Ok, this week has probably been the busiest of my life. I don't even know why. It probably has something to do with the fact that I've got five books I'm supposed to be reading and it takes me an hour to get through 20 pages! Of one of them! Ugh...slowest reader ever. Anyway, I just got out of class for the day and I thought I'd take a little break from my studies just to update this since I'm leaving tomorrow and won't be back for a week. Don't worry, full details will follow.
So when last I wrote, I'd just made a complete mess of my travel plans to Spain. Well, the next day I called them to sort everything out and it was going to be another 270 Pounds to get my flight back changed to Sunday...so I didn't do that. Instead, the man on the phone, who was super helpful as far as airport phone operators go, found me a flight for 109 Pounds that leaves on Monday morning. I'll miss church on Sunday night but I'll be back for classes on Monday; providing once my flight lands I can find my way around London without getting too lost. We'll see how that goes. If everything goes off without a hitch, I should be walking back into my house at about 12:30 on Monday afternoon which gives me 30 minutes before my class starts. Good...maybe I'll be able to take a shower or something. I don't even want to think about what's gonna happen if I can't shower...let's map this out, shall we? Everyone I'm traveling with is leaving Sunday morning, so I'm gonna be in the city by myself all day Sunday and all night Sunday night. My flight on Monday leaves at 7:00 in the morning so that means that I would have to be there at around 4:00 in the morning anyway, so I'm thinking I'm just gonna go to the airport on Sunday night and stay there until my flight. I'm almost positive that the regular bathrooms in the airport DON'T have showers...so by the time I get back to the house, it'll be almost two days since I showered...sick. And our classes are cramped too. EW! Man, I'm gonna have to load up on deodorant and body spray.
Thursday and Friday were uneventful. I went on a walk in the park on Friday and that was a lot of fun. Emily made brownies that, basically, had all my alloted calories for the week. It was so good. Then on Saturday I was doing my homework and my friend Robynne asked if I wanted to go to London with a group and shop around and then go see a play. So I did that! It was so great! We rode the train out to London and then caught the underground to the antique market. We almost missed it though, one of the guys that went ran ahead of the group and threw himself in the door as it was closing and we all made it in just barely. We walked around the market for a while and there was so much interesting stuff to see and there were a ton of booths set up with just random things and food carts were everywhere! I had a Brazilian churro filled with chocolate sauce. Oh my gosh...it was so great! And then we went to China town and got these bread balls with chicken in them and hot sauce and soy sauce on them, oh, SO GOOD! China town for the win. After that though, we walked around trying to find our theater. We bought tickets to see Chicago. Our show started at 8:00 and we were looking for our venue until about 7:40, hah. Good. The show ended up being really good though, not really my favorite thing ever and I wouldn't have chosen to see it by myself but you know, it was an experience! We missed the last direct train back to Oxford, so we had to get off the train and get onto a bus to take us back to Oxford and on the way, one of the girls decided they wanted ice cream. Then the rest of us decided we wanted ice cream too! So we hit up McDonalds when we got back and apparently, Mickey D's is the place to be at 1:00 in the morning! Who knew? After ice cream we walked back to the house and I went to bed.
Sunday, I woke up 15 minutes before everyone was leaving for Church and I got ready and made it out the door at the same time they were leaving! It was miraculous. And then I did laundry and homework, but I was in the computer room downstairs and apparently that was the place to be and everyone was joking around and having a good time NOT doing their homework and I just got caught up in it! So I ended up finishing my paper at like 4...in the morning...oops! I set my alarm for 9:00 this morning but I slept till 12 and then I was really frazzled because I need that 4 hours in the morning before class to finish up all my other homework! So today was just a crazy day. And I leave tomorrow afternoon for Espana! So I have to finish everything I can today, homework wise, and then pack and whatever and it's all crazy!
As of right now, I've probably spent an hour too long on my brief homework break...and Emily is making those brownies again...so I'm gonna end this here. I leave tomorrow at 2:00 for the bus station and I'll be back Monday at 12:30 (hopefully). I'm not planning on taking my computer and who knows if I'll have wifi? So, untill at least next Monday, hasta luego!
Monday, February 21, 2011
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Oy! Scotland!
In case you didn't notice, it's definitely not Sunday anymore. Hah, I kinda dropped the ball on that one! I'm gonna write it all out now though...so hold on to your seat! It's actually quite a lengthy story.
