God, it’s good to be back in the UK! I’ve missed the people, the accents, the culture, the scenery, the pub on every street corner… Being home was fantastic, no doubt, and I loved every minute of my time spent with family and friends; but I always look forward to coming back to England.

The voyage here was extensive, waaaay beyond simply taking a plane into Heathrow airport and jumping on the tube to college. Oh no, this time it involved, quite literally: trains, planes, and automobiles. There might as well have been a boat and maybe a bicycle, and THEN I would have used every means of transportation to get to my destination haha. I didn’t head to London this time, though. I didn’t think it would be a good idea to sleep on the doorstep until next week, when Charlotte and I can move into our flat. SO, I traveled to her house in Witham, and am here until Wednesday or Thursday. Upon landing in Heathrow at 9:30AM (6 1/2 hours after taking off), I survived the long queue through border security, grabbed my VERY heavy luggage from baggage claim (just under the legal weight limit of 32kg), and found the cab driver who would be taking me to Liverpool Street station so I could hop on a train to Witham. Generally, a drive from Heathrow to Liverpool Street should take about 45 minutes. But, because the Pope decided this week would be a perfect week for a visit, everyone and their mother came into London in advance so they could be ready to see him. Needless to say, the driver and I were in traffic for 2 HOURS. Once at Liverpool Street Station, I lugged my bags… or should i say, lugged what felt like my own helpless body (bc these bags weighed in at a whopping total of about 64 kg or 140 lbs) into the station and began the final leg of my adventure. My first question upon entering the concourse, “WHERE THE HELL IS THE LIFT?!?!” Luckily, after having traveled so many times with luggage, I have trained my eyes to find even the smallest, most hidden of lifts available in all tube and train stations… And this one was no exception. I think I was wider than the stupid doorway. After much cursing, struggling, and stares from passer-bys, I threw my bags into the lift to go down only 1 floor to the ticket kiosk. With ticket in hand, I patiently waited (out of the way of foot traffic) for the platform number to pop up on the screen, all the while being run into and run over by running people… Apparently, when you’re running to God-only-knows-where at Liverpool Street Station, you suddenly lose the ability to run in a straight line through the middle of the concourse, and instead, veer completely to the right so you can throw yourself into a 5’5″ blonde girl with 2 HUGE suitcases. AND JUST WHEN I THINK THE COAST IS CLEAR… I find myself face-to-face with some representative from some unknown Human Rights group asking me if I want to save some 3rd world country from some oil spill. Stupidly, I said, “OK!” and gave him my contact info… Aaaand, I’m an idiot, because now I’m going to be getting calls from this random human rights group asking for monetary donations or if I’d like to travel to this 3rd world country to help save humankind. Aaaand because I’m a poor college student, busy thinking about the school and flat I need to pay for, and the $300,000 of debt that I will accrue after the total of 5 years of paying for that school and flat, I’ll tell the overly-enthusiastic person on the phone, “No thanks.” ANYWAY!  Back the to story… My platform number popped up literally 3 minutes before the train was expected to depart, so I ran as fast as I could with my luggage, probably barreling over multitudes of people in the process, and jumped on the train maybe 1 minute before the door closed. PHEW…

… Long story short… after a total of 10 hours of travel on 3 different types of transportation with 140lbs of luggage… I MADE IT TO WITHAM! ALIVE!

… I have too much shit…

Nine days! I can’t believe so soon already! Summer has literally flown by. It’s been a great summer, too! I’ve had the chance to see most of the people I’ve wanted to see (there are SOME of you out there who I won’t be able to see until NEXT SUMMER *cough*Kmac and Will*cough*), and had the chance to do a bit of traveling to states I had never seen before. For the first 2 weeks of August, I was in Paris, Texas at my friend’s ranch for my horse placement. It was my first time handling horses, and it was an amazing time, despite the 105 degree temps everyday. I’m really thinking about looking into a career with horses… probably chiropractic care and acupuncture to go along with a private practice . I also visited the beautiful little town of Woodstock, VT with my close friend Katie. We went for about 5 days and stayed with some of her family. Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t the best, rainy and chilly every day except one. But, we made the best of it and still had a lot of fun sight seeing through the town, and walking along some hiking trails in the mountains. I’ve also had the chance to see quite a bit of my family, especially today at a Labor Day party my aunt and uncle had at their house. Not many people in my family have traveled beyond the states, so it was nice to tell them some stories of my life during my first year in a different country. I can’t wait to see the stories that will unfold during my 2nd year.

