I'll be home for Christmas

Manchester is pretty much a ghost town right about now. I know I've been AWOL lately from the blogosphere, but other than furiously writing papers there has been very little to report on...and I wouldn't want to bore you with the ramblings of my essays. However, now, classes are done, and I have submitted all 3 papers that I had to finish here and one group presentation, and I have a bit of free time. I had planned on using these last few days to travel to London, but I didn't budget quite as well as I had hoped, and honestly couldn't really be bothered to make my way down there anyway. Instead I have spent my last days spending time with the friends that I have made here. I am so excited to come home for Christmas, but goodbyes are always emotional.

I've gone into town as much as I can lately to soak up the Christmas markets and to enjoy all the tea and scones that I possibly can before coming home. I knocked out all my Christmas shopping which was really fun, and ate more dim sum than you can even imagine. It even manage to spit out a little bit of snow for me just before leaving! Not enough to really stick, but enough to make the ground really really wet so that it froze into a sheet of ice by the next morning.

I've finally packed up all my stuff, and I'm ready to head out tomorrow morning. I'm flying back with my friend from UF, and we are splitting a cab to the airport. If she has as much luggage as I do I'm not sure how it's all going to fit in the taxi! But it's better (and faster) than trying to schlep it all on the bus. I can't wait to be home in sunny, warm Florida! I hope to see all of you at Christmas or New Years!

Merry Christmas!

Bonjour Paris!

Paris was lovely, much better than I was expecting. I don't want to live there (WAY too expensive), but it was a great place to visit and I hope to go back someday when I have more time to properly look around. The food was delicious, but fairly small portioned...just like people told me it would be. My créme brulée was huge though,



and that's really all that matters. I only encountered 1 rude French person, and she was mad because I only had a 20 and I was trying to buy a pastry for 1.50. Rudeness is never warranted, but I'm going to give her the benefit of the doubt and say she was having a bad day.

We saw all the major sites of the city, unless you had to pay for them, in which case we stood outside the building and pretended like we were seeing them. Even of the ones I did see, I probably could have gone without seeing some of them. For example, The Mona Lisa... big let down. If you're ever in Paris, might I recommend skipping it? I had no intention of even making it to the Louvre this past weekend, because first of all, 8 miles of galleries really isn't my cup of tea, and second of all, even if it was, 2 days certainly isn't enough time to fully appreciate a museum that big, especially if you also want to see the rest of the city. However, Friday night after we'd arrived, the group consensus was to go to the Louvre to see the Mona Lisa. As it was free to enter on Friday nights, I didn't fight. We got there 15 minutes before the museum closed, and the woman at the entrance informed us that we really didn't have time to even get to dear old Mona. Nevertheless, we SPRINTED through the Louvre, up stairs, around corners, past thousands of priceless works of art, only to arrive at this:



Can someone PLEASE tell me how that is more impressive than this:



I don't have any idea what this painting is, but it was right across from the Mona Lisa, getting no respect at all. I mean, if you ask me, it is way more impressive.

The Eiffel Tower is even bigger and more impressive in person. We visited it once at night and again in the daytime. In keeping with the cheap theme of the weekend, my friend Anna and I bypassed the costly elevator option and went for the more cost effective stairs. We only went up to the middle level, which was 700 stairs, and opted not to pay to go all the way up (1600 stairs total). I don't think my legs could have carried me all the way up. The view from the middle was still incredibly impressive, and I'm guessing if I would've gone all the way up, everything would have just looked smaller.



Walking back to meet up with the group for dinner was the best part. We looked back over our shoulder to see this sunset:



It really doesn't get much prettier.

