Massive Update Time

Hello all,

Ive gotten a few requests for an update. . .and Im sorry I didn't do it sooner. It just seems so daunting. I once again do not have many pictures because I have not loaded them all onto my computer or have not had my camera with me and therefore depend on others for pictures. . .but let's get started, shall we?

So to continue with the Wednesday "let's do tourist-y things" theme: I went to Windsor Castle on Jan 23rd. It was really nice. I saw the State Apartment, went into the abbey, basically just had a good time. It was really windy and would sprinkle every so often so it was nice when we were indoors. I think the biggest shocker was the Dollhouse. Sarah and I almost didn't go in because let's face it. . .dollhouses don't really make me jump for joy. But this one was ridiculous. It was massive with every single detail just right. Really really overwhelming. . .just that people have that much money to spare and say "hey let's build a massive dollhouse. . .with real marble floors. . .". But the size of the housekeeper and servants' rooms was really depressing. The Queen's closet was 10 times the size of their entire room, heck so was her bathroom. But all in all a good day was had. We went shopping for a bit after and picked up a few good deals. I got some waist belts so that I can make my black dress a little more versatile considering I've worn in about 4 or 5 times already.

That night I had a swim social, which was fun. Its always nice to hang out with a group like that.

Okay. . .sidenote: I tried uploading some pictures but the internet here isn't good enough to get them up. . .my apologies. .
Here's the one I managed to get:

Just part of Windsor Castle.

So that weekend I wrote my personality psychology paper. . .too bad after I submitted it on Tuesday the 29th since it was due this past Monday. . .I got an email slightly changing it and then an email extending the deadline two weeks to Feb 18th because they couldnt manage to get everyone who lead tutorials on the same page and kept telling us to get articles that no one could actually access. . . oh England. . .how organized you are. So yea now I have to do some more work on that this weekend. . .because I'm going to be very busy . . .And I thought I was doing well by getting ahead of the game.

Anyway, the Saturday after Windsor I went with some of the girls on my floor to one of the campus pubs because they play dance music on Saturdays and have a dance floor, which is fun. I ended up entering a raffle for a snowboard and actually won it. I wasn't sure about that for awhile but found out for sure on Tuesday of this week. Its actually pretty sweet. But it is just the board and no bindings. I could sell it or keep it as a giant souvenir but it would be a pain to get back home. For now, it sits in the box in my room. (I have some pictures but they are still on my camera . . .I know, I'm slow.)

Last week, the 28th- Feb 3rd was pretty busy. I had to get a lot of work done because I was going to be away for the weekend. I succeeded and was even able to spend my Wednesday out, except not doing touristy things. We decided we needed to shop so Sarah, Jennifer and I went to Staines, the next town over and did some serious shopping. I got pretty much everything on my list and spent about 50 pounds in total, which included lunch out, my bus ticket, and a nice dinner to eat when I came home. I got a snowboarding jacket, aka waterproof and warm, for 10 pounds from T.K. Max (yes it is the same as T.J. Max). It was originally 70 pounds there and over 100 in a retail store, so SCORE! I also got a pair of red wine colored boots that were originally 45 pounds for just 13 pounds that will come in handy because they are waterproof, unlike my faux suede ones from Target. Those were my too major finds of the day. Other than that it was a lot of. . ."Oh yea. . .I ran out of this. . "

Once I was home, I enjoyed my chicken and mushroom risotto and sundae I purchased in Staines and hung out with some of my floormates.

