Dear my faithful blog audience,

We’ve done it guys and girls, I’m now inches away from going home and I have to say it is bittersweet. This last week has been one of my best weeks here. I’ve gotten so much closer to all my friends and we’ve just been having a blast every day. It’s a good thing everything back home is so great too. This past Saturday I went into Greenwich with a bunch of my buds and we saw Andrew Bird. He was just awesome. By far the best musician I’ve ever seen. He is just an all around pro. I was spellbound. The set had a lot of new songs, which is usually a bummer, but I was just floored the whole time. So great. Afterwards we got some Spanish cuisine before taking the bus back home (it was too late for the train).
Sunday I put my nose to the grind stone and pumped out my last essays. Then at night I met up with a bunch of people and we went to the Gourmet Burger Kitchen. Delicious. I had an avocado and bacon burger and it might have been the best burger I’ve ever had. Guacamole-galore. I’m going to be barbecuing some up this summer for sure. I just got so hungry typing this paragraph.
Yesterday I had my BON ROYAGE (patent pending) get together. It was really fun, great turn out. It isn’t really my going away party though, because I think I’m seeing everyone again tonight for someone’s birthday and then on Wednesday we are doing a clue run. I’ve never done this before but my friend David has. He says its like a treasure hunt thing. We split into teams and get a clue, then we run off around town, or walk depending on how motivated the team is. You get to the spot the clue led you too. And bam! There is another clue. Then the process repeats until we meet David and Mike (who are making the clues) at a pub. Supposedly there is a prize for the winning team. I’m pretty stoked for this one. If its fun we’ll have to plan one back home.
Then on Thursday I’m heading back to New York. Crazy.

Now for my final thoughts:

Coming to London has been an awesome experience. Seeing Europe changed my whole perspective of the world. Everything seems more doable now and I definitely want to travel a bunch in the future. Especially in America, I feel like I don’t even know the place now because I’ve only been to a hand full of mostly east coast states. Desire to travel more and see everything that the world has to offer, I’d say that’s my first big change. Then I’m pretty sure I’ve become a more independent person all around. When I went to college and everything, sure it was an adjustment, but I was lucky enough to have Kait with me, plus I knew my family was just two hours away and I could see them on weekends easily enough. But going to England was the real adjustment. Drop into a new place and see if I can land on my feet. Did I? No not at all. For the first few days it was more like I land teeth first. But woohoo I adjusted, met new people, saw a whole new city and had some really terrific times. By the end of February I had been all over London and had flown to Amsterdam by myself and been totally comfortable with doing everything on my own. Plus, now I’ve got this whole new group of friends and they are all great. Also, even though I’m leaving them now, a good portion are from New York and we’ve all said we’ll meet up a bunch in the city this summer. So becoming more independent, that’s the second big change. When I came here, the main motivation was to do some of my own writing more. I’ve been able to do that a whole bunch, I did more writing this semester than I did when I was taking creative writing classes. For the most part I like it too, but I guess not enough to post to everyone on the internet. Sorry. That’s not really a change but it’s a benefit. Of course, side by side with enjoying London and getting to know all these new place and people was the reminder of everything back home. To be cliche, you don’t know how much you love something until its gone. I don’t want to turn this blog into a hallmark card, but I’ve definitely got a new appreciation for everything and everyone back home now. Big change number three. As for any other changes. I guess I’ll notice them once I’m back home. One is that the drinking age is 21 again. Weepwomp. This past week its been great out here and a couple times my friends and I got some wine and sat on the banks of the Thames and had some as the sun was going down. Too bad that’s just illegal in so many ways back home. I know I’m going to miss this place once I’m back. Like I said though, I’m lucky to have befriended a bunch of New Yorkers. I’m also lucky because now I’ve got other friends scattered throughout the country, so when I get around to seeing the rest of America I could always stop off and see them too. All and all, absolutely terrific experience. I’m really glad I did it and I guess I’ll see you are all soon!