So! Thursday was really slow. I felt like classes would never end! I was so excited to just get going! Then, we left the house at around 8:40 and walked down to the bus station and we were all stoked to just be going on a trip! Well that feeling faded after about the 4th hour on the bus, in the dark, in uncomfortable, cramped seats. If I can give anyone one piece of advice that they can take away from this blog, it's this: DO NOT TAKE AN OVERNIGHT BUS FROM OXFORD TO STIRLING! Oh man, it was the worst! We left Oxford at 10:00 on Thursday night and arrived in Stirling, Scotland at 8:00 in the morning. We checked into our hostel which was a block from the bus station and train station, and then we walked around trying to find a place to eat breakfast. We finally found a place and while we were eating, Emily went up to the counter and met this old man that offered to give us a tour around the city! It was raining outside, but it was a light rain so we just went out in it anyway. He took us over to the castle and we toured that and then walked back to the hostel, soaking wet but happy. Before our guide left us, we asked if he wanted to go to dinner with us and he said yes and he met up with us at dinner time and brought his wife and we had an amazing time at a pub! Then, we went back to their house and had tea and they told us about what they do and the man, Bill, told us that he takes pictures for fun and he showed us a few and they were AMAZING! He's been to Africa several times and has some of the most amazing artifacts and pictures from the villages there. They were such amazing people.
Then on Saturday, we got up early and went to the William Wallace monument (Yes...William Wallace of Braveheart) and we climbed the tower, all 256 steps, to the very top. The stairs went up in a spiral that curved so tight and I felt like I was never going to reach the top! My legs were BURNING! Then, we caught a bus back to town to the train station and then caught the train into Edinburgh (pronounced Ed-in-burrow) and it was the most gorgeous day ever! The sun was shining and all the buildings looked amazing. Oh! We were being all touristy and taking pictures and this guy walked up to us and said, "Hey, I'm a professional photographer, I'm on my break right now and I was wondering if I could take your picture for you. I've got a better camera than you do". So we were like "SURE!" and we got a great picture out of it. Then we walked up the royal mile and saw the Castle and had a ton of fun and then walked back down the royal mile and bought some souvenirs and whatnot. We caught a bus back to Stirling and while we were sitting there, these Scottish guys came up to us and talked to us and it was so fun! They were teaching us how to 'speak Scottish' and then all of a sudden this guy started singing, "sweet caroline" and before we knew it, the whole train was singing and it was hilarious! No one knew any of the words apart from the chorus and they sang that about 12 times. It was amazing.
Then Sunday came and we were at the bus stop at 9:00 waiting for our bus to come and from then on...we were seated all day. The good thing was that this time, it was light outside and we could see everything out the windows and let me tell you, the countryside was BEAUTIFUL!! I can't even...oh! It was so pretty! We ended up making it back to the houses about 10 minutes before our church started and then after that, it was bed-time! Monday was uneventful, as was today until about an hour ago. I'm trying to book a flight to Spain: actually, I booked the flight and then realized that I was set to return to Oxford in MARCH! Not February! So now I'm having mild panic attacks and I have to wait until tomorrow to call the airline people and...this is exactly the kind of thing I worry about when I think about planning trips and I can't stand it and I'm gonna cry on the phone with these airline people tomorrow!
Eh, my computer is about to die and I've gotta take a shower and go to bed because it's late. I'm sure there will be more news about this in the coming days. My travel mates were very surprised to find out that what I have in my bank account is ALL that I have. One boy offered to call the airlines and cry for me until they changed my ticket. Haha, bless him. I'm not the only one who did that though, and one of the other girls is helping me out and the other one doesn't know yet because she's sleeping and when she wakes up there's a chance there's going to be a battle royal....so fingers crossed for that. I need something to help me get out my frustration right now and some good girl drama seems to be about the perfect thing! I'm just kidding...but seriously if this girl gets outta line...Imma smack her! Hah, maybe.
So! Thursday was really slow. I felt like classes would never end! I was so excited to just get going! Then, we left the house at around 8:40 and walked down to the bus station and we were all stoked to just be going on a trip! Well that feeling faded after about the 4th hour on the bus, in the dark, in uncomfortable, cramped seats. If I can give anyone one piece of advice that they can take away from this blog, it's this: DO NOT TAKE AN OVERNIGHT BUS FROM OXFORD TO STIRLING! Oh man, it was the worst! We left Oxford at 10:00 on Thursday night and arrived in Stirling, Scotland at 8:00 in the morning. We checked into our hostel which was a block from the bus station and train station, and then we walked around trying to find a place to eat breakfast. We finally found a place and while we were eating, Emily went up to the counter and met this old man that offered to give us a tour around the city! It was raining outside, but it was a light rain so we just went out in it anyway. He took us over to the castle and we toured that and then walked back to the hostel, soaking wet but happy. Before our guide left us, we asked if he wanted to go to dinner with us and he said yes and he met up with us at dinner time and brought his wife and we had an amazing time at a pub! Then, we went back to their house and had tea and they told us about what they do and the man, Bill, told us that he takes pictures for fun and he showed us a few and they were AMAZING! He's been to Africa several times and has some of the most amazing artifacts and pictures from the villages there. They were such amazing people.
