A U.K. Adventure

Trip Advice

1) what you enjoyed most about the trip 

I enjoyed all of our side trips and really getting to see England, It is such a beautiful and intriguing country and i am glad I got to see almost all of it.
2) what you enjoyed the least

Food is always a struggle but I made due, I also felt like our time in London was a little stretched, I personally loved London but would have maybe liked to have gone to a few more places insted of 3 days in London when I didnt do as much.
3) suggestions for next year

I would love to have had more Brit Rail, and I also would have liked a trip to Paris as well, I went but it is such an easy side trip to make, I know the other group had a hard time in Paris but it is such a wonderful city and I think it is a worthy side trip.
4) advice for next year's students about what to do, not do, what to bring, etc.

Keep in mind that it is almost like a Florida winter while you are over there so make sure to pack acoordingly. I loved punting in Cambridge and also I liked Lincoln and Chester, I would have liked to spend more time in Chester. I also regret not bringing my Laptop, although it can be quite a hassle it is still so nice to have for assignments. Take advantage of the Brit Rails and really see England because it is a fabulous place. In Bath eat at Las Iguanas Mexican Restaurant it is so worth it and so good. Also if you are in room 511 at Harlaxton look for a notebook started by girls in 2001 it has great advice and is just all around fun to read, write in it. Throw theme parties at the Bistro they make your stay in Grantham more entertaining. Enjoy the fact that you are in England because you only live once.

More of London Town.

June 1,2009
Today was Emily's last day :( we went to the Tower of London and took the tour, we also got to see the crown jewels which is my personal favorite. After the Tower we went to Yo! sushi for lunch, I liked it but their portions were really small so you had to eat a lot of sushi and therefore spend alot of money to feel full, after lunch Emily and I went to M&S and got a muffin because we were still hungry. We got to eat our muffin on the steps of St. Pauls cathedral where Princess Diana got married. The we went to Greenwich, to see an open air market. We didnt see an open air market but we got to see the filming of Gulliver's Travels with Jack Black. I didnt go up to the observatory because it was going to rain, but most of the group did. Then we went back and got ready for Emily's fairwell celebration at the Hard Rock. After dinner when we were picking up our suvinor cups a man let us into the Hard Rock vault and we got to see Freddie Murcury's chair, Jimmy Hendrix's guitar and so many other things. Then we came back and had another party in the lobby.
June 2,2009
Today I slept in late, and then went to lunch in the park with Jeff and that crew, after that i came back and got dressed for the play. Then Dani, Meg,Bivins and I left for Harrods so I could buy a few more suviniors, Then we ate ice cream at the Candy Bar. After that we went to the theater where Mamma Mia was showing and I got a student ticket for £27.50 and my seat was 6 rows back! Then we ate dinner in Chinatown which was fun. After dinner we went into some touristy shops and then we were off to the Theater, I had already seen Mamma Mia years ago when it first came out so seeing it again after the movie was great plus the price was right and my seat was amazing, then we came back and went to Tesco to buy water and other various and usundry things, while in tesco these two american boys were making fools of themselves asking what the best british snack was, the mistaked me for being british and i found out they went to the University of South Carolina, it was so cool to be mistaken for being british even though they were kind of being jerks. Then we came back to the hotel and compared theater notes with everyone.

More Of London

May 31,2009
Today was a total tourist day, I woke up and went to see the changing of the gaurds which would have been fun if it wasnt hot and my camera didnt die, but at least i saw it. The Rachel and I went to lunch at subway which was sooo good i loved it. After that we went to the eye so Rachel and I could get tickets for later that night. Then we saw parliment,big ben, we couldnt get into westminster abbey because it was closed but we went to piccadilly circus and saw a spain festival. After our touristy day we came back to the hotel and got ready for dinner with 2 of the hotel employees who turned out to be so fun and nice, a group of us went to the Pizza buffet. Then Rachel,Dakota and I left to go on the London eye, we go to go up right at sunset and got so so many good pictures, after that we came back and there was a full on rager with all of our group going on in the Lobby so i joined in.

