September 23rd - 28th, 2013.
My first week of classes went soooo sloowwww. On the bright side we went out Wednesday night to a club called Gatsby and to a club called Passion and it was a great time! Lots of dancing and singing. (: Anyways, back to my classes. My schedule is fantastic and leaves lots of room for traveling, which is great! On Mondays I have two classes. Politics 105, Intro to politics, Democracy & Tyranny which runs from 10am-1pm then I have an hour break before going to Politics 202, British Politics and Government which runs 2pm-5:30pm, both including a lecture and a seminar. On Tuesdays I wear pink. Just kidding, on Tuesdays I go to Politics 201, European Political Ideas. This course runs from 10am-1pm. My course schedule isn't so bad but some things about courses here are just beyond me. For example, why is there so much reading? At least my books all have free online editions I supposed. Second, why must I take courses all within the same field? This is totally going to mix together and I will never be able to remember what sections I read apply to which course. Third, why does each course only grade on two projects, or papers, or tests. TWO?! Are they trying to set people up for failure? Fourth, if I don't have someone to go with, or time, or money to travel on my off days what am I going to do with all of this spare time? I am going to drive my self nuts.. And then theres the biggest question, and probably the most important question... yet again. What have I gotten myself into? Well I suppose I should quit blogging and start on my reading. Talk to you soon!
XOXO,
Abbey (:
Saturday, 28 September 2013
York & Alnwick Castle
September 20th & 21st, 2013.
On Friday the boys & I went on a trip to York. In York there are tons of historic little churches and The York Minster. The York Minster is York's version of The Westminster Abbey in London. On the way there we met Nuvaquahu from Germany. Since none of us could say his name we just call him Vick. Some of the boys wanted to tour the York Brewery, but Andrew and I didn't so we went exploring on our own. We ended up finding this creepy little church with tons of really old graves in the back. It was a perfect place for pictures! After that we went to Starbucks to sit and relax until the boys were done. I think the time allotted for the trips done through the school are too long.
On Saturday the boys went to a Newcastle soccer game and I went with the girls on the trip to Alnwick Castle. The trip was great! Alnwick Castle is also known as 'Hogwarts' in the Harry Potter films. All of the outdoor shots from Harry Potter were shot there. There is the castle wall where Harry first flies over in the car on the way to Hogwarts, nearly missing a tree that was super imposed in the film! Then there is the area that Malfoy and Harry fly around during their Muggle Quidditch match. This area was also super imposed. It was reconstructed online by using the thousands of pictures taken at the West Minster in London. During the scene where Harry is in the invisible cloak, the book he's reading and the library were also filmed at a different location. At this location the film crew was asked to leave because they were rather disturbing and ruining the books. The books kept in this library are kept at a specific temperature so they will not be ruined with time. During the production of this scene holding the book so often caused it to dry out, so they took hundreds of pictures of the books and went on their way to reproduce the book so they wouldn't ruin it. Hagrid's hut is also on the property grounds right next to the dark forest. In the movie Hagrid is a giant, in real life Hagrid is only 5'10". At the castle they showed us how they make him look so giant when walking next to 'normal' sized people. The castle itself is ginormous and absolutely breathtaking. The family that owns the castle, the Percy's, have owned it through nearly all of the castle's history. It is their main home that they stay in and it is surrounded by the 110,000 acres the family owns. Along with Alnwick Castle we also visited the Alnwick Gardens. The gardens are very interesting, there's a huge water fountain that is the focal point in the center. On one side they have the poisonous garden that is loaded with tons of poisonous plants that you can view on a guided tour. The other side of the gardens has a water section where there are tons of different water features you can view, or even let your children play in!
Overall the trips to York and Alnwick were great, especially when considering we'll be starting classes next week!
Here's some pictures of The York Minster & Alnwick Castle! Talk to you soon!
On Friday the boys & I went on a trip to York. In York there are tons of historic little churches and The York Minster. The York Minster is York's version of The Westminster Abbey in London. On the way there we met Nuvaquahu from Germany. Since none of us could say his name we just call him Vick. Some of the boys wanted to tour the York Brewery, but Andrew and I didn't so we went exploring on our own. We ended up finding this creepy little church with tons of really old graves in the back. It was a perfect place for pictures! After that we went to Starbucks to sit and relax until the boys were done. I think the time allotted for the trips done through the school are too long.