Then on Saturday, we got up early and went to the William Wallace monument (Yes...William Wallace of Braveheart) and we climbed the tower, all 256 steps, to the very top. The stairs went up in a spiral that curved so tight and I felt like I was never going to reach the top! My legs were BURNING! Then, we caught a bus back to town to the train station and then caught the train into Edinburgh (pronounced Ed-in-burrow) and it was the most gorgeous day ever! The sun was shining and all the buildings looked amazing. Oh! We were being all touristy and taking pictures and this guy walked up to us and said, "Hey, I'm a professional photographer, I'm on my break right now and I was wondering if I could take your picture for you. I've got a better camera than you do". So we were like "SURE!" and we got a great picture out of it. Then we walked up the royal mile and saw the Castle and had a ton of fun and then walked back down the royal mile and bought some souvenirs and whatnot. We caught a bus back to Stirling and while we were sitting there, these Scottish guys came up to us and talked to us and it was so fun! They were teaching us how to 'speak Scottish' and then all of a sudden this guy started singing, "sweet caroline" and before we knew it, the whole train was singing and it was hilarious! No one knew any of the words apart from the chorus and they sang that about 12 times. It was amazing.
Then Sunday came and we were at the bus stop at 9:00 waiting for our bus to come and from then on...we were seated all day. The good thing was that this time, it was light outside and we could see everything out the windows and let me tell you, the countryside was BEAUTIFUL!! I can't even...oh! It was so pretty! We ended up making it back to the houses about 10 minutes before our church started and then after that, it was bed-time! Monday was uneventful, as was today until about an hour ago. I'm trying to book a flight to Spain: actually, I booked the flight and then realized that I was set to return to Oxford in MARCH! Not February! So now I'm having mild panic attacks and I have to wait until tomorrow to call the airline people and...this is exactly the kind of thing I worry about when I think about planning trips and I can't stand it and I'm gonna cry on the phone with these airline people tomorrow!
Eh, my computer is about to die and I've gotta take a shower and go to bed because it's late. I'm sure there will be more news about this in the coming days. My travel mates were very surprised to find out that what I have in my bank account is ALL that I have. One boy offered to call the airlines and cry for me until they changed my ticket. Haha, bless him. I'm not the only one who did that though, and one of the other girls is helping me out and the other one doesn't know yet because she's sleeping and when she wakes up there's a chance there's going to be a battle royal....so fingers crossed for that. I need something to help me get out my frustration right now and some good girl drama seems to be about the perfect thing! I'm just kidding...but seriously if this girl gets outta line...Imma smack her! Hah, maybe.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Anxiety levels rising.
It's hard for me to remember I have a blog. That's my excuse for the time in between posts. You can take it or leave it, but it's really true. Plus, I've got a lot of reading to do and it takes me basically a whole day to catch up on just one book so I've been doing a lot (well, I guess not a lot if I'm behind) of that. Also, in my defense, nothing really exciting has happened to me and there's no point in blogging about boring things, now is there? Since I'm going to have a lot after this weekend though, I figured I should document the last week before I have to retell so much information that I might as well put it in a book. Here goes!
Last time I said that Saturday was going to be amazing...I don't guess it was because I have no idea what we did. Ha! Erika doesn't either...so I'm just gonna tell you what I think happened because I'm almost certain it's right. The morning is really a blur, I think we slept in. In the afternoon, we walked to Summertown and went to the grocery store there. It was really expensive and we decided we're never going back to that one again. We got the stuff to make baked potatoes, which I LOVE, and chili, which I'm alright with. Except, Erika got up to get a bowl of chili for herself and me and when she stood up she said, "Oh, Mandy, you would use lamb". Ok, I've got nothing against lamb: but who freaking uses that in a chili without some kind of general consensus that it'd be ok?! I mean, there was absolutely no, "Hey guys, what would you think about lamb chili?" or, "Oh, how about we mix things up a bit?" no, she just made it with lamb! I still ate it, and it was good. it just took me by surprise and now I'm really hesitating before I eat anything she gives me. That's really saying something because she uses a lot of stuff I don't like and I still try to suffer through it most of the time. The mushroom chunks in the spaghetti sauce I could not get over. Blech!
Sunday we were supposed to go to Church in the evening but...that didn't happen. It's hard to motivate myself to go to Church here because every Sunday night we have our own Church service in one of the houses and it's mandatory. Plus with travel breaks it's hard to say where we're going to be on Sunday mornings. I'm working on it though, I like the Churches here and I go on Thursday nights! We used the time we weren't at Church plan our weekend trip to....SCOTLAND! We're staying in Stirling and taking a day trip to Edinburgh which should be fantastic fun. I'm really excited! I did realize though why I was having so many near panic attacks when I was getting ready to leave for England: planning stressed me out! I mean, there's so much to think about! How much time is it going to take to get here, once we're there, how much time are we spending there? How much money is that? How are we getting there? What are we going to see? I mean, I just can't handle it! I want someone else to tell me what's happening and I'll just go along with it! The only problem is, the group I've been traveling with so far is going separate ways for spring break because most of their families are coming. So as of right now, I have no solid plans for Spring Break, and I have no one to plan with! Excellent situation to be in if you ask me. And my roommates and I can't agree/decide on what we want to do during our long breaks or what's going on and it's making me wish I was friends with a travel agent or something that could just do this for me!
