"Just Chug It"

Tuesday was a sad day for me, with the puddle jumping-in-reverse action, but things got a lot better on Wednesday and Thursday for me. Tuesday night I was up kinda late writing a paper for Wednesday afternoon, and so Wednesday morning I woke up and perfected the paper, went to class, and turned it in. After class I had a few hours before we left for a football game, Fulham v Bolton. My first ever football game! I went with Jason and Justin, and on the way we decided to get some beer to drink on the way, since its really expensive in the stadium, and its legal to drink on the streets here. So we stopped at Tesco (think 7/11 with alcohol) and the boys bought a 4-pack of Carling (500mL cans) and I bought a bottle Baumer's hard cider (568mL). So the boys had 1000mL each to drink and I had my one bottle of hard cider to drink. We got out on the street, and realized that my bottle was not a twist-off top, and we didn't have a bottle opener. So we sketchily looked for a way to open it. Jason ended up banging it on the side of a trash can to get it part way open and then we were going to get it the rest of the way open with our keys. We decided that we wouldn't open it all the way until after we got onto the train, so we waited. However, the train was packed with commuters, seriously packed in like sardines. So we decided not to drink until we got off the train, deciding there was enough of a walk to the stadium from the underground station. No problem. We get off the train, and start drinking, and being the dumb American kids who can't drink at home, we think we're hot shit. We take pictures and pass bobbies (cops) and they don't say a thing, and we continue on our merry way. A couple blocks later we see some more bobbies walking towards us on the street. And then they begin to approach us. I began to think that they were going to card us and make sure we were of age, because I had been carded when I bought my cider. This was not the case. We were in the borough of Fulham, and apparently in the borough of Fulham you can not have an open container on the street. They let us know, and we felt really bad, because we had no clue. The cops were really nice about it though, and told us we either had to finish it in front of them right then, or throw it away. We all looked at each other, and I looked at my bottle, which was mostly full, and we were like...uhhh...okkk...then the second bobbie said, "Just chug it." Swear to God, absolutely serious. I looked at him and said, "I know we're Americans, and chugging is kind of our deal, but I'm a small girl." They chuckled and we proceeded to drink as fast as possible in front of the cops. They started talking to us and asked us where we were from and what we're doing at the game and things. I must have charmed them and they must have thought I was a cutie (cause lets be honest, I totally am..ha) cause the second one looked at me and said, "You're struggling a bit, aren't ya." I said yeah, just a little, but I can handle it. They then decided that they didn't want to make us sick, and there was a little park just ahead, and we could duck into the park and quickly and discreetly finish our drinks and then be on our way. It was the coolest thing ever basically.
So then we got to the match, and it was a really great game. Not to mention we were in the 3^rd row! We were soooo close to the match. And I touched the football! It came right at us and I went to catch it, but it wasn’t quite close enough, and I just barely grazed it with my hand, and it landed in the row in front of us. Pretty efffing sweeeeet! It was round three of the Carling Cup, which means that they have to have a winner, no ties allowed! So when regulation was over and it was tied 1-1 there was overtime! It was such an exciting match, the excitement was intoxicating, and it was loads of fun. Fulham ended up losing in the last 7 minutes or so, so that was a little disappointing, but it sure was fun to watch. We were saying "Come on Fulham" in incredibly thick English accents by the end of the night, compliments of the man sitting behind us (who said it once every 2 minutes or so). After the match we came home and told everyone how we were rockstars because we were told by the police to chug our alcohol.

