Fantastic end to a fantastic summer.

Now that the dust has settled on my last two days in England, I've survived the 23-hour journey back to the States, and I'm all moved into my new New Orleans apartment, I guess I can blog about the end of the summer school. Prepare for the overly sappy.

Thursday morning the Shakespeare pathway had its last lecture of the summer school. It was another play-specific session on The Tempest, taught once again by Prof. McRae. This time, though, the lecture was much more engaging, and I don't think that we lost any students to sleep. (Possibly.) I'm glad that we had another lecture on that play, because it was definitely my least favorite of the works we had to read. Sitting in class and discussing it, however, helped me realize just how much there was in the play that I hadn't picked up on by reading it once. I appreciate it a lot more now, that's for sure. Though I don't believe I'll be writing my final paper on that particular play.

The afternoon was free of lectures and was technically "independent/group study time" - so, naturally, people only took a fraction of that time to study. After lunch, I met with my group to discuss how we were going to organize our project. We had already chosen a topic - Shakespeare and love as demonstrated in A Midsummer Night's Dream - the question was how we were going to organize what each person had researched into the presentation. Luckily the meeting went pretty smoothly, and we had a presentation hammered out and practiced within two hours. (Shout out to Veronica, my other awesome Saint Louis girl, for choosing a perfect background for the presentation.)

After we felt like we were comfortable with the presentation that we were scheduled to give the next day, all five of us split off in different directions. Anu and I went back into town to finally go on the quay - our goal was to go kayaking and then do some last minute souvenir shopping for ourselves and friends/family. When we got down to the river (after finding our way down there - we got temporarily turned around), we unfortunately learned that kayaking was sold out for the day. No worries. There was a sign for paddle-boating not too far away, and the paddle boats were much, much cheaper than renting a kayak. Plan B success.

Anu looking fab even in her 'kayaking clothes'

Me looking not so fab in kayaking clothes

On the river! Praying we wouldn't drop the phone into the water.

We found a really awesome and fairly-priced souvenir shop by the cathedral and stopped in there to buy gifts. I picked stuff up for friends from home and got a souvenir spoon of the royal birth for my friend Emily's younger sister - she was following it super closely, so hopefully she likes it!

You have no idea how quickly Royal Baby merchandise appeared on shelves.

After we returned from our venture into town, it was time to pack and prepare for final presentations the next day. A lot of people were in denial that we all had to leave - none of us wanted to believe it. All the same, we went out to The Firehouse one last time before we all had to leave. Anu and Luis had an epic pizza eating competition, I wished once again that I could take toffee apple cider back home with me, and great times were had. (Seriously, though. U.S. needs to get on this cider train.)

Last Firehouse pizza! Delicious.

Friday morning eventually rolled around, despite every single Exeter ISS student dreading it. Everyone put just a little more effort into their appearance that morning, since almost every track would be presenting in front of their pathway and two Exeter professors. (Everyone except International Management. They got away with no presentation and just a paper. And people say business is hard...) I think that our specific presentation went very well - we stayed inside the twenty minute time limit, made great points, and had a good presentation. I think the five of us - me, Veronica, Anu, Stine, and Sherrie - made a great team! Our geographical diversity (we represented the USA, India, Denmark, and China, respectively) definitely helped us in our analysis. Even though we were well-prepared, we all breathed a sigh of relief that it was over.

Presentations being over meant that we had to face the fact that we were spending our last afternoon in Exeter. People remained in denial and refused to pack. A lot of the Shakespeare group got lunch at The Ram one last time and talked over the "Exeter ISS in One Minute" presentation that we wanted to do at the dinner later on. After that, I walked around with Anu and Lindy and got some last minute pictures of the city that I'd somehow come to love so quickly.

Description of the ancient city wall

Ancient Roman wall in a modern English shopping district.

Exeter's 'Big Ben'

These signs came in handy so many times. It's such a tourist-friendly city.

Sign for The Imperial, at which I left a good portion of my money.

Before I knew it, I was back on campus, was mostly done with packing, had changed my clothes, and was ready for the Gala Dinner. It really surprised me how much I dreaded saying goodbye to everybody. I had been super skeptical during the welcome speech when the director told us that we were going to make lifelong friends at this summer school. I kept thinking that I was only going to be there for three weeks - how was I possibly going to form a lifelong friendship in three weeks? But I did, with people from all over the world, and I was so far from ready to say goodbye. 