Monday and Tuesday were unexceptional days. I just had class and then I was supposed to do homework but I put that off and then I had Ali's for dinner. I know, again? It's so dang good. Then today was a lazy day. I woke up at 12:00 and then had some breakfast, I was on dish duty because I lost rock paper scissors to Erika. Then I read for a while, went to class and then I went and volunteered at one of the local Churches. We have to have 20 hours of community service by the end of the semester and I can get at least 2 a week working to make dinner and serve meals at something called 'Alpha Group' on Wednesday nights! It's really fun and the people are so nice and they're all very interested in 'what exactly I'm doing in England'.
So, that's basically it. We watched Hot Rod tonight. Some of the girls on my floor had never seen it before so we had a little party. It's now 12:30 and despite the late hour of my rising, I'm falling asleep on my Keyboard. Our bus leaves tomorrow night at 10:00 and it's about a 10: hour drive to Stirling...joy! I'll absolutely have more to report on Sunday night when I get back, so just...look forward to that!
Last time I said that Saturday was going to be amazing...I don't guess it was because I have no idea what we did. Ha! Erika doesn't either...so I'm just gonna tell you what I think happened because I'm almost certain it's right. The morning is really a blur, I think we slept in. In the afternoon, we walked to Summertown and went to the grocery store there. It was really expensive and we decided we're never going back to that one again. We got the stuff to make baked potatoes, which I LOVE, and chili, which I'm alright with. Except, Erika got up to get a bowl of chili for herself and me and when she stood up she said, "Oh, Mandy, you would use lamb". Ok, I've got nothing against lamb: but who freaking uses that in a chili without some kind of general consensus that it'd be ok?! I mean, there was absolutely no, "Hey guys, what would you think about lamb chili?" or, "Oh, how about we mix things up a bit?" no, she just made it with lamb! I still ate it, and it was good. it just took me by surprise and now I'm really hesitating before I eat anything she gives me. That's really saying something because she uses a lot of stuff I don't like and I still try to suffer through it most of the time. The mushroom chunks in the spaghetti sauce I could not get over. Blech!
Sunday we were supposed to go to Church in the evening but...that didn't happen. It's hard to motivate myself to go to Church here because every Sunday night we have our own Church service in one of the houses and it's mandatory. Plus with travel breaks it's hard to say where we're going to be on Sunday mornings. I'm working on it though, I like the Churches here and I go on Thursday nights! We used the time we weren't at Church plan our weekend trip to....SCOTLAND! We're staying in Stirling and taking a day trip to Edinburgh which should be fantastic fun. I'm really excited! I did realize though why I was having so many near panic attacks when I was getting ready to leave for England: planning stressed me out! I mean, there's so much to think about! How much time is it going to take to get here, once we're there, how much time are we spending there? How much money is that? How are we getting there? What are we going to see? I mean, I just can't handle it! I want someone else to tell me what's happening and I'll just go along with it! The only problem is, the group I've been traveling with so far is going separate ways for spring break because most of their families are coming. So as of right now, I have no solid plans for Spring Break, and I have no one to plan with! Excellent situation to be in if you ask me. And my roommates and I can't agree/decide on what we want to do during our long breaks or what's going on and it's making me wish I was friends with a travel agent or something that could just do this for me!
Monday and Tuesday were unexceptional days. I just had class and then I was supposed to do homework but I put that off and then I had Ali's for dinner. I know, again? It's so dang good. Then today was a lazy day. I woke up at 12:00 and then had some breakfast, I was on dish duty because I lost rock paper scissors to Erika. Then I read for a while, went to class and then I went and volunteered at one of the local Churches. We have to have 20 hours of community service by the end of the semester and I can get at least 2 a week working to make dinner and serve meals at something called 'Alpha Group' on Wednesday nights! It's really fun and the people are so nice and they're all very interested in 'what exactly I'm doing in England'.
So, that's basically it. We watched Hot Rod tonight. Some of the girls on my floor had never seen it before so we had a little party. It's now 12:30 and despite the late hour of my rising, I'm falling asleep on my Keyboard. Our bus leaves tomorrow night at 10:00 and it's about a 10: hour drive to Stirling...joy! I'll absolutely have more to report on Sunday night when I get back, so just...look forward to that!
Friday, February 4, 2011
9:30! Late night...
I'm pretty exhausted. Today we had BREAD again and I don't know what is possessing me to wake up before 8:00 on mornings when I don't even have class!! I guess I'd be up anyway just because my roommates go. Still...I feel like such a grandma when I get tired at like 9 on Friday nights. Not alright. However, all the boys in our house except for I think 2 are gone this weekend and it's so quiet and there would be no one making noise on the floor above me while I'm trying to sleep. Though, if I'm being honest, it's nothing compared to the stampede like sounds I usually hear when I'm at home; also these boys don't really make any noise. Every now and again I hear one loud thud and then it's quiet. So I don't really have anything to complain about. Right now it is 11:00 and I'm falling asleep more and more each second but I just had a meal at 9:40 so I feel like I need to wait a few hours before I go to bed. I took a shower and put fresh sheets on my bed and now I'm downstairs in the computer lab typing this because my roommate is smart and she DID go to bed at 9:30. Champion, that one. Erika's up with me though. Today, I had a lot of time to think and Erika was writing in her journal and she asked what we did on this certain day and I didn't remember but then I did remember what I did on Monday and Tuesday and it's worth talking about. So if it won't be too confusing (and even if it will be) I'm going to take a moment to talk about those days before I talk about today!
