About Me

Alabama, United States
Originally this blog was just a journal of my year studying abroad in England, but now its just my life. I can't seem to sit still so most of it is travel related, but who knows where it will go from here. Don't be fooled by the name. I LOVE to travel, I'm just not always merry.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

London Take 2

So my trip to London didn't go exactly as planned, but I had the most amazing time!

When I got to London on Friday it was already dark. I mean it was 4:30 in the afternoon so why shouldn't it look like 9:00 at night? I knew I was going to be on my own for at least the first night so I made sure the hostel I was booked was close to the Victoria Coach Station. It ended up just being down the street so after checking in I decided to walk down to the London Eye. By the time I got across the bridge I was starving so I stopped to eat at this Japanese restaurant. I haven't had Japanese food in such a long time and it was delicious. They gave me way more food than I could possibly eat so I just sat there for a while trying to digest it all before heading back out into the night.
I was quite surprised that it wasn't colder. When I was there in October it was unbearably cold and windy at night, but this night it was quite lovely. Since it was so nice I saw no point in heading back to the hostel yet. I decided to walk along the South Bank of the Thames towards The Globe. I hadn't been there yet and I thought now would be a good time. I wasn't going to pay to go inside, and I can see the outside at anytime so now seemed good. Many of the buildings were lit up in colors along the river and there were tons of Christmas lights up. Right next to the London Eye there was this cool Christmas market. The stands/stalls all had wooden paneling so they looked pretty legit. There were sweets, mulled wine, crafts, and even churros! It was all very Christmas-y. Oh, and there was a carousel! After exploring that for bit I finally made it down to The Globe and realized it was nothing special. Thankfully it was a nice walk.
On the way back I just sat on one of the benches and admired the beauty of London at night. This guy sat next to me and we ended up talking for easily over an hour. He lives near Camden but is originally from Belfast. We just talked about all sorts of things. He was kind of one of those guys who thinks he knows just so much and is so wise, but he was kind enough that I just overlooked it for the night.
Before I headed back to the hostel I got to listen to this guy play probably one of the saddest songs ever...Tears in Heaven by Eric Clapton. That song was always sad but once my dad told me specifically what it was written about it just became heartbreaking. I won't tell you why (I don't what to be responsible for your sadness), but if you look it up all I can say is you were warned!

The next day I was supposed to meet up with Maile. I went to Camp Juliette Low with her, but I haven't seen her for three or four years. We were communicating via Facebook so I knew there could be issues. We had a tentative meeting place when I left: noon at Parliament. Unfortunately the internet was down in the hostel so I wasn't aware that the meeting place had changed. I ended up waiting at Parliament for thirty minutes before I realized something must have changed. Poor Maile must have ended up waiting at the Tower of London. It was disappointing, but I didn't let it spoil my trip.
I walked up to the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square. I get bored by religious realist paintings, which most of them are, so I headed straight to the two rooms housing the impressionism paintings. I got to admire Monet's "Water Lilies, Setting Sun" and Van Gogh's "A Wheatfield with Cypresses: and "Sunflowers". I'm not going to lie, I looked for Amy's name in the latter but to no avail. It didn't take long to admire the paintings in those two rooms so I headed outside and got to enjoy the rehearsal of the Christmas tunes that were to be sung on the steps later that night. I had every intention of making it back for the formal performance, but it just did not happen.
I decided it was a museum kind of day so attempted to make my way to the British Museum near Covenant Gardens. I started off by taking a wrong turn and ended up having lunch at Tortilla. I finally got tacos and they were delicious. I just wish I could have had some queso. The British just don't seem to understand my desire to eat a bowl of melted cheese with tortilla chips. After lunch I took a couple more wrong turns and ended up in the Seven Dials area. It was such a cool Soho type area with tons of shopping. I found this store called Forbidden Planet and fell in love. It is sci-fi/geek paradise. It is filled with comics and TV and movie memorabilia. If I had had more money I would have bought a truckload of stuff. There was a whole section for Doctor Who and The Big Bang Theory and Marvel superheroes. They also had all of season 8 of the Buffy comics, the Buffy omnibuses, the Angel comics, and the Angel & Faith comics. I could have bought a lifetime of gifts  for Sam in that store and he must visit it whenever he returns to London.
Finally I made it to my original destination, the British Museum. The place is gigantic. I don't know how but I managed to walk through every room. I was there until it closed at 5:30. Honestly the trick is to not do much reading. If you try to read everything you will be exhausted after the first room. They had a marvelously depressing bunch of rooms on Egyptian burials, a fascinating room on the history of clocks, a room on tea in China and Japan, and a plethora of rooms on the history of the rest of the world. The combination of walking to the British Museum and throughout the museum resulted in some very pained feet.
However, the walking did not stop there. I decided to walk back to Trafalgar Square to see the Christmas concert. Unfortunately I was distracted again when I passed St. Martin's Theatre. They were showing Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap so I decided to catch a show. I must say the seats in the uppermost section were definitely not made for even average sized people. I'm short and even I felt cramped in those tiny rows. There was hardly any leg room at all. However, the show was a beautiful "who dunnit". I did keep expecting a giant bee to appear, but no luck. Clearly Doctor Who has severely altered my view of Agatha Christie mysteries. After that I tried to catch the Christmas market, but it was much too late and all the stalls were closed down so I caught a bus back to the hostel and crashed.




So there was no Maile, but it was a big confidence boost travelling by myself throughout London. Clearly I can do this.

Friday, December 7, 2012

Off to London!!

I'm off to London for the weekend and it will be a wonderful break from all the studying I've been doing. It will be bloody cold, but I know how to layer. I'll basically be like an onion.
I'm not sure what I will be up to, but I am supposed to meet up with a friend from camp, Maile. We haven't seen each other in about three years so I am very excited to see her. Hopefully all goes well and my nose doesn't freeze off because that is the one thing I can't cover.

Thursday, December 6, 2012

The End of the Semester is Approaching

I only have one more week of classes and 13 days 'till I go home, and I am starting to feel the pressure. Technically my one exam isn't until January 9th and my 3 papers aren't due until the 8th, but I have a lot to do. I need to complete the papers before I get home because I will never get anything accomplished there. Home is just so distracting. Also I am only going to be there for two weeks and my dad already has me listing places I want to eat.

I just don't know where the time went. I can't believe my first semester abroad is almost over. I have not traveled to enough places yet and for that reason alone I am glad that I have another semester to go. Otherwise a year is a long time. However, my friends Elizabeth and Rachel will both be abroad next semester and that should make things more exciting.

November was not the best month overall and I realize its more about who you are with than where you are. I think I was just letting the cold, rainy weather get to me. It also doesn't help that it starts getting dark by 4:00. It just takes a little more effort to get me out of bed, but I am working on it. Next semester I will be prepared; I will be better. But I'm glad I'll be able to take a break at home before that.

Turkey Day

The girls in my flat and I decided to have Thanksgiving dinner together. I think we all were a bit bummed about not being with our families for the day so we thought this would be a nice alternative. I mean Thanksgiving is just about food, family, and football (American, that is).

Usually my family either goes to the lake or to my grandfather's farm. We eat turkey, honey baked ham ('cause I'm not a huge fan of turkey), rolls, corn, apple pie, fruit salad, stuffing, vegetables, and salad. Honestly I don't like most Thanksgiving food and since that is a huge part of the holiday it has never been one of my favorites. However I don't mind hanging out with the family, and its especially nice if Auburn beats Alabama in the Iron Bowl (which definitely didn't happen this year). Also you get to nap and eat all day without judgement.

This year was not the same, but it was a blast. Everyone made something for the dinner. I made grape salad because it requires no skill whatsoever. There was fruit salad, rolls, stuffing, green bean casserole, chocolate truffles, apple pie bites, and corn. Kelsey managed to make a turkey in the ridiculously small oven and I was very impressed. It was delicious! Maureen invited some of her cycling friends and they brought a huge pot of curry and rice. There was tons of food left over.