This coming year is going to be a busy one, probably even busier than 1st year. Along with school, I’ll also have the responsibilities of International Representative for the Student Union and Social Sec for the football team. As International Rep, I’m the go-to person for the new International students at the RVC, as well as the organizer for events to help get them involved in London life throughout the year. As Social Sec, I get to organize all social events for the team throughout the season, as well as tour. I’m glad that I’m getting even more involved in the RVC this year than I was last year. I feel that whatever chances I may have missed at CHC, I can make up for at the RVC. I never had the chance to be an active member on the CHC SU or even on the women’s football team. I do wish the RVC had a theatre group, but I could just find a public one if I ever have the time (which probably won’t be happening until I graduate haha). And I want to travel more! Being so close to other countries, it doesn’t make sense to just stay in England all the time, even if I do love the place.

… Phew… It’s gonna be a busy year, but it’s gonna be a damn good year, too!

January (backtracking a bit from my previous post): The only interesting thing to happen was my trip to Gran Canaria for football tour. Unfortunately, I’m not allowed to spill any juicy details about that trip. All I can say is that we spent 4 days in Gran Canaria, which is one island in a chain off of the coast of Africa. The weather was phenomenal, the beach was beautiful, the food and drinks were cheap, the nightlife was brill, and no football was played. An unforgettable trip overall.  I’ve posted some pictures below…

Our first view of Gran Canaria from the airport

setting sun

The team on our first night, wearing those ugly canary yellow polos... blah...

Me and Erin, after a "few" drinks... still coherent.

... And a little later...

The view from my hotel room.

The dock where we waited for our charter boat

Our view from the boatawesome cliffs

sea caves

Your typical Spanish seaside town (beautiful)

cannonballllll!

banana boat rides!

The team at Hooters during our final night of debauchery.

Hanging out at the beach one last time before our flight home.

I almost didn't make it home!

February: Not too much to report. It was a pretty simple month involving school work and a few sports socials. Valentine’s Day a.k.a. Singles Awareness Day did it’s job effectively, and reminded just HOW single I was. That all changed a few days later, though, when I met Bill. Alright, so I didn’t really meet Bill then… I met him before, through mutual friends. But it was right after Valentine’s Day when we started talking… Which leads us into March…

March: EXAM TIME! The first 2 weeks of March were spent revising notes, and living in the library (nothing interesting to talk about). The last day of term was absolute hell. We had 3 exams in one day; and although only 1 exam actually counted, we were still exhausted and miserable by the end. Our 1st exam of the morning was our multiple choice exam (or what simply refer to as an MCQ). It consisted of 20 questions on topics covered in the entire 2nd term completed in 20 minutes. The 2nd exam was our ISF exam, or Oral exam. Pardon my language, but my examiner was a twat. Go figure, I get the one examiner I DID NOT WANT. First off, she’s rude. Second, she asks vague/stupid questions (Explain what happens when blood flows into the liver…. meh?). Third, she only criticizes rather than motivates. And finally (and I know this one isn’t her fault, but it just gives me more of a reason to dislike her), she has this bad lisp that makes her even more difficult to understand (vein = wayne). At least I wasn’t the only one to complain about her that day. And our 3rd exam wasn’t much better. We were placed in a room for an hour to answer two essay questions. At that point of the day, I just wrote down some points on a paper and waited while everyone else finished. I think it took me 20 minutes to complete? Since it didn’t count for anything except practice in writing essays, I didn’t need to care, so I wasn’t going to.

Two days later, I was off to Yorkshire to begin my dairy placement (I’ll talk about that experience in my next post). Bill was heading home to Yorkshire for the entire Easter break, which worked out well because I was able to see him while I was there. On that Saturday, the 13th, we took a train up to Sheffield together where I spent my last night before diving into the simple life. I met his father, and he took us out to a few pubs around the city. In getting to know his dad, I learned that he loves everything American, has a weakness for blondes, and is pleased to know Bill isn’t gay (sorry if you ever read this, Bill!) By the end of the night, I was drunk, happy, thoroughly enjoying the start of my Easter break, and not looking forward to the next 14 days of waking up at the ass crack of dawn. Let’s just say, I am NOT a morning person.

To be continued…

Thankfully, this abundance of work has lead me to discover one fascinating part of British culture that I had yet to try before now: the afternoon pint God Bless the afternoon pint. It’s a wonderful feeling, after a stressful day of lectures, practicals, and revising, to head to the local pub and de-stress with a pint and a friend. Both students and professionals alike head to the pub for a break from their work. Why can’t America promote more than 1 stupid lunch hour per day? Guaranteed, Americans would be much happier if they could take out 2 hours of their day for lunch and a pint.

We have grown fond of two local pubs: The Grand Union and The Constitution. The Grand Union is great for Sunday Happy Hours with its 2 for 1 cocktails. It also has a really nice atmosphere in terms of decor and people. The walls are decked in floral wallpaper, the seating consists of antique coffee tables and sleek leather couches, and the only lighting comes from candles and antique lamps. It’s a good spot for 20-something professionals and university students. And it’s one place that isn’t bombarded by RVC students (major plus). The  Constitution is more of your typical local English pub; but it’s great because it’s owned by a really sweet old man who loves dogs and loves people who bring in their dogs.

