Weekend in Woking: Host Families and Windsor Castle

On Friday afternoon we went off to Woking, a town outside London, to spend the weekend with British host families. Two girls and I stayed with a Pakistani woman and her daughter, which didn't surprise me seeing as England has a large growing Muslim population. This made for a very unique experience. When I first learned that our host family was form Pakistan I got really excited because so many of my friends from Sharon are Pakistani, but I was one of the first Jews this Pakistani family had ever met, so the experience was a bit challenging but definitely rewarding. On Friday evening we were all watching TV and there was a show on about the anniversary of 9/11 and all the conspiracy theories that exist, and I honestly never thought I'd be discussing 9/11 and the War on Terror with a Pakistani immigrant who doesn't even live in the US, but thanks to everything I learned from my interfaith youth group back home I was able to have a really meaningful and interesting conversation. We talked a lot about Judaism and Islam, and I loved telling her about the interfaith group in Sharon. We even talked about how sacred Israel is to both of our religions with absolutely no tension.

Me and Hera, my host sister for the weekend

Emily and I with Hera and our host mother, Selena

On Saturday we dropped off our little "host sister" at the mosque for her religious school classes. The mosque the family attends is the oldest mosque in the UK and is absolutely gorgeous, but we drove away before I could get my camera out, so unfortunately no pictures. Then all the students were taken to Windsor where we had the opportunity to tour the Windsor Castle - it was incredible!!!! (The Queen stays there on weekends, but sadly this past weekend she was in Scotland, so she and I did not get to have tea...). Anyways, I was in absolute awe of how old the castle is, and how I was walking the ground of so many characters from my Ap European History class. No photography was allowed which is really a shame because all the rooms were breathtakingly beautiful, and I got to see so much of the artwork I had learned about in school that I would have loved to take pictures of - especially the portrait of Queen Elizabeth I, my favorite English monarch! We also visited St. George's Cathedral where King Henry VIII, King George VI (yes, the one in The King's Speech), among many other monarchs, are buried. It was such a fascinating tour and it definitely reminded me why I was so excited to be a history major!
After Windsor Castle we came back home and our host mother made us afternoon tea and samosas....such a perfect mixture of British and Pakistani cultures. Sunday afternoon, before going back to London, we went shopping at a mall in Woking. A lot of the clothing stores here give student discounts if you show a student ID...so convenient!

Walking up to the castle

Megan, Julia, and I in front of our home, of course..

Queen Elizabeth I, Bloody Mary, Cate Middleton, King George VI,
Anne Boylen, and Sarah Raykhtsaum have all walked these grounds.

St. George's Cathedral...so beautiful!!! Wish I could have taken pics of the inside...

Barbara and I with a very unhappy guard

This morning I woke up thinking how strange it was to not be in the US during the ten year anniversary of 9/11, but instead being in England, discussing it with a Pakistani family who had a member of their family living in Manhattan on the day of the attacks. All those endless hours of interfaith dialogue training definitely helped in making this a very memorable learning experience.
This coming week is our last week of orientation so I'm definitely looking forward to making the most of my last few days here without any homework or responsibilities!
xoxo,
Sarah

British Music, Greenwich Markets, and another night in Notting Hill

This London trip keeps getting better and better! Yesterday was probably the most interesting day so far. We started the day at the British Music Experience exhibit (I think they might only have it set up temporarily...not sure) where we learned all about British music history and all the famous influential British bands and singers. The exhibit was all completely interactive. There was a room for each decade and in every room you could see memorabilia from different bands and participate in karaoke and mini instrument and dance lessons, and since it was all digital you could save all the information form each room  onto your exhibit ticket which then allows you to view your dancing, singing, and whatever info you wanted to keep from each room on your own computer. I loved looking at all the random instruments and outfits on display from The Beatles, The Who, Amy Winehouse, and Adele, just to name a few. I also got really excited when I saw information that connected to the music industry unit from my last year's media awareness class. This whole museum was absolutely incredible!

Absolutely ecstatic to be standing next to so many things that belonged to The Beatles!!

The grey dress with the belt (and the red one maybe as well - don't remember)
belonged to Amy Winehouse, and the dark blue blazer is Adele's...two of my favorite British artists!

After the museum the group met up at the Greenwich Market, a strip of antique and souvenir booths where you can really find absolutely anything. While trying to find the market, the group of friends I was traveling with and I got off on the wrong tube stop and got a bit lost (the best way to explore London!) and we ended up at a very cute part of Greenwich right by the water. Anyways, we did eventually find Greenwich Market and had a really fun time walking around and looking through the vast amount of unique things being sold there. 

