Becky Colburn

Greetings, Knoxville!  

My time here in London has been wonderful thus far, and I love the history, architecture, and busy pace the city offers.  However, this weekend, 7 girlfriends and I all decided to make use of the close proximity London has to so many other countries and made the trek to the Emerald Isle!  I must say, just getting to the airport at 5:30 a.m. was half of the adventure! 

The first day, we began exploring Dublin and were excited to find out that we arrived just in time for a festival called TradFest.  This festival celebrated traditional Irish music and was the perfect way for us to get integrated to the Irish culture.  We were even able to see a troupe of bagpipers parading down the street within 2 hours of arrival!  Other than checking out the music scene, we spent time at Dublin Castle exploring the famous shopping of Grafton Street and touring and learning about the historical traditions associated with Dublin’s biggest industry: the Guinness Factory!   We learned some interesting facts.  For example, when it was first contracted, the Brewery was leased for 9000 years at an annual fee of £45, or $65 USD, including fresh water rights!  The factory also had an entire floor devoted to the various marketing campaigns that Guinness has used throughout the years.  As a potential marketing major, that was my favorite floor.

The next day, we got up early and went on a comprehensive 400 mile tour of the Irish countryside.  As a huge fan of the Smoky Mountains and the lush greens of East TN, I felt like I was coming home!  We traveled through small Irish villages, castle ruins, and even made it to the coast.  Our tour guide, Trish, was incredibly knowledgeable about the history of Ireland and everything that we saw was accompanied by an anecdote.  The group’s favorite stop of the tour was the beautiful Cliffs of Moher, a stunning landmark that is in the running to be one of the new Greatest Natural Wonders of the World.  After living in such an urban setting for the past month, seeing the Atlantic Ocean and the lush green surroundings was a welcome relief for me.

Overall, I have loved my time exploring the different districts of London, growing closer with my fellow GLSers, and learning about the cultures of the other people who also live in the cultural mecca that London truly is.  Plus, it continues to astound me that I am residing and taking classes in a 17^th century building, minutes away from Big Ben.  I can’t wait to travel more but until then, I’m content having adventures in my own backyard!

Cheers!

Jillian Cherry

Tower of London

It’s already our third week in London, but I still feel like I just got here.  We’ve been lucky to be able to do so many things, but personally, my favorite thing so far has been visiting the Tower of London.  I love learning about King Henry VIII and the Tudor dynasty, so the Tower of London is the perfect place for me to geek out.

So in case any of you want to know, King Henry VIII was married 6 times.  He started the Church of England so that he could divorce Catharine of Aragon and then marry Anne Boleyn, who was later executed at the Tower of London for allegedly committing adultery.  Soon after Boleyn’s death, he married his third wife Jane Seymour, who gave birth to his son King Edward VI, but she tragically died shortly after childbirth.  King Henry VIII loved Seymour more than any of his other wives, and she was the only wife to receive a queen’s funeral.  In fact, he was buried next to her after his death.  After Seymour’s death, King Henry waited three years to remarry to Anne of Cleaves. However, it didn’t last long.  He soon annulled their marriage so that he could marry his teenage mistress, Katherine Howard.  Soon after, Howard was also found guilty of adultery and was executed at the Tower of London. 

His sixth and final wife was Katherine Parr, and they reigned happily together until his death.  At his death, his nine-year-old son, Edward VI, was succeeded to the throne, but he died five years later.  In his will, he named Lady Jane Gray as his successor above his two half sisters, Mary I and Elizabeth I.  However, nine days after Lady Jane took the throne, she lost power to Mary I and was executed soon after.  Mary and Elizabeth had a tumultuous relationship throughout Mary’s reign.  Mary even imprisoned Elizabeth in the Tower of London at one point of particular strife. However, their relationship improved before Mary’s death, and at the end of Mary’s life, she named Elizabeth her successor.  Elizabeth I was the last of the Tudor dynasty as she never married and never produced any heirs.  Her reign has since been dubbed the Golden Age of England.

As you can see, the Tower of London offers a great historical background.  It has been a royal residence, a jail, a mint, and now it houses the famous crown jewels.  So if you are ever in London, I would highly recommend taking a guided tour, especially if you are a history buff like me.

