Monday, December 11, 2017

Peruvian Textiles & Pottery

9:36 AM Joelle
When you're an art major and you're taking Art & Architecture of Peru, you have to acknowledge the museums. Entire textbooks have been devoted to Peruvian art history, so I'll try to do it justice in fewer words.

What made Peruvian art history so refreshing is that the highest form was the textile. What westerners have previously considered craft arts (such as weaving, ceramics, sculpture, jewelry-making) were regarded with elevated status, involved effort, and masterfully refined technique in ancient Andean cultures. They still are today.
Chinchero weavers at work
Textile from the Paracas culture, about 1,000 years old

Art historians have analyzed the level of skill and social stratification to achieve such expertise (not even getting into architecture), and it's plain impressive. Society revolved around woven objects. They were used in daily life, for religious sacrifices, for mummification and burials, for differentiating social status, for distinguishing tribes, even for city planning. And they were woven well. The only woven fabrics to surpass them in stitches per square inch didn't arrive until the industrial revolution. Additionally, the Inca are famous for their quipu mathematical and literary system, though it was knot-based.

Through slip-molds and coils, Peruvian potters were able to mass-produce vessels long before the pottery wheel was brought from the Old World. Shelves upon shelves of pots have survived and can be viewed at Museo Larco in Lima.
Stirrup-spouted vessels in Museo Larco
Termed "inefficient" by westerners, the labor-intensive art forms of precolonial Peru assigned value to an artwork; they didn't detract from it. Foreign to western philosophies are many important Andean beliefs, including reciprocity, duality, the cyclical nature of time, destruction and construction, two converging to make a third. Everything is spiritual, artistic, biological, otherworldly and concrete at the same time. These values were essential to pre-Colombian religion, society, and survival in the harsh Andean world.


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Tuesday, November 21, 2017

Lima, Cuzco & the Sacred Valley: Landscapes

12:04 PM Joelle
Before you even get to Machu Picchu, Peru offers some amazing vistas. 
Lima is BIG. Stretches for miles. 10 million people. City lights, ocean-side cliffs, buildings, graffiti, museums, shops, gardens, apartments and hotels...The earthquakes and erosion sometimes topple boulders down the bluffs onto highways or beaches, so you see gigantic nets holding everything in. This place is literally bursting at the seams. 
Giant cacti at Museo Larco, Lima
Pacific Ocean at Lima (by the docks you can see the black nets holding rocks in).
Cuzco, even stripped of its gold, has a way of glowing in the sun. It's nested in a see-saw of rosy mountains with steps, slopes and staggered buildings mimicking the landscape. Even before the Inca, the Lake Titicaca cultures had planned cities based on textile designs. Incan roads survive in Cuzco, so narrow only one car can pass through and pedestrians hug the walls to avoid cars. On top of century-old stones, Spanish stucco forms churches, restaurants and a very visible layer of history. 
Cuzco seen from the outskirts
Incan walls under Spanish plaster, Cuzco
The Sacred Valley was my favorite region of Peru. It felt like springtime, driving past rows of quinoa fields, watching animals graze, smelling the eucalyptus trees in the misty morning air. Villages, little brick houses, donkeys, alpacas, children and icecream, mud and straw, guinea pig pens...it's a sensory experience better lived than described. This region includes Písac, Ollayntaytambo, Maras, Sacsayhuamán, and the underground labyrinth of Qenko. Of course, Machu Picchu will have its own post. 

The sacred valley is full of ruins, green mountains, patchwork-quilt agriculture, fresh air and sunny vistas quickly overtaken with luminescent clouds. Ancient huts, uninhabited for centuries, are not an uncommon sight as they climb upward toward mountaintop granaries. The mountains disrupt wind currents so much that rain can fly upside-down in your face. All in all, you can't separate geography from the experience. 
Above: Ancient fortress of Sacsayhuamán (no, not pronounced "sexy woman").
Below: Rock slide outside of Sacsayhuamán. Don't start till the second dip or you'll have trouble sitting for a few days!
Above: The "patchwork" of the Sacred Valley by Ollantaytambo
Below: Our awesome trilingual tour guide for the Sacred Valley, Magali. She taught us fun Quechua words.



