Hey Everyone! I hope everyone had a great week and a better weekend! My week was same old, same old. The professors at the University of Nottingham were still striking last week and are continuing to strike this week as well. My lectures were cancelled and my professors did not even give the students a heads up. Technically, they are not required to notify students if lectures of cancelled due to the strike, but it was very inconvenient on the students’ part. Some students travel about an hour to get to campus. The professors are part of the Union, therefore they are striking for better pay, pension, and benefits. They feel overworked and under-appreciated. These strikes were happening last semester too and they are continuing this semester since there has not been any agreement struck between the professors and the university. My lectures this week have also been cancelled because we have guest lecturers and he felt that he should let us know, which is GREATLY appreciated!

This past weekend, Emma, Stephanie, and I decided to spend sometime in the Peak District, which is filled with cute, small towns and a while bunch of hiking trails! Spending some quality time with Nature, away from the city. What better way to avoid the craziness of the virus than going out and climbing some hills in middle of nowhere?!? The last reason is just a joke, but it did cross our minds when we were there.

Us three took a early morning train to a village named Hope. From there we started on a trail that lead up to Lose Hill (felt more like a mountain…), then back down to Castleton (another small village). The trail was quite hard due to its steepness, but the view was completely worth the hard work. Our trail was 6 miles, which we did in about 2.5 hours. That was a pretty quick hike… I think it would have been better to have done it a but slower to prevent us form being completely exhausted afterwards. We stopped in Castleton for Lunch at a local pub then explored the village. Castleton is known for their Blue John mineral, which is a stone that is purpleish is shade. After shopping around for a bit, we decided to go have some tea and cake at a tea shop (very British of us). Then we walked back to Hope to catch our train home. Overall, it was definitely a relaxing and active weekend. The Peak District will be a place I will be going back to during spring break! Below are some beautiful pictures of our hike!

Speaking of spring break, all my plans outside the UK, which was most of them, have now been cancelled. Unfortunately, the Coronavirus has spread rapidly in certain countries that I planned on going. For instance, Italy is at a level 3 according to the CDC, therefore travel there is restricted. Greece and Malta are at a level 1, so that means travel there is not restricted, but there have been cases. Staying in the UK still has its risk, but it lower. I am slightly bummed about it, but there are still several places in the UK that I haven’t explored, so I am looking forward to doing that over break!

Hello!! I went to go see a Shakespeare play this past Wednesday with a special from my Nottingham. As you can probably guess from the title, it was called Measure for Measure. Every year, the Royal Shakespeare Company picks three cities in the UK to perform and Nottingham happens to be one of them this year! Lucky for me! Also, it is quite nice that they offer ridiculously cheap prices for students. That is really one of the great things about England, because 90% of the shops, restaurants, and entertainment places you go to will have a student discount. It makes it more affordable for students get off campus, which is highly appreciated.

Anyways, back to the play. This play was one of his more serious ones because it is about a Duke that abuses his position’s power. There is a nun who’s brother got thrown into jail and is scheduled to be executed for his crime and she goes to this Duke to beg for him to pardon her brother from execution. He propositions her to get into a sexual relationship in exchange for her brother’s release. When she goes to her brother to tell him of this, he was enraged that she did not accept the Duke’s proposition. A friar, who was a high rank Duke, overheard her conversation with her brother and decided to help her. That is the gist of it without giving anything away! Although, I will say, the ending was not expected…

This play is quite relatable to today’s concerns. You often hear stories about victims of sexual harassment in the workplace from their superiors. The generic excuse those who abuse their power is “they were being flirty or giving hints of interest”. As someone in a high position, they should take the responsibility to be professional, regardless of any ‘advance’ another employee gives them. Like any other space, the work place should be a place where people feel comfortable. It is honestly quite sad that sexual harassment cases happens more often that people might think. And it is even more sad that many cases go unreported because victims feel that no one will believe them. This is an issue that needs more spotlight because there are people losing their jobs because of it.

