Still Sick

I've been cooped up in my room for almost a week now with this illness. I made it to the pharmacy today so hopefully things will turn around quickly.(Shout out to Christina for waking up early on a Sunday to ride into town with me.) Ya know, learning to navigate the British Healthcare System wasn't one of the things I hoped to learn here, but I guess I'll enjoy all the knowledge I'm gaining.

So being in my room and sick and pathetic has given me quite a bit of time to muse on the things I miss most about the States. Now, missing these things is different than being homesick-I really am enjoying my time here. I would just, ya know, like some comforts of home every now and then.

1) ICE. They don't use it here, and it's ridiculously hard to track it down. Those of you who know me, know I like to fill my glass to the very top with ice, and adjusting to iceless drinks has been very difficult.

2) Taco Bell

3) Ramen Noodles

4) My bed at my parents' house. Oh, and the parents of course. And the brothers. But that's all obvious.

5) Erin and my friends.

6) Ranch Dressing. They seriously just don't have it here. And if you ask for it, they all laugh and say "it's not America!"

Well, back to bed to dream about ranch dressing and ice water.

Love to all.

This is the Ugliest Weather I've Ever Been Under

Just a quick update because I'm not feeling too well. I'm keeping busy with school and Vagina Monologues, and am starting to settle into my life here.

No new adventures this week, so my apologies.

Back to bed-trying to make sure this chest cold doesn't become pneumonia. (Man how I hate having chronic pneumonia...illness can never be simple for me!)

Love to all.

Long Post About a Long, Amazing Weekend in Edinburgh

Wow. It was a crazy, amazing, wonderful, whirlwind, exhausting weekend in Edinburgh. Six of my friends and I headed up north on the train to celebrate my friend Christina’s 21^st birthday weekend and we had a great time. We started off our weekend with a breathtakingly beautiful train ride from Lancaster to Edinburgh. The incredible scenery we got to see out of our window was fantastic.

Once we got there, we wandered around fairly aimlessly, not knowing where we were going to stay or what we were going to do. Naturally, we decided our best option was to eat first, and headed straight away to a….Chinese Buffet. That’s right. 7 Americans ate in a Chinese Buffet in Edinburgh. Sarah even got a Mexican beer. Hello there globalization.

After that, I used my fancy phone to look up a hostel near all the places we wanted to see and picked (fairly randomly) the Castle Rock Hostel. And what a fantastic pick it was! The hostel itself was beautiful and ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE CASTLE. It also had a great atmosphere and a great price. I’d also like to point out that from the time we found the hostel until we left, we heard bagpipes playing almost constantly. It was surreal.

That night, we went out to the bars and clubs in Edinburgh to start celebrating Christina’s birthday. The best stop of the night, hands down, was The Scotsman, a tiny pub filled with old Scottish men and a live band. It was fantastic.

The next morning, we drug ourselves out of bed and onto a three hour walking tour of Edinburgh. The tour was through a company that specializes in tours for budget travelers. The tours themselves are free and the guides are paid on a tip-only basis. The tour was fantastic and gave lots of great history. Our guide also indulged our obsession with Harry Potter. He showed us the building that inspired Hogwarts, the café in which JK Rowling wrote the first book, and the graves that inspired some of the names of her characters. We also got to see all of these incredible old buildings. Here are some pictures of how beautiful Edinburgh is.

A church just up the street from our Hostel.

The cemetery with graves of many of the people that provided the names for Harry Potter characters.

The building that inspired Hogwarts!

Later, we headed to The Elephant House (where Harry Potter was written) for lunch. We had decided we wanted to try haggis, and The Elephant House happened to be serving it. As we sat there and ate our traditional Scottish fare (which, though I didn’t have a whole plate myself, I did try and must say was DELICIOUS) we looked through the window JK Rowling did as she wrote. It was such an awesome nerd moment.

This is the view Rowling had as she wrote!

Haggis. It's so much better than you would think.

Later, some of us headed up to the castle for the tour. Edinburgh Castle is built onto a cliff of volcanic rock from way back when the land, that much later became Scotland, was covered in volcanoes and was located by the equator. The Edinburgh Castle must be one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen and the view from the top was incredible. Not to mention, we got to see the Scottish Crown Jewels!

It was also the home of St. Margaret of Scotland, the saint I picked way back in 7^th grade when I was confirmed. The chapel built in her honor is the oldest building on the castle grounds and was built by her son after her death. It was really cool getting to see it.