So now Im up to my travels. This past weekend, I went with a tour group to York and N. England. We went to York Minster and Little Betty's, a bakery known for their Fat Rascals, a type of scone, which is actually very good. That night we went to a pub to grab a cheap dinner before we went on a ghost walk. It was kind of lame, but I don't believe in that stuff anyway. Our "guide" was really nice, and it was some cheap entertainment so I really can't complain. We then headed back to our hostel and played some card games before heading to bed. We woke up bright and early on Sunday and headed to Fountain Abbey, which was gorgeous. Its all ruins, but the grounds were really nice. There was a garden, can't remember the name of it now, that I really wanted to go to while there, but we weren't really given enough time to do so. So a few of us just attempted to take jumping pictures. . .I failed miserably, mostly because I knew I would fall. We then headed to Haworth to see the home of the Bronte sisters, which was really interesting. I felt bad though, our tour guide the whole way there was telling us about their brother who was an opium addict and an alcoholic. Wow. . .your sisters are known for being great writers and you are known for your drug habit. . . that would be depressing. Once again we were short on time, so we didn't go to the Moors. Instead we hit a pub, one of the brother's favorites supposedly, and had a late lunch before we headed back. Oy sooooo much time in that tour bus. I was sore by the time we got back but really wanted to head to the campus pub to watch the Super Bowl, until I found out they wanted to charge 4 pounds. . . geez. . . so I opened up some Peanut Butter M&Ms and showed my American pride that way.

So that brings us to this very week.
Tuesday was a great day, especially after my depressing Superbowl Sunday night. I had a presentation in the morning for my film class, so I went an hour late (aka an hour more sleep) because I just watched the film and it was really strange and gory. Then during the seminar I gave my presentation with a friend. We did "excellent" according to our tutor. Yay! Then I grabbed some lunch, but it was Pancake Tuesday (aka Crepe Tuesday), so I grabbed a crepe. . .not as good as Crepes a Go Go in Berkeley, but still satisfying. I then went to claim my snowboard, which Millie actually did for me because the contest was only open to UK residents, but they didnt actually check. They went in the back to verify the ticket number and then came out with a box containing my snowboard! So exciting! Later I got an email saying my documentary film paper was ready to be picked up. I was a little concerned, because I was having a good day and didn't want to ruin it, but I went down to the office anyway. I got just shy of the highest group of marks, but it is still an A back home, and since the paper was 100% of my grade I should get an A in the class as long as the second grader agrees with my score and my presentation for that class was okay. Which reminds me, I did well on my psychology papers from last term as well, 2 As . . .but those are worth 25% of my total grade. So overall Tuesday was a good day.

On Wednesday, aka yesterday, I did some reading before heading to Camden Markets with Sarah and Jennifer. We did a little window shopping for about an hour and a half before we headed to meet with our director for our registration meetings. After our meetings we hung out for a bit with some of the other girls on the couches in the basement of California house, where our meetings were held. We talked about Super Tuesday and politics and if we would come back to Europe for grad school or a career. Just enjoying the company. We then headed to a Turkish restaurant and had a lot of appetizers and some good food. Mine was only okay. I got a chicken dish that wasn't very flavorful, but it smelled good. Since we didn't get dessert there, we went to Baskin Robbins and each got a scoop before heading back to school. Once back at school I quickly got ready to meet some of the swim team at the Student Union for an athlete-type night. We had a lot of fun just listening to cheesy music that the Brits love so much, until my friend Emily got hurt. I saw her dancing and then on the floor so I ran over. She had knocked her knee somehow, so with the help of security and our friend Craig we got her up to her room. I stayed up with her until about 5:30 this morning. We decided not to go the hospital because we knew nothing was broken and there was no fluid building up in her knee. So she knocked on my door this morning at about 10. . .about 3-3.5 hours of sleep for me last night. . and I helped her down to the health centre. But since they couldn't get her in to see a doctor until 3 p.m., they called a taxi to come get us and take her to the ER (what the Brits call the A&E for Accidents and Emergencies). I ran up to my room to grab my book I needed to read as a friend helped her down the the reception area and then we were on our way. It was actually pretty empty so we weren't there for long. The doctor determined that nothing was broken or majorly injured, just soft tissue. She recommended that she try to walk on it to help it heal faster since we have a competition in a week and a half. We got back to campus around noon and then things calmed down a bit. My day became my usual Thursday with my 4-6 p.m. Biological Psychology lecture with the teacher who hates everyone. . . hes always such a grump. But tonight they had Chinese for Chinese New Year and it actually wasn't that bad.

On Sunday I head to Scotland. I'll return Thursday night. And then I am off to Leeds and Canterbury on Saturday the 16th and Oxford and the Cotswolds the next day.

