Week 2 Update

This is going to be a short post, because we are about to eat what is going to be our best meal to date in Cambridge, Pizza Hut. Laugh all you want, but air conditioning, ice, pizza, and free refills is pretty much VIP treatment. Soccer,volleyball, and punting have consumed most our time during the afternoon (after several hours of studying, of course), which has led to some pretty sore legs, arms and other areas of the body. I managed to even get parallel with the ground before landing flat on my back. Taking one for the team, I guess. Punting has to be one of the best workouts possible the first time you attempt it. I managed to only hit two guided tours, including one full of people from somewhere in East Asia. Don't worry, they all will have 200 copies of the same picture of me doing everything possible not to hit them and for me not to fall in.

As for this past weekend, aside from our Wimbledon experience, which was absolutely awesome, (minus the 100 degree and flat out funky smelling underground ride from Wimbledon to Kings Cross) we decided to hang out in Cambridge and enjoy the town. Mission accomplished. We even managed to find the best air conditioner in town while meeting several of the locals. Nice people really. One of them even said "What's up, y'all?" in what I might add was her terrible attempt at a Southern accent.

We've got a full schedule coming up with legal London on Friday, followed up with a quiet trip to Amsterdam this weekend. Obviously, none of us have ever been to Amsterdam, but are looking forward to it. We managed to find an awesome Hostel with flat screen TV's and in the middle of everything...something tells me there's a catch. The college bar opened this week which has been a nice, cheaper change from the expensive night life of Cambridge. Cheap beer here is about 2.50 pounds, or roughly $4.00. Last night we got to see some of the other colleges thanks to Michael who had some connections here in Cambridge. Friendly people. They seem to like the game Jenga as well...I'll have a better post with pictures after this weekend's festivities! Oh, and have any of you tried the wine, Sherry? I have no doubt in my mind it could be used as an alternative fuel source. Absolutely horrible and the locals drink it like water. Brutal. Anyway, hope everything is going well back home and you're all enjoying air conditioning, ice, TV, and any other sense of normal life that is lacking over here. No, I'm not bitter. ha Talk to you soon.

Until my next post,

Life's a garden. Dig it.

Woodard

More Pics from Week 1

Just some pics from London, queueing and Wimbledon!

Cambridge: Week 1

If the next five weeks are going to top my first week in Cambridge, I'm in for the best trip I will probably ever be a part of. I have met an awesome group of people that I spend pretty much any time I am out of my room with. We come from law schools at Arkansas, Ole Miss and Texas Tech. I don't even know where to start with this week's events. First, I'll get the boring stuff out of the way. Class with the British professors is great. They love us being here and it shows. They couldn't be nicer. The food on the other hand, is well, below par. All the stories about English food lacking are true. We take odds on who can get closest to what we will actually be having for lunch. Breakfast is the same everyday, including baked beans. Yes, baked beans. I've started to realize the little things we take for granted such as water in our rooms that we can drink and cold sodas. Both are tough to find. As for some of the experiences:

We all managed to find the most popular pub for English fans in Cambridge to try to find the U.S. soccer game. As you can imagine, we failed. However, watching England with these people was a much better experience. We throw hats to celebrate graduation. England fans throw cups of beer when England scores. I'm not joking. I wasn't really sure why our beers came in big plastic cups, but I soon found out why. I got hit by at least three of them during the goal and the victory. My clothes are still drying. We then turned our attention to London yesterday and the ambition of getting into Wimbledon. To sum it up, Wimbledon is what I would consider an athletic Woodstock. When we got to London we hadn't booked a place to stay. We figured, well it's a city of 5 million people, plenty of cheap places to stay. The first place we go to ask, a 5-star hotel. Note, don't ask at a 5-star hotel where the nearest hostel is. We were ran out of the place as they cussed us out the door. However, we managed to find a hostel on the Wimbledon side of London that was perfect. There was six of us and we had a 6 bed room with our own bathroom, which is crucial. I'm not a fan of sharing showers, especially with people I don't know, especially people I don't know from different countries. Gross. Anyway, as we ventured on the town, we must have stuck out like, well, Americans. I don't know if it was the Polo shirts, cologne, or the gazing around like lost dogs. A guy approached us that worked for a place called Zoo Bar (look it up) and offered to let us see the place, which was in a safe, lit area (don't worry Mom), and claimed there were already 400 people inside and he would allow us to skip line and cut us a deal on cover since we were American. We took him up on it, and I'm glad we did. It was great. Perfect way to spend a night in London. Even met some Californians, which, by the way is nice to hear an accent that is much closer to yours.