Monday was a wacky schedule because my C.S. Lewis class was held at Magdalen (pronounced mawd-lin) College which is where Lewis actually taught during his life. The campus was amazing! There were only a few buildings but they were all so old and fantastic and there was a grassy area where the college raises deer...which they then kill and eat. That was a little out of the blue, I thought. We got to walk around the track/circle path where Lewis had his talk with Tolkien and another of his friends that led him to Christianity. The whole experience was really incredible! Gosh...now for the life of me I cannot remember what I did after I got out of class at 6:00. Shoot. Maybe I'll get back to you.
Tuesday! I have no recollection of what I did during that day, but I know that for dinner I went downstairs to my professors' little apartment/basement and had tacos with his family and some other students and that was really fun. And then I don't remember what I did after that. Dang it! Maybe all this wasn't as worth it as I thought, but I already typed it and I'm too lazy to hold down the 'delete' button for as long as it would take to get rid of all this...eh.
Today, Friday, the promised land, if you will. I haven't gone to bed before one or woken up after 9 the past couple nights. Now, I know that sounds like a solid 8ish hours of sleep, but you just need to trust me that it's not enough. So I woke up for BREAD today and then I decided to go on the tour of Christ Church with the tourist class. Christ Church or, as I like to call it...HARRY POTTER LAND! I don't really call it that. Don't worry. It was a really beautiful college though, and the chapel was full of all of this beautiful stained glass. We did get to go into the dining hall and that's where the 'magic' happend! The truth of it is, the stairway leading up to the dining hall was used in the films (Think Sorcerer's Stone when they walk into Hogwarts for the first time...I STOOD WHERE THEY DID!!) but the actual dining hall was too small for the movie so the film makers took a picture of it and then made a bigger model. Potato...um, I don't know how to spell it those two different ways, but the point is, I was freaking inside the great hall!!!!! AMAZING!! And not to worry, my camera was fully charged this time and plenty of pictures were taken! After that, we walked around and ate in this lovely cafe and then went and got a Ben's Cookie and a milkshake from Moo Moo's. I got a peanut M&M one. Delicious. Then, Erika wanted to stop in this beauty shop kind of thing that we walked by. Oh my gosh. Ever heard of 'Eyebrow Weaving'? Well this woman (or man I guess...eh) takes a piece of string and twists it up but somehow manages to keep it open at the end and then she puts the open part on your eyebrow and closes it and twists it and it pulls out ALL YOUR HAIR! Well, Erika thought it looked cool and she did it and said it was fine so I was like "eh, what the heck" so I did it. It. Hurt. So. BAD! Oh my gosh. I will never do it again. At one point, it felt like she ripped my whole eyebrow off with one little twist and and yelled and Erika and Mandy started laughing and I was laughing but secretly I was about to push that woman away from me and walk outta there. Then she finally finished and I remembered...I have two eyebrows. And it cost 10 pounds! Shoot, that's never happening again. No. And my eyes were red for like 3 hours!
After that catastrophe, Erika decided she needed some new jeans so we went into the Gap. While I was waiting outside the changing rooms in my tie-dye hoodie, two different people walked up to me and asked me if I worked there. Erika spent all day telling me that we would never blend in because I refused to assimilate to the culture and here I was getting asked if I worked in a British establishment!! Then, later this guy asked if I was from New Zealand. I don't really get how he thought that...but he didn't guess American! Woo! After Jean shopping, we sat around in a coffee shop for a while and then we went to a kind of souvenir shop because Erika wanted to buy a sweatshirt and I wanted to look around. I ended up getting a grey hoodie with blue accents around the crest of Oxford and also some navy sweat pants with Oxford written down the side. Now, when I get home and I wear that out in public, I can have a little fun by pretending to be from England!! Love it. Erika made me get everything big though because she said it's supposed to look more comfortable than I was making it. Psh.
My professor brought his family with him this semester, he's got a wife and two little girls, 7 and 4 and tonight they invited us down to their apartment to watch Mary Poppins with them. It was a lot of fun. The little on is a riot and she's got a sweet tooth unmatched by any child I've ever seen. After the movie, I was in the kitchen washing some dishes and she walked in and said, "Hey, I wanted to tell you that we forgot to do shadow puppets. Also a dance party." So naturally we had to schedule a dance party right then and there and so we're all set to dance to the Lion King soundtrack tomorrow at some point. It'll be fantastic. After the movie I went and got Ali's...I know, second night in a row. That'll probably be it for a while. They don't open till 7 and it's super cold outside at night! Now I'm just killing time. I think there's an hour left on the 3 hour rule concerning food and bed. I'll find something to do. I don't know what's on tap for tomorrow but it'll be thrilling....I can just tell.
