It's all coming to a close...

Last Weekend:

Friday night a friend from work decided to take us to a dance class in Cambridge. The class in discussion, SALSA DANCING. This was a two hour class followed by two hours of dancing. It was all fun in games until Krista got taken by a creepy!! This man apparently is really good at Salsa dancing, but decided to make Krista feel very uncomfortable. He went from female to female doing some risque dances and we sat in the corner and made fun of him - in a nice way of course. It wasn't until he did a fairy jump that we burst out laughing! Hey, we tried to dance the rumba, mambo, and some back step, twisty, in out style thing. I'm not quite sure what we did, but if anyone wants to learn, I teach!! I accept Mastercard and Visa. Overall it was quite a nice time and was the beginning of my understanding that the summer was truly coming to an end. We bonded that night with two of the Youth Center staff members. Thank you Mr. Felix and Ms. Lisa.

SATURDAY we all got up really, really early!! I'm talking 5AM early. We hopped on a train and began our adventure toward England's Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory, CADBURY WORLD!!! Let me tell everyone....I REALLY LIKE CANDY!!! Walking into a very purple building with lights and lots of people, we walked towards the entrance to a guy dressed with a very purple tie! From his desk, he handed us two different kinds of Cadbury chocolates! This was basically the thing that made me feel as if it were one of the best days of my life - jk. We got to add our own fix-ins to homemade melted chocolate and also had a tour about the company, how it was formed, you know...all that historical stuff!! We ended our tour at the largest Cadbury chocolate shoppe in the WORLD!!! It was pretty sweet and everything we cheap. I bought A LOT of chocolate to bring back and share with friends.

SUNDAY our last day in London. We decided to have a picnic with some M and S fancy meal food at Kensington Gardens...the sight of Kensington Palace - home to the late Princess Diana! After this we went and walked around Harrods – the LARGEST department store in the U.K. I saw some extremely expensive items like a mini car costing about 20,000 pounds!!! It was absolutely ridiculous!!! Oh well, maybe someday I will have enough money to shop there…even if I did – I think I will stay clear of places where the workers put their noses up in the air when you walk by…no thanks.

Well – this will probably be my last post before I leave for home. I am saddened that my blog did not turn out exactly like I would have hoped! However, I have tried to capture just a bit of my memory. I will gladly share my experience with anyone who would like to hear it!! I MISS YOU ALL VERY MUCH – but I am also going to miss these kids. They have truly changed my life in more ways than one. Before I end this post, I ask that everyone take a step back and look at the world through the eyes of a child – you will find a world undiscovered and full of happiness.

Cheers!

Jamison

THE PEAK DISTRICT

WOW!! I have never been so impressed by high altitudes. The Peak District, one of England's National Trusts (national parks) is an extremely green, rock climbing, hilly adventure! After coming in on the train, we decided we would stop at the information booth and get a better idea of what route we were supposed to take. You can imagine being in the middle of a green-walled valley. There were so many options and paths to choose. We began our hike and decided on a 6 mile path. Much to our luck, we actually went the opposite direction, on accident, and ended up on the very path that was did not want to take. Path number 8!!! This path was considered the hardest one and was also by far the longest. Looking back, it was a good idea that we decided to take this path because it took us to beautiful, high sites. During this whole experience, I had to stop countless times and have someone take photos of me. Wait till everyone sees the photos posted on facebook. The valley was absolutely amazing from the top of the hill. We walked and walked and walked and walked, even got lost, went up Jacob's ladder trail - saw a cool water fall, sat there for a while, and then walked, and walked, and walked. Finally, we ended up on a road and followed it back into the town of Edale. We made an earlier train by about 30 seconds and got home two hours earlier than expected. This trip was much different than most trips that I have been on. England is all about their natural habitats and I got to see one that was perfectly kept. On thing that I miss back in the states are the signs that are posted on our natural lands.

On Sunday, I stayed home, caught up on sleep, and got a lot of work done for the Gerdin Citizenship Program, Freshmen Council, and the mounds of papers that have to be written for Camp Adventure.

Dover and Nottingham

Hello!!

I will be ordering a new computer today!!! VERY EXCITED ABOUT THIS. It will have arrived at my household prior to my departure from England.