Thanks for reading,

Roy

PS. Uncle Frank and Frank. I went to the two big bookstores in town yesterday looking for that book...sorry, but no luck.
PPS. Jack I’m looking forward to those coconut cups.
PPPS. Hi to Emily and Aunt Christine also.
PPPPS. Hello to everyone else too.

hey there everyone,

well this is it i've only got a week left abroad. this week i've been keeping busy as much as possible. nothing terribly exciting, just hanging out with friends, movie nights, going to pubs- typical english leisure activities. no pictures for you guys, sorry. yesterday i realized that one of the maybe six t-shirts i brought here has gone missing. my "built to spill" one, too. so if anyone has found it, please let me know. some things left on the agenda are: one last research paper, downloading lost, andrew bird concert, possible trip into london to see the changing of the guard (big furry hat people) and then a last stint of classes. im sure its all going to fly by. needless to say im pumped up to be back home with everyone and everything. i'd say i've had a good run over here. i think i got that whole abroad experience. has it made me a better more interesting person? well, thats for you to decide in the new poll! as for the last poll, the winning answer was wiffle ball and BBQ. so when i get back, lets get on that. i've got some library work to take care of so this will be a shorter entry. i guess ill put up an end-of-the-line-wrap-up entry sometime, tell everyone how great the concert was and how boring writing my research paper was. heck, i might even summarize the positive personality changes and new perspectives i've adopted. soooo, look forward to that entry! until then ill be enjoying my last 168 hours as an englishman.

can't wait to see you all again,
roy

Good afternoon,

Well, well, well, here’s another blog entry coming at you across the interweb. Today marks the official only two weeks left checkpoint. Its hard to believe but in fourteen days at this time I’ll be in an airport terminal, maybe going through security, maybe getting a croissant and tea, maybe buying last minute souvenirs. Holy Toledo, that gets my blood pumping. So what do I have left on the agenda for my April abroad...not too much really. I still have those darn research papers (yawn). I’m going to try to get one out the way today. I think its doable. As for adventuring, next Saturday I’m going to see Andrew Bird. This weekend still remains unbooked. I’m fine with that, but I’m also pretty sure something will be coming up.

By the way, it looks like everyone who did the poll went with the most boring answer, Friends and Family. Yes, you can pat yourself on the back, that is the correct answer. I guess I’ll try to make this week’s poll less clean cut.

Last night my friends and I did a murder mystery party. It went really well, one of the best get-togethers all semester. The idea started on Sunday when a group of us were all hanging out watching some movies and playing board games. We were playing the British game “Cluedo” which is the exact same as “Clue” except some of the weapons have British names (Knife= Dagger, Wrench= Spanner) also Mr. Green is called Reverend Green (like the Animal Collective song!). Anyway, someone else actually mentioned the idea of a murder mystery party and I was like “Well, hey guys! I’ve set-up two murder mystery parties before!”. And everyone else was like “Let’s do it!” in unison. So Monday and Tuesday, Me and my friend David met up in a couple times and wrote this whole story out. Everyone (about 10 people) got a character, complete with background info and a motive for murder. Then last night we all got dressed up (it was a 20s themed party, by the way) and went to this snazzy pub. The object of the game was for everyone to mingle and learn each others stories. David and I played the hosts and presented a list of questions to everyone (such as, Which four characters are the same age?). When someone got a question right we’d give them a clue, which was another step to figuring out the true murderer. Everyone got really into it, and it was a great time. The bonus was that people actually figured it out. We kicked everything off at seven and then at ten o’clock we let everyone give there accusations. The person who knew the most about who was the murderer and what their motive was won. I think everyone was really pleased. Anyway, it was a good time. The last murder mystery I orchestrated with DJ and, well, it kind of fell flat on its face, it just wasn’t planned long enough. But if everyone is into it, maybe we can do another once I get back home.

That was definitely the big event for the week. Classes are the same old same old, pretty much a snooze-fest, with the exception of my poetry class which can be interesting. Unfortunately, thats the class that I’ve got all my work done in. These coming essays are for the boring stuff: “Compare the representation of ‘the gentlemen’ in Dickens’ Oliver Twist and Gaskell’s Mary Barton”.... “Discuss the pros and cons of Britain’s subsides for the arts”. Both 8 pages. Zzz, Zzz, Zzz.