Monday was a wacky schedule because my C.S. Lewis class was held at Magdalen (pronounced mawd-lin) College which is where Lewis actually taught during his life. The campus was amazing! There were only a few buildings but they were all so old and fantastic and there was a grassy area where the college raises deer...which they then kill and eat. That was a little out of the blue, I thought. We got to walk around the track/circle path where Lewis had his talk with Tolkien and another of his friends that led him to Christianity. The whole experience was really incredible! Gosh...now for the life of me I cannot remember what I did after I got out of class at 6:00. Shoot. Maybe I'll get back to you.
Tuesday! I have no recollection of what I did during that day, but I know that for dinner I went downstairs to my professors' little apartment/basement and had tacos with his family and some other students and that was really fun. And then I don't remember what I did after that. Dang it! Maybe all this wasn't as worth it as I thought, but I already typed it and I'm too lazy to hold down the 'delete' button for as long as it would take to get rid of all this...eh.
Today, Friday, the promised land, if you will. I haven't gone to bed before one or woken up after 9 the past couple nights. Now, I know that sounds like a solid 8ish hours of sleep, but you just need to trust me that it's not enough. So I woke up for BREAD today and then I decided to go on the tour of Christ Church with the tourist class. Christ Church or, as I like to call it...HARRY POTTER LAND! I don't really call it that. Don't worry. It was a really beautiful college though, and the chapel was full of all of this beautiful stained glass. We did get to go into the dining hall and that's where the 'magic' happend! The truth of it is, the stairway leading up to the dining hall was used in the films (Think Sorcerer's Stone when they walk into Hogwarts for the first time...I STOOD WHERE THEY DID!!) but the actual dining hall was too small for the movie so the film makers took a picture of it and then made a bigger model. Potato...um, I don't know how to spell it those two different ways, but the point is, I was freaking inside the great hall!!!!! AMAZING!! And not to worry, my camera was fully charged this time and plenty of pictures were taken! After that, we walked around and ate in this lovely cafe and then went and got a Ben's Cookie and a milkshake from Moo Moo's. I got a peanut M&M one. Delicious. Then, Erika wanted to stop in this beauty shop kind of thing that we walked by. Oh my gosh. Ever heard of 'Eyebrow Weaving'? Well this woman (or man I guess...eh) takes a piece of string and twists it up but somehow manages to keep it open at the end and then she puts the open part on your eyebrow and closes it and twists it and it pulls out ALL YOUR HAIR! Well, Erika thought it looked cool and she did it and said it was fine so I was like "eh, what the heck" so I did it. It. Hurt. So. BAD! Oh my gosh. I will never do it again. At one point, it felt like she ripped my whole eyebrow off with one little twist and and yelled and Erika and Mandy started laughing and I was laughing but secretly I was about to push that woman away from me and walk outta there. Then she finally finished and I remembered...I have two eyebrows. And it cost 10 pounds! Shoot, that's never happening again. No. And my eyes were red for like 3 hours!
After that catastrophe, Erika decided she needed some new jeans so we went into the Gap. While I was waiting outside the changing rooms in my tie-dye hoodie, two different people walked up to me and asked me if I worked there. Erika spent all day telling me that we would never blend in because I refused to assimilate to the culture and here I was getting asked if I worked in a British establishment!! Then, later this guy asked if I was from New Zealand. I don't really get how he thought that...but he didn't guess American! Woo! After Jean shopping, we sat around in a coffee shop for a while and then we went to a kind of souvenir shop because Erika wanted to buy a sweatshirt and I wanted to look around. I ended up getting a grey hoodie with blue accents around the crest of Oxford and also some navy sweat pants with Oxford written down the side. Now, when I get home and I wear that out in public, I can have a little fun by pretending to be from England!! Love it. Erika made me get everything big though because she said it's supposed to look more comfortable than I was making it. Psh.
My professor brought his family with him this semester, he's got a wife and two little girls, 7 and 4 and tonight they invited us down to their apartment to watch Mary Poppins with them. It was a lot of fun. The little on is a riot and she's got a sweet tooth unmatched by any child I've ever seen. After the movie, I was in the kitchen washing some dishes and she walked in and said, "Hey, I wanted to tell you that we forgot to do shadow puppets. Also a dance party." So naturally we had to schedule a dance party right then and there and so we're all set to dance to the Lion King soundtrack tomorrow at some point. It'll be fantastic. After the movie I went and got Ali's...I know, second night in a row. That'll probably be it for a while. They don't open till 7 and it's super cold outside at night! Now I'm just killing time. I think there's an hour left on the 3 hour rule concerning food and bed. I'll find something to do. I don't know what's on tap for tomorrow but it'll be thrilling....I can just tell.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
I think I'm a hamburger...
