The End of a Journey

Once again...I know I'm a procrastinator. Over the past few months I've been traveling, taking exams, writing papers, and just recently I've started a summer accounting class for my minor requirement. Over the next couple of days I will be posting my thoughts about each location (London, Paris, Copenhagen, etc) that I've visited and give an overview of my stay in Lancaster.

Euro Trip

Hi everyone! Sorry I haven't been able to update. I just finished three papers that were due at the beginning of the month. I will post as daily as I can as I will start my Euro Trip with my family on Thursday. I will be visiting London, Paris, Copenhagen, Belfast, and Edinburgh. More to come soon! :)

My Flat

Ok. I'm a procrastinator and I've been busy trying to get three papers done before the end of the month. But anyway...I noticed that I haven't posted up any pictures of my room so I decided to take some pics since I was in the middle of cleaning everything.

View of desk area and storage

Boone sitting on my bed

My desk area complete with posters, calendar, laptop, and other various items

Yes the bathroom...why not?

Full room view

Decided to take a pic that represented all my teams that were playing tonight (Man City, Avs, and of course DU)

Pictures of Lancaster

Lancaster Castle...a tourist site and "C" level prison

Lancaster Parish...church located next to the castle 

View of Lancaster from Castle Hill

The ruins of a Roman bath house 

A view of the Millennium Bridge, River Lune, and Lancaster cityscape

UK Differences? What is similar/different than the US?

Since I've been here for almost a month already...time does fly...I decided to post some observations I've made while living here. Now there are ones that are more evident and ones that you wouldn't really expect and/or notice unless you've had the time to notice them. I will first start with the more evident differences.

Instead of writing about how everyone has an accent or how their food tastes different, I took some pictures to show that some things are different but pretty similar too.

Lays? Frosted Flakes? 

Twix are biscuit fingers! And of course KitKat

Same soda...different sizes and labels

Now of course I won't deny that people have different accents, use some different phrases, or that some of their food I've never tasted or heard of before but I think my point for this part of the observation is merely meant to say that despite some differences we really are alike. We may take for granted drinking a Coke or even dislike buying and/or consuming their products but its commercial interests like food, movies, entertainment, technology, etc that have brought us closer together in a way.  

I have also noticed some differences that I think I wouldn't have picked up on if I were only a tourist. First of all, hardly anyone wears sun glasses even when it gets sunny outside. Now you're probably thinking...'Really, maybe because it rains a lot'. Yeah that is probably the main reason may people don't wear sun glasses but its so funny. I maybe see a dozen other people wearing sunglasses around campus when I do and their mostly worn by foreigners (not just Americans). Though it makes me wonder whether sunglasses are primarily an American thing or not. Whatever the case, it makes me feel even cooler when I do wear them. Another difference in attire I've noticed is that girls don't wear tennis/running shoes. Ever girl on campus wears boots and it kind of drives me insane because they're literally almost the same kind. In Colorado where we get snow i don't even see that many people wear boots, not like they do here. And of course I normally wear my running shoes so I guess that might show I'm a foreigner. Of course there are many other differences that I'll talk about later but this post is getting long so I'll end it here.

Would you like a Jelly Baby?

Would you like a jelly baby?

I know must people won't get this joke or reference but I was super excited to find jelly babies here. Jelly babies were mentioned quite often in the original Doctor Who series and have made some appearances in the new one as well. Basically they're little gummy candies in different flavors (strawberry, black currant, lime, etc) covered with some sugar, and in the shape of a small person (hence why they are called babies). I included a quick montage of jelly baby moments from Doctor Who just so you get the cultural reference. So the only question that remains is...Would you like a jelly baby?

Jelly Baby Montage

Video of England!

While I was on the train, I decided to take some video of the countryside (close to Lancaster) and urban area (outside of downtown Manchester) just too compare the two. It probably won't surprise you that the countryside is flat, green, and I think you can see some sheep. The area outside of Manchester has many more houses and stores.

The Countryside (outside of Lancaster)

Urban Area (outside downtown Manchester)