Site Visit: alternative Italy

Italy: Describe the architecture and the formal landscapes. Describe the gift shop(s). Explain the relationships you see between Byron's poems about the Abby (or Childe Harold in Italy). Contrast Rome with your experience of Sherwood Forest and the Yorkshire moors. Explain the influence these places might have had on the authors in the context of their writing.

As soon as I stepped off the plane I had realized Rome was going to be some kind of experience. Airports are normally at least a little chaotic, but Romes' airport was worse than Orlando's and Atlanta's airport put together, but 1/18th the size. Then we had getting to our hotel. I am 21 and I thought I had multiple mini heart attacks on the way there. I always thought that when there are lines painted on the road, they were there for something. But in Rome I guess it is used as some sort of art work because no one seemed to pay ANY attention to them at all. It was like we were driving along and all of a sudden the cabi is trying to fit this car where I would not even try to squeeze my body through. Finally we make it to our hotel. The first thing I realize is the atmosphere. It has almost done at complete 180. It is the peaceful beautiful Rome I had always thought about. Beautiful buildings designed in a Tuscany architecture, with flowers over hanging everywhere. Color is just everywhere. And It seemed the places that did not have color, they seemed to put it right in. Rome did not have many flower beds or things of that nature. But what Rome did have was huge parks. One of the only reason's we were able to find any certain place in Rome was because we most likely got lost. But that normally turned out to be a good thing. While we were walking around for every block there was at least 2 'Roma' gift shops. At these places the only thing that a person could find there was some object with 'I Love Roma' on it. If you wanted you Italy t shirt to say anything else...tough luck on your part. But on one of our many trips into the streets of Rome we did stumble across a store that gave us a good laugh. The store was called 'Byron'. The main person we have been searching everywhere for. We made a point to ask our tour guide's about him and the only thing we could get out of that was there MAYBE something about him in the park. Instead of finding a real statue of him. We found a contemporary clothing store. Now to say this store was named after him, I personally could not tell you. But I did find this situation funny. But I did feel like Rome would suit Byron pretty well. While we were getting the tours through Rome he reminded me a lot of the Romans. All about themselves. The beautiful people, the festivals at the Colosseum with people fighting huge animals(for fun?) and parties congratulating Constantine on his victory. With them, I think Byron would have fit it very well. Maybe that is why he loved to travel so much, he felt more 'at home' with the more self centered people at that time. When I think about what Byron loved and thought was beautiful the quote, 'beauty is in the eyes of the beholder' really stands out in my mind. Yes, Rome is beautiful. But one of the reason it is beautiful is the place. The exotic nature and architecture. Not the lavish parties and whatever would go with that. But maybe that is what Byron thought was beautiful. I think that is why I enjoyed Robin Hood a lot more than Byron. Robin Hood stuck to his grounds and took what was given to him (Sherwood Forest) as saw how beautiful it was without all the glam and makeup. I believe the forest has a more powerful effect on people than the places Byron was talking about. Thus, showing why I just do not really enjoy him that much.

'The Modern...' Now when I was given this task, I had to find the modern in the forest. And when I started to see my vision of the modern, it started to make me kind of mad. We are the modern, and I feel like we barged in the forest and are trying to control something that should be out of our power.

'The Sublime...' This thought I feel is completely individual. For ever person, they have a different Sublime. The Sublime can be anything. It doesn't matter if it is big or small, or doesnt even have a shape. Its the one thing that takes your breath away. It is something that makes you feel so small, or powerless, in a good way. It makes a person just stand there in complete awe.

'The Romantic...' This is in relation more to the era of Romanticism. The best way I can describe is in the quotes, 'all good things must come to an end' and 'love is hurts.' This is slightly depressing, but at the time of the picture its a beautiful thing. So people must appreciate the now.

'The Picturesque...' These are pictures that I consider eye candy. When people look at them all they say is 'aaawww'.

Site Visit: Sherwood Forest

Sherwood Forest: Describe the museum, the gift shop, and the forest. Compare these places with your imagination of the setting in the stories you read. Explain what the museum emphasize about the character, what the gift shop interprets as important in the stories, and how bring in the forest affects your impression of the stories and characters.

