Also: This is the cutest baby laughing video ever.
watch it.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
It had to happen sooner or later....
Gone are the days of me being one of the only ones in my program who havsnt fallen super ill! The sickness has been kind of sneaking up on me all week, then it pounced hard last evening. I had to leave the gym after like a half hour because I was feeling so drained. I came home and had naan and hummus for dinner because I couldnt muster up the energy to make much else, and then went to bed around nine. I had some craaazzzyyy dreams too; so I wasnt surprised to wake up with a bit of a fever and my entire body aching. There was no way I could make it to the Tate for Modern Art class, but I went back to sleep so that I'd feel well enough to go into work. A few hours later my body was no less achy, and my head hurt about ten times worse! There was no way I would survive the commute to work either. I had some toast and yogurt, and went to make some tea. I realized I didnt have any tea. Juice? Nope, no juice--well no wonder im sick, i'm not getting any vitamins from fruit!!!!
Eventually I had to make myself walk to the bank to deposit my stipend check, and also stopped at the store where I bought a full arsenal of vitamin packed juice drinks, echinacea raspberry tea, amaretti cookies to dip in it, vitamin c effervescent tablets, two different kinds of soup and day/night flu pills. So far I've had some juice, a vitamin c thing, and am starting on my first cup of tea. I forgot how boring it is to be sick! But my head hurts so much that playing cupcake corner isnt even very fun...(though im only 12 points away from level 11.....) I better cure myself today though because of being sick ive missed out on; being around for an appointment to come if Monica was late(her brother is in town this week), a cornish pasty event at work (i've really been wanting to try one...), and Glyn is coming for drinks at parliament as well! :(
You can see how bored I am as i decided to update my blog....which has kind of lost its vanity for me, I think. Or maybe my life in London has just lost its vanity in my own mind, so I dont think so much as to write about it all of the time. Interesting.
The Peer Advisor applications have started to roll in, and I must read them. We have quite a few less applicants this year, so I hope that the ones we do have are high quality! Some Clarkies will be here over the next week for their spring break, which should be exciting, and another reason that I have to get well ASAP. (BTW just made it to cupcake corner level 12)
The past couple of days have been fine with work and class. Its been a bit cold. I feel like im getting out of shape a little. My half birthday is coming up quite soon, immediately followed by Caitlyns 21st, and st. patricks day. What a shitshow of a week that will be!
Im going to go sleep or something.
Eventually I had to make myself walk to the bank to deposit my stipend check, and also stopped at the store where I bought a full arsenal of vitamin packed juice drinks, echinacea raspberry tea, amaretti cookies to dip in it, vitamin c effervescent tablets, two different kinds of soup and day/night flu pills. So far I've had some juice, a vitamin c thing, and am starting on my first cup of tea. I forgot how boring it is to be sick! But my head hurts so much that playing cupcake corner isnt even very fun...(though im only 12 points away from level 11.....) I better cure myself today though because of being sick ive missed out on; being around for an appointment to come if Monica was late(her brother is in town this week), a cornish pasty event at work (i've really been wanting to try one...), and Glyn is coming for drinks at parliament as well! :(
You can see how bored I am as i decided to update my blog....which has kind of lost its vanity for me, I think. Or maybe my life in London has just lost its vanity in my own mind, so I dont think so much as to write about it all of the time. Interesting.
The Peer Advisor applications have started to roll in, and I must read them. We have quite a few less applicants this year, so I hope that the ones we do have are high quality! Some Clarkies will be here over the next week for their spring break, which should be exciting, and another reason that I have to get well ASAP. (BTW just made it to cupcake corner level 12)
The past couple of days have been fine with work and class. Its been a bit cold. I feel like im getting out of shape a little. My half birthday is coming up quite soon, immediately followed by Caitlyns 21st, and st. patricks day. What a shitshow of a week that will be!
Im going to go sleep or something.
Monday, February 28, 2011
When keeping it real goes wrong
So here we are, the last day of February. My time in London with work and classes is more than half way over. This past week most of us had midterms, as much as it sucked to be doing school work, it felt kind of nice. Once again I cant begin to recall all of the events from the past week and a half or so that I havent written, so I suppose that I’ll highlight some key points.
I’ve been pretty busy at work. The most recent project that I’ve completed is an Afghan narco-trafficking brief for Nick. I found some pretty interesting things out.
I was pretty committed to finishing this blogpost on the train to Norwich, but I’ve just started to watch 500 days of summer on my laptop, and I guess im gonna have to get back to this....
Actually, what the hell, this is dumb, why am I staring at my laptop right now......surely I would rather to look out of the window and fall asleep. So I shallllll
But maybe you’re wondering where I was going on this past fine long weekend of mine, and the answer is to Norwich to visit my beloved Lisa Packard. Just a bag of clothes, Uno and a bottle of barardi withme. Surefire good weekend, lets gooo!!! (500 days of summer is pretty good though, though it makes me want a man in a sweatervest dress shirt and tie in the worst way, def gonna finish it sometimes--maybe on the way home Sunday night!!) I would bet thats when I’ll finish this blogpost as well :)
Update: its after midnight on monday, I've been trying to update this blog for like 2 hours, but then i got addicted to a facebook game called cupcake corner. I'm not even one of those farmville lame-0s that loves facebook apps; but I have a soft spot for baking---and this game is AWESOME (you wanna be my neighbor??) Im gonna get to level 200 tonight....
So my weekend with Lisa was great, it was awesome to get out of the city and be on a college campus again! The UEA campus is lovely, as are Lisa's flatmates and friends. Lisa met me at the train station when I arrived and we grabbed some lunch and a brew at a pub nearby. Then, we bussed back to her campus. We chilled around, videochatted peeps and all around caught up. We made a lovely little dinner and decided to have a chill night. We watched a few episodes of "an idiot abroad"--super funny, I would def recommend. I slept ALOT friday night, and saturday we went into town and did some shopping with Lisa's friend, Kelsey. She is super cute and from Australia. I bought a two finger bird ring, its sickkk, and a few other things. Saturday night Lisa and I decided to get a little crazy--and we fully fulfilled that decision. We went to a good old fashioned house party--it was lovely. Sunday was a gorgeous day in Norwich. Lisa's campus is right on a lil lake, and I went for a run around it-- it was sunny and fabulous. For the rest of the day we kind of chilled, until I had to catch my bus at 730. The bus ride was fiinnne, got in a little before 11, only to find a freezing flat with no working heat or hot water. Lovely.
Lisa and I <3
I understand that the quality of this writing is worse than usual, but keep in mind that my mind is mostly paying attention to my bakery right now.....I really cant be bothered to pay attention to this at all....
Some other points over the past couple of weeks are this:
+I have been removed from the Clark study abroad website. Rather, my blog has....apparently it was begining to focus more on my 'social life' than my 'international experience', so they took it down. But really, how many times can I blog that I saw Big Ben yesterday? What is life if you dont focus on your social life at all; it clearly interests at least the 11 or so formal followers that I have, and the many that I know are informal. I guess thats what happens when you keep it real...
+I've found my favorite cocktail bar in Camdentown. Its called Bar Fifty FIve and boasts an extensive menu of 195 or so fancy cocktails. Its quite pricey (about 7.50 a drink) but happy hour means buy one get on free-which I can certainly afford from time to time.
+Last week I had two papers due, one in British Politics and the other in Modern Art in London. I wrote the pol one on the pros and cons of the UK having a codified constitution, and the art one on one of the works of Matisse. I actually kind of enjoyed writing the art one. Either way it felt good to be doing school work again...
+I've been here for less than 3 months and im on my 3rd jar of nutella (its half gone actually)
+I was going to blog about my updated life plan that I dont actually really have.....but I dont feel like it.
This week i'll be receiving all of the Clark Peer Advisor apps to review; part of my job description as an Orientation Coordinator for next year. There are over 100 with references, so itll be an extensive little job.... I hope for a fun week!
*15 days till my half birthday
*2.5 months until im home
So I suppose thats about it for now
<3
The view from Lisa's lakeside flat :)
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Be creative and think of your own title for this blog post!
Well, I suppose its been awhile. I also suppose I should give a brief overview of the past few weeks that I've been M.I.A. but I dont think im going to do that; ill leave that to your imagination along with the title of this post. A few general trends might be that all of us in the LIP program have decided to stop going to ridiculously overpriced tourist bars,such as Oniells.(even though we have alot of fun at them, but really, we could have fun anywhere.
Also, my pay as you go vodafone kind of sucks; and by that I mean that I am topping up far too often. Work is good, fun times all around. Becks left for India last week which is very sad! Tonight is glyn's going away get together which I hope I make it to. I've been working on an afghanistan brief on narco poppy trafficking and defense; i had a great breakthrough with it yesterday!!
This past weekend I met up with my dad, daniela and family in Turino, which was a much needed change of scenery. I ate an absolute ton of food; which was apparently much needed. My dad was telling me that I looked much thinner ;/ I met lots of new little baby cousins as well! Italian babies are really the cutest babies on earth. Even when they CRY they're cute!! My great aunts house had a great view of the mountains
We visited my cousin gianni's bar quite a bit--what fun times. The pastries there were sooooo delicious, and I also developed a short term espresso addiction. I tried the house cocktail around 1130 am on saturday; it had wine, gin and juices--delicious. The weather was good in the 60s all weekend--and SUNNY!!!! Thats enough to lift anyones spirits! Also, my italian command was MUCH better than I had remembered--which was awesome. Of course everyone tried to accommodate my english speaking sister and I. For example:
IF YOU GO TO CLARK MAKE SURE THAT YOU APPLY TO BE A PEER ADVISOR FOR FALL 2011! APPS ARE IN YOUR CMAIL NOW :D
Coors Light, anyone?
The countryside was so beautifully. It looked like the houses had arbitrarily fallen from the sky and nestled themselves into the hills. The rental car that they had before was a real cute sporty one, but unfortunately my father put gas in its diesel engine, so their car was replaced with a Volkswagen mini van (with a huge DIESEL sticker on the gas tank. Filippo looked pretty baller though, even driving a mini van.