Bath and London Blogs

May 26th,2009
Today we left Wales for Bath. Wales was an interesting experience and i think it is something i will need to do over again when i am older. We got to Bath and had lunch in a pub, my quesadillas had a gross and rediculous amount of salsa in them but they were'nt bad. Our Hotel is heaven and so cute. At 3:30 we go and see the Roman Bath's that was so much fun, I love the history on the Roman Empire and the Bath's were beautiful. After that we shopped around and went to a Mexican restaurant called Las Iguanas which i found out about through a book in my room at the Manor. The Food was so good I had a Chimichanga and i think it is one of the best chimichangas i've ever had. After dinner we went back to the hotel and went to sleep.
May 27,2009
Today was a miserable day. It is freezing and raining, not an ideal day at all. even though it is raing we still go to Stonehenge. Stonehenge is a must see but there isnt anything there. After Stonehenge we went to Wells a small town near Stonehenge. Finally we went back to Bath and Dakota,Bivins,Emily, Meghan, Dani and I all went to the Fashion Museum which was so facinating we got to try on corsetts and see fashion through the ages which i loved. We got back and went to Dinner and then we went to the grocery store and bought ice cream.
May 28,2009
Today we leave Bath for London, I will miss Bath it was so beautiful. We go into town one last time but unfortunatly the shopping in Bath isnt so great because everything is sooo expensive. We ate lunch at subway which was suprisingly good and cheap as well, then we are off to London. When we got all checked-in in London, Emily,Chelsea,Juanita,Meg,Dani and I went to find a Primark and when we got there it was insane it looked like it was the end of the world sale. We decide to go tommorrow and go off to find food. We ended up at a tex mex place in Notting Hill. Later we are in the Lobby and Rachel, Jeff and that crew rush in and tell us that they are going to "some club called Mahiki", ok Mahiki is a big deal Prince William and alot of other famous people go there and i really wanted to go so i was sooo jealous. I am sitting there and rachel comes in and tells me that they have space for one more and i can go. I think my heart stopped, i tore through my room and threw on a dress and was off to Mahiki. The Barnett's Concierge had called and made a reservation so we get up in line and tell them that we have 6, then they ask for ID and since i wasnt 21 i couldnt get in so we all left because me, bivins and james were too young. then we just came back to the hotel this will forever be known as the night i almost went to Mahiki.
May 29,2009
Today we went to High Tea at Harrods. Harrods is a crazy place i cant even begin to describe it, it is like Saks and Bloomingdales in New York put together. We go up to high tea in our little dresses and of course take tons of picture, i felt very posh. afterwards we decided to try to find tickets to Spring Awakening and after going to several ticket booths we go to wait in line at the box office. We were literally the next people to get tickets and they sold out. then i went out to this bar called Zoo with Emily, Cortney, Jess, Daniel and Dakota. It was fun but then it got sooo crowded. I was really hungry and so I went into a Burger King and the guy at the cashier next to me asked me why i was in London on holiday and at a burger king. I thought it was so funny.
May 30,2009
Today my grandpa's friend got me two tickets to the Trooping of the Colour which is in celebration of the Queen's Birthday (unfortunatly the queen wasnt there) It was so awesome. Then I got on a train to Cambridge to see my Aunt and Uncle. It was so much fun and i would have liked to spend more time there. After i got back i came back to the hotel and went to sleep i was so tired.

The Babysitter's Club

Response Essay 3 May 21,2009

Tourism and photography go hand in hand; I cannot imagine not taking pictures on a vacation, it would drive me crazy. In Steve Garlick’s article “Revealing the Unseen: Tourism, Art and Photography” he brings up some very valid and interesting points about tourism photography. Although he brings up valid points the dryness of the article makes very hard to read. I really enjoyed his views on why tourism photography is problematic, last summer I worked at Sea World and saw tons of tourists everyday, everyone of them always had a camera, where I think that tourism photography becomes a problem is when tourist taking excessive pictures bothers everyone else. One point he brought up in the article that I found was “‘to photograph is to appropriate the thing photographed. . . . It means putting oneself into a certain relation to the world that feels like knowledge – and, therefore, like power’.” When you take pictures on vacation you take pictures so that you can evoke the memories you’ve created while on vacation and like the quote says putting yourself into a picture makes you feel like you know what it is about and you are there and that knowledge is power. Another assertion the article made was how a photograph “conveys the appearance of participation in the situation –‘having a transforms a person into something active, a voyeur.’” If you think about what he is saying, when you go on vacation, having a camera has power over whether or not you remember the trip and who you show the pictures to.
When I am on vacation I take pictures simply because I love too. If I didn’t take pictures I would have to rely on someone else on the trip that did. I take pictures on vacation because I want to remember what I felt in the exact moment I took the picture, forever. I think that taking pictures on vacation is a ritual that is rarely broken, taking pictures can be a way to also keep love ones who didn’t come with you in the loop.
When I am taking picture I don’t focus on any one thing, if I like it I take a picture of it. Something I found interesting in the article was the piece on Nepal’s rules on taking pictures of locals, I agree with Garlick when he says that receive literature on respecting locals “can go some way into restoring the balance between the tourist and the cultural other.” When I am on vacation I take pictures of everything even locals, I heard once that some parts of Africa do not like their picture’s being taken because they feel like you are taking part of their soul away. When I am on trips I especially like group photos so you can always remember who you were there with. When I am at school and home however I tend to take fewer pictures, unless I am going somewhere special with my sorority, family or friends. I am always around my house and school so there isn’t much I need to remember for the time being.
After I take pictures I usually put them all on my computer and then Facebook. In today’s Facebook society you sort of expect to sign on and see all of you friend’s adventures and so in turn you want to share your adventures as well. Facebook is a great tool for keeping up with people’s lives and sharing pictures enables you to do that on an everyday basis.

