Monday, January 14, 2013

Three Parts

So now that I have caught up with all of you and your blogs I would like to say congratulations! It seems everyone is doing amazing since i fell off the blog earth last Wednesday. Today's post is going to be long and in 3 parts. Part 1 the V&A museum with lots of pictures, Part 2 my failures are running since in London and asking for help on how to get ready for a possible 10 mile race on the 17 of February, Part 3 my homesickness.


On to the V&A! That place is amazing! It's real name is the Victoria and Albert museum, and man does it have everything. I only saw about a 1/4 of the collection which means I will be going back in the afternoons on class days. I did however go to there exhibition which cost me 9GBP but man was it worth it. I got to see and read about the costumes designs for Hollywoods greatest films! I believe there were somewhere close to 80 films on display in 3 rooms...sorry no cameras allowed so there are no pictures. But don't be discouraged there are tons of pictures from the rest of the museum.


























Sorry for the terrible photo layout I just cant seem to get the hang of laying out photos on this site.

Part 2: My running. So the longest run I have accomplished since being in London is 3 miles. This is discouraging for me because the day I left the US I was back at 5 solid great miles and was loving running. Since I have gotten here though I have had no drive to want to go out and run. I am not sure if that is because the sun never comes out so it is always cloudy and grey, or if it is because I have no real way of tracking my run that is accurate in time and distance, or if it is because I am drinking half the amount of water eating half the amount of food and not eating the healthiest foods because I am trying to take in the culture. Whatever it is it needs to stop! I really want to run the 10 mile race in France (no idea how I will pay for it) but it is a once in a life time chance and I don't want to pass it up. So I am asking you guys to help me out I need your advice for travel running and no gps tracking running! Anybody got any?

Part 3: Homesickness. This weekend I was suppose to run my first half marathon with my boyfriend. We were suppose to run the Disney World Half Marathon. I didn't think about it to much seeing as I was in Ireland instead. But last night when I got home and found that my roommates had had a party while I was gone, someone had slept in my bed been through my stuff and peed on my bathroom floor everything just kind of rushed in. The culture here is different and personal space is not really a thing. It is common practice that if you have an empty bed you can fill it without asking the person it belongs to. It also seems to be common practice to smoke inside houses which is not my favorite thing. The last thing that seems to be common practice is not turning the heat on. It is 30 degrees outside and snowing right now meaning that it is maybe 45 degrees inside. I like heat and being warm but they say the cost to run it is to expensive and they can't afford it. So I gave up my wonderful 2 bedroom apartment in Ohio with my own room, my own stuff, and heat for a place where no one respects your space, things, and they don't like heat. Not sure how to handle all of this, but it is only 7 more weeks and to be honest I hope to not really be here except to sleep and cook dinner any ways so maybe it isn't such a big deal. They also don't seem to have any stores like walmart or target which means that if you want to buy 3 different things you have to go to three different stores. The European way of life doesn't seem to be very efficient.

That is all for now. I will try and write another post tonight about Ireland! Enjoy your week everyone!

-Felicia 

5 comments:

  1. That museum looks so cool! I've never been there!

    (I had to laugh about the sun never coming out in london...sooo true!!)
    Hmm, I know that sometimes when I'm in a different city, it all just feels like "vacation" mode, so all motivation to run is out the window. Maybe try and not worry about not having a gps watch and just say - I'll run for so-and-so minutes - Take it as enjoyment and a new way to explore the city??

    I hope you find something that works! But either way, have a great time while out there!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Running South bank into the Borough market seemed to work on Tuesday I am going to try to keep doing that.

      Delete
  2. I wold have been very impressed if you had stayed up on your training, but you gotta enjoy your vacation too, especially when sunlight is so short this time of year.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I would love to go to a museum like that, thanks for sharing your pictures!

    Can you find a park to run in and do loops around it? Or use google maps to find a route that's 1 or 2 miles that you know and just keep repeating it? I know that's got to be hard.

    I bet experiencing the new culture is a shock, good luck and I hope that aspect of it gets better for you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I found that South Bank is a good place to run it is straight and 3.5 miles from my house to the end as well as there are several underground is a block over from it so if I get tired or something happens I can get home easily

      Delete