The only thing I really wanted to do in Paris that we didn't get to do was eat cheese. I actually never saw one of those tiny Parisian cheese stores that everyone talks about. So instead, back at the Paris(ish) airport, Anna and I pooled our leftover euros and bought 2 different kinds of cheese. One was a mystery cheese, the french words meant nothing to us. The other was Munster cheese, which we thought was the tasty, mild, sandwich cheese that most Americans know and love. However, this morning when I went to our refrigerator to try it, I was knocked out by what can only be described as sweaty feet. I cut into the Munster cheese, and had to immediately throw it back into the fridge. There's no way I could eat something that smelly. I then did some googling to find out that the French Munster cheese is one of the 10 stinkiest cheeses in the world, not to be confused with the American Muenster cheese, which is non-smelly and delightfully speckled. Lesson learned.

Happy Turkey Day!

I think we pulled together a pretty decent meal! I know I'm stuffed...

What's Thanksgiving?

It certainly doesn't feel like Thanksgiving around here. Some of the other American exchange students and I have planned a TurkeyDay potluck, but due to limited kitchen resources, I have low expectations. I plan on making oreo dirt dessert because that doesn't require too much baking. I just have to make the chocolate pudding. As Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, it will be very hard to miss it, but as long as my mother remembers to record the Macy's Day Parade for me so I can watch it when I get home (THIS IS YOUR REMINDER, MOM), I will be a happy camper.

Manchester is in full swing Christmas mode though and I love it. The Christmas market opened downtown and it's HUGE! So far I've only been to the German market, but it is absolutely incredible. There's tons of food like sausages, crepes, waffles, strudel, and cookies and candies galore plus some tasty drinks. The German mulled wine is my favorite thing in the world, and I am definitely making it for the fam for Christmas. Even if my Dad doesn't like hot beverages.

My papers are coming slowly but surely. I have finished one out of 5, but I have it all scheduled out. If I stick to my plan I will finish all but 1 before coming home and then I can get the last one done in January. I saved the easiest one for last so I'm not too worried about it.

I am really excited about these last few weeks. I'm heading off to Paris this weekend, and although I've heard incredibly mixed reviews about Paris, I'm excited. We're definitely doing it on the cheap, as my bank account is dwindling, but from what I hear the bread and cheese is super inexpensive so I can probably live off of that for a couple days. However, I will be keeping my eyes peeled for an authentic creme brulee. After Paris, my friend Kristen is coming to visit from Turkey! I'm so excited to see her and show her around Manchester. She is coming at literally the best time to see the city since it's all Christmas-y and she definitely doesn't get any sort of Christmas vibe in Turkey. Then I just have a couple more weeks and I get to come homeee!!!! I absolutely can't wait for Christmas!

I hope you all have wonderful Thanksgivings with your friends and family. I am thankful to have you all in my life, even though you are all so far away.

The Globalization of Culture

I just finished reading an article called the Globalisation of Fragmentation for my International Marketing class. It was really interesting and it has got me thinking about culture. I am so curious about other cultures, what's behind them, what makes them tick. I want to travel everywhere and experience different cultures first hand. I don't think I'm alone in that desire. The irony is that as our interest in other cultures increases and our desire to experience each different culture grows, we integrate aspects of each culture we visit into our own lives. Is it possible that in a time where ease of travel and technology is accessible to many that eventually we will do away with different cultures and create one Superculture? Already we have fragmented culture. Example: I go to Germany and not only eat traditional German food but, Italian food and Mexican food as well. There is a Chinatown and a Little Italy in just about every major city. I live next to a part of town called "The Curry Mile". I prefer Chinese tea to Lipton. With the internet we have music from all over the world available to us in an instant. Now with Spotify, I don't even have to pay or download anything... if I decide I want to listen to French rap, I can! Companies expand globally and enter into markets that 20 or 30 years ago they could never have succeeded in. There are McDonald's on every continent except Antarctica. Walmart is the world's largest retailer. "We can find America in every country, as we can find every country in America" (Fuat Firat).

But then again, I guess culture is a little bit more than just food and music.

impressions of munich

I am back at the hostel after day 1 of Munich.  I gotta say, I feel like I'm at summer camp sitting up in my top bunk bonding with strangers. People from all over the world, just traveling until they run out of money. It's a much different experience than last night when I stayed with my friend Annie's parents who live in the city. It was so nice staying in a house with a family and homecooked meals!