When I got to Sherwood Forest parts of it were almost exactly as I thought they would be. The forest was almost like it was cut right out of the book, or the other way around. The main thing that caught my eye was the color of the forest. People are probably like, grass and trees are green, what is the difference? But there was something about this forest that was MORE green than back at home. Also, the sea of ferns added to the comfort of this forest. I loved how there were these huge Oak trees everywhere. The branches of the trees grew at such a weird angle also. The gift shop was just like any other gift shop I thought. Only selling the main thing that brings the big groups of people in. In this case it was Robin Hood and his stories. Everywhere I looked all I saw was green costumes, bow and arrows and feathers. Now what did surprise me was the museum. The museum focused on the story and history of Robin Hood. it gave all the background of the little town at that time. The museum was also covered from floor to ceiling in decorations, making me feel like I was in the forest.

Numebr 7.

7. Notice what is being taught in your classes. Pay attention to what you are learning in class and how it relates to daily life or daily practices. Note how your learning is different during study abroad compared to learning in the classroom at home. Now this question I feel relates to me the best, besides my toilet issues. Before I even hit college, I knew I would go into something in the sciences or health field. Or art, if I ever could make money off of it which would never happen. One major reason I did this was because I could NOT stand English, literature or history classes. I just found them so boring. So when I first signed up for the study abroad, I signed up for the water color class. But then that got canceled, so it was either not go or take the literature class. So I figure for my major I will have to take a literature course soon enough. So I was thinking...why not? I should just get it done and over with. And plus if Im studying abroad maybe that will make it tolerable for me. And boy was I right. Who knew that I, Lauren Scheper, would actually LIKE a book like Wuthering Heights?! I didnt know it was possible. Im not to sure if it is because Im actually over here in Europe or if its because the people im with or just both. Im pretty sure it is mostly both. Being over here in this beautiful manor really puts a person in the mindset to learn about all the forms of art. Literature included. Also the people I am with do help out a lot. My Professor is like a walking Wikipedia (but one with only the RIGHT facts, if that is possible). So how could any moment be considered dull? To add to that, there are two other teachers in the group. Josie is a high school English teacher, and she is always looking to teach with a twist. Sometimes it is nice cause she tries it out on us I feel. More so me because most of the time I am the one lost. But then it gets all figured out. The second teacher is Christy. She is a second grade teacher and I feel she understand my mind a little more. Not saying that I have a second-grade mind level but more like, she can break things down so anyone (a second grader) could understand it. Then there is everyone else, another two teachers in trying, a soon to be social worker/lawyer and then the art-machine. The last group of people just all join in and give opinions and sometimes, the way a person puts an idea I automatically get. And sometimes it goes right over my head. With all these people I feel like Im learning about how you can take a book and look at the text a million different ways. Some people see it one way and some see it other ways, which is completely fine. But then when we are learning about the literature and going to these different places, Im learning some history as well. And since I am actually at the place, it grabs my attention better, and it seems that I understand it better. Rather than just looking at pictures in a book. So now that I have all this new information it seems like my brain is kind of buzzing with information and now I am finding myself questioning things more. And forcing myself to try and look at everything in more than one view. We have even looked at some old art work. And even though I am used to looking at art work, Im trying to combined the meaning I see there and the history and literature I have been shown.

Number 1.

Number 1. Listen carefully to the language being used around you. Listen for common ways people use formulas such as greetings, introductions, saying good bye, apologizing, or asking for favors. Pay attention to how loudly or softly people in groups speak and how they use their hands when they talk. Note non-verbal behavior such as how much people touch each other, smile, shake hands, etc. Listen also for words you don't know.