So I better get my reading done and work on that paper some more.


Hope you all are doing well. I miss everyone a ton!

Now if only my internet would reconnect so I can post this. . .

Back to the UK

I've been trying to update but the internet hates me, so finally I got this far.

So I don't know if I'm cursed or not . . but I swear my first weekends tend to not be so great.

Well I woke up at about 6 am on Friday the 4th and headed to the airport. It was pouring and windy and for the first time in my life, no one was going above the speed limit. I get to the airport only to find Im in the wrong terminal. I was supposed to be in the domestic terminal not the international. . .so I went to the domestic terminal and stood in the paper ticket line. Once I got to the front the woman kind of lectured me about being in the wrong line because I guess I had an E-ticket. Who knew? Security wasn't too bad. I went straight to my gate and saw that the flight before me to Chicago (where I had to make my connection) had already been delayed. Since my original flight was supposed to leave at 11 and it was just after 8, I decided it would be best to try to get on the earlier flight. United had only given me a 45 min layover in Chicago so any delay out of San Francisco would have been disastrous. I was put on standby for the earlier flight. Then flights started to be canceled and I figured out there was no way I was getting out of SFO in time. I randomly met an ex-pilot for United who told me to call United and switch my flight to a direct one. I called and didn't get through.

I went to stand in line to ask what I could do, and my mom called United and they put me on a direct flight leaving at 12:30, because it was almost 10 at this point. So I stayed in line to see what my best bet was only to find out that they put me on the direct flight @ full fare instead of frequent flyer. . . .oy vey! At this point, the earlier flight and mine were pretty much set to leave at the same time. And my flight had changed gates without an announcement!!! So I rushed back to the international terminal and went up to my gate and was told that I would make the last flight out of Chicago. We boarded at 1ish and sat on the plane until 3:30. By the time we arrived in Chicago I had at most 45 minutes until the last flight left for London. But with my luck, we arrived only to have our gate occupied, which meant 25 minutes ticked away. I got off the plane at 9:05 and ran to the monitors to find that my flight left @ 915 and the gate was in another concourse.

Running through the Chicago airport is not fun. . .

I arrived at the gate out of breath and asked to get on the flight and they told me it was full. So I asked what I was supposed to do because I had to get to school. And some wise guy told me to go to Mexico. My response "Well considering I'm from California that would have been a lot easier than getting here". They gave me a number to call for a hotel and let's just say I wasn't a pretty scene. After waiting to see if there was any chance of getting on and seeing that everything in the airport was closed, which meant no food for Margaret who only had a chai, 2 gingerbread cookies and a granola bar to eat for the whole day. I finally called the number and got the cheapest place available which was still just shy of $60. United assured me that my bags would be on the next plane with me but could only give me a flight a full 24 hours after I was originally supposed to leave (6 p.m.) and put me on standby for a 4 p.m. flight.

I had nothing with me. Thank god for shampoo and conditioner that I had shoved in there. I had to buy toothpaste and a toothbrush from the hotel (bloody expensive toothpaste) and I watched TV and went to bed. I checked out at noon and headed for the airport.

I went through security and then they pulled me aside and wouldn't tell me what was going on. They were wiping down my stuff with a cloth and putting it in some machine. Finally they explained that my standby ticket had a random security check thing on it. . Thank you United. . .you never cease to be crap.

I got myself a Starbucks to calm myself and went back to the scene of the previous nights crime. They wouldn't tell me my chances of getting onto the flight, but luckily I did and actually had a seat in economy plus, which meant more leg room. But thanks to us sitting on the plane until 6 p.m., I didn’t
even leave Chicago until a full 24 hours after I was supposed to leave
originally. And when I got to London a full 24 hours after I was supposed to I was greeted by no luggage. They guaranteed me that it would be delivered later that day (Sunday) and guess what? It wasn't. It was finally delivered on Monday afternoon. Luckily I had a shirt and a pair of jeans and some PJs in my luggage that I left at school. . .