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Friday, November 17, 2017

Bridges, Greenhouses & Mountains

11:25 AM Joelle
The first day I felt I was really living in Quito, one of the pedestrian bridges collapsed. It was early in the morning and thankfully no one was hurt, but the whole city heard about it. When I asked where it happened, I realized I'd passed under that bridge just a day or two before! These bridges were anchors, landmarks, to me. To hear one fell shook me even though I wasn’t there.

Some of my friends ran late to meetings and appointments that day because of the traffic, or they had to leave early for work because they heard about it on the news. Strangely, this “disaster” made me feel the city, its people. It made me a participant in a way I wasn’t before.

Even though I felt more connected to Quito than ever, this suburban student started to feel antsy after so much time in the city. Since I needed a break, a friend took me to a small village nearby called Nayón. It was a lazy Sunday afternoon and we boarded a bus that took us through winding mountain roads, slowly descending, until we reached our destination. The elevation was a little lower; it was in the upper 70s and humid. 

Nayón is a charming village, dedicated to plant nurseries, that fuels the lush gardens and parks of Quito. (No, I only almost drooled as I explored the greenhouses). We perused exotic succulents, palms, lime trees, orchids, celosia, cacti…it was the most beautiful day I spent in Ecuador. The village was quiet, with a small city square and a modest but lovely colonial church. Families picnicked on the grass, sweeping mountain vistas dimmed in the setting sun, and my friend’s treat to me—Salcedo ice cream—awoke my taste buds with unknown tropical flavors as it melted on its quirky popsicle stick. If I planned on staying longer, you bet I’d have some houseplants.  

When I came back to Quito, I saw the mountains differently. I knew them. When a cold wind came down from above, arctic in sensation, or when the crispness disappeared in sticky descent down a slope, I felt I was learning the mountains’ personalities. They felt mystical, and the muse for the Andean pan flute songs was becoming my muse, too. My Peruvian tour guide, Jessica, had described an ancient Andean belief in apus, or guardian mountain-spirits. I don’t follow any apu, but when I lived in the Andes, there was something in the landscape I could only describe as otherworldly. 

Bridges, mountains and greenhouses are a part of the geography, and a part of the people.


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Wednesday, November 15, 2017

Quito, Ecuador: An Introduction

1:29 PM Joelle
After my tour in Perú, I spent 5 weeks with an Ecuadorian institution that helps young women and their children. I lived with them, did chores, painted portraits and built friendships. In my free time, I got out in the city and journaled about my experience.

Quito is nested in a high-altitude valley between awe-inspiring volcanoes, the nearest being Pichincha. The city stretches hours north and south and is home to 3 million people. While it’s on the equator, its 9,000ft altitude keeps it in the 50s-70s year-round, with a wet and dry season. Since it’s warmer in Quito than in Cusco, everything was green and palm trees threatened to take over. Buses, the Trolley, and taxis made getting anywhere in the city easy and relatively affordable. (If you opt for taxis, be sure to use radio taxis because the fare is reliable and they have seat belts. This is even more important in Lima traffic.)

I saw a side of Quito other visitors never see. Peru both helped and ruined me: I was so tired of plazas, colonial history and cathedrals by the time I got to Quito, I didn’t explore these “must-sees.” Instead, I explored the art scene, museums, parks, cafes and shopping malls, which I wouldn’t have otherwise. Quito has great museums and galleries like La Casa de la Cultura, La Capilla del Hombre, and La Casa del Alabado. My favorite parks were El Metropolitano and Parque Bicentenario. The colonial downtown is lovely, and I did, I confess, look at the big tourist sites from the outside. La Basilica, Quito’s main cathedral, is awe-inspiring. El Panecillo (“Little Bun”) is a large hill near the Colonial center topped by La Virgen de Quito, an angelic madonna statue who overlooks the city. Quito is most famous for La Mitad del Mundo monument, the line that divides the two hemispheres. I didn’t visit, but demonstrations of water draining in opposite directions on either side can be found here. 