We visited my cousin gianni's bar quite a bit--what fun times. The pastries there were sooooo delicious, and I also developed a short term espresso addiction. I tried the house cocktail around 1130 am on saturday; it had wine, gin and juices--delicious. The weather was good in the 60s all weekend--and SUNNY!!!! Thats enough to lift anyones spirits! Also, my italian command was MUCH better than I had remembered--which was awesome. Of course everyone tried to accommodate my english speaking sister and I. For example:
The daughters of a family friend of my cousin Teresa made a menu of what we were eating on saturday night. (of course we would have known what they meant if they put aranchini instead of rice balls, and antipasti instead of cold cuts and cheese---but what little cuties) Sunday we caught a little bit of a local highschool futball team's game (my dads friends son or something...) And had a fabulous lunch--then we went into the city. Turino is really beautiful, but by the time we made it there, since it was sunday, most of the shops were closed. But i made it to italy and back for the weekend without spending ANY money (other than my train ticket to the stansted airport, and the 30 cents i had to pay to use the bathroom at the Liverpool street train station, eyeroll)
We had dinner at a friend of my fathers, who told me to come and stay at his house anytime (he made a point to show me the inside of my house, or else I would 'go back to America and never see it') It was a gorgeous flat, with handmade woodwork and big brick arch doorways. I had two gelatos in one hour that day. And i dont even feel badly about it! The first was an incredible amaretto gelato, with crushed almonds in it--the texture was to die for. We got it at a super fancy gelateria; where the man working behind the counter took about 45 seconds to scoop and swirl the gelato into the cone perfectly. (plus he was wearing a tux shirt and bowtie) The second ice cream that I had was lemon ice. My flight and commute back home was fine; though i didnt get in till about 2 am. Soon after I saw that my beloved Steelers had lost the superbowl. Sadness
monday I had work and class followed by a kick ass work out and chill timmmee. Tuesday was the same, but reversed (class then work) followed by kick ass work out part two. More excitingly Caitlyn, Alex and I booked a trip to Barcelona for the last weekend of March!!!!! AND KOOKIE is CRAZY and booked a flight to london the day before Barcelona, so shes coming with us there too!! Shits gonna be off the hook. As far as this upcoming long weekend, I have nothing planned; still havent booked by trip to the Netherlands either....and also wishing I had a big more money....
Yesterday was a pretty fun day. work was alright, had some drinks Adrian Sanders john and tom. After talking about his rock show, San francisco, Seattle, Vancouver, and whiskey, Adrian took his leave and John Tom and I went to a different bar in Parliament that wasnt so crowded. We got engaged in long conversations about something or other and I ended up having a few too many drinks than planned and leaving muchhh too late. I ran home, had a makeshift dinner of naan and hummus, got ready and ran out the door to the movies. I was taking a tube line that I'm not familiar with, so of course I got lost, missed my stop, had to go back and figure things out. ::sigh::
Once I finally arrived to the stop my friend James picked me up. This was my first time sitting in a passanger seat on the left hand side of a vehicle, and it was as crazy as I thought it would be. Not only is your mind and body confused because the driver is on your right, but your perception is allll messed up; making you think that you're going to run into things (cars, curbs, trees, buildings, signs) at ever turn. As a result of my tardiness we had to see the next showing of Black Swan. We had a drink first......well I had a drink anyway! I had been wanting to see Black Swan (mostly because of my love for ballet) I've heard that it was terrifying, disturbing, weird etc and it was all of the above. It was incredibly dark and morbid, in addition every relationship in the movie was extremely backward and crazy. Accompanied by the blood, gore, and lesbian sex scenes, it was probably the oddest movie that I have ever seen.
Today, I havent really done anything substantial. I've updated my itunes library, organized the files on my laptop, finally updated this blog, watched an episode of fringe.........as soon as I post this I really need to get my butt moving to Parliament for Glyn's going away drinks. I've also got to pick up something for the potluck upstairs on the way home.....sigh.
Work till 2:30 tomorrow and then i've really got to do some shopping. I have a growing lists of things i need and shrinking balance in my bank accts....this list includes boots, a bathing suit, skirt/dress, purse, maybe like a necklace.....i need to get some groceries as well, though i've already done that twice this week.....
We were going to go to stonehenge this weeekend, but I think that we're saving it for another time. I literally have NO plans this weekend, so hopefully i find some! BIG SHOUTOUT to the Clark MUN team who will be attending the Harvard MUN conference this weekend (without me :( ) REPRESENT FRANCE'S ASS OFF GUYS--YOU WILL ALL DO AMAZINGLY!!!!
Valentines day is coming up on monday--I dont even remember the last time I didnt have a valentine for VDAY--luckily my lil flatmates and I have a cute dinner date planned :)
I had made a draft of a blog post last week titled 'roller coaster week pulls into life decision station' reflecting on the terrible anxiety that I had been having about my life plan, what Im doing for the summer, and after Clark. I think i've for the most part resolved that, so i guess I will share it here. For the summer I am going to work at Atria's and make money and chill. Thats it. And i think that its the best plan. I'll have to return to Clark at the beginning of Aug for OC things anyway, so I think ill need to take some downtime over the summer (and pay off my inevitable London debt)
IF YOU GO TO CLARK MAKE SURE THAT YOU APPLY TO BE A PEER ADVISOR FOR FALL 2011! APPS ARE IN YOUR CMAIL NOW :D
As far as Post clark.....actually, i've decided I dont feel like talking about that right now.
The final thing that I will post about is my Clark living sitch next year --IM LIVING OFF CAMPUS FINALLY!!!! Im living with Lee, Chaingmi and Tama at 39 charlotte and i'm super excited about it (and my dad has accepted it as well!)
So for now, im chilling in London; but my Italy chapter certainly is not closed yet. April 24th is Easter, and my exams are finished the 14th of April (my visa expires the 20th) So I believe I will be with all of the Surras in Calabria for Easter time :)
<3
 |
| Turino is even nice sideways! |
Friday, January 21, 2011
Porridge=stomach glue and other discoveries
Well, it has been awhile. In summary since I last posted the following things have happened;
-I went through a very tired and homesick stage for about 3 days
-Dear John finally worked on my computer but made the said sadness much worse. (Gets me every time)
-ummmm I've probably eaten some interesting things
-I've experienced with a couple of beers but it hasnt turned out so great (mainly bc I dont know what the hell im doing)
-I feel like i've finally gotten into kind of a routine at work and with commuting and everything
-My evenings are sooo free, the homework here is kind of a joke....so i need to do something about that!
Wednesday night a bunch of us when out for drinks after work; the usual suspects. It was Gemma's 'going away', because shes moving from an intern to a paid job at parliament! A few people who used to intern or research at Parliament came which was nice. I was also informed (to my surprise) that alot of my work friends have been reading my blog. I'm not sure how I feel about that, but heres a shout out to any Parliament peeps that may be reading this. Thursday my Modern Art class went to the National Gallery, which was really awesome. I got to indulge in my guilty art pleasure for about 3 hours. Its awesome how intelligent our professor is. Afterward, Rick, Danielle and I got lunch at a pub. It was really good/cheap, but as i alluded to above, my beer experimenting did not turn out so great. (Good thing I only got a half pint) Here when you order beer, you get a pint or a half pint. Apparently it goes against some law of man to get a halfpint; therefore guys never get them. Screw that! Im not really tryna down like 400 calories of beer in one go.
Anyway, after lunch, Rick went home and Danny, dani, dannie? and I did some shopping! We struck out pretty much everywhere we went, but I scored at H&M. 3 shirts and a pair of leggings for 45 pounds. Not baddd lady. We found these two stores that we LOVED, however our financial status is not yet high enough to shop there at this stage of life. I forget the name of the first store, but I am in lovvve with it. The second was kind of a Britain-ed out Abercrombie called Jack Wills. The inside of the store was sooooo cool, way better than Abercrombie's "you feel like you're in a dark apartment beach side, but you're actually in a mall" thing. It was super expensive though, and they didnt even have a sale section :0 We went home and I stopped at the bank. I am now a real, debit card carrying, UK account holding person. I kinda just chilled last night; had leftovers--oh yeah we went out for a little to a pub close by. I had a pint of some beer that I didnt know, but it was tolerable. My dad told me while im here I have to try tuborg, its the best beer hes ever tasted. Then I hung out with the boys upstairs, watched a jdepp movie and did some more damage on my nutella. Damn you John.
Today I decided to get some porridge on the way to work. I figured it would be a nice thing to have on a rather chilly day. I figured it would be similar to oatmeal which leaves you motivated and energized for your day. After missing my tube stop, having to backtrack then switch trains, I finally got to work. Monica is at the constituency for the weekend so I was on my own. The porridge came with some berry compote (which was bomb). After finishing what was probably a 12 oz container of porridge I felt as if id be full for a week; and exhausted. Porridge did not feel unlike my stomach being full of glue. Probably wont do that for breakfast again.....I got some reading and stuff done at work and met Tom Glyn and Kerry for lunch. Charlie joined us as well, which was real nice. I was still miserable from my porridge morning, so i had a yogurt half of a pb and j and some french onion soup. The french onion soup was so weird though, because they use vegetable stock (instead of beef or chicken broth, or a combo of the two. Def different) I headed back to Tom's office to finish out my day. I had lunch plans with Katerina today but I fell asleep again after work. So I think we need to make plans on days other than fridays.
I slept for about 3 hours then woke up and made dinner. I was supposed to have stir fry at Alex's house (Caitlyn's friend from home), but I slept through it....I also slept through time when I should have been grocery shopping, so I didnt have a ton of choice. So im not a complete carb monster today, I sauteed some sugar snap peas, spinach and onions to throw into my pasta. For good measure I put an egg in there too; not bad... I buy the sauce in the jar, the bertolli one (its kind of expensive) But i add a ton of stuff to it anyway, so i think i could buy the cheaper one and make it just as good. Tonight i put in some olive oil, basil, garlic, balsamic vinegar and lemon juice. Yummmy. Im realllll fullll
Vid chatting with Kookie. deciding what to do tonight. Everyones big question is pub or club? We're gonna be clubbing hard tomorrow night so maybe pub is the right way to go. I have a bunch of stuff id like to do this weekend, so hopefully I will! Its supposed to be minimally rainy which will be good. Everyone is starting to plan travel for our long weekends (the first of which is coming up at the end of feb) A bunch of girls are going to Prague, but idk if im really feeling that. Instead John, Charlie, probs rick and whoever else are going to go to the Netherlands to visit Baran (and go to Amsterdam, of course) Yayyy!!
