Oxford and Cambridge Universities

Oxford University is the oldest university in the English-speaking world.  There is no clear date for when Oxford was founded, but teaching existed in Oxford in some form in 1096.  Oxford became very popular starting in 1167 when Henry II banned English students from attending the University of Paris. 

There are 38 independent, self-governed colleges at Oxford University and all of them are very hard to get into.  First,  you have to apply to the University.  If you are accepted you then have to apply to one of the 38 colleges in the university.  If they like your application, you are then called in for an interview.  If your interview goes well, then you're in.

A student’s life at Oxford is often very different than it would be if they went to a normal college.  For starters, you have three eight-week terms starting in October and ending in June.  Because the school year is so short, while you’re in school it can get very busy.  You would probably have at LEAST one essay a week.  This also means you will have to work a lot harder and have a lot less free time.  Some parts of Oxford life, however, can be the same as any other college you go to.  You can still join clubs and sports where you can make friends and hang out together.

Cambridge University is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world.  The university grew out of an association that was formed in 1209 when a group of scholars left Oxford after an argument with the town’s people.

Cambridge and Oxford are very similar when it comes to how you are selected, the teaching methods used, and the prestige that goes along with attending.  When it comes to classes however, they can be very different.  For instance, you can do politics, philosophy, and economics at Oxford, but not at Cambridge.

Throughout the years, many famous people have come out of Oxford and Cambridge.  Stephen Hawking (a physicist), David Cameron (the current British Prime Minister), and Dr. Seuss were some students from Oxford.  Winston Churchill (British Prime Minister during World War II), Isaac Newton (who discovered the laws of motion), and  Cockroft and Walton (who split the atom) were some students from Cambridge.

 This is one of the colleges at Oxford.

 Kings College Chapel at Cambridge.

Kings College Chapel is the only place where Queen Anne's initials (RA, Regina Anne) because King Henry VIII had them all removed.

 The tables of the dining hall at Oxford had a certain Harry Potter feel about them...

Liverpool

Have you ever heard of the Beatles?  They are one of the most famous music groups ever so I'm guessing you have.  The Beatles (John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr) were originally from Liverpool which is a city about 3 hours by train to the northwest of Nottingham.  Before I went to the Beatles museum in Liverpool I didn't know really anything about the Beatles.  After I went though I found out that a lot of songs I like were actually written and performed by the Beatles!  One thing that really surprised me about the Beatles was that they split up in the end because their manager died and they were having lots of disagreements!  I had no idea that they weren't friends anymore, especially since they'd made over 200 songs together!  The Beatles started in 1960 and split up in 1970.  There are only two of the Beatles left now because in 1980 Lennon was shot by a deranged former fan and in 2001 Harrison died of lung cancer.  McCartney and Starr remain musically active however. 

In the middle of the Beatles museum there was all of a sudden this loud beeping noise!  At first my mom said that she thought either dad or I had touched something we weren't supposed to but it turned out it was just a fire drill. =)

 This is the front of the Beatles Museum.

This is a replica of the Cavern Club where the Beatles first performed.

The other museum we went to in Liverpool was the Merseyside Maritime Museum.  This museum had stories of three famous ships that were linked to Liverpool.  They were the Titanic, the Lusitania, and the Empress of Ireland.  Each of them sunk in a famous and tragic disaster.

Many people don't know that the Titanic was owned by the White Star Line which was headquartered in Liverpool.  If you look at the back of the Titanic, you can see the name Liverpool written right under the name of the ship.  Many of the crew were also from Liverpool.

The Lusitania and Empress of Ireland were both liners like the Titanic.  The Lusitania sailed during World War I.  On the way from New York to Liverpool the Lusitania entered the war zone.  The Germans sunk the Lusitania and 1153 people died.

The Empress of Ireland was a very impressive liner designed to be competitive in the lucrative transatlantic trade.  The Empress was a very safe ship.  The crew was very well trained and it could float even if two compartments were flooded.  This did not matter however, when it collided a Norwegian collier (coal ship) and 1012 people died.

King Richard III found in Leicester

You may have recently heard of the big news that happened over here!  If not I will tell you.  During an archaeology dig they found the skeleton of King Richard the III!  Weirdly enough he was found in a parking lot in Leicester where there used to be an old church!  Richard the III was one of eight kings that they did not know where they had been buried and was the last Plantagenet King which means he was the last king of the Plantagenet family that started with King Henry II and ended with King Richard III (1154-1485).

