Stockholm, Sweden

So let's start off at the beginning. The morning of our departure I had a meeting with John Cater from my internship with British American Business Inc. (Chamber of Commerce). The meeting lasted a little longer than expected, but all of the news was good, so I didn't mind the sprint to the EasyBus that I had to do. The flight to Stockholm was beautiful, and for the first time I had the question answered: what happens if the runway is completely iced over? They still land!

We were greeted by mounds of snow, and found out quickly that we were going to have to take a bus into the city because the trains were not operating. Funny enough, the buses probably shouldn't have been either, because right as we were about to get to the drop off location at central station, the uphill drive proved to be more than the coach bus could handle and started sliding backwards. After many failed attempts, the busdriver asked the men in the back of the bus to help push, which seemed somewhat ridiculous because they had all been partying the entire drive there. After one minor crash, we made it and eventually made it to our hostel.

The next day we spent the majority of our time sight seeing in the old city. It was beautiful to see how the original architecture had been preserved throughout wars and advances in technology and such. Another amazing thing that we were able to do was take a bus tour that just allowed us to see the city from a new perspective. Although there was an audio recording that went along with the tour, it in no way compared to the beautiful scenery that we were able to see.

We had our first encounter with horible hostel roommates who arrived at 5am in the morning, turned on the light, and wouldn't leave us alone, but we all made it through the night and got out as soon as we could, without letting it spoil our amazing weekend. We had a slight layover getting out of Stockholm, but overall the city itself was one of the most beautiful places that I have ever been and I would go again in a heartbeat if I could!

Copenhagen, Denmark

So we are officially finished with Statistics, and as a celebration and a first trip outside of England, we had planned a trip to Copenhagen!

This was definitely one of those cities that I never would have imagined ever going to. The only thing that I new about it was that there was a statue of the little mermaid there. The city is actually full of so much history. Thien has a friend who had a friend who lives in Denmark and he actually took the entire day off to walk around with us and teach us all about the city. One of the most interesting facts that I learned was the legend that the King and Queen are actually only together for publicity and it is a well known fact that they are probably both homosexual, which completely shocked me. We were also able to see sites like the Little Mermaid statue, which has had it's head chopped off so many times that they have a stash of fake bronze heads to replace it. Also, the statue was on site for teh Beijing Olympics, and instead of just putting it up, they took actual water from the harbor to make her feel at home. 

Another thing that I really enjoyed about the trip was going to the national museum. Many of the things that we saw were actually about Judgement Day and were religious, but they were some of the most intricate and beautiful sculptures that I have ever seen. I remember in middle school doing a project about this specific type of artwork that was indigenous to Denmark: they have these tri-fold like sculptures that fold up. I was able to see hundreds of these sculptures in person, which was amazing. Some of the other really amazing things that we saw were these authentic looking rooms that were decorated in an authentic feel and there was also this amazing painting that was done on a table, so that when you looked in a mirror you could see the message perfectly.

Copenhagen was unbelieveable and I can't wait for all of the other trips that we have coming up!

DunnHumby

Our first taste of a business setting while in London was our group trip to DunnHumby. This is a business that has it's headquarters in London and is known for it's work and research of statistical data. Dr. Mee had set the entire trip up and it gave us all a chance to see how and why statistics is important and how it can be utilized in the real world.

When we got there, we first sat in a room where they gave us free goodies as we listened to them talk about everything that the companies does. What definitely sets them apart from everything else is the fact they have innovated the technology and approach to which they analyze data. The atmosphere of the entire company was very open and they seemed to have so many qualities that were beneficial for younger employees.

We were able to put all of the information that they gave us into play as we broke into groups of about 6 or 7 and did similar analysis to what they do daily. We looked at the data from a grocery store and tried to analyze the customer that would have botten that cart of goods. I found this aspect of the company to be so interesting and I really enjoyed how company driven everything was.

I thought it was amazing to see the corporate atmosphere and how welcoming the company was. One of the aspects that definitely made it more appealing is when they split us up and gave us a guided tour. Jonathan Sessions, Dan Whitaker and I were with this younger Scottish woman who had only been working at the company for a shot time, but the enthusiasm that she had for the company and the city was amazing.

Overall, it was a really great day trip and we had such an amazing time. It was definitely a much needed break from our hecktic class schedules, but I think it gave all of us a greater appreciation for statistics in general.

Arsenal vs. Ipswich Town

One of the most amazing things that you can experience when you go to the United Kingdom is a traditionnal futbol game! What I have been taught wrong for my entire life... is that Soccer does not exist in the UK. James and Will had put together a group of 10 for the game. Although none of the girls had any idea about what was going on, we still had an amazing time.

I don't think I have ever felt like so much of a fan as I did on the way to the game. We had all bought jerseys, so we matched and definitely stood out until we got closer to the stadium. Will made sure that everyone knew that we were going by constantly chanting and saying popular arsenal cheers while chanting "We love Cesc Fabregas" over and over again.