On Thursday the boys (Jason and Justin again) and I went to tour Emirates Stadium, home of Arsenal FC. It was pretty sweet to say the least, and I have loads of pictures. Check out the links at the bottom. And for facebook kids, there is a video as well (eventually). Everyone else, sorry…I’m working on it….Buuuut some more crazy stuff happened to us (read: me) as we were leaving the stadium. We’re walking out, and we have our little gift bags of things we bought, and I see one of them, just hanging out on the sidewalk, as we walk past it I pick it up, cause it looks empty and I figure I may as well throw it away, cause I’m such a good kid and all. I pick it up and notice that it isn’t empty like I thought it was. There was a little book in it….but it was just a complimentary one, like the one we got from the museum tour. But then, I see at the bottom is a little gift box. And then I was like….“Oh, this is someone’s stuff” and as I thought that the car door right in front of us opens and a man in an official-looking Arsenal lanyard leans out. We’re like, is this yours? He says to us, “I think my colleague dropped it, does it have a little gift box in it?” We said yes and I moved to give it back to him, and he waved me off and continued, “The second you picked it up it was yours. Just take it. Hurry up now.” I was flabbergasted (cause I don’t know what’s in it at all) and I was like, are you sure, you can have it back, I just found it. He then said, “Compliments of Arsenal…go on now.” So we left with bag in hand. We waited until we were back on the underground to open it up, and I opened it, and it was a really nice keychain and mini Arsenal shield. Very shiny and wrapped up incredibly well. So it must be rather nice. So I now have this really neat Arsenal thing. And what’s even funnier is that on the way to the stadium I was talking about how I wished I could find a 20 pound note on the ground….this was probably better, but I wouldn’t say no to 20 quid…haha.

Today I’ve done a whole lot of nothing (sorry guys, I hope you don’t think I’m wasting tooo too much of my time over here). I did go to class this morning though! And Jason and I, and Justin too (ironically) have started watching Heroes. We watched the first 2 episodes today. We found a website, called watchheroesonline.com and its got all the episodes….even season 2 already! And tonight a couple of girls and I are going to head out, minus the boys for once. We’ve decided we want to get hit on and not pay for drinks for once (hopefully). If there is one double standard I love, guys buying drinks for girls is the one.

thats all

Cheers!!

p.s. here is the link to pictures... and then the bobbies told us to chug our beer.........

Splish Splash

Yesterday was my first real experience with London rain. It had rained once before, in the evening, and I went out afterwards, but yesterday, I was actually outside when it was raining, making use of my umbrella. We were on our way to class, and just walking along, and there was a giant puddle on the side of the road. We're mostly past it when a giant bus comes along from behind and splashes the dirty street puddle water all over our backs and legs. Not fun. My pants were all wet (and they were khakis too) and dirty and my shoes were beginning to get all wet. A little while later, we're still walking along, and slightly soggy, and there is another even larger puddle. I'm like, that would suck if it happened again. I look down the road, and there is another bus barreling right for that puddle. I yell out to Justin, who is between me and the road, and tried to pull him back from the splash zone. No such luck. The bus sprayed water everywhere. But mostly onto Justin and myself. Now, since Justin was in between me and the street, a large portion of the water missed me and just got him. But I was still pretty well wet. Now Justin, on the other hand was absolutely sopping wet. From his waist down he was dripping. He was like forget this, and turned around and went home to change, and said he would meet us at the museum later (we were having a field trip to the Science Museum later on in class). Ross and myself continued on (Ross didn't get splashed the second time around because he was a couple steps behind me and Justin) even though we were both pretty wet. My pants weren't jeans, so I knew they would dry fairly quickly, and they did, except for below my knees, which didn't really touch me anyhow cause they were baggy pants. The only thing that was miserable for me all morning was my feet. My socks and shoes were drenched and I could feel the water squishing around in there all morning. It sucked. I was leaving mini puddles of water where ever I stopped to look at an exhibit in the museum. And Ross noted that we kinda smelled a little, because the water was so nasty and dirty. It was really a rather disheartening experience.

The museum was pretty cool, we went to have a look at the exhibits from the Industrial Revolution period. Although our professor loves his tangents and decided that he would show us the whole museum and we wound up looking at airplanes for a good half hour. Whatever. Some of us now have to give presentations on something from the Industrial Revolution period that changed how people lived. Me and Alison decided to pick trains and how they standardized
time because if One town was 10 minutes behind another the train could come "early" and they may not be ready, and trains could crash. Which, clearly is no good. And so this led to pocket watches and people having personal timepieces, and gave Greenwich another job in keeping the official time.

After the museum it was back to the flat for lunch and then dashing off again for my second class, British Life and Culture. After class I did a power shopping trip to the grocery store to get just a couple things and then back here to chill out for the rest of the night. I did some work on my politics paper, laundry, made dinner, wasted time, the general things a college kid does. Then it was bed time!

Today I've got nothing to do until my 5pm class, but I have a paper due tomorrow afternoon, so I've got to write that today.
Guess thats all, nothing exciting at all, especially compared to the weekend I just had.

Cheers!