So I didn't. I just took pictures at the wine reception of us looking fabulous in our smart attire and told myself I would at least see everyone the next morning.

Lale, Lauren, and Lindy - three lovely Ls

Best friends I could have asked for in Exeter.

Veronica and I - representing Saint Louis!

Me and Chloe - smile big :)

Dinner was really great, though people were slightly upset when they saw that we had assigned seating. I was not happy to be separated from my friends at first, but it did give me an opportunity to have a conversation with people I hadn't spoken to as much and even connect with some professors. The professor sitting nearest me was an American who had been living in Ireland for the last twelve years. He had been a lecturer for a different pathway, so it was a great opportunity to speak to him. (I asked him why he'd chosen Ireland. His answer? "Well, I got my master's over there. Then I decided to stay and get my PhD...and then I met a girl." D'awww.) 

Things got a little bit emotional once people started getting up to make speeches. How we all became so emotionally invested in a program after only three weeks is a mystery to me, but somehow we did.

 My fancy-schmancy dinner place setting

Anu giving her farewell speech

After the dinner, they held a disco for everyone. The DJ was actually really good, so we used the opportunity to tear up the dance floor one more time. A lot of people went out on the town for one last time, but most of my friends and I decided to stay back and just hang out on the terrace for our own private celebration/commencement. It was chilly, but being around those people one last time was worth the goosebumps. 

Enjoying the company

Jenna brought down her comforter to keep warm. It swallowed her.

I ended up staying awake until about 3am, even though the coaches were due to leave at 7 that morning. Despite my sleep-deprived state the next morning as I struggled to get my luggage on the bus, it was completely worth it. I've learned so much from everyone on the trip and made such great friends - why wouldn't I want to spend a few extra hours with them? 

I've just got one more thing to say before I can end the sugar-fest that is this post.

Exeter ISS 2013, you were fantastic. Absolutely fantastic.

Devon cream tea, a terrible ghost tour, and the Eden Project

Another super eventful two days! That probably explains why I'm too exhausted to do anything but write a blog post and look over my reading for tomorrow. And let's be honest - I procrastinated writing this post in favor of Tumblr. I'm not even going to lie.

Yesterday's classes were Early Modern Print Culture with Dr Sara Barker and another play-specific session of A Midsummer Night's Dream with Dr Sparey again (I can't call her Vicky, I really can't). Both of them were interesting, but I definitely enjoyed our morning session more. Dr Barker is very engaging, I loved the subject matter - how the first printed books were created - and the class incorporated a Stephen Fry documentary and a hands-on activity. That's a definite plus in my book.

Mini-'folios', or early books, that we folded in class

In the afternoon, we decided on what we're going to tackle for our group projects. Our group (Anu, Veronica, Stine, Sherrie, and me) has set our general theme as love and autonomy in A Midsummer Night's Dream - how we're going to narrow that down remains to be seen, but no worries about that until Friday!

Directly after class we headed to Exeter Cathedral for traditional Devon cream tea. The cathedral operates a café as well, which is where we were situated. Tea was absolutely delicious - if I could find a way to take the scones and tea back with me (or find the space in my suitcase), I would in a heartbeat.

Feeling fancy. Or British.

At tea we heard about a ghost tour leaving from the Cathedral later on in the evening, so we headed back after dinner. Unfortunately, the spooky ghost tour that we had hoped for turned out to be more funny than terrifying. Our tour guide was sweet, but she kept getting facts mixed up and didn't take us to any truly haunted places. Points added for creative stories about the different places in Exeter, minus points for this well being the creepiest thing we saw.

No one died in it or anything. It's just there.

Ah, well. We managed to make it fun.

We're so terrified that we burst out laughing after this was taken.

Today served as a nice break from classes - we headed to the Eden Project! What it really reminded me of was a much bigger version of the Missouri Botanical Garden back home, only situated in Cornwall and with an impressive rainforest biome. We spent about four and a half hours exploring everything the Eden Project had to offer. I really loved the opportunity to go - it was great to be surrounded by so much diverse plant life and learn about different climates around the world. Plus, the Eden Project is also a charity, so I knew that the money I paid for lunch went to education and conservation efforts. (A good amount of the food offered is grown on site. How cool is that?)

Of course, being tourists and college kids who love social media, we took pictures of almost everything we saw.

Great view of the biomes!

My favorite biome and where we spent the most time.

View of the rainforest biome from 165 feet up!