Richard III

Before Richard was king he was Duke of York and pretty much ruled the Northern part of England while his brother, King Edward IV, who was actually king at the time, ruled the south.  When Edward died, his two sons, the eldest of whom was now to become king, went to Richard to be taken care of.  Richard put them in the Tower of London to be kept safe but after that they were never seen again. Some say that Richard had them killed so that he could become king while others said that it was King Henry VII who killed the two boys and then spread the rumor that Richard killed them so that Henry could eventually become king.  Most people think that it was Richard who killed the little boys but no one knows for sure.

The missing nephews

King Richard died at the Battle of Bosworth Field and was the last king to die in battle.  Until about two weeks ago no one knew how he had died or where his body was.  People had suspected that he was buried in the Church of the Grey Frairs but until recently they weren't sure where it was.  Now that they have found the church and Richard's skeleton they are going to have to update a few history books.

As you can see, Richard III had severe scoliosis.

This is the Leicester Cathedral where Richard will be buried.

                                                

This is the current memorial stone in the Cathedral.  This is where they will likely build the new tomb.

 Richard is Leicester's claim to fame.

Horse Riding

One of the hobbies I hated to leave behind in the US was the horse care and horse riding lessons I was getting from Julie, one of the moms from my 4-H club.  I have a lot of fun when I go help take care and ride the horses at her place.  I wanted to join some clubs over here so I could meet some other kids.  I decided to join a horse riding club!  I have already had seven lessons and they were all really fun despite the fact that a few times my toes felt like they were going to fall off because it was so cold.  Luckily, I got some woolly socks to help with that. =)   I learned in my first lesson how to trot.  It dawned on me that I would be riding using English style.  It's not too much different but the way you trot is different than the way you would trot Western style.  It's a bit too bumpy for my liking but I've gotten used to it.  The horse I've been riding is called Jango.  Jango is a very stubborn horse because he refuses to trot in the corners so he just does about half the loop.  Last time I rode him though he did a pretty good job.

This is me riding Jango

Recently I have been riding a horse called Medium Blue which is weird because she is all white!  I really like riding Medium Blue because she is faster and listens to me more than Jango does.  The only problem is that Medium is so fast that when she trots she bumps into the other horse no matter how hard I pull back because the other girl who rides horses with me rides a horse that is as slow as molasses!  Hopefully when I'm good enough at riding I will be able to go in front of her instead of behind.  I can't wait to get to know and ride all of the horses at the riding stable because they all seem like really good horses!  I wish I could ride horses there every day!

Brussels

When we got back from Paris my sisters and brother-in-law went back to the US and my parents and I went to Brussels!  Brussels is the capital of Belgium.  Belgium is next to France, the Netherlands, and Germany.  Their official languages are French and Dutch but a lot of Belgium also speaks English and Flemish.  Belgium is also known for their waffles and chocolate so I was very excited to go and try it!  We ate a lot of chocolate and waffles but I think I liked the waffles better.

Brussels is also very famous for an odd little statue called "Manneken Pis" which pretty much translates to "boy peeing".  This little statue is also a fountain and has been repeatedly stolen.  The current statue is actually a copy from 1965.  The original is kept at the Maison de Rio which is in the Grand Place.

The Manneken Pis actually has many different costumes that it wears at different times of the year.  Unfortunately I was unable to see it dressed up but if I had gone there closer to Christmas I think this is what I would have seen.

The Grand Place is a square in the center of Brussels.  It is a very popular tourist destination.  It is about the size of an American football field.  At night we were walking through the square when all of a sudden all of the buildings start to light up in all different colors like a light show!  When the light show was over we started walking away again only to find out about a minute later that it wasn't over at all!  It happened all over again but this time with a mix of different music most of which sounded like classical songs!  It was awesome!  We think it might have been for the last day of the Christmas fair because we were walking through again the next night and nothing was going on.

This is the square diring the day.

 This is the square at night.

When we were in Brussels we decided to take a day trip to Bruges.  Bruges is about one hour away by train.  Bruges used to be an important trading center because it was close to the coast but then in the 1500s its harbor silted in and was no longer able to be used.  Now it is a very touristy place and some people even call it the Venice of Belgium because of all its beautiful scenery and canals.  Some also say that it is the best preserved Gothic town in Europe.