On Saturday the boys went to a Newcastle soccer game and I went with the girls on the trip to Alnwick Castle. The trip was great! Alnwick Castle is also known as 'Hogwarts' in the Harry Potter films. All of the outdoor shots from Harry Potter were shot there. There is the castle wall where Harry first flies over in the car on the way to Hogwarts, nearly missing a tree that was super imposed in the film! Then there is the area that Malfoy and Harry fly around during their Muggle Quidditch match. This area was also super imposed. It was reconstructed online by using the thousands of pictures taken at the West Minster in London. During the scene where Harry is in the invisible cloak, the book he's reading and the library were also filmed at a different location. At this location the film crew was asked to leave because they were rather disturbing and ruining the books. The books kept in this library are kept at a specific temperature so they will not be ruined with time. During the production of this scene holding the book so often caused it to dry out, so they took hundreds of pictures of the books and went on their way to reproduce the book so they wouldn't ruin it. Hagrid's hut is also on the property grounds right next to the dark forest. In the movie Hagrid is a giant, in real life Hagrid is only 5'10". At the castle they showed us how they make him look so giant when walking next to 'normal' sized people. The castle itself is ginormous and absolutely breathtaking. The family that owns the castle, the Percy's, have owned it through nearly all of the castle's history. It is their main home that they stay in and it is surrounded by the 110,000 acres the family owns. Along with Alnwick Castle we also visited the Alnwick Gardens. The gardens are very interesting, there's a huge water fountain that is the focal point in the center. On one side they have the poisonous garden that is loaded with tons of poisonous plants that you can view on a guided tour. The other side of the gardens has a water section where there are tons of different water features you can view, or even let your children play in!
Overall the trips to York and Alnwick were great, especially when considering we'll be starting classes next week!
Here's some pictures of The York Minster & Alnwick Castle! Talk to you soon!
Tuesday, 24 September 2013
First week in the UK
September 14-19, 2013
During the first week of orientation I met a ton of new people. The first people I met were my flat mates. Finja is 24, she is from Hamburg, Germany. Tanja is 23, she is from Resenburg, Germany. I found it interesting to meet them because of my four years spend learning German. Our other flat mates are Ivana, who is 22 and from the Czech Republic. Ivana had her boyfriend move her in the first week and we all thought he also lived with us and were shocked to find we had another flat mate we didn't know about because she hadn't been around. Her name is Susie, she is 21 and she is from Utah. The last two flat mates I have become particularly close with. First there is Turner, he is 20, from Minnesota, and looks just like a teenage Timmy Turner. His accent has begun to rub off on his group of friends. We are all constantly saying 'oh ya' and 'you betcha' as if we were from Canada. Our last flat mate is Mike. He just turned twenty on Tuesday! He is from Maryland. I am the youngest out of all my friends I've made here. Along with Turner and Mike, we hang out with the neighbors a few flats down. Their names are Andrew and Taylor. Andrew is 19 and from Oregon, he has a very flamboyant and humorous character. Taylor is 21 and from Indiana, or the 'midwest' as he refers it VERY often. I don't really think Indiana should be considered midwest though.. Taylor really loves soccer and America (Indiana), given the opportunity he could go on forever about them. It was really easy to connect with the boys, as I like to call them, because it seems as if we have been friends forever. That and we can actually understand what each other are saying. Together the five of us have done a lot of exploring of Sunderland and the shopping centers. We've done our fair share of getting lost and trying to find the best places to hang out. The first night Turner and I went walking for a place to eat. Each pub we walked into was crazy and none of them served food! We walked nearly all the way to the city centre (although we didn't know it) and we turned around to head back. When we got back we asked someone where we could eat and took a taxi all the way back down to where we already were. We ended up eating burgers and chicken tenders at the Lambton Worm. The other nights we went to 'The Bridges' which is a large shopping center. Being so close may just be an issue for me. :P After long and boring days in registration and welcoming meetings we decided we were going to go out and try to find a game to watch. We ended up at a club called Revolution, which was recommended by our study abroad advisor Emma, and had different types of pizza, like vodka pizza, and ordered our first legal drinks! My first legal cocktail was called The Jammy Bastard. It was some sort of mixture with raspberry in it, had I known there was raspberry in it I probably wouldn't have ordered it, but it wasn't too bad. Mike's drink was some sort of