Brits are really excepting of pets in pubs, bars, restaurants, and stores in general. What is also interesting is that most of the dogs I see are never leashed. Not that their owners are irresponsible or just don’t care. It’s because the dogs are so well-behaved. I have yet to see one dog not listening to its master and running away. I don’t think you would ever see a dog roaming freely with his owner in New York City or Philadelphia; and you would NEVER see a dog in a bar. The dogs at The Constitution are great, especially Dave. He’s some breed of terrier. Really sweet dog, and loves when the customers scratch his butt (typical boy).

Life is going swimmingly over here regardless of the pile of lecture notes sitting next to me that I still need to revise. In my next post, I’ll have to backtrack a bit and write about my trip to Gran Canaria (The Canary Islands) for Football tour during my first weekend back in Europe. Only some details will be allowed; the rest, I was sworn to secrecy Cheers!

I’m glad to be home, and I’m really happy to see my friends and family… Although, I do miss England A LOT. When I boarded my plane at Heathrow, I thought to myself, “If this was just a 1 semester study abroad trip, I would be crying right now.” It’s not, though! I still have another wonderful 4 1/2 years or so to go! Landing in Philly didn’t have the same effect as when I landed in London. Perhaps it was the really rude airport staff, the 1 hour baggage delay, or knowing that I have to face Philly traffic? Once again, happy to see my family and friends… but being here just doesn’t feel the same as living there. I feel like I was meant to be in London. And who knows? Five years down the line, I might stay there, at least for a while. Of course, there are things America has that England doesn’t have, like: easier access to driving/parking in cities, lower petrol prices, angry airport staff, the absence of random drunk old men throwing cider cans at you in the street, your typical angry Philadelphia bum, the ability to use pepper spray on an attacker (women are equipped with “rape” alarms instead… they’re useless), being able to say “Bless you” to a sneezing stranger without receiving a weird look, water that isn’t so hard your skin feels like it’s going to flake off, REALLY bad hair days (unless you aim to have one), the dollar, Sephora, certain foods (pumpkin pie, marshmallow fluff, velveeta cheese), and of course the people I love! So, while I’m home for the holidays, I am going to take full advantage of all these things that make America wonderful! haha…

Oh, and as an added bonus, we’re  getting a snow storm today!!! Hopefully it snows so much while I’m here, that I won’t miss in when I leave. There’s nothing like having a white Christmas

Happy Holidays!!!!

I’ve already mentioned Jamie Cullum in my previous post – How my two friends and I watched him during a surprise performance in the middle of Covent Garden for a charity fundraiser last Wednesday. Yeah, famous award-winning jazz pianist, and we were only about 20 feet away from him. Thank God we were only that far. Otherwise, we never would have seen him. He’s hobbit size! A proper Frodo Baggins, if you will. That doesn’t stop him from performing one hell of a show, though.

Then, this past Sunday, Charlotte, Liz, and I ventured, yet again, to Covent Garden to watch a surprise performance by The Stereophonics. If you don’t know who they are, here…

We knew they were going to be playing, but we were told on Monday. Looks like someone lied to keep it a secret! Liz received a text from the charity on Sunday afternoon, 2 hours before their performance. They were also an awesome performance; and once again, I stood about 20 feet from them. We hopped into a pub for dinner, the same one they went into after their show. I think the restaurant managers were trying to set them up with a table in the private room, but didn’t want people around them. We happened to be seated at a table right next to that private room. The staff attempted to rush us out of there, but we took our merry old good time – 2 1/2 hours of our merry old good time.  The band never took the table . Oh well, it was a good dinner anyway!

So, if you think seeing Jamie Cullum and the Stereophonics is cool… just wait for this one… Liz and I went out for our friend Douglas’s birthday to a restaurant in SoHo. Everyone parted ways afterwards, but Liz and I stayed in SoHo for a while, shopping around. We decided to leave about an hour later, and walked to the Oxford Circus tube. At our transfer station in Tottenham Court Rd, as we were standing on the platform waiting for the train, Liz turns to me, “Have you ever seen the Harry Potter films?” I turn to her, curiously and say, “Oh yeah! Definitely! Why?” Her response, “Because the Weasley twins are standing right behind you.” My head spins back, and sure enough, JAMES AND OLIVER PHELPS ARE STANDING RIGHT BEHIND ME!!!!! Ah, I almost died! So, the train comes, they begin to motion toward it, the crowd begins to part us, and I reach my hand out (like a psycho) and grab onto one of their backpacks. With them, I hop on the train car, and stand right next to Oliver. We were sharing the standing bar!! And one of them grazed my hand!! And they both looked at me!!! Ahhhh I’m such a girl! I was speechless the entire ride. Liz couldn’t help but stare, either. A girl tried to push her way in, but as Liz said, the girl must have known I was sending her ESP messages to back off… and she backed off haha. So we rode with them for about 4 stops, and they talked about filming the final movie. James mentioned how he’s gained weight since the 1st half of Deathly Hallows, and he won’t be able to fit into his “dress robes” for filming next year. Meanwhile, I remained silent, and in shock, and in awe. They’re so much cuter in person Once Liz and I got off the train, basically everything I wanted to say on the train just came out in one big mumbled rush. I must have sounded crazy. Her only response, “I never thought I would see the day when you’d become speechless.” It is nothing but the truth… I didn’t know what to say. I don’t even think I could open my mouth if I tried.