The weather here is really beautiful for 80% of the day. Then you get some rain for 15 minutes and its back to sun. I know I mentioned that in the last blog entry. When I was walking home that day I took some pictures which I’ve posted below. You can see that its torrential downpours, then it was really torrential downpours, then it was sunny, then drizzle, sunny again and finally ending with a rainbow. All in a 20 minute walk.

I’m pretty excited to get home, it will be fun, mostly for the volcano rolls and hitting the gym. So, I don’t know if you guys have been following the Spring music releases for this year, but I have (thanks to NPR’s all songs considered podcast) and I have to say im excited. There’s the new Wolf Parade CD, I just heard the single yesterday and I really like it. They pretty much keep with the same sound as the first record, which is really all I would have wanted them to do. Plus, after really getting in the latest Sunset Rubdown record I like anything that involves Spencer Krug. The other new stuff I heard was from the Islands, which I wouldn’t normally be too psyched about for whatever reason. But, I also heard some of that album yesterday and I was really pleasantly surprised. The song’s take some really unexpected turns while still staying concise and together great. Anyway, there is a preview of what my blog might look like once I get home and don’t have traveling stories anymore. Zzz, Zzz, Zzz.

I’m writing this blog entry in my room before heading to campus and I just realized that for the last three minutes I’ve been listening to Elton John’s “Your Song” by myself while eating a rice krispy treat and typing my thoughts on this year’s Spring music releases. I don’t really know what to think about that. I think the embarrassment is in the eye of the beholder.

I wonder how many times I say anyway or anywho in my blog entries. Until next time, enjoy some of the pictures from the murder mystery party and the stunning rainbow I saw after a fifteen minute rain spell.

Arrivederci,

Roy

hi there,

this is roy verspoor's travel blog for those of you who are joining us for the first time. this is where i log summaries of what i have done and seen here in europe. well after a week's hiatus, im back with a few new summaries to log. the perfect conversation starter is always the weather so let me start with that:

man, it has been beautiful out. the sun is shining and....oh wait, i just looked out the window and its raining now. well, on my walk to the school the sun was shining and it was warm and gorgeous. now its raining. probably when i walk home it will be sunny again. the english weather loves to keep people who their toes. last night i went out with some friends. everyone has reunited after break this week and we've been out and about all week. last night was a fun time, we went to a couple new pubs. first was o'neill's, an irish-themed pub where they put little shamrock imprints into the foam when you order a guinness. its really precious. we were there for a bit, but then when some people came to join us they got denied entry because they werent 21? very weird, since we were all allowed in already and most of us are 20. we headed out a bit after anyway. we also went to the "druid's head" which i'd never been to. it was more boring though, too crowded, too expensive. anyway, fun night was had by all.

earlier during the day, which was friday by the way, i had the last of my british life and culture field trips. we went in to parliament. it was a grand old time. riding the train into london is really nice sometimes, yesterday especially. i love trains. and i love reading books. so when i can combine those two things it gives me a real adrenaline rush and before i know it im having the time of my life. so i get to parliament and meet up with my class outside. we go in through the security checks and what have you. unfortunately you couldnt take pictures inside the building. everything in there is really really fancy and royal looking, so i wish i could have taken pictures. it was, i believe, the most ritzy place ive been too. even more ritzy than boulder creek. we had a walking tour around the whole place. its weird how much they follow tradition here. for example, in the coatroom for the house of lords there is a sign that reminds all members of parliament to please not take their swords into the house of commons. also the seats are divided by the length of two swords, so people dont fight. also, when they vote they still vote "aye" or "noe" for yes and no. when the queen comes to visit once a year for a type of state-of-union thing, a person dubbed "black rod" has to walk down to get the house of commons because the royal family isnt allowed to step foot in the house of commons, because the last one who did that was charles I and he got his head chopped off. a little history for you guys. all and all it had some pretty cool stuff to see. you can just search google for "house of lords" "house of commons" and see it all, if you are a history buff or visual learner. the house of lords is the most impressive, it has a giant gold throne for the monarch.