On a different note… my spring break plans are shifting quickly due to the Corona virus. Sadly, Italy is at level 3 according to the CDC and Malta is at a level 1, but people have been having to self isolate themselves for 2 weeks after visiting. So far Greece is the only country left on my list of places to visit that hasn’t been too effected by the virus. I hope everyone is staying safe by washing their hand and taking extra precaution as you travel! My flat is required to wash our hands every 3 hours and use hand sanitizer as we enter the door. Even though we are young and would not be affected as seriously as some who has a weaker immune system, we honestly do not know who around us is vulnerable. Plus, it does hurt to be cautious.

I am planning on going for a hike this weekend with some friends, so hopefully the weather is nice! There will be beautiful pictures coming soon of the Peak District! Have a wonderful and productive week everyone!

Hey Hey! Today, our program director took us to a small town just 30 minutes outside of Nottingham for a day trip. We went there to look at the workhouse, which was a 19th century institution that provided work and living accommodations for individuals and/or families that could not find work and could not afford a place to stay. It sounds like a nice deal, doesn’t it? But there is a catch. Life there was not easy and it was that way intentionally. Why would people make life there hard? The idea behind a workhouse was a last resort type of thing.

The following were the principles of the workhouse:

• workhouses should be made less preferable than those of the lowest paid labour because it would make people want to take other jobs
• no public aid outside the workhouse so people couldn’t get ‘lazy’ and get welfare (either get a job or go to the workhouse)
• segregation of paupers (people that worked there). They segregated families into male, females, and children dorms
• abolished grants to supplement low wages

The workhouse was not a place people wanted to go, even with the free house and food. The conditions of the workhouse was meant to resemble prison-like life to motivate people to get a job and provide for themselves. The living areas were cramp and shared with others of the same gender. You were not allowed to lived with your family. Food was not any better. It was enough to get people through the day if they were even able to eat it since they would be so tired from the hard labor. Freedom was also not a common right. If a pauper wanted to leave workhouse to go into the city, it would be to look for a job. It would not be just for leisure.

Young children up to the age of 14 were educated in classrooms near by the workhouse. Those who were older were forced to work and stop their education. Life for children with psychological disabilities was harsher than those without because when they would act out, punishment would follow. Treatment of the disabled would be seen today as cruel.

That was just a quick summary of the workhouse in Southwell the group and I visited. It was a good experience, but the conditions there were very harsh and sad. However, when people have no other choice on their own to survive, this was their last option due to the Poor Law of 1834. Check out the photos below!! 🙂

After the workhouse, a small group of us went to walk around the cute town of Southwell. Since it was a Sunday, most shops were closed…BUT we found a cute, old fashion sweetshop. Got ourselves some yummy gummies for the ride back to Nottingham! While wait for the next bus, we went into the Cathedral cafe for some tea (very British of us… I know) and relaxing time.

Hello Friends! It has been quiet in Nottingham this past week. Everyone is getting deeper into their studies as the semester is starting to pick up a little. We all had a paper due for our Luther Religion course, so everyone was cranking that out this week, but other than that, there wasn’t much happening around here.

You are probably wanting to know how Valentine’s Day was! As a flat, we did not do anything together on Friday (Valentine’s Day) because some people had their own plans already. So we got together on Saturday evening and had dinner together and just hung out and watched a movie with some goodies. We went to a Spanish Tapas restaurant in the city center, which was VERY yummy!

Our dinner on Saturday was probably the highlight of the week! Just a really casual and busy work week. But I do have some news about upcoming trips to share! Everyone has already starting to plan their Spring break trips again! It just felt like I was just on my winter break! Anyways, I will be in Florence for a few days, then flying back to England to go hiking in the Peak District with a friend from Nottingham. Afterwards, I was thinking of visiting some other Luther students in Malta who are currently doing a program there. After Malta, I would really like to head to Greece. Compared to winter break, there are definitely less bouncing around, but I would rather have it that way. It was slightly stressful going to several countries and not spending much time at each. Plus, this spring, I am trying my darn hardest to stay away from large cities and just taking in the small towns and the beaches and hiking trails.