I'm not even sure how we managed to fit everyone into that tiny kitchen. All the chairs were occupied and even standing space was limited. But we ate and chatted. I sat next to one of Tim's friends and he was hilarious...like had to stop eating funny. After dinner some of us spilled out into the hall and we chatted 'till late in the night.

However, the day was not completely devoid of family. I got to Skype mine just after they finished their Thanksgiving meal. For the first time they had it at my grandmother's house, and some of my cousins were there as well. I love my family, but I could get used to having Thanksgiving with friends. I mean its really just a rehearsal for Christmas. 

Change of Plans

After Dublin we decided to cancel our Milan trip the net weekend. We were both getting worn out from constantly packing up and leaving only to return to school. Also we could never stay in a place long enough to settle down. So, no more trips until I was going to see my friend Maile in Seville. Of course that did not end up happening so the next trip is not until I see her in London.

Its nice that I know I have another semester so I can take time of from travelling when I feel I need to. Constantly moving is a lot of work. People need down time.

Gift of Gab

With the end of the semester fast approaching I have been seriously slacking off on my blog posting. Hopefully that will change now that the due dates for my papers are coming up. I always love a reason to procrastinate...not that I need a reason most of the time. 
In the next few posts I will just be playing catch up.


Three weekends ago I went to glorious Ireland and one weekend was not enough! We flew from Leeds to Dublin and took a bus to our hostel right off of O'Connell Street. For once there were no travel mishaps and we had virtually no problem finding where we were staying. Maybe I am getting better at this whole travel thing...maybe.

Anyway we always arrive late so after climbing like 5 flights of stairs we just headed to bed. The next day was when we really got to see Dublin. We decided to pay for one of those hop on hop off tour buses because the ticket is good for 2 days and it takes you to all the main sights. Basically it meant that we would have to pay for any transportation while we were there. Also they picked up right on O'Connell Street so it simplified things.
When we first got on we got off at like the first or second stop because I really wanted to see the statue of Oscar Wilde and roam around the park that the statue is in. I was in serious need of a park. I'm glad I got off. Oscar Wilde is posed in this awkward "just chilling on a rock with my pipe and smoking jacket" kind of way, and it just felt like Oscar Wilde....or at least what I know of him from his quotes seeing as how I've never read any of his work. Then we just meandered through the park. All the trees were beautiful fall colors and it was just breathtaking. I wish there was a park closer to where I am staying in Bradford. We ended up getting so distracted by it all that we missed the next two times the bus came around. Also we found SWINGS!! It was very exciting for some reason. Its not like I swing a lot at home, but for some reason I was craving it. Of course these swings were designed for little kids so even my legs were too long to really get any momentum. Still it was nice to just chill in a park.
Next we headed across the street to the "Dead ZOO". Really it is just the Natural History Museum, but that's what people call it. I mean it makes since because there are just a bunch of fossils and taxidermied animals in there, but the name is a bit morbid. I think we only went in because of the name. I mean honestly I don't really like Natural History Museums...unless they have dinosaurs. Dinosaurs make the whole thing worthwhile, but this museum was small and didn't have any.

We finally managed to get back on the bus. We were planning on just hopping off again, but this bus driver/tour guide was hilarious so we just stayed on for the entire loop. We sat on the top level in the open area just like we did in Scotland. It wasn't nearly as cold, but after a while the wind really gets to you. Since its been so long I don't even know if I remember everything we saw on the tour. I know we saw Dublin Castle (not a castle in the traditional sense), the Temple Bar area (definitely going to have to spend more time there next time), St. Patrick's Cathedral, Guinness Storehouse (considered going in but the tickets cost too much, especially considering how I am currently not a huge fan of beer), Phoenix Park, Old Jameson Distillery, Parnell Square, and The Dublin Eye.
 The amazing sights along with the witty commentary and historical references really just made me miss my Dad like crazy. He would have loved it. My family is Irish and it is actually sometimes a big deal. He has never been to Ireland, but we used to go see Riverdance every time they came to Birmingham and then we would spend the rest of the night pretending to Irish step dance on the air conditioning floor grating because it made the right sound. We also have a contemporary wood painting of St. Patrick next to our front door that my Dad is very proud of him. So I already know he would love Ireland, but he is also kind of a random facts/history buff. When we travel he likes to take over as our historical tour guide, and this tour would have given him some excellent information that he could later repeat to us four or five times. Hopefully he will come visit me at the end of the year and all of this can still happen.

So by the time we finished the loop and then went back around to get off at more stops we were both starving. We had had lunch, but that seemed like ages ago. First though we decided to go to the tourist information center and get a day trip for tomorrow. I really wanted to go to the Cliffs of Moher and Galway, but Jasmine made it perfectly clear she had no desire to go there. I would have been fine with going alone, but I would have felt guilty because I still don't feel like she is comfortable with it. Anyway, we decided to go to Cork and Blarney Castle. I want to go there too so its not like I was unhappy, and I'll just go to the cliffs next time because there will be a next time. After dinner, which I don't even remember, we stopped by this souvenir shop so Jasmine could buy gifts before we headed back to the hostel. She spent a lot of time and money in that store. I haven't bought anyone any gifts. My family understands that I am saving my money for travel, and I don't want to get anybody "junk". If I see something that reminds me of them or that I know they would love then that is when I will buy gifts. I did get Jasmine a birthday present though, but I know she'll like it.
We were going to go out that night but we were both so exhausted that we bailed. Maybe if we hadn't gone to the hostel first it would have happened, but once we sat down and got settled we realized just how worn out we were. We ended up just chatting with this Australian guy that was staying in the room with us. I can't recall his name for the life of me, but I think he was about 18 or 19. It was a really cool story. After he graduated from high school he came up to England with his parents and younger brother to visit their grandmother. Then the day before they were supposed to return home he told them he was not going back with them. He said his father kind of expected it, but his mom was upset. Its very common for Australians to take a  year off before university (very jealous), but I don't know if I would have had the courage to just tell my parents I wasn't going back with them. After that he had just been travelling around Europe, but now he was going to head back to England to work because he was quickly running out of money.  Kind of a cool life, but I don't know if I want to travel for that long on my own.

The next day was already planned out because of the day trip. We had to be at the coach by 6AM, I think, so we hurriedly got ready in the dark and then it was just a straight-ish shot to the meeting place. I tried to stay awake because the tour guide/bus driver was giving us some really interesting information on the Irish struggles, but my eyelids had a different plan. I did get to see some of the countryside before I passed out so it wasn't all lost on me.
Our first stop (not including the halfway stop) was the Rock of Cashel. Its one of Ireland's most historic sites. There is this beautiful ruin on top of the hill that we got to explore for a while. It offered these beautiful views of the surrounding countryside. I wouldn't mind just staying up there and looking at the sheep covered hills. It had also just rained so everything was just incredibly vibrant.