The Best Weekend Ever

A Slice of Life

Late Thursday night Elyse arrived for her weekend in London. Hooray! We stayed up kinda late talking, but I had class in the morning, so I turned in early.
Friday morning I went to class, and afterwards I met Elyse, Angelica and Jason at Buckingham Palace. We walked around and took in the view and found a restaurant to eat in, the Slug and Lettuce. It was really cool, and a rather big chain throughout Southern England. After lunch we took the bus back towards the flat, and got off at the far end of Hyde Park and walked through the park to see it and then through Kensington Gardens and back to the flat. Walking through the parks was the most perfect thing. We strolled and watched people and basically let the world go by. It was like watching the most perfect thing ever, and we had so much fun. As we walked along the Serpentine, we saw this realllly old lady feeding the birds. But they were climbing on her. It was kinda gross, and really all I could think of was, "What if they pooed on her." I said this aloud as some people were walking by, and they thought it was a really amusing thought, and started cracking up. There was one point where a bird got its wing caught in one of the lady's bags, and was just hanging in the air. It was really sad, and we freaked out, and helped the bird get free. It was horrible. And it was just a gross old pigeon but still really hard to see. Anyhow, we freed it and it was fine, and went on to get more bread and live its life. We also played with the birds and chased them and stuff. We continued on to Kensington Gardens and saw the Palace and walked around. There were dozens of dogs running and little school children in their uniforms and people walking and relaxing. It was a beautiful day and 100% perfect. We went to dinner and then afterwards we went to the Imperial College Bar, where drinks are subsidized by the government for college students (super sweet). I decided I wanted an Amaretto Sour....so I ordered one. What I got was not what I ordered. Its totally different here. They gave me Amaretto with Sourz....not sour mix. And for those of you who don't know...Sourz is a sweet flavored liqueur. Amaretto is also a sweet liqueur. So basically I had this drink that was 3 shots alcohol and really sweet. I when I realized what had happened I was not excited to drink it, however, it didn't taste too bad. But I ended up having to drink 3 shots of alcohol and no chaser. It was interesting. However, it didn't make me really drunk surprisingly. Everyone has also figured out a fool-proof way of figuring out how drunk I am, and I must say that I think it works rather well. But I'm not telling what it is, cause it concerns some(or one) of you people who read this.

Bath and Stonehenge

Saturday I woke up early and went on a trip to Stonehenge and Bath. I slept most of the way there, but I stayed awake long enough to hear all the commentary our guide gave us. Stonehenge was awesome. I have pictures galore and videos. And the pictures are already up. There is a link at the bottom of the post. Anyhow, on the video (that is not up cause I'm having issues) I said I would wikipedia Stonehenge for everyone, cause they gave us so much information on it that I couldn't begin to remember it and tell it in a lucid fashion. So if you really want to know, head here to learn more.


Bath is a gorgeous little town with tons of history and the famous Roman Baths. It was really cool, and again tons of pictures are already up and here is a link for info.


I know I'm kinda sucking on this post, but dont worry, cause there are really good captions on the pictures that take care of just about everything.


Defying the Laws of Time and Space

Today, Sunday, me Alison and Angelica went out to Greenwich to see the market and walk up to the observatory and see the Prime Meridian. The markets were really cool. There were parts of it that were very similar to Portobello Road with really neat booths full of clothes, food, and jewlery. And then there were parts of the market that just made you think of garage sales and people just trying to get you to buy all their crap. We then went up to the top of the Royal Observatory. There we had the most amazing view of the skyline and of the grounds surrounding the area. The Queen's Palace in Greenwich was at the bottom of the hill, and the surrounding grounds were once upon a time fox hunting grounds (fox hunting has been outlawed). We also straddled the Prime Meridian and were in two time zones at once, defying the laws of time and space by being in two different times at once. But not really....lol. We then decided it would be a good idea to run down the hill and boy, was it ever. It was like being a little kid again. Sooo much fun. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of it. But it was incredibly fun. We sat on the hill and just looked at the view and people watched, and for the second time this weekend, the weather and life was perfect. It was completely carefree and relaxing and just wonderful. I also log rolled down the hill, to the great amusement of Allie and Angelica. But it was awesome. It kinda sucked when I had grass allllll over me though. Absolutely worth it. For lunch we went to a hole-in-the-wall fish and chips place and ordered fish and chips, they wrapped it up in paper, and shooed us out the door. Probably the most authentic fish and chips you could ask for. And it was greasy and hot and 100% bad for you, and absolutely delicious. We walked around a bit more after eating and then made our way home in the late afternoon. It was a really good day.

