Hello Everyone,
My journey in London is continuing to be a life changing experience!!! And since posting last week I have a lot to talk about! I can truly say I am feeling settled in at my new home and University! Everyone here has been extremely helpful and kind regarding my questions and needs. But now back to the fun, crazy and exciting stories….
RUBY WORLD CUP 2015: Never in my life have I followed Rugby or even knew the rules of the game or what is was about. However, Rugby in the UK is like the Super bowl in Football for us in the U.S. I was sitting my room when one of my host brothers, John came running up stairs shouting my name…the conversation went as followed…
John: Ty! Ty!
Me: Hey John! What’s up
John: Are you not coming with us mate?
Me: Ehh I don’t think so.
John: Why not?!
Me: I don’t know…do you want me to come
John: Of course mate, but only if you want to. It’s going to be really mad! Everyone gets mental!
Me: Alright, I’ll come!
John: Perfect, we are going to leave in an hour. CHEERS!
Now you have to understand that since I did not know how this game was played and I didn’t know the rules I was worried I would be bored and not have a good time. However, I thought to myself, “When am I ever going to see a pro Rugby game in the UK again?” My roomie, Ben and our three host brothers David, Peter and John all went together and it ended up being a great time! We joked around and took pictures with an enlarged world cup trophy and had a table in the front of the big screen for the Fan Zone viewing of the game. England beat Fiji and the crowd was amazing! Singing, “Swing Low Sweet Chariot” and throwing beer in the air for celebration. After the game we all went to MAC Donald’s as it’s pronounced here in the UK and then went home after a long night! (Pictures will be below)
SIGNING UP FOR THE TENNIS TEAM!: Last Friday there was a big club and sport sign up event. All of the sport teams and clubs had little tables and booths for students to sign up and gather information about a particular sport. Of course I found the Tennis team right away and was excited to know that there were indoor courts available to the members of the team. Apparently, I had been the talk of the team seeing that I was from the U.S. and one of St. Mary’s study abroad ambassadors had bragged about me to the the tennis and said that I would make a great contribution to the team. When I went to sign up, a few of the guys were at the table and the first thing they said to me was, “Are you the American?” I laughed and said, “Yes!” They were excited and said that usually the participation for guys on the team was low and that they would be happy to have me. They gave me a schedule with the practice times and matches.
The first practice was this Monday from 7am-9am…SO EARLY!! It was a great time though. Everyone was getting back into the game and it was nice to just hit around and shake some rust off. I look forward to knowing the guys on the team better and competing for St. Mary’s!!!
1st DAY OF CLASS!! RACE & REPRESENTATION: Monday was also my first class which is called, Race and Representation (Sociology). Originally the class was supposed to be from 10am-1pm but the professors pushed it back to 11am-1pm..YESSS!! It was also nice that we were given a thick and large booklet with all the course readings we would need! SO NO MONEY NEEDED FOR A TEXTBOOK!! I was loving this class already and we hadn’t even started anything! We went over the basic components of the class and the assignments that would make up our grade. Two papers and presentation is our overall assessment!! I am excited and curious to see how the conversation of race will go in the class. I am also very interested in the what the topic of race is like here in the UK.
AND NOW FINALLY THE MOMENT YOU ALL HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR…Peggy!:
Well you will have to keep on waiting just a little longer! The actual days of the funeral was this past Sunday and Monday. I am told Peggy is supposed to return home on Tuesday or Wednesday. I know I am just as curious as all of you!! The suspense is killing me! Everyday people are still asking me, “Have you met Peggy yet?” Haha. She has become famous amongst the fall study abroad students. I am also thinking about adding a part to the blog called “Tea with Peggy.” I’m told she enjoys tea and talking about everything!!! I CAN’T WAIT!!!! I promise next blog I will introduce her to all of you! I hope she likes taking selfies, that way I can post the picture of us two on here!
I wake up everyday and I am still in shock that I am here….in LONDON!! I am truly thankful for this experience! I can’t wait to share my next bundle of experiences! But until next time…
CHEERS,
Ty G.
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