Rob Goes West Part 1

A site similar to Stonehenge, except that there aren't dozens and dozens of tourists everywhere. AND you can touch/climb on the rocks. You could take one with you if you were super strong. Check out the official site or just google image it. There is a small village right in the middle of the circle. Cool stuff.

Weekend Update

Okay, so I have been back in London for a good hour or so now and I have a whole laundry list of things to accomplish tonight (including laundry!). I finally posted the video from last weekend- sorry for the tremendous delay. I had a lot of clips to sift through and honestly, the result isn't really the best, it's something.

Before I forget...



Kudos to my Dad and my cousin Sonya for getting the correct answer! Sonya answered first- but on my Facebook page and since my dad answered on the blog page (I think I said "the first person to answer on this blog" or something) he technically wins. Nevertheless, I am really impressed that they got the answer. Awesome.


So by the end of tonight, hopefully I'll have some pictures and videos posted. I am looking to make several shorter, more specific videos rather than one or two long ones that encompass the whole trip.

Bill's Walks #2 and 3

Contest: Ooooo some juicy bits

Alright, so since I am not home to edit and post my walk 2/3 video yet, I thought it'd be fun to offer a bit of a challenge for anyone who reads this (Why are you still reading this?!)

A prize for the first person to comment on the blog with the correct answer to:
What are juicy bits?

It's not what you think, really. Although creative answers might get points too. I'll post the answer after a few days if no one shows interest.

Harry Potter?

So alright, I was really going to put up the video from Bill's 2nd and 3rd walks tonight- REALLY! Except that it is taking much longer just to get the videos into iMovie than I realized and I also have to be at tomorrow's school S tomorrow morning at quarter to 9. Which means I have to be out the door by 8. At the latest. But it's alright, I like waking up early and doing things. Let's face it, if I didn't have anything until 1:45 (my first class) then I'd be waking up much later - and not getting anything done with my life.

So yeah- tomorrow night I'll post the video. Promise.


But as for now, I shall tell you that a young child at one of the schools said
"You know, you look an awful lot like Harry Potter!"
to which I replied:
"Yes, except I can't do magic unless you practice your violin..."

I also had my second lesson with Janet today and it was good. I'm playing the Manual de Falla Homage by Bela Kovacs, the Lutaslawski Dance Preludes, the Horovitz Sonatina, and for next week, apparently I am going to start learning the Stanford Intermezzi. So she is giving me a lot of stuff to do, that's a good sign, right? I enjoy playing though. I wish I had more time to practice now that the school thing is gearing up more though... I am usually out of here a little after 8 and don't bet back until after 8 at night. Oh well. I'm honestly not complaining. So far, my London experience is just great.

This weekend, going to Stonehenge amongst other things. I will have lots of videos and photos to share surely.

For now, check out this great tea blog I stumbled across ... Someday, I hope to try as many great teas as this guy has. Brilliant!

A day in the life

I thought it would be neat to take a quick audio snapshot of my day at various points. Let me know how this is from a listeners perspective... I think maybe it would work better if there were shorter clips that happened more frequently. Let me know what you honestly think.

Mmmm carrotgingerorange juice

It's true. I ordered some today from this cafe and it was really tasty. £2 though so I don't know that I'll be getting another one soon...

So today was my first day doing the teaching thing. It was a lot of fun. Today I taught at schools A and C (just to keep them anonymous). Although they are a few miles from each other, I was lucky to be able to catch a ride with one of the other music teachers who was also going from A to C. At the first school, we had a group of about 20 or so. First we learned a new song and sang it (Calypso!) and then each of the teachers took half the group to work on getting notes to come out. I stayed to help with brass and percussion. Now these kids are in the equivalent of 4th grade and have already done a class on djembes and recorders and now have band instruments. I liked that the teachers used solfege and that the children were pretty comfortable with it. Also, they are not shy to sing when asked. The full band rehearsal was okay. I helped the percussion keep a steady beat and use good stick techniques. All of this is a big change from working with a HS wind ensemble last semester trying to convey the subtleties of Robert Russell Bennett and make some very fine music. But I welcome the change! The experience here is going to be just as valuable if not more I think.

At the second school, we followed a similar scheme with band, except there were about 50 kids (!!!) so we made a bit more of a racket but they are good kids. I also sat in on some flute lessons.

Favorite quote of the day-
Teacher: "I don't know why your memory is off today!"
9-year-old-student: "I know... It's like a sieve."

Tomorrow, I need to be at school at 9:30. School L is much further away too... I need to leave early and take two tubes and a bus plus walking to get there. Fun fun!

