Update
Right, so, its been a while since I’ve posted, but here’s what I have been up to lately:
This semester I visited Battle, the site where the Battle of Hastings was fought. The area is now a field (covered in sheep poop), which was very pretty, and I had an audio guide to tell me where all of the troops were and how the battle played out. I also got to see the remains of Battle Abbey which William the Conqueror built to atone for all the people he killed at Battle. The altar was set up on the spot where Harold died. I’m not sure if that was to honor Harold or if that was William bragging.
I also went to Nottingham. I saw the castle which was visited by almost every king from William to Henry VIII. They had a statue of Robin Hood there, so I took a picture of it. I also toured the caves underneath Nottingham, which were huge. I didn’t make it out to Sherwood Forest this time, but hopefully I will on my next trip.
I took two trips during reading week. The first was to North Wales, which was really cool. People seem to speak Welsh a lot more frequently in North Wales. I stayed in Bangor, and I visited Conwy and Caernarfon. At Conwy I visited their castle, and walked on the battlements around the city. I also the smallest house in the U.K and I wandered around the town. At Caernarfon I visited their castle where Edward II was born and where Charles was crowned Prince of Wales. Then I visited the Segontium Roman Fort ruins.
My second trip was to Cornwall. On my trip I stayed in Penzance, and I visited Tintagel (where King Arthur is supposed to have lived). I saw the ruins of the castle (built a long time after Arthur) in Tintagel, which were amazing, especially with the view of the cliffs behind them. I then visited the Round Table exhibit which was created by a group founded in the 1800s, but was still really cool. Then I walked past the old post office, and headed back to London. While I was in Cornwall I had a traditional Cornish pasty, which was great. I also had a deep-fried Mars bar, and saw a store advertising Haggis, which made me wonder if Cornwall was having identity issues.
After reading week I was busy studying for my tests in class. For Variation and Evolution of the Human Skull we were given 15 skull fragments and we had four minutes to write down the type of bone, sex of the individual, age of the individual and any identifying marks we could fine. I still have absolutely no idea how I did. I recognized all but one of the bones but I don’t know if I listed enough characteristics for each or not. The good thing is that everyone in my class is convinced that we did badly, so I’m hoping that we all did better than we think we did. Also no one else knew what that one bone was either. The current consensus is that it is a chunk from the middle of the skull that includes parts of several bones.
My other test was for Morphology and Palaeopathology of the Post cranial skeleton. It was supposed to be easy since it was a multiple choice. However, it was more of a check which statements are true test, and he put in a lot of trick questions. Such as listing the 4th metacarpal as one of the bones that has a styloid process when its actually the 3rd metacarpal, and including Teres major in the list of muscles of the rotator cuff instead of Teres minor. He told us at the beginning that there was one question where all of the options were correct. Everyone said that they found one such question, however no one can agree on what it is, so I am worried about that test too.
I did go to a few Christmas parties before I cam home for the holidays. The first was after our skull test, when my class went out to a comedy club/disco. I arrived late due to Tube issues, but I still had a lot of fun. The comics were really good, one of them was from the East End (where the club was located), so he had a lot of Cockney jokes.
Then that weekend I went to the Yule Ball in Cardiff, which was hosted by the Cardiff Harry Potter Society. I had a good time, the food was good, and I had fun dancing. My group managed to behave themselves for the most part. Other than the ice throwing.
On the last day of the semester my class went on a group outing. We went to the Old Operating Theatre Museum, to learn about amputations. Then we went to the Borough Market, for lunch. I had a venison burger this time. I may go back to try the ostrich though. Then we went to a pathology museum at King’s College, to look at their collections. I liked the one on the skin disorders of the Dickenson era, and the bone collections. Finally we went to a pub and had a drink.
