Thought I'd write up a quick blurb about something really cool I'm learning here in York - British Sign Language!
Before I got here, I didn't even realize/hadn't even considered that there were different sign languages. But thanks to Wikipedia I now know there are hundreds! Seriously, check this out. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sign_languages
Also, just read about sign language, it is fascinating. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sign_language
See, you learned something today! There are also even different dialects of BSL, sort of like different accents. Crazy. But I've been learning some BSL because one of my friends in the dorm here is deaf, and he and the rest of my friends all sign to each other at meals and whatnot. I'm able to pick up a bit on my own, they taught me the alphabet (it's different than ASL) and today I finally got a full lesson on some basics. I've wanted to learn sign for a long time - learning BSL is perhaps a bit counterproductive if I want to learn ASL back at home, but oh well!
Also, rejoice! We've had short-sleeves and sandals weather here this week. Cheers!
Friday, March 25, 2011
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Titles are the worst
Oh goodness. I haven't posted in a while, sorry!
Saturday the 12th we went to Lincoln as a class. This is another beautiful city with a cathedral as well as a castle. We had a sunny day to explore the city, which felt similar to York. The cathedral might have been my favorite so far, but I feel like I say that every time we visit a new one! Lincoln's cathedral was very bright and open in the nave, and the chancel and choir were intricate and beautiful as always. They also had some of the coolest/most colorful stained glass I've seen yet - tall skinny ones along the aisles, as well as three rose windows. The cloister was sunny and had an interesting modern art display in honor of Lent.
Lincoln Castle is an 11th century castle built by William the Conqueror. We did a lot of climbing here: up to the walls, up the skinniest spiral staircase I've ever seen to a tower with a 360 view of the city, up to circular sort of walled garden... my legs were tired by the end of the day!
I've had a lot of schoolwork to do lately, papers and midterms and whatnot. Those are mostly done now though, and I won't have tons of work until after spring break (which is SO SOON!)
It's been fun getting to know the nightlife of York. Last week we celebrated a birthday of someone in my dorm building. A popular thing to do here for your birthday is to pick a "fancy dress theme," which means everyone has to dress up according to what you pick. It was Tim's birthday, so the theme was things that begin with T. I had the brilliant idea of being Twilight - the actual physical book. I can't get pictures to load right now, but let me tell you, it was awesome. We started out at the student union, then went into town to a club called Gallery. It has two dance floors right on top of each other, which is pretty coooool. It was also Saint Patrick's Day this past week, so we went out to Slug and Lettuce, a popular chain restaurant with possibly the worst name ever, as well as a bar called Keystones. We've also been frequenting some of the late-night eateries on the way back to campus - there is nothing better than cheap, piping hot pizza at 1am.
This coming weekend the class is traveling to Hadrian's Wall and some forts nearby. Should be fun! Thanks for reading, sorry about the lack of pictures. Internet connection here is sketchy sometimes.
Saturday the 12th we went to Lincoln as a class. This is another beautiful city with a cathedral as well as a castle. We had a sunny day to explore the city, which felt similar to York. The cathedral might have been my favorite so far, but I feel like I say that every time we visit a new one! Lincoln's cathedral was very bright and open in the nave, and the chancel and choir were intricate and beautiful as always. They also had some of the coolest/most colorful stained glass I've seen yet - tall skinny ones along the aisles, as well as three rose windows. The cloister was sunny and had an interesting modern art display in honor of Lent.
Lincoln Castle is an 11th century castle built by William the Conqueror. We did a lot of climbing here: up to the walls, up the skinniest spiral staircase I've ever seen to a tower with a 360 view of the city, up to circular sort of walled garden... my legs were tired by the end of the day!
I've had a lot of schoolwork to do lately, papers and midterms and whatnot. Those are mostly done now though, and I won't have tons of work until after spring break (which is SO SOON!)