So basically, I hate United and they will be getting a fatty complaint letter. Yes it was partly the weather, but I overheard them say that the pilot for my flight out of SF wasn't there yet. . .therefore, united. . .there's a reason you went bankrupt.
Oh and to make matters even better, due to jet lag I slept right through my 4-6 lecture on the first Monday.





Now I'm back at school. I was feeling a bit stressed but I dropped my history class so now I feel a bit better. I went to see Chicago with Sarah yesterday since I now have Wednesdays off. A few of us decided we are going to use our Wednesdays. . .shows, Windsor Castle, etc, etc. Overall though, I think that this term will be a bit more fun filled. Ive booked some trips throughout England for the weekends in February including a weekend in Wales.

I will try to keep you all updated, but for now my only updates are about the flight back.

Goodbye Robyn and the month of December in England.

So tonight is my last night in the castle otherwise known as Founders, which I just realized Ive never posted a picture of. Perhaps, because I haven't taken a picture, so Ill use someone else's. Plus one of my own.



Emily's shot of Founder's from "the woods". You can technically see my room. Go up to the floor with the little pillars outside the windows. Move toward to right and its the room that sticks out a bit (not the rounded ones though).




My shot of the clock tower before a trip into London.


So anyway. I finally finished that essay.
Tuesday I went into London and saw the Phantom of the Opera. AMAZING
Last night we ordered curry and ate it as a big group and today Ive been quite lazy.
Tonight we are having a little going away party for Robyn since she won't becoming back for the next term.
Then tomorrow morning I'm catching the 8 am bus to Heathrow and hanging out in the airport before I hop on a plane back to all of you.

So my recap of the term.
It seemed to go by so slowly, but now that I look back, its seriously just a whirlwind.
I only managed to travel once-to Spain, therefore I had some laidback weekends here.
I was tested by the English school system, let's hope I win round 2.
Ive seen 5 shows.
Met lots of great people.
Seen lots of Londony things
Been called a chav
Had really crappy British food
Had really good, expensive meals.
Had really yummy pub food.

Overall, so far a success. Theres been times when I didnt know why on earth I was here. Especially when I got that first paper back. And there are times when I still think that. I mean I want to go to grad school right after this. And instead of making contacts in Berkeley who can write my letters of rec, I'm over here, where my psychology courses are taught by at least 3 different professors, and I'm putting my GPA on the line. . .not to mention my bank account. Ive always been a money saver- well I wasnt when I was little, but Ive learned. And for the first time, Im actually going to be broke. So I better make this worth it right?

Next term, I'm going to try to travel a whole lot more.

But. . .Ive learned a lot since Ive been here. And thats what this is all about right?

Man I sound incredibly cheesy.

I hope all of you that have finals do well. For those of you who have finished, well done.

I'll hopefully see you all soon.

Almost Done. . .

Still working on that last paer. . .well technically not the last, considering I'll have a paper to write over break. 4000-5000 words for my documentary class. I have a meeting with the instructor tomorrow to discuss it. But thus far I've written 1200 out of 2000 words for my essay on the Stanford Prison Experiment. Not happy with what I've written though. It seems as though I'm just going through the motions. All I want to do is pack and relax. I could wait to do the paper and just finish it over break, but I've already started so now I must finish. Tomorrow perhaps?

Tonight we are having a Secret Santa gift exchange on my floor, except not so secret because some of the girls worked out who everyone has. Kind of ruins the surprise don't ya think?

Tuesday I might go into London to see Phantom of the Opera. My budget is hurting a bit this month. But that's because of all the Christmas presents I am buying that I originally said I wouldn't buy. I'm going to be exactly like Santa with my suitcase. . .err. . .bag full of presents. I just hope I stay under the weight limit so I don't have to check my small duffel bag, which also means less to carry. Other thing that kinda bums me out is that I'm allowed one carry on. So I have to shove everything in my backpack that I would usually put in a handbag, because my backpack is the saviour of my electronics, not that my computer has been very kind to me lately.

Oh yea. . .this is a great way to procrastinate. . . when the internet is actually working. Of course I still don't have it in my room, which makes my paper so much fun. I need to reference websites so I have to do a bunch of copy+pasting. I miss the internet and its usefulness.

