Spring Break Plans/Prep

It's been a while since I've had something to report, honestly. I've been spending most of my time attending lectures and chilling with friends and my computer. A good life!

This week the activity has really picked up and that's why I decided to post.

Friday night I went with a group of international students to the movies. For those who don't know, in Europe they assign seats at the movie theaters. This summer I experienced that in Sweden when I saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It was still a little surprising for me.

We went to see The Hunger Games. I was really impressed by the film adaptation of the books. It was one of the best jobs at adapting a work of literature that I've seen. It was difficult because the book is written as a personal narrative, and not 3rd person omniscient. They managed to keep the mood of a first person narration through the filmography. They also cleverly worked in some of the details and background information.

Saturday night I went out with Bri and her boyfriend who was visiting for the weekend. We had a great time at a bar called Varsity. If you are young and travel to Sheffield I recommend it. I had a drink called a Fish Bowl and it was delicious! It was super sweet!

This week I'm so proud of myself about how productive I've been academically. I'll just list my accomplishments. I wrote and completed an Ecology Report in 24 hrs...3 days before it was due. I wrote 14 pages (single space) in that time! I've also almost completed the rough draft of a Land Contamination report that's due after Spring Break. Finally, I finished all of my travel arrangements for Spring Break, which was about time since I leave on Friday!

What's my itinerary? Well, I'll tell ya!

I'm spending the weekend in London.

Monday, I fly to Rome, where I'll spend a week. I'm meeting up with my dad and Samira, and staying with some family friends.

I'm spending Easter weekend in Venice!

Then it's off to Granada, Spain for three days.

I'm taking a bus and train to get to Pontevedra, Spain. It's a small town just north of Portugal in northern Spain.

I'll be returning on April 16th to London. Hopefully I'll be able to keep my blog updated as I go! But in the mean-time that's what you have to look forward to hearing about!

Summation: WIN!!!

Stonehenge and Salisbury

During the week, I was mostly just working on my project for class, trying to book everything for Spring Break and reading The Hunger Games. I am really appreciating my parents trip planning ability for all those vacations! It's really difficult! Also, I highly recommend reading The Hunger Games. I've really been enjoying reading this gripping series!

But the really exciting bit was the weekend once again!

Friday:

In class I had a mid-review, where I presented my concept for our project area. I got some useful feedback and directions for how to further investigate the site.

That night, I celebrated one of my classmate's birthdays at the pub and had cake back home. At the pub I saw Mushy Peas for the first time. Apparently, they are only an unusual food in the USA. I'd never heard of them before. It was a weird consistency but tasty besides that! There were plenty of laughs and good conversations that night!

Sunday: Stonehenge and Salsibury

Seeing these great sites in southern England, meant waking up at 5 am, but it was well worth it in the end!

We reached Stonhenge by 10 am by coach. What really struck me is that you are driving along a highway, and then all of a sudden Stonhenge is directly in front of you, and the road splits to swerve around it on either side. However, you approach it dead-on, which is an unusal sensation, especially for such a historic and famous site. You expect it to be totally isolated. It dominates the hillside, on one of the highpoints of the surrounding area, with copses of trees surrounding it. You can just imagine what an impression it might have struck on the ancient people. The approach of the road immediately impresses upon people that the road was built AROUND the site, and that the stones were here first. Everyone knows that, but so rarely do cars seems to take into account specific sites. We can just pass them to the side. By swerving out of the way, we are forced to acknowledge its presence.

We were given an hour to wander around the world famous site.

One thing people never seem to mention about Stonehenge is that it is surrounded by a ditch. In addition, all around it are huge earthen mounds that remind me of burial ditches. People are only focused on the stones, but there is so much more to the landscape.

I overheard some fun comments:One mother explained to her 7 year son the importance of the monument. That people from all over the world come to see it. The little kid obviously didn't quite understand what the big deal was ... "it's just a big pile of rocks!" Very true. I have the feeling he was probably from the area too.
The other insight I got was from a local explaining to her guest about the construction of the Neolithic monument. The stones at the center are taller than the ones on the outside, and placed very close together. Therefore, they had to carefully align the massive stones exactly to the summer and winter equinox, AND had to place the inner ones first, and build outward! There was no room for a mistake. It took a lot of pre-planning.

SALSIBURY

We then took a jaunt over to had lunch at a Pasty Shop. We enjoyed watching birds along the way. I noticed the Magnolias are coming into bloom! The cherry trees are in full bloom, now!

A group of us wandered around Salsibury Cathedral and the grounds. The inner-courtyard was very impressive. The spire dominates the skyline of the town. The details of the statues is impressive!

Apparently the Salsibury Town Walk is considered one of the most picturesque walks in England. It wanders through a pastoral park landscape, leaving the town behind. It's favorited by dog-walkers and families taking a sunny Sunday stroll. A little stream wanders by at either side.

In the late afternoon, we all rested in a cute park, with a fun looking playground and a small island in the middle of the stream. We soaked up the sun and wrote post-cards as children's laughter mingled with the songs of various birds.

The bus delivered us back in Sheffield at 10 pm, exhausted but safe and satisfied from a fun day.