After all that touring and exploring, we were pretty exhausted. Since it’s the UK and everything closes early, there wasn’t much to do except sit and wait at the train station until our train arrived that night. We were all exhausted.

I have to say that being in Edinburgh was one of the greatest experiences I’ve had here so far. It really made it sink in that I’m in the UK, living and studying for six months, and I get to have all of these incredible experiences. I hope you enjoy all the pictures (there are 188 up on facebook…) and I love and miss you all. <3

Trust Women

This blog is going to be a little different. Dare I say, a little bit more important than what I usually write here.

But today is a little different. Today is important.

January 22, 2010 marks the 37^th anniversary of Roe v Wade, the court case that effectively secured women’s access to safe, legal abortion services.

This year, the anniversary feels a little different for me than it has in the past few years. Typically, the day was celebrated by my fellow pro-choice activists and I as an important marker of women’s fight for bodily autonomy. And while it was a reminder that the fight is not over, as a woman’s right to choose is still under constant attack from anti-woman political ideologies, it was a joyous occasion.

But not this year.

Because it was only a few months ago that Dr. Tiller was murdered. All that Dr. Tiller did was perform a medical service for women who desperately needed it. He broke no laws. He had no motive other than to help women who needed his help. And for that, he was murdered.

As many of you know, I have worked for or with Planned Parenthood in one capacity or another since my sophomore year of high school. Though Dr. Tiller was not technically a part of the Planned Parenthood family, he was known and loved by many people at PPSLR and PPKM. While the media coverage of his death has long since ceased, the feeling it evoked in all of the reproductive justice community has not.

And I think that’s why this year feels different. This year, the anniversary of Roe v Wade serves as a reminder that while that court case secured rights for women, it did not secure abortion services providers from violence. Every time I walk into a clinic, whether I’m there to work, volunteer, phone bank, or provide support for a friend, it crosses my mind that I may not be safe. I don’t think that walking into a medical office should evoke that feeling and I think it’s despicable that it does.

The point of this post is a reminder that without abortion services providers, abortion rights mean little. It’s a reminder that regardless of your feelings about the “morality” or abortion, Roe v Wade has saved thousands of women in the US from early deaths or infertility-the complications of illegal abortions. It’s a reminder to thank the women and men who continue the fight to insure women have access to necessary medical procedures. They deserve it.

I feel the most appropriate way to end this is with the mantra of Dr. Tiller.

TRUST WOMEN

Thanks and love to all.

Cultural Confusion

I haven't done much worth blogging about in the last couple days. I am getting into the swing of my classes, etc., and have been planning some weekend trips. (This weekend to Scotland and at the end of February to Stonehenge!) But I still want to try to stay in the habit of blogging at least every couple of days, so I figured I would do something a little different.

Before I came here, I really had the (ethnocentric) idea that England was just the US with accents.

I was wrong.

So here is a list of some of the most confusing/entertaining stories about navigating a new country and a confusing language!

1) I had to very quickly learn to hide my confusion when the BBC described 2 inches of snow and 33 degree temperatures as "Britain's Great Freeze."

2) The first few times I ran into my flatmates, they would always ask "Are you ok?" Now, in the States, this is a very probing question. It's really only appropriate if someone looks upset or if you want to have an emotional conversation about their feelings. So naturally, every time they asked, I would have a major crisis and worry that my eyes were puffy or I was dressed inappropriately or I was giving off some other kind of vibe that indicated I needed to be checked up on. After this happened like 5 times, I asked my other American friends if that had been happening to them and we all collectively realized that it must just be a standard greeting like "what's up?" or "how are you doing?" in the US and is actually not at all a deep probing question. I have to say though, even with this realization, I still get jarred every time someone asks me if I'm ok!

3) People's questions about America are sometimes classic. After I told someone I was from the Missouri, which I always describe as the middle middle of the country, she asked if I made it out to the coasts often. I kindly explained it was a 2 day drive to any kind of ocean. Another person was completely boggled by the idea it took the same amount of time to get across the state I'm from as it does to get across most of the entire UK.

4) The campus here is filled with independent businesses like grocery stores and restaurants. At Mizzou, essentially everything on campus belongs to the University in some respect, so I feel very much a sense of ownership over the campus. That just isn't the case here. This came very apparent when my American friends and I tried to go inside to a restaurant to eat our fish and chips (which is sold from a stand that doesn't have any seating of its own) and was asked (not so politely) to leave and told it was very "cheeky". (Later, we asked some Brits what "cheeky" means and they said it means "naughty!") At Mizzou, every eating establishment, building, room, outside space is open to and designed for student use and that is simply not how it feels here. This has been one of the most difficult adjustments.