Hope the first week and a few days of December has treated you all very well. It's almost Christmas (as I am constantly reminded of by Millie: Queen of Christmas Spirit as well as Rianne's decorated room)

Im sorry Im so slow.

Greetings!!

I've been a little slow lately, my apologies.

Thanksgiving was slightly depressing. I did have apple pie to commemorate the day, but alas nothing like some good stuffing. *sigh* I want. . .

The term is coming to an end. I have my last real lecture in less than an hour. Next week, I have two seminars and a few review lectures. I have to finish up reading for my psychology classes this week/weekend and do my last psychology paper. That way, I'll only have one paper to do once I get home. Itll be 4000-5000 words though. Bummer.

Ive done some Christmas shopping and keep seeing ornaments and such that I really want to bring home, but I need to not break things! Plus I dont know how much room I'll have in my suitcase. So if there's anything any of you want, do let me know, and I'll try my hardest to get it.

Anyway so to cover the last few weeks, which have been pretty slow. . .

My swim meet for the 2nd was cancelled, but we had a friendly competition on Tuesday. Oh man. . . I hurt so bad. I should just retire, my body wants to. But it was fun. We played "water polo" after . . .actually it was more like animal ball. It was all in good fun.

Oh and last week, we made some signs for the radio station's free hug day. Sarah and I made a nice one, with a little too much pink for me, but overall class all the way. So on Tuesday afternoon I went around with a bunch of the people who help out at the radio station with a "hug me" sign on my sweatshirt and some hot chocolate in hand. Some people were a little frightened by us, but others were quite receptive.

Yesterday I did some Christmas shopping and then went to dinner and the movies with some of the girls. We saw the Golden Compass, which I enjoyed. And then we bought some cakes which were reduced to 99 pence each and sat in the hallway and showed each other everything we bought throughout the day.

Tomorrrow I have a Christmas dinner with the swim team and on Saturday I am volunteering with them at a hospital. I guess we are going to decorate it for the holidays.

After this hectic weekend, I will hopefully be done so I can focus on cleaning up my room and shopping a bit more.

Still trying to decide exactly how I'm going to get to the airport. . .bus is much cheaper but less convenient, plus I wonder if I can manage to get my bag into the storage area. We shall see.

Espana and Fake Thanksgiving

From the 7th to the 11th (Wednesday to Sunday) I went to Spain (Barcelona to be exact) with a few friends. We took a cab to the airport since it wasn't very easy to get to by way of public transportation and once we got to the airport, we grabbed some food and waited by our gate. We took Ryan air which is a really cheap airline, indicated by their obsessive use of the color yellow throughout their plane. . .ick!
Anyway we got to Spain safely, but all the ATMs were broken so we couldn't get euros, so we had to get all our money together for bus tickets into Barcelona. The bus ride took about an hour to an hour and a half or so and by the time we got to the bus station it was almost midnight. We ran to the subway (the metro) and luckily there was an American girl who could see we desperately needed a little help who told us where to go. We got to our hostel at about 1 or so and pretty much crashed.

Thursday we woke up and ate breakfast and immediately went outside. We were stayin right on the beach, so we walked on the beach for a bit enjoying the warmth and sunlight before we headed elsewhere. We went to see La Sagrada Familia.


Absolutely amazing! We went inside and took the lift up to the top which afforded us with spectacular views of the city.


After La Sagrada Familia, we went to see on of my favorite buildings Casa Mila!

We didn't go inside, but I think it is gorgeous and I think Gaudi is a genious. I almost bought a book about his works, but decided not to, because let's face it, I had already spent quite a bit of money just getting there.


We then headed to Casa Batllo, which was superb as well, especially because we got there right as the sun began to set, so they turned on the lights and it looked like it was made of gold or something.


After that we headed back to our hostel to wash up and get some dinner. We ate at a pretty nice restaurant near our hostel, and it wasn't too expensive. I had pasta, as usual, but also had my first bite of seafood. Ive always hated seafood, mostly because of the smell and the whole texture thing, but I decided I'd give it a try. We had garlic shrimp, and honestly it wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great either. I much prefer my chicken. We hung out on the beach for a while that night and met some kids from Germany who everyone wanted me to talk to in German, but we all know I'm not very good.

