Week 1 | WOU Students Abroad

ah dear wou blog, so much has happened since we last spoke that I feel the need to be ridiculously overdramatic. Sunday we had orientation in the morning and then had the rest of the day to do whatever we wanted. I went with a group to see the changing of the guard, but we didn’t have a very good view so I basically just saw the parade. After that, my group went through St. James’s park and then over to Big Ben and Westminster abbey. The abbey was so gorgeous but we couldn’t go in because it was Sunday. That night I went with some friends from class out to dinner at this burger place down the street. They had fantastic milkshakes that reminded me of mike’s drive-in near my house so that was awesome. Monday was the first day of class and it was fairly interesting we learned about the basis of the English government system. That night we went out to Leicester square for dinner which was really nice, I know I’ll be spending loads more time out there later. Tuesday was my first day off and I went with some classmates to go see the changing of the guard. We got there early and got some pretty decent spots for the whole shebang, after that we went out to the barracks and goofed off there for a little bit before heading to Westminster. The line to get into the abbey was really long so we skipped it for now. That night we went out to the London bridge and then walked over to the tower bridge and the Tower of London. We would have gone in but they were closed for the evening so we just enjoyed the scenery. Wednesday was class day two and we talked more about crime in England and it was really cool learning about the difference between the U.S. and the UK. I was exhausted after class and decided to take a lazy day that ended with a show. There’s this really cool little theater not far from us and they were doubt productions of Shakespeare’s king Henry V. It was an all female production with everyone except Henry also being a member of the chorus. Not gonna lie it was really cool. Thursday marked our first field trip and we went out to battle to see the battlefield and battle abbey from the battle of Hastings in 1066. The British will tell you that that was the last time that they were successfully invaded so that’s pretty cool. I went shopping that night out in Leicester square. They have a big m&m store, not quite as big as the one in Vegas but pretty close. Today I went on a CCSA field trip to Salisbury and Stonehenge. At Salisbury they had the best preserved copy of the Magna Carta and had a big display because of the 800th anniversary of the document. Stonehenge was a bunch of old rocks in fancy positions and it was more interesting when you think about the history of the place and how old it is and how much effort must have been put into it. Tomorrow I’m off to Ireland to see the lovely Jen Hight while she’s over there. I wanted to see it anyway but since it’s her last weekend I’m going now to see it with her. Oh and I went to the first Hard Rock Cafe tonight and got my pin and shirt so I’m content for now.

Here, have some photos