Then back on the coach to Blarney Castle. We bee-lined it to Blarney Castle so we could explore it and make it up the steps to the Blarney Stone. Thankfully it is the off season so there was no wait. I've heard that the line can be horrendous so we really lucked out. The stairs up to the stone were a bit treacherous. Winding and steep and uneven. The supporting rope was a necessity! The tilt back to kiss the stone was also a bit of a head rush, but now I should have the "gift of gab". People should beware!
The stone wasn't the only reason to go into the castle though. I really enjoy castles. They just seem so ominous and they have these horrid and legendary histories. They also are one of the few places that I realize the benefits of being short. I know some people who would have quite a difficult time exploring the rooms and passageways, but most of the time I don't even have to duck. At this castle they had an  oubliette and all I could think about was:
Hoggle: This is an oubliette, labyrinth's full of 'em.
Sarah: Really. I didn't know that.
Hoggle; Oh don't act so smart. You don't even know what an oubliette is.
Sarah: Do you?
Hoggel: Yes. It's a place you put people...to forget about 'em!
-and-
Jareth: She's in the oubliette.
(goblins laugh)
Jareth: Shut up! She should not have gotten as far as the oubliette; She should've given up by now.
Since then all I've wanted to do is watch Labyrinth

Just outside of the castle they have this Poison Garden. Honestly if I lived in a castle I would have a poison garden. Its nice to have that stuff on hand. There were also a lot of plants from the Harry Potter books in the garden such as Mandrake and Wolfsbane. There was way more land to explore around the castle than I was expecting and I wish I had more time to explore it. Lots of mystical stuff like Druid caves and Wishing Steps. It kind of places you in a storybook. I was really bummed that I didn't get to explore the Witches Kitchen, the Witches Stone, the Druids Circle, and the Fairy Glade. When I was a kid I used to play in the backyard, of course I called it the Secret Garden, and I would collect wildlife and pretend to make magic potions as if I was a witch or Wicca. It kind of felt like I could go back and keep pretending. The woods also reminded me of my grandma 'cause she was always really into fairies and once we went to see Fairy Tale: A True Story in theaters and since then I always walk around circles of mushrooms. The woods were just very magical and in my mind it gave the castle validity. But it was back on the coach before I could get my fill.

The last stop was Cork and we spent most of the time in a pub having lunch. I was absolutely famished and I ended up having some chicken pie thing that was unbelievably rich. It just put me straight to sleep on the coach, again.

 And that was the trip to Ireland. The next morning we got up super early to catch our plane. But hopefully I will be back for St. Patrick's day and on that trip I am definitely going to the Temple Bar area and having a Guinness in Fagan's pub. 

Thursday, November 8, 2012

The Election

It has been nice to not have to deal with the election over the past month or two. I didn't have to hear anyone argue over who should win, and when I got annoyed by the increasingly constant Facebook updates I could just log off. I sort of kept up to date with everything. I already knew where I stood with the candidates so I just watched a couple of the debates on YouTube.Scotland was the only time I had to watch any news coverage of the election and that's because it was on the TV in the pub we ate at. I'm sure it was in the news more frequently, but I don't have access to a TV so I was spared. 

When I went to bed on Tuesday Romney was 20 electoral points ahead and had just taken Ohio...I think. It wasn't until the fire drill that I was told that Obama was still president. Honestly I am just glad the whole election is over. 

Overall the people that I have talked to here seem thrilled that Obama won, but I am sure there are some who aren't. It's just not possible for everyone to be happy.

Fire Alarms

I just don't understand! For some reason beyond my comprehension someone here feels the need to test the fire alarms every week. Of course they go off at the perfect time to interrupt any chance I have of sleeping in.  And after they go off I am all agitated because the noise startles me every time. EVERY TIME!
They only go off for a bit, and they turn off in time for us to know it isn't even a drill.

However, yesterday the alarms went off and someone came around knocking on our doors and telling us that it was an actual drill. I was getting ready to take a shower and all of a sudden I had to rush to put on my jacket and shoes so I could stand outside in the freezing wind. I am just not a fan of fire alarms. I figure you have to deal with them at least once a year, but I never considered it a weekly thing.

Maybe the English are just very skeptical of the working order of their alarms?

Remember, Remember

Three days ago it was the 5th of November and since I am in England it was a big deal. The weekend before   there were huge bonfire nights. I would have gone with some friends from my Sociology class, but I was in Scotland with Jasmine. We would have gone in Scotland, but I was sick and could not stop coughing and sneezing (thankfully the meds my parents gave me before I left are fixing that).

However I still got to enjoy some of the festivities on the actual day. Even though it was a Monday people were still out celebrating. From my window I could see a huge bonfire and fireworks going off all around the city. For some reason there seems to always be fireworks going off in Bradford, but on this particular day it was just insane. They were going off all night! I knew it was a big deal, but I had definitely underestimated it. Unfortunately I saw no Guy Fawkes effigies or masks, but maybe I would have if I had been out in the thick of it or in a bigger city.

Now I have this incredible craving to watch V for Vendetta.

Monday, November 5, 2012

Warm As Toast

...but not really.

This weekend I ventured up to Scotland with Jasmine. We headed to the train staition about an hour after I finished up my meeting for my upcoming group project. Naturally I was in a rush because I needed to pack and make something for me to eat because I hadn't eaten in hours. I also really wanted to use up the last of my bread before I left because I didn't want it to be moldy when I got back. Bread just goes bad way too fast. I should probably consider refrigerating/freezing it. However I got everything done and we were about to head out the door when Jasmine realized that she forgot her reference numbers that would actually allow her to pick up her train tickets. It was quite an essential thing to forget considering she had the entire day to get ready. Also it took her forever to get them so we basically had to speed walk to the train station. Of course when we got to the station more problems arose. The train was already there and for some reason we couldn't get the self service ticket machine to work and that is the only way you can pick up preordered tickets from the station. Later I realized I had been using the wrong card, but the machine was telling me that the card could not be read not that there were no reservations associated with the card. Thankfully the train operator was nice and he let us hop on the train without tickets. We had to change trains in Leeds anyway so he said we could just get our tickets then. Of course we still had to rush through the Leeds airport because Jasmine couldn't find the confirmation number for the first train trip. Very unprepared, but we made it and that is what counts.

The first part of the trip we spent in Edinburgh. We got there at about 10 pm, but our hostel was right across the street from the station. It made things easy...or it would have if we hadn't of walked all around it without noticing it. After being a bit travel weary we just grabbed a bite to eat at Pizza Express before calling it a night. It wasn't until the next day that I really got to appreciate the beauty of Edinburgh. No wonder it is the capital. It has this beautiful taste of the old with a couple of quite modern buildings.
The first day we just happened across The Royal Mile, which is  famous tourist mile that connects the Edinburgh Castle to the Queen's residence in Scotland. The streets are cobblestone and are lined with statues and churches. It is very picturesque!
We didn't actually go into the castle because it cost too much, but the outside was gorgeous. We hiked up a hill that stands out from the city and offers a great outlook over it all. It was definitely worth the effort, but it definitely made me realize I need to workout. I am embarrassingly out of shape. Also once you walk up onto a hill out of the protection of the buildings, the wind can be quite fierce and cut right through your clothing. However it definitely felt like Scotland on the top of the hill. Of course after climbing down we realized the best thing to do would be to get a bite to eat  some place warm so we ran into a pub and ordered some steak pies. I have definitely become a fan of that meal.
As the day went on it only got colder, but most of the sights were outside. The only place we actually went into was the National Museum because it was free. However, it was mainly filled with art that I am not a huge fan of. Too many realist, religious paintings. On the plus it was a nice relief from the cold.

 That night we hopped on a train to Glasgow. I wish we had spent more time in Edinburgh because honestly Glasgow is just another big city. Also the first night there was such a trial. Jasmine had booked the hostel for us so she had gotten directions from Google Maps. It ended up taking us 40 minutes away from where we needed to be. We got off the train and had no idea where we were. I had to call transportation information and they told us how lost we were. The last train back to Glasgow was about to leave so we had to rush to rush to catch that. Thankfully the conductor was extremely helpful and gave us detailed instructions to where we were staying. Even better was that once we got to the hostel we discovered that we had been upgraded to a private room for no extra cost. Normally I like sleeping in a dorm, but after that night and the fact that I was getting sick a private room sounded perfect.
The next day was an improvement in Glasgow, but how could it not be. We decided to just sleep until we awoke so we had a nice, relaxing, late start. Then we walked to the city center and realized just how close we were to it. Those directions were so wrong! We spent the day just walking around and going in a couple of free museums. Unfortunately we were still  so tired from Halloween and the trip before that we decided to call it an early night. We stocked up on junk food and watched E.T. Honestly it was a good night. We I feel under the weather that is really all I want to do.