Friday:

On Friday we decided to walk around Barcelona a bit. We walked down La Rambla looking for some Gaudi building, which I wasn't ever aware thata we were looking for. But in the morning we saw the market, which now I cant remember the name of, and that was pretty cool. There was so much for sale, lots of meats, fish, sweets, and such. I got a chocolate croissant that was to die for. Later in the day we hit the end of La Rambla and the Christopher Colombus statue, where I took a few minutes to be by myself looking at the water. My friend Tony, who had just arrived showed up at that point and we all went to grab lunch. Whats funny is that a lot of the kids from orientation were in Barcelona at the same time, which my group had not planned intentionally. But we really didn't see many of them except for Tony.

After lunch we decided to go to Montjuic. We took a tram form the metro to the base of the hill and then got in a lift type things which took us all the way up to the fortress. Once again, amazing views.
The fortress was pretty cool with lots of greenery where a moat must have been.






(p.s. sorry for the poor organization of photos)

We spent the rest of the afternoon there, and by there I mean at the fortress and in places around it like a pretty garden we found. We decided to walk back to our hostel even though it was kind of far. Once we go back we were pretty exhausted. We once again went to get some dinner, pasta again, what can I say I like my different kinds of pasta! And then went out in search of something to do. We found one bar/pub, which was an Irish bar and just relaxed and talked for a bit. Mostly about what to do the next day. . . which brings us to:

Saturday:

We went to the Picasso Museum, which was really cool and actually not that expensive. Thank the lord for student prices, but on the way we got side-tracked by a chocolate shop, so we all bought a few things to enjoy later. . .I avoided buying chocolate, so I just bought some chocolate related goodies. However the owner let us sample some stuff because this one man was buying a ton and so the owner would cut off a piece for him to try and would give us the rest.

Once we got to the Picasso Museum we had a little trouble. The woman at the door kept telling me I had food in my bag and that I needed to check it. I kept saying " I dont have food. I can't eat what I have in my bag". Alas we just piled our stuff into one bag that had food in it and checked the bag.

The museum was really cool. Picasso went through so many stages in his work and it was definitely an experience to see all those stages and his progression.

After we went to eat at La Rosa Negra, recommended by my friend Helen. It was delicious Mexican food.

Yummy burrito.

We then decided to go to Parc Guell. It was a long journey up that hill. . . the escalators were a life saver at times, but Parc Guell was intensely amazing. I love mosaics. We wandered about in the hills for awhile since there were a few other things there before we headed back down.

We decided to have a nice dinner that night since it was our last night. We went to a really kind of exclusive place. We got a table and I had an amazing salad. It had chicken and pine nuts and pineapple, which I usually don't like, but it was really satisfying. We then got some Gelato which I had never had before surprisingly enough.

Okay I'll post this much now and continue later as I have to go to swim practice. So be on the look out for a continuation which will most likely just occur at the bottom of the present entry.

Okay back from swimming and now its time to finish up my Barcelona trip and move onto other things.

Sunday:
Sunday was a lazy day. We sat out on the beach for a while and then attempted to go shopping, forgetting that most of the shops would be closed. I kept seeing cool things that I wanted but told myself that I must resist the urge. We ended up by the Cathedral and saw the orchestra play and people dancing. I thought about joining in and then decided against it. I'm not much of a dancer and didnt want to disturb their flow. . .



Apparently God loves them and has therefore chosen to shine his rays of light upon them.

We then went to a plaza filled with pigeons. I have no idea what the Spaniards call it, if they call it anything. But we hung out there for a bit, watching a mime speak (yea she wasnt very good) and kids chasing pigeons, including one boy who was trying to kick them. . .there's always that one kid. . .
We then headed back to the beach. I was craving tapas but we didnt end up getting any before we left. But we did get gelato one last time.

And wait, I can't end my Spain adventures without at least one picture of the beach. . .


*sigh* How I miss you so. . .

