Dare To Dream

Why is Craigslist So Sketchy?

2011-03-26T18:06:00.000-05:00

Ok so I have been looking through Craigslist and various other apartment search engines to see what I can find in apartments. I'm trying not to freak out but honestly not knowing where I'm living is sort of freaking me out.

Anyway, so I've been searching through Craigslist and you know what some of the adverts are?

Huge Bedroom in 31/2 bedroom apartment. All utilities including cable and internet. Parking, storage included. Recently renovated. Two 40 somethings looking for 3rd! (<--Cleverly designed sex advert)

room for rent *phone number* (<--- I wonder if this person knows that Caigslist doesn't charge per word/character)

Traits we're looking for in a roommate: queer-friendly, vegetarian (eating fish OK), doesn't smoke or do drugs, and won't drink alcohol in the apartment. (Cat owner is a plus.) (<---What will they do to me if I mess up and eat chicken? Or one of their cats? And no alcohol? Where's the tolerance?)

$650 ROOM FOR RENT! CALL *phone number* FOR DETAILS!!!!!!! (<---Caps-lock does not validate nor remove yourself from the sketch-o-meter)

Moral of today's story?

Sketch(ley) = MOST of the adverts on Craigslist

A Cardboard Box Would Work

2011-03-24T22:23:00.000-05:00

Well, really it wouldn't. Not even in the slightest. Unless it had enough room for me, my things, a desk, and a bed. Oh! And was weather proof.

I've been apartment searching in Boston for two weeks now and my brain is killing me. I do not have an endless budget by any means. I have almost no money to my name currently and after the summer I want to have enough money to pay first/last/security deposit without fully destroying my bank account. It's not easy trying to find an apartment within my price range.

Boston University and the Arts Administration program have been very nice about helping me out as much as they can. I am not being spiteful towards them at all but waiting till June to hear if they have an opening? Classes start September 6th; that is cutting it a bit short wouldn't you think? And the other girl I emailed whose price range was within my own has yet to talk to me...and that was three days ago. I'm a bit antsy, yes I know, but all for good reason. I need a place to stay.

I know I'm complaining and I apologize. No one would happen to know how to find an apartment for less than 650 a month and/or a roommate who is willing to spend that amount so we can have an apartment in the city?

Many things undergraduate didn't prepare me for and this is one of them!

On the bright side, I have been talking to one of my friends who lived down here but then moved up to Massachusetts to be in the armed forces and promises me that he'll be there on the day I move in to help me settle in to my apartment. What a wonderful friend!

Things are working out, I just need to settle down and keep an eye out on things.

I mean hey, I still gotta graduate :P

Love,
Dre

I Think I'll Go to Boston

2011-03-23T20:10:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone,

I know it has been a while but I know that I'll be picking this blog back up because I'm about to start a whole new journey.

I graduate in 44 days and then, in August, I am moving to Boston to attend Boston University for a graduate program up there.

I could not be more excited about moving up there or about moving in general. I have been wanting to leave this town since I came back from England. I have been bitten by the travel bug and I desire to see so many places but when coming back from England I was also sort of cursed with tragedy and poor pockets. Now is my chance to transplant myself in to a new world where I can spread my wings again and get back to the life that I want.

I love my undergraduate. I love my birth state. Don't get me wrong when I keep talking about how much I want to move but there are some times where all you need to do is make a run for a new place so that you don't get stuck in the old place. I'll come back, I'm sure of it, but for right now I need to go elsewhere. I want to have adventures I have only read about.

So keep posted and I'll keep posting!

Love,
Dre

Long Time Comin'

2010-07-08T17:59:00.000-05:00

Well things have deffinitely changed since last I've blogged.

Nekol and I finished our third year at University and we are now enjoying our summer breaks. She went off to New Zealand and Australia while I stayed around our University to work with a children's resident theatre company. Their summer camps have been absolutely life changing. I will seriously have to blog about that more whenever I have time.

I'm studying for my GRE to take in mid to late August so that I can apply early to all the graduate schools I am looking at.

The summer camp I am working for right now is an International Camp and we have delegations from Israel, Italy, and Albania. I am hosting (next weekend only) the Albanian chaperone. I am SO looking forward to that because I have never met anyone from Albania until this summer.

There are just a lot of stories I have to tell and I really need to keep up with this...it has been too long.

<3,
Dre

We're Ba-ack

2010-01-23T17:43:00.000-06:00

And what an interesting time it was.

Nekol and I were out the door on the 23rd by 6:45 and heading to the tube which put us on the train itself by 6:50. Now, both Nekol and I were managing two suitcases and carrying bags as well. My suitcases were two seperate bags that I rolled along while Nekol's were attached...and quite a hassle.

We got to Lambeth North station and preceeded to go down the stairs. I took my bags down one at a time, climbing up and down the 20 steps before helping Nekol with one of her bags. Hers were quite heavier than mine, surprisingly. We got onto the Bakerloo line without an issue and sat down, on our suitcases, and waited till the Piccadilly stop. We sat and chatted, hoping that we would miss the morning traffic mess in Piccadilly Station that tends to happen during rush hour...rush hour on the tube is not a fun thing by any means.

We hopped off the train at Piccadilly and proceeded towards our Line exit. Now there are two separate stairs we had to deal with here and the first one we got down without a problem. We were making great time and were really excited. Nekol's bags were still being an absolute hassle but we were high spirited as we headed to the second set of stairs.

Taking one set of bags down the stairs at a time so as not to kill ourselves, Nekol lucked out and a nice gentlemen took one of her bags down the stairs for her. Happily surprised, I continued on my way down the stairs and then it happened...disaster struck.

I heard a gasp and I turned around, at the foot of the stairs, and looked up to see Nekol halfway down the stairs on her hands and knees, clutching the railing. There were a couple of people not two steps in front of her heading up the stairs. She lucked out in catching herself or else she would have tumbled right into the unsuspecting people. Apparently, with the gravity and weight of her bag, Nekol upended herself and fell a few stairs. The man ran up the stairs, and get this, apologized to Nekol. It's not like -he- pushed her down the stairs or willed her to fall and yet he apologized.

Nekol was fine, in one piece, and not bleeding, so she told the man it was alright, thanked him for his help, and we continued to the Piccadilly platform where we sat and waited for a few minutes. Nekol surveyed where she had hit the stairs and hoped that the bruises would turn out well. I told her to tell me as soon as they started to form and I'd take photos of her war wounds.

The train came and we shoved Nekol's bags onto the train before I got on. We settled down and looked at our watches, we were on the train in less than 20 minutes. So at 7:18, we looked at each other and sighed softly, resting on our bags, and just chatting the entire way to the terminal. It was a nice easy ride and we were able to see the outlaying areas of London in the early icy, sunrise. Heathrow is out in Zone 6 and so by the time we got to the the airport we were seeing multiple quiet suburbias that looked much like the ones we had read about in our books in Writing Contemporary Britain.

As we were leaving zone 3, a couple got on the car through the door I was sitting next to and proceeded to stay standing right next to me. Here is where I got to have some fun just looking at them, covertly of course. The man was very wealthily dressed, everything of his designer, even the bags he carried. She was the same way but compared quite differently from him for she was at least twenty years his junior, he being near fifty. I though, well, maybe a daughter? Till I realized their wedding rings matched perfectly and she smiled at him lovingly and called him "dahling" in a very thick Russian accent while he called her "my dear" in a posh British accent. Mail order Russian bride? Maybe...but they were the sweetest thing I ever saw.

They stayed on the train until we reached Heathrow. I got off easily enough and another man helped Nekol off the train. This was probably a little self serving because Nekol was blocking the door and people needed to get on and off the train. I laughed and stood still till she was with me and we headed off to departures.

Btw, European airports have nasty little silver things that you have to shove your luggage threw which are not cool at all especially if your luggage are strapped together like Nekol's was. I had to kick mine through because it was so big. After fighting with, and winning, against the silver barriers we walked to the elevators and headed to Departures.

After getting off at the wrong level, we finally found Departures and were a little stunned at the mass amount of people we saw. The shear amount of people traveling right before Christmas is a little staggering, you always hear the numbers on t.v. but until you travel through an international airport like Heathrow, you never fully understand. Apparently AirFrance had some major delays and had to cancel some flights, which meant a lot of people were there from previous days for them.

Passing through the AirFrance crowd, we found the line for Continental Airlines and waited patiently. We were in Heathrow, a little before 8 am, and had nothing to worry about time wise. We just kind of hung around, chatting and laughing in line, while everyone else looked rather grumpy. We finally got up to the checking counters, after 30 minutes of fun waiting, and the man I talked with was really nice and flirty. He asked me what my favorite color was (my shirt and luggage being the same shade of pink) and I bashfully told him pink. He asked me if I was a doctor, weird and then asked me where I was heading and why. After a short chat, he weighed my bag, told me it was a rather heavy bag and I laughed and told him it was three months worth of clothes. He smiled at me and gave me my ticket and sent me on my way. I waited for Nekol and we headed towards security checks. Nekol proceeded to tell me what the weight limit was and that her bag had exceeded that number but her man had just told her to have a merry christmas and my eyes widened. My bag had been over the limit but all the man had said was, "That's a heavy bag." We thanked our lucky stars.

Security was hurried and rushed but neither of us were pulled aside, thankfully. Once we were collected and fully dressed again, we headed into Departures and went to find a screen.

See, in Europe they don't designate a gate when you sign in, they designate a gate about thirty minutes before the gate opens and not a moment beforehand. So everyone stands around these screens like lemmings or the second coming...seriously. Once the gate is announced, everyone moves in one direction towards that gate. It's a little creepy. Anyways, we became lemmings for a few moments until we realized our flight didn't depart till about 11:15 and so we had more than enough time to sit around...approximately an hour and a half by now.

We parked ourselves down at a Starbucks and I ordered us a couple of frappucinos and we relaxed for a long while. Unfortunately a t.v. was playing the news and there were several reports of transportation issues: Delta plane sliding off the tarmac because of ice, RyanAir plane overshooting the runway in Jamaica, a coach crashing into a ditch and killing two women, and many other events. So we stopped watching soon after that. We then tag teamed a British Store in the airport, one person going to shop while the other stayed with the bags. Nekol bought a couple of things for friends and I got two stuffed bears for a surrogate niece and nephew.

It was past 10:45 and still our gate had not been designated. I was a little worried because there had been terrible fog around 9:30 and I was hoping that wasn't delaying the plane. Nekol and I sat at Starbucks a while longer and I stared at the screen that would designate our gate. I was starting to get antsy, there was no way we were missing Christmas with our families. Skyping on Christmas is not acceptable unless we had planned to stay in England for Christmas...and that was not the case.

Finally, our gate appeared and Nekol and I made our way to the gate, only to sit down for another thirty minutes. We met up with Ashley and just sort of chatted and talked for a while. We were tired and bored by the time our plane started boarding. Nekol and I found our seats on one side of the plane and Ashley found hers on the other side of the plane. We quickly called places for our luggage in the overhead compartment and settled ourselves down. Now ready for the routine, we quickly pulled out our headphones and attached them to the seats and began sliding through what movies we wanted to watch. It was going to be ten hours of plane riding so we decided to watch as many movies as possible.

The next ten hours passed agonizingly slow. We were antsy and wanted to land but we continued watching movies we had never seen before. I napped for a while and Nekol continued watching. We reveled in being given drinks and snacks for free unlike European airlines (partly the reason why it costs so much to fly in America). And finally...finally...we were touching down in America.

Nekol and I looked out excitedly as we touched down in Texas. We were thoroughly excited, until we exited the plane and realized just how much humidity we had been missing living over in England. I was in short sleeve shirt, cardigan, and jeans and I felt like I desperately needed shorts. We headed towards customs where we had to answer a million questions, hand in forms and passports, claim bags, and do all sorts of stuff until we could finally walk out into the greeting area.

I quickly found my Mom and hugged her tight.

I never really understood Love Actually, the beginning and ending, until that moment in time. I was so happy to just hug and hold my Mom. I cried a little. Nekol's parents weren't there yet and so Mom was the first one to hug Nekol after she landed on American ground. We took a couple of pictures to show how exhausted albeit excited we were. Nekol's parents finally came and we hugged each other, soon to see each other at school in two weeks.

My Mom and I walked to her car, where we loaded my bags. and I nestled into the passenger seat and asked her if we could go to Gringo's for some TexMex. My mom promptly agreed and we headed to the restaurant where I had a ton of TexMex and started to fall asleep, purely exhausted.

Once home, I pulled my bags into the house, greeted my younger sister, and headed to bed...too exhausted to even be truly celebratory to be home.

But we're home. We're back.

And we miss it so much.

If anyone ever has the chance to study abroad, jump at it, don't hesitate, don't pause, just jump at it and go...you will change forever, you will grow as a human being, and you will remember it for the rest of your life.

<3,
Dre

A Flurrying of Moments

2009-12-22T17:41:00.000-06:00

So much has happened since Stratford Upon Avon that I can't believe how behind I am. So behind that I actually leave to go to the airport in eight short hours. Let me catch you up though really quickly!

Nekol and I attended the International House Christmas Party and it was an absolute blast. We went as "Naughty & Nice." She was dressed all in black with some cool makeup and I had on bright glittery blue/white makeup. We were pretty awesome but not as awesome as the people who had planned the party and came in looking abfab (absolutely fabulous.) It was such a wonderful time and we were all able to get together one last time before everyone went on their separate ways.

Then, Nekol and I -tried- to go to Scotland. And by try I mean we actually got to the coach station only to find out that our flight had been canceled and so we were able to change it...which we did after a lot of stress, nearly tearing each other's throat out, and calling our parents in the wee hours of the morning in the States to try and help us. It was all quite stressful and it didn't have to be but I really wanted to go to Scotland so I became a little tetchy.

Snow was falling on Luton Airport and so flights kept getting delayed and disrupted. Not a good sign. This was Friday and we couldn't leave until Saturday morning (well Nekol got a flight for Friday night and I got a flight for Saturday morning) and we had papers due on Monday and then we were leaving for the States Wednesday. It was also forecasted to snow in Edinburgh as well so Nekol and I got a -not so good- feeling about all of this.

Nekol's Friday night flight was disrupted and so she decided not to go. I finished editing my papers and would send them to Nekol if I left to go to Scotland Saturday morning, still bound and determined to go and see the beautiful country that was second on my "I MUST GO" list. I woke up early Saturday morning, ungodly early, and was fully dressed and out the door when I was stopped by a horrible flipping sensation in my stomach. I stayed still to assess the situation as to why I might be feeling unwell until I realized it was my gut telling me not to go. Normally, this is dumb and I just do what I want anyways and nothing really come s of it, but this time I listened and went back to bed.

Turns out, Luton was completely covered in snow all this weekend, leaving people stranded, and several of our friends couldn't fly out of Edinburgh due to snow coverage...good thing I decided to listen to my gut instinct.

So instead Nekol and I made the most of London that weekend and these last few days.

We went to Seven Dials and enjoyed the stores:

Candy Cakes

We went to the Imperial War Museum (several times):

Secret Agents and Special Operations

We delighted in the REAL Emerald City, Harrods:

Harrods celebrating the anniversary of The Wizard of Oz

We went to Platform 9 3/4's

Empty buggy, must be a 7th year

We hit up the British Museum:

Ice melting on the steps of the British Museum

It snowed in London and we were able to play in the snow:

Siamese Snow Angels

We went to the cinema in Piccadilly Circus and saw St Trinian's 2:

It was completely vacant at 9:15 am.

Nekol and I had a dance party not too long ago but now we're both in our respective rooms, trying to finish packing and kind of thinking about our time here.

I landed in London 10 weeks ago. That isn't that long and yet it seems like a lifetime ago. I have learned so much about myself and about life while I have been here. I know that may seem like a rather pompous thing to say but I honestly believe I have grown mentally, emotionally, and spiritually while here in London and traveling about Europe. I could not express to you how much I am truly thankful that I was able to come and study abroad in London. It has been the experience of a lifetime.

I plan on coming back here. Not I might come back or maybe or some wishy washy word that holds no concrete bearing. I will be back and I will live in London or in Stratford Upon Avon or something as equally as beautiful and theatre inclined. It will happen, my heart is set on it.

I wish to continue this post but my travels in London are not quite finished yet. We still have to get to the airport tomorrow and Nekol and I will be taking two suitcases and a bag with us through the Bakerloo line and then Piccadilly Line to get to Heathrow for our flight...and we have to leave super early. Also we are donating our bedding to the church next door because there is no reason in bringing it back to the States.

So until tomorrow, I say good night, and once I am back in the States and have internet connection for a long enough time, I will write how it all went!

<3,

Dre

Exited Pursued by Shakesbear

2009-12-14T22:20:00.000-06:00

Just this past Friday, Nekol and I went to Stratford Upon Avon and had an absolute blast.

The trip started out rather rocky as Nekol and I missed our train on two accounts: we left our house late and my reference number didn't work AGAIN. I really don't like this whole reference number deciding to be mean thing. Anyways, so I go and queue up to talk to the ticket office and see if they can print out my tickets by swiping my card just like they did at Paddington Station...Marleybone Station apparently doesn't work that way. So they told me to go to Information and they would let me look up my reference number on their computer....

Really? They'll let me check my email on their computer? ... huh...

So I go over to the Information Desk and ask this charming lady and she tells me to come inside and look up my email. I hurry inside and am gently teased by another worker, "Who didn't remember to print off their email?" And I told them I apparently had the wrong number written down and the two ladies comiserated about how it was a little confusing. I find my number though, thank the ladies, and go to print out my tickets. With tickets in hand, Nekol and I step back to look at the departure board.

Absolutely nothing.