Guess what I will be doing this coming week!? It shocking to even think about it, but I shall be buying my plane ticket home!! There are currently mixed feelings about it. A large part of me is very excited to go back home to familiarity and to be with my family and friends. A small part of me has become comfortable here and this has become what’s familiar to me. Being away from home for several months (10ish) is quiet a long time and people and things change while you are gone. We were warned before we left that coming back may be hard because there are changes that happened and it sometimes hard to embrace that change when it happened when we weren’t there. But I have a feeling that we all grown in good way and I honestly cannot wait to see how we all have changed. Seeing family and friends again will be the best part, but at the same time, it will be sad to say goodbyes to the friends I have in Nottingham.

Hopefully, I will have some interesting news to share next week! It really has been a quiet week of just work and the same old routines every day.

I hope everyone had a fantastic Valentine’s Day and had the chance to spend it with the friends and family you love. ❤

Hello! In case y’all were thinking it is 65 degrees in Nottingham, you are mistaken. I totally wish though. However, it is 65 degrees in the Mediterranean, specifically Cyprus! Never hear of Cyprus? Don’t worry, neither have I until a month ago. It is a beautiful, small island (its own country) off the coast of Turkey and I had the chance to head down there for a few days with a friend from Nottingham. Half of Cyprus (North) is technically owned by Turkey, but the whole island itself is still a country. You can see Turkish influence on the island base on their cuisine and the language they speak. The country used to be controlled by Britain, therefore the street signs, electrical outlets, and the driving rules are the same as in the UK. While walking around, every sign has 3-4 different translations on it. In the more touristy areas, the following languages are on the signs: Greek, Turkish, English, Russian. In the less touristy areas, it was most often Greek and English. It is very obvious that what is present in this country today is due to its history and you just have to look and question why it is the way it is.

On the first night there, we arrived pretty late, so we had to wonder around to find a restaurant that was open. We ended up at this local, Mediterranean place. Everything on the menu looked amazing, so we decided to do the 17 dish option. This was an amazing decision on our part because we got a taste a little bit of everything! We started with fresh toasted bread and hummus, then a fresh salad with tomatoes, olives, onions, cucumbers, and feta cheese. This was served with grilled halloumi cheese and gilled meats. Two dishes of pork came out, one chicken, and a yummy piece of a beef cut. The meat was served with roasted potatoes and friends. Its not over yet! Then some egg omelet came out with some roasted potatoes and fries, then carrot with lemon ginger glaze. I definitely would not recommend the last dish… lets just say it was an interesting local dish that I did not particularly enjoy. I think I covered everything. Honestly, we both ate so much that we were stuffed!

We didn’t plan anything for this trip! It was a type of trip where you show up and just see where it takes you. My type of trip! We ended up getting a cheap moped scooter and exploring Cyprus after we explored Paphos (the city we were staying in). Went to the famous Coral Bay and walked around the coast area. When we cooked dinner for ourselves, we had the chance to use all produce and meats locally! That pretty much summed up our little trip! The intent of the trip was relaxing and spending quality time together with a little bit of exploring 🙂 Oh, and good Mediterranean food with sunshine! Can’t forget that!

Hello Lovelies! My most recent adventure took place in York! The city of York makes you feel like you’ve been transported back in time about 500 years. The medieval walls and the beautiful York Minster are rich in history and full of cultural material relevant to medieval England. A walk down the shambles makes you feel like one of the lay people strolling down the cobble stone path on an ordinary day.

The York Minster has a large collection of beautiful, historic stained glass. In addition to being very beautiful, the stained glass contains large amounts of symbolism. For example, the Virgin Mary is present in some of the stained glass throughout the church. This is interesting because during the time of Henry the VIII, Catholic churches and monasteries were being destroyed. At that time, Henry the VIII had renounced the Catholic church and declared England to be a Protestant nation with he himself as the head of the church. The fact that images of the Virgin Mary continue to exist throughout the York Minster indicate that Henry the VIII’s attempt to destroy the Catholic church’s influence in York may not have been as successful as other cities in England.

One of my favorite works of stained glass in the York Minster was inspired by the islamic culture. Not only was the designs beautiful, it demonstrates the fusing of different cultures and religions. This is not something you see often today. I feel like there is too much segregation and focus on the differences between people and their religion, instead of the similarities.