When we got to the stadium we were completely shocked when we found out where are seats were. Of course we assumed that we would have horrible seats in an area that wouldn't see much of the game because we really didn't pay much and these games are supposed to be out of control. Of course being the lucky group that we are we ended up getting box seats that were completely amazing! Although we were the youngest by far in our section, we had an amazing time and learned a thing or two about football. The night definitely turned into a memorable one... and will never be forgotten especially since the majority of the night was caught on Will's flip camera!

Oxford, England

I am extremely behind on my posts, so I will go ahead and start where I left off.

Dr. Mee, our Statistics professor, set up a day trip to Oxford. We have been doing a study of C. S. Lewis through Dr. Mee's discussion of The Question of God. This was a great way for all of us to talk about our beliefs while getting to know each other better.

Through the study we all went together on a trip to Oxford, which is where C. S. Lewis taught and lived for a good part of his life. Not only were we able to learn about him from Dr. Mee and see the college he taught at (The New College), but we were also able to learn all about Oxford University. Some of the amazing things that we were able to see were Magdalen College, Radcliffe Camera (seen on the right), Christ's Church, Trinity College, and a bunch of things related to C. S. Lewis. And now I can officially say that I've been to Oxford University... complete with a shirt and all!

The Globe Theater and the Tower of London

The first site on our FSU guided tour was of the Globe Theater. Known for being the center for entertainment at the time, the Globe was Shakespeare's theater and inspiration that influenced the way that he wrote and directed the majority of his plays. The most important thing that I learned was that this was not actually the Globe Theater. The real Globe burned down many years ago when they were using a cannon for a sound affect and it caught the thatched roof on fire. Now because of all of the fire regualtions in London after the great fire that they had in 1666, there were a couple skeptics who didn't like the idea of putting a giant wooden/thatch buldings in the center of London, but it was really neat to get a general idea of what the building would have looked like in the day even though this building was built in 1996.

Next we went to the Tower of London which ended up being my favorite tour and site that we have seen this far in London. I was surprised that the Tower was not actually a very large tower, but the building was made to be a fortress for the city of London. It was designed to be used as not only a prison but also a home for some of the Royals up until the 13th century, but also as a site for a lot of beheadings of very influential members in the British history.

Besides the history of the Tower, we were able to see all of the Crowned Jewels. Many of these had been used in coronations, but they included crowns and septors that had the largest hand cut diamonds in the world. There was also a large exhibit in the White Tower, where the Royal guests stayed because it was built in order to be a fortress in itself, of the armor that was worn by the kings and princes.

I feel like the sites that I saw today are some of the most influential sites in the historical makeup of London and I know that I would have never gone and done these to this extent by myself. I just know that there are so many more of these throughout the city, and of these I am hoping to make it to Parliament and attend services and tours of the major Cathedrals within the next couple of months.

Bath, England

For our first free weekend from planned Florida State activities, a group of 9 of us decided to go to Bath. The city is known for being a site of the famous Roman Baths and is also located near Stonehenge. We left thursday night on the train and arrived around 00:00. After getting completely lost and helped by complete strangers, who happened to be around our age and acted as tour guides for our walk to the hostel, we were finally able to relax and enjoy our vacation.

Our first day was spent taking a tour at the Roman Baths

We learned all about the history of these heated baths that have been around since about 75AD, which probably doesn't sound very cool, but these were the entertainment of the day and acted as the spa for the public to go and worship, in this case, the Goddess Manerva. The tour highlighted the time in which the baths were at the height of their popularity and gave details about the lifestyle that surrounded them.

On Saturday we took Mad Max's tour which took us to Stonehenge and to Lacock, which was the site of a lot of filming in the Harry Potter movies.

Stonehenge was beautiful, but also probably the windiest place that I have ever been. It is crazy to think that these 7 ton rocks were carried 100s of miles from their origin to this location. I really enjoyed learning about all of the theories for why the monument was built, but seeing it in person was an unreal experience. Then the rest of the tour was going to Lacock where we were able to see Goddrick's Hollow, the house of Professor Slughorn, The graveyard where Harry's parents were buried in the movie (which happened to be right behind the church where Camilla's daughter was married), and the house that was used as Harry's parents house (where they were killed) in the movies.

The rest of the trip was spent enjoying the city, seeing the Royal Cresent and the circus, having tea at the Pump Room, which is where all of the aristocrats had tea, and doing a little shopping.

Week 1

So I have been horrible about keeping this updated, but now that I have recognized that I am going to start from the beginning and throw a couple posts in because a lot has happened:

The first week in London was a complete blur. Running around and getting familiar with the city mixed with starting classes was so much. We had a couple scheduled tours that took us to all of the big landmarks that show the history of London, but I think I enjoyed our walking tours that we took around the city the most. Audrey, my roommate, and I started going on walks just to get familiar with Bloomsbury, but it has ended up being some of my favorite memories of the first week.

I've arrived!

After an eventful morning of losing things, saying goodbyes and trying not to forget anything important, I made it to the airport, through Hartsfield-Jackson and survived my 8 hour flight. It's been a long day and I'm definitely ready to take it easy.