In Quito, it helped to make friends with other volunteers; they showed me their favorite places and taught me how to recharge. It was fun to see how foreigners and natives alike enjoyed this city, because everyone’s experience is different. Ecuador showed me just how beautiful the world is—the hustle and bustle, the vendors walking between cars calling “¡mandarinas!” the artisans’ markets, the fruit shops, businessmen on the phone waiting for a bus, pedestrian bridges, families playing at the park, little lunch restaurants. The pace was faster than mid-Missouri for sure, but otherwise life felt the same. Stay tuned for more on Ecuador and Peru!
House of Oswaldo Guayasamín, famous Ecuadorian artist, activist and founder of La Capilla del Hombre. 

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Saturday, November 11, 2017

New Zealand Culture Shock

4:34 PM Kelsey Megan
            Before I went to New Zealand, my naïve self thought that culture shock was centered mostly around language: if I went to a place that spoke English, there would be minimal culture shock, right?  Not necessarily.  Culture shock may not be as dramatic as a language barrier.  It can be as subtle as word choice and how to cross a street.  I never felt culture shock in New Zealand all at once.  Instead, almost every day offered a new concept or way of living.  I wish I could articulate all the differences I noticed, but the following examples are the ones I remember from New Zealand. 

1.     Crossing the street.  In America, the crosswalks signal when it is safe for pedestrians to walk parallel to traffic to cross the road.  At some intersections in New Zealand, all the stop lights are red when the walking light appears.  This allows pedestrians to walk diagonal across the intersection.  Other than late at night in a low-traffic community, have you ever seen people walk diagonally through an intersection in America? 
2.     Driving on the left.  While on the subject of traffic, the Kiwis follow their mother country by driving on the left side of the road.  Early into my Kiwi adventure, I often momentarily forgot which side of the road was the correct place to be.  Luckily, I was never driving, so I never caused an accident.  Because Kiwis drive on the left side of the road, the steering wheel inside vehicles is on the right-hand side.  More than once did I forget which side of the car was the passenger side when riding with my host-dad.  I think no one wanted to experience my driving. 
3.     Backpackers.  New Zealand has a large tourist industry.  With a large demand for accommodations, backpackers, which are like a special type of hostel, were created.  It is affordable because you rent a bed with a pillow and blanket in a room with multiple beds that strangers rent.  Backpackers saved me money and allowed me to meet people from a variety of places.  One of the best parts of NZ culture is respect, and on my adventures staying in backpackers, no one stole anything while I was away from the room. 
4.     A winter without snow.  I knew I was travelling to New Zealand during winter.  Since I associate winter with snow, I sent an e-mail to my host family saying how I was excited for winter and especially the snow.  They responded saying that the Winterless North rarely receives snow.  This baffled me since winter is synapse with snow to me.  Since Missouri and Auckland, New Zealand, are both about 35 degrees latitude from the equator, I thought the climates would be similar.  However, I was wrong.  This website illustrates the temperature changes I experienced in central Missouri: ice in the winter and saunas in the summer.  In contrast, Auckland is considered part of the Winterless North.  This link graphs the temperature changes throughout the year for Auckland, only averaging a high 77oF during the summer. 