Exploring the quaint city was an experience. The remains of the wall and the jetty style buildings makes it easier to imagine the life during this time period. The tour gave me an understanding of how the church influenced daily lives and actions of people of different classes. Although, there is something I found interesting. Have you ever stopped to think about the churches and who are remembered in those churches? They claimed to be for everyone who believed in God, but the names that survive through the churches’ history are those of wealth and status. That got me wondering why that is. It turns out that during this time period, good deeds earned a person more merit in order to get into heaven, therefore those with wealth were able to make generous donation of money and other things for the church. These are the people who are remembered, instead of an ordinary, everyday individual. I am sure those who made contributions to the church did it with faith, but I also believe that it is important to remember the good deeds that do not come in the form of money.

On the last day in York, the group took an hour coach ride to North York, where Rievaulx Abbey ruins are. This is where the monks lived and worked. They have devoted their life to God and have gave up external pleasures. There are eight daily prayers, along with listening to prayers during meals, and writing manuscripts of Gods words. The area is very beautiful and it was nice to get a chance to hike through the ruins and visualized this massive structure and all the people who inhabited it. It was a fun trip and I cannot wait until our next one!

Hello Everyone! It has been a hot second since I posted due to winter break. I have been back for two weeks now, but nothing has been happening beside me spending 9-11 hours in the library every day studying for finals. It has been a tough two weeks with finals, but I survived!

I hope everyone’s holidays were festive and relaxing and that you all are entering the new year with strong.

As I mentioned in my last post, I had the opportunity to travel around Europe during break. I’ll give you all a highlight of each place I went!

Germany (Berlin and Hamburg)

My first stop was in Berlin, Germany and I stayed their for a few days before moving onto Hamburg. There was lots to see and learning about the history of Berlin and Germany in general. My top two favorite sites were the Jewish Memorial and the Jewish Museum. The memorial was a place that you needed sometime to take in and think about what the artist was trying to say. It’s all about your own interpretation, but it did bring chills through my body. I could tell that for those who didn’t know what it was at first was confused, because on the surface it isn’t much, but it is the story behind it that is the most important. The Jewish Museum was structured in a very artistic way. The halls of display were slanted and created a narrowing effect. You’ll see what I mean in the pictures below.

Paris, France

Paris was a beautiful city with lots to see. The days I went happened to be a Union Workers’ Strike and all the public transports were down. That meant miles and miles or walking around the city during the daylight. It was a blessing in disguise because it allowed me to see several nontouristy things in the little alley ways and various neighborhoods. The Louvre was something to reckon with. There was so many things catching your attention from every direction in the art museum. My favorite would have to be the sculptures. And I can’t forget the Eiffel Tower! I did a tour of that and went up to get a beautiful view of the city. The tower is just something you go see if you’re in the area. Don’t get me wrong, it was beautiful to see, but the story behind it didn’t really appeal to me as much.

• 

• 

• 

• 

Ireland (Dublin, Sneem, Ennis, Kenmare)

Ireland was hands down my favorite experience! Since my friend from home had a last minute conflict and couldn’t meet me for Christmas, another Luther student on the Nottingham program, invited me to spend it with her and her family. We became good friends at the beginning of the program and I was extremely grateful that they opened up their family during the holidays. They had a family friends with them too, so there were two family and me that drove around in Ireland, a country with beautiful country side. Coming from a small rural Iowa town, it was comforting to be driving in the country side (Emma’s dad drove). We hit up several small towns and just took in the Irish culture and lifestyles . We made conversation with several natives and had great laughs. The time spend driving the Ring of Kerry was the best time because she shared stories and laughed until we couldn’t breath. The Cliffs of Moher was a site to see! It was beautiful and the pictures will show you how beautiful!

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Barcelona, Spain

A friend from high school flew in to Barcelona from Iowa and we had 9 days of travel together. Lindsey and I were friends in high school and haven’t gotten the opportunity to spend much time together since graduation, so this trip was way overdue. We did a hopping bus tour of the city and took a cable car over a part of the city towards the Montjuic Castle, where we took a hike around the area. We tried some tapas restaurants, something neither of us have every tried. Usually, at these places, you order several (5ish) dishes and share them over drinks. Lets say, we tried some interesting things. For instance, there were tacos with octopus in them… it was surprisingly very good!