The next day we thought it would be fun to hop on one of those sightseeing tours before we headed back to Bradford. It turns out that the ticket is good for 2 days and you can hop on or off whenever. Important information to know for later. It could reduce transport costs to sights in other cities so I will definitely try that again in another city. We didn't even have enough time to hop off anywhere because of our train. We sat  in the open upper section of the bus and got a great view of tons of places. We also got to listen to a beautiful Scottish accent in the historical commentary. Everything started off great, and then I realized just how cold it is when you aren't walking. I was wearing two pairs of socks, two pairs of pants, two shirts, a jacket, boots, gloves, a scarf, and a hat. Despite all of that my toes and knees were burning from the cold. Too add to that I started sneezing like crazy. I just could not stop.
I did find some places I would visit if I ever came  back. I would definitely check out The Gallery of Modern Art, the Glasgow Science Centre, and Glasgow University.



After all that getting back to Bradford was a breeze. It took a while, but nothing went wrong. All I wanted to do was crash when I got back, but for some reason I got a second wind and Skyped with my family. It was a shame to leave Scotland, but I guess I did have to go to class. I will miss the accents though. Scottish accents are definitely better than English accents. 

Sunday, November 4, 2012

This is Halloween!

So when Halloween rolled around I was still tired from my big trip. Besides the nights in London I didn't really sleep well the entire trip. However it was Halloween soI had to do something. Monday through Wednesday I attempted to get in the spirit by watching a ton of movies. I had a bunch of reading to do for my group project and since I normally watch TV or movies when I do school reading it worked out perfectly.
Of course I had to start it off with Hocus Pocus because it just isn't Halloween until you watch that movie. It's justthe perfect amount of ridiculousness and I think I have watched every year thanks to ABC Family's The Thirteen Nights of Halloween. I wish I could have watched some other childhood favorites like Halloweentown or When Good Ghouls Go Bad, but I just didn't have access to them.
I followed that movie up with Scream 1-3. Definitely a Halloween must. Its just one of those really awesomely bad horror movies, and it blantantly lists the horror movie rules for all of those who are uneducated in the formula. Basically I am safe.
In an ideal world this would have been followed by the Halloween movie because Michael Myers is a classic unkillable villan, but no such luck. Instead I switched over to Resident Evil, but only the first one was on Netflix. In junior high and high school Iwould have watched the second one while waiting in line for Fright Night at Sloss Furnace. Unfortunately this year I did get my haunted house/maze.
Seeing as how it looked like Netflix wasn't going to let me watch any movie series, I switched to Carrie. I hadn't seen it since I was a child and Iknew it was a classic so I thought it would be a good choice. I was wrong! The only scary part was the extremely religious mother who abused her daughter and just made me angry. I made it all the way through, but it was a struggle. Also girls' locker rooms are nothing like they are displayed in the openeing scene. I mean is all that nudity necessary? Really?
After that I needed to legitimately scare myself so I tried When a Stranger Calls.
That didn't work so then I decided to just watch a good zombie movie. I tried Day of the Dead because the title seemed promising. Honestly there was a serious lack of the dead. Most of it was about the failing relationships and order of the survivors. All I wanted to see was a bunch of people getting eaten...is that too much to ask?
Seeing as how my choices were failing me I headed on the ridiculous route. I started Return of the Killer Tomatoes, but I had to stop about 5 minutes in. I haven't seen the first one and that normally bothers me, but really I couldn't watch it because its not one you watch alone. It would have been hilarious with my brothers. We watched Killer Klowns from Outer Space this summer and loved it and this move is on the same plane. However, I don't have anyone like that here so I decided to hold off on that one until I get home.
However I wasn't completely giving up on ridiculous movies so I watched Black Sheep. Its about these genetically mutated sheep who start eating people. If you get bitten you start turning into this giant sheep creature. It was AMAZING! It was funny and creepy and a bit deranged...pretty much the perfect combo. Not everyone would enjoy it, but I will definitely watch it again.
It sounds like a lot of movies to watch in three days, but I have been training for this. I even managed to watch Saw 5-7 before going out on Halloween night. I have finally finished the Saw series and I am super happy about it. When ever I watch them I yell at the TV and question my sanity for watching these gruesome gory scenes that obviously make me uncomfortable, but I continue to watch them. And now I know all of the partners and the story lines. I just feel so knowledgeable.

Of course I did eventually go out that night. I headed out with Jasmine, Hannah, and Maureen to Revolution for the cycling social. It was pretty chill and we just hungout there until the club next door, Tequila, opened. The rest of the Avenger group met up with us there and after a few picture with them I finally got to ditch the princess portion of my costume. I was all for being an Avenger, but putting me in a tutu and a tiara is just too much. I was much more comfortable without it.
I think we stayed at Tequila till about 3. I was definitely ready to leave earlier, but whatever. I generally had a good time. I just wish I hadn't spent so much money. Going out costs way too much.

Despite my efforts it never really felt like Halloween. I didn't see any trick-or-treaters, I didn't have any candy, and at no point was I the least bit scared. BOO!

Monday, October 29, 2012

Bonjour/Hola/'Ello

So I have finally made it back from my first big trip of the year...not counting actually coming to England. We had a week off of school for Reading Weekand anyone who knows me would never expect me to do work during that time. A big trip to Marseille, Barcelona, and London is a much better use of my time. So here goes the day by day recap of my trip:

10/18: Bradford to London
Thursdays are my busy days because I am basically on campus untill 5 so I had to do all of my packing the day before. Jasmine and I couldn't book our coach tickets online because our credit cards were being declined for absolutely no reason. Anyway, she went down to the station while I was in class and I got a text that the coach left at 5:30. This meant that I had to book it back to the flat for some last minute packing because of course I hadn't actually finished the day before. Thankfully we make it and the coach ended up being 15 minutes late anyway. The coach was quite nice. I am still getting used to having to buckle up on a bus, but the seats did lean back and that more than made up for it. I think we finally got to the airport after 12.

10/19: London to Marseille
So we had to wait in the airport for 6 hours! We were starving because neither one of us had eaten since lunch the previous day. I think we both just got some chips and ate these really disgusting eclairs. It was actually took effort to eat it because it was so bad. I eventually gave up, and tried to sleep.
Finally we got to France and it was actually warm! I got to wear shorts for the first time since I left Alabama. Just a short bus ride and then a ride in the metro before we were at our hostel (Hostel Sylvabelle). The best part about the hostel was probably how close it was to the metro. After dropping off our backpacks we did a bit of exploring. Our first mission was to find the Mediterranean Sea so we made our way to the harbor. There were tons of sailboats just chillin' in the water. I very much wanted to commandeer one and go for a bit of an excursion. Eventually we made our way down to the beach and I had a Merguez (sausage and fry sanwich) from this little vendor. Although it was warm outside the water was beyond chilly so I only got in up to my knees. People around us were swimming, but they were obviously crazy.
Unfortunately the day made a turn for the worse for Jasmine. Some guy threatened to back hand her at a park and then the strap to her bag broke. Clearly those two things aren't on the same level, but it was one after the other so the effects combined.