5.     Wear sunscreen, even in winter.  Since New Zealand can be considered “the land down under,” it is close enough to the South Pole to have a thinner ozone.  I was not anticipating this on my trip.  As a redhead, I have a higher sensitivity to radiation, which causes me to easily sunburn.  Many days I tried to enjoy my lunch outside on the patio at work, but after sitting outside for 10 minutes, I could feel the radiation harming my skin.
6.     Goodbye fruit pies, hello meat pies.  America is known for its fruit pies, specifically apple pie.  In contrast, many New Zealanders have not tasted a fruit pie.  They have a different type of pie, meat pies.  These are not a shepard’s pie.  It is meat and gravy baked into a biscuit crust in pie form.  It is delicious.  While talking about food, sausage rolls are delicious as well.  Sausage rolls are sausage links that are an inch thick in diameter wrapped in a biscuit-type dough.  Simple but tasty.  I highly recommend trying both.
7.     Anchor & Fonterra, the major dairy industries in New Zealand.  Both corporations export their milk and many Kiwis drink this milk.  I personally did not like the taste of either company’s milk.  Their milk tasted watery to me.  I would always add sugar and chocolate powder to milk in order to drink it.  I prefer my local Central Dairy milk in Missouri.  While on the topics of milk, milk shakes in New Zealand are not as thick as American milk shakes.  To me, New Zealand milkshakes are slightly thicker than the milk.  While in New Zealand, you must specifically request a “thick shake” to compare to an American milkshake. 
8.     Marmite.  It is a unique food that visitor should try.  If you are a true Kiwi, you will like it. 
9.     No Wal-Marts.  There are no Wal-Marts in New Zealand.  Let that sink into your mind.  There is no one-stop shop for almost anything you want or need to buy.  Instead, stationary can be purchased at Office Max, food at the grocer, phones at Vodafone, etc.  Shopping trips are planned more carefully when everything is not under one roof. 
10.     Tax included in the price.  Imagine you are shopping at Walmart for food.  When you go purchase your food, this magical thing called tax is applied then and not sooner.  In New Zealand, the tax is already included in the sales price.  I was able to easily add the price of my items before check-out to know how much I would pay. 
11.     No to 1¢, 2¢, and 5¢ cent coins, yes to $1 and $2 coins.  Kiwis voted to remove the 1¢ coin from the market.  Then they voted the same for the 2¢ and 5¢ coins because they said they had to many coins: 10¢, 20¢, 50¢, $1, and $2 coins.  If an item is advertised for $9.93, the sales taxes is already included.  If you had the cashier a $10 bill (note), the cashier will not give you change since the market does not have the coins to give change.  However, debit or credit card transactions would only be charged $9.93.  
12.     Not obligated to tip.  Waiters and waitresses are paid a livable wage without relying on tips.  The adult minimum wage in New Zealand is $15.75 (Employment New Zealand).  I was stunned when I realized Kiwis have a minimum wage paid twice that of Missouri’s $7.70 minimum wage which is better than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 (Minimum-Wage.org). 
13.  Options for flushing the toilet.  Instead of having the one handle on the side like American toilets, New Zealand toilets have two options: light flush or regular flush.  I appreciated their environmentally friendly attitude.
14.  Football is weak; rugby is better.  I never enjoyed American football.  I never understood why people enjoyed a game with a completely inaccurate description as a name.  I remember attending my first rugby match in the States, but I didn’t pay much attention since I was too busy talking to a friend.  However, one night my host family in NZ invited me watch a rugby match with their friends.  I am so glad I did.  I enjoyed the environment and the sport.  The rugby players do not wear padding like the American football players.  I was able to see their faces and watch their emotions as plays were made.  I recommend attending or watching a rugby match while in New Zealand. 