We're a little confused and look at our clocks to see it's about thirty minutes to the next hour so we'll wait around for the next round of trains to go on the board for departures. We walk around a bit, go to Burger King and are disappointed to see that there are no french toast sticks for sale before going to sit down on a bench. I decide to go to the bathroom and find out it's 30p...seriously, it's like UrineTown sometimes.

Anyways, Nekol goes to look at the board and realizes we won't be able to catch a train until almost eleven. Resigning ourselves for an even longer wait than initially planned for plan b...we go to a coffee shop inside the station so we're not directly in cold air and flight paths of pigeons, some which nearly took off my head with their wings. We order two hot chocolates and decide to just wait around leisurely. I end up messing with my camera because my computer refuses to recognize it and Nekol dozes off in the chair in front of me.

Finally our train comes and we go to catch it. Sitting down in our seats, we get cozy and pull out books and begin doing research for our essays that are due on Wednesday...yes, we're -that- dedicated. Anyways, it's a nice enough trip...it's two hours so we entertain ourselves by iPods and books...until Mr. Conductor comes.

So we're on a different train...not all that bad really right? I mean, the car was not full at all by any means.

Wrong.

Mr. Conductor says we are on the completely wrong train and are forced to by two new tickets to get there...Nekol and I look at each other and I just hand him my card...he tries to insert it after I've told him it doesn't have a chip and asks me if I have another way to pay. I hand him all the cash I have so I cover Nekol and my ticket since it was my blunder in the first place. We get two new tickets and I go to sulk in my own little corner for a few moments and get over my self-hating, why did we leave so late and why am I such a failure mood.

That all evaporates when we get to Stratford Upon Avon....a place I think I would love to live/work. We walk from the station to our bed and breakfast and walk straight through the center of town and cross the bridge. It's absolutely fantastic little town. I giggle at every shakespeare related shop name/residence I see. It's like a dream come true.

Nekol and I walk down to our Bed & Breakfast which is called Sunnydale, yes all my Buffy friends, Sunnydale, and we are such nerds because we have our own bathroom, shower, towels, comfortable bed, t.v., blowdryer, and closet....this is the nicest place we have stayed on our travels yet.

We quickly set all of our things down and head out to town to try and get to see all of Shakespeare's houses in town. We aren't going to fool ourselves, it's already 1400 and there are three houses in town and two outside of town that you kind of need a bus to get to. So, in all reality...how many are we actually going to be able to see? Nekol and I go to the information center and get our tickets and decide to go to Shakespeare's birth place first before going to the other two. I am awed and amazed and love every moment of it. I seriously can hardly breathe at some points it's just that amazing.

Nekol and I make haste to the other two houses while trying to give each one their due. We really lost out by not getting there four hours earlier but we did what we could. At the last house, I bought Shakesbear and he has become my new sleeping buddy, however, I pose this question: What is with the English and their fascination of the stage direction from Winter's Tale, exited pursued by bear? It was -all- over the place at The Globe's gift shop.

Nekol and I then look around at all the shops, ducking out of this one here and there before heading over to the oldest pub in all of Stratford where we both get a cider. We end up talking to this lovely couple who recently moved to Stratford and have one of the most interesting conversations with them. Soon they leave though and Nekol and I decide we will head back to the Bed and Breakfast before going out on our nightly haunt...literally.

Around 9:40 Nekol and I head over to Tudor World/Falstaff Experience...how sketchily cool does this sound? Very much so.

Nekol and I participated in a ghost vigil/medium workshop that spanned two hours. It was one of the most coolest/weirdest/creepiest things I have ever done. For those of you who don't believe in spirits or are rather skeptical, take everything I am about to tell you with a grain a salt as you always should.

The so called Falstaff Experience begins out creepily enough as we are waiting outside the oldest, most haunted house in Stratford Upon Avon. Tall wooden doors bar our entry, eerie music plays, and fog starts flowing out from the cracks. Soon the doors open and the growing group is admitted and, after being all accounted for, take a short walk down an unlit cobblestone path to a small back room. Here in this small room we are introduced to our medium for the night, Penny, and her friendly assistant, Sensitive Dave.

A poll is taken of our group: about five or so believe in spirits, one is a complete and total skeptic (a older man who oddly enough was with a group of believers), and the rest want to believe but desire a bit more proof. Without further ado, the group is led back down the dark cobblestone path and into the gift shop of the establishment which doubles as a museum during the day. The gift shop is -very- narrow and it's hard to see anything, mainly because the only lights we have are two lanterns, and Nekol and I are at the very back of the group. Two sets of dowsing rods are given to people at the front of the group and Penny begins speaking with spirits that seemingly have accompanied people on their trip to this ghost vigil. Nekol and I are in the back of the group and experience nothing but our legs from mid-calf down beginning to absolutely freeze. To entertain ourselves we make up a song to dedicate to Spirit Cat in the form of Smelly Cat from Friends.

Soon after, the group is lead through the rest of the house. Temperatures change slightly here and there, the building remains almost pitch black save the two lanterns trying vainly to light the oppressive darkness. The second place the group stops is on the main stairwell where one woman is anxious to use the dowsing rods because of 'what happened to her last time.' Penny warns the group that there is a spirit present named John Davis, who killed several women in the building and that there was someone in the group who fit his type but she won't say what the type is so as to not sway our opinions. I think, my type? No, that's too cliche, there's no way it'd be that way. The lady begins to whimper and say that John is right next to her. Penny says it's not her that the ghost is looking at. The air around my face, suddenly, is filled with a choking smell of alcohol, as if someone was breathing in my face. I say loudly that the air smells like alcohol and the eager lady across from me with the dowsing rods is all to eager to agree. Quicker than anything, than the smell appeared, I feel as if someone placed cold hands on my cheeks. I cried out and began crying, having been caught completely off guard by whatever had just happened to me. Sensitive Dave ascended the stair after Penny told him to bring the light to me and stand next to me. We tour the rest of the building without much of any other issue.

The group is then brought back to the first room we were in for refreshments of tea, coffee, mince pies, and biscuits. Then we were broken into two groups of ten. Nekol and I are placed in the medium workshop group first. The workshop begins with glass divination. The workshop leader takes a wine glass and sets it upside down on a small circular table with yes written at one end and no on another. All of us place our fingers on the bottom of the glass and ask the spirit to move it on the table. The glass is reluctant to move and does nothing but nudge slightly or tremble. The glass seemingly wants to move but doesn't have enough energy or will power to do so. Soon, it slides to the edge of the table. Eventually, we get it to move quickly around the table. We ask it to go the other direction, and it slows down and stops before slowly going the other direction, slowly at first and picking up speed. After a time, our guide suggests we move on to the scrying crystal, and the glass goes even faster and then falls over. We pass around two scrying crystals, and prepare to ask the spirit yes or no questions. Nekol and I end up with the same crystal which is actually one we preferred to the other...mainly because it looks cooler. We ask "can you show me my yes, please?" (the crystal swings backwards and forwards) and "can you show me my no, please" (the crystal goes in a circle). Then we asked it personal questions, and the spirit gave answers. Finally, we did some automatic writing, which was kind of cool but not all that impressive. Mostly the planchette created circles and one heart.

Then we switched groups, and the smaller group toured the building. The already small group of ten split into smaller groups, and I insisted that we stay with Penny rather than going with Sensitive Dave. She's been doing this a lot longer than Dave and not that I'm thinking anything is going to happen, if I have a serious scare I want someone who is well trained to be with me. We begin in the gift shop again, and Nekol says she's getting extremely cold. Shivering. Then she began to warm up, right when the woman next to her declared that she's gotten colder. The dowsing rods are moving to Penny's requests, and it is rather creepy. We move to a storage type room, that I don't like the feeling of. Honestly, we walk in and whether you're a sensitive or not, you would want to walk right through and just leave that room behind you. We stand in a small cluster and turn out all the lights. Penny speaks to the spirits a bit, and we hear a stomach growling. We all laugh. I comment, "Way to go, Nekol." Nekol's stomach had been growling throughout the medium workshop, but she declared "For once that wasn't me!" And Penny says, "Really?" No one is laughing anymore... Throughout our time in the room, we kept hearing stomach growling from different points in the room. Penny requests the sound to make another noise, and Nekol and I both beg it not to in our minds. We move to another room. Someone declares that they smell something but not going to lie, totally don't. We enter another room, and I get really cold. Penny announces that she feels warm, thanks to William, the noble gentleman ghost, and I personally wish this William would come warm me up. Enter another room. One of the women in our group doesn't like it, and several others voice feelings of oppressed anger, and the air feels as if someone is smiling. This sounds a bit nutty but you know when someone is smiling just because of the air the room takes on. Nekol is holding the dowsing rods and feels none of this, just excitement for holding the dowsing rods and having them move. They cross and point to me and the woman who is not happy about the room. Penny asks if anyone else has 'girly pains'. No one else admits to that...

In a last room, we meet the spirit of Lucy, a young pickpocket who worked in taverns. We use the scrying crystals again, and she moves them how we ask her to. Then we loop an engagement ring onto the chain and watch as she twists and moves it, trying to pull the shiny piece of jewelry off of the chain. It was quite impressive.

After this we head back to the starting room where we get a short debriefing, are able to pet the dog that lives on the premise, and head back to the Bed and Breakfast.

Nekol and I are now wired and talk to each other for a while till about two a.m before drifting to sleep. We wake up shortly there after to head down for breakfast where we enjoy a small charming breakfast and then driven to the train station by one of the owners of the B&B (it was owned by a cute asian couple). Nekol and I both found seats and settled down and napped the entire rest of the way to London.

Where Alice and Arwen Came to Play

2009-12-08T21:54:00.000-06:00

This last Friday, yes I know Friday I am again remiss in updating on time, Nekol and I went to Oxford and has a wonderful time!

It started rather early in the morning. Nekol and I made our way to Paddington Rail Station where we caught a 7:58 to Oxford. Now, this didn't occur without some slight issues. My reference number wasn't exactly readable because one of the letters looked like an "e" or an incomplete cursive "8." Well, it couldn't have been either because I used both of them several times and still failed to get my tickets from the ticket machine. Fantastic, I know. So I walked across the station to queue up and get my tickets from a man behind a glass. Yay for wasting time.

Of course, we had connecting trains so Nekol and I ended up with about six tickets each. It was quite lovely sitting on our train, before it left, discussing which tickets could possibly be the ones we needed. Then the conductor's voice came over the PA system and we heard the train was going to Slough, Reading and Oxford. Nekol and I looked at each other...

Nekol: "Is it cheaper because we have to get off the train just to get back on again?"
Dre: "Yeah, we saved money by making people feel warmer while we stand out in the cold..."

We decided we would try and stay on, I mean, there is no stop between Reading and Oxford so the worst they could do was kick us off at Oxford since that was our end destination anyways. The conductor came by to check our tickets though before our stop at Reading and said our tickets were fine to Oxford before continuing on. The conductor was cute, tall with dark hair, pale skin, and a nice outfit.

Dre: "Cute conductor says we can stay."
Nekol: "Then we stay."

Soon we reached our destination to Oxford at 9:30 where it is absolutely freezing cold. Honestly, I'm not being a pansy about this, it was down in the 30's when we stepped off the train. A feeling neither of us had been expecting. So we rushed into the terminal to check out where we needed to go before walking to our first location: Christ Church College.

Oxford is a relatively small town that is centered around the various buildings of Oxford University. Don't fool yourselves into thinking Oxford University is one or four buildings...it's about 50. So we made sure we picked Christ Church College before heading down.

Whenever we get there, it's about 9:45. We step onto the campus of Christ Church and are stopped dead in our tracks. The scenery is absolutely gorgeous. Our breathes are taken away from us and I feel as if I'm about to cry. I'm standing on the same ground that Alice Liddell and Charles Dodgeson (Lewis Carroll) lived. It was a dream come true.

Christ Church College

Unfortunately, the Dining Hall wasn't open to the public until 10:30. It was apparently closed for Breakfast for the campus. Nekol and I decided we would grab a coffee then so as to wait for the town to officially wake up.

Right across the road from Christ Church is a cafe called Cafe Loco. Sounds like a neat name yeah? They have artwork of the Mad Hatter , March Hair, and the Mad Tea Party on the walls. It was absolutely fantastic. What was even better was the menu. Nekol and I squealed in delight over hot chocolate and a slice of chocolate cake. We were technically traveling so we decided we could do whatever we wanted. I had a deluxe hot chocolate which meant I had whipped cream and marshmallows while Nekol got a regular hot chocolate and the slice of chocolate cake...which I ate some of.

Some of the artwork on the walls

Mad Hatter tea party for afternoon tea? Fantastic!

Nekol and I decided that, once finished, we would actually go to Alice's Shop two stores down first and then to Christ Church, because door busting on the Chapel just didn't seem like a very nice thing to do. So we headed towards Alice's Shop...where I was in Heaven. As soon as we walked in I was regaled with so much Alice in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass memorabilia from stationary to clocks to jewelry to clothing. I was looking for my Christmas present that Nekol would buy for me (we had decided we would pick something whilst abroad and the other would buy it for us) and I was looking at the jewelry, quite liking what I saw but not really loving any of it enough to pay near 60 dollars. I told Nekol I'd think about it and as I was walking towards the front of the store, I stopped and saw her. Sitting on a shelf with curly blonde hair and in a beautiful blue dress, white apron, and holding a stuffed white bunny rabbit was a musical Alice. I asked to hold her and was soon listening to an enchanting melody while Alice moved her head to the song, as if she were singing it to herself...I was in love and told Nekol I had found my present. She now sits within arm reach of me and sings to me to make me feel happy.

Alice's Shop (the Sheep Shop, like the one in Through the Looking Glass)

After Alice's Shop, we headed over to Christ Church College and began our tour. There really is no better way to explain than to show. Begin picture montage.

Small garden on pathway to to the College's visitor entrance

The College has many open fields surrounding it

Fountain in first courtyard

View from the first courtyard

Beautiful ceilings of staircase

The Dining Hall a.k.a. Where they shot the Great Hall for Harry Potter

Where Professor McGonegal stops the first years to tell them about sorting

Main Courtyard of Christ Church College

Christ Church Chapel

Creepy organ music played when we walked in

Amazing stained glass window

From one of the gardens

After we walked through Christ Church College, Nekol and I headed off to just walk through Oxford and enjoy our stay there. We really only had one last destination we truly wanted to see but we didn't want to rush that, it was early still, and we had so many places we could walk to.

We walked up and down Cornmarket and High Street where we saw cute street vendors and fun shops to step into and peruse wares.

We walked through Blackwell which is five different stores that seemed to be nothing but labyrinths of hidden treasure.

Visited Oxford's Science Museum where their current exhibit was over Steampunk

Radcliffe Camera

Oxford University Press: This is where all your "Oxford Dictionary" and "Oxford Outside Sources" come from.

The "Quarter Boys." These guys ring the bells at every quarter of an hour.

Soon enough, after our walking around, the sun began to set and we decided we'd head to our last place. This place was really important to Nekol. Whereas I had my place with Christ College, Nekol loved this place for a different author. The Eagle and Child is a pub in Oxford that J.R.R. Tolkein used to go to and sit and write and discuss and do whatever else he really wanted to do for that matter. So we went and ate dinner and had dessert there. It was the most perfect English dinner we have had in our time here.

The Eagle and Child a.k.a. The Bird and Baby

After dinner Nekol and I made our trek back to the train station where we headed home. Completely stuffed and absolutely exhausted and yet...so much happier than when we had left.

<3,

Dre

This is what we call...Tex Mex.

2009-12-02T19:29:00.000-06:00

So today I made dinner for my floor-mates. It was rather interesting feeding Tex Mex to none Americans.

I have four legit floor-mates. And by legit, I mean they commune with the rest of us and aren't snobbish staying in their rooms the entire time. There is a couple who stays catty-corner to me and all that happens is I hear them, I never see them. So they exist...I think. Anyways, I have four legit roommates and none of them are American. Three English and one Australian. I decided that I hadn't really cooked enough for the floor so I was going to give them a taste of home.

Now, I love Tex Mex like crazy. I grew up on this kind of food and will always feel the slight need for refried beans, fried rice, and fajitas/quesadillas/enchiladas/chimichanga or anything of the sort. I decided I'd do the easiest of the four above that would be the most filling, in my own opinion: enchiladas. And not just any enchiladas, but chicken enchiladas!

I decided to cook today because most everyone is in on Wednesday nights. No one really goes out until Thursday and everyone is in doing homework or visiting with friends. Also, I don't have Uni on Wednesdays so I can afford to go shopping way before dinnertime so I'm not rushing myself. I hate being rushed, I think it makes the quality of the food go down.

I headed over to my favorite street and did some shopping. Lower Marsh has got to be one of the neatest little roads in London. I know there are a ton like it but this is my street in London. It's full of instrument shops, second hand stores, caffe's, restaurants, pubs, bookstores, a library, and food shops. Today I headed over to Iceland, where everything is basically a pound, and got the basics: chicken, tomatoes, onions, cheese, and tortillas. After that, I headed towards the local butcher's which sells a more varied selection of natural foods and picked up the not so common ingredients: green peppers, limes, tortilla chips, and sour cream.

Of course I needed help looking for some of the items. I turned to a store clerk and thus the conversation unfolded:

Me: "Excuse me, where are the limes?"
SC: "Down on the left."
Me: "Oh, thank you! And limes?"
SC: "Here, over on the right."
Me: "Fantastic, and finally, do y'all sell tortilla chips."
SC: "Straight down and on the right over there...what are you making?"

