I've currently been listening to one of my favorite songs "across the universe" on repeat...it's a really nice, calming song. My favorite version is by fiona apple...who I recently began listening to really. She's an amazing artist despite her crack addict image. A line in the song is "jai guru deva om" which means, "I give thanks to guru deva (heavenly teacher). Personally of course it means I give thanks to my heavenly teacher --> God. And so as you've probably already guessed, this song is relevant at the moment because I'm so grateful for the opportunity he's given me to study in England. I think I've been taking it for granted lately because I've become so comfortable and re-connecting with a favorite tune has brought that to my attention. Amazing how God can use a whole plethora of things to mold and teach you, keep you accountable, and most importantly close to Him.
On another note here are some random things to catch you up on my life...I'm so behind in updating you guys so I've decided I'll just have a section in every entry dedicated to random things :)
- I have 3 Chinese, 1 Malaysian, 1 Egyptian, 1 Austrian, 1 French, 1 Irish, and 4 British roommates in my new flat (I moved from my previous place because it was getting too crazy! ahaha I'll share on that another time).
-There's a weird guy that always knocks on my flatmates door...I think he's her booty call. I wake up randomly some mornings to her crying because he's yelling at her fiercely in Chinese...Idk what the heck she does to piss him off so often. He also shares his beautiful voice with us a few times a week by singing Chinese ballads at the top of his lungs...it's lovely really...not. It used to be funny and I'd sway along in amusement as I went about my business, and now it's just like...holy crap man can you quit singing?!
-One of my favorite things to do is grocery shop...and so it may be no surprise to many of you that, that joy is still mine even in the UK. It's great fun here because there are so many different products I'm curious about and I've been testing out new things everytime! and becoming quite round in the process :D I'll be super lovable when I return so get ready!!
-It's becoming so cold lately...I thought I knew what cold felt like...I was wrong, but now I know a new sort of cold, and it stings ahahaha. I've been faring pretty well with the weather considering I'm such a wimp when it comes to the cold...it's actually quite refreshing now and i love winter apparel so it makes it even more fun I suppose :) Today was especially cold because it was extremely windy...I seriously thought I was going to fly away.
The title of my blog is indeed...Piccadilly Travels so I must of course share on my travels! First of all Piccadilly is the name of a tube line in London. The "tube" is the name of the underground metro in London. I thought that was really cute/cool. So if you hear me say tube, now you know what I'm talking about! I picked it as my title because I fell absolutely in love with the name...it's just so fun to say don't you think? "Piccadilly" now imagine how it might sound in a British accent. :)
-In the first few weeks here I explored London for 4 days, then went to Manchester on September 17th.
-The first place I visited was Dublin, Ireland... on the whim because it was really cheap at the time! My favorite part of the visit was learning about the history of Ireland...i realized how ignorant I was because I had no idea Ireland was split in two: northern Ireland (part of the UK), and "the republic of Ireland" (it's own). Hearing about the civil war and the great lengths people suffered to be liberated from England allowed me to share in that emotion if you will and it was very cool to be in Dublin (the republic of ireland) and the very park that marks the place where easter rising took place. The second part of the trip I loved was visiting Howth, a small coastal town near Dublin. It was breathtaking...I had never felt so close to nature...we walked for 6 hours straight on literally dirt paths, rocks, grass, you name it. We passed a sandy beach, a rocky beach, a dirt beach, ahahah and met the epitome of an Irish man who gave us directions which I'll try to reenact the dialogue of: "cross one road, cross two roads, cross THREE roads, then turn left, pass the inn, and walk straight until you hit the light tower." :)
-The first place I visited was Dublin, Ireland... on the whim because it was really cheap at the time! My favorite part of the visit was learning about the history of Ireland...i realized how ignorant I was because I had no idea Ireland was split in two: northern Ireland (part of the UK), and "the republic of Ireland" (it's own). Hearing about the civil war and the great lengths people suffered to be liberated from England allowed me to share in that emotion if you will and it was very cool to be in Dublin (the republic of ireland) and the very park that marks the place where easter rising took place. The second part of the trip I loved was visiting Howth, a small coastal town near Dublin. It was breathtaking...I had never felt so close to nature...we walked for 6 hours straight on literally dirt paths, rocks, grass, you name it. We passed a sandy beach, a rocky beach, a dirt beach, ahahah and met the epitome of an Irish man who gave us directions which I'll try to reenact the dialogue of: "cross one road, cross two roads, cross THREE roads, then turn left, pass the inn, and walk straight until you hit the light tower." :)
-Edinburgh, Scotland: Excuse me for further ignorance....but I didn't know Scotland was right above England :(. I'll take this time to mitigate my ignorance and inform you all that most people in Europe don't know where california is, or where new york or florida is relative to california. We are such a small part of this world. Edinburgh is amazing...as soon as I left the train station...I was so captivated by the beauty of the city. It was a different kind of beauty however; more of the impressive type. It was really eerie at the same time. Shortly after arrival, I found out it's one of the most haunted cities and then I found myself setting foot in a number cemeteries and graves...holy crap ahahah. It was a different experience to say the least, but once again I gained a needed perspective on what the country was about and what it went through. And most of all I learned so much about how religion changed the lives of so many specifically in Scotland. Martyrdom and the extent of voluntary sacrifice the people of Scotland took on is truly incredible and led me to examine my faith as well. Did you know I love sheep? well it was really special because Scotland is full of them. Did you know I love scarves? well Scotland as you'd assume, makes really nice wool and cashmere scarves. I had a field day...hehe
-During my reading week [UNI (what they call college here) gives 1 week off for people to catch up on their reading (awesome isn't it?)] my sister came to visit me so it was really special :). I visited Bourdeuax and Paris in France. My favorite thing about France was the Sacre Coeur cathedral...it was just so beautiful, and in my opinion captured the all around vibe of Paris. I looked most forward to seeing Notre Dame cathedral, which was reallyy cool, but all in all Sacre Coeur won my heart. The eiffel tower is also quite an experience...it's just something you have to see for yourself it's incredible. Lastly the food in France owns.
-During my reading week [UNI (what they call college here) gives 1 week off for people to catch up on their reading (awesome isn't it?)] my sister came to visit me so it was really special :). I visited Bourdeuax and Paris in France. My favorite thing about France was the Sacre Coeur cathedral...it was just so beautiful, and in my opinion captured the all around vibe of Paris. I looked most forward to seeing Notre Dame cathedral, which was reallyy cool, but all in all Sacre Coeur won my heart. The eiffel tower is also quite an experience...it's just something you have to see for yourself it's incredible. Lastly the food in France owns.
-Rome was the first racially colored country I visited, so it was the biggest stretch in comfort at first. Strangely I feel more comfortable in the "white" countries ahah... My favorite thing about Rome were the streets and alleys...aahahaha :) Another unforgettable aspect of Rome were the ancient ruins. The Coliseum and the forum, pantheon, etc. You just want to stand there for hours and just stare...or at least I did :) Rome has so much history and there's just so much to see...it was also really nice to see Brian. I had a lot of gelato...which I will miss immensely :D
My next destination is York tomorrow so the next entry should be much more interesting because I wont be talking about it weeks after visiting...ahahah :)
Cheers!
Anny