I think im gonna run to the store quickly, caitlyn should be home soon. The general lack of good ice cream here (unless you wanna spend like 5 pounds on a pint of ben and jerrys) is driving me a little crazy. Im even getting cravings for specific flavors; at present I would really like some rocky road. Im still not sick of people watching on the tube; its pretty awesome. Though I miss everyone at home, im pretty glad to be in London where the temperature is about three times (or more) warmer than both Pittsburgh AND worcester; and noooo snow. :D
I had a dream that I got kidnapped last night! I was in the woods in the summer doing some out doorsey shit with nessy and jon, we got split up and some guy stole me. He was really weird and trying to knock me out with a blunt object of some sort, but I found a bigger blunt object and I was gonna knock HIM out. I called nessy and jon and told them where I was (because I evidently knew the address where I was being held hostage; I guess my kidnapper was a real idiot) and they came to get me. I figured there had to be some sort of meaning for this kind of dream, so naturally, I googled it. At first search I got the following:
To be kidnapped in a dream reflects feelings that someone in waking life is forcing you to do something against your will.
I didnt think that was right or significant, so I searched again. And check THIS OUT:
And it allll makes sense. My struggle with missing people at home, and maybe being afraid of losing support systems there and stuff. ::Sigh:: well at least im coping with these things in my sleep!! I am feeling much better though now.
Bacardi and coke zero time. I might even buy some ice cream. Have a nice lil weekend everyone (even if your trudging around the snow at home)
<3
-I went through a very tired and homesick stage for about 3 days
-Dear John finally worked on my computer but made the said sadness much worse. (Gets me every time)
-ummmm I've probably eaten some interesting things
-I've experienced with a couple of beers but it hasnt turned out so great (mainly bc I dont know what the hell im doing)
-I feel like i've finally gotten into kind of a routine at work and with commuting and everything
-My evenings are sooo free, the homework here is kind of a joke....so i need to do something about that!
Wednesday night a bunch of us when out for drinks after work; the usual suspects. It was Gemma's 'going away', because shes moving from an intern to a paid job at parliament! A few people who used to intern or research at Parliament came which was nice. I was also informed (to my surprise) that alot of my work friends have been reading my blog. I'm not sure how I feel about that, but heres a shout out to any Parliament peeps that may be reading this. Thursday my Modern Art class went to the National Gallery, which was really awesome. I got to indulge in my guilty art pleasure for about 3 hours. Its awesome how intelligent our professor is. Afterward, Rick, Danielle and I got lunch at a pub. It was really good/cheap, but as i alluded to above, my beer experimenting did not turn out so great. (Good thing I only got a half pint) Here when you order beer, you get a pint or a half pint. Apparently it goes against some law of man to get a halfpint; therefore guys never get them. Screw that! Im not really tryna down like 400 calories of beer in one go.
Anyway, after lunch, Rick went home and Danny, dani, dannie? and I did some shopping! We struck out pretty much everywhere we went, but I scored at H&M. 3 shirts and a pair of leggings for 45 pounds. Not baddd lady. We found these two stores that we LOVED, however our financial status is not yet high enough to shop there at this stage of life. I forget the name of the first store, but I am in lovvve with it. The second was kind of a Britain-ed out Abercrombie called Jack Wills. The inside of the store was sooooo cool, way better than Abercrombie's "you feel like you're in a dark apartment beach side, but you're actually in a mall" thing. It was super expensive though, and they didnt even have a sale section :0 We went home and I stopped at the bank. I am now a real, debit card carrying, UK account holding person. I kinda just chilled last night; had leftovers--oh yeah we went out for a little to a pub close by. I had a pint of some beer that I didnt know, but it was tolerable. My dad told me while im here I have to try tuborg, its the best beer hes ever tasted. Then I hung out with the boys upstairs, watched a jdepp movie and did some more damage on my nutella. Damn you John.
Today I decided to get some porridge on the way to work. I figured it would be a nice thing to have on a rather chilly day. I figured it would be similar to oatmeal which leaves you motivated and energized for your day. After missing my tube stop, having to backtrack then switch trains, I finally got to work. Monica is at the constituency for the weekend so I was on my own. The porridge came with some berry compote (which was bomb). After finishing what was probably a 12 oz container of porridge I felt as if id be full for a week; and exhausted. Porridge did not feel unlike my stomach being full of glue. Probably wont do that for breakfast again.....I got some reading and stuff done at work and met Tom Glyn and Kerry for lunch. Charlie joined us as well, which was real nice. I was still miserable from my porridge morning, so i had a yogurt half of a pb and j and some french onion soup. The french onion soup was so weird though, because they use vegetable stock (instead of beef or chicken broth, or a combo of the two. Def different) I headed back to Tom's office to finish out my day. I had lunch plans with Katerina today but I fell asleep again after work. So I think we need to make plans on days other than fridays.
I slept for about 3 hours then woke up and made dinner. I was supposed to have stir fry at Alex's house (Caitlyn's friend from home), but I slept through it....I also slept through time when I should have been grocery shopping, so I didnt have a ton of choice. So im not a complete carb monster today, I sauteed some sugar snap peas, spinach and onions to throw into my pasta. For good measure I put an egg in there too; not bad... I buy the sauce in the jar, the bertolli one (its kind of expensive) But i add a ton of stuff to it anyway, so i think i could buy the cheaper one and make it just as good. Tonight i put in some olive oil, basil, garlic, balsamic vinegar and lemon juice. Yummmy. Im realllll fullll
Vid chatting with Kookie. deciding what to do tonight. Everyones big question is pub or club? We're gonna be clubbing hard tomorrow night so maybe pub is the right way to go. I have a bunch of stuff id like to do this weekend, so hopefully I will! Its supposed to be minimally rainy which will be good. Everyone is starting to plan travel for our long weekends (the first of which is coming up at the end of feb) A bunch of girls are going to Prague, but idk if im really feeling that. Instead John, Charlie, probs rick and whoever else are going to go to the Netherlands to visit Baran (and go to Amsterdam, of course) Yayyy!!
I think im gonna run to the store quickly, caitlyn should be home soon. The general lack of good ice cream here (unless you wanna spend like 5 pounds on a pint of ben and jerrys) is driving me a little crazy. Im even getting cravings for specific flavors; at present I would really like some rocky road. Im still not sick of people watching on the tube; its pretty awesome. Though I miss everyone at home, im pretty glad to be in London where the temperature is about three times (or more) warmer than both Pittsburgh AND worcester; and noooo snow. :D
I had a dream that I got kidnapped last night! I was in the woods in the summer doing some out doorsey shit with nessy and jon, we got split up and some guy stole me. He was really weird and trying to knock me out with a blunt object of some sort, but I found a bigger blunt object and I was gonna knock HIM out. I called nessy and jon and told them where I was (because I evidently knew the address where I was being held hostage; I guess my kidnapper was a real idiot) and they came to get me. I figured there had to be some sort of meaning for this kind of dream, so naturally, I googled it. At first search I got the following:
To be kidnapped in a dream reflects feelings that someone in waking life is forcing you to do something against your will.
I didnt think that was right or significant, so I searched again. And check THIS OUT:
Kidnapping
The main theme in abduction dreams is fear. The dreamer may be afraid of losing a very important part of himself or of losing his safest and most familiar surroundings. Also, the dreamer may be afraid of leaving his home, childhood, familiar support group, or long standing ideas. These type of dreams may be most prevalent during times of psychological or physical transition and during stressful times of life when the future is somewhat uncertain. Consider the details of your dream and try to isolate or identify the fear that created the dream. Superstition based dream interpretation books say that dreaming about being kidnapped is really an omen and that you will receive unexpected news and be successful against your opposition.
And it allll makes sense. My struggle with missing people at home, and maybe being afraid of losing support systems there and stuff. ::Sigh:: well at least im coping with these things in my sleep!! I am feeling much better though now.
Bacardi and coke zero time. I might even buy some ice cream. Have a nice lil weekend everyone (even if your trudging around the snow at home)
<3
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Weekend number dos: much better
Friday morning was pretty much the morning from hell. The silicone strip in my flat iron had magically fallen out, so I did nothing to my hair, I was stressed about bank stuff from the previous day, I got egg yolk on my shirt on the way out the door. UGH. Other thatn that, work on Friday was good. I got my parliament pass, for which they totally ambushed me for a photo.
I started out doing a Devon(our constituency) news briefing and sending Monica the articles that were relevant to our issues. I answered a couple of letters from constituents as well. We had lunch on the terrace with tom, becky, pippa and that other girl whose name I can never remember. It was a nice long lunch. I left at 2:30 and went to HSBC bank where I had to make an appointment for saturday (thank god they are open saturdays). I've never seen banks as busy as they are here.
After that, I passed out; which is seeming to become a daily ritual. Had a nice nap, cooked some dinner; I cant remember for the life of me what it was though; I think potatoes and sauteed onions and peppers. Then, the search/battle to find a good place to go out was on. our group split up about 3 fold within an hour or so. We went to one rather expensive, and also rather lame place and left after one drink. Then, we decided we would go to Fabric, a very popular club. We prob didnt get there till 11ish, and the line ('queue') was 1.5 hours long. So we went to this place next door instead; which no one can remember the name of.
It ended up being very fun, with a ton of international people there as well. We met some french peeps, and I helped some guys from italy figure out the tube map (after we bonded about being italian, of course). I think that eventually some of us left and actually got into Fabric, for free, but not all of us. Those clubs didnt close until 8 am, so it was a pretty late night; putting me to bed around 6 30 or so!