A very strange face the Store Clerk gave me. I just smiled and said, "Enchiladas and salsa!" And he just blinked at me and checked out my items. I took them happily and headed home. Not a moment too soon either because when I was loading things into the fridge and cabinets, the sky broke and rain began to beat down on London as if it would never stop. It had to be one of the most ugly weather days in a while. I shrugged and happily went on my way, eager to start dinner at 4.

So you want to know why Hispanics and Mexicans have large families? Why any other decent nationality has large families: to do all the chores so dinner gets finished in a proper manner and on time. It took me two hours to make dinner. I'm not complaining, I loved talking to people and listening to Juanes while I chopped vegetables but it irritated me that I told people dinner would be ready around five and I was definitely not ready until six. Everyone was very understanding about it but still... irritates the perfectionist in me.

When it was all said and done though, my floor-mates loved the food. Nekol even ate an enchilada and she dislikes Tex Mex strongly. We all enjoyed the food, I figured out ways I could improve upon the recipe, and we laughed and enjoyed each other's company. I got some interesting questions too...

"So what's this?"
"Enchiladas."
"Different than fajitas?"
"Much..."
"So you call this Tex Mex?"
"Yeah."
"Is it different than Mexican food?"
"Most definitely."
"How so?"
"Well...it just is."

But I'm glad I could share a bit of my culture with my floor-mates. I think it brought us closer together.

<3,
Dre

Americaines en Paris

2009-11-23T17:41:00.000-06:00

Warning: Long Post

So Nekol and I spent two and a half wonderful days in Paris, France. It was everything we hoped it would be and more! However, it being the two of us together...it was no less than interesting for sure.

Our trip started at eight pm last Thursday night. Nekol and I had booked a coach to take us to Paris because it was only 40 pounds return. Fantastic deal. Unfortunately, we had booked it so that we had to check in at 9:30 and were leaving at 10:30. Nekol and I had to sign up for classes Thursday night at 9:30 and 9 respectively. So we decided to leave early to get to Victoria Coach Station way ahead of time. Of course it takes us forever to leave (forgetting stuff, getting stopped by people we know) and so we get to the Coach Station around 8:40, after much walking around senselessly.

I pull out my laptop and see if I can catch any wireless. I manage to pick up some slow internet and close my laptop so it'd be easier to move and go to sit down. When I opened my laptop again, the internet did not pop up nor did it pop up when I moved to stand where I had stood before. I go to ask a lady in a food shop to see if VCS had any wireless internet or internet hubs. She stared at me blankly and so I asked for a Starbucks or a Pret A Manger. She said there was one if we left the station and took a left but she believed they were closed. Starbucks closed at 8:45 at night? Ridiculous.

Nekol and I grab our stuff, I break a nail in the process, and we hurry off to find this Starbucks. We walk the city block and cross two streets before getting to this Starbucks. I'm walking a brisk pace because I have to sign up for classes in ten minutes time. I see the lights are on at Starbucks but there is no one inside. I look at the times and they closed at 8:30 pm... What Starbucks, in London, closes at 8:30 pm on a Thursday Night?! I see a Pret a Manger right next to it and, remembering they have free wifi, go to see if they are open. They are closed as well, having closed at 8 pm. I stand in front of Pret a Manger a tad desolate, not really knowing what to do. I slowly look around me before Nekol calls my name.

I yell to her that Starbucks closed at 8:30 and she says to pull out our laptops to try and grab bleed off wifi. I nod and we go around the corner of Starbucks, sit down on a ledge of a building, and pull out our laptops. I nervously sit on the ledge as Nekol and I realize there are several "unlocked" wifis but that doesn't mean anything. As we go through the list quickly, I find that a lot of them aren't working. I start to freak out a little but Nekol moves to sit on the ground right infront of Starbucks' side window and tells me to sit down next to her. I move all of our stuff over to her and I see that she has signed into the Starbucks Reward Cards. I am so amazed that we actually have working internet. Little did I know that it had been a gift from God that Nekol had such a sign in.

`Nekol will tell you a bit of her story and how we were so lucky to attain internet`

I gear up my My.TCU and let the cursor hover over the "continue" button to sign up for classes. 8:59 had never been such a long minute in my life. I just stared at the clock, my vision blurring from not blinking, until it turned to 9:00 and Nekol said loudly, "Go!" I clicked on the screen and she quickly gave me numbers I needed for classes. I quickly signed up for my classes, having a small hiccup with a business and a theatre class that are all straightened out now, and pumped my hands into the air triumphantly.

Next I handed Nekol's laptop back to her and she began to sign up for classes. She quickly got into the ones she was most worried about, as students are want to do, before signing up for the rest of her classes. Again, small hiccups that have mostly been sorted out now. It was an hour of furious emailing and button clicking for the both of us. We didn't realize how hard it would be to sign up for the classes we wanted. It wasn't like we could drop into an office and say hello to the people we needed things from. Nor was it as easy as running across campus to get signatures or approvals.

While sitting on the pavement, looking at Nekol's computer, an older man walked by and asked us if we were lost. We looked at each other and said no, we knew what we were doing. We felt bad that we were kind of awkward to the man, for we knew it must've looked strange with two young females sitting on the pavement, luggage all around them, on a laptop. He walked off after a bit and Nekol and I quickly finished up our time on the internet and hurried back to VCS to get checked in to our coach.

It didn't take long to get back to VCS nor did standing in line take forever either. Normally English people know how to queue properly but maybe because there were other nationalities thrown in, there was a mob to get onto the coach. Nekol and I dealt with it cooly enough and got on the bus in good time, managing to grab rather good seats. We hunkered down for our long trip to Paris.

Everything was fine and dandy until the border patrol. The coach stopped on the other side of the Channel and the French BP came on to take our passports, go away to stamp them, then bring them back. Then we had to get off the bus, with all our belongings, and wait in a massive queue outside a small building to get our bags checked and to have our passports looked at once more. It all seemed very convoluted and I was not ready to stand outside in the cold at one am in the morning. I was shivering, freezing, while Nekol made small talk with the older man who sat behind us.

We eventually made it through, which took a long while, and were able to get back on the bus. However, we had to wait longer still because there had been an unclaimed bag...never have an unclaimed bag, it creates a long waiting period for EVERYONE. So really, pay attention to what's yours and don't leave anything behind unclaimed.

Finally, our bus headed off and we drove inside a crate of some sort, which was attached to a train which took us through the Chunnel...it was kind of really neat. It didn't take long at all to get through and was quite peaceful. The next thing I knew, we were driving through Callais and were in France. Nekol and I slept for the rest of the ride until we were in Paris. We found out where to get Cartes from and found the Metro stop we needed to get to our hostel.

Well, it all seemed easy enough. When Nekol and I got off the Metro, I was rather turned around and so we walked around a bit, trying to find our hostel. We went West and then North, not knowing that's the directions we were heading at the time. Finally, we found a city map that told us where we were and I realized we needed to go East and South. So heading back to the Metro, we headed South East and soon enough found our hostel which was rather cool looking. Hostel d'Artagnan had a cool sign of the musketeer d'Artagnan hanging outside its front door and we went inside. We got our keys but told our rooms would not be ready until three pm and so we put our stuff away in a locker, had breakfast, and planned out what we wanted to do for the first days events.

Nekol and I are actually really proud of ourselves because we sat down with a map, circled the areas on the map where we wanted to go, and plotted our course via Metro. Here are the places we went to!

Cimetiere du Pére Lachaise where we saw the graves of Moliere, Chopin, and Oscar Wilde.

Sacre Coeur which is one of the tallest points in Paris

The view from Sacre Coeur

Moulin Rouge, celebrating 120 ans just like the Eiffel Tower

Cimetiere Montmartre, which has the grave Alexander Dumas' son

l'Arc de Triomphe

Pantheon, erected to Saint Genevieve, the Patron Saint of France

After the Pantheon, Nekol and I went to the Louvre but we found out admission was cheaper after 6pm, so we decided to wait a bit and went off to a restaurant. We both had water and sandwiches before sharing a hot slice of chocolate cake. After this fantastic meal, we headed back to the Louvre.

The Louvre, where we found out it was free to those under the age of 26 no matter what nationality. The man at the information desk, "As long as you smile and are nice!"

Where else was there to go after the Louvre but the Eiffel Tower? Nekol and I went to the very top where we took many fabulous photos and video. The wind was at full force but it didn't deter us from staying up as long as possible.

After the Eiffel Tower, it was late, and so Nekol and I dragged our weary selves back home and curled up into our beds and fell sound asleep. It seemed like I had just closed my eyes when I heard Nekol from the other side of the room and we had this short conversation:

Nekol: "Dre, do you want to sleep for another thirty minutes? It's only eight o'clock."

Dre: "Sure, we do what we want..."

-Time Passes-

Nekol: "Dre...it's 9 o'clock."

Dre: "Uuhhhh...ok."

We both dragged ourselves out of bed, Nekol being way more honorable and having been up and moving around before me. Moving slowly, we dressed ourselves for a lovely day of strolling. We were hoping to take it easy that day because our bodies were sore from the going and going we did the day before. Having been walking around Paris from 9:30 am-11:30 pm, we felt as if we had been hit by huge lorries. Eventually we made it to breakfast then to the Metro to get to Versailles via the RER.

By and by, the Paris Metro is absolutely ridiculous. There are no real stops right near anything, you've basically gotta get off to one that's "nearest" and take a hike. Pretty sure they meant to do well but I feel as if it's all a bit too jumbled for my tastes. That and it didn't seem really easy to learn, even Parisians seemed to have to always check where they were going on maps before heading off. I've been in London two months and had the tube map down pat in three weeks.

Anyways, we eventually make it out to Versailles where we don't know exactly where to go but just keep walking North since it's where the general group is head, but break away from the group to take a different street North so we aren't walking with the big tourist crowd. A couple dozen steps in front and to the side is an older Asian man, holding a small camera, and with a colorful backpack on his back. Nekol and I begin our conversation on how we believe Asians, not English Asians or American Asians but Asian Asians, are Professional Tourists.

There are some things that certain nationalities are very good at. English know how to Queue and the Asians know how to be proper Tourists. They know in "general" where their next stop is so they're never really lost. They always have their cameras out and ready to take shots. They can wear their backpacks on their frontside and not look dumb, just smart about not being pick pocketed. Also, they travel in groups which makes it harder to lose somebody because you always know where your people are. Oddly, our man was by himself, but we followed him and not long after we were heading up to Versailles and followed him all the way to the ticket queue. It was like magic.

When Nekol and I were almost inside the ticket office, two American girls (22 maybe?) came out of the building. I wouldn't have known they were American except when one said, "Can we get Starbucks now? No, really." A Spaniard three behind me heard this and laughed, when questioned by his gf/wife/significant other as to what he was laughing about, he told her and repeated the girls words in what I guess he thought they sounded like. The woman laughed and said, "The next thing you know they'll be asking about McDonalds." Nekol and I joked about how King Louis XIV wanted nothing more than Starbucks and McDonalds in his palace but we also talked about how it's horrible that is how some nationalities perceive Americans.

Soon we had our tickets in hand and our audioguides around our necks. We headed off through the palace where we saw so much grandeur and excellence that our breathes were taken away multiple times only to be given back to whisper exclamations of wonder. The architecture and gardens were gorgeous. We were able to walk where so many women and men of great height had walked before us. Of course I'm just blathering and you'd prefer to see photos!

The Golden Gates of Versailles

One of the many ceiling masterpieces

A cool and scary water feature

Pathways in one of the many gardens

Nekol and I bought snacks for ourselves, a nutella crepe and a nutella waffle respectively. We munched away as we strolled through the gardens, admiring their beauty in the fall. We saw many happy puppies, families, and all just leisurely walking through the grounds. After a while, Nekol and I made our way back to the RER to go take pictures in front of the Eiffel Tower (across the bridge).

Going to the where the magnificent fountains are across the bridge of the Eiffel Tower, I snuck in amongst the fountains to take photos...little did I know they increase in water pressure every so often and was quite drenched. I was a tad cold but decided to ignore it and continue taking photos. Nekol and I were waiting on a friend of mine to arrive so that we could have dinner. While waiting, Nekol and I were able to watch the Eiffel Tower's light show.

The Eiffel Tower light show

After a while we met up with our friend who we grabbed pizza with and took it to the Seine and sat down to eat. We caught up and just watched as tour boats passed by, waved to them, and caught up with each other. It was a beautiful night to behold.

The Seine River

After a while, we parted ways and Nekol and I headed back to our hostel where we found some new items in our room. Now, Nekol and I had been bunked in a three person room but had been the only ones in our room the night before. Now there was a backpack, a toiletry case, and a book in the room. I said the stuff looked rather manly, the patterns of both backpack and toiletry case being male oriented. So I shamelessly unzipped his backpack, pulled out his datebook, and opened it to the first page to confirm that it was male. I quickly placed the book back to its original spot, zipped up the backpack, and Nekol and I went down to request for a new room. Stuart could have the room to himself.

After being assigned a new room, Nekol and I went to bed to be ready for Mass at Notre Dame the net morning...only to wake up at 5:45. Nekol sat up and said, "If we want to go to Mass we should probably leave now." She flashed her phone at me, blinding me temporarily, for me to see the time. I blinked at it wearily as we sat there for what seemed forever before I sighed, replying, "We should get up now." We both began our routine to get ready for Mass. Soon we were heading out the door and onto the Metro in the wee early hours of the morning. We got to Notre Dame around 7:30, only to realize Mass was not at 8 but at 8:30 so the doors were not yet open. Nekol and I took photos and video before taking a small walk around the block, amazed at the sun not being up yet, before heading back to the cathedral to see the doors finally opened a little before 8 am.

We rushed inside to get warm and picked our seats out towards the front of the church. We sat down and talked about the church in great detail. Mass was in French and Nekol picked up bits and pieces while I knew the routine well enough to know what was being said when. Funny thing about Notre Dame, tourists can walk through while there is Mass still going on and it's ok...I was a little dumb struck by this because it kind of seemed irreverent but the church has to make money somehow to keep itself up and running.

Notre Dame before sunrise

Inside Notre Dame

]

Where we had Mass

After Mass, Nekol and I walked around the church before heading out to go to Notre Dame's Quasimodo, a cute little cafe where we had a cappuccino and hot chocolate, sandwiches, and water. The water was given to us free by the waiter who thought it was cool that we were Texans, which he found out when he asked us point blank where we were from. It was a fantastic luncheon, followed by a quick shopping excursion, before heading back to the hostel to change and check out. We left our hostel feeling absolutely happy about our trip and glad that we had stayed at that hostel.

Hotel d'Artagnan

We checked in to get our boarding pass and got on the coach and had an easy ride back home to London. It wasn't long, it seemed, before we were pulling into Victoria Coach Station and Nekol and I were able to grab our stuff and get onto the Tube and head home to International House...it was a most fantastic trip and I believe our favorite side trip so far.

<3,

Dre

Filled Up

2009-11-18T17:05:00.000-06:00

This week has been full...and yes it's ONLY Wednesday night!

Monday should have been slow with me only having two classes but I had my morning class at ten for Renaissance Literature and Culture...I had to RUSH there because the train was delayed at Charring Cross. So climbing up four flights of stairs I manage to make it to class just before the teacher starts and have a happy hour while we talk about Sex and Gender during the Renaissance in England. Fantastic.

After that I rush home to try and finish homework that has been needing to be done for a while. I get really tired and decide to lay down...only to realize that I am really sick. I am pretty much bedridden for the rest of the day which makes for no fun at all but for a lot of catching up on homework.

Oh! And an interview for an internship at Circle Theatre in Fort Worth for general administration...guess who might just be getting an internship there? MOI! Yes, fantastic, I know!

And yes I know that doesn't sound busy but me being sick kind of filled up my entire schedule.

Tuesday I am feeling a little better and Nekol and I head over to the library to try and print off papers for a presentation for me and to get books checked out for her. Her books take forever and it turns out that apparently you have to format your documents on your usb a certain before being able to print them off of the copier printer the library in our borough has.

Nekol and I then head to Little Titchfield to go to our school's library there. We head to the Basement and wait forever for a computer to become free and when one does I have to figure out Vista Microsoft Word and how to print things out. Then the printer wouldn't recognize any of the documents I sent to it, kept telling me it missed several jobs and I was like, "Yes, you have." So I find out that there is a computer room on the fifth floor so we head up there and find an empty computer and instantly I can print off anything I need. Nekol and I then head over to Sainsbury's for snacks, eat, and head up to class in Wells Street. I give a bamf presentation and am happy for the rest of class.

After class is over, Nekol and I head back home and go grocery shopping. By the time we're actually home, we don't have much time before we head out to see Hairspray. This is another trip sponsored by the Study Abroad and Foreign Exchange office to give us a taste of London, i.e. it's free. I have enough time to make a tiny frozen pizza before I head out to the musical.

Hairspray is absolutely fantastic! We laughed so hard especially during "Timeless to Me," because the two broke character and yet didn't break character...there were a lot of lines I felt were thrown in that aren't normally said that worked so well with them that the entire audience was laughing harder than they had through the rest of the show. Anyways, at the end the cast invites you to get on your feet and dance, which we all do. It's beautiful.

The musical ends a little after ten and Nekol and I have to run back home. I have a phone interview with Housing and Residential Life for TCU to possibly be an AHD or RA next semester so I have to get home to do it in the privacy of my own room. We get on the Northern Line heading south easily enough but when we go to make the jump at Charring Cross to get on the Bakerloo Line heading south...there are some issues.

First off, Charring Cross has long long hallways that takes you ages to walk down. Also, these are not wide hallways so people tend to fill them up quite nicely and only walk two abreast. Nekol and I had to weave our way around people artfully before running up the escalators to get to our line.