On top of the rainforest

Group picture! Ranuk, Jennifer, Veronica, Anukripa, me, and Lindy

Somewhere along the line, I decided that I fancied myself a nature photographer. Armed with only an iPhone. 

This one is by far my favorite.

Not bad, iPhone 5, not bad.

I am thoroughly enjoying my time here in England and I can't believe it's halfway done already. I've learned so much: not only in the classroom, but from my peers as well. The longer I spend with people from outside the United States, the more I realize the little cultural details that both make us the same and set us apart. I now know that people from the USA, Canada, India, Russia, France, Belgium, and Holland can all unite in England over a game of Mafia, and that Americans toss around 'I love you' much more casually than other countries. I know I've said repeatedly that I've learned a lot and that I've loved every single day, but honestly, I really am on top of the world.

Or maybe that's the Imagine Dragons on my Spotify.

First classes!

The first two days of classes are done and the weekend has arrived!

Since class has officially started, the pace of our days has slowed down a bit - something for which I think we're all grateful. I actually motivated myself to get up and go for a run through campus yesterday morning before lecture and it was well worth my time. England has perfect running weather and the campus and city themselves are gorgeous - there's always something to look at while running, so you're never bored. The only downside to running in Exeter is all of the hills. This Midwestern girl did not know the meaning of hills. My calves are hurting.

Our first class was from 9:30-12 yesterday and was an introduction lecture by Dr. Victoria Sparey, who began by insisting with a huge smile that we call her Vicky. She's very energetic and clearly passionate about what she's teaching - when I walked into the classroom a few minutes early she had already gotten into a discussion with another student about the production of Macbeth that we'd seen. Plus, rather than just stand there and talk at us for 2.5 hours, she made sure to promote discussion and encouraged us to present our own opinions on everything. She's the main coordinator of our track and is a really interesting lecturer, so I have a feeling I'll enjoy each section she teaches!

After a quick break for lunch, during which I had my first steak pasty, we returned to the same classroom in the business school for a lecture on Shakespeare's Genres by Prof. Philip Schwyzer. (Every track takes classes in the business school building since it was very recently built and has the best facilities.) It was interesting to learn the different manner in which genre was interpreted when Shakespeare was actually writing the plays. For example, to be considered a comedy, a play didn't have to actually be funny - it only had to contain a heterosexual marriage. While the lecture was definitely interesting, I think my favorite part of the class was getting into groups and rewriting A Midsummer Night's Dream so that it was a tragedy rather than a comedy.

We finished class at 3:15 and had a rather laid-back afternoon until 6, when everyone headed over to The Ram, the student pub, for our scheduled pub quiz night. The summer school had a buffet set up for us, so we ate dinner, divided into teams of ten, and then it was game on! The trivia pulled from everywhere since we come from every continent but Antarctica, so it was definitely not like any trivia night/pub quiz that I'd ever been to. We had a really great team and ended up getting third place!

Team Can't Touch This.

Friday's classes began with a lecture on Shakespeare and the Supernatural from Prof. Marion Gibson. The representations of the supernatural in literature have always intrigued me, so I found that lecture particularly interesting. We focused on specific scenes from Macbeth and The Tempest in groups and analyzed how the portrayal of the supernatural in each scene corresponds to both Shakespeare's attitude towards the supernatural and the general public's understanding of and attitude towards it. Getting background information and context really changed my reading of both plays.

Our afternoon session was with Victoria Sparey again, who was leading a play-specific session on A Midsummer Night's Dream. The majority of this class was discussion, and I am really enjoying hearing from all of my classmates on this track. Not only is everyone extremely intelligent and excited to be here, but people bring their own interpretations of the literature based on their home culture and experiences. It really gave a new meaning to something said in the introductory lecture yesterday - there is not Shakespeare, there are Shakespeares, and endless different interpretations that can completely change the meaning of the work at hand. Every track certainly benefits from a variety of viewpoints, but I feel like due to the nature of literature - there is always something new to be discovered and a new way to read the text - the Shakespeare track may benefit the most. 

Discussing with people here is something else that I've loved so far. For example, a group of us went to a nearby pub tonight for a quick drink and to chat. Though we came back early, I ended up in a conversation about the differing experiences with race and prejudice in the U.S. and Canada for at least half an hour on the pavilion of our hall. We're all taking this opportunity to learn from each other, and it's that, I think, that is most rewarding. 