5) The first day I got my phone, I decided to use it as an alarm to wake me up the next morning. I set it, charged my phone, and thankfully, added an alarm to my iPod just in case it didn't work. It didn't. I was distressed, but figured I'd give it another try the next morning. Once again, it didn't work. I asked my friends and none of them seemed to be having a similar problem. Then, in a flash of brilliance, it dawned on me that I was entering the date of my alarm in the American order instead of how the rest of the world writes it. No wonder my alarms hadn't gone off-after all, I'd set them for November 1st and December 1st.

I'm sure that these stories will continue to make themselves apparent and I'll be sure to share.

Much love, especially to my school friends who all started class today. The semester will be over before you know it!

Tour of Lancaster Castle

Today, we ventured into town to go on the tour of Lancaster Castle. It was really fun and filled with so much interesting information. Unfortunately, photos inside are not allowed because of the castle's status as a functioning prison and court, but I did get some pretty great shots outside of it and of the priory next to it.

The view from the top of the hill the castle sits on is incredible. This picture so does not do it justice.


The Priory next to the Castle. The most interesting story about it is that since the ground churches are on is consecreated, which means that anyone who dies/is buried there can't go to hell, they were very careful to hang the prisoners off church grounds and bury them under what is now the Castle car park. Oh modernization....

This is my go-to tourist pose.

Close up view of the outside of the Castle.

Oh. And I started to feel the homesickness I'd been doing so well at defeating creep back in tonight. So I bought a lot of chocolate. Judge me. I dare you.

Love to all :)

I blog about food a lot

And I'm going to do it again. Perhaps the secret inner foodie in me is coming out here, but exploring the food here is one of my favorite things to do.

I had two really delicious meals today. The first was at the Wibbly Wobbly on campus. I was really worried I wouldn't be able to find something to eat there, because as most of you know, I do my best to eat a pescetarian diet [except of course when someone cooks meat for me, as refusing a meal that someone prepares for you with their hard work and love is far too rude for me to ever swallow. (pardon the pun)]. But anyway, I was pleased to find they had SEVEN vegetarian burger options. I chose a Mediterranean Veggie one and it was super delicious. The cook suggested garlic mayo and a chili sauce to top it and the tomatoes, of course, were my addition. Note the Fanta. It's so much better in Europe than it is in the States.

Tonight, the crew and I headed into town to check out a few town pubs. It only took two to make us realize we all just actually wanted to eat. When they all suggested McDonalds, I was once again weary, but it turns out that the McDonalds here have delicious veggie patties as well! I'm not sure if it's just because of the large Hindu population or because European diets tend to be a bit healthier, but I'm lovin' it.

In other news, I finally met the feminists! It's too long of a story to tell here, but by the end of last night, not only had a met a new group of friends, I had landed a role in The Vagina Monologues. It's such an amazing opportunity-to work with amazing women for such a great cause. I'm really excited. (P.S. There are Vagina Monologues shows in nearly every city in the US. Most shows are the weekend of Valentine's Day. All the ticket proceeds go to causes both domestically and internationally to end violence against women. If you've never been, you must go!)

I'm doing my best to post here every couple of days and keep you all updated. Hope all is well. Love you lots :)

Fish and Chips!

Today marked my first encounter with real fish and chips! The place that we went to was on campus and just a short walk from my dorm. It was so delicious.

Before. It tasted even better than it looked.

EATING!

After. I could only finish half. I was so disappointing.

We all had a really great time and a really great meal :)

Getting less homesick each day. Love you all so much.

On Hope

Hope. It's more than Barack Obama's buzzword. It's more than a philosophical belief and it's more than something you can chose. For me, hope is a physical experience. It's a spiritual one. Hope is elusive, but necessary, and here, it's fleeting.

But I keep seeing this white bird everywhere I go and it's almost always by itself. I saw it with two other white birds today. The other ones quickly flew away, but it walked right up to me. Let me take this picture of it. I've filled my journal already with pages of contemplation about what it means-what signs unasked for really signify. Why some universal force seems so determined to remind me to fight through the homesickness and remember hope. I need things of comfort, so I think I'll stop questioning why this bird is following me and just let it.

One week Down (163 days to go!)

Not too much to update about. I've been horribly homesick, but doing my best to still put myself out there, meet new people, go to the parties, etc., but it's been hard.