10/20: Day 2 of Marseille
We slept in today because we were both still tired from traveling. Well actually I woke up at 9, but I did lay in bed for a while. Marseille is kind of a small place so there wasn't much left for us to do. One could definitely do everything in a day. We headed up to Notre Dame de la Garde at the top of the hill. You have to walk up a bunch of stirs first, but the view is definitely worth it and it is free to enter. It was crazy windy up there so my face was blocked by my hair in a decent portion of the pictures. Then we hopped on the metro to get to the train station so we could buy our tickets to Barcelona. It ended up being like 82 Euros, but we had to get there. Also Jasmine was fed up with France. Sure she had had some bad experiences, but I also think she felt uneasy not understanding the language. Almost no one spoke English. After that we headed back for a nap and then went out to a bagel placeon the harbor for dinner. The guy there spoke English and I think that made her feel better. Overall Ithink Marseille is a nice stop, but definitely not a destination.

10/21: Marseille to Barcelona
Well we missed the train. I had forgotten to change the time on the clock and so we got up an hour later than we should have. Thankfully there was another train right after that still allowed us to make our connecting trins, and they only made us pay the difference between the two tickets. A bit of stress at first, but it all worked out. I knew I was eventually gonna miss a train or flight or coach or something. We finally made it to Barcelona in the afternoon, but then we had to figure out the confusing metro station. It all seemed to jumbled. We knew what train we needed to be on, but it took us forever to find the platform going in the right direction.
The hostel (Ole' Barcelona) that we were staying at was right next to La Sagrada Familia, which is this enormous basillica that can basically be seen from all over Barcelona. It is huge and ornate and under construction. Being this close to huge sight means that there were tons of tourists and guided walks. After checking-in we decided to walk away from the madness and explore the surrounding area. It was basically just a chill walk, but that is always nice when you first get to a new place. The roads are so much wider and more open than they were in Marseille. It felt like I could breathe again. We were going to go out that night to eat, but a storm rolled in so we just relaxed in the hostel.

10/22: Day 2 of Barcelona
The day started off with us heading to our next hostel (Sute Hostal). It was a quick metro trip to the area, but that meant we had some time to kill before we could check-in. Luckily the hostel is situated right next to a shopping/eating area that spans a coupleof blocks so there was definitely things to do. It reminded me of Homewood, but bigger. Also, there were tons of dogs out and it made me miss mine. You can't really Skype with a dog, although I have tried.  For lunch we ate at this little restaurant and Jasmine got to show off her Spanish skills,which are quite impressive. I should really learn a language. Ten years of French and 3 1/2 years of Spanish and I still can only speak English. How very American. Anyway I was excited because I was finally gonna get to eat Spanish food, and it was a huge disappointment. I don't remember what I had, but it started with a "c". It was kind of like ground beef wrapped in a lasagna sheet, but it was undoubtedly the blandess thing I have ever tried. I got about halfway through it before I decided it wasn't worth it.
However, despite that disappointment the day was good. The hostel we stayed at this time was the first one that actually felt like a hostel. There were a bunch of people just socializing in the common area and some were staying for lengthy periods. We ended up chatting with Ed from Australia who is taking Spanish classes during the day. He is waiting for visa approval so he can go back to teaching English in Northern Japan. I was pretty thrilled to get to talk to travelers and hear about what they are up to.

10/23: Day 3 of Barcelona
Jasmine's hair was really bothering her so we went to a salon so she could get it dyed. Boring for me, but it gave me time to do some writing. I had just purchased a bunch of postcards and this gave me plenty of time to fill them out. Of course I left everyone's addresses on my desk in Bradford so I couldn't send them from Spain. It wouldn't be me if I didn't forget something. After that period sitting we took the metro to Cataluyna. We got to walk through these narrow streets and I finally felt like I was in a different country. The problem with cities is that they all sort of feel the same, and that was not what I was looking for. Through the streets we made our way to the beach. The temperature here is about the same as in Marseille, but the water was noticeably warmer. It was still chilly, but it took much less time to get used to it. We also walked along the boardwalk area and then took one of those gondola things up to the top of a mountain. We ended up just grabbing a bite there and enjoying the beautiful view of the ocean and the city. On the way back down the sun was starting to set so it got even better.

10/24: Day 4 of Barcelona
Since we had such an amazing time yesterday, we decided to head back to Cataluyna and go down La Ramba, which is a famous market/shopping street. I think it used to be a sewer at one point, but I could be making that up. I just feel like I read that somewhere. After walking for a bit we decided to go into the courtyard area and have a bite to eat. First of all I got to have paella! Even better was the group of older Irish guys we were sitting next to. They were hilarious! It was definitely one of the highlights of the trip. The other people around us seemed kind of annoyed, but they were so entertaining. They had clearly known each other for years and they would randomly burst out in Irish ballads. Eventually we tore ourselves away from them and made our way tothe beach. We just hungout there all day, but on our way back to the metro we passed by the same group of guys, clearly more inebriated, but still singing and having a grand time.
When we got back to the hostel I passed out, but I had to getup that night so we could head to the airport because our flight was at 6AM and Jasmine did't want to head to the train station in the middleof the night. Honestly Jasmine is very fearful. She never wants to be out at night which kind of sucks, but oh well.

10/25: Barcelona to London
I didn't sleep at all in the airport. I tried but the benches were metal and they all had arm rests so you couldn't stretch out. I tried to sleep on the floor but it was stone so I just got really cold. It was a verylong night, and the granola bars were doing nothing to fill my belly. Hopefully I will get better at this sleeping in airports thing.  I did zonk out on the flight though so that was nice.
Since our flight was so early we had hours to kill once we got to London before we could go to the hostel. We arrived at Victoria Station, which is right next to Westminster Abbey, so we decided to walk around Battersea park. It was nice to finally be in a park because those are seriously missing in Bradford and in Barcelona they are all sand. For some reason Jasmine packed these super uncomfortable boots and she was getting blisters all over her feet. We headed to the hostel, but the directions were rubbish and it took way too long to find the street. It wouldn't have been bad, but Jasmine was all crabby because of her feet. We did finally find the place and after we dropped our bags we went off the find food because we hadn't eaten in over 24 hours. Down the street was this BBQ place and it honestly felt like home...except for the football on TV. The BBQ was pretty good and we had a nice long meal.
Jasmine passed out when we got back, but I stayed up because Michelle was suppossed to arrive at the hostel that night. Since we had so much trouble finding the place I was afraid that she would too. To make matters worse neither mine nor Jasmine's phones were working because we needed to TopUp our accounts. Michelle just ended up taking a cab, which I'm sure was expensive, but may have been the best option since she was traveling alone.

10/26: Day 2 of London
I assumed I would wake up at around 9 because I hadn't really slept well the entire trip. However I ended up sleeping until 10:30 and waking up super rested. It was glorious! Because of that we got off to a late start, but whatever. We headed back on the 11 bus to Westminster and did the major sightseeing things like Westminster Abbey, the House of Parliament, Big Ben, and the London Eye. Thankfully they are all right net to each other so it took no time. Then it was off to Comic Con!!
We got there before it opened and it seemed like we were queued for an eternity, but we were in line next to a Dalek and Captain Jack so that was pretty awesome. Once the door finally opened there was so much to see. I bought 10's sonic screwdriver and a TARDIS because I just couldn't help myself.  Then we queued for the panel with Matt Smith, but we never got in. I could hear his voice in the room next to me and I help sing "Happy Birthday" to him, but I never got to see his face. However, there was a guy dressed up like him that looked pretty close to the real deal. We also couldn't get an autograph because only the first 100 people to buy the new DVD got to get an autograph. It was basically a fail on the Matt Smith front, but Comic Con was still exciting.
We left soon after all the fails and headed to the Tower of London. It was beautiful at night, but we didn't stay long because we were all so hungry. We had heard about this Mexican place near Trafalgar Square and Jasmine said she knew the way so she took the lead. Of course she did not actually know the way and she ended up taking us in the completely opposite direction into East London, which is the sketchy part. After walking for over an hour she admitted she was lost, I could have told you that like 20 minutes into the walk, but a quick bus ride dropped us off right were we needed to be. I was super excited for the food and to be out of the super harsh and cold wind. I had been craving mexican food since I got to England because there is a serious lack of it here. I got a quesadilla and it ended up being the spicy thing I have ever eaten, and i do not do spicy foods. The menu said "spicy-ish" and my experience has been that England is on the mild side, but man was I mistaken. It was good, but I could have used a glass of milk.