Response Essay 2 May 20,2009

Everyday we open a new fashion magazine to see our favourite star on the cover fitting that same old “skinny” stereotype, we are left to believe that this is really what they look like and in turn many believe that we should look like that as well, but what if the public knew about retouching, would some of the pressure be off? What is really wrong with retouching and changing the content of a photograph that’s published in a magazine or newspaper, for little things in my opinion isn’t a big deal, I think that getting rid of a random pair of legs or putting a basketball where there wasn’t one is not a problem, where I disagree with retouching is when it breaches ethics and becomes a totally different picture. One example of why I think retouching can be a bad thing is the 1989 TV Guide cover with Oprah’s head on Anne Margaret’s body, this cover is also mentioned in the article and always the speculation of media ethics “In my media ethics courses, I always bring up the deception used by TV Guide when they put Oprah Winfrey's head on Ann Margaret's body,” -Lee Anne Peck, an assistant professor of journalism and mass communications at the University of Northern Colorado” I think that it is morally wrong to significantly alter any photo and I believe that magazine’s and newspaper’s could take a little more responsibility when it comes to controlling the images that they put out for the public to see.
Readers can have a short term memory when it comes to things they see, as a future journalist I would like to think that the stories I will work so hard wont be in the trash the next day, but that can be the truth.Franca Agnoli, from the University of Padova is quoted in the article saying “One major result was that viewing modified images affected not only the way people remember past public events, but also their attitudes and behavioral intentions.” I strongly agree with this statement in the second article there are two pictures of a protest in Beijing one with no crowd, doctored by the Chinese government and one with lots of people on either side, for people who are just reading their paper at home and who were not at the rally they would only know the picture the government put out. I don’t think that magazines and newspapers should use edited images however small changes like a basketball where there wasn’t one during a basketball game is minor and in my opinion acceptable.
I consider anything that is completely not true deceptive, such as Britney Spears “on the cover” of Blender, when she didn’t even pose, In my opinion that type of editing turns respectable magazines into nothing more than the National Enquirer. “Any media that employ digitally doctored photographs will have a stronger effect than merely influencing our opinion” When a magazine chooses to edit to the point that it is falsifying what actually happened, I think that is unacceptable and deceptive. I think legitimate editing of a picture is slightly changing the color to make it look better. I think that there is no way that photo editing could truly be stopped, because in today’s world with all the technology, why not make a picture look a little better, however when it breaches ethics and makes someone look bad, that is where I draw a personal line. In the future I feel like magazines should more carefully watch for editing and retouching and maybe we will start seeing unedited pictures that are even more beautiful than edited ones.