 This is one of the canals.

This is the Bruges main square (also called the Markt) at night.  I couldn't get a good picture diring the day because they were in the middle of taking down the Christmas fair.

We saw many things in Bruges but one of my favorite things to see was the Madonna and Child. The Madonna and Child is one of the sculptures by Michelangelo.  It is said to be the only statue of his to leave Italy during his lifetime.  The funny thing was that it was on the edge of the town in a church that had only one other person besides us in it so I guess it isn't very well known.  

Paris

I rang in the new year with an awesome trip to Paris!  It was so much fun!  My sisters and brother-in-law came too!  My favorite part of the trip was seeing the Eiffel Tower!  It was huge!  We climbed all the way to the top!  The view was amazing!  You could see for miles and miles in all directions!  The Eiffel Tower was originally built as the entrance to the 1889 world fair and had a 20 year contract after which it was due to be knocked down.  Fortunately this did not happen because it was being used as a telecommunication tower.  When I was researching the Eiffel Tower I found some very interesting facts.   My favorite one though was that a con artist tried to sell the Eiffel Tower as scrap metal, twice!  I don't know how the con artist thought that was going to work!

My sisters and brother-in-law with me in front of the Eiffel Tower.

The Eiffel Tower at night.

The view from the top of the Eiffel Tower.

Some of the other things we saw in Paris were:

The Arch de Triomphe

If you look closely you can see my dad standing in front of the arch.  The arch is so big that my dad looks like a speck!

The Arc de Triomphe was ordered to be built by Napoleon in 1806.  It has seen many important events in history because it used to be one of the entrances to Paris.  One of those events was when the Germans came in to take over Paris during World War II. The Nazi soldiers walked right through the arch when taking over Paris in 1940.  About four years later Charles de Gaulle and the allied forces walked through it to take Paris back.

My second favorite thing we did in Paris was going to the Louvre museum of art!  We made very good use of our time in the Louvre and only went to see the things that we knew about or were famous because almost everyone who went there said that if you don't pick out the things you want to go see in the Louvre then it will get very overwhelming because it is so big.

  One of the things we decided to see (of course) was the Mona Lisa!  For some reason I was expecting the Mona Lisa to be big and magnificent but it was normal size and looked pretty normal to me.  I was really glad that be got to see it though, especially when I found out you could take pictures of it!

Some of the other things we saw in the Louver that I liked were:

 The Great Sphinx

The Great Sphinx of Tanis is one of the largest sphinx sculptures in existence outside of Egypt.

Venus de Milo

Some call this statue the Aphrodite of Milo.  It was originally carved between 130B.C. and 100 B.C. in ancient Greece.  

The one thing I did NOT like about Paris though was the outside bathrooms for many reasons:

1. They smelled really bad!
2. It took forever to use, line or no line, because it had to wash itself after every use!
3. Because it had to clean itself off, if you went in right after the other person came out you would get washed along with the rest of the bathroom because there is no way to stop the doors from closing or to stop it from washing itself!

At least the bathrooms were free (because most bathrooms in Europe you have to pay to use) and they were relatively clean.

 This is the long line we had to wait in.  It took about 7 minutes for every person to use.

As you can see from our faces it smelled REALLY bad!

Christingles

One of the Christmas traditions they have here in Britain is making Christingles!  The Children's Society first introduced christingles to The Church of England in 1968 and from then on it was one of the most popular traditions for families and church communities in Britain.

It is supposed to symbolise the Christian Faith.  Here is what all of the things that make up the Christingle symbolize:

The orange - represents the world

The red ribbon - symbolizes the love and blood of Christ

The dried fruits and sweets - symbols of god's creation

The lit candle - symbolizes Jesus, the light of the world

One of the fun things about Christingles is that you can supposedly eat it when you're done. =)  If you want to try to make a christingle it's actually pretty easy!  Here are directions to make the christingles:

1. Take an orange and fasten a piece of red tape or ribbon around the middle.
2. Cut a small cross in the top of the orange and lay a square of silver foil (75 mm/3" square) over it.
3. Place a wax candle on top of the foil and wedge it firmly into the orange (the foil catches the hot wax).
4. Load four tooth picks with raisins, marshmallows, or pretty much whatever you want and insert them around the base of the candle.

So now that you know how to make Christingles, maybe next Christmas you can bring an English tradition into your home. =)