Now its around 8:30 and we're going to head to Kav's and show Elyse where we hang out and then its off to bed kinda early cause I have class in the morning. We're going on another field trip tomorrow for history. This time, to the Science Museum. I can't wait!

Defying the Laws of Time and Space
pictures of this weekend

I've been having a lot of problems uploading the videos properly because I can't get enough bandwidth to load them as fast as needed (I think, I don't really know technical things like this).
But I do have one that I managed to get loaded. Hooray! Here it is.

Covent Garden Street Performer

Cheers!

Did you know that "Thriller" is a traditonal British song?

Last night I somehow ended up at Kavanagh's with the majority of the rest of the AU kids. Don't ask me how I got roped into it, cause I have no idea. I went, but decided that I didn't feel like drinking beer, and I'm too cheap to buy a mixed drink. So I just sat and chatted. I talked with Diana's cousin who is in London for a few more days (he's been in Europe the past month as a college graduation present). Some other kids were asking what he was going to do once he went home. Well, John was pretty toasted, and I knew the answer because I had asked him the same question a few days previously. So I proceeded to tell everyone, that he's going home and hanging out until January when he's going to Japan and teaching English to schoolchildren. I then looked at him, and said, I told your life story for you. He gazed at me blearily and asked how I knew that. I said to him, "You told me the other day when we were in the flat. We were standing outside Diana's room." He's really drunk and just has no recollection of this conversation. So I decided it was time to mess with his head. I proceeded to say, "Oh come on you know, we were in the hallway talking, it was right before we made out (never actually happened, no worries guys)." He slapped his hands on the table and gave me an incredulous "Whaaaaaaaaaat!!!!!!!" Of course I let it carry on for a while, and then I finally told him I was just screwing with his head. It took him a while to process this information, as he was pretty drunkers, but eventually he got it. Mannn I had fun with that one. I had everyone else at the table cracking up too. Te he, I played a wee little joke.

Today Kristian and I got up a little early to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. It was really cool, but really, I didn't understand what was going on at all. The guys in the red coats were being replaced by the guys in the black coats, but there was this big ceremony including a band and some horse guards that didn't really have much if any purpose. Eventually the royal band started playing music. And they conjured up some music stands from somewhere, and I was like, uhhh did you get them out of your hats? haha. So they start to play and we expect something like "God Save the Queen" or "Old Britania" or something very traditional, since the whole ceremony is a tradition thing. Oh no, they totally broke it down with none other than Michael Jackson's "Thriller". I kid you not, and I have it on video to prove it. They also played such classics as "Eye of the Tiger" and "Shot Through the Heart." Needless to say it was the last thing I was expecting, and as a result, I got a good laugh out of it.
Any how, I decided that I would Wikipedia the changing of the guard as soon as I got back so I could understand what happened. Here is what wiki has to say:

The Changing of the Guard takes place in the forecourt of Buckingham Palace. The St. James' Palace detachment of the Queen's Guard, led usually by the Corps of Drums, and bearing the Colour (if the Queen is in residence, then this will be the Queen's Colour; if she is not, then it is the Regimental Colour), marches along the Mall to Buckingham Palace, where the Buckingham Palace detachment has formed up to await their arrival. These two detachments are the Old Guard. Meanwhile the New Guard is forming up and are awaiting inspection by the Adjutant on the parade square at Wellington Barracks. The Band, having been inspected by the Adjutant, forms a circle to play music whilst the New Guard is inspected. The Guard provides a full Military Band consisting of no fewer than 35 musicians (usually, though not always, from one of the Guards regiments) accompanied by their Director of Music. When the New Guard is formed up, led by the Band, it marches across into the forecourt of Buckingham Palace. Once there, the New Guard advances towards the Old Guard in slow time and halts. The Old Guard presents arms, followed by the New Guard presenting arms. The Captains of the Guards march towards each other for the handing over of the Palace keys. The new reliefs are marched to the guardrooms of Buckingham Palace and St James' Palace where new sentries are posted.
During this time the Band has taken its place by the centre gate, formed up in a half-circle, where it plays music to entertain the New and Old Guard as well as the watching crowds. During this period, the two regimental colours are paraded up and down by the Ensigns (usually junior officers of 2nd Lieutenant rank or equivalent). With the Old and New Guards formed up once again, the Old Guard and the Band marches out through the centre gates in slow time to their Regimental Slow march played by the Band. At the end of the slow march the Captain of the Old Guard gives the word of command to 'Break into Quick Time' and with a brisk five pace roll from the drums, the Band leads the way back to Wellington Barracks.