Well I haven't written on here for a few days because nothing really exciting was happening. I went to London yesterday though and that's definitely worth mentioning. Though I'll start by posing a question: have you ever thought you were going to be really cold so you put on all these clothes and then realized that you were actually rather warm but it was so hard to get everything on that you were just too lazy to take it off again? Well that's the situation I've been in for basically two days! It's awful. I know it's not blizzarding here though, or below zero at all so maybe I'm alone in this sentiment at the moment. Anyway, the fact remains, getting two jackets on and off is a lot more effort than I wanted to exert while getting dressed and now again when thinking about bed time. Ugh.
So, I don't remember what day I last posted on here...and I really only remember yesterday...so that's all I'm gonna talk about! We woke up yesterday and Mandy made a great breakfast and then I did the dishes. It sucked! Whatever though, the kitchen is clean! I finished that and then started to get ready for the bus to come and take us to London!!!!!!! I was already dressed and then Erika was getting dressed and she put on leggings under her pants so then I started thinking about that because we were told to dress warm since we were going to a soccer game in the dead of night and it was supposed to be about 20 degrees. So I ended up putting on leggings under my pants but then I was really hot for most of the times when we were inside. I also had on a long sleeved shirt and then a hoodie over that and it was, like I said earlier, so hard to get on that I didn't want to take it off! That's beside the point though, I'm just saying...it was warm.
Anyway, we took the bus to London and it drove us all around the city, we got to drive over two bridges and see the big clock that people call Big Ben. Actually though, Big Ben is the name of the bell inside the tower next to the clock...so I don't really know what to call the clock/clock tower now. I saw it though! And I saw the London eye and the parliament houses and all these famous buildings. We were dropped off at the British Library...I think that's what it was called but now that I type it out it doesn't look right. Eh...we went there and there was an exhibit on the evolution of the English Language and that was so amazing! There were all these different speakers where you could hear famous speeches made throughout history and different songs from English speaking countries and dialects from different parts of the same country and the origins of words. Fascinating! Then there was what they called the treasure room. That had in it all sorts of original pieces of art and literature including but not limited to: Papyrus with the gospel of John on it, original drafts of Mozart and Beethoven's music, original drafts of the Beatles' songs on napkins and the backs of envelopes, and Jeffry Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. It blew my mind! I was in awe of some of the things I saw. It was by far one of the most amazing experiences I've ever had. I've gotta go back! Of course, I couldn't really find anyone to walk around with so I was just kinda bopping around on my own.
Then we went to Candle Mass at Westminster Abby. Shoot that was cool! We were standing outside in line, waiting to get in and this robed man walked out and was passing out programs to everyone and he got to the group in front of me and then dropped the stack and he goes, "S***!" and he yelled it! And I had to try really hard not to laugh because this guy was obviously not supposed to say that and the guys in front of me were laughing really hard. It was hilarious. The actual service was beautiful though. They had an all male choir and the soprano parts were sung by little boys and man, I don't know if I've ever heard anything like it. It was amazing and moving and gorgeous and I just wanted to buy a cd but I didn't think it would be appropriate to ask if there was one. And I was going to get up and take communion when everyone went but they dismissed our row and I didn't notice until everyone was gone but they guy next to me and I asked if he was going and he said no so then I felt weird getting up by myself in front of everyone and I decided not to go...but I wish I had. I watched a lot of other people take it though!
After that, it was straight to the football match. Fulham (which I've been spelling wrong) and Newcastle United! Man it was AMAZING! We were sitting with all the Newcastle fans and they were loud and had all these cheers that everyone knew and I just started yelling getting all into it and it was seriously so much fun. We lost. I think I'm definitely a Newcastle fan for life though. I'd write a cheer in here, but it's hard to capture the essence in type....also there were a lot of expletives. The game ended at around 10:30 and we walked back to the bus and ended up leaving the city around 11:00. I was so tired at that point. And today I woke up early to do homework but it was all reading and since I read at a steady 20 pages an hour...that didn't get finished before class. Some days, like today, I have class from 1:00 to 6:00 and it's really a bit boring. My last class was at St. Peter's college in city center so we walked there and then after, a few of us stayed for the evening chapel. That's not what they call it but that's basically all it is. Then we went to St. Aldate's for college group time and that was really amazing for the second week in a row! Hah, weird to think I've only been here for two weeks. The lesson was about judgement and the woman (that's right...) was talking about how when you believe then judgement day seems bearable and to those raised in the Church or who come to Church all the time it's easy to think you've got it going on but she said, "Just because you're born in McDonald's doesn't mean your a hamburger". I thought that was funny.
I hadn't eaten since noon though, and after the college group, I was ready for some food because it was 10:00! So on the way home, I stopped with some girls to get Ali's which is this amazing van on the side of the road that sells a bunch of different food and such. I got chips (french fries) with chicken, cheese, and ketchup. You eat it with a fork because apparently people over here are too good for finger food. Whatever! It's so good though. I might eat that for the rest of my life. I won't really...but it's so good!!!!!!!! Anyway, now it's after midnight and I'm going with the touristy class tomorrow so I have to be up early...lame. I won't let another four days go by without posting anything though, that was a bit ridiculous. Especially since I can't remember what I was even doing that kept me from it...weird.