Secondly, I head down the stairs to get to the Bakerloo line and a train is there. As soon as I get to the train, the doors close. I, being frustrated, shout an obscenity and slam my hand against the train. The doors open. I am beyond ecstatic that I hop on. I hear Nekol behind me, "Dre! That's the northbound train! We need the southband!" I curse again, hop off the train before it closes its doors again, and run across the platform to the other train. Its doors close right infront of me, yet again, and I just turn away this time...deflated and ready to just give up. Nekol shouts at me again, "GET ON!" and I turn around to spy that the doors are open. We get on at opposite ends of the car, meet in the middle, and both sit down. I put my head in her lap and just laugh/cry. So much adrenaline in such a little time left me shaking.

We rush home and I head for the lift, it's on floor four going up, I say screw it and awkwardly push past Nekol to run up the stairs. HRL calls right as I'm about to go up the stairs, I apologize for the echoing nature about to happen, go up to my room, and close the door. I have to put all my energy into not speaking really fast and sounding very calm because they hop right into the interview once I'm in my room. It takes me about fifteen minutes before I can even think of sitting down, I am shaking so much. Overall though, I believe I had a really good interview.

However, children, don't try what I did that night because I was very lucky. Someone above was looking out for me : )

Today has been much slower, actually.

I bought tickets to go see Endgame with Nekol for the evening performance. Did homework. Stayed inside because the weather was gross. Then went to see Endgame with Nekol.

Endgame is...a Beckett play...that's really all I can say.

After the play was over, nearly two hours and our bums hurting from bad seats, we start walking towards Charring Cross. We pass a street and hear chanting and just accredit it to a pub. We then talk about how we'd love to see some pub behavior that is connected to American bars just to see if it is just Americans but our conversation is cut short as we near Trafalgar Square. There is a loud den, a chanting noise of sorts, that's filling the air. I look to Nekol and tell her that we should go check it out and we do.

Crossing the street and getting to Trafalgar Square, the west side towards the Canadian Embassy is filled with people. Nekol and I try and figure out what's going on. We see this massive crowd, waving flags, and the police walking around. We think it is one of three things: riot, protest, victorious game. No one is being violent so not a riot...and the protest doesn't really seem to match the current protest, Tropics to Trafalgar, so we thought it was a victorious game except we hadn't heard anything about matches. I took a few photos and wanted to ask a police what was happening but then a firework was set off into the sky. Nekol and I promptly turned around and went into the Subway. Survival of the fittest.

Turns out Algeria beat their big rivals in football Egypt to make it to the World Cup for the first time in 24 years. They're such big rivals that they had to play in a neutral area...Sudan. Go figure. Anyways, it was pretty epic...just to see how epic, here's a photo:

Tomorrow will be epic too because we leave for Paris and sign up for classes...will the fun never cease?

<3,

Dre

Roman Holiday

2009-11-18T06:32:00.004-06:00

I know have been rather remiss in blogging and for that...I extremely apologise! But here's my weekend and in an hour or two I'll create another post for my week so far because honestly, who likes loooong posts?

This past weekend I was in Rome for two days, visiting some friends. I left my apartment around 2:30 a.m. and was in Rome and talking with friends eight hours later. It's rather marvelous how you can travel so easily over here. I've been to Wales, Ireland, and now Rome. It's not even this easy to travel to different States from where I live.

Can we talk about how it seems everyone but England drives on the right side of the road and not left? After spending five/six weeks in England, I've grown accustom to having to dodge traffic coming from the "other way." So it threw me for a loop. Also, when people say that you are taking your life into your own hands whenever you are crossing the road...they really mean it. Italians are even crazier drivers than England because they just don't care! Which bleeds into the fact that them queuing up is a mass of people who can slip in front of you without you really noticing unlike Europe where they queue up in an orderly fashion...not complaining, just very different from what I'm used to.

On Friday, my friend Parker showed me all the sights of Rome. We went to the Colosseum, the Circus Maximus, the Forum, the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain, and much much more. It was pretty much like a hit and run for all these sights but that didn't diminish their beauty one bit. Juxtaposed against a modern city that's full of hustle and bustle, these strong monuments of time stand strong and keep remembrance of a time long past. Oh what am I babbling on about? You want to see pictures!

View from Parker's balcony

The Colosseum

The Spanish Steps

This is where I came across my first set of Rose Sellers. What they do is tell women they're pretty, give them a rose, and expect the guy to pay for it...I mean, it's a neat idea except they get rather belligerent if you tell them no.

Trevi Fountain

I believe of all of Rome, the Trevi Fountain was my favorite part of it all. I took so many pictures there and I made Parker stay there through Sunset so I could see the lights come on. It was absolutely fantastic, I'll remember it forever.

Later that night I got to really know the roommates and friends of theirs through a game of Apples to Apples. I had never played but this was one of the best card games I have ever played. We had things like Corrupt Italy, Lazy Europe, Natural Puke, and many other fun combinations. The night was an absolute blast. I know of a couple of girls I met that night whom I hope to continue to be friends with because they were beyond fun to be around. Of course, a lot of us could barely keep our eyes open (namely me) and soon passed out in order to be ready for a fun day the next day.

On Saturday, Parker, Greg, their roommate Shelby, and I went to a wine tasting in Tuscany. Yeah, you heard that right, TUSCANY! It was so cool to leave the city and see the countryside. I think it's rather important not only to see the big cities of a country but also to see the countryside and the smaller places because then you get more of an idea of what the country is like. As we left the city, the rolling hills and mountains stood tall in the mist and there was so much greenery that it was kind of weird having just traveled from England where Autumn is in full swing.

The wine tasting was wonderful. The owner of the vineyard we visited took us through the entire process, let us take a look at his land, before heading over to his storefront and tried different wines and ate beautiful food. I made several friends from the Rome school and it was more fun than I could have ever imagined.

The countryside

The owner and the fermentation process

The Vineyard

The Cellar

The Wine

It all looks absolutely fantastic doesn't it? Oh, those smaller bottles at the very front are dessert wines...want to know what dessert wines are made of?

Moldy Grapes...yum!

We were in Tuscany for a while before heading back to Rome where I was able to watch a beautiful sunset going down behind the hills.

Gorgeous

After we got back home, everyone got ready and we went out and enjoyed the Roman nightlife. The cities were absolutely packed with people which confused Greg and Parker who had never seen the streets so packed in quite a while. It just reminded me of England. We met up with a couple of Parker's friends, a couple of American guys and several Swedish girls. They were all fantastic and made my night even more fun. Getting to know cool, new people from all over the world (even if they are from the States) is exactly why I came to study abroad.

Well, that was my Roman Holiday. Full of fun, education, wine, pasta, and friends. I couldn't have asked for a better time in Rome.

<3,

Dre

Woman discovered fire...

2009-11-10T18:33:00.000-06:00

Today my creative writing class met at the Tate Modern and we were set on three different exercises. There were two suggested paintings to look at and then a huge Turbine Box through which we had to take a walk. I followed with the first painting but not with the second because honestly...just didn't feel that attached to the painting.

But before I get to far I need to mention something. Nekol and I walked to the Tate Modern because it's only about a 30 minute walk from the Lambeth borough. It's just slightly past Blackfirars so I decided it'd save us time than having to jump a lot from the Bakerloo and Central lines. It's actually a good thing we walked too because apparently there was a cause for fire alarm on the Bakerloo at Baker Street this morning. Anyways, we got there a little late (10:05) and couldn't find anyone at the entrance that faced the Thames. So we decided to walk around, hoping to maybe round a corner and find our class. Finally, we bumped into our teacher around 10:20 and she chided us and no one else about being late...even though we definitely weren't the last ones to show up. This kind of shut me down and I went through the rest of the class not too happy with life.

Anyways, the first exercise was to set on creating Plot from a painting. Is it the ending or beginning of a story? Why and where did it all come from? The painting given to us was The Beached Margin by Edward Wadsworth.

My story is based partially on reality and partially in fiction. It tells of a mother who has a starfish from her childhood and how she found it...partially true to my own self and partially not. I rather enjoyed the story I created.

The second exercise was to create Character. We were supposed to tell of desires, flaws, wants, and obstacles of people. The suggested painting was of an old couple that looked rather crochety. As soon as I laid eyes on them I wrinkled my nose and turned to look for something else before landing on my new subject. Burdened Children by Paul Klee became my new muse.

I told how these children had lived through World War II and just wanted their parents to be happy again. Their father a soldier of war and their mother almost a ghost of the woman she once was, having had to set aside her gentility to work for their family. They live in London near St James Park, where they sometimes run off to because it's peaceful there. I rather liked it because I could see their story having a happy ending.

The final project was creating Space/Location. We had to walk into a huge Turbine Box, completely black on the inside, close our eyes, and just imagine our surroundings without using visual imagery. In our Western society, we place a heavy amount of our time on visuals and not so much on our other senses.

This is pretty much what you're walking into. You don't know where the back of it is. You don't know if anyone is standing in there or if there are any other objects in there. It is a black void. It smelled of steel, cold, and musty fabric. Noise reverberated like thunder in the sky but it still felt so lonely at the same time. The wall is covered in soft velvet and the floor scrapped against the bottom of my shoes, sounding rough and corse, like sandpaper. After a while, I opened my eyes and I could see everything inside the box clearly because my eyes had adjusted. It blew my mind how monochromatic grey/black everything was. I was thinking that was how it was like to be in The Giver at nighttime.

That was the interesting part of my morning but later this evening Nekol, Claire, and I went to Sketchville, London, England to go see a fringe show. A fringe show is basically like off off Broadway. The show is called The Origin of the Species and is about an archeologist who finds the missing link, names her Victoria, and is taught where humans got it all wrong. It was a two hour show that made me laugh, think, and almost cry. I thoroughly enjoyed it but the area couldn't have been sketchier.

Also, we arrived two hours early just because Tuesday is "pay what you want," which is technically a five quid minimum but apparently that didn't start until 7 and we had gotten there at 6. We decided to get a drink and snack so that we could whittle away the waiting hour. I ended up getting an organic cola which wasn't too bad. The theatre was definitely very trendy hippy. Normally I'm pretty cool with those kinds of things, I even want to learn more about the place and get in with them, but the front house crew just seemed so snobby it put me off. After a long wait, we got our tickets, and began the second hour of waiting before going to see our show.

The show was two hours of awesomeness. If anyone is in London and brave enough to go to the Kingsland/Dalston area to get to the Arcola theatre, then they totally should. If you don't have the nerve to go see it then that's fine too.

<3,

Dre

Canterbury, Hever Castle, and Comedy...they all fit

2009-11-08T18:22:00.000-06:00

So this weekend has been absolutely busy!

Went with the University of Westminster Social Programme on Saturday to Canterbury and Hever Castle. Technically, we were supposed to go to Leeds Castle instead of Hever but they closed Leeds due to fireworks. They didn't tell UofW until THREE DAYS before so they did the best they could which was Hever Castle, the childhood home of Anne Boleyn...I think that's a good replacement as any.

The first stop was Canterbury and it was absolutely gorgeous. The Cathedral was even more than I could ever have imagined and the town was absolutely adorable. Nekol and I spent almost two hours in the Cathedral just going through it. We walked through the front Worship Hall, which has beautiful light streaming through the plain windows. The Martyrdom of St Thomas of Canterbury is right after the front Worship Hall. We then went down into the Crypt of Canterbury Cathedral which actually has a place set up for Mass down there as well. They had a table set out where you could write a prayer to be said in Mass the next day, which I used. The Crypt was particularly interesting for the fact that one of the tombs had angels and guardians with their heads and hands cut off a long time ago. It was rather disturbing. Going back out into the main Cathedral, we went to the second Worship Hall where we were able to see the original spot for St Thomas' monument...until King Henry VIII tore it down. There was also the Achievements of the Black Prince of Wales along with Stained Glass Windows that stole my breath away. I wish I could go on and on about the Cathedral but I will post several photos instead.

After Canterbury we headed over to Hever Castle, the childhood home of Anne Boleyn. Now, Hever Castle is known for other things besides Anne Boleyn; it was a consolation prize to Anne of Cleaves for divorcing King Henry VIII nicely and then became a home for the Woldorf-Asters. Now, it's a lovely house museum with the gardens kept in well groomed and a nice cafe/shop area. We spent about half an hour there just going through everything. The house was split into medieval and modern. We were able to see where Anne Boleyn slept, her Book of Hours, where King Henry VIII slept whenever he stayed over, and then all about the Woldorf-Asters living arrangements. Most time was spent in the Italian Gardens which weren't in full bloom but still in full glory. There was even a lovely, huge lake at the end of the walk path that Nekol and I just gazed at for a long time. Overall, a really good second choice instead of Leeds Castle. Here are some photos so you better know why....

That was all for Saturday because by the time we got home, Nekol and I were absolutely exhausted. That and we had to save our energy for Sunday!

TODAY!

Today we were heading out to a femme metal festival that one of our favorite bands, Sirenia, was to be headlining at. Well, this place was all the way out in South West London, on the cusp of Zone 3 and 4, so it was going to take a while to get out there. Nekol and I don't bother with jackets because we're going to be inside most of the time. We get to The Peel after about an hour on the tube and thirty minutes on a bus only to wait an hour (as opposed to thirty minutes like we thought it'd be) for the first band to go on...who wasn't all that great. The singer had some real tonality issues and would go flat a lot but hey, at least she tried yeah? The second band kicked butt and I need to find out who they were but we had to leave before their set was over.

Ok, Nekol and I didn't like this concert really because the crowd wasn't into the music at all. No singing. No head banging. No nothing. They just stood there. Three people were maybe bobbing their heads to the music...maybe, that may be pushing it. This group was very English. Here's to hoping any more shows will be in Central London.

Anyways, Nekol and I had to leave early due to the fact that we had to get to a comedy show in Picadilly Circus. We got there a little before 5:30 and had to wait outside for the doors to open at 6:30. Remember when I said earlier that Nekol and I didn't bother with jackets? Yeah, this is where our stupidity smacked us in the face, hard. We were freezing so that when we got inside, we had to thaw out. Nekol and I grabbed a drink and sat down to eat dinner there. It was an ok grilled chicken sandwich on a bun that tasted amazing because I was so hungry. After that, we went and sat through an hour and a half of amazing comedy. It was absolutely fantastic. I think it's been a while since I've laughed that hard that I was crying from it. Brilliant, wonderful, awesome, fantastic, and fabulous are the only words I could think of describing it. Nekol and I may just have to go back on another Sunday or Wednesday night.

So that's all for this weekend...this week should prove to be fun. Nekol's parents come in Wednesday!

<3,
Dre

Shakespearean Knickers and Mousetraps, oh my!

2009-11-06T08:03:00.001-06:00

Ohmigod photo post!

Monday saw me in Renaissance Literature and Culture class almost falling asleep. I felt so bad because I hit a slump around 4 and don't catch my second wind till 5. It's all like magic. And I know what people say, "Dre, just get more sleep!" That doesn't solve any problem because this is just how my body is naturally. The only thing that I could possibly do is pump myself full of caffeine right before class and hope I don't crash anytime soon after. My RLC class is really fantastic, which just makes it all the worse : ( Oh well, better luck this next Monday!

Later that night though, Nekol and I enjoyed ourselves and went to see Avenue Q which was absolutely fantastic. We hadn't laughed at a show in a while (all our previous shows had been rather serious with very little laughter required) and had decided we just needed something lighthearted and awesome. That and Nekol had never seen it before...I know! The Gary was a man instead of a woman, like it is in New York, and they changed a few of his lines but other than that everything was how I had remembered and it was just fabulous.

Tuesday was a busy day as always but this time it was even busier! On top of our normal five hour class day, Nekol and I partook in the Lighting Ceremony of London. We left Wells Street and headed over to Regent/Oxford street where we saw a fenced off area, stage, and a megatron. We came to the front where there was an opening to the fenced off area. Nekol and I looked at each other and quickly talked about whether or not we should go in and decided we should. This was about 4:15 and by 4:45 they had closed off the fence area and we had become VIP's. Fan freaking tastic! So we stood there till about five before the show began and listened to several music acts including from the musical Sister Act, singers Peter Andre, Taio Cruise, and music group The Saturdays. It was a fun filled night before Jim Carrey came out on stage and we saw Colin Firth on the big screen flip the switches to light up London. It was so amazing. It was definitely a gorgeous night.

Wednesday saw Nekol and I spending three hours in The Imperial War Museum which is just down the block from where we live. It was so awesome and we only were able to get through the Basement and Ground floors during that time. There were exhibits called Children of War (when children had to leave London in fear of being blitzed) and Trench Warfare (getting to see what it was like to go through a trench in the war.) It was all rather intense that made me want to cry at several points in time. It showed the frailty of humanity and how stupidity, greed, and fear determined how people lived back then and to this very day. It makes you more appreciative for sure.

Later that night we went to Chez Gerard where we saw the rest of our study abroad group for the first time in a long time. We ate wonderful french food, I had a lobster pancake that was brilliant, and we were able to catch up on each others lives. This week, a school official is visiting, which is why we could all afford french food in London. The official is brilliantly wonderful as is her daughter, who came along. We're enjoying their stay here as much as they're enjoying their stay here, I am sure of it.

Thursday was the day I have been long waiting for. Nekol and I traveled to our Mecca, to Bethleham, found the Holy Grail, and so many other names that could possibly encompass the deep rooted passion we have for The Rose and The Globe theatres. We stood where Marlowe, Shakespeare, Burbage, Alleyn, and so many others had stood. We felt the energy, took in the power, and stood in awe of everything. I nearly cried at each sight and took many pictures just to remember the day as it should properly be remembered. Nekol and I bought SO MUCH STUFF at the The Globe gift store...it was kind of ridiculous. We bought "Montague" and "Capulet" arrows through the heart pins that we can now wear and I bought a pair of knickers that have that on that as well...it was so much fun...I could go on but I don't want to bore anyone...I'll post a photo instead!