Before I went home for Christmas, I decided to go to Paris for a weekend. I had a wonderful time. When I arrived, I found my hostel and then I went to Notre Dame and Sainte Chappell. I loved the stained glass windows at Sainte Chappell, they were really amazing. They cover the entire length of the church and cover most of the major stories in the bible. At Notre Dame, I climbed the bell tower and got to see Paris at dusk, which was beautiful. I also loved the Stained glass windows at Notre Dame which were amazing at sunset. The next place I went to was Sacre-Couer where I caught the end of a mass while I toured the church. The frescos there were amazing, and the singing was lovely. Finally I went up the Eiffel tower to see Paris at night, which was great. All of the streets were lit up especially the Champs Elysees and the Arc d’Triomphe.
The next morning I went to the Arc d’Triomphe where I climbed to the top to see their view of the city. Then I walked down the Champs Elysees to the Louvre. I went on the antiquities tour on my audio guide, which took me past the Egyptian, Greek, and Roman antiquities including the Venus de Milo, and they I visited the Mona Lisa. Then I wandered around Paris for a bit and went to the Eiffel Tower again. Unfortunately, I mis-estimated my time and I ended up missing my train back to London. I arrived at the train station just as it left. Luckily, the lady who took the tickets told me that they could put me on the first train the next morning. So I hurried back to my hostel and managed to book my room for an extra night.
While I was in Paris, I ate far too many crepes, but they were really good. Also I managed to have a few very basic conversations with people in French, so I was really proud of myself. I also managed have a very basic conversation with my roommate in Japanese; she seemed really happy to hear someone speak Japanese to her. All in all it was a great and linguistically challenging trip.
I got home about a week before Christmas, which gave me sometime to bake, wrap, see my family, and to visit people that I hadn’t seen for a while. I visited with Rachel, Renee, and Vicki and I managed to beat them at bowling on the Wii. I also saw Alison a few times, and my sister and I went to see Sweeny Todd. The best Christmas presents that I got were the I-Pod (which I had wanted for so long), iTunes gift certificates, and Smallville season 2.
I went home just before New Years. I was going to go down to the Thames for the fireworks on New Years, but I wasn’t feeling well, so I went to one of the local pubs instead, and I watched the fireworks on TV.
This semester I visited Battle, the site where the Battle of Hastings was fought. The area is now a field (covered in sheep poop), which was very pretty, and I had an audio guide to tell me where all of the troops were and how the battle played out. I also got to see the remains of Battle Abbey which William the Conqueror built to atone for all the people he killed at Battle. The altar was set up on the spot where Harold died. I’m not sure if that was to honor Harold or if that was William bragging.
I also went to Nottingham. I saw the castle which was visited by almost every king from William to Henry VIII. They had a statue of Robin Hood there, so I took a picture of it. I also toured the caves underneath Nottingham, which were huge. I didn’t make it out to Sherwood Forest this time, but hopefully I will on my next trip.
I took two trips during reading week. The first was to North Wales, which was really cool. People seem to speak Welsh a lot more frequently in North Wales. I stayed in Bangor, and I visited Conwy and Caernarfon. At Conwy I visited their castle, and walked on the battlements around the city. I also the smallest house in the U.K and I wandered around the town. At Caernarfon I visited their castle where Edward II was born and where Charles was crowned Prince of Wales. Then I visited the Segontium Roman Fort ruins.
My second trip was to Cornwall. On my trip I stayed in Penzance, and I visited Tintagel (where King Arthur is supposed to have lived). I saw the ruins of the castle (built a long time after Arthur) in Tintagel, which were amazing, especially with the view of the cliffs behind them. I then visited the Round Table exhibit which was created by a group founded in the 1800s, but was still really cool. Then I walked past the old post office, and headed back to London. While I was in Cornwall I had a traditional Cornish pasty, which was great. I also had a deep-fried Mars bar, and saw a store advertising Haggis, which made me wonder if Cornwall was having identity issues.