In other news, I don't have the video from this past weekend's walks done yet. I was hoping to get to it soon, but I need to make sure I get to bed early enough so I'm not a zombie in the morning. When it is done, I'll post it. I dislike these boring posts almost as much as you do I'm sure!

Markets, tube delays, and the best tea I've had in a long time

I apologize in advance if this post is a bit short or incoherent. I'm a bit tired for no good reason but I am going to try and go to bed early (9:00ish) and take advantage of the extra sleep.


Today we went the London's east end and went to various markets and streets with lots of vendors. It wasn't too crazy today because the weather was a bit drizzly most of the time. The most exciting part of the walk was that I found a tea shop that sells really high quality teas and has a little "tea bar" where you can order teas in house and sit and drink them. The person who made my tea was very knowledgeable and made the tea correctly and everything... I am going to go there once a week to try new teas, it is my resolution. It is on the other side of the city, but what else is my tube pass good for? Anyways, I'll hopefully have pictures or video from this place in the future.

Tomorrow I start my teaching internship so I'm excited. I've posted some new pictures in my London album but don't have the patience to give them proper captions yet.
Photo Album



Good night!

Rugby or not rugby, that is the question

So here is my lame attempt at taking footage of a rugby match and making it exiciting. Granted, I only had 2 minutes or so of time left on my recorder by this point so I'm working with only a few shots but still... You get the gist of it I think. If you are really interested, try looking on YouTube for other Rugby videos- I bet there are much better ones!

The thing about rugby is that it is kind of like soccer and American football combined. You can't do forward passing, the ball has to actually touch the ground to score, and you don't get to wear padding. The only other thing I can remember is that when they start playing and all the players mash together, that is called the scrum. Yup.



Check out Blackheath's site here.
The official site of the Rugby Football Union

Blackheath won the game and were ranked much lower than the visiting team so it was kind of neat. Although it was a pretty one-sided game, the blue and white team was crushed.


Tomorrow I will be going on another walk with Bill and co. and will hopefully upload photos from today's adventures and tomorrows. I'll have a video of walks 2 and 3 in the next couple days granted my teaching internship doesn't consume all my free time!

£££££ Part 2

It's a bit long, but very insightful. I admit I am a bit biased.



Tomorrow is another walking tour with Bill and Rugby!

£££££

Part 2 will be done later today

Where Keys are Key Shaped

It's true.  Most keys here resemble key shapes.

Example:

So I should have a series of great videos and such to share with you in the near future. Here is a taste of what's to come:

• Money in London
• England, Great Britain, United Kingdom, what's the diff?
• Tours in the city of London including St. Paul's, a museum, and some markets etc.
• Rugby match on Saturday.

That's right.  Saturday afternoon after Bill's Walk #2, I'll be going to a Rugby match.  I have no idea what to expect.  I might do some research so I can understand and appreciate it better.  I don't have many sports interest at all really so I am honestly hoping that this is a breakthrough and appeals to me somehow.  It could be the start of a crazy rugby career for me... Or it might just be a fun time.

Things to keep me out of trouble...

Alright- so with a little more than a week under my belt here, my routine schedule is starting to flesh out a bit more.  I personally prefer to have things this way - too much time without structured events tends to lead to wasted time, for me at least.  

I met with some of the people with the music service that I am doing my internship with today.  I don't know if I mention this, but here, music isn't really taught at each school like it is in the states.  It is more like an outside group coming in to do the music classes. For instance, the company I work for provides music teachers and instruments etc. for a wide area of the city.  I don't know much more yet, but I'm sure I'll learn more about the similarities and differences as time goes on.

Anyways, it looks like I'll be going around to 6 different schools each week to assist/observe the music classes.  They are all primary schools so I will be working mostly with younger children, which I will surely enjoy.  Since this area is a bit south of where I am living, travel time to and from the schools will be a factor to consider.  But I think having a routine of being up nice and early to go to these schools will be good and help keep me from being a sloth.

Yesterday when I went for my lesson, Janet asked to see what music I brought with me.  Mr. Galván had recommend British repertoire while I am here.  I showed her the Horovitz Sonatina and mentioned that it was the piece that I would most like to play at some point this semester.  "Horovitz..." she said.  "I had lunch with him this afternoon."  I forgot that he is a professor at the RCM (Royal College of Music)

I'm sorry this was a bit random.  I feel as if I don't have any exciting travel-type things to tell you about but instead have given you the boring personal details that aren't much fun to read.  Okay, here are some tidbits:

* Garlic and onion powder here are called Garlic and Onion Granules instead.