Later that night the Study Abroad group met again and we had tapas at La Tasca which was absolutely wonderful. I've missed Spanish food dearly and last night was what I needed to soothe my homesickness that was starting to creep around the corners of my consciousness. Having small things every now and then that remind me of home and remind me that I am having absolute fun here and am not completely removed from my culture makes me a very happy camper.

After that we went and saw the play Mousetrap which was so cool! The person who did it was not EVEN on my radar at all. Nekol didn't see it coming either, which is just the way Agatha Christie writes her books, making me happy that the play followed suit. I can't tell you who did it because at the end, one of the actors stepped forward and told us to keep the secret and I will. More than happily will too!

OH! There was an incident last night though. After the first act, as is accustomed to "who-dunnit?" plays, my three friends and I turned to each other to figure out who did was the murderer. In the midst of a rather educated, all in fun figuring it out, we were holding up ideas and shooting them down in one breathe saying they were all too obvious, the older man in front of me turned around and spoke to me. Now before I reenact this conversation, I have to tell you this man had to be the poshest and rudest man I had ever met in my travels in London, England.

"Excuse me, could you not talk about the plot and ruin it for the rest of us?"
"But sir, I don't know the ending."
"I'm sure you don't." and promptly turns around

My friends and I were stunned. As if we had been reprimanded by a mean Headmaster. We sat in silence awkwardly for a minute or so before talking about traveling plans. I should have said something back but I guess my polite nature ruled over my snappy one. However, I must keep in mind, if someone is going to talk to you then might as well have a conversation with them. : )

Today, Friday, is dedicated to High Tea at Harrods and Othello at Trafalgar Studios. It should prove to be a most eventful evening.

<3,
Dre

Tanks a Million!

2009-11-02T17:41:00.000-06:00

Irish people really don't pronounce their h's...well at least they don't in Dublin.

I visited Dublin with Nekol on Friday and Saturday. We had an absolute blast for not only were we in Ireland but we were able to spend time with Lavinia and Jule. It was a fantastic weekend. I really don't believe any place celebrates Halloween as hardcore as America but Dublin was a good way to try and fill the gaps.

Let's start off that we flew on Aer Lingus which is a really cheap Irish airline. Fantastic. Except we had to leave at 6:50 from Heathrow which meant we had to leave super early from Lambeth to get there...which meant we couldn't take the Tube since most of them don't open up until way after the time we wanted to be at the airport. So Nekol and I had to take the night busses...awesome.

Anyways, sleep deprived, we get to the airport and hop on the plane for a VERY short trip to Ireland. The flight was maybe 60 minutes. Maybe. We land, no problem, and pay for a bus ticket to go to the City Centre of Dublin. Well, we're on the bus and people keep telling us we need "Mountjoy Square" even though the Youth Hostel Nekol and I are staying at is on "Mountjoy Street." But no no no, we need Square, not Street....Nekol and I wander around for about 30 minutes trying to find the Street only to find out we were no where near it. We were wandering around Mountjoy Square for quite sometime...oh well.

When we finally found the hostel, Nekol and I checked in, ate breakfast (because it was only 10:15) and took a slight nap before going to hang out with Jule. The weather was overcast and nasty but we at least got to walk around Trinity College to see inside the walls and just walk around Dublin for a bit. Lavinia got in super late but we still hung out and had fun. Nekol and I headed back to our Youth Hostel around two thirty in the morning to find out that the four girls in our room were already asleep...uh ok, Friday night but whatever, maybe they're saving their energy for Halloween.

Halloween day and the four of us are off and around Dublin! It was so much fun and we had a really busy day. We even went to Clontarf Road to go through a Dracula experience (haunted house) since Bram Stoker was born in Dublin. Did you know he and Oscar Wilde were besties? I sure didn't. At night, we got ready in our costumes and had a night on the town. The day was so eventful that Nekol and I could barely wake up at seven the following morning to leave. Two days in Dublin was not enough to fully appreciate it. I really enjoyed my time there and would love to go back...just note to self, everything is SO much more expensive over there!

Nekol and I got back around Sunday afternoon where we chilled for the rest of the day. Apparently, I stepped on a cobble stone wrong in Dublin and seriously bruised my right foot to the point where it hurt to walk on it for more than ten minutes. Like searing pain up my leg and into my abdomen. Me and cobblestone are sworn enemies now. Which isn't good considering Leicster Square and Picadilly Circus are pretty much made up of cobblestone.

Speaking of which, saw Avenue Q tonight at the Gielgud Theatre. It was really funny, like the first time I saw it in NY, except they changed some of the lyrics (interesting choice, not necessarily a bad one) and there was some accent slippage from American to British back to American...but still fun!

Tomorrow night they're having a lighting ceremony for the Oxford St/Regent St lights! Colin Firth and Jim Carrey are going to be there...as will I!

Well, gotta get back to homework then crawl into bed.

<3,
Dre

Just Try and Catch a Breath

2009-10-29T19:51:00.000-05:00

So this week has been an absolute whirlwind! I'm just catching my breath now.

Monday was interesting because it was the first time in two weeks I had Renaissance Literature and Culture. I remembered the roomnumber, I was so proud of myself. Of course, I showed up two hours early to class. I am such an overachiever. To solve my problem I went ahead and went to EAT where I had a tuna and cheddar sandwich as well as a cupcake. It was freaking fantastic. When it was time to head to class, I climbed three flights of stairs again just to sit down in class and feel the need to fall asleep. My Renaissance class is from 4-6 so I hit a slump from 4-5 and don't catch my second breath till 5. After that was over, I stopped by my latest addiction, Cafe Nero, and got some amazing coffee before heading home to study.

Tuesday was the busy day. Nekol and I had classes from 10-4. Writing London was easy enough but in Contemporary British Authors, I had a tough time. We were talking about our latest book we read, Sheepshagger by Niall Griffiths. This book is very graphic in both violence and language which are normally things I can take but the very first scene has to deal with the death of an innocent lamb. This class was also not as talkative as other classes because we have no Welsh/Cymru in class. Our teacher is of Welsh decent and he did most of the talking. I'm thinking race is going to be a huge issue in this class and it kind of worries me since my "valued opinion" as a white, American, female is zilch in that class. Oh well, we'll see what happens when we talk about our book next week which has "black on black crime" as our teacher and the class put it.

After this class, Nekol and I ran home to get ready for that night. We had foolishly bought tickets for Mother Courage and Her Children at the National Theatre for the same night we had a free ticket to go on the London Eye. Of course the ticket was with our social programme with University of Westminster and so we had a specific time we could get on. Our show was at 7:30, it takes 30 minutes to make a full rotation on the London Eye, and we didn't queue up until 6:30. Nekol and I stood in line, not really hopeful, saying that if we didn't get into a carriage before 6:45 (the queue was quite long) that there would be no chance of us getting to ride and we'd have to bail. Nekol and I board a carriage at 6:47 and are immediately transported to a different world. I found my second favorite spot and it resides in a carriage in the London Eye. It's gorgeous, seeing the city lit up completely at night and being able to spot places. I could barely breathe it was so beautiful.

Of course, it's 7:20 and Nekol and I are at the front of the carriage ready to break down the door as soon as they open it. There is a sign over the exiting ramp that says "No Running," and Nekol and I can't help but laugh at the irony of this. As soon as we clear the ramp, I yell "GO!" and we bust out running along the Thames to get to the National Theatre. Luckily for us the National is along the Thames just like the London Eye but normally it's a 20 minute walk. Nekol and I made it to the theatre and in our seats in 8 minutes flat. I was beyond glad too because Mother Courage has to be my favorite straight play that I have seen as of yet, ever. It was absolutely fantastic. I don't want to ruin it but here a couple of things. Fiona Shaw as Mother Courage is brilliant. The boy who plays Swiss Cheese, Mother Courage's son, is also Dudley Dursley. The young woman who plays Katrin is deaf and my friends and I still cannot believe how this is because she reacted beautifully to everything. The signs of true and amazing acting.

Wednesday was fun. Nekol, Lavinia, and I went walking around Seven Dials where we went through many shops. It was as if we were in pure girl mode. There are two stores I absolutely loved: Octopus and Forbidden Planet. Octopus is a store where everything is beyond cute. I found a pair of Alice in Wonderland earrings that I really wanted but they were twenty quid which I couldn't cough up for a pair of earrings even if they are Alice in Wonderland. If they had been fifteen quid, maybe, but not twenty. We then found Forbidden Planet which is a gigantic store of nerdom. Nekol and I freaked over the size of their Dr Who memorbilia section and all three of us just wandered through, awestruck.

Later that night I made Dumplings, glazed carrots, and dinner rolls. It was an awesome dinner. Nekol and I got ready and left to go see Warhorse. This is a play that focuses heavily on puppetry which was half cool and half very "wtf?" The goose was downright hilarious. The horses were kind of creepy, rather Thestral looking. There was one review that said this play would affirm our love of life...they couldn't be more wrong. Nekol and I bawled during the second act. We were so depressed we bought ice cream on our way home.

Today has been a blah day. I woke feeling as if I had been hit by a semi. I dressed in my gauchos, which is universal sign of "don't push, I will hurt you badly." I then went to the British Library (for the last time mind you) with Nekol to read a play that I, again, didn't like. Go figure. Nekol and I then headed home where I found out someone had knicked my pizza...not cool but whatevs.

My flight for Dublin leaves in six hours. I cannot wait to go. This weekend is going to prove to be fun, I am downright sure of it.

<3,
Dre

An Ecumenical Project and Peter Pan

2009-10-25T16:16:00.000-05:00

Today a really good friend of mine flew in from Germany to stay with me for the week. Miss Lavinia over at I Write All Down is studying in Florence for the semester and is keeping track of her adventures. I haven't seen this girl since May of last school year so I was rather excited when she told me she was off for Fall Break and needed a place to stay. I readily offered my humble abode and she's here!

Before Lavinia got here, however, Nekol and I went to church next door to the International House. It is an Ecumenical Project as it is both Anglican and Methodist. I know, crazy right? I have never heard of it being like this and Lavinia had a good statement, "I don't know if I like church being a project." Well, it was a fantastic service. The pastor that preached today was heart warming and very passionate of what he spoke. Today his homily had the moral, "Do not settle for your current situation. Be open to new options." I've always felt like I've been like that. I'm studying abroad would be my main reason to prove that but I know I've probably shut myself from things in the past that I shouldn't have. One should never grow lax in their life and just settle for things but aim higher. At the end of the service, Nekol and I met several members of the congregation and told them all about ourselves (repeating much of the same information over and over again) before leaving to go meet up with Lavinia.

After the three of us had convened and Lavinia had taken a shower (washing herself clean of German Hostel for two days) we went off to go visit Jule who was in London visiting from Dublin. Jule is another young lady I know from school who is studying abroad this semester. We met up in Hyde Park and sat around for a couple of hours. It was a fantastic day; there were people roller blading, hoola hooping, walking the dogs, riding horses, enjoying the autumn air, and just loving life. I took a picture for a large family that sounded Italian to me, they were all just so ecstatic to be together. The leaves were falling off the trees and the water was glistening beneath the sun's rays. It was a gorgeous day to be alive.

We met up with Jule and her friend Lauren right by the Peter Pan statue which we sat by for a couple of hours. We just talked, caught up, got to know each other, and just laughed. We all took pictures by the Peter Pan statue and agreed that no one really enjoyed Peter Pan until they were grown up, ironically enough. We did though, we enjoyed laughing and being young while looking out over the water and sitting beneath the autumn touched trees. When the sky darkened and it was too cold to sit outside for much longer, Nekol, Claire, and I took our leave and told Jule we couldn't wait till Halloween.

The three of us enjoyed a fantastic Chinese dinner, watched Potter Puppet Pals, and laughed quite a bit more. I now sit, exhausted, typing this up before I lose all energy and drive. It's not even ten o'clock yet! However, I need to get my sleep because this Weekend is Halloween Weekend and Nekol and I are off to Dublin!

<3,
Dre

From Towers to Inheriting Wind

2009-10-21T20:03:00.000-05:00

Today is my day off from school and as of such I eagerly awaited for Nekol to be finished with classes, come back to International House, and for us to head out to Tower Hill. Today we were going to conquer the Tower of London.

Once we had paid for our ticket we decided to do the Beefeater a.k.a. yeoman tour. It was a rather dismal day, sprinkling a bit, and completely overcast but that did not keep the tour guide from being full of energy, telling us all about the bloody and terrific past of the Tower of London. Pretty much everything has happened within the Tower (which is actually comprised of 20 towers) from people living there, weddings at the church, beheadings, imprisonment, garrison, treasury, mint, vault, and so much more. It was absolutely fantastic getting to hear about all sorts of things that happened there.

Did you know the Beefeaters live inside the Tower? That's where they live, them and their families. Also, they are locked inside the Tower at 10 pm and as such they have a resident doctor and minister, who happen to live right next to each other just in case you don't get better. Heh. But yes, so they live on the estate so there are homes for them, cafes, and chapel. To become a Beefeater you must have been in the British armed forces (save the Navy because Navy is loyal to admiral and ship first) for 22 years and have 18 years of exemplarily service. As well as holding a high rank in the forces. After that, anyone can become a Beefeater (yes, even women, I saw one!)

Nekol and I walked around the walls and went and looked through the Crown Jewels and the King Henry the VIII: Dressed to Kill exhibit. The Crown Jewels are absolutely fantastic, when Nekol and I walked through the exhibit there were many projections of Elizabeth II's coronation showing off the different pieces of the coronation treasures. The First Star of Africa is the largest diamond in the world and it sits on top of the scepter...it's about 513 carats...yeah, exactly. It glitters like the sun and I was absolutely amazed by it. Everything else is just as gorgeous and beautiful from the swords to the plates and everything else you can think of.

There was also the King Henry the VIII: Dressed to Kill exhibit which was awesome because it was all the armor, weapons, and everything else King Henry the VIII had in his arsenal. There were even such things as gun shields...a shield with a gun attached to it, how ingenious? Apparently King Henry the VIII had a fascination with new technology and bought as many firearms as possible. He even had several mace/gun combinations in his armory...I'm still trying to figure out how this would work effectively without damaging one side or the other (smashing with mace and destroying barrel or shooting gun and destroying mace.) It even went so far as to show the horses of the different Kings of England (sorry, no Queens allowed here, this is a manly section.)

I was also able to see the spot where Anne Boleyn was decapitated. Anne had a fear of axes, as how it might take several tries to cut off her head, and so she requested that she be killed the French way, which is from a different angle and with a sword. So King Henry the VIII sent off for a specialist from France to help do the job. This specialist was so quiet that, as Anne knelt down to say her prayers, he pulled a sword out from a bale of hay and lopped off her head in a single blow. When he picked up her head, the crowd grasp in seeing the sight of Anne's eyes still being open and her lips still moving with prayer. Her head had been chopped off that quickly.

After the Tower, Nekol and I headed off to the Old Vic where we watched Inherit the Wind. It was an alright show, I was not blown away. The stage was rather long, which wasn't used well, and one of the first actors to speak didn't annunciate properly so it was hard to hear, and Rachel was hard to stand. Kevin Spacey did a rather good job but I don't know if this is because the part is a good one or if it's because he is Kevin Spacey, who knows. However, the Old Vic is a very convoluted space that is just awkward. The audience is shaped like a horse shoe and the stage is set up weird. Oh well, it was an alright show.

Tomorrow Nekol and I are cooking dinner for the 3rd floor, which I am totally looking forward to! Today was fun and tomorrow should prove to be the same!

<3,
Dre

Camden and Cymru

2009-10-18T19:59:00.000-05:00

Thursday was much fun because Nekol and I had our London Theatre in Performance class from 10-1 pm. We found out we're the only two who are actually majoring in theatre while everyone else only participated in theatre for fun in high school or junior high. It makes for a very interesting class, indeed. We received our list of plays we have to go see and the first one was a choice between Shawshank Redemption and Inherit the Wind...Neither Nekol nor I like Inherit the Wind (don't care if Kevin Spacey is playing in it) but it's the cheaper of the two so might as well, y'know?

Anyways, after that class finished, Nekol and I hopped onto the tube to go to Camden Town which is ridiculously a lot larger than anticipated. When you look on the website it definitely seems like a small town with a few shops. This is a total lie. Camden Town may be a small town but almost every inch of it is covered with cool little shops. There are vintage, gothic, metal, new age, mainstream, and many other items to shop for in this town. There are a lot of different sections too, not just one. If you think you've seen all of Camden, you haven't. You turn another corner and there's more to behold. I bought two dresses, made of wool, from Camden and I absolutely love them both. The sales guy was nice enough however he wanted a kiss on the lips for making the price so cheap for me....gross, I wasn't having any of it but I still played cute ditz and got a low price nonetheless. That was close to the end of the day whenever Nekol and I decided to go get food.

Walking up the streets of Camden, Nekol and I couldn't exactly decide on where to eat. She really doesn't like sandwiches and I didn't want American fast-food. We're walking around and finally we come up to this tiny caffe and this pizza/Greek place. We had never had Greek food and we were in Camden, why be boring? So we had a Falafel wrap along with a coke and I had a hot chocolate that was to die for. Overall, it was a rather charming experience. But soon we were hitting the tube because we had a show to go see!