This is not an exhaustive list of what struck me as culture shock in New Zealand.  Since every person’s life is unique, what is perceived as culture shock or surprising to me may not be so for another person.  Through the difference and the surprises on the trip, I learned more about what it is like to be Kiwi and what it is like to be American.  I encourage everyone to travel outside their comfort zone to discover more about their identity.  
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Monday, October 16, 2017

Who is Kelsey Megan?

2:30 PM Kelsey Megan
I look like this depending on the level of sunburn I have.
            I am Kelsey from Koeltztown, MO.  A selfie is to the left.  According to this website, the population of Koeltztown was 128 people with a population density of 6 people/mile2 in December 2016.  In my opinion, only 30 people lived in the city limits while the remainder of us mostly lived on farms outside the town when I was still living there.  The following picture are of my large front yard, a church sign (because that's all we have in the Bible belt), and the roads near my home.  
Catholics try to have a sense of humor.  
The large yard encouraged us children to play outside. 
                       County Road 541                            
     The sunset from county road 541       


     I migrated from rural America that had all the space I ever wanted to a place that most Americans think is small but big enough to intimidate a farm girl: Columbia, MO.  It is home to about 108,500 people when classes are not in session with a population density of 1,866 people/mile2 in December 2016, according to the same above website.  Within a few months of moving to Columbia, I had adjusted to life in this “big” city.  After three years of pursuing my Bachelor's of Science in Chemistry at Columbia College, my graduation this Spring 2018 is both exciting and daunting.  
I feel prepared and ready to earn my degree and walk across the graduation stage.   I had local internships the past two summers and wanted to intern again between my junior and senior years.  Despite loving my local community, I knew I did not want to stay local and found myself researching opportunities to intern abroad.  Isn’t “Go big or go home” an American philosophy?  I found the most opposite place to Missouri on the map and asked myself “Why not?”  After some research, I chose International Studies Abroad (ISA) to help me find an international internship.  A few months later, I found myself  alone on my first international flight to a land unknown to become a laboratory technician.  This summer internship occurred at no place better than Chemical Solutions Limited (aka Kemsol) in Auckland, New Zealand.  Though my professors had prepared me and challenged me for my future career, it wasn’t until this summer at my internship that I truly understood the career I had chosen and felt so excited to have this career.    This realization and euphoria didn’t come overnight.  Through the accumulation  of little enjoyable moments did I discover I was on the right path.

            Columbia College Travelers is a group of CC students sharing our tips from our study abroad adventures.  Each person this year found him/herself on a different continent.  If you are interested in learning more about my experiences or want to learn more about New Zealand, follow me on Columbia College Travelers or e-mail me at kmperry1@cougars.ccis.edu!
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Thursday, September 7, 2017

The Amazing Fusion

3:55 PM Joelle
This May, I was completely unprepared for just one aspect of my Perú tour.
Was it flying for the first time? Making my card work at ATMs? (Well maybe...) No! It was the food. The heavenly food of Perú.

Snack foods, breakfast, fine dining--you name it. There was never a boring day. So, if you're a foodie like me, get ready for some watering taste buds.

Before I delve into the whirlwind of dishes you can try in Perú, here's some context. Peruvian food is a unique, rich blend of Spanish, indigenous, and Asian flavors. The country is 50% Indigenous and has large populations of mestizos and Chinese or Japanese Peruvians, among others, so you know the food is like no other. The 4th best restaurant in the world is supposedly in Lima, the capital. So you know they don't joke about their cooking.

Entrees. The best I tried was trucha cusqueña (Cusco-style trout), with its crispy kiwicha breading and decadent elderberry wine sauce. A close second was arroz con pollo (rice with chicken) that blends savory herbs, hominy, peas, cilantro and beer in its mysterious cooking process. Then there's Peruvian cebiche which totally blows Mexican cebiche out of the water because the trout is marinated in the richest lime juice and Andean peppers, then topped with salty, crunchy canchas (a flakier version of Corn Nuts). Cuy (guinea pig) is also a must-try dish; people either love it or hate it. That aside, almost every entree has potatoes...well, they are native to Perú, after all. The strangest was yellow with a powdery texture.
trucha cusqueña

cuy (Guinea Pig)
Snacks for the road: Canchas. They're a more slender, easier-to-chew version of Corn Nuts. The ones I tried in Cusco were purple, speckled yellow, deep fried and salted. You can also buy habas, crispy lima-bean snacks that have been dried and flavored with either salt, lime, or a sweet coating (like salted vs. honey-roasted peanuts). Kiwicha granola bars are good too. Kiwicha is like quinoa. But if you're lactose intolerant, BEWARE. Some bars contain powdered milk.


And...drumroll...BEVERAGES. Peru has the best teas, juices and drinks. This is herbal tea central. Lemon verbena, lemongrass, coca, you name it--it's flavorful paradise. Coffee of course is wonderful. Most days you can get pineapple or papaya juice with your breakfast (and Peruvian papaya is SOOO much better than ours). Pisco sour is Perú's famous alcoholic beverage, made with Pisco (a brandy), egg white, simple syrup, lime, bitters, shaken, sometimes with Andean mint. But the best drink has no alcohol at all: chicha morada. A sweet, deep purple glass meets your lips and you'd never guess what's inside: boiled purple corn tea, spiced with cloves & cinnamon, simmered with limes, pineapple, apples and brown sugar. Then it's strained and chilled, and served to you like liquid Christmas.

The prep of pisco sour and the final product

Even the beverages on trains are awesome!

This was only a snapshot--there's still the smoothies, alpaca steak, chocolate, lomo saltado and eucalyptus sorbet. I hope you go to Perú and taste these wonders for yourself!
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Friday, August 11, 2017

Visiting Belgium

7:15 AM Hawarburton1

For Sites and Sights, a history course I took at CCCU, I was able to take a class trip to Bruge, Belgium. As this was meant only to be a day trip, the students were able to make the choice to either return to Canterbury on the bus or to continue traveling in Europe for the weekend or longer.




