Wake Forest Athletics
McIntyre and White Summer Blogs
6/9/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Wake Forest volleyball rising-seniors Lauren McIntyre and Kristen White have traveled to Europe this summer to spend a month studying abroad. McIntyre, who is a Studio Art and Communications major, is participating in the WFU/EUSA London Internship Program while White is traveling with professor Dr. Rebecca Alexander as well as seven other students to study biochemistry. Both McIntyre and White will be blogging for WakeForestSports.com throughout their trips.
Entry 4
June 24, 2010
Its about midnight on Thursday and my trip is almost over. I cannot believe how fast it has gone by! I took my final this afternoon and have been busy packing up my things for my flight in the morning. Our Paris trip was AMAZING. It has been a few years since I have taken a French class, but I was able to have simple conversations and find my way around without looking too much like a tourist! The first night we got there, we went and got dinner at a café and then went to go see the Eiffel Tower all lit up, which was one of my most favorite parts of the trip. The next day, Friday, was a very busy day. We first went Sacre Coeur, which is a huge cathedral at the top of a hill, and then walked through the art district and to Moulin Rouge. We then traveled across town on the Metro, similar to the underground Tubes of London, to the Pasteur Institute and the Marie Cure Institute. As if this weren't enough for one day, we then went to the Eiffel Tower again in the evening and took the elevators to the very top! It was neat to see the whole city from a bird's eye view, but it was really windy and cold up that high!
Saturday was quite the day for museums, as we went to the Louvre and the Musée d'Orsay. The Louvre was huge, and a little overwhelming, but we got to see the Mona Lisa and the Statue of Venus along with lots of other types of art. After some lunch, we went to the Musée d'Orsay which had lots of French Impressionism. The next day we traveled to the chateau, Versailles, where Louis the XIV lived. We toured the inside, and every room was lavishly decorated with lots of rich textiles and very detailed painted ceilings. It was very neat to see all of the rooms, especially the Hall of Mirrors.
On our last day in Paris, we went to go see the Arc de Triomphe on the Champs Elysees. This was where a lot of the designer stores were, so we got out of there quickly and went to an area of town called La Marais, which we could actually afford! After some souvenir shopping, we hurried back to grab our bags from the hotel and caught the Eurostar back to London. Our last couple days in Cambridge have been filled with lots of studying for our final. I am so happy and grateful that I have had the opportunity to take part in this program. I have made some great memories, seen some tremendous things, and made some great friendships...and not to mention, we all learned some biochemistry along the way!
Entry 3
June 17, 2010
It is a little past noon on Thursday and I just got finished packing up for our 5 day trip to Paris! We are taking a train from Cambridge to London and then Eurostar train from London to Paris, so I will be there tonight at about 6 pm! This past week we have done lots of little things in Cambridge. If you ever travel to Cambridge, you must go 'punting,' which is when a 'punter' pushes a flat-bottom boat using a long pole to scrape along the muddy bottom of the Cam River. This tour was perfect to see The Backs, which refer to the backs of the colleges. This was very fun and relaxing, even though it started to rain in the middle of our tour! We also did a walking tour of the colleges that included King's College, Trinity, and St. John's. This tour was very informational, and it allowed us to get into King's Chapel, which is a tremendous Chapel with 2 story high stain glass windows lining the 80 meter long building.
While in Cambridge we have also gone to some museums, like the Fitzwilliam Art Museum, and the Cavendish Laboratories, where Watson and Crick solved the structure of DNA in the 1950's. One of my favorite parts, however, was watching the World Cup game at a local pub last Saturday. It was England versus the U.S., and I have never seen so many people jammed into one place at a time. We got there early enough to get a seat to watch the game on the big screen projector, but by game time there was standing room only. It seemed like we were actually at the game with the amount of noise the British fans were making. Considering the fact that we were the only American people in the pub, except one man dressed like Uncle Sam, we were treated relatively nicely! We got some glaring looks when we were cheering for the U.S., but it was a great experience.