Classes started yesterday and it felt good to go back to something I feel good at. School here is evidently much easier than American college, which I'm not sure is a good thing. School is really what comforts me when all other things seem to be going crazy and out of my control, so since there isn't really a lot to do here in the way of classwork or papers or quizzes or tests, I'm worried it will make my stay here even more difficult.

I guess I should explain the school system a little better. I am here for the Lent term (which started yesterday and ends in the middle of March) and Summer term (which starts in the middle of April and lasts until exams end). Most classes end after Lent term and all of Summer term is meant for preparation for your exams, though if you asked most students here, they would say it was meant for 7 night a week partying. Anyway, you would think that if you are give an entire term to study for exams, they must be exceedingly difficult.

You'd be wrong. Not only is it University Policy that all old tests must be posted online for students to study from, but they are basically essay tests-a specialty of mine. Almost all of my courses are graded completely on a 3,000 word or so essay due at the end of this term and the exams in May.

I haven't figure out how they actually manage to learn anything. But, I guess I'll figure it out?

Last night, I had dinner with some American girls, went out to Trevor, the old fashioned pub on campus, and got some late night pizza.

Christina is a really good cook!

I've already been to the late night pizza place a few times (cooking for yourself in a kitchen that is equipped with appliances the size of EasyBake ovens is just not something I'm that into) and the guy there is getting to know me. They always make fun of my accent and how I talk, etc., so last night, I made him take a picture with me.

I miss you all so much. I check my countdown all day long to see how long it is until I get to return.

Love.

Quick Update

"It is a curious emotion, this certain homesickness I have in mind. With Americans, it is a national trait, as native to us as the roller-coaster or the jukebox. It is no simple longing for the home town or country of our birth. The emotion is Janus-faced: we are torn between a nostalgia for the familiar and an urge for the foreign and strange. As often as not, we are homesick more for the places we have never known." -Carson McCullers

Haven't done much in the way of exciting adventures in the past few days, as it seems that Uni (that's what they call college) is mostly about partying here. Dealing with homesickness has been more difficult than I anticipated, but each day has gotten better. Classes start tomorrow, and I anticipate that will help even more in taking away the feeling of isolation being here has given me.

Last night marked the first night I ventured into a British night club. Basically, my impression of the UK so far is that partying is incredibly important and crucial to nearly everyone's way of life. Don't get me wrong-I love a good night of dancing and the occasional crazy party, but most of my friends back at Mizzou can attest to the fact that for the most part, I stay busy with school and activities-not drinking. Well, it doesn't seem many students here do that. So I guess when in Rome....

The club we went to the, The Sugarhouse is the club run by the Student Union here. That's right. The Student Union owns and runs a club. But anyway, drinks were quite expensive (especially after the 2 pound bus fare, 3 pound cover, and 1 pound coat check) so I made the night mostly about dancing. The music selection was quite odd. They played everything from Journey's "Don't Stop Believin" to Beyonce's "Single Ladies" to that one "Teenage Dirtbag" song that everyone knows and loves/hates.

All in all, it was a pretty OK night. Still not sure if I'll be able to keep up with these Brits and their hard-partying ways, or if I'll adjust to the very different night club scene, but I've got to try everything once while I'm here!

Still miss you all horribly. If you have anything you want me to post about here or any crazy British things that you've heard of that you want me to try, feel free to leave a comment and I'll do my best.

Love.

Lots to catch up on

So, as I've mentioned to many of you, I didn't have internet in my room until about 2 hours ago. For someone who lives their life very comfortably connected the outside world at all times, this was quite traumatic. (I'm not exaggerating.) These last few days have been difficult. But, it's getting better every day and having a phone with unlimited internet and Skype (it rocks!) and having the internet in my room is certainly helping things along. Over the past few days, I've done some pretty cool things and met some pretty great people. The regular Lancaster students should start arriving this weekend, and I can't wait to meet my flat mates and the rest of the students.

We took a tour of Lancaster yesterday, and despite the "slippy" sidewalks (that's what they say instead of slippery, isn't that cute?) I had a great time. For you history buffs out there, here's some background about Lancaster: It's been an important English city for about 700 years. It's past is quite interesting. It was a center of the African slave trade (sad) but was also quite possibly where the sails for the first boats of the US Navy were purchased. (In Benjamin Franklin's diary, he specifically mentions talking to a sail cloth salesperson here.) Lancaster was also the linoleum capital of the world from the end of the 1800s until linoleum went out of style. Because of this, there was a huge Irish immigration and Lancaster is actually home to a Catholic Cathedral (quite a rarity here) in addition to its many very old Anglican churches. The head of the linoleum company here was made Lord Ashton by the Queen and used his money to build beautiful buildings throughout Lancaster. When the linoleum business went bust in the 1960s, the town suffered. The British government was looking for somewhere to set up a new University, however, and the sites of the old linoleum factories are actually now home to Lancaster University. Lancaster also has its own castle, though it now serves as one of England's national prisons. Interestingly, the Duke of Lancaster married in/made a deal with the royal family, so the head monarch of England is also actually the Duke of Lancaster. That's right...Queen Elizabeth is the Duke of where I live. (For some reason it does not change to Duchess. I find this whole thing confusing)