However, I had to be up for my bank appt at 2, so I got up had some bfast and went. It all turned out great; I have my bank account, my check will be available for me to use thursday and I should have my debit card late this week or early next. Fabulous. I also made my first whitening toothpaste purchase on saturday, which is noteable. I did a lil grocery shopping to stock up on my basics which are: bread, eggs, cheese, and chicken, and also picked up some pasta sauce and lemon juice and spinach for salad making purposes. I think after that I went home and passed out till like 7. Woke up, and everyone was getting ready to go out, but I felt tired still and a lil under the weather so I opted out of that. I did however go to meet my dear lost Katerina! Made some dinner(which I think was sauteed onions and red peppers over rice with balsamic vinigar and lemon juice plus a lil spinach salad. Got a bit lost on the tube bc Katerina was leading me to this shady middle eastern district where she and her friends were smoking hookah. (well they didnt know it was as shady as it was either) Anyway, it was great meeting her roommate and her friend as well; fun times and catching up on Clark gossip!! We took the bus back, which was good because I have had yet to take the bus till then! It was about 12 30, I cleaned my room did some laundry, then went to bed.
Today was our cambridge trip; I took a ton of gorgeous pictures which are up on facebook for your viewing pleasure. We had lunch in historical caius college dining room (which was basically a replica of Hogwarts) We had a traditional lunch which included pork fillets, carrots broccolli and roasted potatos with a little gravy and apple sauce. It was very good. Dessert was some sort of raspberry apple compote with cream on top, it was awesommee. Then it was time to go punting on the River Cam (think gondola that fits 12 people per boat). It was pretty cold, but our guide was funny and I got some awesome pics. then we had some free time. I made sure to stop by this famous bakery that I was told not to miss, its called Fitz....somethings and I got a chocolate cherry almond think that was very good. We shopped around a bit and ended at a lil pub where we got a 9 pound bottle of wine and some nachos. It was nap time on the bus ride home of course!
Tonight everyone went to watch the Patsv. Jets game at a sports bar, and I had planned to go as well (because who wins this games plays the steelers next week!) But then I realized some hw I had to do for my media class, so I stayed home and just kinda chilled. Soon I will be off to bed. Tomorrow I have work followed by class, and some hw tomorrow night. Tuesday is apparently American night at this bar called rocket and they have a ton of beer pong going on and stuff, so I think we're going to try to hit that up. Thursday I will get my gym membership after class, finally. Sunday is Rick's 21st birthday so I think we're going to buy tickets to go to fabric and celebrate, so we dont have to wait in line and stuff, on Sat night. Should be funn!!!!
Im sure that i'm leaving a bunch of stuff out, and im starting to miss some peeps from home, so lets do some skypinggg
<3
I started out doing a Devon(our constituency) news briefing and sending Monica the articles that were relevant to our issues. I answered a couple of letters from constituents as well. We had lunch on the terrace with tom, becky, pippa and that other girl whose name I can never remember. It was a nice long lunch. I left at 2:30 and went to HSBC bank where I had to make an appointment for saturday (thank god they are open saturdays). I've never seen banks as busy as they are here.
After that, I passed out; which is seeming to become a daily ritual. Had a nice nap, cooked some dinner; I cant remember for the life of me what it was though; I think potatoes and sauteed onions and peppers. Then, the search/battle to find a good place to go out was on. our group split up about 3 fold within an hour or so. We went to one rather expensive, and also rather lame place and left after one drink. Then, we decided we would go to Fabric, a very popular club. We prob didnt get there till 11ish, and the line ('queue') was 1.5 hours long. So we went to this place next door instead; which no one can remember the name of.
It ended up being very fun, with a ton of international people there as well. We met some french peeps, and I helped some guys from italy figure out the tube map (after we bonded about being italian, of course). I think that eventually some of us left and actually got into Fabric, for free, but not all of us. Those clubs didnt close until 8 am, so it was a pretty late night; putting me to bed around 6 30 or so!
However, I had to be up for my bank appt at 2, so I got up had some bfast and went. It all turned out great; I have my bank account, my check will be available for me to use thursday and I should have my debit card late this week or early next. Fabulous. I also made my first whitening toothpaste purchase on saturday, which is noteable. I did a lil grocery shopping to stock up on my basics which are: bread, eggs, cheese, and chicken, and also picked up some pasta sauce and lemon juice and spinach for salad making purposes. I think after that I went home and passed out till like 7. Woke up, and everyone was getting ready to go out, but I felt tired still and a lil under the weather so I opted out of that. I did however go to meet my dear lost Katerina! Made some dinner(which I think was sauteed onions and red peppers over rice with balsamic vinigar and lemon juice plus a lil spinach salad. Got a bit lost on the tube bc Katerina was leading me to this shady middle eastern district where she and her friends were smoking hookah. (well they didnt know it was as shady as it was either) Anyway, it was great meeting her roommate and her friend as well; fun times and catching up on Clark gossip!! We took the bus back, which was good because I have had yet to take the bus till then! It was about 12 30, I cleaned my room did some laundry, then went to bed.
Today was our cambridge trip; I took a ton of gorgeous pictures which are up on facebook for your viewing pleasure. We had lunch in historical caius college dining room (which was basically a replica of Hogwarts) We had a traditional lunch which included pork fillets, carrots broccolli and roasted potatos with a little gravy and apple sauce. It was very good. Dessert was some sort of raspberry apple compote with cream on top, it was awesommee. Then it was time to go punting on the River Cam (think gondola that fits 12 people per boat). It was pretty cold, but our guide was funny and I got some awesome pics. then we had some free time. I made sure to stop by this famous bakery that I was told not to miss, its called Fitz....somethings and I got a chocolate cherry almond think that was very good. We shopped around a bit and ended at a lil pub where we got a 9 pound bottle of wine and some nachos. It was nap time on the bus ride home of course!
Tonight everyone went to watch the Patsv. Jets game at a sports bar, and I had planned to go as well (because who wins this games plays the steelers next week!) But then I realized some hw I had to do for my media class, so I stayed home and just kinda chilled. Soon I will be off to bed. Tomorrow I have work followed by class, and some hw tomorrow night. Tuesday is apparently American night at this bar called rocket and they have a ton of beer pong going on and stuff, so I think we're going to try to hit that up. Thursday I will get my gym membership after class, finally. Sunday is Rick's 21st birthday so I think we're going to buy tickets to go to fabric and celebrate, so we dont have to wait in line and stuff, on Sat night. Should be funn!!!!
Im sure that i'm leaving a bunch of stuff out, and im starting to miss some peeps from home, so lets do some skypinggg
<3
Thursday, January 13, 2011
The Liberal Democrat Manifesto and other light reading...
Yesterday was my first full day at Parliament and the night before that was my first full nights sleep! The day went by fairly quickly. Monica had some things to do out of the office throughout the day, so I worked on some reading to get myself into the swing of things. It was really good interesting stuff. I begin with the Lib Dem Manifesto. Here, before each election, every party puts out a manifesto that comprehensively outlines their views and of prominent issues and visions for the future. I was surprised at the level of inclusiveness in the document, but Monica told me that the conservatives say that the lib dem manifesto isnt comprehensive enough. Following that I read the executive summary of a study for possible ways to improve or replace the Trident nuclear deterrent program. It was a little dense, but brought alot of things into prespective for me(as I am working for the minister of armed forces) Monica asked me if I wanted to take a break, but I was on a roll, so Ikept at it.
Monica had a lunch engagement, so I went over to her friend Tim's office. He has so many interns. He doesnt know which days they work 'there are just loads of them around all of the time' One of them, Becky, is 19 and I really like her! We watched Prime Ministers Questions (which are on wednesday afternoons, for an hour I think?) and they were super entertaining. Alot of booing and screaming happens that you dont get to see if you're watching that sort of thing in the U.S. We went down to lunch and met with another Tim, who i've met before, a girl who is job shadowing him, and Kerry, a fellow American who I've also met earlier in the week. It was actually a very fun time. I told them about that new alcohol infused whipped cream that we have backhome and they loved the idea of it. Tim (who we refer to as miserable Tim, though hes not) liked the idea of only being able to buy liquor at liquor stores, as we do back home. Other debates that took place were ones such as, if grapes and cucumbers are real foods, and the plot of Mean Girls (as we threatened to call miserable Tom Regina George instead [he gets Christmas cards, but doesnt send them]). Very fun times. Becky is a fellow Tswift fan as well, which we bonded over.
Becky explained the UK high school and exam system to me, and I was very surprised at the way in which it works. Senior year is spent preparing for huge exams at the end of the year; no other grades count except for what you recieve on these exams. Jeeze, we thought SATs were bad in the states; but this is nuts!!! Becky is in her gap year now, she is going to India in march I believe to work with children. On her last day we've resolved to watch Mean Girls.
at 5 we had a meeting with Nick and 2 men from a Trident committee. At that point I was very glad to have done so much reading on Trident so that I knew what they were talking about. Most interesting were the relationship between France and UK and France and US concerning this. But I suppose I wont bore everyone with that here. I got out of work about 10 after 6 and took the tube home, grabbed some soup and bread+ margerine, then it was time to head to tha theatah.
We took forever to find it and just made it for the beginning. We went to see War Horse at the New London Theater. It was different from any other play that i've seen, and had a bit of a musical component as well. The setting was just before and during WWI in Devon (which is incidentally where the MP for whom I work's constituency is). The mechanical horse puppets were really amazing, as were the people operating them. Thank goodness it was a happy ending!
I had Modern Art in London class this morning. I expected to be least enthusiastic about this class, however I think it just might be my fav. The professor is younger, id suspect early 30s, and incredibly intelligent and passionate about the subject. I think I forget that the arts are kind of a guilty pleasure of mine that I rarely oblige. He compared art to a number of different other things and spoke about anthropology as well. The professor seems to have so much to say about the subject that its impossible not to be engaged in the lectures. We began with the Betrayal of Christ and moved along with some analyses of paintings, it was good stuff. In the class we take field trips every other week to museums and exhibits around london, which are free. The professor told us we will probably end up going somewhere every class period, so as not to sit in a lecture room for 3 straight hours. When we went around the class to say our experience with art and stuff, I talked about how I used to paint a bit, but how most of my practical knowledge with the arts is with music. I said that I had played cello blah blah, and he was outraged at why I would quit, and I said tht I had sold it last summer. It made me a bit sad, he told me to buy another one asap, its a shame to quit an instrument. ::sigh::
After class I had a frustrating ass time at the Barclay's, a bank down the road (You cant even try to say that without a british accent) I have decided not to get a bank account there and am going to try HSBC tomorrow. It just sucks that all of this is taking so long, I have a 456 pound cheque to deposit that I havent been able to touch to cover my oystercard and weeks groceries and stuff, all of which up to this point i've paid for myself. After i set up the account it will prob be 4 to 5 business days until I can deposit the thing, and another 4 or 5 to clear. UGH- on the other hand i need to buy my gym membership ASAP (its 75 pounds for 3 months) After that frustrating time, I decided to take a REAL QUICK nap, and make it to the other bank before it closed at 430. Well, 2 hours later my roommate found me in the position pictured above. lights on, scarf on, boots on, laptop backpack and parliament background book in my bed with me.