Lisa and I at a little candy shop we found while trying to get to Greenwich Market

Me, Alisha, and Miriam with the posters we bought!

In the evening I came back to the dorm near Notting Hill for the night and stayed over in my friends' triple room. After dinner we went out to a really typically British Pub called The Churchill Arms and talked to some locals and soaked in the very English environment. It was such a lovely evening! 

Julia, Kira, and I ready to go out!

Me and Barbara posing with Winston Churchill

Dan and Kira fitting in with the British locals

This weekend we are all off to Woking to spend the weekend with a host family!! I'm so excited! My friend and I are staying with a mother and her eight year old daughter...should be fun! 

xoxo,

Sarah

Tate Modern and Other Wanderings

Not much has gone on these past two days, so this will be a shorter post. As part of orientation we were again broken into small tour groups yesterday, and my group went to the Tate Modern museum. Although I'm not a huge fan of modern art, the large collection was very interesting to look through. I especially enjoyed the pieces on display by Andy Warhol. The Tate Museum is located right near St. Paul's Cathedral, and even though the weather was a bit gloomy yesterday we walked by some great views. After the museum I went back to the dorm in Notting Hill and finally got to try some fish and chips! I got it to-go (which here they call take-away) from Cafe Diana, a famous cafe with photos of Princess Dian all over the wall. It was delicious!

St. Paul's and the bridge near the museum

One of Andy Warhol's self portraits

Those are all porcelain sunflower seeds - the piece is
supposed to be about the people of China's
communist regime

View of St. Paul's from the museum's entrance

Miriam, Lisa, and I 

Rainy day... 

Tate Modern Museum

 

Cafe Diana

Today we had orientation from 9-4, so it was not a very adventurous day. But we finally got our schedules! My classes are Creative Writing, Modern British History, British Art History, and British Media History. So excited!! While I was looking over my schedule I couldn't help but think about how each class I'm signed up for I chose because of a specific class at Sharon High...I know this sounds ridiculously nerdy but I can't wait to apply everything I learned from my history/social studies classes at school to my classes here. When orientation ended three girls and I decided to take the train up a few stops to the famous Camden Town markets, which really shouldn't be famous because it wasn't anything special at all. The stores were either souvenir stores or punk-ish/gothic-ish stores, and there were a lot of places to get tattoos or body piercings. Not London's most fabulous corner in my opinion. 

More orientation trips tomorrow...so long until then. 

xoxo,

Sarah

London's Street Art

 Good morning! Yesterday we were all broken up into groups and each group was taken on a different walking tour in London. I went to a neighborhood in the eastern part of London (not too far from my dorm) that is known for it's vibrant street art. Many young artists are moving to the area giving the neighborhood a very unique vibe and adding to the vast diversity that already exists there. The staff on our trip keeps talking about how diverse London is, and there is no better place to observe London's diversity than this neighborhood near the Shoreditch High Street Station. Bold street art lines buildings of bagel shops reminiscent of New York's Lower East Side, Indian, Thai, and Middle Eastern restaurants and cafes, and several Muslim cultural centers. The streets are filled with all sorts of people from young adults with multicolored hair to Muslim women in burkas. If one wants to truly get a feel for the incredible variety of cultures and personalities that inhabit London, this neighborhood is definitely the place to go!

 

England spells bagel incorrectly... 

Alexandra and I with our yummy pastries from one of the bagel shops

Me, Sarah, and Raquel  

After the tour my friends and I went to the other dorm located in Bayswater, right near Notting Hill, to hang out with the other students on our trip. We took a brief walk through Hyde Park and had coffee at a cute coffee shop. This area of London was lot more residential and packed with cute shops and cafes; it reminded me a little of Harvard Square in Boston. The dorm was hosting a movie night, and naturally the feature presentation was "Notting Hill," a romantic comedy starring Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts that takes place, of course, in Notting Hill. I stayed at the dorm for the night with three very nice girls I met a few days ago who live in a triple room together. It was a really fun night and a great opportunity to get to know the kids on my trip who aren't in my building. This morning I took the tube back to my dorm and was able to find the station and know where to switch tube lines without once looking at a tube map! 

Next stop: Tate Modern Museum later today!

xoxo,

Sarah

London: From Hindu Temples to Abbey Road

Yesterday I could not help but think of my interfaith life back home when we visited the beautiful Mandir Temple, Europe's largest Hindu temple, in Northern London. It is the most tranquil, peaceful place I have ever visited. And it felt so good to be around such a familiar culture seeing as I spent quite a large portion of my time in Sharon at Indian cultural events and interfaith meetings with yummy Indian food. Anyways, the temple was built almost entirely by volunteers and it's all hand carved. Unfortunately no photography was allowed indoors, but it was absolutely breathtaking! Fun fact: Due to London's huge Indian population, its two major languages after English are Hindi and another Indian language and its national dish is chicken tikka masala, or so they told us at orientation. 