mudslide and it was really good! I think I will get that next time. There were a few things that were really hard to get used to the first week here and so many questions we were asking ourselves. Where the heck are we? Why does it rain so much? What the heck are these people saying and why do they speak so fast? Could they screw my schedule up anymore? How am I supposed to get groceries when I don't even know how to use public transportation. And most of all, what have I gotten myself into? To answer a few of these questions, the accent here is considered one of the most friendly in all of the U.K. however they speak so quickly and get frustrated if you keep asking what. It may rain here a lot but not as much as southern parts of the U.K and because we are so close to the sea we will experience lots of wind and snow. The schedules for nearly all the American kids were and complete and total disaster. Since we have to ensure our courses here will transfer over to our home university directly as specific courses it takes a long time to pair courses up and get them approved. Once we were all here we thought we had figured it out, until they told us some of our courses were no longer being offered and that other courses conflicted. I had two of my courses conflict so I had to drop one and find another, which was easy for me luckily. Turner and Mike both had all of their classes cancelled and went through a nightmare trying to find courses so they wouldn't have to go home. Luckily when I first arrived, after some research, I found a grocery store where I could order online and they would deliver to me! Wow! That was so great. The nearest grocery store, Aldi, is nearly a mile away and I have no idea how I would have gotten all of my groceries. As for the question what have I gotten myself into... well I'm still not sure what exactly I've done, but I'm sure we'll find out!
Talk to you soon!
Abbey (:
P.S. Thought you'd like some faces with the names. The pictures below from left to right are Taylor, Andrew, Turner, Me, & Mike.
This picture from left to right is Finja, Me, & Tanja.
During the first week of orientation I met a ton of new people. The first people I met were my flat mates. Finja is 24, she is from Hamburg, Germany. Tanja is 23, she is from Resenburg, Germany. I found it interesting to meet them because of my four years spend learning German. Our other flat mates are Ivana, who is 22 and from the Czech Republic. Ivana had her boyfriend move her in the first week and we all thought he also lived with us and were shocked to find we had another flat mate we didn't know about because she hadn't been around. Her name is Susie, she is 21 and she is from Utah. The last two flat mates I have become particularly close with. First there is Turner, he is 20, from Minnesota, and looks just like a teenage Timmy Turner. His accent has begun to rub off on his group of friends. We are all constantly saying 'oh ya' and 'you betcha' as if we were from Canada. Our last flat mate is Mike. He just turned twenty on Tuesday! He is from Maryland. I am the youngest out of all my friends I've made here. Along with Turner and Mike, we hang out with the neighbors a few flats down. Their names are Andrew and Taylor. Andrew is 19 and from Oregon, he has a very flamboyant and humorous character. Taylor is 21 and from Indiana, or the 'midwest' as he refers it VERY often. I don't really think Indiana should be considered midwest though.. Taylor really loves soccer and America (Indiana), given the opportunity he could go on forever about them. It was really easy to connect with the boys, as I like to call them, because it seems as if we have been friends forever. That and we can actually understand what each other are saying. Together the five of us have done a lot of exploring of Sunderland and the shopping centers. We've done our fair share of getting lost and trying to find the best places to hang out. The first night Turner and I went walking for a place to eat. Each pub we walked into was crazy and none of them served food! We walked nearly all the way to the city centre (although we didn't know it) and we turned around to head back. When we got back we asked someone where we could eat and took a taxi all the way back down to where we already were. We ended up eating burgers and chicken tenders at the Lambton Worm. The other nights we went to 'The Bridges' which is a large shopping center. Being so close may just be an issue for me. :P After long and boring days in registration and welcoming meetings we decided we were going to go out and try to find a game to watch. We ended up at a club called Revolution, which was recommended by our study abroad advisor Emma, and had different types of pizza, like vodka pizza, and ordered our first legal drinks! My first legal cocktail was called The Jammy Bastard. It was some sort of mixture with raspberry in it, had I known there was raspberry in it I probably wouldn't have ordered it, but it wasn't too bad. Mike's drink was some sort of mudslide and it was really good! I think I will get that next time. There were a few things that were really hard to get used to the first week here and so many questions we were asking ourselves. Where the heck are we? Why does it rain so much? What the heck are these people saying and