We Will Rock You is a musical that has been playing in the Dominion Theatre for eight years now. It is based off of the songs sung by Queen and is rather...interesting. Nekol and I saw it more as a rock concert with a bit of theatre thrown into it; if you've seen Mamma Mia there's even less dialogue in WWRY, honestly. However, we thoroughly enjoyed the show because it was phenomenal. The dialogue was funny, very British in many ways, and the set was very high tech/digital. The costumes were wonderful too, Nekol and I were envious of the outfits of the Bohemians that they just happened to "find." Our final verdict is: if you like Queen, rock concerts, theatre, and musicals...go see We Will Rock You...for reals.

Friday was a slow starter and a slow finisher. Basically, Nekol and I headed out, way later than planned, to The British Library where we read Blue/Orange. Nekol loved the play and I was kind of bored but either way we weren't able to finish it because we were rushed out of the library around 4:45 when the reading room closed at 5. You see, at The British Library you aren't allowed to check books out because for whatever reason...Nekol nor I are fond of The British Library because they have intensely strict rules and regulations, not only that but the staff of TBL are not friendly at all. However, we just need to finish this play and one more and then we're through!

Saturday was started bright and early with Nekol, Laura, and I leaving to meet the bus for Wales around 6:30 in the morning. Once on the bus, we promptly passed out until we got to Wales where we saw and did many beautiful/cool things. First we went to Caerffili and saw the gorgeous castle there that was actually bit as a hideaway for infidelity...yeah, there was a wedding taking place there. Woops! We were able to go to the top of the castle and look out upon Caerffili and you could almost feel what it was like to live back then...it was gorgeous and serene.

After that we drove a bit more to St Fagan's National Welsh Museum and walked through an "olden days" Welsh village before going up to a gallery to look at old farming implements and a costume museum. There were some rather interesting clothing options worn through the years in Wales, my favorite dress was actually one made to look like Wales' national flag. It was pretty neat looking. Nekol and I were also able to see a Welsh phone and scrabble board, which was awesome because they displayed the double f's, l's, and d's as well as regular letters.

We then headed to Swansea where Nekol and I did nothing but watch music videos, go out to dinner, and come back to sleep. We were dead tired, which was weird considering we slept most of the time on the bus. However, once beneath the covers, both of us were sound asleep.

The next morning we had to be up and at breakfast by 7 because there were 100 people and no way all of us were going to fit into the tiny dining room so we were scheduled in several waves. Nekol and I were unfortunate to end up at the beginning of the waves. We ate breakfast and went to go get ready with plenty of time to spare for a twenty minute nap, which I gladly snatched up that opportunity. Soon, however, we were back on the bus and heading to The Big Pit to go down a real working mine.

Margaret Thatcher isn't exactly well liked in Wales because she's the Prime Minister who closed down all the mines. That was a huge source of income for Wales who has had to turn to other industries to keep their country going. Well, Big Pit is a mine you can still go down and walk through to see what it was like back whenever the mines were up and working. They give you a light belt (which isn't light at all it's what your head light is attached to) and a white hard helmet to protect your head from the numerous amounts of bumping it might be doing. Of course, Nekol and I kept mentioning different horror movies that had occurred in mining areas sooo...needless to say we were a little creeped out by some things but it was still really neat. Our tour guide was downright awesome and adorable.

Finally, we went to the Tintern Abbey where I took copious amounts of photos. There isn't really much to say because being at the Abbey was more of a feeling than any words could describe. I know Wordsworth was able to transcribe his feelings into poetry but I couldn't...all I could do was take pictures to try and catch the smallest glimpse of the serenity, beauty, and old divinity that lived within the ruins.

Coming back was easy enough because Nekol and I slept well into London. It's been an eventful weekend...I can barely wait to start my week all over again!

<3,
Dre

Two Chili Con Carnes Later

2009-10-14T19:00:00.000-05:00

Darren, who lives on the 3rd floor with Nekol, made some kickin' chili con carne tonight (except he used lamb instead of beef). We rate the food people make us and Darren would have made a 15 out of 20 except he made a horrible mess.

Today has been long and yet, fun. Nekol and I ventured out to the British Library where we had to pretty much jump high fences to try and get a library card. We had to fill out an electronic form before being called over to a desk to talk to a library card advisor: a.k.a. the most disagreeable people we have met in England. After we had to show two signed forms of ID and something else that proved that we were us and lived in England. With cards in tow we requested the books we wanted and were about to head out whenever we saw a bench created out of a bronze book...it was fantastic. Nekol and I took turns sitting on the book and it was absolutely fantabulous.

Alright, I do have to say this: the British Library is so surreal. This building is massive, enormous, and really huge completely. Walking on the grounds, inside the building, and just being near it was so amazing it was ridiculous. I am very appreciative of this place and its enormity.

We then headed over to Burger King where Nekol and I ordered a Chicken Royale which, even though we said easy on the Mayo, was absolutely covered in Mayo. I think the British hate ketchup and love mayonnaise. Every time we have asked for ketchup with our fries, we've only received two packets but anytime we get mayonnaise on something, it is slathered in it.

Then it was time to mail off my postcards to some of my friends. We stopped by a combination deli, convenience store, and post office. Walking into the building was a tad confusing. I finally found the post office portion and was told by an automated voice which cashier would now help me. Walking over to cashier number seven I received three stamps and three airmail stickers. The stamps are 60p and some extra and are still the licking kind; ti stamps don't have a weird taste...it's just weird that I had to lick them.

By this time Nekol and my knees were killing us. Nekol's kneecaps don't exactly fit in the right spot on her legs and I took a tumble in Regent two days ago down a couple of steps and onto marble flooring. We took the tube back home where we chilled for a bit until we were beckoned to dinner by Darren. He enticed us with a talk of an interesting mince chili con carne and when we stepped into the hallway it smelled fantastic. What is wonderful is that floor 3 isn't really just floor 3, several other people from different floors seem to make their home on that floor. It's quite friendly.

I then watched a soccer match between England and Belarus, with England winning 3-0, in the Common Room with Daren, James and a couple of other people. We chatted and watched the game and after game commentary before Kimberly pulled out Moulin Rouge. Darren, Hannah, and I stayed till after they begin reconstruction on the Moulin Rouge before heading upstairs to just chill. Barging in on Nicole we watched an episode of The IT Crowd and then two episodes of The Inbetweeners....which we didn't care too much for.

And that was my day...tomorrow shall prove to be thoroughly exciting for sure! Last class of the week, Camden Lock, and then We Will Rock You...it is going to be fantastic.

<3,
Dre

Reading, Writing, and Road Rage

2009-10-13T18:53:00.000-05:00

A double decker started driving when the light was still red (like it had just hit the red/yellow stage) and barely missed Nekol. In England, the lights will go green/yellow when about to turn red and will go red/yellow when about to turn green. This is to warn pedestrians and drivers that there is about to be a light change as to not catch people unawares. Well, this bus did not want to waste one moment and started to drive after Nekol passed him up...people are so impatient.

But enough about that...

Today was my second day of classes, all of which are with Nekol. Our classes started at ten, which means we needed to leave shortly after nine, which meant I needed to be up no later than eight. UGH! Can I tell you how much I dislike waking up early when I haven't had enough sleep? I'm breathing a lot better and am quickly getting over my cold thanks to the amazing pills I bought from Boots but I'm still not a 100%. However, to make up for my health not being completely there I made myself the most fantastic breakfast ever: a glass of tea, two pieces of toast with strawberry jam, and a bowl of frosties.

Go on, be jealous.

Nine fifteen rolls around and Nekol and I head off to school. Everything actually goes really smoothly, we're both excited about our classes and manage to not get lost trying to find Wells St. Don't laugh! Wells St is actually not really listed on a lot of maps because it's about a mile long and that's it. It's one of those weird side streets.

Anyways, Nekol and I get into Writing London and immiedately I'm in love with the class. Why? The teacher can't be older than 30, has a cool red dye in her hair, and has a nice eye brow piercing. We go around the room and tell everyone about ourselves a little: name, where we're from, and how much writing we've done. This class is a study abroad mandatory class so all the students are from abroad. 99% American, 1% elsewhere.

We do these neat little writing assignments that make me feel as if my creative juices are coming alive. I've felt so non-creative lately that it's almost been a sense of ennui. Even being in this beautiful city, I just haven't felt the want to go do anything creative. However, after these three little assignments, I felt as if I could think and do anything creative. It's like being like a superhero, impervious to those naysayers for it is the rebirth of your creativity.

Because the class is three hours long, we were given a nice ten minute break so that people could stretch or do whatever. Half the class trotted over to the caffe right across the way and either got a mocha or a latte. We were all pretty tired looking but this perked us right up. The rest of the class finished quickly enough.

Nekol and I found a Sainsbury's around the corner and bought a couple of things for lunch. I was actually able to eat lunch for 90p, take that! I had a raspberry and chocolate Kellogg's bar and strawberry yogurt...it was fantastic. After lunch it was time to head up to the 3rd floor of the Wells St building to Contemporary British Authors. And...well...it was interesting.

So the teacher arrives and is wearing a black blazer, polo, and pants. All black is only slimming if worn correctly...this was not. He also had on rings and an oversized gold bracelet...someone seems a tad stuck in the 90's. I know it's not nice to judge but some of the stuff was just tacky enough to distract me. When I finally got over myself, I realized we were being lectured about being responsible. It took me a while to realize this is probably the first time a lot of these students were getting this lecture. Freshers, as they call Freshmen or first years, is pretty much the makeup of the class as opposed to Nekol and I who are in our third year of University.

Well, when the lecturing was finally over (after an hour), the teacher spent twenty minutes discussing our outline. Let me just express some frustration here: it's REALLY hard to track down the three plays on this list. I do not want to have to buy them, they do not seem to interest me -that- much and I can only hope someone will let me borrow their copies. With that being said, I got really excited about the novels we are reading.

Most interesting part of class: the teacher began to talk about how London is always in flux and rapidly so, he asked the class to tell about their time growing up in London or England and how it's changed over the years. Nekol and I could only blink in true dumb form and sit there silently, listening an taking notes as everyone else talked. The class, once real discussion started, was rather interesting. Nekol and I approve.

After class was over Nekol and I went and got Nekol a new phone because her old one just up and disappeared...like for reals. She doesn't know where it went and it couldn't have been stolen. We believe her room ate it, most logical explanation. Truthfully. Getting her the same plan as before, we were in and out of the store in no time. Except this store didn't put her SIM card and battery in her phone for us like the one on Marleybone did...so don't go to the Carphone Warehouse on Oxford St...just saying.

After that we hit up the Sansbury's on Waterloo and then went home and have been home ever since. Tomorrow is my day off from classes so I will be mailing off postcards, taking photos with my new camera, and then going to the British Library with Nekol.

<3,
Dre

The Bakerloo Line is my School Bus

2009-10-12T16:11:00.000-05:00

Today was my first day of school!

I have been waiting months for this moment and it has finally come! I could barely sleep last night; which could be contributed to the fact that I can breathe because I have a cold. I woke up at nine this morning and sat in front of my closet for a good thirty minutes trying to figure out what I wanted to wear. I strongly believe that the first outfit sets the tone, for yourself, for the rest of the semester. I wanted to start off strong but chic. I mulled it over and finally came up with a decision that I am very proud of and am still wearing because it's about as comfortable as PJ's.

Today I wore my sleeveless black cardigan, black scarf, blue scoop necked jersey dress, black hose, and black ballet flats. Seriously, I am so comfortable right now even as I am falling asleep at my computer. All the young women in England are so well put together when it comes to their clothing. Even punk rockers, goths, and non-prep attire young women look as if they put thought into their outfits. It's so different here as opposed to America where we have come lazy in our dress, not caring, and thinking anyone put together is trying too hard. I'm absolutely enjoying being able to wear my regular autumn clothes and not stick out like a sore thumb.

Nekol and I had some morning errands to run before I left to go to school. We hit up Ryman's to buy a couple of notebooks for school, hoping to maybe be able to take notes on our laptop during class. After Ryman's we skipped over to Boots to buy some tissues and cold relief medicine for me. Now this was an interesting part for me; I didn't recognize any of the brand names except for Sudafed which is four pounds for 16 tablets. I'm very much a proponent for off-brands that can do the same exact thing so I stood there for about twenty minutes comparing ingredients of all the cold & flu relief medicines. Finally I decided on a Boots brand Max Strength cold & flu capsules. I'm pretty sure that's what it's called too.

After that, Nekol and I came back home to find out that my camera came in. Unfortunately, I didn't have time before heading off to class to be able to work with it so I handed it over to Nekol and I headed off to my first course of the week: Renaissance Literature and Culture. This is one of two classes I have in Regent and I'm not quite sure if I'm liking the room were in today; the room is a long, narrow room with sets of tables on either side so that there is an aisle to walk up and down, and three chairs per table. I sat in the front with a girl from my University Study Abroad program, Lauren, and we waited for class to start.

Our teacher came in and introduced himself, handing out a syllabus to the entire class. Quickly, he jumped into teaching us the basics of the Renaissance just so that we had a better background for whenever we started to read our given stories. Of course, I then quickly became "that" girl. You know that girl who sits in class and answers all the questions the teacher asks when no one is answering? Yeah, that was me for half of class. It's alright though, I thoroughly enjoyed the class anyways because our teacher is really likable, personable, and tries to get class interaction when it is necessary.

Here's a confession, after two semesters of classes I was able to figure out how to take notes without -really- paying attention to the teacher. My brain has trouble focussing on two things at once when it comes to things like writing, talking, or listening. Honestly, a person shouldn't have to do more than one thing at a time like that. Unfortunately, because I'm in London, the teacher has a British accent so I have to really pay attention so I hear everything he says which slows down my note taking and takes my brain a couple of seconds to catch up. Just to demonstrate: Americans say "Ren-ah-saunce" whereas Britons say "Ren-ay-saunce." Britons sound more correct but every time I try and pronounce it like that I sound like I'm an uneducated southerner with a drawl.

After class, I headed home where I was able to mess with my camera and eat dinner with Nekol's floor. Laura cooked and we had breakfast for dinner, a very American thing we believe. We all talked and chatted, thoroughly enjoying our pancakes and eggs before going our separate ways. Several of our friends are going out tonight but Nekol and I declined because both of us are thoroughly exhausted and we have class tomorrow at ten.

I'm excited to see what all my classes are like and I will definitely keep you updated as the days go by!

<3,
Dre

Meds, Paper, and Mustard

2009-10-11T09:11:00.000-05:00

Things aren't just open on Sundays where I live it seems.

So I'm kind of sick but not really. I have a stuffy nose and am congested so I need an antihistamine and a decongestant but I can't get either of those because the Chemists are not in at any of the pharmacies in town. Seriously, none of them in Lambeth are in. I wish I was back in America where CVS was open all the time. Ugh.

Also, Ryman's is closed but that isn't a big deal. Oh, Ryman's is a place where you can get all your paper needs so Nekol and I are going to walk over there and then to Boots on Lower Marsh: paper and meds.

School starts tomorrow! I'm so excited for that! My first class is at 4 and goes until 6: Renaissance Literature. It's just an introduction day, we don't have any readings for that class due until next week, which I am ok with. I'm still trying to get into the swing of things with school, I'm hoping this week of introductions will kick start my academia adrenaline. Right now I'm just excited to go to school but I now have to get excited to be -doing- school. Two completely different things.

Other than that, it's been a pretty slow day.

Except, I just ate a turkey and mustard sandwhich that I made with Coleman's mustard...my sinuses feel like they're on fire. Eep.

Other than my face melting off from mustard, that's about it!

<3,
Dre

London's Burning

2009-10-10T11:41:00.000-05:00

Friday was pretty uneventful. Nekol and I went to the last bit of Orientation which was 30 minutes of information that could have been given to us on Monday just to finish it all at the same time and pretty much nothing for the rest of the day. Well, I was supposed to go on a Thames boat party for the Study Abroad and Exchange Students but I had misplaced my invite so Nekol went by herself. I stayed back at International House and chatted with friends and family back home.

Things went pretty smoothly until about 4 am. I was just about to drift off to sleep, finished fighting with VuReel to watch Bones, and the fire alarm went off. A noise I never had heard before jerked me out of my bed and had me running for the door to look out into the hallway. I slipped on shoes, grabbed my robe, phone, and room key before bolting down the stairs. It was complete RA mode, I was the first one out the door waiting for everyone else, looking for Nekol. All my friends and I stood outside for five minutes before seeing a fire engine come our way and then another fifteen before being told it was alright for us to go back inside.

I promptly went to bed because I had to be up at nine to leave by ten on Saturday. Nekol and I tried to go to the British Library but it's on the other side of Zone 1 and TFL lied about Victoria Line being in "good service." The VL was completely shut down, seriously. I was rather miffed. Anyways, so by the time the tube is about to go past our stop, Nekol reminds me that we're meeting a study abroad friend in an hour to go through the London Dungeon. We decide to skip the British Library today and to do it Tuesday or Wednesday to go get books for our Contemporary British Writers class because no other library has our books.

So Nekol and I grab lunch near London Bridge station and wait till about noon to head towards London Dungeon. London Tombs is right across the way but they were doing so much on street propaganda that Nekol and I were wary about actually going in there; that and apparently people get really close into your face and neither of us felt like dealing with that today.

We waited in line for 45 minutes before getting to go in, all the time we called our SA friend but he never answered. Oh well, he missed out. So it's about 20 quid to go in with your student ID, which Nekol and I flashed, before heading through the tour. London Dungeon Tour Guides recount the gory past of England: the black plague, the London fire, Jack the Ripper, torturing, surgery, and Sweeney Todd. All with a small scary boat ride and a small drop at the gallows. It was entertaining and Nekol and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

When we got out we decided to head back home because we planned on going to The Globe tonight to see the last show of Love's Labour's Lost. Unfortunately, when we got home, we found that all the tickets were sold. I decided to go ahead and have Nekol book us tickets to see We Will Rock You this Thursday at the Dominion Theatre near Tottenham Court. I think that'll be much more fun and Nekol and I can still go on a tour of the Globe Theatre.

