsdam!

As for the cooking situation, I went home for a few days, so my mom made me dinner. :) & I have also eaten out a few times, but I did make pasta the other night which was very good. Tonight I will be cooking chicken and baked potatoes, so that should be tasty.

It is finally nice in Potsdam, and I was able to go for a run yesterday and hopefully tonight. Tomorrow is Friday, and I will be home for another weekend!

Memorial Day Weekend in the North Country

2009-05-26T10:36:00.004-04:00

So another week has gone by since my last post already! Time is going by so quick, and it is finally starting to feel like summer. This weekend I played some golf for the first time (not counting miniature golf :)). I actually wasn't as bad as I thought I was going to be and loved the game. I can't wait to golf again! I also played tennis on Sunday against my boyfriend which was a lot of fun. Neither of us are very good but we still like to play for fun. It was really windy outside though so, we didn't play for too long. After, we went home and played guitar hero with my brother. I can now play at a medium level and I am slowly improving my guitar hero skills. ;)

On Memorial Day my dad was in charge of introducing everything at the ceremony after the Memorial Day parade, so my family and I went to watch him in the morning. He did a good job, and spent the rest of the day packing for Argentina. He leaves today and I am so jealous! He said that it is suppose to be winter in Argentina when he is there though, so at least we will have warm weather up in Potsdam.

Yesterday evening I packed up my car and drove to Potsdam - I finally was able to move into my new apartment! I have a lot of unpacking to do today during my lunch break and all afternoon. I am hoping that everything is all set by the time I go to bed tonight. I really didn't bring too much stuff, just enough for summer. :) I have a lot of cleaning to do around the apartment and would like to plant some flowers to make the outside look nicer. It's looking like there might be a Wal-Mart run at some point tonight. I need groceries, because when I go home for my lunch break I am probably just going to be eating crackers.This is the first time that I have not lived in a dorm or with my parents so, it should be both interesting and exciting when it comes to cooking my own meals. I'm not going to lie, I am not known for being the greatest cook, but hopefully with some practice and good cook books I will make delicious food. I will let you know how it all turns out. TTYL. :)

Weekend!

2009-05-18T13:15:00.003-04:00

After work on Friday I was able to go home and relax for the rest of the evening. I just watched tv and hung out with my family - nothing too exciting, but it was a long week and I needed some rest. On Saturday my boyfriend and I went to Watertown to go shopping and to go to dinner and a movie. It was a very fun day, I didn't buy too many things, which is probably a good thing. I love shopping and hadn't been in such a long time! After we were done shopping we went to Applebees and had a delicious dinner and then went to see the movie, Angels & Demons. The movie was really good, I thought that it was better than the Da Vinci Code and it had a really big twist towards the end. I won't give anything away in case you haven't seen it, but I recommend going to see it! I never read the book so it was a whole new experience for me but I heard that the movie didn't do the book justice. That is usually how those things go, The Harry Potter moves are definitely not as good as the books and my favorite movie ever, The Notebook still isn't as good as the book. My favorite book of all time is Where the Red Fern Grows, I read the book for the first time when I was in 4th grade and have probably read it ten times since. Every time I end up sobbing at the end of the book, it is so sad! I bought the book, Pride & Prejudice the other day and will probably start it sometime soon.
Enough rambling, on Sunday I went to Seneca Falls with my boyfriend and his family. I love it down there, the town is wonderful! We didn't do anything too exciting, but we did play the game Cranium - and I won! lol! When we got back we went to a friend's house and hung out there for a little bit. Then I went back to my house and watched Survivor with my brother. The finale was on and even though it was the only episode I had watched all season I got so into it! Then I went to bed and the weekend ended, work again Monday at 8 am.

Summer Vacation

2009-05-14T08:14:00.000-04:00

This is my first blog post ever, so I am sure that they will get better over time. :) I finished my sophomore year at Clarkson almost 2 weeks ago and it is hard to believe that I will not see some of my friends until August. When you come to college your college friends really do become your family away from home, you eat with these people, live with them, study with them and just hang out with them! It is strange to leave this family at the end of the semester and then go back to your real family at home. A few of my friends are living at Clarkson this summer and I will be working here M-F so it will be nice to be able to see them. It is also nice to be home with my real family for a few weeks; I will be moving up to Potsdam, NY next weekend to live in an apartment with one of my friends from high school. That should be fun and I am looking forward to going to the beach in Hannawa Falls! Obviously the beach doesn't compare to a beach on the ocean but it will be nice to hang out there in the sun. Other than that I don't really have many plans for the summer, one of my friends and I are trying to get together to go to a concert. We went to Warped Tour last summer in Montreal and want to make going to a concert once a summer a tradition for us. I think that is it for now, talk soon. :)