10/27: Day 3 of London
Jasmine left this morning so it was just me and Michelle. We headed off to Baker Street and enjoyed all that 221b had to offer. The Sherlock Holmes museum was small and I could have lived without going inside, but there was no way for me to know it wasn't necessarily worth it until I went in. Then it was back to Comic Con to meet Tiffany and Danielle, who had just arrived from Prague (another place I really want to go). Michelle and I got to take picture next to a TARDIS while we waited for them to get tickets, and we got to enjoy all the people in amazing cosplay. There were so many more people there than there was on Friday so it was pretty epic. There were people dressed up at The Doctor, Amy, Daleks, wizards, jedis, storm troopers, people from Naruto, and tons of video game characters. Some of these costumes were pretty legit and Michelle got tons of pictures that I am definitely going to steal from her. There were also more famous people there. Friday it was just Matt Smith, but Saturday I saw the main guy from Eureka, the man who play Professor Flitwick, the guy from Haven who I know from the first episode of Buffy, and Dale from The Walking Dead. It was a good day. To make it even better Michelle and I then headed to the Duchess theater to see Our Boys. It was a woderful play and it only cost us 20 GBP. The theater was super intimate which means I was super close to both Matthew Lewis (Neville from Harry Potter) and Arthur Darvill (Rory from Doctor Who). Yes I got to see Neville and Rory, and seeing Rory is way more exciting for me than seeing Matt Smith. I definitely chose the play to see them, but it turned out to be an excellent play. It was hilarious and sad, and I learned a new drinking game called Beerhunter (play on Deerhunter). It basically is Russian roulette with shaken beers as the bullets. It was just a super fantastic day. We eneded up not getting back to the hostel until after midnight.

10/28: London to Bradford
So I had booked a coach back to Bradford leaving at 3 so I had a day to do stuff on my own. I really enjoyed being on my own in the city. It was just less hassle because I knew what I wanted to do and I didn't have to coordinate with anyone else. It was an awesome day. I went to Trafalgar Square and then made my way over to St. Paul's. From there I walked across the Millenium Bridge (YAY Harry Potter!) to the Tate Modern. I must say I was less than impressed by the exhibits, but I am glad I went and it was FREE! Of course after making through the museum I had to grab the 11 bus back to Victoria Station. There was construction going on so it took longer to get there and I ended up sprinting to the station because I got off a stop too early. I honestly thought I was going to miss my bus, but when I got there the clocks said I had an hour to spare. I was so confused because my watch and my phone told me the bus should be leaving. It was very disorienting. I thought I had changed them somehow, but yesterday I had the right time. Once I got back to Bradford I saw an email reminding me about the clock change, so there day lights savings time is earlier than back at home.

It is nice to be back in my room, but I loved London. I wish I was studying there so I could get a taste for what it is like to live in a big city. I guess that experience will have to come later. Overall I think the trip was a success. Jasmine is not a bad partner, but I am glad the rest of our trips together are just weekend things. I also wish I had done more in Barcelona, but Jasmine was not up for it. I would have been fine with going off on my own, but I get the feeling that she would not be. I also wish we would do some bigger group trips so she would feel better about going out. Hopefully she will loosen up a bit more once she has gotten more used to traveling.

Unfortunately there is not much time for recuperation. I have this big group project that I have to work on and Thursday night I am off to Scotland for the weekend. I am not complaining, but I think at the end of the semester/year I am just going to crash. That or I could just adjust my time management.

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Fun Adventures Ahead!

Basically I have spent the past couple of days planning fun weekend trips with my flatmate Jasmine. It all kicks off Thursday when we start our Reading Week, which is a week off from classes to study but will be used much more effectively as a travel week. We will hop on a plane from London to Marseille, France and spend the weekend there. It happens to be where my mother's family came from. That's not why am going, but it was an exciting discovery. Then we will take a train from there to Barcelona, and spend about 4 days enjoying that. Then on Thursday we will get a plane back over to London and spend the weekend there going sightseeing and, more importantly,...GOING TO COMIC CON!!
I am very excited because I have always wanted to go to Comic Con. I assumed I would be going to the one in San Diego, but clearly the time for that has not yet come. Jasmine and I are meeting 3 of our friends there so I am thrilled that I have found people who would want to go to Comic Con. For Halloween we are dressing up as princess versions of the Avengers so I will probably just wear that costume to Comic Con. I am Thor and who doesn't love Thor?!

So that is my really big trip, but all my other weekends are now officially booked:
November 1-4 Scotland (Edinburgh & Glasgow via train)
November 8-11 Dublin
November 16-18 Milan
November 23-25 Seville, Spain (I'm going to visit a friends from Camp who is studying there)
Nov 29-Dec 2 Nothing...yet.
December 5-9 My friend from camp is going to visit me so I need to think of something to do.
December 15 Winter Break starts

Basically my credit/debit card has had a nice little workout. I saved up all this money to spend it on travel, so travel I will.

I am a bit tired of filling out all the information in order to book hostels, trains, and planes. It gets a bit annoying having to fill out all the same info over and over again because you are using a plethora of websites. You know your tired when you start misspelling your own name and I can't tell you how many times I accidentally put my home state as Alaska instead of Alabama. Almost all the booking is done and the rest will most likely be completed tomorrow.

This weekend is going to end up being the only weekend that I didn't go somewhere, but I definitely have enjoyed the extra sleep. Friday night I went to Friday Night Disco (FND) in the Student Union with Jasmine. Probably seems like we spend a lot of time together, but I don't see her that much during the week. Anyway this particular FND was Toga Frat themed so we got dressed up in togas. Thankfully I went to Toga Party at Hendrix last year so I just did the same thing for the toga. However, last year my roommate Elizabeth dressed me and did my hair and makeup. I was on my own this time and its more difficult when you actually have to do things for yourself. Everything turned out fine, but of course I forgot to take pictures. The party was a lot of fun, but we didn't get there till about 12. Basically that meant I had time to be a perfectionist and I think I rewrapped my toga about twenty times. I got so tired of waiting, but once we got there we ended up staying till it ended at 4/4:30. Lots of dancing and we met up with some of the Spanish study abroad students.
One thing I noticed is that there was a crazy amount of broken glass on the floor. People would just set their empty glasses on the floor instead of walking a couple of feet over to the tables. It was very annoying. Overall it was a fantastic night, but there was a serious lack of red solo cups. How can you have a Toga Frat party wihtou red solo cups?!

The rest of the weekend I just read because I have not really started making a dent in my reading lists and I definitely need to start doing that considering I no longer have any free weekends. I'm just glad I am staying another semester because otherwise there just wouldn't be enough time to get in all the travelling I want to do. I basically want to travel as if I will never be back in Europe again, even though I know that is not true. I just want to take advantage of it.

Other news/observations:
-Tesco = Walmart
-the tap water is AWFUL
-togas in cold weather = a very cold walk
-get a 16-25 railcard because it reduces prices by 1/3
-care packages with Goldfish, Ramen, Mac&Cheese, and Buffy/Dr. Horrible comic books are the best!

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Hello, Love


So I have been in England for about 17 days and it has been a very busy and overwhelming 17 days. I think I am finally settled in, but I’m sure there are things I am forgetting. I now have a pre- paid Nokia phone, which looks like one of the first phones ever made, I have bedding and pillows, and I have registered for my classes. I am also completely unpacked. I was going to open a bank account here, but that basically failed. At first I showed up to the bank with the wrong form, and then when I came back with the correct form they told me I couldn’t open an account because of my housing arrangement. I’m sure I could have opened an account with another bank, but I was so fed up by that point that I just decided not to. None of the other study abroad students on my hall are opening one so I feel a bit more at ease with my choice.  I just pick up my meal stipend from the pay zone in the main building every month and I can use the ATM right next to it to get cash. Regions only charges about 3% per transaction so if I only withdraw fairly significant amounts it is not too bad.