Anyways, it's been a long day, seeing as how I really only got a nap this morning. It's been a slow couple of days but things will be picking up shortly soon enough.

<3,
Dre

Roasted Beer Chicken and Foam Cannons

2009-10-09T11:41:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I turned 21 and let me just say, it was the best birthday I have ever had. Normally, my birthdays turn out quite bad but I'm not here to bore you the details with birthdays past; this post is about my birthday yesterday and how much fun my friends and I had.

The day started out with the weather. I know this is a weird way of starting off the good things that happened on my birthday but it had been raining and cold the previous two days and yesterday the sun came out and shone brilliantly. With that I headed out to St Paul's Station to meet my scavenger group. Well, the fifth girl of our team still didn't show up and so we decided to say, "Forget her, we can do this ourselves," and carried on our merry way. We talked and learned a lot about each other. It was really nice just to be able to meet new people from different places other than America.

And after that I had advising and got all the classes I wanted. I am now taking three of my four classes with Nekol and I have Wednesdays and Fridays off. I wish I could have Mondays off but I like having a break between Tuesday and Thursday...kind of nice. I was in and out of advising in no time, my advisor was really impressed with being precise on what I wanted. I was just thinking my advisors back home would've killed me if I hadn't been prepared.

By the time I get home I've received three Hallmark e-cards from family members, a couple of e-mails, and more than several birthday wishes on Facebook. It's hard being away from friends and family on such occasions as your birthday but with the sheer amount of happy birthday wishes, it felt like my friends were all with me. Every birthday wish brightened up my day that much more.

Around this time it's about dinner time and my floormates have roasted two chickens that they stuck on beer cans (interesting but it tasted wonderful), potatoes, salad, strawberry jelly, and for dessert a chocolate pie that they served as my birthday cake. Well, when they got to the cake they turned out the lights and lit a candle and sang happy birthday to me. It made me cry it was so touching. I didn't even know what was going on until they lit the candles.

After dinner Nekol's floor and I went to a club called seONE near London Bridge station. They had foam cannons that were aimed towards the dance floor so it shot bubbly foam out every once in a while, there was an inflatable boxing arena where Hannah took out Darren with a single punch, and the music was absolutely wonderful. It was nice to just go out and dance to celebrate. I haven't been dancing in a while and if there's something you should know about me...I love to dance.

We danced until the wee hours of the morning (three am) before taking two private cars back home. Remember, black taxis or cars from firms you know are the only way to get around London if you are not taking tube or bus. Once home, I hugged everyone, took a shower to get clean from all the foam, and went to bed with a smile on my face.

I believed yesterday and still believe today that it was the best birthday I could have ever had.

<3,
Dre

Brellies and Books

2009-10-07T19:27:00.000-05:00

So today has been...interesting?

This morning Nekol and I had to wake up earlier than we had originally planned because maintenance men were supposed to be coming around to all the rooms in the building to check fire alarms to make sure they worked. Well, the paper said the checks would be starting at 10 am and going throughout the day. So even though we woke up at 9:30 the gentlemen didn't come around until about 12:30 or so. Not complaining...just would have liked to been able to sleep till eleven.

Today was Nekol's first day to relax (mine being yesterday) and all she did was watch movies on her iTunes and toodled around her room. The internet in the building went on the fritz a little bit before noon and Nekol can't even sign onto her internet now. The internet is connecting but she can't log into KeySurf to actually look at websites. We believe someone just doesn't want her to watch Desperate Housewives.

I went to Baker St station to meet up with my scavenger group that was predetermined by the University. We were supposed to meet up at 1 so we could go ahead and do the photo scavenger hunt but one of the girls didn't show. So after politely waiting for 35 minutes past, the other three girls and I headed to Starbucks where we all got something and went downstairs to chat.

This is something else I am having to get used to while here in England. They have seating downstairs. Where I live, the water table is so high that you can dig three feet and two and a half of it will be filled with water. Also, here you can have dine in drinks at Starbucks and they give you mugs to drink out of. Save the world and all that with less cardboard.

The girls and I chatted for about an hour and we talked about Halloween, Guy Fawkes Day, traveling, Germany, Japan, and several other things that are fleeing from my mind at this instant. However, it was a wonderful talk and I feel like I got to know my group a lot better doing this than going on a scavenger hunt. We did, however, plan to meet early tomorrow morning to try and do the scavenger hunt again. If the girl does not show up then we will do the hunt without her and turn in what we can. I doubt we'll be contenders for the final prize for a weekend getaway to some exotic UK destination but hey, at least we tried and we weren't quitters.

After we disbanded when finished with coffee, I called Nekol and told her to meet me up at the New Cavendish campus and we would buy our textbooks from that bookstore. I got to the campus in no time at all and went ahead to look in the bookstore since I didn't see Nekol around. I looked in the rather tiny space and came across The Anthology of English Lit Vol 1 and 2. I needed a Vol B and not a Vol 2. I could understand if she called it the same thing but I flipped through the 2nd edition and it was much later in the time period than what we were studying so I flipped through Vol 1 and it's what we would be studying so I was rather confused. I had a lady look on the computer and she said 1 and 2 were all she had record of. I thanked her for her time and headed to sit down and wait for Nekol.

I waited for Nekol for a little over 30 minutes before heading over to the Polytechnic building thinking she had just skipped coming to New Cavendish. I called her before I left and it rang before cutting off; I was rather confused by this and called her a couple of more times and it wouldn't connect at all. I thought maybe Nekol has turned off her phone and is already in the library. I head over to the library and spend a while in there before realizing how late it is and going back to the entrance of the Polytechnic building to talk to Nekol.

Actually getting ahold of Nekol this time around, she told me she was at the New Cavendish Campus (NCC) and was looking around the bookstore. I started heading back but was rather engrossed in setting up my free voicemail to make it sound like my voice since, as the kind lady automated voice told me, people would be more likely to leave a voicemail if they heard my name. So while I was setting up my voicemail I turned down a street too early and veered away from NCC and was heading towards Tottenham Court. Realizing, after ten minutes, that I had gone the wrong way I pulled out my subway to see that I was heading south and just turned around to head back to my original location. I was then back at NCC soon after that and Nekol recounted to me what took her so long.

Before I continue on, if you have a tube map available...you should get it, it'll make a lot more sense and you may even laugh.

We live near Lambeth North Station which is about five stops from Baker Street which you can jump onto eastbound Circle line to get to Great Portland Street which is near the NCC. Now, instead of doing this easy twenty minute ride, Nekol decides to get off at Embankment, two stops too early, and to ride the Circle line all the way to Great Portland Street. She spends almost forty minutes on the tube, even managing to strike up an in depth conversation with a fellow American named Bobby. Even now, as she watches me type this, she tries to rationale how what she did was alright and justified. I'm not saying how she road the tube was wrong...I'm just saying I can't help but laugh.

Well once caught up we went back to the Polytechnic building to check out books from the library. I pulled maybe 10 books off the shelves and found out that I had pulled about 7 reference books, oops. I kind of don't pay attention sometimes. Anyways, it was after five when we were leaving the building so we had to use self check out machines to check out our books. Another new fandangle contraption for Nekol and I to figure out. Apparently, you open the front flap to reveal a barcode, slide the spine of the book into the v shaped holder and slide it all the way to the end, under a red barcode reader light, till it hits the back of the holder before pulling it off the holder. It took me several tries to figure this out but soon I did it and was rather proud of myself.

Nekol and I then left and walked the half mile to the tube station in near torrential rain. Normally I exaggerate about the weather but not when it comes to this...honestly. We get down into the tube and are thankful, for once, that the tube is so hot compared to outside. Getting onto the train, we head back to Lambeth North station. We don't head straight home though, oh no, we head up to Lower Marsh street to go shopping at the Iceland I found earlier.

It's actually quite nice having a nifty little convenience grocery store so close. Iceland isn't as expansive as Tesco, Asda, or Sainsburys but it does well with what we needed and the deals were rather nice too. Nekol got three frozen dinners for 5lb. When we were through with all that, we checked out and walked back home only to realize we still needed silverware so we will be hitting up a Tesco or so soon enough.

That was pretty much our day but I have something else to say before I end this post....

Today is my birthday.

I am 21.

I. Am. So. Excited.

I can't wait to tell you about my birthday day!

<3,
Dre

Did she say...John Barrowman?

2009-10-07T04:37:00.002-05:00

Edit: Apparently I hit something wonky and it posted way before I had intended.

Yesterday was nothing short of wonderful.

I walked around our neighborhood and went over into the Waterloo area where I came upon the Old Vic and the Young Vic. The Old Vic is playing Inherit the Wind with Kevin Spacey and the Young Vic is playing Annie Get Your Gun with people of whom I've never heard. I came upon a bookshop called The Theatre Bookshop and immediately went in and looked around. They didn't have many books but they did have a discount table where I picked up a book, The Malice Box by Martin Langfield, and bought for only 50p. I continued to walk around just taking in the area and saw several cute cafes, restaurants, stores, and pubs. I think I love my area a lot more now.

After that Nekol and I headed over to the Regent Campus' library to see if they had any of the books she would need for school while I tried to figure out how to log onto their computers and how to figure out a computer keyboard. An English keyboard is a bit different than an American keyboard; for instance, their @ sign is attached to their apostrophe key instead of their number two which is something completely different. I had to sit there for a while and try to figure out where it was. I even went so far as to pick up the keyboard to look at it evenly. After a while, I had located the @ key and then had to get used to how spaced apart all the keys are. Odd.

Then Nekol and I went to eat dinner at this Italian restaurant I couldn't tell you the name of even if I tried. It's symbol is the olive and I believe they're a chain but the food was fantastic and our server was wonderful and nice. Honestly, I don't think Nekol and I could have done better with dinner that night. It was pretty much perfect.

After that we headed over to the Playhouse Theatre to go see La Cage Aux Folles. To be honest, we mainly went for John Barrowman playing the part as the Transvestite gay Albin. However, as soon as the show started, we were laughing and thoroughly enjoying ourselves, even when John wasn't onstage. Overall it was one of the most amazing shows I've seen in a while. If you get a chance to see La Cage Aux Folles in New York or wherever, and it is done well, I suggest you go.

Back to John Barrowman though. Nekol and I waited outside the Stage Door with everyone else to get his autograph and pictures of him. A lady in front of us told us not to bet on the french moving out of our way. And they didn't, even after they had gotten signatures...seriously ladies? Move it. Anyways, I was able to hand him my ticket stub and tell him I thought he had performed wonderfully and he sincerely thanked me, telling me it meant a lot to him. He's just as beautiful and sweet in person as he is on t.v. I am a very happy woman.

They said they don't coddle...

2009-10-06T06:59:00.000-05:00

So I apologize about not posting yesterday but I was just out of it from sitting in hot rooms for three hours for orientation. We received our Westminster ID's, which I am very thankful for, but everything else seemed like overkill. All the information they gave thus could've been neatly wrapped up in an e-mail to us instead of wasting all the paper they did.

The Study Abroad and Education (SAE) coordinator kept telling the group, when we were talking about classes, that in Britain they don't coddle their students and that we have to think for ourselves and do things for ourselves. Reading assignments aren't clearly given, we aren't reminded of turn in dates, or anything along those lines. I don't mind not being reminded about turn-in dates, that's what a syllabus is for but if further reading besides the ones on the syllabus aren't clearly given then how am I supposed to learn? I know I'm supposed to figure things out for myself but right now I'm thinking this is just setting people up to fall on their faces.

And after repeatedly being told we weren't going to be coddled, groups were forced together to do a Scavenger hunt. Seriously? A lot of people don't like forced group situations, it isn't fun because you're not meeting people on your own terms. I understand this pushes us out of our comfort zone to get to know people we wouldn't normally get to know but honestly I would prefer to go up to someone and talk to them about stuff when it is on my own time and not some one else's prerogative.

After all that nonsense, Nekol, Ashley from Green Bay, and I went shopping at M&S to find cheap gathering of plates and to buy food. Shopping was easy enough but carrying the bags back to Bond St station from the store and then from Lambeth North was not fun. Today I'm walking to Sainsbury's to try and see if the little over a mile walk would be much easier on us.

Later today we're heading to Regent Campus to check out the bookstore and library before tonight when we are going to try and get rush tickets to La Cage Aux Folles. I am more than excited about this because John Barrowman is in it! Yay!

Sorry for being a debbie downer, I'm hoping to have a better post later tonight!

<3,
Dre

Kensington Palace and Camera Farewell

2009-10-04T19:19:00.000-05:00

So today was...interesting.

I didn't plan on waking up until eleven since Nekol and I had decided we weren't going to leave until around noon except for some odd reason I kept waking up every hour on the hour so at ten I was finished with the crazy routine and got up. I was able to talk to my parents and my best guy friend online while getting ready to go out to see Kensington Palace. It was nice to just take the morning leisurely.

Soon enough it was time to leave; Nekol and I headed over to the tube station and quickly got on the Bakerloo line. We were the only ones in our car, it was kind of cool and weird at the same time. Nekol took some video of us being alone and I got a photo of the practically empty car but at our next stop several people got on. We soon reached our destination, after a quick line change along the way, and were walking towards Kensington Palace.

I'm pretty much a fish out of water when it comes to finding my way around above ground but luckily there were charming street signs that pointed the way to the Palace. Nekol and I were there about twelve minutes before one, the designated meeting time, and waiting with another one of our Study Abroad group members for the rest of the group. We finally managed to all get together at about half past, after people decided to stop being lost, and went on our tour of Kensington Palace.

There were two wonderful exhibits besides the Palace itself. One was of Princess Diana's dresses, well at least a few of them, and the other was several rooms dedicated to The Last Debutantes. Now, I wasn't too fond of TLD since it was kind of boring up until a room solely dedicated to several dresses worn by the last Debs and an Etiquette room. That's right, a room that showed the proper way to accept and decline an invitation, the proper way to curtsey, how to keep a straight posture while walking, and how to waltz. There was a video of a woman teaching how to curtsey properly, and not ballet curtsey either, while there was a mirror under the video so that one could watch themselves curtsey. There were also footsteps on the floor so that one could learn how to waltz. It was all very fun, hands on, and wonderful.

The day was going amazingly until I got to a large, long room with a gorgeous ceiling painting like so many of the previous rooms. I was taking a picture but before I knew it, my camera was falling down onto the floor with a hard crashing sound. I couldn't pick up my camera I was so stunned, Nekol picked it up for me and I saw that there was a crack in part of the camera that pretty much totaled my camera. I could've sat down and cried right there. Over the first three days I was here I took over 500 photos and now the extension of my arm had been destroyed. I couldn't even focus on the rest of the four rooms of the tour and just walked through them listlessly before ending my tour.

Once I swallowed my big girl pill and got over it, I was back with the rest of the group and we all decided to go eat lunch together. We picked a Chinese restaurant and everyone sat at the table, happy as can be. Nekol and I are trying to conserve money and so we're halfing meals because neither of us eats a lot and it should be cheaper for us. Unfortunately there seems to be a horrible trend in restaurants; you seemingly cannot split a bill here. Nekol and I have had to pay equal amounts for our food whenever we go out to eat with big groups and it's getting rather irritating that we're paying more than necessary. Other than that, the food was fantastic. I had Chicken with Cashews for the first tome today and they were rather nice as was the green tea we ordered.

After eating, the group went over to Primark where extra large body towels are seven pounds and four face towels are only two pounds. Of course, this place reminds me of Black Friday but where everyone is nice and not shoving for things...otherwise it seems like general mayhem. It was hard to breathe and move through the general mass of people but Nekol and I managed to do it in a timely manner...up until the check out line. This line snakes once and then wraps around the side of the checker area. I think we waited in line for about ten minutes before being checked out. I think I'm going to try and avoid Primark if at all possible.

Nekol and I had our towels but we still need laundry detergent so we look around for a Boots hoping th kitchy at they would have some. We find one and they do not have any, we slip into M&S to see if they have any plates but unfortunately by the time we get to their plates, the store was closed. Apparently the stores close at six on the dot around here in London...interesting. So Nekol and I head out to go to the tube station to head home.

While walking home, we pass by a convenience store and crane our necks to look inside hoping to spot some laundry detergent but of course we assume that there is none because this place is the size of a shoebox. Well there is also a Wine and Food on the way home, I push Nekol into the store and tell her there is no harm in looking. Sure enough, when we turn the corner in the store there are several shelves dedicated to laundry detergent. We are excited and, after paying, leave the store victoriously.

Quickly after getting back home, we find out that there is a "get to know each other" party down at Marleybone's student union bar so Nekol and I head down there with a couple of mates to check it out. We walk in and I am immediately confused, it looks like the bar and sitting area should belong in the lounge section of a club. The music is up really loud and everyone is having to yell above the din just to introduce one another. Nekol and I spot one of her other floormates and head on over but the two of us don't stay over an hour at this place because we were expecting a relaxed atmosphere where we would be able to get to know our new classmates. Tell us the scenario and we will be ready, a pub is different from a bar is different from a club.

We grabbed a quick bite to eat from McDonald's, which is not different from American McDonald's it seems really, before heading home. Once finished with laundry, after only one mishap with the dryer not really drying our clothes because the lent trap was loaded, we now sit in our seperate rooms getting ready for bed. Can I also add that there seems to be a hardcore party happening somewhere around this complex but I just can't locate it? Oh well, c'est la vie.

Monday is the beginning of Orientation and hopefully Nekol and I will be able to go to London Dungeon. We shall see.

Much love,
Dre

First several days in London!