It is pretty difficult to stay indoors long enough to sit through statistics with all of the exciting things to do in London; however, Dr. Mee does a really great job of keeping us interested.  This week we took a field trip to the headquarters of Dunnhumby, an innovator in the field of statistical analysis.  The work environment was like nothing I’ve ever seen before.  It was very open and cultivated an atmosphere of communication.  If I ever change my major to marketing or statistics, Dunnhumby is definitely a company that I would love to work for. 

We can all really tell that Dr. Mee is passionate about his profession, and he does a really great job of making statistics exciting.  Unfortunately, this is our last week of class with him, but we have BA 207 to look forward to with Dr. Morris.  Pretty soon we will be done with classes and headed to our internships.  Stay tuned for more updates from me when our internships start!

Jonathan Chavez

London. What can I say that thousands of years of history, art, literature, media, natives, tourists, and in-betweeners haven't already said? To say that this city is incredible would be an understatement surpassing even Dorothy's "We aren't in Kansas anymore" line from The Wizard of Oz. Whether it's the sounds of pedestrians speaking languages from every corner of the globe every time you hit the streets, the smells of street vendor food and world class restaurants combining to make an irresistible aroma no one can ignore, the feel of ancient artifacts of times of old in the city's famous museums (just make sure the guards aren't watching *wink wink), or just the sight of the city skyline from "the secret spot", there is not a single doubt in my mind that what we are experiencing is urban and cosmopolitan personified.

Daniel Butler

Here we are, two weeks into the greatest semester of our college careers.  Everything has finally settled down and we are looking forward to what else is to come.  We have our first week of Statistics behind us, our second test tomorrow, and in just two more weeks we will be done with the entire class.  Everything is moving fast, but we are all moving right along with it. 

This past weekend, some of the GLS crew and I took at trip to Bath and Stonehenge.  The history that surrounds both of these places was incredible. However, those are not the end of the trips for this group of scholars, we have trips planned for everywhere in Europe.  Paris, Dublin, Berlin, Florence, Rome, Madrid, Barcelona, Amsterdam, the list goes on and on.  We all are definitely using this semester as a time to not only learn and experience the world of work abroad, but as a time we can see the world and experience multitudes of cultures and places.

Yesterday, we all took a trip to Shakespeare's The Globe and the Tower of London.  It was great to see both of these, but the Tower of London was my favorite.  We toured an 11th Century castle, saw the armor of the kings of England, the Crown Jewels, and where people were beheaded and tortured throughout history.  It was remarkable to walk through the hallways and touch the walls where kings and queens had walked.    

One of my favorite things that we have done as a class here are the discussions that Dr. Mee (our Statics 207 teacher) has put together about C.S. Lewis and his journey towards finding faith.  It has been a great outlet for us to raise questions about our own faith and give support to others and be a community together.  We are taking a trip to Oxford this weekend so that we can get a first hand few of Lewis and where he was while he completed his works.

There is still much to do here in London and who knows if we will be able to experience it all, but we are definitely taking advantage of the time we have here and the opportunities that have been presented to us.

Christina Boyer

It is safe to say that the GLS class of 2013 is settling into London life very well! After our first week of statistics, we all proved our ability to balance schoolwork and adjust to a foreign land.  This past weekend, a group of my fellow GLS comrades and I ventured to the land of Bath, England.  There we enjoyed the ancient city by exploring the Roman Bath springs, taking tea, experiencing Stonehenge, and seeing some of the places that Harry Potter films were filmed! When I returned to my home in London on Sunday night I heard stories of other weekend adventures including trips to Liverpool and Prague.  Every Tuesday for four weeks, Dr. Mee offers a discussion group about C.S. Lewis and his life. This weekend we will visit Oxford to put some of our discussion into context.  With months still left in the London experience, I can assure you of the strong bonds developing within our class and of the great impact these months will make on the rest of our lives.

Hannah Alexander

We've made it!! After months of anticipation and preparing for this trip, we have officially arrived in London. The first few days, we had several orientations to help us get to know the area where we are living (which is awesome!), learn more about what to expect in our internship experience, and other useful British tips! On Sunday, we went on a Blue Badge Guide Coach Tour around London and saw Westminster, the Clock Tower (Big Ben is actually the bell inside the tower), St. Paul's Cathedral, Trafalgar Square, the Monument, the Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, and several other sites. Monday, we began Stats and took our first exam today. We're about to start a great weekend!! We've got groups going to Bath and Stonehenge, Liverpool, and Cambridge. That's all for now! Cheerio!!