As the sun set we headed to the bus station to catch our flight. I was exhausted and fell asleep on the bus, but sadly was unable to fall asleep on the plane. We got back to London shortly after 11 p.m. and the same driver picked us up and took us home, he was very nice to us. unfortunately the weather was not. Way colder than Spain and has been drastically colder than before we left since we got back. . .it's like Mr. Weather guy is punishing us. . . Anyway back on track, so I got back to my room, washed my face, unpacked some of my stuff and slept. Class on Monday, which happens to be my full day was not fun, but I made it through.
However, I did not attend the party I was supposed to for the radio station or go to swimming. Oh well!

So Wednesday, this past Wednesday, I went to London for the day, to see Wicked for my friend Cassandra's birthday. It was amazing and we had pretty much some of the best seats in the theatre and only paid 25 pounds instead of 60. I loved Wicked and I highly recommend it. I wish it played in SF. . .
After that we hopped on the tube and grabbed some dinner in Covent Garden and headed to see the Lion King, which we saw for free! Yes free! I enjoyed Lion King as well, just not as much as Wicked. I think I would have enjoyed Lion King much more had I been on the ground floor and not on the balcony since it is very interactive. So once again I got home late, ate some cheap noodles because dinner was very small and slept. . . Oh sleep how I love thee.

Friday I went into London again because my friend Scott from Berkeley who is studying in Paris was visiting. Sarah came along to meet up with some of her friends and we just did touristy things which was fun. I went to the National Gallery again, which is one of my favorite places in London and walked along Southbank with all of the street statue people. I got back to Egham with a little time to spare before Cassandra's birthday dinner which happened to be at the same restaurant as where we ate with our director. I ordered a burger because I was craving meat, but it came without a bun!! Umm. . .do I look like I'm on Atkins! I'd like some carbs with my burger. But it was actually quite good. We had a little chocolate cake to celebrate and then walked home. It was freezing. I looked it up once I was back and it was 1 degree celsius, but felt like -2, which is like 27 degrees. . brrr. . .

What's sad is that I really have no idea what the numbers mean in Celsius but I use them to compare the days. So therefore, I will probably have to try to not write in celsius on here. At least my phone has a convertor.

Okay I know this has been a very long blog, and thank you to those who have stuck with me, I promise your pain is almost over.

Last night aka Saturday:
We had a Thanksgiving dinner in London at the Bonnington Hotel. I brought Robyn and Cass along as my guests. I got to see my good friend Nicole which made me very happy. Our director bought each table a bottle of white and red wine and the eating commenced. We had turkey with gravy and cranberries, as well as roasted potatoes (we all missed our mashed potatoes) and funny looking stuffing. It was like a miniature ball that was served with the turkey and a sausage (okay. . .a sausage. . .seriously?!) so we all assumed it was meat, but no it was indeed stuffing. It wasnt bad but we had all been looking forward to stuffing.

Therefore. . .sidenote: mom please make stuffing with Christmas dinner. I crave the good stuff in my veins!

Back to the story at hand, we were also given carrots and brussel sprouts. It was a good meal overall. Beforehand we even went around our table and said what we were thankful for, but we all missed the family environment of Thanksgiving- the ability to ask for seconds, the ability to pass the food all around the table and take as little or as much as we wanted, etc, etc, etc.
For dessert we were served pumpkin pie, a little more runny than usual, with less crust as well, with a mango sauce. Okay I think I was the only one who avoided the mango sauce, but Im sorry I like my pumpkin pumpkin-y. Later we got coffee or tea.

It was a very satisfying meal, but was definitely British influenced.

After dinner, we danced for a bit and then headed home on the last train of the night, which was a very interesting ride in itself.

Sorry I dont have Thanksgiving photos. I have not put them on my computer yet.

The term is starting to wind down. I seriously feel like it just started. And I am avoiding writing more papers.

Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Eat lots of stuffing for me!!

End of October. . .

Let's hope my wish comes true!



So I completed my history paper! Yipee! And I wrote my psychology paper yesterday and I will edit before I leave for Spain on Wednesday.