Streets of Bruge
We left Canterbury at five in the morning on Friday and arrived in Bruge in the early afternoon. We walked around the city for a short time and then took a boat tour with a local who spoke a number of languages, conducting the tour using at least three (English of course being one). As he talked about the history of Bruge, he was able to add a lot of his own memories and family history to it. It gave the history a lot of meaning to hear about how the greater history of the city related to him in such a personal context.

Following the brief boat tour, the students were released to travel or return to Canterbury. I stayed for one night in Bruge with some classmates and then took a short trip to Antwerp, where one of my best friends, Dominic, and her family live.















I was very lucky to be able to visit a close friend in the city because it has an extremely rich history and it helps a lot to be with a local. As her parents both work as architects in the city, they were really connected to the art scene. They took me along with them to see art shows of many of their friends. It was amazing to see Matteo Pugliese's work.




Matteo Pugliese










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Sunday, July 30, 2017

Daytrip to the Coast

7:43 AM Hawarburton1
Taking short trips from Canterbury after class or on the weekends is very feasible. Buses are frequent and the bus station is just across from Canterbury's Christ Church's library. I enjoyed visiting coastal towns. My day trip to Whitstable was a nice introduction to the coast. I went with a friend from Canterbury, and we walked the coast, tried seafood, and explored the city.

Charming Whitstable

I don't think I had tried even half of this before

Trying the different types of oysters








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Salsa Dancing at Kent University

6:52 AM Hawarburton1

About as much as I love cycling, I love Latin dancing. Upon arrival in Canterbury, I tried to meet other people who love to dance as well. Within the first week, I was able to network enough to meet a dance teacher at Kent University, named Benny Ogidan, who manages the Kent Salsa Society along with other dance teachers. He invited me to a dance night at the University, and I had so much fun that I continued to dance with and take private lessons with members of this society. I learned so many new steps and styles of dancing, and I was even able to bring friends along with me who were new learners as well because the society splits levels of learners into different groups in a space reserved for this purpose on designated evenings.

Image may contain: one or more people, people dancing, crowd, wedding and indoor
The Salsa Dancing space at Kent University

Through this new network, I was able to get news on all of the popular Latin dancing nights in the city center. I also got a lot of advice on where to Latin dance in London and took a few trips there to dance with dancers from all over the world to the music of some of the most amazing live bands I have ever heard. Finally, from Benny I learned of famous Latin dancing festivals and congresses all over Europe, which I am very excited to attend someday soon. At these global festivals and congresses, you can learn styles of dance and steps popular in many different cultures, and you can practice with very experienced dancers. Dancing with people so skilled and passionate is demanding and can push a dancer to improve in a single weekend as much as they could in months.
This is a very particular niche. That I was able to network so much in the dancing world from within Canterbury shows just how eclectic of a place it really is, especially if you actively network.

Just in case you are interested in Salsa Dancing, here is a link you might find interesting (though it says 2012 in the URL, it is actually for 2017):

http://salsacircuit.com/2012-world-salsa-festivals-and-congresses/


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The Blean

5:44 AM Hawarburton1
Many things brought me to the well-preserved and protected ancient woodland the Blean that is located near Canterbury by way of a trail through Kent University's campus It is about a twenty to thirty minute cycling trip from the center of Canterbury to the Blean, and the scenery on the way there can provide a nice break from the busy city center of Canterbury. 

Amanita muscaria, 
one of four most prevalent fungi species of The Blean
I went in my free time to cycle the 120-mile trail system. Some of the trails are easy to ride and some are rocky, muddy, and really rough to cycle on. I really like that because it's a fun challenge. Luckily, my bike tires were well suited to that type of trail. I locked my bike up to walk smaller trails as well. On these walks, I was able to see many species of plants and insects I had never seen before. The Blean's rich habitats allow for the survival of species such as the Nightingale and the Heath Fritillary butterfily. The woodland is surprisingly easy to learn about as the area has been well-documented and actively managed for nearly 800 years. 