After reading week I was busy studying for my tests in class. For Variation and Evolution of the Human Skull we were given 15 skull fragments and we had four minutes to write down the type of bone, sex of the individual, age of the individual and any identifying marks we could fine. I still have absolutely no idea how I did. I recognized all but one of the bones but I don’t know if I listed enough characteristics for each or not. The good thing is that everyone in my class is convinced that we did badly, so I’m hoping that we all did better than we think we did. Also no one else knew what that one bone was either. The current consensus is that it is a chunk from the middle of the skull that includes parts of several bones.
My other test was for Morphology and Palaeopathology of the Post cranial skeleton. It was supposed to be easy since it was a multiple choice. However, it was more of a check which statements are true test, and he put in a lot of trick questions. Such as listing the 4th metacarpal as one of the bones that has a styloid process when its actually the 3rd metacarpal, and including Teres major in the list of muscles of the rotator cuff instead of Teres minor. He told us at the beginning that there was one question where all of the options were correct. Everyone said that they found one such question, however no one can agree on what it is, so I am worried about that test too.
I did go to a few Christmas parties before I cam home for the holidays. The first was after our skull test, when my class went out to a comedy club/disco. I arrived late due to Tube issues, but I still had a lot of fun. The comics were really good, one of them was from the East End (where the club was located), so he had a lot of Cockney jokes.
Then that weekend I went to the Yule Ball in Cardiff, which was hosted by the Cardiff Harry Potter Society. I had a good time, the food was good, and I had fun dancing. My group managed to behave themselves for the most part. Other than the ice throwing.
On the last day of the semester my class went on a group outing. We went to the Old Operating Theatre Museum, to learn about amputations. Then we went to the Borough Market, for lunch. I had a venison burger this time. I may go back to try the ostrich though. Then we went to a pathology museum at King’s College, to look at their collections. I liked the one on the skin disorders of the Dickenson era, and the bone collections. Finally we went to a pub and had a drink.
Before I went home for Christmas, I decided to go to Paris for a weekend. I had a wonderful time. When I arrived, I found my hostel and then I went to Notre Dame and Sainte Chappell. I loved the stained glass windows at Sainte Chappell, they were really amazing. They cover the entire length of the church and cover most of the major stories in the bible. At Notre Dame, I climbed the bell tower and got to see Paris at dusk, which was beautiful. I also loved the Stained glass windows at Notre Dame which were amazing at sunset. The next place I went to was Sacre-Couer where I caught the end of a mass while I toured the church. The frescos there were amazing, and the singing was lovely. Finally I went up the Eiffel tower to see Paris at night, which was great. All of the streets were lit up especially the Champs Elysees and the Arc d’Triomphe.
The next morning I went to the Arc d’Triomphe where I climbed to the top to see their view of the city. Then I walked down the Champs Elysees to the Louvre. I went on the antiquities tour on my audio guide, which took me past the Egyptian, Greek, and Roman antiquities including the Venus de Milo, and they I visited the Mona Lisa. Then I wandered around Paris for a bit and went to the Eiffel Tower again. Unfortunately, I mis-estimated my time and I ended up missing my train back to London. I arrived at the train station just as it left. Luckily, the lady who took the tickets told me that they could put me on the first train the next morning. So I hurried back to my hostel and managed to book my room for an extra night.
While I was in Paris, I ate far too many crepes, but they were really good. Also I managed to have a few very basic conversations with people in French, so I was really proud of myself. I also managed have a very basic conversation with my roommate in Japanese; she seemed really happy to hear someone speak Japanese to her. All in all it was a great and linguistically challenging trip.
I got home about a week before Christmas, which gave me sometime to bake, wrap, see my family, and to visit people that I hadn’t seen for a while. I visited with Rachel, Renee, and Vicki and I managed to beat them at bowling on the Wii. I also saw Alison a few times, and my sister and I went to see Sweeny Todd. The best Christmas presents that I got were the I-Pod (which I had wanted for so long), iTunes gift certificates, and Smallville season 2.
I went home just before New Years. I was going to go down to the Thames for the fireworks on New Years, but I wasn’t feeling well, so I went to one of the local pubs instead, and I watched the fireworks on TV.