Caitlyn Danielle and I went on a fun adventure this evening! We decided to do a lil shopping and explore. We took the tube to Picadilly Circus and started to walk around; I saw a japenese store and ran in to check for mochi, and I FOUND IT . It made me infinitely happy. We did alot of walking and went into quite a few stores. The most time we spend was in Zara, of course, we all left there with something. I got a nice tan work skirt for 7.88. We went into a huge toy store and into Anthropologie which I love and wish I could afford (here and in the states). Maybe one day.....
We spent awhile looking for a reasonable place to eat and ran into a bunch of gelato and crepe places that looked delicious. We settled on a little thai place, where we ate a bunch of food and I had my first sake! On our way back we stumbled through the red light district, and many interesting photos were taken there (see facebook). All and all, us ladies had a real fun little time!!!
Work tomorrow, 930 to 230. Ill get my official security pass which is awesomeeee, it only took 2.5 business days and its supposed to take 10! I need to figure out what im going to wear.....After work I was supposed to have lunch with my dear Katerina, but have to run home to HSBC and do the banking thing. Maybe we will meet up after. Tomorrow night, im sure will be fun, but i'm really pinching my pennies (or pence, i suppose) until that cheque comes through ; /
Goooodnight!
Monica had a lunch engagement, so I went over to her friend Tim's office. He has so many interns. He doesnt know which days they work 'there are just loads of them around all of the time' One of them, Becky, is 19 and I really like her! We watched Prime Ministers Questions (which are on wednesday afternoons, for an hour I think?) and they were super entertaining. Alot of booing and screaming happens that you dont get to see if you're watching that sort of thing in the U.S. We went down to lunch and met with another Tim, who i've met before, a girl who is job shadowing him, and Kerry, a fellow American who I've also met earlier in the week. It was actually a very fun time. I told them about that new alcohol infused whipped cream that we have backhome and they loved the idea of it. Tim (who we refer to as miserable Tim, though hes not) liked the idea of only being able to buy liquor at liquor stores, as we do back home. Other debates that took place were ones such as, if grapes and cucumbers are real foods, and the plot of Mean Girls (as we threatened to call miserable Tom Regina George instead [he gets Christmas cards, but doesnt send them]). Very fun times. Becky is a fellow Tswift fan as well, which we bonded over.
Becky explained the UK high school and exam system to me, and I was very surprised at the way in which it works. Senior year is spent preparing for huge exams at the end of the year; no other grades count except for what you recieve on these exams. Jeeze, we thought SATs were bad in the states; but this is nuts!!! Becky is in her gap year now, she is going to India in march I believe to work with children. On her last day we've resolved to watch Mean Girls.
at 5 we had a meeting with Nick and 2 men from a Trident committee. At that point I was very glad to have done so much reading on Trident so that I knew what they were talking about. Most interesting were the relationship between France and UK and France and US concerning this. But I suppose I wont bore everyone with that here. I got out of work about 10 after 6 and took the tube home, grabbed some soup and bread+ margerine, then it was time to head to tha theatah.
We took forever to find it and just made it for the beginning. We went to see War Horse at the New London Theater. It was different from any other play that i've seen, and had a bit of a musical component as well. The setting was just before and during WWI in Devon (which is incidentally where the MP for whom I work's constituency is). The mechanical horse puppets were really amazing, as were the people operating them. Thank goodness it was a happy ending!
I had Modern Art in London class this morning. I expected to be least enthusiastic about this class, however I think it just might be my fav. The professor is younger, id suspect early 30s, and incredibly intelligent and passionate about the subject. I think I forget that the arts are kind of a guilty pleasure of mine that I rarely oblige. He compared art to a number of different other things and spoke about anthropology as well. The professor seems to have so much to say about the subject that its impossible not to be engaged in the lectures. We began with the Betrayal of Christ and moved along with some analyses of paintings, it was good stuff. In the class we take field trips every other week to museums and exhibits around london, which are free. The professor told us we will probably end up going somewhere every class period, so as not to sit in a lecture room for 3 straight hours. When we went around the class to say our experience with art and stuff, I talked about how I used to paint a bit, but how most of my practical knowledge with the arts is with music. I said that I had played cello blah blah, and he was outraged at why I would quit, and I said tht I had sold it last summer. It made me a bit sad, he told me to buy another one asap, its a shame to quit an instrument. ::sigh::
We spent awhile looking for a reasonable place to eat and ran into a bunch of gelato and crepe places that looked delicious. We settled on a little thai place, where we ate a bunch of food and I had my first sake! On our way back we stumbled through the red light district, and many interesting photos were taken there (see facebook). All and all, us ladies had a real fun little time!!!
Work tomorrow, 930 to 230. Ill get my official security pass which is awesomeeee, it only took 2.5 business days and its supposed to take 10! I need to figure out what im going to wear.....After work I was supposed to have lunch with my dear Katerina, but have to run home to HSBC and do the banking thing. Maybe we will meet up after. Tomorrow night, im sure will be fun, but i'm really pinching my pennies (or pence, i suppose) until that cheque comes through ; /
Goooodnight!
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Sleepless in the United Kingdom
So yesterday was my first official day of work; from 930 to 1. I took the tube to work and didnt take into account the loonggg line I would have to wait in bc I havent gotten my student oyster card yet. [cards for the underground are called oystercards, bc once you have them the city is your oyster...gag] I was super nervous that I would be late. I get on at the Russell Square station and take it one stop to Green Park on the Picadilly line. I then take the Jubilee line about 5 stops, I think, to Westminster and use the Houses of Parliament exit. Fortunately, I was not late.
When I got in Monica and I went through some mail; she showed me what kind of things to get rid of right off the bat, and where to put things that should go to Nick, the constituency office, or to her. She showed me some background documents to give me a little bit of context for the Liberal Democrat party and its positions. She showed me the agenda for the parliament session which began yesterday as well. I really like Monica alot. She knows whats up, but is also pretty funny. I feel like she's gonna work me to the full amount that i'm capable, but thats cool with me. I've only been there two days and i've already learned a ton. Theres something about being immersed in policy issues within a body like the parliament that lets you get to know the different faucets of it better than any semester-long class.
Around 11 we headed over to Nick's office, which is in the Ministry of Defense (as he is the minister of armed forces). That was awesome, his office was super nice, and he was even nicer. Monica, Hannah(who runs Nicks office in the MOD), the MOD speech writer Nick's advisor and I were all there to help him prepare for a speech that he was giving at 2. We read over the speech, changed some wording, took some things out and made sure everything was in line with the LibDem viewpoint. We were there for about 45 mins or so, but I already really like Nick and look foreword to working for him.
I ended my half day with lunch with some other interns and Monica's friend who is a reasearcher for Adrianne, the MP for South Devon (Nick Harvey is the MP for North Devon). Monica actually used to be one of Tim's interns, so its a small lil parli world over there. I had a tuna sub with cucumbers and a thing of grapes and it only cost me about 3 pounds. yay for subsidized food at Parliament!! I took the tube home and ran to pick up my ID and bank letter from some office, and got to class. I went into the wrong class at first, but eventually everything worked out. I looked like kind of a fool in my best pencil skirt and uggs. But lets see you (or anybody else) do that commute in a half hour with 4 inch heels on.
It was the first day of my Media forms in Britian class. The classes are very small, there are 16 of us in that one. I think it will be fine, and informative. I was falling asleep a bit due to my nonsleep. We had to pick groups on the first day which we will have for the whole term, which I thought was kind of dumb, so of course ill be working with 2 clarkies and another guy from our program who I believe is from Stonehill. I went home and changed quickly for our social from 5 to 7. We were all a bit surprised the limitless amount of wine that was there; so naturally we took advantage of it....and so did our professors. My dinner consisted of beans and 3 slices of whole grain bread, two of which had margerine on them. Theres this margarine here called Flora and I reallllllyyy like it. I then proceeded to eat nutella out of the jar for dessert and soon after passed out in my bed. Yessss, sleep finally, right?? Wrong. I was up again in 2 hours and didnt fall back asleep till four.
At 10am today I had Modern British Politics class. I was super tired and cranky, but I think it will be interesting, and the professor is pretty lively. The ambiguity of the assignments is a bit confusing, she literally told us to 'read something' for each week out of the huge list of readings....Before class pb and j on one peice of bread and on my way to the tube to go to work I had a piece of bread and cheese....I need to go grocery shopping again.
Monica texted me to come to work a lil early so I could meet her former intern and have lunch with them, but I didnt make it due to the longggg line I had to stand in to put 3 months credit on my oyster card. Once there I checked mail, read up on Trident (UKs nuclear deterrent program) and the lib dem stance on occupation in afghanistan. Both helped put things into perspective for me. I also read a defense magazine that was mostly propaganda, but sometimes you need to know what kind of propaganda you're dealing with. We took my passport and address letter to the Sergent at Arms to try to move along my security pass, and on the way visited a couple of offices of people with which monica is friends. I finished out the day looking at North Devon publication websites to read up on issues that are present in the constituency. North Devon is largely rural, with alot of farming, many of the issues were pretty entertaining as well.