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Italy (Rome and Venice)

Rome was my second favorite city I went to! It was their off season, but the streets were still crowded, so I can’t even image what it would be like during the summer! We visited the Roman Forum, Palatine, and Colosseum. The history behind the Roman empire is a long and extensive one! We learned about their presence in British history, so it was fun connecting the dots from class. The Forum was my favorite because it was kinda fun to image the buildings as they were originally and imagining the people living their daily lives.

We, of course, had to visit the Fountain of Trevi! The tale behind it is if you through a coin in , you will find your way back to Rome in the future… we shall see if I make my way back there. While were there, we had to stop for some Gelato! And if I must say… best thing in the world! The amount of Gelato we consumed was concerning… but of course we didn’t just eat gelato. There was also plenty of tasty pasta and pizza! Picture of health right here my friends.

Our last destination was Venice. We spend the least amount of time here, but made every second worth it! We did a boat tour out to the Islands. Murano and Burano was beautiful. On Murano, we got to see glass figures and bowls be hand made! Murano happens to be famous for glass making. Burano was colorful! literally… every building was a different color!

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Winter break was fantastic, but I am happy to be back at Nottingham. It was a crazy month of travel and I’m ready to get a good rest in before the new semester starts up again! Well… as much rest as I can get. I am currently writing to you all on a train heading back to Nottingham, again, from York. We had a Luther class trip to study the industrial revolution. So technically, the semester has already started. I’ll be posted about that later this week! Stay tuned and have a fantastic and productive week!

Good Evening! Can you believe that we are already done with the first week of December?!?! Time is flying and before we know it, it’s going to be Christmas then shortly right after that is 2020. It’s unbelievable! One week from today, I will be taking off for winter break and that when my adventures around Europe starts! I’m starting off in Germany until Dec 22, then flying to Paris to meet up with a friend coming from the US to spend Christmas with. We will be traveling around France and possibly hopping to another country (that plan is not solidified yet). Then, I have a friend from home that is meeting me in Barcelona for a few days, then we are taking off to Italy. We will be visiting Rome and wrapping up with Venice!

This week has been busy! There was a psychology ball than Emma (another Luther student) and I attended. We made two new friends that was sitting at the same assigned tables as us. We were served a three course meal and a variety of wines. Not a fan of wine for either of us. The food was good, but the dessert was fantastic! Entertainment included a number of dance performances, a DJ and a dance floor. We learned some new Christmas songs that are British traditions to play every year! We were so excited when they said they were going to play Christmas songs, then we ended up not recognized the majority of them. We quickly learned though. 🙂 Overall, it was a fun and memorable night to add to Nottingham’s experiences!

The entire flat went to see a Musicality Showcase that Emma was in on Friday evening. The theme was Saints and Sinners. All the performances were wonderful, some even so funny that it had the crowd laughing off their seats. We all ended the night together at the flat watching Princess Kiss 3: The Royal Baby. Christmas movies have been playing most nights in the flat and will continue to play until we leave! 🙂

Lastly! Our Program Director/Professor Kate Narveson bought tickets to a theatre performance. It’s a British tradition to go see a Pantomime (has nothing to do with mimes). We saw Sleeping Beauty and everyone I have asked about this has said the performance is indescribable. It was one of the quirkiest and funniest theatre performance I have ever seen! The nurse (one of the main characters) was a man dressed up in as a female nurse while the prince was played by a female. That is one of the traditional characteristics of a Pantomime. There is constant interaction with the audience and audience participation. There was singing and dancing to keep everyone on their toes. It really was an experience that I highly recommend taking the time to watch.

Hello Hello! I hoped everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving, filled with lots of food and appreciate for friends and family. We all have so much to be thankful for and sometime during our busy lives, we tend to forget and take things and people for granted. Being away from home this year for Thanksgiving was tough, but I am so grateful for my family abroad and appreciated how we all were there for each other during times like this.