After a good night's rest (ha) we started our adventure to Wimbledon. Incase you don't know, you can line up (queue) and get day passes on the day you want to go. The only problem, you have to get there 3 hours before gates open and there are already 7,000 people ahead of you. Actually 7, 417. My queue number was 4, 718. After ariving at 8, we managed to stand in line, in the burning sun, but finally got in Wimbledon at 2 p.m. Needless to say, it was an experience that I'm so glad I did, but can't say it's on my list to do again. The area you wait is a gigantic field that everyone brings food, beer, tents, papers, foreign accents, anything you want just about. In fact, some Dutch guys behind us actually bought some beers off us for 2 pounds each. Money in the pocket is better than a warm Fosters any day. And I do mean warm. When you can't feel a cold beer through the box, you know it's warm. Warm beer is common, and I can't say I'm used to it, but it's ok. Kabab shops help keep you fed in a somewhat normal manner and go good with a warm beer. Anyway, our trip to Wimbledon was a success. We got in the gates and picked a court. When we sat down we asked a lady who was playing and she said of all things, Roger Federer is about to have a practice session. We were on the front row. I knew this couldn't be true. The pictures below will prove she was right. Watching him warm up was awesome. I can't imagine what returning a serve from him would be like, much less getting drilled in the hip by one. It would hurt. Bad. What more could you ask for? Wimbledon, VIP club access (sortof) and Roger Federer. Needless to say, it's been an awesome first week. Eight of us will be traveling to Amsterdam next weekend, so I can't wait. I'm about to get a little nap in, but I hope everyone is doing awesome back home. I'm so lucky to be here, and I know it's only going to get better. Talk to you all soon. Miss y'all! Here's a few pics, btw. I'll do another post with all pics! Bye!

Until my next post,

Life's a garden. Dig it.

Woodard

Hello from LONDON!

Hey y'all! It didn't take me long to make it known that I wasn't from London. "Ya'll" came out of my mouth at customs and the nice lady quickly realized I was from somewhere in the Southern USA. After an 8 1/2 flight from ATL, two movies, two meals, and some pretzels, I finally made it. London is amazing. I've been here less than 8 hrs and there have already been so many firsts for me. I just got back from walking the streets of London, simply taking pictures with no sense of where I was going to end up. This city is absolutely beautiful. If you've ever been to the French Quarter in New Orleans, you know how historic and unique it is. Now imagine a city of 4 million people with nothing but that architecture and atmosphere. Everywhere you turn is something different. Musuems, parks, and pubs round out almost every corner. I managed to find a pub called "A Friend in Here" that had a St. Bernard as a logo, so I tried it out. Of course, I had to have a "pint" and the famous fish and chips. Yes, it's as cliche as going to Graceland and Rendezvous on your first trip to Memphis, but I don't care. English food is, well, different. Much more bland than American food that I am used to, but nothing a little (or a lot) of pepper can't fix! The beer, however, is good. I simply picked one that looked good and got it. Worked out well. I think it was somewhere around 11 pounds for everything, which is about $16. Not too far from normal in a big city I would say. I guess that's what this is all about: trying new things. I found it random that fish and chips also included a side of peas. I'm assuming that's custom here, but just seemed strange. However, I ate them and they were fine. Hump, Hub, Knoll: You would eat all this stuff, no problem.

I've noticed elevators (lifts as they are called here) seem to be popular. However, escalators are not, as I have yet to see one. Getting through the airport would be like reading a Greek Children's book. Really, really tough. Especially with 7 weeks worth of luggage. I refused to pay for a taxi and told myself I was going to use the train to get into London. Well I did. My first train experience was awesome. Pretty cool way to come into the city by seeing the country side and then gradually trend into the urban area. Once I got into London, I decided I would cab it the rest of the way, simply because draggin around my luggage was getting old. I'm glad I did. My cab driver was awesome. I read that you always get a quote before getting in a cab. My quote was right on. I also got a pretty scenic route to my hotel. The first historic landmark I saw in London was Buckingham Palace. Pretty good way to start, huh? History lesson: The Queen has her own flag that flies when she is home at the Palace. It was not flying today, therefore she wasn't there. The guards are awesome. Before my time is up, a picture with the guards will be taken. I will do my best to make them break character, without getting put in the quode (jail) of course. ha Well, I'm going to take it easy for a bit before I venture back out to probably The West End. It's Lodon's version of Broadway/entertainment district. Hope all is well back in the states. I'll have more pictures later!

Until my next post,

Life's a garden. Dig it.