So far, the places i have been to which is not many are all the same. Which I find kind of odd because so far every place is so different. It seems that the general greeting is something along the lines of 'good day'. And the farwells and thanks you's have all been 'cheer's!'. Where back at home, it was only a simple 'hey', 'good-bye' and 'thank you'. Also, most of the time if it was a complete stranger there was emotion behind it. People just say it out of habit, and it was what they were taught. Only the rare occasion will you find a person who actually gives two hoots about you, I feel. But then I think about England and Scotland. Now these two places share the same lingo, but have completely two different atmospheres to them. England people are very very polite and quite. I have found this with more of the older crowd of people. It gives me the feeling of being at a royal ball or something along those lines. And you what that makes me wanna do? Run through the halls jumping and making as muych noise as possible. But I with the younger crowd I feel like it is split in half almost. Also I have noticed that it the personal space seems to be a big thing. Sometimes I have a hard time reading people though. But to make up for the big personal space it seems that they talk with their hands a lot. Now with the Scottish. They are 180 degrees different than the British. As soon as I walked out of the train station I could hear people everywhere. And the noise did not stop till about 4:30. It seemed to me that they the people there were just so interested in other people. At first I thought it was because it was a Saturday and everyone had the day off. But then sunday rolled around, and the city was still hopping away with energy and noise. The only way i can descirbe it is like a mini New York city, but only with the happy-buzz like feeling and not dirty. And to think that England and Scotland are so close to eachother, but completely different. Then I think about how both of those can even compare to the US. The only way I can compare is that it seems that in the US we are more about oursleves. Now Im not talking about every US citizen but, for the most part the people home would not go out of thier way to tal to some random stranger. Then main tihng that I have learned is that I need to go with the flow of the crowd. And I don't really mean my group. But the people that live here. An example of this is when we were on the train. If we were on a bus back home, you could hear people talking about whatever. But on the train here, its almost completely silent. So what do I do? I keep my mouth shut. And if I do have a conversation, I keep my voice at a low volume. and then when I got to Scotland, I had no problem with letting my voice be its normal loud self. It is a known fact that most people just want to fit in, especially if they are not from that country. So that is what I have been trying to do, but still have fun of course.

Site Visits: Haworth

Haworth: Describe the museum, the gift shop, and the moors. Compare it with your imagination of the setting in the novels you read. Explain what museum emphasizes about the novel, what the gift shop interprets as important in the novels, and how being in the town and country affect your impression of the novel.

When we first went into Haworth, I didn't really know what to expect. At first we walked from the hostel down into a little town that didn't have much in it, besides the normal shops. The whole time I was wondering where the moors in the book could be. But the we hiked up a street with a pretty drastic pitch to it. There were the most adorable houses and stores all lining the street side. Every other store or bed and breakfasts name had something to do with the Bronte sisters. An example of this would be the Heathcliff Bed and Breakfast and the Bronte Hotel. This shows that the people in this town are all about the Bronte sisters and what they ended up bring to this little town. Now tourist and Bronte fans from all over come and see this little town. But when I was walking up the street I still could not understand where these moors were. Then after listening to the tour guide about the background of the Bronte family we went outside. At first we started at their house. Which in my mind, I pictured to be a lot bigger for some reason. Then we passed the school that Charlotte had taught at. But what caught my attention was this grave yard that was basically at the foot of the front steps of the house. The tour guide was giving us information about the history of the grave yard. Then she asked us to guess how many people we thought were buried there. I believe someone said 11,000. As soon as that was said the tour guide kinda laughed and told us they have on recorded 42,000 people buried in the grave yard. then she continued to tell us how they had to stop burying people there because the water was going right through the caskets and contaminating their water at the bottom of the hill. Gross. After that she continued to show us the beginning of the trail that the sisters used to hike. After we were done with our tour we all gathered in the gift shop. I was not surprised about the items in the gift shop, but surprised about how the story was portrayed. It seemed that on almost all of the Jane books, there was a picture of Jane on the cover. In my mind that makes perfect sense. But the covers on Wuthering Heights were all so different. The main cover that was used for that was a picture of the landscape. But others had pictures of a female on the cover, and most of the time I could not tell if it was Emily Bronte or Cathy Earnshaw (Linton). I feel like the cover that best describes the story would be the one with the landscape on it. Because in the story I feel like the landscape is almost a mirror image of the feelings. As the landscape changes so does the emotions, and vice verse. The next day we hiked the moors. Now this was an experience. Through the rain and the massive amounts of sheep poo I made it to the falls. While I was hiking up these moors I got a completely different view on their daily walk. Because it is not a walk in the park to say, it was a hike. A very long hike to make almost everyday. These girls needed some major motivation to walk these moors. At first it does not seem to bad to be walking through these beautiful hills with fields of Heather all around you. But then you pass 2 miles and it starts to get a little hard. I also have to take into consideration my gear to compared to the gear that they would be wearing. And I have to say I had it a lot better then they did. I had my umbrella, gym shoes and nice warm jacket on and when I reached the falls, it had felt like I did a marathon. With that in mind, I look back at Wuthering Heights and I have a completely different look at what the moors are now. And I give Heathcliff and Cathy a little more respect than I did before. (On the last picture turn your head to the right.)