It's almost time to go catch the train for Paris, and I am very excited! The shops in Cambridge have been great, but I am very excited to see what the shops in Paris have to offer!
Entry 2
June 9, 2010
It's about 5 pm on Wednesday and I am now in Cambridge. We arrived here on Sunday by train after having a great weekend in London. We had to be sure to see a few more sites and go to places that couldn't be passed up while being in London. On Friday, my classmates and I went to Harrod's, the most expensive department store in the world. This was a VERY nice place, and I hope to be able to afford something from there someday! After leaving Harrod's a few of us traveled to Portobello Road, a street lined with markets, antiques, and boutiques, which was definitely more fitted for the average college student's budget. We ate at a hole in the wall cafe called Charlie's and then stumbled upon the Hummingbird Bakery where we enjoyed some great cupcakes. The next day was our last full day in London, and I had to be sure to check out all of the bridges. We took the tubes to central London and saw the London Bridge, Millennium Bridge, and Tower Bridge, which was my favorite. While adventuring in this area we also saw the Tower of London and Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.
On Sunday, we packed up and checked out of our rooms at the Crofton in time to catch a train up to Cambridge that afternoon. I had never been on a train before, and it was an easy and scenic 45-minute ride. We arrived at our new house, the Warkworth House, which is conveniently located right across from a park that lines the colleges that comprise Cambridge University. The city of Cambridge is much smaller compared to London, and beautiful in a different way. It is more of a college town and the buildings on campus have so much history behind them. Many great scholars have attended Cambridge so it is neat to see where they studied. There are not as many tourist sites in Cambridge in comparison to London, but there are a lot of activities that the University is hosting because the students just finished up final exams--which I'm sure they are relieved about.
Yesterday we went on a tour of the Medical Research Council, the MRC, where we saw the labs where x-ray crystallography is performed. This is an important aspect of biochemistry because it allows the structure of macromolecules to be determined. The man who gave us our tour was Andrew Leslie, a prestigious scientist who has worked with lab groups affiliated with Nobel Prize winners. We then attended a seminar given by Thomas Steitz from Yale, who was the Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry in 2009 for determining the structure of ribosomes. We stayed after his seminar was over and talked to him about our program and what an honor it must have been to receive a Nobel Prize. He even showed us some of his personal pictures of the ceremony where he was honored for his accomplishments.
I am looking forward to this weekend because not only will another exam be completed, but Saturday the United States is playing England in the World Cup. Talk about being in the right place at the right time...I just hope we don't get kicked out of any pubs for rooting for the wrong team!
Entry 1
June 1, 2010
The time here is 3 pm on Tuesday, and I have been in London for a few days now. After my flights from Cincinnati to Charlotte then a red eye from Charlotte to London, I was expecting to be absolutely exhausted. But I was mistaken. I was totally rejuvenated even though I couldn't get a wink of sleep on either of my flights. The excitement of being in a new place, one unlike I had ever been before, was absolutely exhilarating and even gave me the energy to put up with fellow Demon Deacon, Lauren McIntyre, for the evening! A couple of my new roommates joined Mac and I at a quaint Italian Restaurant a few blocks from my residence, the Crofton House in Kensington just south of Hyde Park.
The next day was our last free day before class officially started on Monday, and my roommates and I made the best of it by seeing the sites. We traveled on the Tubes, which are the very convenient underground subways of London. We went to central London and got to see sites like Big Ben, Parliament, the London Eye, Westminister Abbey, and Buckingham Palace. The architecture here is phenomenal. Considering how much history the city has, the amount of detail on each building is extraordinary. It is no way, shape or form comparable to anything that I have seen in my life, and something that words cannot describe, which is why you must all come see it for yourselves! That evening, my seven classmates and I met up with our professor, Dr. Rebecca Alexander, at a local pub right around the corner from our house. The food here was also delicious, which I have learned is the case with nearly every place I have been so far---it is even more enjoyable if you can find it at a reasonable price!