Monica and I were talking about the school system in UK (there have been riots of students because their school fees are going from 3000 to 9000 pounds in the next 2 years. And this is what she told me: in the UK all schools cost the same; so you could get an oxford education or a crappy education and youd comeout of there owing less than 15000 pounds for ALL FOUR YEARS. Secondly, no one pays school fees when they're attending school, they pay them after. And you dont start repyaing your loans which have barely any interest until you have a job and are making over 17000 pounds a year. If you get layed off, you dont have to pay your loans until you are re employed. Sounds like the life, right? For this reason, i dont have sympathy for the people rioting and breaking the windows of the treasury. They dont pay anything before they graduate anyway!!!!!
Monica invited me to meet some people for a drink after work. yes, there are bars in the parliament and they are rather cheep. The first one we went to was the general social club; where I had some sort of appely fruity beer. We watched the screens to see which MPs were speaking on the European bill that was being debated today(if it passes and it prob will, it will prompt a referendum for any large power shifts to occur between the UK and EU) We then went to meet the MP which Tom is a researcher, Adrianne. I really liked him. THere is something genuine and all around non slimy about politicians here. I got a bacardi and diet, naturally, and they had these cute little single serving glass coke bottles. We did alot of talking, bought a few bags of 'crisps' to share and had an all around good time. Monica showed me how to get back to the tube station (houses of parliament are an absolute maze.) I was super happy on my commute back home; perhaps partially because I was a lil tipsy, but also bc I think this semester is going to be awesome.
I made a chicken breast and some onions for dinner, followed by a little bit of corn and chicken chowder, which does not compare to that of New England at all. Caitlyn shared some of her yummy strawberry ice cream with me too! I decided that I will not sleep until like 12 or 12 30, because I cant take any more of this waking up at 1am crap; i need to sleep through a night.
Tomorrow is my full dat at Parliament; 930 to 6. We all have tix to the New London theater to see War Horse at 730 so ill probs grab something to eat and head straight there. Thurs is more of a low key day for me; I just have modern art class at 10, and an appt at the bank at 2 to finally get my stipend check cashed TG! I think ill get my gym membership thursday as well, Its been like 8 days since i've had a proper work out, but I feel like all of my walking and not really eating makes up for it a bit. Friday ill be at parliament 930 to 230, then im meeting Katerina!!!! Im sure well all go out somewhere friday/ saturday and Sunday there is a daytrip to cambridge planned for us!
p.s. still no cat sightings
<3
When I got in Monica and I went through some mail; she showed me what kind of things to get rid of right off the bat, and where to put things that should go to Nick, the constituency office, or to her. She showed me some background documents to give me a little bit of context for the Liberal Democrat party and its positions. She showed me the agenda for the parliament session which began yesterday as well. I really like Monica alot. She knows whats up, but is also pretty funny. I feel like she's gonna work me to the full amount that i'm capable, but thats cool with me. I've only been there two days and i've already learned a ton. Theres something about being immersed in policy issues within a body like the parliament that lets you get to know the different faucets of it better than any semester-long class.
Around 11 we headed over to Nick's office, which is in the Ministry of Defense (as he is the minister of armed forces). That was awesome, his office was super nice, and he was even nicer. Monica, Hannah(who runs Nicks office in the MOD), the MOD speech writer Nick's advisor and I were all there to help him prepare for a speech that he was giving at 2. We read over the speech, changed some wording, took some things out and made sure everything was in line with the LibDem viewpoint. We were there for about 45 mins or so, but I already really like Nick and look foreword to working for him.
I ended my half day with lunch with some other interns and Monica's friend who is a reasearcher for Adrianne, the MP for South Devon (Nick Harvey is the MP for North Devon). Monica actually used to be one of Tim's interns, so its a small lil parli world over there. I had a tuna sub with cucumbers and a thing of grapes and it only cost me about 3 pounds. yay for subsidized food at Parliament!! I took the tube home and ran to pick up my ID and bank letter from some office, and got to class. I went into the wrong class at first, but eventually everything worked out. I looked like kind of a fool in my best pencil skirt and uggs. But lets see you (or anybody else) do that commute in a half hour with 4 inch heels on.
It was the first day of my Media forms in Britian class. The classes are very small, there are 16 of us in that one. I think it will be fine, and informative. I was falling asleep a bit due to my nonsleep. We had to pick groups on the first day which we will have for the whole term, which I thought was kind of dumb, so of course ill be working with 2 clarkies and another guy from our program who I believe is from Stonehill. I went home and changed quickly for our social from 5 to 7. We were all a bit surprised the limitless amount of wine that was there; so naturally we took advantage of it....and so did our professors. My dinner consisted of beans and 3 slices of whole grain bread, two of which had margerine on them. Theres this margarine here called Flora and I reallllllyyy like it. I then proceeded to eat nutella out of the jar for dessert and soon after passed out in my bed. Yessss, sleep finally, right?? Wrong. I was up again in 2 hours and didnt fall back asleep till four.
At 10am today I had Modern British Politics class. I was super tired and cranky, but I think it will be interesting, and the professor is pretty lively. The ambiguity of the assignments is a bit confusing, she literally told us to 'read something' for each week out of the huge list of readings....Before class pb and j on one peice of bread and on my way to the tube to go to work I had a piece of bread and cheese....I need to go grocery shopping again.
Monica texted me to come to work a lil early so I could meet her former intern and have lunch with them, but I didnt make it due to the longggg line I had to stand in to put 3 months credit on my oyster card. Once there I checked mail, read up on Trident (UKs nuclear deterrent program) and the lib dem stance on occupation in afghanistan. Both helped put things into perspective for me. I also read a defense magazine that was mostly propaganda, but sometimes you need to know what kind of propaganda you're dealing with. We took my passport and address letter to the Sergent at Arms to try to move along my security pass, and on the way visited a couple of offices of people with which monica is friends. I finished out the day looking at North Devon publication websites to read up on issues that are present in the constituency. North Devon is largely rural, with alot of farming, many of the issues were pretty entertaining as well.
Monica and I were talking about the school system in UK (there have been riots of students because their school fees are going from 3000 to 9000 pounds in the next 2 years. And this is what she told me: in the UK all schools cost the same; so you could get an oxford education or a crappy education and youd comeout of there owing less than 15000 pounds for ALL FOUR YEARS. Secondly, no one pays school fees when they're attending school, they pay them after. And you dont start repyaing your loans which have barely any interest until you have a job and are making over 17000 pounds a year. If you get layed off, you dont have to pay your loans until you are re employed. Sounds like the life, right? For this reason, i dont have sympathy for the people rioting and breaking the windows of the treasury. They dont pay anything before they graduate anyway!!!!!
Monica invited me to meet some people for a drink after work. yes, there are bars in the parliament and they are rather cheep. The first one we went to was the general social club; where I had some sort of appely fruity beer. We watched the screens to see which MPs were speaking on the European bill that was being debated today(if it passes and it prob will, it will prompt a referendum for any large power shifts to occur between the UK and EU) We then went to meet the MP which Tom is a researcher, Adrianne. I really liked him. THere is something genuine and all around non slimy about politicians here. I got a bacardi and diet, naturally, and they had these cute little single serving glass coke bottles. We did alot of talking, bought a few bags of 'crisps' to share and had an all around good time. Monica showed me how to get back to the tube station (houses of parliament are an absolute maze.) I was super happy on my commute back home; perhaps partially because I was a lil tipsy, but also bc I think this semester is going to be awesome.
I made a chicken breast and some onions for dinner, followed by a little bit of corn and chicken chowder, which does not compare to that of New England at all. Caitlyn shared some of her yummy strawberry ice cream with me too! I decided that I will not sleep until like 12 or 12 30, because I cant take any more of this waking up at 1am crap; i need to sleep through a night.
Tomorrow is my full dat at Parliament; 930 to 6. We all have tix to the New London theater to see War Horse at 730 so ill probs grab something to eat and head straight there. Thurs is more of a low key day for me; I just have modern art class at 10, and an appt at the bank at 2 to finally get my stipend check cashed TG! I think ill get my gym membership thursday as well, Its been like 8 days since i've had a proper work out, but I feel like all of my walking and not really eating makes up for it a bit. Friday ill be at parliament 930 to 230, then im meeting Katerina!!!! Im sure well all go out somewhere friday/ saturday and Sunday there is a daytrip to cambridge planned for us!
p.s. still no cat sightings
<3
Sunday, January 9, 2011
First weekend comes to a close
Saturday I really just sat around all day. I finished unpacking and skyped with kookie for at least 2 hours. I also tried to wash my clothes; more on that later. There was a walking tour scheduled for the group, but I opted out because my bad hip was pretty sore from walking around so much in the previous days in my non existent arch support uggs. Went to the drug store with Charlie who is feeling a bit sick, and John guilted me in to going out to get food with him. I had a glass of wine and a salad with buffalo mozzarella and tomatoes and things in it.
We all decided to go out for another attempt at having a crazy night in london. This time a small group of us took the tube to go meet everyone else at a large bar called Oneils, which is a chain of pubs owned by Guiness I think or something? This place was 3 floors, basic pub on the first floor, same on the second with a little more music and dancing and on the 3rd floor was a live band, preforming all American covers, of course. On the second floor it seemed to be american 80s night which featured many hits we all know and love/hate (like bon Jovi) alike. The cover band played old weezer, blink and even travie's billionaire (as if i cant go a day without being reminded of boating season!) And everyone really KNEW all of the songs! I ordered my usual rum and diet and had a little surprise. In bars here, they dont have coke, they have PEPSI, and they dont even HAVE diet. So you can order bacardi and diet all you want Angelica, you're getting a bacardi and non diet pepsi. Another word on the drinks though, is that they're kind of cheap, I paid 3 something pounds for my drink. We've all decided also that the beers are a bit more potent here...There was an 8 pound cover for the place we went, but comparatively thats not sooo bad.
Then, came the coat fiasco. All of us put our coats in the 'safety pile', where, at orientation they told us not to do.....I thought it would be fine, though I left my YSL lipgloss in one of the pockets. I went to check on it and it was gone. There went my mood. I was incredibly mad about it, but after awhile, it magically appeared, at the top of the pile. Soaked in beer, but nevertheless, mine, with lipgloss intact.