2009-10-03T19:45:00.000-05:00

Well the hotel we stayed at was lovely except that it had very limited internet access for thos of us who didn't want to pay several pounds for "unlimited" internet. My Skype and Entourage were the only applications that worked the three days we stayed at the Sherlock Holmes...so I apologize for not keeping up with my tales but here they go!

First Day in London:

It was an absolutely FULL day, to be honest. Nekol, Claire, Ashley, and I all met up at the airport gate and talked until it was time to board. Our flight was delayed due to mechanical issues which was kind of disappointing but really, what can you do? We landed at Heathrow around 7:30 London time and it took us OVER an hour to get through immigration, and that was all standing in line. They didn’t even ask to see our papers of all things, just our passports. Anyways, we get to the train about 9 to get to Paddington station because Heathrow is on the opposite side of London. Oh and yes, Paddington like Paddington the Bear...I never made the connection until now.

We get to the hotel around ten and store our bags because our rooms won’t be ready until two...none of us slept really on the plane like at all so we’re all exhausted and we can’t just sit around waiting for the other half of the group to arrive. We then head off to the nearest Starbucks and then begin walking to just explore. We passed by many things, the Marleybone campus and housing for University of Westminster, Madame Tussauds, and various other fun things.

Finally, we see a sign for Regent Park and decided to walk through and it is MASSIVE. A ton of acres to say the least. I forget the actual number. We were barely able to walk through a tiny portion before we had to come back to meet the group. Anyways, met the group and went and bought mobiles before having lunch then nap time (oh God sleeping for an hour and a half never felt so good). Then we met up around five and walked around the river Thames near Southbank (Parliament and London Eye to name a few of known sights), saw Westminster Abbey, meandered, went through Trafalgar Square, and then ate at a very nice pizza fine dining restaurant. It was absolutely wonderful. My feet hurt like crazy but I took over 180 photos and that was from a very short day.

Second Day of London:

The morning started at 8:20 because Nekol and I snoozed until then. We were then up and getting ready and down to breakfast within an hour. Breakfast is included with the room, wonderfully enough, and so I had English Breakfast tea with my continental breakfast, which mainly subsisted of fruit, cheese, and yogurt. I honestly don’t know how people don’t die of dehydration; all “refills” are charged and water is not free, whether it be still or sparkling.

Today was a hop on and off bus tour where we road on a double decker, with an open top. We saw all sorts of sights! Big Ben, Parliament, the Eye of London, Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square, The Marble Arch, The London Bridge, The Tower Bridge, The Tower of London, London Tower (we saw both), Hard Rock Café (which started in London when Eric Clapton placed his guitar on the wall above where he sat), St Paul’s Cathedral (when building St Paul’s Cathedral they took money from St Peter and Westminster Church (Westminster abbey) to pay for the Cathedral...thus where we get Robbing Peter to pay Paul), the bridge and building used in the beginning of Harry Potter VI (the ones where the Dementors tear them up...no I did not go into the building or onto the bridge, mom), Buckingham Palace, Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, Regent Campus of UofW, several awesome theatres, The Texas Embassy (which was put there when Texas was a country and is now a cantina and bbq restaurant), The Ritz Hotel, St Thomas’ Hospital (which was originally called Nightingale Hospital because that’s where Florence Nightingale did most of her work), and a few other places.

We ate lunch in Harrods. I thought it was going to be a Macy’s with both high and low end merchandise but none of this stuff could even be closely called low end. The lowest price would possibly be DKNY and that was next to Marc Jacobs...yeah, I know. I had a chicken tikka wrap; tikka is a type of Indian sauce that is rather spicy, I had to trade food with someone because I couldn’t stand it...Indian Spicy is a whole other kind of spicy.

After lunch a separate group of us went on the River Thames boat tour which wasn’t all that grand...we had seen everything before already. It was just nice to sit on a boat and just go along the river at sunset.

We had dinner at a place called Giraffe which is a fun little restaurant where I had cheddar and bbq chicken quesadillas; they were absolutely wonderful! I have been drinking a lot of coke recently because I can’t stand sparkling water and I won’t be able to afford coke once our Study Abroad coordinator isn’t having the school front the bill anymore. After that, the students hit up a pub in Picadilly Circus just to go out for a bit. We weren’t even there that long because someone said the tube closed at 11 so we left soon before then except when we got back to Baker St it was after 11 and there were still people heading down into the tube. Oh well.

So that was it for my day. Tomorrow we are heading to Bath bright and early!

Third Day of London:

Today started even earlier than yesterday; Nicole and I were out of bed by 7:05 to be down to breakfast by eight. Again I had my English Breakfast tea, I think I’ll miss having hot tea every morning out of a proper tea pot and cup. I’d buy my own but I think that’d be a tad bit difficult to bring it back to the states. Susan Layne paid for a van/tour guide to take us all the way to Bath and since it’s a two plus hour drive, we left around nine in the morning. Traffic in London is absolutely ridiculous, I have yet to see anything like this –ever.- I would never own a car in London proper if I could help it.

We drove into Bath, all of the group (save the driver) fell asleep on the way there. The rolling country side was beautiful yet lulled us into a sleep that had us energetic for Bath. We went into the Roman Bath and meandered around for two hours taking photos. I am pretty sure over half of my 200+ photos today were from the Roman Bath. Nicole, Harrison, and I went through the crypt of the Bath Abbey, which wasn’t all that extensive, and I got one or two good shots from there. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to go to the Fashion Museum but what was awesome is we were able to go to Avesbury. Avesbury is a henge of stone just like Stone Henge but it’s not fenced off like Stone Henge and there aren’t a bajillion people swarming the area. We walked amongst the stones and there were sheep and I got some fantastic photos.

For dinner we ate at Pret a Manger, well technically we grabbed sandwiches and came back to our rooms because we were so absolutely tired from being on the van for a long time. Right now Nicole and I are sitting in bed watching the videos she took and looking at the photos I took.

Moving In:

Today we moved into our housing for the semester! Yaaay! However, there were a few other things that happened.

The group walked to see the Regent and Cavendish campuses because that's where most people are taking their classes and orientation is at Cavendish. After all this we head over to Edgeware to go shop at Argos. Well, when the car arrived in the tube, the group assumed everyone had gotten on and were just talking. All of a sudden a girl gasps and says if our study abroad coordinator and another girl, who are looking at the tube map, are going to get on. I yell both of their names and the girl HOPS onto the car like you wouldn't believe. The door of the car closed in the face of the study abroad coordinator. We road the tube all the way to Edgeware and just waited for our SAC to arrive. When she had arrived, we gathered ourselves and headed on to Argos to shop for bedding.

Now, I'm used to being able to see what you're about to buy and walking amongst aisles of things. This is not so for Argos. Not knowing what you're looking at, while looking into the store face one would think they were looking into a very tiny electronics store. However, upon entering the shop, we realized that you walk over to catalogues and write down the serial number of the things you want to buy. Well, Nekol and I head over to the books and settle on a pair of plain dyed sheets. If we're only sleeping on them for three months, why waste a pretty pence?

When I got up to the register the man kindly told me they were out of black plain dyed sheets. I literally said, quite loudly, "Oh crap!" And looked at him to kindly ask what other colors were available. Cherry (red) was still available so I look at Nekol, who had put down wanting Cherry sheets, and then to the man and told him I would take Cherry. I hear Nekol from behind me, "If those are the only Cherry sheets left I am going to beat you to death."

Well apparently as I walked away and Nekol walked up to the counter, the man behind the register nervously told Nekol that I had bought the last red sheets. I hear from across the store, "Dre, I'm going to beat you!" I come back and tell Nekol to just get me the Chocolate (dark brown) sheets and I'll suck it up. Turns out they don't look too terribly bad with my duvet cover...then again that's just putting sheets against each other...they aren't on my bed yet.

Anyways, we all go out to lunch and then head back to the hotel where we await our cars to take us to our residence halls. Nekol and I head on out around two and get to Lambeth soon after. Since then it has been absolutely smooth sailing: we met our floor mates (floors 2 and 3), gotten mostly settled in, gone out to dinner in Picadilly Circus at Garfunkels, gone out to a pub (did not drink, watched others do so), and then come home to just relax...It was an eventful long day that is quickly coming to a close.

Tomorrow, Nekol and I will meet up with the US school group to go to Kensington Palace and then Nekol, Harrison, and I are heading to London Dungeon! Fun!

Love,
Dre

Today is the Day

2009-09-29T11:15:00.000-05:00

We leave today! In just a few short hours I will be on a plane heading to London, England. All the planning is coming together quite nicely, I just need the package to stay wrapped and not fall apart in my lap. Yay gift analogy.

So packing wasn't all bad...at the beginning. I found out that Continental has changed the weight allowance of checked bags from 70 lbs to 50 lbs. Umm...what? I understand that I have to cut down how many clothes I bring but just 50 lbs worth of stuff? Uh uh, no way...Well, I decided to just suck it up and pack what I wanted because A) I'm not dealing with 2 large bags in a London airport and B) It's 50 dollars I'd have to pay anyways for a second bag. (Addendum...apparently we get two bags free...yeah, I'm still going with A on this.)

I'm all packed and ready to go...except this morning when I woke up (an hour before my alarm) and decided to put in a couple more things I remembered that I didn't remember where my computer adaptors were. This would be easily solved if I could talk to my mom, who had been lovely and helped me pack, except she's at work and can't get to the phone...Teachers should be allowed to answer their cellphones even during testing, just saying.

Anyways, so I call her cellphone. No answer. I call the school and the secretary tells me that my mom's in testing so she has to talk to the Principal to make sure it's ok to go bother my mom during testing. I wait on hold for...three minutes and twenty seconds before getting back to. During this waiting period, I put my hands down on the bed to help brace myself to the tears about to start because man am I exhausted when...what do you know? I feel two irregular bumps in my otherwise empty computer bag. I open a zipped pocket I didn't even know existed and low and behold, my computer adaptors for UK and Continental Europe...

I sheepishly tell the secretary that she doesn't need to bother my mother, apologize for the inconvenience, and hang up...Man do I feel silly.

I believe that's enough excitement for one day right?

Right.

I leave shortly now to go eat lunch and then go off to the airport. I sincerely hope customs is quick and painless, it always is whenever I go into Canada...just not coming back. Sometimes American customs makes me feel bad for leaving and buying things in another country. Really, if you don't know what I mean then either you're lucky or you've never left the country.

Well I hope to post as soon as I get into London!

Love you all,
<3,
Dre

In A Short Fortnight...

2009-09-15T21:04:00.002-05:00

I feel so posh that I was able to use fortnight in a sentence. Smiles abound that is!

So I was talking to a friend, whose house I shall be sitting in for the next six days, about the anxieties of leaving to go somewhere: holiday or otherwise. There are so many phone calls to make, things to remember to pack, stuff to buy, people to see, business to square away, and many other tidbits that seem to require being done before leaving; things seem to pop up more especially when you're leaving the country.

Now you can always leave and not worry about all those things but this isn't one of those situations. I haven't really been that kind of person ever, honestly. I would love to be able to just pack things up and run off wherever but I hate leaving loose ends. Having a clean plate, conscious, and just overall attitude just makes for a more enjoyable time when abroad.

But back to the fact that I only have a fortnight left before I will be leaving to go to England, I am BEYOND excited because six of those days will be spent housesitting for a friend, then a baseball game, then out of state for a bit, and then two days to pack, and BAM flying out of the country! These next two weeks will fly past, of this I am sure.

Well back to packing!

<3,

Dre

A Gift (or two!)

2009-09-08T10:20:00.002-05:00

I'm rather excited for today. I am somewhat home.

I'm actually near my school's campus which I haven't been near since last May. Studying abroad means I don't have to come to school so I have been living at "home" all this summer with the family. So it's kind of invigorating to navigate the streets I know so well and to see the people I love so much.

Really I'm here for other reasons than just pleasure. I can't go anywhere and not have some agenda planned, a downfall of mine I'm sure. Anyways, today I have a study abroad meeting to square away some credits that I will be receiving while studying abroad in England. However, that's not the most fun part of today!

A young woman is kindly giving me her hair dryer and straightener for free. Not only are they for free and hair appliances, they are hair appliances than can be used in England....I'll let this sink in for a second or two.

I KNOW, RIGHT?!?!

Ok I can't be the only one supercharged about free, English hair appliances. Oh well, I'm off soon to go get those from her and do a few other errands while I'm in town.

3 weeks as of today, btw!

<3,

Dre

Quick Jaunt About

2009-09-07T00:54:00.002-05:00

Heading back to school so that I can make a Study Abroad appointment on Tuesday. I'm wanting a Cultural Awareness credit and I forgot to make the meeting during finals week; in my defense, I was rather busy with helping check outs, putting lofting kits up, and studying for finals. Anyways, this also gives me a good chance of paying my fees for my sorority and getting to see a few friends before I bid them adieu and head off to London.

Can't be silly and not say goodbye.

<3,

Dre

Getting antsy

2009-08-31T23:21:00.002-05:00

One of my friends is leaving for Italy tomorrow and I am so envious of her. I don't leave for England for another 28 days and it's starting to get to me...You know that antsy feeling you get. That feeling that makes your leg start to bounce up and down at the table. Your nails start to drum on the counter top. Your lower lip becomes riddled with teeth marks because you've been chewing on it a lot, deep in thought.

No? That's just me?

Figures.

I bought power adaptor plug ins for my laptop so that I could go to the UK and Continental Europe and still be able to get on my laptop. Buying these have started the chain reaction of events that will make the next four weeks really short...and by really short, I mean it. I am visiting school next week. I'm house sitting the week after. Packing the week after that. It's just all events that are going to make things go by much faster (thankfully.)

Doesn't make me any less antsy.

<3,

Dre

Planning, per usual

2009-08-25T10:28:00.002-05:00

This entire summer I've been looking up places to go, eat, and visit while I'm overseas in England. I like being spontaneous but it better be planned spontaneity and, yes, I do believe that can happen. Anyways, I also like knowing of places to go. I'm sure whenever I get to England there will be friends I make over there who will offer ideas of places to go but I'd also like to take trips with just my bestie, Nekol.

Of course, we won't -just- be staying in England. Oh no, we have very much planed to go to France, Scotland, and Ireland at least once; what is the point of going to Great Britain if you aren't exploring all of Great Britain? (France isn't a part of GB, I know, shhsh, was making a point.)

Since Nekol and I will be over in England during the Fall Semester, that means we're missing out on one of our favorite holidays Stateside: Halloween. So, I've been looking up different places where we could go to celebrate Halloween. We were rather intent on visiting Scotland for Halloween because of the saying I heard; in Scotland, instead of saying "Trick or Treat" the children say, "The sky is blue. The grass is green. May we have our Halloween?" I thought that was so exciting and neat that I started looking for places to celebrate Halloween in Scotland; there are disappointingly very few places in Scotland that celebrate Halloween with the intensity Nekol and I were looking for.

Then I started thinking, the Halloween I know so well originated in Ireland. Yes other countries have such traditions, I've seen the Pumpkin Tree, but the carving of Jack o' Lanterns and the Halloween that Americans celebrate (the trick or treating mainly) is closer to that of our Irish neighbors. So I started to research Halloween in Ireland. Now, when you search for Halloween in either Scotland or Ireland, you have to wade through many pages of "traditions and folk lore" because just one page wouldn't be enough. Eventually I found a page worth looking at: Derry Halloween Festival.

They haven't put up much for this year but in years past there has been live music, games, fireworks, and many other things to do. I remember a school I went to always had a Halloween Carnival and this definitely reminds me of all the cool things we were able to do. I'm still looking and plans can change once we're overseas and someone has a better idea but for right now I'm going to keep investigating Derry's Halloween Festival.

<3,

Dre

Isn't this MY trip to England?

2009-08-17T00:19:00.004-05:00

Going abroad gets closer and closer everyday. I'm absolutely thrilled about going and I can't stop thinking of all the places I want to go. There are so many cool places in London and cities in England that I would die happy to visit. Like getting to go to Oxford and Cheshire to visit all the places where Lewis Carroll got his imaginings from and where he worked. I mean, I've wanted to visit England since I learned about it and so I have a ton of plans I would love to go through with.

People also seem unable to STOP telling me where to go. I understand that they know of "really cool" places for me to go but this is -my- trip and I'd like to make it the best as possible for me...not to rehash someone else's trip. I was appreciative at first, I really was, and I love hearing stories from other people's adventures.

You do learn from people's mistakes but I'd love to be able to make my own. I don't want to be kidnapped or anything like that but I want to look at a pub, think it's a great place to eat, and find out it's bad. I want to think a small town would be great to visit and then find out it's a tourist trap. I want to go to Scotland for a visit and get caught in the rain. It's all a part of being young and traveling; learning for yourself.

I was talking the other day with my best friend, Nekol, who will be going with me. She has the same feeling as I do about the whole entire thing. It was nice to hear stories and adventures from other people but we're tired of being told, "You have to go here, here, and here! Oh DON'T go here, here, and here." Our trip shouldn't be black and white. Go here and not here. We would like to go wherever we please.

However, if someone wants to tell me a story about how they thought they bought tickets for Shakespeare's Julius Caesar and took some of their class mates to the show and it turned out to be a Burlesque show then by all means tell me. Leave the rest to me.

<3,

Dre

The Final Count Down!

2009-08-16T03:06:00.003-05:00

Well, not really the -final- count down...there are still a ways to go but hey I'm still excited!

Countdown:

6 wks and 2 days

That soon and I'll be on an airplane to England for a semester! I'm so beyond excited I can hardly contain it! What I'm even more excited for are all the pictures, videos, and whatnot that Nekol and I will be posting on here! It'll be a blast!

<3,

Dre