The structure of the biochemistry class is very laid back, but at the same time fast paced because we need to fit an entire semester of material into four short weeks. Class is for just two hours every morning, Monday through Thursday, with an exam every Thursday afternoon. This is nice because afternoons are free for exploration of the city and weekends are free for travel to other cities or countries. Monday afternoon, we took the tubes to Abbey Road, the street the Beatles made famous. We made some valiant attempts to recreate their album cover and got to see their recording studio. After class today we went on a tour of the Science Museum so connections could be made between the city's scientific history and our course material. Tomorrow we are scheduled to go on a tour to Alexander Flemming's lab, where penicillin was invented. I'm sure there will be more site seeing to come before we take a train on Sunday up to Cambridge, our next destination for the program.
So far I have enjoyed London immensely. My classmates and I are all getting along really well so it is fun to experience this new city with them as well. One of my favorite parts, besides the aesthetics of the city, is how the city travel is so convenient. Cars really aren't necessary because everything is a quick tube stop away or within walking distance. Some of my classmates have had a couple close calls crossing the street because you must remember to look the opposite way first, and trust me, these Londoners do not stop for anyone!
Kristen
Entry 1
May 28, 2010
Well, it is 6:15PM London time on Friday, May 28th 2010 and I am officially worn out. I have lived in London now for five days and have experienced more than I ever thought I would. I arrived at noon on Monday the 24th after a fairly easy red eye from Minneapolis. After traveling through customs and gathering my two luggage bags, I panicked. I was hoping that I would spot someone around my age who was headed to the student housing that I was going to live in. Luckily, my outgoing personality came in handy quicker than I had anticipated. I tapped a young girl on the shoulder and I cannot tell you how quickly her eyes lit up to see a young American face. I asked her if she was venturing to the same place as me and she yelled, "YES!" We immediately headed to the Tube, the infamous London underground railway, much like the New York subway). Another bit of hope shined our way when a young man with luggage smiled at the two of us on the Tube. I asked him the same question and he responded in a similar tone. After the hour and a half ride to King's Cross Station (upper northeast side of London), we had reached our destination.
After a ten minute walk we had reached Nido Student Living. Signed in, found my room, and was so united with my University of Central Florida roommate. Soon we decided food was absolutely necessary before we starved!
For the past three days we have done nothing but walk, eat, attended lecture, and taken tours of London. My favorite part of our first tour was of Parliament. No photo can do justice to this mammoth building. Not only are you blown away by the magnitude of this building, but also by its elegance and ora. It almost feels as if you jump back in time to grand ballroom dresses and wigs.
It is hard to describe London and all that encompasses this historical city, but I will try my best. London is CLEAN. London is loud. London is busy, pushy, expensive, and more than anything absolutely beautiful. The city is not only well kept by the government, but people genuinely respect the city and what it means to live in such a historically dominant landmark. Some helpful hints that I have quickly picked up in London are as follows: do not walk on the right hand side of the sidewalk or you will be run over, if you walk in the street when you do not have the walking signal you are risking being completely run over (I have seen numerous close calls), if you see a sign labeled "toilets" that means restrooms, if you see a sign labeled "way out" that means exit, if you see a sign labeled "litter" or "rubbish" that means trash, and if someone asks you are you going on holiday, that means vacation. In context they are all easy to pick up, although avoiding confusion prior to the trip would have been helpful.
Another point that I must make is the food in London is unlike anything I have had in the states. From the pizza to the fish and chips you are looking forward to a great time. Finally, I will note that I have NEVER seen so many different types of people in one city. If anyone has ever said that America is the melting pot of the world, they are strictly mistaken. London houses more people than you will ever seen in one place in America, and what's great about this is you see more acceptance and respect from all groups. It is a beautiful thing to walk by London school yards and see all types of children playing together. This is a generation that will act as a strong cornerstone in hopefully not only racial and ethnic acceptance, but equality.
All for now, and as the Londoners would say, CHEERS LOVE!
Lauren "Mac" McIntyre