Upon leaving the pub, I saw a guy wearing a pittsburgh pirates hat. I had to talk to him, obviously. He explained that he wasnt from pittsburgh (duh) and then we talked about how much the pirates were um....subpar. He explained that he needed a black and yellow cap, however, (as his friend chimed in with a wiz khalifa esque 'black and yellow...') A few mins later we bumped into some 'blokes' trying to convince the group to go to an after hours club (there are quite a few of those here, and regular bars are open until 3 anyway) We got on to talking about where we were from, and one of the guys ended up being from Upper St. Claire (which i made him prove by telling me places and things that only a pittsburgher would know) Its a little weird how small of a world that it is.
Caitlyn and I soon found that the group left with out us; which is great realization when you're wearing michael kors 4 inch stilettos at after 3 in the morning........but nevertheless, we carried on. We hobbled along past gay bars and sketchy 'cab drivers' until we finally made our way home (consulting bus maps, and even a bus driver along the way...) No one from our group even CALLED in concern; we're girls!!!
we ended
we've come to a rather surprising realization; some people really love american accents. Unfortunately they will then equate it to jersey shore; or go on to tell you about their family in Canada, because obviously you know, we might KNOW them or something...
I woke up today in attempt to try to dry my laundry for the 5th time. The machines here are combination washers and dryers. They do it all in ONE machine, but as far as I can tell, they dont dry at all; so I hung my jeggings over a radiator to dry. Im afraid my clothes arent going to like this very much; it makes them very stiff :/
Today we left at 1pm for a panorama bus tour around London. It was really good- we really got to see everything! Our tourguide was quite animated as well. She told us that 'us brits are going to flog the hell out of that wedding to get all of the tourists in!' I've posted all of the photos on facebook, but will replicate a few of them here. Other than passing all of the beautiful historical buildings, seeing things like the Aston Martin showroom was pretty awesome. Caitlyn and I had been wondering if eating on the street is something that is not custom here. Our tour guide told us that its 'disgusting and very rude, but people do it anyway, with sauerkraut running down their faces...' So theres our answer.
After we got back caitlyn and I headed to buy some school supplies since classes start this week! Then I took a nice long napppy and got up and made dinner. I had a chicken breast with some onions and rice plus balsamic vinegar. I've found myself soaking everything in it, including chicken fingers at 4 in the morning last night. I think ill make a proper balsamic reduction, which will prob be a bit better....
My ticket to bologna is booked for Feb 4th!! The public transpo to the Stansted airport should be interesting, its going to be about a 1.5 hours commute, which I can take from Parliament that friday, or from here. I'm a little nervous about as using Ryan Air as well.....but super excited to see daniela and dad. Zia Rosa said she couldnt come, but I think that we will be staying at Zio frankos house; I cant wait to see how old my little cousins have gotten (its been 5 years!)
I'm meeting my actual MP at Parliament tomorrow, I really need to figure out my outfit. I also need to pick up my student oyster card (for the tube) from Acorn and my Birkbeck ID between work and class. There is a social for birkbeck students from 5 to 7 tomorrow night that ill have to hit up as well. I need to get my gym membership sometime this week; probably thurs or saturday. We've all lost a few pounds since we've been here, but this high level of endorphins attributed to being in a new place isnt going to last for ever. The gym has some classes that I def wanna try.
I feel like this has been a crazy amalgamation of thoughts and things that i've been typing; but I guess it accurately reflects whats going on over here!
pics are taking a little long to upload, and my patience is lowww tonight; but soon!
<3
We all decided to go out for another attempt at having a crazy night in london. This time a small group of us took the tube to go meet everyone else at a large bar called Oneils, which is a chain of pubs owned by Guiness I think or something? This place was 3 floors, basic pub on the first floor, same on the second with a little more music and dancing and on the 3rd floor was a live band, preforming all American covers, of course. On the second floor it seemed to be american 80s night which featured many hits we all know and love/hate (like bon Jovi) alike. The cover band played old weezer, blink and even travie's billionaire (as if i cant go a day without being reminded of boating season!) And everyone really KNEW all of the songs! I ordered my usual rum and diet and had a little surprise. In bars here, they dont have coke, they have PEPSI, and they dont even HAVE diet. So you can order bacardi and diet all you want Angelica, you're getting a bacardi and non diet pepsi. Another word on the drinks though, is that they're kind of cheap, I paid 3 something pounds for my drink. We've all decided also that the beers are a bit more potent here...There was an 8 pound cover for the place we went, but comparatively thats not sooo bad.
Then, came the coat fiasco. All of us put our coats in the 'safety pile', where, at orientation they told us not to do.....I thought it would be fine, though I left my YSL lipgloss in one of the pockets. I went to check on it and it was gone. There went my mood. I was incredibly mad about it, but after awhile, it magically appeared, at the top of the pile. Soaked in beer, but nevertheless, mine, with lipgloss intact.
Upon leaving the pub, I saw a guy wearing a pittsburgh pirates hat. I had to talk to him, obviously. He explained that he wasnt from pittsburgh (duh) and then we talked about how much the pirates were um....subpar. He explained that he needed a black and yellow cap, however, (as his friend chimed in with a wiz khalifa esque 'black and yellow...') A few mins later we bumped into some 'blokes' trying to convince the group to go to an after hours club (there are quite a few of those here, and regular bars are open until 3 anyway) We got on to talking about where we were from, and one of the guys ended up being from Upper St. Claire (which i made him prove by telling me places and things that only a pittsburgher would know) Its a little weird how small of a world that it is.
Caitlyn and I soon found that the group left with out us; which is great realization when you're wearing michael kors 4 inch stilettos at after 3 in the morning........but nevertheless, we carried on. We hobbled along past gay bars and sketchy 'cab drivers' until we finally made our way home (consulting bus maps, and even a bus driver along the way...) No one from our group even CALLED in concern; we're girls!!!
we ended
we've come to a rather surprising realization; some people really love american accents. Unfortunately they will then equate it to jersey shore; or go on to tell you about their family in Canada, because obviously you know, we might KNOW them or something...
I woke up today in attempt to try to dry my laundry for the 5th time. The machines here are combination washers and dryers. They do it all in ONE machine, but as far as I can tell, they dont dry at all; so I hung my jeggings over a radiator to dry. Im afraid my clothes arent going to like this very much; it makes them very stiff :/
Today we left at 1pm for a panorama bus tour around London. It was really good- we really got to see everything! Our tourguide was quite animated as well. She told us that 'us brits are going to flog the hell out of that wedding to get all of the tourists in!' I've posted all of the photos on facebook, but will replicate a few of them here. Other than passing all of the beautiful historical buildings, seeing things like the Aston Martin showroom was pretty awesome. Caitlyn and I had been wondering if eating on the street is something that is not custom here. Our tour guide told us that its 'disgusting and very rude, but people do it anyway, with sauerkraut running down their faces...' So theres our answer.
After we got back caitlyn and I headed to buy some school supplies since classes start this week! Then I took a nice long napppy and got up and made dinner. I had a chicken breast with some onions and rice plus balsamic vinegar. I've found myself soaking everything in it, including chicken fingers at 4 in the morning last night. I think ill make a proper balsamic reduction, which will prob be a bit better....
My ticket to bologna is booked for Feb 4th!! The public transpo to the Stansted airport should be interesting, its going to be about a 1.5 hours commute, which I can take from Parliament that friday, or from here. I'm a little nervous about as using Ryan Air as well.....but super excited to see daniela and dad. Zia Rosa said she couldnt come, but I think that we will be staying at Zio frankos house; I cant wait to see how old my little cousins have gotten (its been 5 years!)
I'm meeting my actual MP at Parliament tomorrow, I really need to figure out my outfit. I also need to pick up my student oyster card (for the tube) from Acorn and my Birkbeck ID between work and class. There is a social for birkbeck students from 5 to 7 tomorrow night that ill have to hit up as well. I need to get my gym membership sometime this week; probably thurs or saturday. We've all lost a few pounds since we've been here, but this high level of endorphins attributed to being in a new place isnt going to last for ever. The gym has some classes that I def wanna try.
I feel like this has been a crazy amalgamation of thoughts and things that i've been typing; but I guess it accurately reflects whats going on over here!
pics are taking a little long to upload, and my patience is lowww tonight; but soon!
<3
Saturday, January 8, 2011
"would you like me to show you our office in the palace?"
The night before our interviews, john rick charlie and I decided to watch some quality British television. The first show we turned on had a bunch of naked people and weird weird things. The next one had the world dart championships.....At this point I decided that I needed some ice cream, which was incredibly hard to find. This is gonna be a problem, due to the love affair that ice cream and I are currently having. Once we did find it; it was super expensive anyway. I decided to settle for nutella, in the GLASS JAR. Its way better, but I cant find pretzels anywhere. (or whitening gum, for that matter ; / )
The next morning i took the tube with john to parliament. It wasnt too difficult and we only had to change lines once. We went through security and got visiter badges, then we waited for Elizabeth. John's supervisor, who is a very cute young lady, escorted us to an open area of tables and people having coffee etc. as we waited for Elizabeth to be finished with some other peeps. Since I was there early I got to listen in on John talk to his supervisor and stuff. I think he should have fun, and hopefully meet some peeps, as he has 3 other interns in his office. Eventually my supervisor, Monica, met with us. She is American as well, and seems very detail oriented and intelligent. She seems to have a sense of humor as well, which I think will be good. We figured out my official schedule which is as follows:
Monday- 9:30-1 at parliament 2-5 modern british politics class
Tuesday- 9:30-1 at parliament 2-5 British Media class
Wednesday-9:30-6 at parliament
Thursday- 10-1 Aspects of Modern British Art class; afternoon off
Friday- 9:30-1 or something like that at parliament (which my supervisor wont need me for every single week)
So thats a pretty jam packed schedule. After we went over everything that we need to go over, Monica asked me if I wanted to see Nick Harvey's office in the palace, because she felt like procrastinating. She took me to see the chambers of the House of Lourdes, and told me about the jobs and functions of different things. It was pretty awesome. Everything in parliament looks (and SMELLS) soooo old! Its cool. She also showed me the office that I would be sharing with her, it has a pretty nice view! Im excited about this whole thing!