After the temple we came back to the dorm to relax and cooked our first dinner instead of going out again. Then we went out to a nightclub in Soho...not exactly my type of scene but definitely an fun and interesting experience! I really loved that we could walk the streets at midnight and even later and people were out having fun and London was completely crowded and alive. Definitely a change from the "night life" in Sharon!

Locals visiting their house of worship

 Kira and I in front of the Mandir Temple

Me, Megan, Alexandra, and Emily with our 

baked mac and cheese! It was delicious!

On the tube on the way to Soho

Today we explored two of England's most famous exports: The Beatles and Harry Potter!!
We took the tube to Abbey Road and took the obligatory Abbey Road photo of us walking across, pretending to the the Beatles. We starred at Abbey Road Studios for quite a while, completely not being able to believe that we were in the place where the Beatles once stood. We even walked over to Paul McCartney's current home! On our way home we stopped at King's Cross Station to find the famous Platform 9 3/4 where Harry and company took the Hogwarts Express. We were running around between platforms 9 and 10, hoping that the platform itself actually existed. Alexandra finally decided to just ask for directions, and when she came up to a woman who worked at the station and said she had a question, the woman responded, "a Harry Potter question?" I guess they know the tourists well! Unfortunately, though, the only tribute to Harry Potter at King's Cross is a small replica of a part of Platform 9 3/4 with a shopping cart pushed halfway through a brick wall. Even as someone who never got into Harry Potter I felt like it didn't do the imaginary landmark justice.

Cute Beatles gift shop right outside of the tube station

near Abbey Road

WE FOUND IT!!

Graffiti near Abbey Road Studios

This is it!

Walking across ABBEY ROAD!!!

Emily and Megan in front of Paul McCartney's house

Harry Potter was here! The station was going through
renovations...otherwise it would look a lot more
like the Harry Potter set.

Me going through the brick wall with my cart (or,
in British English, trolley,) to end up on the side with the Hogwarts Express!

xoxo,

Sarah

Getting Oriented and Exploring!

After two days of having no internet in the dorms, I finally have a chance to update my blog. Yesterday morning three other girls and I walked to the local grocery store and did our first round of food shopping which was rather successful. We had our first orientation meeting where we talked about British culture and how if we should not ask where a bathroom is in a restaurant because a bathroom is specifically for baths. If you ask for pants at a clothing store they will show you underwear, and if you look for the "exit" signs in the tube stations you will never get out (you have to follow the "way out" signs to get outside). After our meeting we got into groups for a scavenger hunt through which we became more familiar with the tube system. We briefly visited St. Paul's Cathedral, Trafalgar Square, Covent Garden, and a few other famous sites that we will definitely come back to for tours and longer walks. Also, to my disappointment, contrary to Mary Poppins' lovely song, there is no bird woman at the steps of St. Paul's. Maybe she'll be there when we go back. By the way, the tube's similarities to the Boston T system makes it so easy to navigate!

Me, Megan, Nikk, Emily, and Brian in front of St. Paul's!

View of St. Paul's dome from the back

One of these does not belong...

Brian, Emily, Megan and I at Trafalgar Square

The Tube! The most miraculous subway system I have ever been on.

Pretty view of St. Paul's :) 

Today we had more orientation meetings about British culture and British academics. Did you know British university students only take classes in one department (which they call a faculty)? (Which I think is the case in most countries besides the US?) So the students in my history classes will only take other history classes throughout the next three (not four, like us) years. After orientation some friends and I went to explore the pubs that seem to be such a big deal here. The pubs are filled with people of all ages (well, people of all ages above 18) and are great places to observe the natives and listen to a lot of British accents and really get a taste of this city's vibe and culture. At around 9:30 pm we still didn't want to go back to the dorms, so we took the tube to Westminster where we saw beautiful views of the London Eye, Big Ben, and Westminster Abbey at night. It felt so good to be there, right in the center of London!

Emily, Megan, and I at a pub down the street from our dorm

Pimm's: a British alcoholic
drink that tastes like a sort of
fruitier version of sprite

Emily, Alexandra, me, Jacob, and Megan 

on our pub-hopping adventure

BIG BEN!!!! Finally!!!!

Megan, Jacob, me, Brian, Alexandra, and Emily

in front of the London eye which I cannot wait to 

finally go on!

Westminster Abbey! I'll post more pictures of
it when we return for a tour :)

xoxo,

Sarah