WARWICK CASTLE WANDERINGS

Time for me to get you all caught up with my life, again!

Friday:

• In class I found out that I basically should scrap my design proposal and start again. Luckily I have time to do that. Monday I presented a whole new concept, which I like much better.
• That night was a blast. I went over to one of my friend's houses in landscaping and a group of us made dinner. Sushi and chili was on the menu. It was absolutely delicious! We had lots of fun and played a trivia game. I was helpful on the US questions, but not much else I'm afraid.
• Did you know that there are 53 territories that still consider themselves loyal to the British empire?

Saturday:

• Was spent mostly in relaxation. I finished reading one of my books which was a lot of fun. This was also the day I brain-stormed a new design.

Sunday: WARWICK CASTLE WANDERINGS

Medieval Magesty would be the best way to describe it. I had to get up early on a cold rainy typical British sunday morning, but boy was it worth it! After 2 hrs on the bus, we finally got there. It is one of the best preserved Medieval Castles in Britain, and I'd totally believe that statement.

The walls still stand tall with barely a rock out of place. The arrow holes are worn down, but that hardly seems like a problem given there are no invading armies likely to attack any time soon. The inside is lavishly decorated. The Great Hall is bedecked in medieval armor. The rest of the decor is Victorian, which dates to one of the famous inhabitants. Today there are many re-enactors, who bring the place to life.

I quite happily spent four hours there, and saw just about the whole thing. Also, part of the popular BBC series, Merlin, was filmed at Warwick.

Monday:

It was not surprisingly mostly a working day. I attended class and completed an assignment for my Urban Regeneration Class.

I attempted to dye my hair last night. The good news: I didn't dye my hair green, (Mom). The bad news: I think I may have in-advertently managed to find the exact match for my natural color. Dying failure on my part! Apparently, I have light auburn hair according to the box. Maybe in sunlight it will look a little different.

French Fashions

It occurs to me that I forgot to mention the current Parisian trends, for those interested parties! Here are my observations:

1. Have a scarf? No? Quick! Go out and buy one! No Parisian would be caught dead without a scarf to complete their ensembles! I bet each Parisian owns over a dozen scarfs.
2. Spring's color this year is apparently pink. The stores were packed with the baby pinks. So get your feminine on girls! However, you can never go wrong with black on black on black. Most people were wearing all black on a daily basis with a few colorful accessories to set it off. They definitely didn't seem to worry about it being associated with mourning.
3. If you are going to get some color, the French fashion dictates perfect matching colors. I mean EXACT same shades of colors! Good luck, trying to get the same shade of red! It was quite impressive, when I saw it done.
4. Ever wanted to wear colorful pants? Well, now you have an excuse. Even men can get in on this fashion trend! In fact, I mostly saw the men taking advantage...walking around in bright orange or yellow pants. And I promise you they were straight. You can ditch the favored blue, blue jeans and try to be more adventurous this season.
5. Perhaps the most UNUSUAL trend was the big flappy hat. Some of us thought that that design would be forever delegated to the older generation. But NO! It is back in style! It's a la mode! I saw several young adults sporting these hats.

THE QUESTION IS...

Which fashions do you think will catch on in the U.S.?

Does France still have the fashion influence it used to have?

Reflections On What I've Learned

After such a rewarding and fun filled weekend, I was ready to plunge back into work. I got right down to it, I'm pleased to say.

Yesterday (Wednesday) I attended lecture in the afternoon. It was a discussion with my Urban Regeneration professor. He was discussing how to create an effective and engaging environment by implementing variety of spaces that reveal new scenes as get closer, peaking your interest. This can be achieved using archways and tunnels to frame views. A similar architectural language can tie spaces together over a wide area in a city.

Last night, I once more returned to the improv group and enjoyed many laughs! I also finished applying to a Chicago summer internship.

Today I had a full day of lecture on Land Contamination Restoration, and more specifically how to introduce effective plantings. What should you look for in a species for a site like this and what are some techniques to use to establish them in difficult acidic and toxic soil conditions. In other words how can you ameliorate the soil. I'd tell you all about it, but it took the professional 7 hours to explain, so I'm guessing I can spare you. :D

So what are some random facts and observations I learned today?

• The Brits are pros at backing-up! They do it with such ease!
• A tip is a British word for garbage dump. I think it might be a little less official than a municipal one. It's just where they dump all their rubble.
• Unfortunately, there was a tragedy in the 1970s in wales, when a dump site became a mud slide and buried an entire school, killing all its occupants. It jump started the restoration movement in England. It was a real tragedy.
• There is a native British butterfly species called, The Big Blue Butterfly! (Yet it looks pretty small!) It went extinct in the UK in the 70s, but was recently re-introduced from the Netherlands.
• The pros and cons of using various herbivores (cows vs. sheep vs. goats vs. rabbits vs. horses) for managing and achieving a target grassland. Apparently there is enough information to cover 20 slides. Also, I learned that sheep seem to be the least desirable as they can't graze in too wet of fields, and only nibble at grass and so aren't as effective as some of the other animals. I also learned when the best times of the year were to let them graze to protect other animals in the ecosystem.