afterwards we had a little break before the globe. i got lunch and walked along the thames and stopped in the tate modern for a bit along the way. you might remember back to my first visit there when they had that big crack in the floor. well i guess they've finally gotten the money to start repairing that thing. thank goodness, because it was really an eye-sore. i dont think it really reflected well on the museum's upkeep.

so, then we got to the globe. i'd seen the outside before a few times, but now we got a tour inside. pretty neat looking and they still do plays there. it was good to hear the history and stuff like that. apparently the groundlings never really threw rotten fruit. but they would take fruit rinds in with them. but not to throw. instead they would hold the orange peel (or whichever fruit) up to their nose as a face mask to cover the smell of the place. also there were no toilets in the place so the people standing would just go in their spot and people with seats would go in the stairways. also no royalty ever went there, even though it happens in the movies. that whole part of town was more like a red light district with lots of prostitution going on and everything. even inside the theater prostitutes would be selling themselves in the stairways. its pretty interesting hearing about how low low-brow it all was but still shakespeare is high high brow. pretty interesting indeed.

i dont know where my next stop is, im just trying to enjoy my last few weeks here. its only 19 days left and i want to make the most of it. i do still have a few research papers to do. i want to get one done tonight and maybe even tomorrow. get the school stuff out of the way, so i can be carefree for the last couple weeks. ill put another post up later in the week probably. until then i hope you are having a great time too. and here are a few pictures. the couple at the end i took this morning. by the way its not raining anymore. sunshine again. that band at the end was really good and that tiny drummer girl, easily as good as me.

thanks for reading,
roy

so it looks like my april fools came a little bit early because yesterday england pulled another one its lets be different for no reason stunts and we had daylight savings. Luckily I'm living a life free of appointments right now. I was just in the computer lab and a lady comes by and said they were closing at five and I was like....ok, about an hour and a half left. Then another guy comes by a bit later and says they're closing soon. And in my head I thought, oh come on and hour and ten minutes is not soon. Then it all clicked. The Brits do daylight savings March 30th.

And that was the most eventful part of my Sunday. Over here I've got three weeks of Spring Break and I'm on my last week now. Most of my friends are still traveling around Europe so there hasn't been much to do. I've focused on finishing school stuff, playing ukulele and watching movies. I watched silence of the lambs last night, pretty creepy.

So back to my family's time here. After Paris we took a tour out to Bath and Stonehenge and Salisbury Cathedral. I had never seen the Cathedral and it was really enormous and impressive. I've got a couple pictures below. It was a fun little tour. My family also agreed that Bath was the best part and we wished we could have spent more time there.

The next day it was back to London touring. We hit up St. Paul's, the Tate Modern, Tower Bridge, Tower of London and Abbey Road. My family was not impressed with what Modern Art had to offer and Kyle, Maggie and I discussed all the different "artworks" we were going to do to get famous. Kyle is going to frame dirt and Maggie is going to have a hammer hammering in a screw. Pretty deep stuff. I took a fantastic Abbey Road picture of my family, which is also below.

The next day we did a very long walking trip to get to the Prime Meridian but it was worth it because Kyle got to do this.

It was really great to have my family come, lots of fun times and it made me look forward to this summer when I'll be back home again. It also made me miss eating real delicious meals and joking around with Maggie and Kyle was hilarious. So, again, England is still great but I am looking forward to getting back home.

Thanks for reading,
Roy

PS. The picture of me standing awkwardly below is me standing on the Prime Meridian.

Hello Cyberspace,

It's me Roy Verspoor again, I've got something knew to tell you. This time its about the City of Love: Paris, France. But before I get ahead of myself let me begin where all good stories begin, at the beginning. My family arrived in London last Saturday morning. In some extremely good timing Kait and I met up with them right as they were walking out of the apartment we rented. After some expensive Italian Breakfast and after I had escorted Kait to the airport I headed back to the apartment to really see the fam. I brought back a dozen Krispy Kreme donuts for everyone but not even that could wain them from the clutches of jetlag. After everyone's extensive siesta we headed out for some authentic London cuisine: Pizza hut. In case anyone has forgotten (I know Kyle hasn't) Pizza Hut stuffed-crust pizza is, in fact, really delicious and if it is at all possible you should go get some right this minute. I think I'll have Pizza Hut cater my welcome back home party.