I also have some beautiful pictures from what you can see on campus and some pictures from my first night out. Hope you enjoy!

So this actually used to be a church, but when the congregation split up, it was sold and turned into a night club called "The Friary." I feel like this perfectly encapsulates my impression of the UK thus far.

Off in the distance is the castle. Or the prison. Same thing.

This is Lancaster's statue of Queen Victoria. After her death, nearly every town built a statue of her, but this is thought to be one of the best in the whole country. Also, the engravings beneath her contain the faces of 50 famous Victorians. Sadly, only two are women.

Pretty picture of the town.

Me drinking my first legally purchased alcoholic beverage! It's so nice!

This is the view from the top of the computer sciences building. It's really pretty here.

These are actually old. This is the Preston Train Station-one of the train stations at which we had to switch trains. It was gorgeous.

This is the big group of Americans that all met up. We had quite a lot of luggage!

If you want to see more pictures, I have an entire album on facebook that you should be able to see. Until then, ta!

Oh, and keep those facebook messages, emails, videos, and smoke signals coming. They make my day :)

Love.

Oh, and for those of you wanting it, here's my address:

Emily Luft

Lancaster University

Greenodd B17

Lancaster

LA1 4YG

I'm pretty sure this should work, but I'll keep you updated.

The tale of the never-ending flight

First, my apologies that I can't post pictures or videos for the next few days. I only have access to library computers, so until I can set up the internet in my room, my apologies.

First things first. I was supposed to land at Manchester airport yesterday at 8:45 am local time. After the train rides, etc. to Lancaster, I figured I would be walking into my new home no later than noon.

Instead, at noon, I was sitting on a runway in London.

Turns out that the UK doesn't exactly know how to handle snow. There are only about 3 inches or so on the ground, but that was enough to close the Manchester airport for most of yesterday.

In fact, it was only open from 12-2, and my plane was the last one allowed in before it once again closed down.

The moral of my story is that my 7 hour flight here turned into a 12 hour nightmare with lots of time spent sitting on runways and circling closed airports. I also barely got any sleep as the person next to me felt it was his duty to teach me everything he thought I would need to know about England during the course of our flight. I appreciate the knowledge, but would have appreciated the sleep even more.

To top it off, our luggage was delayed, trains were running late, and taxis were sparce by the time we actually made it to Lancaster. I do have so beautiful pictures of some of the train stations we encountered (as well as pictures of the other weary Lancaster students I met during my journey) and will post those as soon as I can.

At Mizzou, my study abroad advisor always talked about the rollercoaster of emotions that happens when you study abroad. I can attest to the low points he talked about from my experience yesterday. All I can say now is that I'm so happy to be on the ground, done with travel for qutie awhile, and bit better rested. This whole orientation thing is reminding me why I'm so excited to be here, the party at the Grisdale bar tonight will surely remind me why I'm so excited to be in the UK.

Emails, comments, facebook messages, smoke signals, or loud yelling in my general direction are all appreciated, as I miss you all and feel infinitely better when I hear from you.

Hopefully pictures and more in my next post.

Love.

I've Landed!

It was awful. As soon as I actually have access to a computer, I'll make a real post, but I just wanted to let everyone know I'm alive.

After almost 27 hours of travel, I'm here.

And I'm going to sleep.

A Farewell Message

Turns out leaving the country for six months is kind of stressful!

It's 7:00pm the night before I leave and I've barely started packing. But packing is hard, so I'm taking a break to learn how to use this blog thing I've promised you all before I find myself in another country.

I'll be using this blog to keep people updated on what I'm doing, as well as a way to post pictures/videos of where I've been. As it's me, you'll probably also get a few of my life musings, so keep your eyes peeled for those.

In the next few days, you can expect to see a post about why I decided to study abroad, why Lancaster, etc., as well as the tales about how my flights/train rides/cab rides went. Here are some pictures of my farewell dinner and a video message to you all :)

P.S. Packing is hard.