So, I don't remember what day I last posted on here...and I really only remember yesterday...so that's all I'm gonna talk about! We woke up yesterday and Mandy made a great breakfast and then I did the dishes. It sucked! Whatever though, the kitchen is clean! I finished that and then started to get ready for the bus to come and take us to London!!!!!!! I was already dressed and then Erika was getting dressed and she put on leggings under her pants so then I started thinking about that because we were told to dress warm since we were going to a soccer game in the dead of night and it was supposed to be about 20 degrees. So I ended up putting on leggings under my pants but then I was really hot for most of the times when we were inside. I also had on a long sleeved shirt and then a hoodie over that and it was, like I said earlier, so hard to get on that I didn't want to take it off! That's beside the point though, I'm just saying...it was warm.
Anyway, we took the bus to London and it drove us all around the city, we got to drive over two bridges and see the big clock that people call Big Ben. Actually though, Big Ben is the name of the bell inside the tower next to the clock...so I don't really know what to call the clock/clock tower now. I saw it though! And I saw the London eye and the parliament houses and all these famous buildings. We were dropped off at the British Library...I think that's what it was called but now that I type it out it doesn't look right. Eh...we went there and there was an exhibit on the evolution of the English Language and that was so amazing! There were all these different speakers where you could hear famous speeches made throughout history and different songs from English speaking countries and dialects from different parts of the same country and the origins of words. Fascinating! Then there was what they called the treasure room. That had in it all sorts of original pieces of art and literature including but not limited to: Papyrus with the gospel of John on it, original drafts of Mozart and Beethoven's music, original drafts of the Beatles' songs on napkins and the backs of envelopes, and Jeffry Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. It blew my mind! I was in awe of some of the things I saw. It was by far one of the most amazing experiences I've ever had. I've gotta go back! Of course, I couldn't really find anyone to walk around with so I was just kinda bopping around on my own.
Then we went to Candle Mass at Westminster Abby. Shoot that was cool! We were standing outside in line, waiting to get in and this robed man walked out and was passing out programs to everyone and he got to the group in front of me and then dropped the stack and he goes, "S***!" and he yelled it! And I had to try really hard not to laugh because this guy was obviously not supposed to say that and the guys in front of me were laughing really hard. It was hilarious. The actual service was beautiful though. They had an all male choir and the soprano parts were sung by little boys and man, I don't know if I've ever heard anything like it. It was amazing and moving and gorgeous and I just wanted to buy a cd but I didn't think it would be appropriate to ask if there was one. And I was going to get up and take communion when everyone went but they dismissed our row and I didn't notice until everyone was gone but they guy next to me and I asked if he was going and he said no so then I felt weird getting up by myself in front of everyone and I decided not to go...but I wish I had. I watched a lot of other people take it though!
After that, it was straight to the football match. Fulham (which I've been spelling wrong) and Newcastle United! Man it was AMAZING! We were sitting with all the Newcastle fans and they were loud and had all these cheers that everyone knew and I just started yelling getting all into it and it was seriously so much fun. We lost. I think I'm definitely a Newcastle fan for life though. I'd write a cheer in here, but it's hard to capture the essence in type....also there were a lot of expletives. The game ended at around 10:30 and we walked back to the bus and ended up leaving the city around 11:00. I was so tired at that point. And today I woke up early to do homework but it was all reading and since I read at a steady 20 pages an hour...that didn't get finished before class. Some days, like today, I have class from 1:00 to 6:00 and it's really a bit boring. My last class was at St. Peter's college in city center so we walked there and then after, a few of us stayed for the evening chapel. That's not what they call it but that's basically all it is. Then we went to St. Aldate's for college group time and that was really amazing for the second week in a row! Hah, weird to think I've only been here for two weeks. The lesson was about judgement and the woman (that's right...) was talking about how when you believe then judgement day seems bearable and to those raised in the Church or who come to Church all the time it's easy to think you've got it going on but she said, "Just because you're born in McDonald's doesn't mean your a hamburger". I thought that was funny.
I hadn't eaten since noon though, and after the college group, I was ready for some food because it was 10:00! So on the way home, I stopped with some girls to get Ali's which is this amazing van on the side of the road that sells a bunch of different food and such. I got chips (french fries) with chicken, cheese, and ketchup. You eat it with a fork because apparently people over here are too good for finger food. Whatever! It's so good though. I might eat that for the rest of my life. I won't really...but it's so good!!!!!!!! Anyway, now it's after midnight and I'm going with the touristy class tomorrow so I have to be up early...lame. I won't let another four days go by without posting anything though, that was a bit ridiculous. Especially since I can't remember what I was even doing that kept me from it...weird.
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