Dover:

Has any heard of the "White Cliffs of Dover"? Yes, I did get to see them! It was quite the train ride to get to Dover which was the location of a castle very used to war. After taking pictures in the bay area, we hiked up a huge hill towards to top of the chalky, white cliffs. Once on top, we entered a castle that felt like a minature fortress. It was pretty neat and we darted for the best sight over the North Sea. I got some magnificent pictures on top the Dover cliffs!! Get this, I saw France in the distance!! It is only 21 miles away, but luckily it was a clear day outside. After looking out we decided to look at a roman lighthouse and go up high within the castle keep. Upon the castle keep, we could see France even more clear than the look out. It was such a beautiful sight with ships moving across the sea and the wind blowing in your ear. After this, and upon our exiting of the castle, we went down into "medival" tunnels. These were pretty neat, for the most part, but it would have been nice to see the SECRET WAR TIME TUNNELS!!! (all tours were booked :(...). This was a nice Saturday trip and we got back to base much earlier than most nights.

The next day, a friend of mine and I went to a historical city called NOTTINGHAM!! Can anyone say ROBINHOOD??? Yes, it was a very "new-age" city with a huge shopping mall and lots of college life. We took a tour into the city caves where leather was made in about 1 year and 3 months time. The stories we heard in the caves were a little disturbing but they provided shelter during WWII! :) The caves were made out of sandstone. After we had come up from the caves, we had to shop a little. We got some fancy, fine chocolate and made our way back to base after first visting the most haunted building in the whole U.K. - it also housed an exhibit on ROBINHOOD!!! WHOOT. Thank goodness we had some interaction with the person who made this place so famous!

Got to go! My break is up at work and I am lucky to have access to this very fine internet connection.