I also went many times for my Biogeography and Landscape Ecology class. We took one class trip with the two professors to learn about how the woodland has been maintained throughout its long history. I later met my group there for our class project to assess a small plot of land. Assessing this small plot of land taught me about the particular effects of management techniques such coppicing. This was an extremely demanding project, but it was one the most rewarding, and I really enjoyed writing the final paper. 


The Blean is an excellent place to visit in Canterbury, especially for those interested in wildlife. 
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Friday, July 28, 2017

Cycling in and around Canterbury

3:21 AM Hawarburton1

















I love to cycle. Before I arrive in a new country, I almost always find a way to buy or rent a bicycle there. With a bicycle, I find that it is easy to access nature even if it miles away, to feel fit, healthy, and positive, to travel without the delays and inconveniences of public transport, to save hundreds of dollars on transportation (the price of a month-long bus pass is more than I paid for a bike I used for almost four months), and finally to experience areas of any given country that many travelers might not have access to by bus, foot, or train. On a bus, you may take the same route hundreds of other people do every day. On a bike, you can take any turn you might like and find your way back quickly if you get lost. This means that you can really personalize your experience of any given place without experiencing inconveniences that getting lost on foot might cause.

Riding a trail near Kent University
My plan in Canterbury long before I arrived was to find a hybrid bike suitable for trail-riding and for the city. I began asking around about a place or website I could look to find a reasonably priced bike, and the on my first day in Canterbury a very helpful employee at the library cafe recommended Gumtree, a website that is popular all over the U.K. and is similar to Craigslist. I took a bus to a town near the coast to meet with someone selling a Carrera in brand new condition. Once I decided to buy the bike (which cost under $100 - much less expensive than the same bike would have been at a shop or online), I asked about trails nearby and cycled about 7 miles back to Canterbury on a trail called the Crab and Winkle Way. This was the end of what seemed to be a very productive second day in Canterbury.

River front trail from downtown to Parham Road
From the second day on, I rode this bike everywhere in town (to campus, downtown, and to friends’ houses) and to a few places out of town (woodlands such as Blean Woods, the coast, and other small cities that surround Canterbury).




The river front trail near the city center
The bicycle was a big part of my time in Canterbury, and I couldn’t be happier that I used it as my main means of transportation. When I left Canterbury, I left the bicycle with a friend I had made in town. He rides the bike now as much I did while I was there.



You can always find your way back using the Canterbury Cathedral as a point of reference






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Wednesday, July 26, 2017

Canterbury Christ Church - the campus

11:57 AM Hawarburton1

Canterbury Christ Church University is distributed throughout the quaint, historical city of Canterbury. It is an easy and very lovely walk through the town and a swift bike ride down some really amazing streets and pathways.


The library
The library is near the center of town and close to Canterbury Cathedral. It is very modern and a great place to have lunch, do homework, and meet up with people because of its location. Orientation and Fresher’s week (the welcoming week for new students) are held at the library, so it was the first place I became familiar with.


The main campus

The main campus where classes are held (and wonderful tea stands that sell tea before and after classes and during breaks) is a ten minute walk away, and student housing is all the way from right next to the library to a twenty-minute walk away.






The trail along the canal
There are street markets in the center of town, tiny local shops, and a canal along the way to the furthest buildings for student housing (on Parham Road). Part of my stay was on Parham Road, and I enjoyed that area the most because the location was so spacious and relaxed. Also, the best walking and cycling trails lead directly to Parham Road, so it a great location to cycle to and from. I find Canterbury to be a lovely city and the campus to be just as beautiful.

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Arriving in London for a semester in Canterbury

6:47 AM Hawarburton1

Arriving in London was a great way to start my semester-long program in Canterbury out. I was able to spend a few days in the city with a friend of mine from Scotland, and it gave me a great introduction to England. I was able to see musicians perform at Piccadilly Circus, have my first real English Breakfast (and try Marmite, a sauce that is apparently either very liked or hated. I don't think I ever really acquired the taste), sight-see, hang out with some locals in different parts of the city, and prepare myself for the semester in Canterbury.



Chinatown

One of London's many famous shopping streets


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