why do they speak so fast? Could they screw my schedule up anymore? How am I supposed to get groceries when I don't even know how to use public transportation. And most of all, what have I gotten myself into? To answer a few of these questions, the accent here is considered one of the most friendly in all of the U.K. however they speak so quickly and get frustrated if you keep asking what. It may rain here a lot but not as much as southern parts of the U.K and because we are so close to the sea we will experience lots of wind and snow. The schedules for nearly all the American kids were and complete and total disaster. Since we have to ensure our courses here will transfer over to our home university directly as specific courses it takes a long time to pair courses up and get them approved. Once we were all here we thought we had figured it out, until they told us some of our courses were no longer being offered and that other courses conflicted. I had two of my courses conflict so I had to drop one and find another, which was easy for me luckily. Turner and Mike both had all of their classes cancelled and went through a nightmare trying to find courses so they wouldn't have to go home. Luckily when I first arrived, after some research, I found a grocery store where I could order online and they would deliver to me! Wow! That was so great. The nearest grocery store, Aldi, is nearly a mile away and I have no idea how I would have gotten all of my groceries. As for the question what have I gotten myself into... well I'm still not sure what exactly I've done, but I'm sure we'll find out!
Talk to you soon!
Abbey (:
P.S. Thought you'd like some faces with the names. The pictures below from left to right are Taylor, Andrew, Turner, Me, & Mike.
Sunday, 22 September 2013
Travel Day
September 12th & 13th, 2013
Life Background
Hi,
My name is Abbey Minamyer. I am 19 year old sophomore and a study abroad student at The University of Sunderland in the United Kingdom. My home school is Cleveland State University. I come from a small town in Ohio where I live with my two sisters, my mom, and her boyfriend. My sisters are Emma, commonly referred to as MK, who is 15 and one of my best friends, and Leah who is 22. My moms name is Joyce and her boyfriend's name is Ron. I couldn't ask for anyone better for my mom, he treats her so well and treats me and my sisters like his own, good and bad. Ron has two daughters who are like sisters to my family. Kolbie who is 21 and Emma who is 17. Besides my immediate family, I am also fortunate enough to have a very close extended family, particularly on my fathers side. My dad died when I was 9 but his outgoing personality inspired me to live to my potential and take risks. I live each day for him & I miss him very much. From him I got my incredible sense of humor and stubbornness. His mom, my grandma, Maga is someone I would consider my best friend. Without the encouragement and support of my loving family I would not be studying in another country. My previous travels to Europe through the People to People Student Ambassador Program fueled my desire to study abroad. Anyone thinking about joining such a program I highly recommend becoming a People to People Student Ambassador, it changed my life and connected me with life long bonds and some of my very best friends. On another note I would like to mention a few of my friends without whom's love and support I would not be who I am today. Mara, who is a senior in high school has been one of my best friends for the past 3 years, she's my rock and my sister and I'm not sure what I would do without her. Nikki is a freshman in college, she gives the best advice and her driven attitude inspires me everyday, I have no doubt she will do HUGE things in her life. Erica has been my very best friend since day one, I know that no matter what happens in my life I can always count on her, she is one of the most trustworthy and loyal friends I know. Blake has been my best friend since grade school, he is a freshman at college and his outgoing and hilarious personality combined with mine make us a troublesome duo. I love him to death and he can always cheer me up, no matter what. Emily is a junior in high school and I can tell her absolutely anything we could talk all day and never get sick of each other, she gives me advice and I do the same for her, I know she'll always be honest with me, which is why I love her so much. Cam is also a junior in high school and I can talk to him about anything, he is so funny and down to earth. He grounds me and without him I think I would go insane. Lauren is my best friend from my People to People trip. Without Lauren and her amazing parents, Christine and Frank, and sweet little brother, Frankie, I don't think I would have made it through my freshman year of college. They were always there for me through my ups and downs and that is something I could never thank them enough for. In such a short time they became like family to me. They are some of the best people I know. All of these people are some of the biggest inspirations in my life, all for different reasons, and I wouldn't have it any other way. You've just been introduced to my crazy life, but now you'll experience my crazy journey.
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