* The slang for pounds is quid.  Hence  "Ay! You got 5 quid?" = "Yo!  You got 6.85 bucks?" (with today's exchange rate at least)

* Most of the front doors here have middle doorknobs instead of side ones, if that makes any sense.

Tomorrow will be my British Pop class which I've heard good things about, and Saturday and Sunday will be two more walks with Bill.  I hope to have lots of good stuff to share!

Firsts

Okay, so I survived my first class and clarinet lesson here in London.  

The class is "Empire and Decolonization"  which seems interesting enough.  I don't feel that I got a lot of history in high school, especially European history.  Perhaps zero.  Anyways, once this is underway, I think I shall enjoy it.  I already have a book from the library to read that our professor wrote.  Note:  Classes here are 2.75 hours in length and meet only once a week.  That will be the biggest adjustment I think.

My clarinet lesson was fine.  The teacher, Janet, had me play some scales and basic stuff just to get a feel for my sound and what not and then we dove right into music.  I feel a bit bleh since I haven't been taking proper lessons since early October, but hopefully these lessons will help me  find some focus and make some real progress.  I think we'll get along just fine.

I took a picture of a High Kensington St. underground platform just to share.

Today's Weather

Today's weather report.


In American numbers, the temperature has been around 40 - 50 degrees Fahrenheit lately. It generally hasn't been too sunny, so when the wind blows, it can be a bit chill.

However, compared to stories of what is going on back in Erie, Ithaca, and elsewhere, it is spring here.

I also wanted to share my new favorite video with you. It's been around a while, but it is still great.

Kudos to the first person to find something they DON'T have at Argos

Imagine a place... Where you can buy things without even shopping. No items out on display- everything is "in the back".  A place where customers just find what they want in a catalogue, type a number into a small computer, and then pick up items from the employees before they leave.  

Well, this place exists. And it is Argos. And if you didn't know that it was a different kind of store before walking inside, you would have been confused too.  I walked in and thought that the first room of the store was just for people to look through catalogues and find coupons or something.  But really, that is the whole store.  Tables with huge tomes of inventory that is somewhere in the warehouse to be purchased.  No shelves, no nothing.  Except huge catalogues that they give you to take home.

The really amazing thing is the vast amount of things that they have. From wedding bands to two story rabbit hutches, Argos has it covered.

I should mention, I didn't buy anything.

Bill's Walk #1

So I did my best with trying to condense a 4.5 hour tour into a <6 minute movie using iMovie. It's not great, but hopefully you can get some enjoyment out of it.

Bill is actually the director of the Ithaca College London Center. He is really a genuine guy and is always willing to sacrifice his own time to help any and all of the students here. Bill is one of the four staff members at ICLC and really is a huge part of the program here. I may be able to get some one on one interviews with the staff here to share with you, I'll keep you posted.

Enjoy.

You know - The London Eye, Big Ben, A giant skeletal cat...

Well it ended up being a four and a half hour tour after all- but it was alright. We got to see a lot of the sights that London is known for. A lot of walking, but it was good exercise.

Rob's Favorites:

* The Borough Market- I got 5 large navel oranges, a large hearty wheat bread roll, and a bag of kyobancha tea all for under £5.

* Walking along the rive- It wasn't too crowded and bustling for a Saturday afternoon. A nice place for a walk, etc.

* Getting on the wrong subway train- Yes, I made a silly mistake. However, we were able to hop off and get onto a train headed in the right direction at the next station.


So I took some video on the tour which I am planning to edit and post in a little bit. Here are some photos while you wait:
Check out the entire photo album here.

PG Tips = Not the best blend I've ever had...

I've kind of decided to try all the local favorite tea brands here and just see what they are like. It's not the the US where almost everything is Lipton or Tetley or Salada. Here, I keep finding new names on boxes and many of them claim to be Britain's best or favourite (favorite) tea. So far I've only had two: Yorkshire Tea and PG Tips. Yorkshire is a strong and tart tea a lot like Barry's Gold blend (an Irish tea I came upon a few years back) but perhaps not as quick of a brew. I really couldn't complain as it had that kick in the first and last sip that I enjoy in these breakfast-style teas. The PG Tips are apparently made from higher quality leaves (just the bud and two top leaves of each branch or whatever) but I don't think that really makes a difference when you grind up the leaves to the fine tea specks that are in the bags. The result is just a little plain and didn't have a rich kind of taste. It was just a little off. I don't claim to have any ability to describe teas so why even bother. Maybe I'll have more to say on this in the future.