We're headed on a day trip to Stonehenge and Salisbury bright and early tomorrow morning - sorry, Facebook friends, I'm about to blow up your newsfeed yet again.

Introduction to Exeter

First full day in Exeter - complete.

Today functioned as an introduction to the school and the city, which was a great transition from the social London program to the academic portion at the university. Though we arrived yesterday, most of us were too exhausted to do any exploring. They did, however, welcome us with an excellent barbecue. Something that was really foreign to me was chatting with professors over alcoholic drinks - something that rarely occurs in the States!

Hanging around at the BBQ

The weather was beautiful!

We also received our welcome packets and ID cards yesterday, which made me feel official.

Today started off with an introductory presentation to present an overview of how classes at the summer school will be taught and what they expect from us as students. It was held in the Forum, which is a brand new building on campus that was opened by Her Majesty the Queen just last year. More impressive to the students, however, were the purple and pink lecture chairs that swiveled 360 degrees. 

After that presentation, we split up according to academic track to go on a tour of campus. I really liked being able to see who I'll be learning with before we actually begin classes tomorrow, and it seems like we'll have an awesome group. Campus itself is a pretty good size, over 300 acres, and extremely hilly - I am going to have amazing legs by the time I leave! It's also incredibly beautiful, and I can't believe that people get to live here nine months out of the year. 

View from my dorm, Holland Hall

One of many very old trees on campus

One of Exeter's ponds

There's so much vegetation and green space on campus that the university is actually a registered botanical garden.  Administration has also recently invested millions into the campus, so many of the buildings are either brand new or recently renovated. All in all, I think everyone in our group was impressed. 

After the campus tour, we took a break for lunch at one of the many places to eat on campus. We chose the Terrace Café, which is in the Students' Guild. I got made to order stir fry, which was delicious, and found out that Coke has been literally calling people by name to buy their product in the UK.

They got me.

After lunch, it was time for our tour of the actual city of Exeter. Even though the city is quite big, it still manages to have a small-town feel in some areas. Streets vary from being narrow and pedestrian to resembling more of a typical downtown metropolitan area. Also not far is the quay, where you can go canoeing on the river. 

One end of the road to the quay

The quay, with a peek at the river

A street in Princesshay, the shopping district

There are key points in Exeter for both the religious and the nerdy. There is of course the well-known Exeter Cathedral, which was unfortunately under construction today.

Inscription on the walkway to the cathedral

Exeter Cathedral

For the nerdy, some original Harry Potter locations are in Exeter. J.K. Rowling graduated from the University of Exeter and so drew her inspiration for some places from the city - it's definitely a great place to spark creativity!

Gandy Street, inspiration for Diagon Alley

People also say that The Firehouse, a pub in Exeter that's frequented often by students, was the inspiration for The Leaky Cauldron. I didn't snap a picture, but we'll be headed there before our time here is done!

I explored the city a bit more after the tour with two girls from Denmark (Stine and Anna), a girl from France (Juliette), a guy from China (Harold), and another American from New Jersey (Bryan). We ducked into a bookstore and I was able to pick up The Cuckoo's Calling, J.K. Rowling's new book under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. It's much cheaper to buy hardback books here than it is in the States!

My souvenirs for the day

In a few minutes I'll be going with a group to check out The Imperial pub, which is apparently quite famous. I'm excited to see it! Our visit will be brief, though - classes start tomorrow morning, and with them the academic portion officially begins. Let the international exchange of ideas begin!

A Fresh Start

Alrighty, so...I'm back in the blogging world again!

I've been meaning to restart blogging for ages - I created my first blog back in 2005 at a local writing camp and my friends and I went absolutely overboard. We had personal blogs and Harry Potter blogs and lord have mercy I hope none of those posts have survived cyberspace. (I cringed when I saw my original 'introduction.' Twelve year old me did not know how to present herself online very well.) I had already decided on making this summer a time of healing and transitioning to a new point in my life, so what better time to start a blog? Especially when there's something as exciting as a trip to England in store...

Yep. I still can't quite believe it either.

In just a few minutes I'll be leaving my house, heading to the airport, and hopping on a plane to London to attend the University of Exeter's International Summer School! (Well, technically I'll be hopping on a plane to Detroit first...details.) I'm super excited about this opportunity. I can't wait to experience the country and meet students from all over the world. So that's how I'll be kicking off this blog - documenting what will surely be an amazing time abroad.

I'll wrap up this post before I make myself late for said time abroad - look for another post hopefully tomorrow about my first day!