It's been fun getting to know the nightlife of York. Last week we celebrated a birthday of someone in my dorm building. A popular thing to do here for your birthday is to pick a "fancy dress theme," which means everyone has to dress up according to what you pick. It was Tim's birthday, so the theme was things that begin with T. I had the brilliant idea of being Twilight - the actual physical book. I can't get pictures to load right now, but let me tell you, it was awesome. We started out at the student union, then went into town to a club called Gallery. It has two dance floors right on top of each other, which is pretty coooool. It was also Saint Patrick's Day this past week, so we went out to Slug and Lettuce, a popular chain restaurant with possibly the worst name ever, as well as a bar called Keystones. We've also been frequenting some of the late-night eateries on the way back to campus - there is nothing better than cheap, piping hot pizza at 1am.
This coming weekend the class is traveling to Hadrian's Wall and some forts nearby. Should be fun! Thanks for reading, sorry about the lack of pictures. Internet connection here is sketchy sometimes.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Birthday Update
It's my first birthday away from home! I had some nice surprises (cake, candy, balloons) this morning, and I've been granted a beautiful, sunshine-y day here in York.
I haven't updated in over a week, and it's daunting to look back and try to describe what I did! Well, pretty much all of last week I had the flu, so that was a bit of a wash. Nothing very exciting to report. Last Monday (before being sick) we did make it to Leeds for the day. That was a pretty nice city, especially if you like shopping. They have tons of fancy malls and markets, very fun. There was also an awesome museum that was all about war and armor and weapons, etc. It was full of kids on their winter break and was exciting to be it. It reminded me of a Smithsonian sort of museum - very well-kept and set-up.
This past Saturday was very nice, one of my favorite days here so far (although today is almost winning)! We took a trip to Fountains Abbey, which is a SUPER beautiful site with huge grounds, the ruins of an abbey, a church, gardens, lakes, streams... ahhh. It was a gorgeous day, and I could have walked around there for weeks.
This week I'm catching up on homework I missed, studying for our Roman History midterm (blech), and doing a lot of planning for spring break! I've booked a flight to Paris, a hotel in Paris, and a cute bed and breakfast-y place in Villefranche sur Mer in the French Riviera. It is so much work and takes such a huge amount of planning (and money!) to put this trip together, but I think it will be worth it in the end. Hopefully this weekend I'll book our places in Barcelona, Venice, Florence, and Rome (where we'll be for Easter - Easter morning service at the Vatican, anyone?)
Very busy, no time to put pictures here, but if we're Facebook friends you can check out my photos there. Thanks for reading!
I haven't updated in over a week, and it's daunting to look back and try to describe what I did! Well, pretty much all of last week I had the flu, so that was a bit of a wash. Nothing very exciting to report. Last Monday (before being sick) we did make it to Leeds for the day. That was a pretty nice city, especially if you like shopping. They have tons of fancy malls and markets, very fun. There was also an awesome museum that was all about war and armor and weapons, etc. It was full of kids on their winter break and was exciting to be it. It reminded me of a Smithsonian sort of museum - very well-kept and set-up.
This past Saturday was very nice, one of my favorite days here so far (although today is almost winning)! We took a trip to Fountains Abbey, which is a SUPER beautiful site with huge grounds, the ruins of an abbey, a church, gardens, lakes, streams... ahhh. It was a gorgeous day, and I could have walked around there for weeks.
This week I'm catching up on homework I missed, studying for our Roman History midterm (blech), and doing a lot of planning for spring break! I've booked a flight to Paris, a hotel in Paris, and a cute bed and breakfast-y place in Villefranche sur Mer in the French Riviera. It is so much work and takes such a huge amount of planning (and money!) to put this trip together, but I think it will be worth it in the end. Hopefully this weekend I'll book our places in Barcelona, Venice, Florence, and Rome (where we'll be for Easter - Easter morning service at the Vatican, anyone?)
Very busy, no time to put pictures here, but if we're Facebook friends you can check out my photos there. Thanks for reading!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)