Since the UK does not celebrate Thanksgiving, we all had class on Thursday. It was such a strange feeling being in class on Thanksgiving! Although, I did have a couple of British friends wish me ‘Happy Thanksgiving’. It was a novelty for them :)! We didn’t have our dinner on Thursday, but we went all out for dinner on Friday, so you can call that Thanksgiving dinner. As I mentioned last week, we served 30 people in total, so Thursday and Friday were crazy days in the flat. In the end, we made a total of two turkeys, six pies, several casseroles, stuffing, cheesy potatoes, a few salads, sweet potato with marshmallow, Swedish meatballs, cornbread, mash potatoes with gravy, roasted brussel sprouts, butternut squash mash, assorted cheese and olive tray, and so much more. This is all I can remember from memory! Our British friends that were invited were blown away on the amount of food. My guest, Alice, who pays tennis with me had never tried pumpkin pie before and she fell in love with it!

My favorite part about the dinner was seeing all of our friends on campus came together to celebrate this holiday. We explained the history and meaning behind Thanksgiving and some of us even said what we are thankful for. They got to experience a traditional Thanksgiving dinner and they shared stories about their British traditions. Us Luther students were hesitant that it would be slightly awkward and was not sure everyone would mesh well because all of our friends came from different backgrounds and interest, but that was NOT the case at all. Everyone mingled with everyone and it was such a sight! Some of the guest even participated in singing a song that we prepared for everyone.

Overall it was a beautiful night that ended up with everyone making at least another friend. We had good laughs talking about the funny differences between our cultures. For instance, the phrase “chatted up” means flirting in British culture. I have used that phrased often! Also, since our guest from all over England, we learned a lot about the perception about each area. For example, the south is consider ‘posher’ than the north, but the north is consider to have nicer people. It was also funny to hear their impressions of the US and what they know. My guest asked a lot of question about the sororities/fraternities at universities. All of their impressions of the US come from what they see on American movies and media. This really demonstrates how influential media can be.

Here are some pictures and videos of the night!

Hello Everyone! Things on my end are getting quite hectic with the semester starting to wrap up. Lots of deadlines and work needing to get done! I’m sure things on your end is just as busy, especially with Thanksgiving coming up! As you probably already figured, England does not celebrate Thanksgiving (its a US holiday), but no worries! Our Nottingham program is doing our own Thanksgiving dinner that will include 30 guest! There will be Nottingham program friends, us 10 students and our guests. And guess who will be making the food? Us of course! It’s a huge project to take on, but I personally think it is going to be such a great dinner for everyone. My guest is a teammate here at UoN and she had never experienced an American Thanksgiving dinner before, so she is ecstatic about it!

Steph (my roommate) and I decided to do a day trip to Leeds and a nice, stress relieving break. It originally was suppose to be a weekend trip, but all the hostels were booked. I’m glad we did a day trip because we were able to get everything we wanted to do checked of our list. The day we went just happened to have lots of events going on (how lucky we were)! Leeds University was holding a Christmas arts and crafts events, so we spent a few hours hopping from one stand to the next making christmas ornaments. You shall see them on our Christmas tree once that comes up (after Thanksgiving of course).

After that, we went to grab lunch at the local German Christmas markets. We tried German sausage with potatoes and pickled cabbage (aka sauerkraut). It was delicious! We hopped around the different stands see what they offered. There were a variety of christmas decorations and gifts that you could buy and also lots of stands full of sweets.

Since the Leeds City Museum was right behind the market, we took a trip through there. Leeds is a city with a long history of migrants that have made great, lasting impact of the city you see today. There is also a variety of religious beliefs being followed and you can see that through the many churches, mosques, and temples. A arts and crafts market was happening in the museum so we went to check that out. As I talked to the various artist, the message I got from them was creativity allows us to be unique. They strive to develop and design things that are different and unique, instead of making another thing you can buy at the store. That really speaks volumes because today, it is just more convenient to mass produce the same style on products. That does not give room for creativity to flourish. I get a sense that customers who purchase their products at these markets not only go away with something unique that they will only have, but it also help spread creative idea.

Leeds was a fun getaway and I hope to get another one in before break! It so nice that each city is only a short train ride away, allowing us the chance to explore other parts of the UK.

This is going to be a busy busy week! Getting things prep for Thanksgiving, cookings, and enjoying the company of wonderful people. We all have so much to be thankful for and I hope you all take a moment to reflect on them. I wish everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving break and day! 🙂