After that adventure, I just kind of wondered around westminster, took some pics, tried to decide what to do. I was so HAPPY just wondering around not knowing where I was going, because I didnt feel lost or nervous, I felt kind of at home. Eventually I took the tube to picadilly circus bc I heard there were alot of shops and things there. I went in to a couple of them ; but i was real tired from walking around, so i decided to go grab something in Starbucks and sit down. I got a hazelnut hot choc, which was real good (and expensive; almost 3 pounds!) Some guys inquired as to whether I was Canadian or not, and I think he was kind of disappointed when I said that I was not. He told me to make sure I get to a christian church before I leave London, to which I am sure I responded with some sort of facial expression. I told him that I wasnt religious, and he replied 'me either, but i'm spiritual' with a smile. I said, 'okay, it was nice meeting you....'
I took the tube back home and exchanged some us dollars; I got like 67 for my 104 ugh. I needed to exchange some hair products that I bought and didnt like, so I did that, and also bought some more groceries. I stopped in a shoe store because Im in need of some brown boots, when I realized I had no idea what shoe size I wear here. One of the salesman helped me out; but it was def another n00b moment...I've been putting off buying an umbrella even though its been raining literally every single day, but last night the time had come. I stopped into a shoe repair shop bc they looked like they had some real nice ones, but when I saw that they were 15 pounds, I put them down. The shop owners told me in broken english that 'you use it how you pay for it' Meaning you get what you pay for, I believe.They told me that those are made in the UK, not in China. This was a bit ironic, because as far as I could tell, those men WERE made in China.
Last night was supposed to be our first big going out night, and it ended up being kind of a bust. For dinner I had an egg with a piece of cheese and bread and some boiled potatoes with garlic salt olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Interesting. I need to get my dad's sauce recipe ASAP. I got Caitlyn and I some mojito mix to help us finish up our bottle of bacardi (WHICH FROZE IN THE FREEZER, wtf?) Then we got ready and headed over to the boys flat where everyone was meeting up before we went out. The plan was, I think, to stick together. About half of us wanted to take the tube bc we already had passes from earlier in the day,and half wanted to walk, so we all ended up walking, but got split up anyway. In the end it was emily, john, charlie, conor and I wandering around not knowing what we were doing, and I was in the WORST mood. My dad called me and told me that me going to a bar in london was 'real nice Angelica, lets see where that gets you later in like" and I was like 'dad, its 11 o clock on a friday.....'
Eventually rick met up with us, somehow, and we actually went into a bar. People have a real good time after they hear us speak one sentence and in unison shout 'They're American!!!" Different people have different sentiments about it, and different things that they'd like to talk about. One guy asked me last night how close Pittsburgh is to San Diego. And I said prob about as close as London is to Sibera....dummy.....We left there to try to find a club or osmething, but at that point couldnt find one that had less than a 20 pound cover (some of them were even 40 pounds!!!) Thats like paying 70 bucks to get ina club in the US. So we WALKED HOME, and it took like 45 mins. We literally walked like 5 miles last night,and my hip is killlllinggg me like a little old lady. Everyone just left for these walking tours we were supposed to go on, but there is no way that I would have made it.
It was 52 degrreees last night; much better than the temps in the 20s and teens in worcester and pittsburgh! But then there IS the rain......
I think ill do some laundry and actually finish unpacking today while everyones gone. I have to go buy a new top up card as well, i need to be a little more careful with this whole prepaid thing.......
Who wants to make some skype dates?!?!?!?!
I miss everyone alot. Tonight is attempt to go out in London part two, and tomorrow we have a panorama coach tour of london, which should be pretty cool. Maybe i'll buy new boots as well.
<3
The next morning i took the tube with john to parliament. It wasnt too difficult and we only had to change lines once. We went through security and got visiter badges, then we waited for Elizabeth. John's supervisor, who is a very cute young lady, escorted us to an open area of tables and people having coffee etc. as we waited for Elizabeth to be finished with some other peeps. Since I was there early I got to listen in on John talk to his supervisor and stuff. I think he should have fun, and hopefully meet some peeps, as he has 3 other interns in his office. Eventually my supervisor, Monica, met with us. She is American as well, and seems very detail oriented and intelligent. She seems to have a sense of humor as well, which I think will be good. We figured out my official schedule which is as follows:
Monday- 9:30-1 at parliament 2-5 modern british politics class
Tuesday- 9:30-1 at parliament 2-5 British Media class
Wednesday-9:30-6 at parliament
Thursday- 10-1 Aspects of Modern British Art class; afternoon off
Friday- 9:30-1 or something like that at parliament (which my supervisor wont need me for every single week)
So thats a pretty jam packed schedule. After we went over everything that we need to go over, Monica asked me if I wanted to see Nick Harvey's office in the palace, because she felt like procrastinating. She took me to see the chambers of the House of Lourdes, and told me about the jobs and functions of different things. It was pretty awesome. Everything in parliament looks (and SMELLS) soooo old! Its cool. She also showed me the office that I would be sharing with her, it has a pretty nice view! Im excited about this whole thing!
After that adventure, I just kind of wondered around westminster, took some pics, tried to decide what to do. I was so HAPPY just wondering around not knowing where I was going, because I didnt feel lost or nervous, I felt kind of at home. Eventually I took the tube to picadilly circus bc I heard there were alot of shops and things there. I went in to a couple of them ; but i was real tired from walking around, so i decided to go grab something in Starbucks and sit down. I got a hazelnut hot choc, which was real good (and expensive; almost 3 pounds!) Some guys inquired as to whether I was Canadian or not, and I think he was kind of disappointed when I said that I was not. He told me to make sure I get to a christian church before I leave London, to which I am sure I responded with some sort of facial expression. I told him that I wasnt religious, and he replied 'me either, but i'm spiritual' with a smile. I said, 'okay, it was nice meeting you....'
I took the tube back home and exchanged some us dollars; I got like 67 for my 104 ugh. I needed to exchange some hair products that I bought and didnt like, so I did that, and also bought some more groceries. I stopped in a shoe store because Im in need of some brown boots, when I realized I had no idea what shoe size I wear here. One of the salesman helped me out; but it was def another n00b moment...I've been putting off buying an umbrella even though its been raining literally every single day, but last night the time had come. I stopped into a shoe repair shop bc they looked like they had some real nice ones, but when I saw that they were 15 pounds, I put them down. The shop owners told me in broken english that 'you use it how you pay for it' Meaning you get what you pay for, I believe.They told me that those are made in the UK, not in China. This was a bit ironic, because as far as I could tell, those men WERE made in China.
Last night was supposed to be our first big going out night, and it ended up being kind of a bust. For dinner I had an egg with a piece of cheese and bread and some boiled potatoes with garlic salt olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Interesting. I need to get my dad's sauce recipe ASAP. I got Caitlyn and I some mojito mix to help us finish up our bottle of bacardi (WHICH FROZE IN THE FREEZER, wtf?) Then we got ready and headed over to the boys flat where everyone was meeting up before we went out. The plan was, I think, to stick together. About half of us wanted to take the tube bc we already had passes from earlier in the day,and half wanted to walk, so we all ended up walking, but got split up anyway. In the end it was emily, john, charlie, conor and I wandering around not knowing what we were doing, and I was in the WORST mood. My dad called me and told me that me going to a bar in london was 'real nice Angelica, lets see where that gets you later in like" and I was like 'dad, its 11 o clock on a friday.....'
Eventually rick met up with us, somehow, and we actually went into a bar. People have a real good time after they hear us speak one sentence and in unison shout 'They're American!!!" Different people have different sentiments about it, and different things that they'd like to talk about. One guy asked me last night how close Pittsburgh is to San Diego. And I said prob about as close as London is to Sibera....dummy.....We left there to try to find a club or osmething, but at that point couldnt find one that had less than a 20 pound cover (some of them were even 40 pounds!!!) Thats like paying 70 bucks to get ina club in the US. So we WALKED HOME, and it took like 45 mins. We literally walked like 5 miles last night,and my hip is killlllinggg me like a little old lady. Everyone just left for these walking tours we were supposed to go on, but there is no way that I would have made it.
It was 52 degrreees last night; much better than the temps in the 20s and teens in worcester and pittsburgh! But then there IS the rain......
I think ill do some laundry and actually finish unpacking today while everyones gone. I have to go buy a new top up card as well, i need to be a little more careful with this whole prepaid thing.......
Who wants to make some skype dates?!?!?!?!
I miss everyone alot. Tonight is attempt to go out in London part two, and tomorrow we have a panorama coach tour of london, which should be pretty cool. Maybe i'll buy new boots as well.
<3
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Jet lag to the max
Jet lag has gotten the worst of me in the past 24 hours. I didnt fall asleep last night till after 530 and had to be up 3 hours later for orientation at Birkbeck. We checked out the fitness center and it ends up being pretty legit and a better deal than the one I found the other day. I hurried back to nap before the trip to the London Eye (Which Charlie and John were supposed to make sure I came with them to) and woke up at around 6. Totally missed it!! They said that it wasnt so great since it was rainy, but I was a little disappointed. The boys let me have some of their yummy pasta dinner which was so nice! I shared my Cadbury fingers with them-but now im out of chocolate (and want to buy some ice cream!) I have a SUPER CRAVING for strawberry mochi! Curse you Melissa Au for creating this addiction. But actually, I love you.
To help me out with my banking drama, I've found out that citizens bank is owned by the Royal Bank of Scotland owns citizens bank, so I should be able to do all of my banking there and deposit these godforesaken stipend cheques no prob. I just have to find a branch, I think ill be better off going with the one closer to Parliament since i'll be there 4-5 days a week.
My first interview is tomorrow and I need to figure out my outfit. I think John and I are going to take the bus together since its cheaper than the tube,and his interview is right before mine. Might meet up with Jess and Caitlyn after and do some sightseeing/shopping/eating!
I think my flatmates and I are going to figure out some logistical things like whos buying toilet paper and things like that now; and them im tryna buy some ice cream. Hopefully I can get a regular nights sleep tonight. I REALLY need to get some new boots. My poor old uggs cant handle the rain. And an umbrella.
::SIGH::
So after posting so many pics of the flat; I totally forgot to post one of the room I am sharing with Caitlyn; so here it is!
Next stop: Parliament
<3
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