Today I took the train in from the suburbs and met up with my friend at our swanky hostel. We then set out to explore the city. One thing was clear, people have a LOT of money here. Everyone dresses so fancy and streets are lined with designer boutiques. That being said, it's completely gorgeous here. We spent the majority of our time wandering the English Gardens. There was so much color everywhere! Coming from Florida where trees don't change, I was in awe. I will post pictures when I get back to Manchester and I am not posting from my phone. I love that people take their dogs everywhere, no leash or anything. Just obedience.

For dinner we went to the famous Hofbrauhaus beer garden. We sat with the nicest couple from Australia and ate giant pretzels. It was excellent. Tomorrow we go to Salzburg for the sound of music tour. I CAN'T WAIT!

--
Laura McLeran
University of Florida

Here are this week's top stories:

GIRL GETS THROWN OUT OF CONVENIENCE STORE
Last Tuesday night after fencing, we headed downtown to an area called the Northern Quarter which I heard was a really neat and hip part of town (even though when I asked one of my house mates about it they said it was for an older crowd and when I asked them to define older they said, "you know, like 20-25 year olds"...glad I'm considered older now). We got off the bus and my friend who I had been fencing with was demanding cheesecake. Not wanting to stop into a restaurant or anything, we directed her to the nearest convenience store. To set up this story, you should know that it was very VERY cold outside and I had my hands in my coat pocket and I couldn't be bothered to take them out for anything. We split up in search for a single piece of cheese cake to appease my hungry friend and finally I spotted a bag of 3 pieces of cheese cake on the bottom shelf of the refrigerated section. I hollered at my friends and pointed at the bagged cheese cake with my foot so that my hands could remain in their cozy state. The psychotic security guard must have mistaken my foot gesture for a kicking motion because he lost absolutely no time informing that I was rude and that I needed to leave immediately. I tried to apologize but he didn't want to hear it, so I went and stood outside until my friends followed me out laughing hysterically. She didn't even buy the cheese cake!

STUDENT FINALLY STARTS RESEARCHING HER MANY PAPERS
I am quickly realizing that I have way less time here than I think I do. The papers are stacking up and I have decided to stop procrastinating and just start them. My sister gave me an encouraging talk and told me to just start researching! So I have. Boom.

FLIGHTS FULL LEAVING MOTHER AND DAUGHTER HEARTBROKEN
Unfortunately my mum will not be able to visit me next week afterall. She was planning on flying stand-by into Manchester, but all the flights have booked up last minute. I am bummed that I won't be able to see her, but that will make seeing everyone at Christmas that much sweeter. I scrambled to fill my week off so that I didn't have to sit here all by my lonesome while everyone else traveled Europe and was able to book a trip to Munich at the end of the week. It's perfect because I will have the beginning of the week to use my reading week to actually catch up academically and then I will head to Germany with a fellow Gator!

NEW COLDPLAY ALBUM
Mylo Xyloto hit stores yesterday and I bought it immediately. I like it more and more everytime I listen to it! This is also good news for the studious side of me because as we all know, Coldplay is the BEST study music.

EDINBURGH NAMED MOST AWESOME CITY IN THE UK
My trip to Edinburgh was incredible! We made use of every minute to soak up this incredibly old city. The city is like a tree stump. The castle is at the heart of the city and it is the oldest. From there Edinburgh spreads out almost in rings, and the further away from the castle you get in any direction, the newer the city is. While we were there we explored the city, visited the old monuments, climbed an ancient volcano, hit a historic pub for dinner and drinks (no, I did not try haggis), went on a ghost tour, slept for the rest of the night, woke up early, had a 2 hour bus tour, saw the Firth of Forth, had lunch where J.K. Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter book, visited the castle, and of course went into the gift shops. It was a great trip.