That was just first day, by the second day we hit the ground running. I did my now patented London-in-a-day tour. Saw the London Eye, Big Ben, Westminister, the Royal Parks, Buckingham Palace and Tralfalgar Square. After realizing that our family wasn't cut-out for the central london, no-table service, pub scene we found a nice restaurant called Garfunkels. After lunch, the london-tour was extended to its furtherest sightseeing bounds and we went to the National Gallery, crossed the Thames and saw the Globe, Southwark cathedral and London Bridge. All of this in one day.

The second real day of the vacation we didn't sightsee at all, instead we went to Kingston to see my home away from home. I showed my family around town, we got TGI Fridays and my Dad got to ride on the top level of a double-decker bus...all in all a complete success.

The next day we woke up bright and early for Paris. We headed to the station and took a lightning fast train through the chunnel into France. The train ride was really nice and we all got croissants to put us in the mood. We had a nice set-up with a tour group. There were these buses that rode all around the city and we could up on and off them at each sight as we pleased. The first sight we saw was that famous giant Arch, I don't know its exact name. For the second time now I was in a country that didn't speak English and it gave me the same sudden i'm in another country feel. Adding to the confusion I found that Paris is very busy, with traffic that rivals New York. Also the streets and roads aren't really marked with lanes or directions very well. Good thing I wasnt in a rent a car because I would have crashed no more than thirty feet from the train station. Also, unlike London, there are linesssss for everything in Paris. To get to the top of the Eiffel Tower would have easily been three-four hours and when we were only in Paris for a day it didn't seem worth it. On top of that, unlike London, the Museums aren't free in Paris AND there are huge lines just to get in to buy a ticket. AND on top of that, there are all these gypsys and beggars asking you for money and trying to trick you. At least in London the people who need money learn a talent or something to get easy money. Or they just sit on the streets and ask for money. In Paris we were swarmed. It was a bit of a turn off.

Still the city was really beautiful. Actually, I think every single building we saw that day was really magnificently crafted. So much so that you started to get jaded to it. We accomplished all the sightseeing possible: that famous arch, eiffel tower, national assembly, hotel del invalides, lourve, Notre Dame, mini-statue of liberty, opera house...a good hand fill more too. In the end it was really great to see Paris, but it doesn't hold up to all the razzle-dazzle that surrounds it and its not a place I'd want to live. It wasnt quite what I expected it to be, which was this.

Here are some pictures, I'll continue with the second half of the family-visit next blog.

Until then au revoir and merci for reading,

Roi

Blog-o-rama 2008 continues:

So last Monday to Wednesday Kait and I went to Ireland to celebrate St. Patricks day. We got there just on time for a parade through Cork. Afterwards we checked into our hostel and walked around the city to see everything some more. At night time, we went to some pubs and met australian and new zealand people and went to a line-dancing place and had a great time. The next day we took a bus to Blarney. Seeing the village of Blarney was the best part of the trip. Kait and I shared a Irish Breakfast which had black pudding made of pig’s blood. It was pretty traditional. Then we saw the castle and kissed the Blarney Stone. The grounds of the castle also had a walk called “Rock Close”, this part was really beautiful. Everything was so green and magical looking. They had a bunch of signs talking about different legends that are associated with the area about witches and fairies and things. We took the bus back and then went to an Irish pub again. On our last day we looked around Cork a bit more and saw some sights we missed before: an art museum, a couple breweries, a cathedral and a bird sanctuary. The sanctuary was really pretty also. Then we headed off to the airport for our flight home. Ireland ended up being on of the nicest places I’ve visited, especially in Blarney. This is a shorter blog, I know, but I figured I’d let the pictures do the talking. I’m still in london with my family and we are having breakfast and ending out soon. Eventually I’ll have some time to post about their visit and our trip to paris. Until then enjoy the pictures:

Thanks for reading,
Roy