Later gators,

Jamison

London, Scotland, Wales

First, let me apologize to everyone about not being extremely good at keeping my blog up-to-date. I don't exactly have the best situation. However, it is official that I will be purchasing a new computer on Tuesday. It will be my coming home present to myself. ;) This next blog will try to dive into three wonderful, beautiful places. These are MUST SEES for everyone. Enjoy! LONDON: London is such a massive city that no one could honestly believe one could see all the sights in a single weekend. However, with the power of Camp organization, we did just that. Walking out from the tube, we were called over by a lady selling tickets to something called the Big Bus Tour. This was no cheap ticket. It cost roughly $45.00. This ticket did, however, allow us to go and see any sight we wanted around London by taking a sight seeing, double decker bus. Indeed this was a pretty sweet deal. To think this day could not get any better. I then began to exit the tube and walk up a flight of stairs. As I approached the light, I felt a feeling of overwhelming excitement. Walking through a tunnel and looking out I saw the London Eye. To my right, I was overwhelmed by Parliament and St. Stephen’s (Big Ben) Clock tower on my right. The bell inside is Big Ben…not the tower. After taking a few photos and looking beyond the tower, I saw Westminister!! This has been the location for many coronations of England’s traditional monarchy. Following Westminster which housed many burial sites of some very famous people in the large English history including Issac Newton and Charles Darwin, we took a trip to our Hostel. This hostel was not near as “scary” as the previous one the night before. We were in a room that was extremely small - as with all hostels - and having an Australian backpacker that is coughing up a storm. We say “Hi” and start making our beds for the night when she makes a comment about how she is just trying to get over her sickness. Then she pops out a statement…”I have Swine Flu”. WOAH!! Jacey and I both looked at each other in horror. Then she said she was only joking…followed by a, but, I could have it. Throughout the night she coughed and coughed and with each noise, I pulled the sheets tighter and tighter around my mouth. Following the London trip, I got sick - it was a mere cold. After we had dropped off out bags at the hostel, we caught a glimpse of Greenwich - the CENTER OF TIME!! Greenwich housed the clock that all clocks around the worlds are set to. After arriving back closer to the sights of London, we decided to got to the Tower of London to see the fortunes of the British Royal Family. After paying 15 pounds, we entered the Tower of London. This tower is a strong hold for the Crown Jewels. I will tell you, I have never seen so much “bling” in one room. IT WAS MIND BLOGGLING. The English own the 1st and 2nd largest diamonds in the world and they put them in a crown to be worn during the coronation. It also housed maces and orbs of gold. The doors to the vault were MASSIVE. After spending a few seconds looking at the beauties, we realized we did not have much time if we wanted to do the Big Bus Tour. After waiting a while, we finally got on the Big Bus as it began to rain. On the bus, we saw everything London has to offer. It was a very informative tour, but I do not recall half of what they had told us. I am typing this 4-5 weeks after the trip. After returning to our hostel and waking from a goodnights sleep, we were off to Buckingham Palace to witness the changing of the guard. This was quite a long experience and the whole changing of the guard is way hyped up, however, we did get to hear the guard band play THRILLER while I recorded it. That was pretty sweet! Buckingham Palace is truly a massive building. I look like a shrimp next to the smaller gate and there are three! After Buckingham and watching the London 10K, we took a stop at Winston Churchill’s War Rooms. This was his hideout during WWII along with other powerful, English leaders. Yes, I got pictures!! J After this we spent a large amount of time getting to the British Museum! THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVORITES. It was completely free and has some really treasured artifacts. It also houses the Rosetta Stone which is the reason for us understanding Egyptian Hieroglyphics. Needless to say about the superiority of this building, I bought three books!! One includes almost all items A to Z and a write-up about each. If anyone is ever in London - GO SEE THE BRITISH MUSEUM…we only spent 3 hours there and didn’t take the time to read one-fourth of the information.That is basically my London experience. I REALLY LIKE LONDON. I still want to see Harrold’s, China Town, London’s Piccadilly Circus, Primark, and St. Paul’s Cathedral.WALES:Entering Wales we were introduced to an entirely new language. WELSH! This language is not easy to comprehend. The people of Wales basically eliminate almost all vowels. It is insane. For example, “in” is “yn“. After dropping our bags off at the hostel, we entered the castle. The castle of Cardiff, Wales had a splendid view upon entrance. The castle keep was located upon a green hill with the castle walls all around. After touring the castle wall, we decided to take some very amazing pictures overseeing the a massive green area. It was a very nice day out and I especially enjoyed seeing the American Flag flying next to the Union Jack. After viewing a few more rooms within the castle, we stopped at the gift shop and headed towards the Love Spoon store.The Love Spoon store housed the largest love spoon in the world. Now, I bet you are wondering what a love spoon is? A love spoon is a traditional Wales gift given to the one you love. Over the years, it has grown into a tourist souvenir that can be given to anyone you care about. After getting confused trying to read Welsh, we began our journey toward the shopping point of Cardiff. After spending a large amount of time in Primark and also trying out H&M (these are two very popular shopping stores. I really enjoy Primark. This place has high class stuff for a low class price. I did buy a few things here and there. J On Sunday, we decided to hop on a bus and get a tour of the city. We got to see the Bay, a huge Rugby Stadium that was holding a convention for Jehovah witnesses, the Cardiff Centre for the Arts, and after feeling exhaustion, we had Sunday roast at a local pub. This is probably a good time to mention we celebrated one of our counselor’s B-Day at a sweet restaurant called New Orleans. Cardiff was a nice city, but I would have loved to go see the country side of Wales. When one thinks of Wales, they often think of beautiful hiking spots and national parks galore.SCOTLAND:AMAZING!!! After traveling straight north for Edinburgh, Scotland, I could not believe my eyes as the train rumbled along the coast of the North Sea. As the train pulled into the capitol of Scotland, I looked to the west noticing a huge, grass covered mountain. I honestly thought this was going to be the best part of Scotland - an amazing sight, however, I was proven very wrong as the day continued.Beginning with the train station, I was shocked to find out that Scotland has a separate design for the pound. The pound of the Bank of Scotland uses many darker greens within the bill. As soon as we got to Edinburgh, we joined a FREE walking tour around the city. We saw tons of places and had a tour guide named Andra. She was an amazing tour guide and topped the whole tour off with a dramatic interaction of the history of “The Stone of Destiny”. She was also a very funny tour guide telling story after story that made us all laugh. On place in particular is the most photographed statue and visited sight in Edinburgh. Well, it is a dog…yes, a dog by the name of Greyfriar Bobby. Greyfriar Bobby has apparently been the inspiration for many Disney films where the dog is the main character. Also on the walking tour, we saw the outside of Edinburgh Castle. This castle is placed on a hill…a very rocky hill….it highly resembles HOGWARTS. Many say it was J.K. Rowlings inspiration. I mean, she did apparently write most of the first novels in a coffee shop that I did indeed see! After buying some souvenirs, got to see something that only a very few will ever see. If I did not see this now, I would have to wait another 100 years. It is something called “the Gathering” and is basically a celebration of Scottish heritage calling all Scottish clans back to Scotland. I got to see the parade with bagpipes, kilts, and a whole lot of other things. Another event going on was the highland games! These are very ancient games that include TUG - o - WAR!! The next day in Edinburgh, we got to Edinburgh Castler early and missed a huge line. In this castle, we got to see the STONE OF DESTINY and also the crown jewels of Scotland that are no longer used. After the castle we had a traditional English Breakfast - FINALLY. It was really good. The best way to describe Edinburgh is not through words, but through pictures. Soon, they shall be up on this blog and/or Facebook.