Response Essay 1

A picture is worth a thousand words, a picture can tell a story in a way a journalist at a desk never can. With all of today’s luxuries and technologies it is not hard for the public to not feel like they can be where ever they want to be through the news. But when does photojournalism and journalism for that matter go too far.
The article put it best when it says “Journalists have an obligation to take people where they need to go, even if they don't always want to go there. Still photographs and video images do just that.” I feel like in today’s society there should be some natural discretion when it comes to censoring disturbing images. “Shock value” is used more now as a way to get noticed instead of actually getting attention toward the cause. In class during the slide show we saw a picture of a child hiding from a vulture because he was so hungry, this picture drew attention to the cause of world hunger but was horribly sad, however I personally found it grotesque how the photographer basically exploited this child’s plight for personal gain. I feel that disturbing images aren’t really for any other use besides for shock value; I think that almost all images that are deemed disturbing can be really inappropriate and shouldn’t be run, it is all about discretion. The article uses this response from readers “Some of the shared values weren't abstract at all: How do I explain this picture to my kids?” Think about how you would explain the image to a child, how can you explain to someone so innocent about all the bad in the world, this brings me to my next point, I believe that unfortunately there will always be disturbing images out there, but I think that they should be put on websites only and not on the first page. In this I am certainly not saying that we should be censored from the world problems, I think that they should most defiantly know about the effects of Tsunami’s and Poverty but without exploitation, this is a pipe dream with journalism comes exploitation. When it comes to the 5th image in the second article I agree with one reader Michael Segers of Lakeland when he says “Does the photo work more FOR the captors (they want this image out) or AGAINST them (showing how awful they are)?" I feel that war is an even more slippery slope than poverty and tragedy, because we never want anyone to know we are weak. We don’t want to show our enemies we are weak, we want to show them that we are in it to win it. Also it can bring down moral when the servicemen and women see that some people in their country do not support them.
I whole heartedly agree with Wally Rayl’s statement: “Not being able to face reality is a major problem in our society.” Seeing believing and the public who are not directly effected by the occurrence of war or world poverty live their lives, shocking images although I am against them really generate action, they wake up the world and for a short time make society face reality, but it is always short lived. Our society is so dependent on what the news channels tell us. I defiantly feel like news organizations should censor some of their images and not only use their own personal degree of discretion but also society’s. Journalist can tend to view the world in terms of what would make a good story but you have to think of the over all effect that a disturbing image can have the world.

Hadrian's Wall Assignment 4 5/18/2009

Shop Till You Have To Stop!-5/14/2009

Space Jam-5/12/2009

Feild Trip assingment for 5/11/2009

first few days

5/5/2009
after a 10 hour plane ride and unbeknownst to us a 3 hour bus ride we get to Harlaxton, the pictures just really dont do this place justice, we went around the manor, explored and took tond of pictures. I feel like I am in Beauty and the Beast! Meg and I even sang the song lol. We saw Jeff and he showed us all the passageways of course. Our room really reminds me of a cruise ship, i am on the top bunk haha hope I dont fall, this place is a little spooky but i havent thought much of it until about 11o'clock at night when i hear dani screaming meghan's name, dani tells us she saw a girl coming out of meghan's sheets and laughing at her needless to say i am totally terrified this would happen to me.
5/6/2009
Last night dani saw a ghost and we didnt get much sleep after that! we slept all night with the lights on. Today was our first day of class we talked alot and then we went outside and took alot of pictures. In the afternoon it seemed like everyone went into town which was fun! we walked all around and it is the cutest place. we saw a big hat shop uhh where was that when we had g-big's bridal shower. Tonight the bistro is open so we all go down....I looove the bistro and wish it was open all the time!
5/7/2009
Today we had an hour class, then we all went back and took a nap because I can speak for myself when I say I was exausted from a night of fun! At about 1 we got on a bus and traveled to Stratford upon Avon and Coventry.When I was getting off the bus in Coventry i slipped as usual and fell I hit my elbow and it hurt really bad I didnt think much of it and went on myt merry way. Coventry was so beautiful it had an old cathedral that had been bombed in WW2 and a new and a little modern for my taste was errected next door. we went off the beaten path and found a really awesome old cathedral and I got some beautiful shots for my story, then we get back on the bus and head to Straford Upon Avon. By now my elbow is still hurting which I dont think is right so I tell everyone I am with we need to be on the lookout for the pharmacy. We went to Shakespere's burial place which was really cool to see. Finally we find a Boots and I buy a skin rejuvination kit which i thought was a really funny name for band-aids, we walked around and saw shakespere's house and while some of the other girls went in, Emily and I went shopping. We ate at this really great place called the Encore which is apparently one of Shakespere's favorite place I dont know. Then we all met up and went to see the Winter's Tale at the Royal Shakespere Festival, The Winter's Tale is soo weird and I am not sure I would see it again, but it was a fun experience to see the actor's with real british accents! After we got on the bus an headed back to the Manor. I packed and went to sleep dreaming about Paris.