 Besides getting settled I have also been working on making friends, which requires I put in effort and  basically just going along with whatever they want to do whether or not it is something I am interested. I just need to put face time in at the beginning so that I am not forgotten later. I think it is going fairly well.  All the girls are study abroad students and most of them are ISEP students from the US. What really surprised me is that three of them are Mormons. They are all super nice and I actually know all of their names. Kelsey lives next door to me but we don’t really hang out, just casual chit chat in the kitchen, and Hannah lives across the hall and this is her second year studying at Bradford. Then there is a door which splits the hall in half. It kind of sucks because it means I don’t get to share a kitchen with the girls I actually hang out with. I also have to put in a bit more effort to hang out with them. So in the other section you have Jasmine, who is funny, loud, entertaining, and my new random dance partner,, Michelle, who is has become my Doctor Who buddy, Tiffany, who I don’t really know but seems nice, Sara, who is fun and sarcastic, Maureen, who I am kind of iffy about, and Danielle, who is funny and girly. Overall I am pretty pleased. We have gone on a couple of day trips and explored Bradford together.

My first weekend we went to the World Curry Festival in the city center, which is about a 10 minute walk from where I am living. It was a bit lackluster in my opinions, but I am still glad I went. There were a bunch of booths selling various curry foods, music, kids playing in the fountains, and street performers. We stopped to watch these comedians/jugglers and by the end of it one of the men had stripped down to his boxers. It was unexpected because they were just on the street and a bunch of little kids were watching and a fair amount of sexual jokes were made. It was a bit of a shock, but hilarious. I thought it could have been a bit more exciting for a World Curry Festival, but whatever. I wouldn’t go out of my way to experience it.


(Right to Left: Me, Michelle, Gowoon, Danielle, and Tiffany)
The next day we went on this day trip to York, which was organized by the university. Three coaches (buses) went so a lot of international students ended up going. However, we all got to go off on our own and explore. We just had to meet back up at the coaches later. Oh! You have to buckle up in coaches here. It’s a bit odd that you have to here and not in the US considering people in the US love to sue and safety is a pretty big issue. Anyway, York is beautiful. There is this serene looking river and we ended up taking a river tour. I wish I had brought an actual coat with me because it was rather blustery on top of the boat. We also went to a cathedral but we only walked around the front of it because you had to pay to get in, and who hasn’t seen a church before?! We ended up walking all around the city and then along the city wall. We went down this cobblestone road with all of these cute shops on it. I also got fish and chips for the first time. I was not a fan of the vinegar thing so I had to get some ketchup, but it wasn’t half bad. I am not a huge fish person anyway, but the chips were good. For a Sunday there was rather large number of people just walking around. There was some sort of food and drink festival going on, but honestly I think there were so many people out because all the stores close at like 5 or 6. You just don’t have time to do your shopping after work so you have to do it on the weekend. I’m still getting used to that. I don’t know how many times I have been a store when they come over on the intercom and tell everyone to make their final purchases. We were so worn out from all the walking that I am pretty sure we all just passed out on the way back. Moving vehicles just make me want to sleep…except planes, I have trouble sleeping on planes.

This weekend we took a day trip to Skipton, again on a Sunday. We organized this trip ourselves. Basically Saturday night Sara said she wanted to go somewhere so she invited us all to go to Skipton with her. We got up at 9AM and walked to the train station. It was her first time on a train and she was really excited. It was early, but we all had a fair amount of energy on the train there. I’m sure some of the other passengers were a bit annoyed, but we weren’t being too bad. Thankfully there weren’t many people on the train besides us, and at one point we had the car completely to ourselves. We had to switch trains at one point, which was a bit confusing, but we figured it out. Also, Jasmine kept getting really excited about the sheep and pointing them out to us even thought there was no way we could have missed them. The hills we were passing were covered with them. Once we finally got there we sat in a coffee shop for a bit just talking so that everyone could get caffeinated. They were playing some really awesome jazz music in there and it was just really soothing. After that we headed to Skipton Castle, which as it turns out is kind of the only thing to see in Skipton. It was gorgeous! I’ve decided that I could live in a castle. Sure it would be drafty, but that’s why they have huge fireplaces. Also you could play an awesome game of hide-n-seek there. It was quite confusing with all the different tiny staircases. There was also this amazing courtyard in the middle with an awesome looking twisted tree. It was my first castle, but definitely not my last considering I am in England. Then we just had lunch and this cute little tea room. I had a steak pie and it was surprisingly good. Of course, having something so rich and warm just made it harder for me to stay awake on the train and I was trying very hard so that it wouldn’t be impossible for me to go to sleep later that night. Overall it was a good day and I now feel more confident about hopping on the train to go somewhere.

No other trips besides that, but on the 20th I think I am going on another day trip organized by the university to Chester and then I am going to London from the 26th to28/29th. I am super excited about London not so much because I am going to London, but because I have tickets to Comic Con and Matt Smith will be there! I might be able to meet the DOCTOR!!! My friends back home have asked me to get autographs for them and take a picture of him with a mustache, but I told them that if I get that close to the Doctor  I might not be a functioning human being. I am just so freaking excited! Michelle is going with me and so are Tiffany and Danielle. We are going to go to Comic Con for parts of Friday and Saturday, and then check out London in the afternoons and on Sunday. I already know I am going to have to make another trip to London because there is just too much to see so it’s a good thing its only about a 4 hour train ride away. I need to start planning some other trips too because it is already October. My friend Maile is studying in Seville so hopefully I will be able to visit her there.  Also I know I want to go to Dublin, Edinburgh, Bath, Cardiff, and Paris. I will probably save Italy for backpacking after school ends and I just know there are a ton of other places I want to go. I don’t know how these people who are studying abroad for just a semester are going to do it. A semester probably would have been smarter academically, but that is not why am studying abroad.

Of course, I have actually been going to school although it doesn’t seem like it.

I have only had one week of classes here, and I am still getting used to how they do things here. For one classes are called modules and you get funny looks if you call them classes. Another thing is that each module only meets once a week for 2-3 hours. I am taking Philosophy of Natural & Social Sciences on Mondays from 2-5 (but it usually ends at 4), British Welfare State from 10-12 on Thursdays, and Modern Social & Cultural Trends from 2-4 on the same day. I only have to go to school on Mondays and Thursdays and that’s a full load! It’s perfect for travel, but I don’t feel like I am going to school. Also I don’t have textbooks for any of my modules. They give you a reading list of books to checkout at the library. It great that I don’t have to spend money on textbooks, but there are only so many copies of each book in the library. Basically all this means is most of the work is done outside of class. I am a bit worried because you don’t have a lot of grades for each module. For Philosophy I just have 2 papers and for Cultural Trends I have a group project and a paper. If I screw up there isn’t much room for recovery. Of course that is not the only thing that worries me about the grading system. From what I have heard it is extremely difficult to get A’s here. I am going to end up getting a grade and being really upset about it, only to learn that it’s a good mark.

Here is the grading scale so you understand:
100-85 Outstanding Ability
85-70 Excellent Ability
69-60 Good Ability
59-50 Satisfactory Ability
49-40 Threshold Ability
39-35 Marginal Fail
34-20 Significant Fail
19-0 Substantial Fail

I mean, you don’t even start failing till 39 and at home 50 is failing. Technically I just have to pass my modules because the grades won’t affect my GPA, but I haven’t made worse than a B in a course my entire college career. I might have a freak out moment when I get my first grades for assignments, but that is when I will Skype my friends and they will talk me down. They don’t know it yet, but that is officially their duty as friends.