Woodard

Next Stop: London, England

Hello from Atlanta! Well, the journey has officially begun. It's been a good day so far, as Mom was able to take me to scenic Memphis International at which point I proceeded to find a spot at the bar in Sun Studio Cafe and watch what was looking like an absolute beat down for Team USA. Much to my suprise and pleasure, when I got to Atlanta, I discovered the USA had come back to tie. Of course there was a goal called back, but I've yet to see the replay. The way they were playing to begin the game, a tie wasn't too bad. Enough of that.

As soon as I got on the plane this morning, I realized what I was about to do. This is seriously a trip of a life time for me. I don't think 3 years ago I would have done this, but something told me it was time and honestly, I would kick my own a#$ if I didn't do it. Of course, support from family and friends has helped as well. Most of you know I'm not the biggest fan of flying, so hopefully the person sitting beside me for 8+ hours tonight won't mind getting their arm grabbed a time or two, or twelve if things get a little bumpy. In a dream world, I could snap my fingers, fall asleep, then wake up drooling up against the window looking at Big Ben. Big Ben, Parliament. Big Ben Parliament. As I sit here and watch the U.S. Open with a cold american beverage, I'm trying to decide what I could shoot in U.S. Open conditions? Knoll claims he could shoot 85, which is the most ignorant statement to come out of his mouth since the last time I talked to him. He could play 15 holes and be above 85. Let's be honest, Knoll...we aren't that good. On a side note, Humphries, Davidson, and Wells: how do tides work? Why does the moon cause water to come to shore then back out? Ponder that one. 18 at Pebble Beach is one of the most scenic holes in golf, and the tide makes it so. I just can process things like that. It bothers me. I would go into my rant about fax machines and cameras, but that's for a different day.

As for my last meal in the U.S.A., it consists of a blackened grilled chicken sandwich, fries, and a Bud Light. Pretty American if you ask me. I'm in the international terminal, so I'll let you imagine the range of people sitting around me. I'll explain one: I'm going to guess either from Hong Kong, maybe Tokyo, jeans, jean jacket, ipod blaring to what I have no doubt is either Hanson or Spice Girls, possibly Miley Syrus (no shame there). The kicker, he is stuffing his face with chicken fried steak and mashed potatoes. He even brought his own chop sticks. Ok, not really, but seeing chop sticks dipped in gravy would be pretty funny. Did I meantion the jean jacket is rolled up past his elbows? He looks like New Kids On the Block threw up on him. Seems like a nice fella, though. I hope he's going to London.

Well, I hope everyone is doing well. I'm going to get back to my food, beer, golf, and jean jacket Jackie. Next time you hear from me it will be from ENGLAND!!! Take care. 143.

Until my next post,

Life's a garden. Dig it.

Woodard

Well, I've finally decided to sit down and do it. With the help of my sis, Lindsey, I've managed to finally set up my blog. This all came about as an easy connection for me back home during what I am considering a journey of a lifetime for me. Just six days from now I will be leaving the U.S.A. to study for 6 weeks in Cambridge, U.K. Since AT&T likes to make more money when you are roaming, this blog and Skype will be my main communication back home. I'll talk a little more about that as the trip gets a little closer. I will also be using this blog to post all of my pictures from my travels overseas, because I know folks like Humphries will be dying to know what I'm doing.

As for today, I just got back from hanging out in Memphis, enjoying the Redbirds, Flying Saucer and I had my first experience with the famous "soul burger". I must say, the "soul burger" was lacking, um, should I say, spirit. I'm absolutely willing to give it another chance, but by no means is it in the ballpark of my favorite meal, Ribs from Rendezvous. As I sit here and type this, I'm watching the pre-game coverage of the much anticipated World Cup match between the U.S.A. and England. A few things come to my mind. What could they possibly talk about for the next 60 minutes that hasn't already been discussed for the past 188 days since the draw was announced? The only person I know that could sit here and watch every bit of this coverage is Knoll, and he doesn't have much of a choice, because being the All-Star athlete he is, managed to break is foot. Second, why is a soccer field so big? Is it really necessary to have that big of a field? Are they really happy with games ending 0-0, 1-0, or if a team is really outmatched, 2-0? Also, if I waited four years to play in the World Cup and my first game ends in a tie, I'm not happy. Ties are like kissing your sister. Not acceptable and should be punishable. It's pretty simple in my book, make the field smaller. Keep the number of players the same, but the field smaller and you have more scoring opportunities. If the game is tied at the end, keep going. Yes, someone will eventually score, and you have a winner. Simple. Of course, they didn't ask my opinion, but I didn't ask their permission either. I am not a soccer fan to say the least, but I am a fan of my country and will root for them whether it's soccer, hockey, snow skiing, or even curling. In saying that, here's to a U.S. victory!

Hope you are all doing well and enjoying your Saturday.

Until my next post,

Life's a garden. Dig it.

Woodard