As for today, Bill (the director of the Ithaca Center here) is taking us on a walking tour of part of the city. I will hopefully have pictures, comments, and maybe video to post when I get back. I'm not sure how long it will be, but I think it'll be a good three hours at least.


A three hour tour, a three hour tour...

London Bridge is...

Alright, I refuse to make any comparison between the Ithaca College London Center and Hogwarts… Okay, except for the friendly ghosts, winding staircases, and the secret door that doesn’t appear until you are looking for it. But you know, it is Britain and all – anything is possible.

I actually always think I see Harry Potter characters walking about the city in the morning and late afternoon. A lot of the school uniforms have the same kind of elaborate crests that JK Rowling borrowed for the Harry Potter books so it is neat to see that everyday. Another London thing that I hope is just a phase, is that songs from Mary Poppins keep poppin’ into my head at all times. Especially with all the pigeons and folks feeding them (Feed the birds, tuppence a bag…) or looking up at all the old buildings and the tall chimneys (Chim chimeree chim chimeree chim chim ch-roooo…). Things are especially bad when someone randomly walks up to randomly in the park and says “Oy! Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious?!”

It’s all true.

Really.

Except that last bit.

Supposedly, our landlord has worked out a deal with some neighbors that will result in me having Internet access back home. So far, I’ve only been able to post or do anything else online from the ICLC, which has limited hours and at times, the wireless connection is shoddy.

Since I think a few people are reading this, I’d like to hear what people think- I’d especially love to hear about things that all of you (currently not in London ☹) want me (currently in London) to do, experience, or comment on. I really want this blog to not just be a place for me to type rants that no one wants to read, but to share my London experience in an interesting way. So send your feedback my way! Robbob14@gmail.com

Each day I’ll create a new goal, sure, why not?

Today’s Goal: No pointless blog posts

Video at Last

Due to me not realizing that it would take some time to upload the video, it is a few days old. Hopefully later I can post and tell you all about climbing up the side of Big Ben at 4:37AM... Or not.

Settling In

Alright, so yesterday I was able to locate quinoa, hangers, and a convenient ATM (true story) Success. This morning we had a meeting for folks planning to do work study and tonight we meet with law enforcement people for some more orientation. I'm still only able to access the internet from the London center (and not from the apartment) so posts, etc. aren't as easy to update as I'd like, but hopefully this won't be the case for long.

Yesterday I found a Whole Foods store and was pleased to see a nice variety of quality looseleaf teas available. Clearly, the English take tea a bit more seriously. I do not object.

Video to come later today.

Pictures as Promised

The first is the Ithaca London Center and the second is the street on which I live. Things are going well here, today I am in search of convenient ATMs, quinoa, and some clothes hangers.

*EDIT* 17:07 London Time: The pictures were reversed when I posted originally. They should be correct now.

Bobby Maple and the Chamber of Secrets

Alright, I made it here and they let me into the country and all that good stuff. Excellent. The trip was smooth and stress free- I don't want to do one of those painful blow by blow accounts of me sitting in the airport listening to Sigur Ros albums while trying to get sleep when I could... BUT I will mention two things that I think you will find VERY interesting.

1) The @ and the " symbols on all of these British keyboards are reversed. It is throwing me for a loop.

2) At the airport restuarant I went to for lunch yesterdaym, I sat right next to Tory, Grant, and Kari from the show "Mythbusters" (I typed the wrong symbols there and had to backspace).

But really, you deserve better. You need some pictures of the sights and clips of the sounds of London. Well maybe I'll snap some pictures real quick before I catch the tube (that's what they call the subway system, I dunno...) to the orientation activities they have planned for us later.

Also, I am having a hard time remembering that most of you are sleeping as I type this (10 AM here = 4 AM EST or something like that) So yeah, that's weird.

Enough banter, I'll get you all some photos and maybe a video at some point if I am feeling brave.

The Adventure Begins

Well, it's 4:03 and I've finished (I think..) Packing away everything I've chosen to take to London. Here is where the picture of all my stuff packed and ready would go except that the USB cable for my camera is somewhere between my khaki pants and dress socks deep within a bag of luggage. Speaking of luggage, what does 50 pounds feel like? I guess I'll find out at the airport if my bags make the cut.

So welcome to my blog. I know it isn't super-duper fancy or anything, but it's something for now. Hopefully in the future you can expect photos, sound, and video from my adventures in London town and other marvelous locations.

Please check back daily and let anyone interested know about the blog. Send me feedback and comments!


Something to think about: What would be a better name for the blog than "Rob's Adventures Abroad"? Any ideas? Or is that okay? Dan V. actually inspired me via facebook for that one, so thanks Dan.