I'll be in Spain, Barcelona to be exact, from Wednesday until Sunday/Monday morning (my plane lands @ midnight). I'm getting excited, partly because I have yet to travel and partly because I need a break from my living environment. Living with all girls is driving me crazy!

This upcoming week is reading week, which means no classes unless your department hates you, which is the case for history and media arts. I have a full day of classes tomorrow and my usual seminar on Tuesday, in which I have to give a presentation. . .the joy of it all. . .

Anyway, not much has been happening other than the occassional thing.

Last friday I went to see Stardust with a few of the girls. I really love going to the movies but its expensive. However, its one of the only things here that works out to be just a bit more than it would be in the U.S. so its not that sad to be paying in pounds. Also I finally broke down and got Starbucks before the movie. Best grande chai tea latte I've had in a long time, but I think that was mostly because I was craving it so badly and at 3 pounds a pop let's hope I don't crave it too often! But then again, San Francisco airport didnt have the Starbucks that I was depending on them to have and that is why I did not have my chai before I left. And yes I realize this is a lot about a drink, but I crave. . .

Anyway, the next day I told myself I would do work because Sunday I would be out all day. I did a little bit, but as the theme of ths blog goes: I needed out!.
So I went shopping with Sarah and Jennifer. I bought some black shorts and a necklace for my halloween costume.

Sunday Sarah and I went on a tour of Stonehenge, Glastonbury. We had to get up early but the time change gave me some extra sleep, although I was paranoid that the time change wasn't actually happening in October. (P.S. Why is the US a week later on that anyway? What has the world come to? I was only 7 hours ahead for a whole week and did not realize it! Ridiculous. . . )


It was raining when we got to Stonehenge, but lightened up even to not be completely miserable while viewing it. I grabbed some coffee and an audio tour(which we didnt even really use) and walked all the way around some really old rocks. . .okay some really cool rocks. I bought a few things and we got back on the bus and headed to Glastonbury to see the ruins of a church.















Glastonbury: Found out a few days later, thanks to the horrible tour guide, that supposed King Arthur's remains were there. . .if I remember correctly, man I have a horrible memory. Glastonbury is kind of a hippie town with lots of magic type shops and such. We walked around for a bit and grabbed some pasties (broccoli and cheese for me) and got back on the bus. . .yet again. . .and proceeded to Bath.



































Okay I must say this now: Bath is basically one giant movie set. It would be so easy to film something there because of the style of the buildings.



We went to see the Roman Baths which were amazing, and drank some of the water. . .very warm with a strange after taste, but hey I can say I drank it!




We went around the shops and into Bath Abbey, where we took a seat in the pews. It was weird because I felt the urge to pray, so I did, which made me feel so much better. Sometimes I have the urge to go back to church, but at the same time I would feel very awkward because I have forgotten almost everything from my past. I wrote a prayer for my grandmother and light candles for Angela and Kendall, who passed away almost 10 months ago. Overall it was really a spiritual experience.



The sun finally came out at the end of the day and afforded us a beautiful view: as we hopped on the bus for the long trip home. By the time we got back they were only serving dinner for another 15 minutes so we ran to eat and Sarah headed back to her place.

For Halloween, I decided to be a goddess since I had a swim club social down at one of the bars on campus. I was a goddess because I already has a brown dress, and gold earrings, so all I needed was a gold headband and a gold necklace (both of which I got for pretty cheap).




The social was lots of fun. It was nice to hang out with some new people and bond. I had another social, for the radio's music team the next night, but instead stayed in to read.

Okay so back to my frustration. . .as stated at the beginning. . .living with girls is hard.

I'm going crazy because I feel like every little thing gets blown out of proportion, which is really frustrating, because I only really have 2 groups of friends here: the girls I live with and the California people who live far away.

It has proven really difficult to meet people, because most of the 2nd years already have a group of friends, so the people I talk to/who will actually acknowledge my presence are other Americans who are all leaving at the end of term. Plus my lovely Robyn is leaving me so I will have someone new across the hall from me next term. . .Sadness. . .

I've put up some pictures, hope you enjoy!