Number 5.

5. Pay attention to how your daily habits of eating, washing, and entertainment work in this new place. Note what you have changed to accommodate the new facilities. Notice how your level of physical activity has changed.

When I first got here I figured that my normal habits would pretty much stay the same.. as much as they could. Things like going from having my own bathroom, room and shower I knew would change. But when I got here, I was surprised at how nice everything was. Not that I thought everything would be bad, but more like a college dorm back in the States. I am not to sure if it is the people staying here have more respect for the Manor or if its the staff that works here. Or a combination of both. All I know is that have almost no complaints so far. One thing that has changed is my physical activity. I try to be active as much as I can. Back at home I try to go running as much as I can in between work(s) and school. But the difference between this place and home is that home is not 5 flights of stairs to get to my room, and having class basically in the basement. Now today I was really really curious and I counted about 96 steps , one way going up. Now think, if a person goes up to they have to come down! And that is a LOT of steps. All a person has to do is look at the outside of the manor and see how huge it is! Anyway, it has given my calves a nice work out to say the least, but what can that hurt? Also, it is nice not to have to worry about rushing to work and spending all day/night there. With that time I get to do my short little 2 mile run, up and down the drive way. That helps me relive the small amount of stress that I have here. When I think about my eating habits it is hard to tell if there is any difference. I say this because when I am at home and I am busy I really do not eat that much. And here, we are always doing SOMETHING. So I have been keeping pretty busy and sticking to about 2 meals a day (I haven't made it to breakfast yet..oop's). I also can't complain about the food, so far they have not had anything I don't like. And if they do they have something I do like. One of the cool things that they do here is that they do not have any pop. The only drinks that they have is juice, coffee, tea and water. I feel like that is very interesting. Who needs massive amounts of sugar and liquid that will rot your teeth away? When I think of how to compare here to home and what I take for granted, there really is not much. There is really only one thing that i really take for granted. Now if you do not know me and your reading this, I don't care, you can judge me all you want. But unlike you the people that do know me will not be to surprised. So back to what I take for granted. I take for granted the toilets back home. The ones over here are just not comfortable. They are just so big and round I feel like I will fall in! And if that were to happen, it would be bad-news-bears. Lets just all hope that I don't slip and have that happen.

Number 3.

3. Note the emotiond you are feeling as you experience your study abroad program. Pay attention to how you react to new situations as will as the other people in your group. Notice how emotions are expressed in your American group and in groups of people in the place where you are staying.

Since I have arrived in England I have surprised myself in some ways. What surprises me is the way that I am taking everything in. Normally I would be kind of nervous figuring everything out and putting everything together so I would not hit any bumps in the road. But so far I am just relaxing and going with the flow. Also when I am learning something new, I haven't been asking many questions, but just taking everything in. Or trying to take as much in as possible. With Harlaxton manor, there is more than enough to try and take in. It seems like our group is very diverse with taking everything in. It is almost split in half. The first half take everything in and are very verbal with it, asking questions and things of that matter. Where the other half, me included, lets everything just soak in. I think that with different situations people will react almost the same way, as when they take information in. Either they speak their concern or just sit back and watch everything happen with nervous eyes. But I found that everyone here, including the people that live here are really relaxed. But I have to keep in mind that I have not been here that long. Also, the only people from the UK that I have met have been people affliated with the school. So they were very welcoming. they also have a charm to them, that I wish I could have.

And so it begins...

..And so it begins, the time that is the MOST stressful part of traveling. Packing. Nerves are high and tight, but once we all get on the plane it will all be resolved. And that is one of the reasons I sit here now, writing this. I do not want to pack. All I can do is sit here and think of what I could have done in the past few days, and the only thing I can think of is this. Procrastination. But then I think about where I am about to go and what I get to see and that thought alone puts me back in the mindset of getting ready/packing mode. And it makes me wonder about me being over there, facing a whole, kinda different-kinda not, world. Lets just hope that I can be a little more graceful over there, and not blow up that beautiful manor I will be spending the next few weeks in. This trip should be interesting....