I am also super proud of myself because I am actually making friends in my modules. It’s nice because I have multiple modules with some of the same people. I’ve actually hung out with them a couple of times either before or after the lectures. I am still trying to remember their names, but I think they are Pheobe, Charlotte, Hannah, and Lisa. I am also doing my group project with all of them but Pheobe. I definitely think I have friend in Lisa. Friday she took me to go see her horse, which lives a bit outside of Bradford. She is from Austria and she brought her horse, Buddy, over so she could ride him on the weekends. He is a super sweet horse and he rested his head on my shoulder when I was brushing him. Sometimes I get intimidated around horses, but it helped that he was really chill. The car ride to and from the stable was really nice because it gave us a chance to get to know each other. Once she gets a couch in her apartment I have already been invited to come over and have a Lord of the Rings and a Supernatural marathon. I am definitely looking forward to both.

Besides that I am not sure what else there is to talk about. I have been cooking for myself, which is not something I usually do at home. The first week my meals were really only pasta, but I have since branched out. I have made Italian Chicken, burgers, and tacos. There were some minor fails with all of them, but they were all still edible and that is what counts. Also they looked pretty, and one thing I learned from Iron Chef is that presentation counts. Once I find some teriyaki sauce I will add stir fry to my list of meals, but I am having some difficulty finding it. Also I have bought a bunch of stuff that sounds good, but ended up tasting awful. Too much money has basically been thrown away that way. England is not known for its food for a reason. However, I am learning.
 
My next goals are to get my membership and go out to a bar/club. I am not sure how I have managed to not do the later yet.
Things I love so far about England:
                -being called “Love”
                -the amazing sweaters that they have for sale
                -hearing people actually say “bloody hell”
                -the rolling hills covered in sheep
                -trains
                -free city bus
Things I am not a fan of:
                -they put too much vinegar in their ketchup
                -they put mayonnaise on everything
                -their hot chocolate could have more chocolate in it/be less bitter
                -too many Indian restaurants
                -cold, wind-blown rain
                -stores closing at 5 or 6

*Shorter updates and posts to come in the future. These long posts just take too much time, and now that I have a schedule I should be more consistent.

Monday, September 17, 2012

Here We Go...

Great I left my adapter at home! Who travels to England without an adapter?! That's what I get for packing the night before and not making a checklist. If it wasn't for a recently made friend I still wouldn't be able to start this blog or check my email or browse the internet in general. Thank you friend for helping me out.
 
Well, I finally made it to England! I felt like this day would never come. In fact I felt as if my going to England was just a wish or something. That last month or so at home while all of my friends were at college was kind of brutal. No friends were in town so I spent my days rewatching episodes of Doctor Who and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Don't get me wrong, I love to watch TV, but when all of your friends are going to classes and hanging out and going to parties you feel like something is missing. I was thinking that this study abroad thing was a mistake. At least it was a mistake to study abroad for the full year because I am missing out on so much back at Hendrix. Basically all my friends that didn't graduate last year will graduate this year. Also visiting school a couple of weeks before I left didnt help things. I got to campus and was just like this is where I should be. It was weird just visiting because Hendrix feels like home. This was compounded by general junior year stress like graduation requirments, major requirements, career possibilities, and plans for life outside of college. I just got very overwhelmed.
Now that I at Bradford I feel much better. I can focus on all the amazing stuff I will get to do this year instead of what I am missing out on back home. The decision has been made and I am already in England so there is no turning back now. I might as well enjoy every possible minute of it because when else will I be able to live in a foreign country for 9 months?! Also there were no travel hiccups, just things forgotten at home. Everything went fairly smoothly. The only bumpy part was saying goodbye to Ally.
Saying goodbye to my family was fairly easy, but my bestest friend, Ally, drove up from her school to take me to the airport and it was not easy to leave her. She also made me this super amazing package for me with a handmade bag, a knitted hat, a princess wand, an American flag, Starburst, a book of lies and excuses, a letter, a letter for my 21st birthday, a letter for when I am feeling down and upset, and a superb photobook of our crazy adventures together. Seriously everyone should be jealous of my best friend because there are none better. Last semester she was studying in Italy and it was hard enough to be separated then. We don't go to school together, we don't even go to school in the same state, but there is something different about being in different countries. You can feel the increase in the space between you. However, one day we will be traveling together and having awesome adventures!
 
So far my time at Bradford has been fairly busy. We don't start classes till next week so the day are just filled with orientation meetings and tours. The spare time has allowed me to explore the city a bit. The first day I arrived here at about 9 or 10 am and the two girls I met in Amsterdam (Sarah + Michelle), who are also studying abroad here through ISEP, went straight to bed. I, however, went out and walked around. It was nice just randomly going left and right down different streets with no destination. It was also kind of nice doing it on my own. I felt completely safe and it was nice outside. It was a shock from the weather at home, seeing as how it is like 80/90 degrees in Alabama and only about 60 degrees here. Still it was enjoyable...actually it was more enjoyable. I just can't walk outside for long when it is like 90 degrees and the humidity is so high I feel like I m drowning in the air. I made it to the City Park and chilled there for a bit 'cause my feet were starting to get sore. Turns out a World Curry Festival is going on down there this weekend and its FREE so I am definitely going to have to go. I am not a huge curry fan, but who could pass that up?
 
Today was a bit busier so I didn't get to do any more exploring. I was planning on getting up early so I could go on a city and campus tour, but that didn't happen. I was just way too exhausted. I had taken a sleeping aid last night, but I still didn't sleep very well because I didn't have a pillow. In fact, I still don't so tonight might not go well either. Anyway I decided more sleep was of higher priority so I didn't get up until I needed to get ready for the Welcome from the Student Union meeting at 12. I meet a girl from Estonia there, but I can't for the life of me remember her name and she told it to me twice. I think it ends in a "T", but I may never find out. There are over 2,000 international students and that is more than all of Hendrix. In response to my failure I tried much harder to remember the names of the next people I met 'cause straight from that meeting I went to the Welcome Meeting which was from 1:30-5. Yes 1:30-5! Sure there was a tea break, but that was only 20 minutes. That is just too long to confine me to a chair unless a movie or television show is on. Not cool, Bradford. Not cool. However, I did meet two other people from the US: Mike and Danielle. I ended up having lunch with Danielle afterwards and just chatting with her for a bit. I think I have made execellent progress towards making friends, especially scince that is something I am always worried about. Now I just need to make friends with people who are not just studying abroad. The problem is that those are the only people I have been thrown in the mix with. I might have to wait until class starts to find others outside that category. Hopefully that goes well, but they won't be in the same boat as me with having to make all new friends. I will try my hardest to be outgoing. I am more outgoing than I used to be just last year, but I still don't think of it as one of my strong suits.
 
You know I think I should have given a bit more introduction to this blog. I know there is like an About Me section, but I didn't want it to be too long. I guess I'll just give you little tidbits about myself when they seems releveant. For starters, I am introvert working on enhancing her extrovert qualities. I don't need a lot of friends, but I like to know a lot of people that are around me when I am at parties because it makes me feel more comfortable. The good friends I do have are AWESOME! I started going to a fair number of parties second semester of last year, but I prefer small ones in the apartments' of people I know. I am indecisive, but I am also working on that. I sometimes feel that I fail at "real world" skills (hopefully this experience will improve my confidence in this area). I am an Anthropology major, but I am seriously considering switching to Sociology because there are no cultural anthropology classes here. I can be quite sarcastic, almost to the point of bitchyness, but I tone it down considerably when around new people. And last, but not least, I am exhausted because it has been a busy day and it is already after 12 here so I am going to bed...without a pillow.