Liz and I have come to the realization that, so far, we have seen celebrities who are increasingly more famous than the previous. This only means that our next sighting should be even better! Can’t wait to see who the next one will be!

A few cool things HAVE happened, though, during these past few weeks. I’ve spent basically 2 days exploring Covent Garden while shopping for Christmas presents. GORGEOUS location, but super expensive. I was told that a 1-bedroom flat can cost anywhere from £600-£1200 PER WEEK. My dreams of living there have been officially dashed… unless I find a wealthy man to marry… HA. During my shopping adventure yesterday with my friends Charlotte and Liz, we managed to set up free makeovers at the Bare Escentuals store, eat the most delicious cupcakes that have ever been created, and happened upon a surprise performance by  award-winning jazz pianist Jamie Cullum. Mikey, this one is for you… Jamie Cullum composed the Golden Globe nominated song for Gran Torino. And here I was, standing about, um… 30 feet away from him? He’s tiny, too. He looks like a hobbit haha. Awesome musical performance, though. Only in London does this happen. Could you imagine someone like Harry Connick Jr. or Norah Jones suddenly busting out a surprise jazz performance in the middle of a crowd of Christmas shoppers in NYC? Never. London is spectacular

It was nice to have such a great day after so much built-up stress. I’ve been pretty down in the dumps lately, so this experience was definitely a pick-me-up. Thank you, London!

Their favorite spots in the flat are the kitchen chairs; and all they do is sleep.

Angus insists on sleeping with his legs open. He's such a boy.

Edward prefers to sleep in a tight little ball. Sometimes, she shades her eyes with her paws when the kitchen light is on... Drama Queen.

When they're not sleeping, they like to stare at us until we feed them.

... And after they eat, Angus generally wants to nap (because he's a fatty) whilst Edward wants to play.

Once play fighting has ended, they make amends and crawl into my bed together, ready for another nap.

The End! Cheers!

The pictures I took with it are from the Christmas lighting ceremony in Covent Garden (pics below). If you’re unfamiliar with Covent Garden, it’s an absolutely gorgeous/very posh area of London that has really nice outdoor markets, shopping plazas, restaurants, and cafes.

You might be thinking it’s a bit early for Christmas decorations, lights, music, and whatnot, since, in America, we don’t think about Christmas until…. the day after Thanksgiving. Whereas in England the Christmas celebration begins the day after Halloween. However, if you know a little American history, you’ll know that Thanksgiving is strictly an American holiday celebrating peace offerings that the pilgrims made with the American Indians, which, in time, basically crumbled when America expanded West…. But that’s a story for another day. Anyway, a friend told me that the English have celebrated a form of our Thanksgiving in the past. But then the government thought it was an unnecessary day off, and “Thanksgiving” was (and still is) no more. Therefore, if you didn’t think companies began advertising Christmas soon enough in America, Christmas comes a month and a freaking half early here!

Alas, here are pictures of Christmas lights! I’ll admit, watching the lighting ceremony at Covent Garden did put me into the Christmas spirit… Now… If only the rain would turn into snow…

Leaving the Leicester Square Tube Station and onward to Covent Garden! (L to R: Ami, Elyse, Don)

Pret A Manger: A very popular sandwich shop that only uses fresh, all-natural, preservative-free ingrediants. They're everywhere in London!

There were real live reindeer!

I was so close to the reindeer!!!

Just a liiiiittle bit closer.

There was a choir, too!

Entrance-way to a shopping plaza in Covent Garden.

Entrance to a market that had everything from old books, to antiques, to jewelry; and even food.

Before the tree-lighting.

We stood in front of the tree for a half hour, waiting for it to be lit... And we missed it because we were too distracted by a girl wearing denim-print leggings.

Pretty green lights inside the plaza! They had fake snow, too! (soap bubbles)

Oooo red. I tried capturing the snow, but it wasn't working out too well.

You can see snow on some people!

L to R: Ami and Sarah. Ami and I played in the soap bubble snow

On our way home, we took note of this subliminal message created by the McDonalds advertising execs. Nothing like a "painfully thick" milkshake, eh?

More pictures to come as soon as I clean my room! Cheers!