And there you have it. See, we all learned something new today!



I also posted more pictures on facebook, in the "Alight here for Buckingham Palace" album. There are new pictures from Abbey Road, Buckingham Palace and the changing of the guard, and also the Thames Festival at the end of the album.

I know you're all interested in seeing the videos I've been taking as well, and I'm trying to load those as well, they just take forever. I'll provide links as soon as I get them all up. It may be a while, especially when the Internet connection is as dodgy as it is.

Cheers!

Festivals and Field Trips

As I said when I left off on Saturday, on Sunday we planned to go see fireworks in the evening. Because I knew Sunday evening would be dedicated to having fun and I needed to make sure I had all my homework done for the week, I spent the day Sunday getting my life together and doing homework.....or as much homework as I could do. Interestingly enough, I didn't actually have any homework. There was a bit of reading, but it was pointless, however, I did it anyhow. With the homework situation out of the way in about an hour (I spent time organizing my class papers and such) I moved on to working on the trips I want to take around Europe. And I bought my tickets for fall break. I am officially going to Rome and then Madrid. And I'm doing it for $150!! I love cheap airline tickets! I'm also working on going places within the UK including Wales and Scotland, and hopefully I'm going to get to Ireland to see Dublin. I'm also hoping to see Paris.

So Sunday evening we headed for fireworks down on the Thames and we went early to enjoy a bit more of the festival and to have a wine picnic. We had loads of fun, and we even found a burrito booth that was incredibly similar to Chipotle. Personally, I thought it was closer in taste to Qudoba though. It was pretty delish. By the time the fireworks were ready to start we had made it up to a really sweet spot on a bridge right next to where they would be shooting off the fireworks from the Thames. And boy, they were pretty awesome. The show was rather short by American standards, but there was plenty of quality. I got a lot of it on video with my camera, but the batteries died just before the finale unfortunately so I'm afraid you won't be able to see the best part.

Monday morning I had history class and we took a field trip to the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich. Me being silly me didn't bring my camera because I forgot about the field trip, so I don't have any pictures. Which is incredibly disappointing. But we went because the naval history of Britain is essential to their existence. We saw the Lord Nelson exhibit which was incredibly interesting because he was the commander of the entire navy at the Battle of Trafalgar, where the British defeated Napoleon and the French. This was a pivotal battle, and led to the eventual defeat of the French at Waterloo. Lord Nelson died at Trafalgar, he was shot by a sniper and the bullet went through his shoulder and kinda ricocheted around his body for a bit eventually lodging itself in his spine. He died on the ship, but had asked to be taken back for a proper funeral, instead of being buried at sea. So they dumped him headfirst into a barrel of brandy to preserve his body. The outcome of the battle was that 18 of the 34 French ships were either captured or destroyed and this battle would be the starting point for British naval dominance for the next 100 years (1805-1914) only ending because of World War I (which changed everything for most countries). After the Lord Nelson/Trafalgar exhibit we were supposed to see the Imperialism exhibit, which would of course be how the navy helped the Brits colonize a majority of the world. However, it was closed for one reason or another, so we couldn't see it. At this point much of the class had to leave anyhow, because they needed to be back for their next class, but I didn't have to go because my class for the afternoon was canceled (because we were meeting on Tuesday instead). So I got to carry on with about 6 other students and the professor. Also at Greenwich (what its famous for) is the Royal Observatory and the international time line and prime meridian. Ok, so the prime meridian is actually a long line that is basically everywhere, but it was established by the Brits because of their influence over the world. King Henry VIII who is most famous for his large number of wives, many of whom he had beheaded, was also very learned and intelligent and supported cartography (the making of maps). This helped with the establishment of the navy as a power and also lead to many discoveries about time, cameras, and longitude and latitude. So we trekked up an incredibly steep hill and saw the date line, which I of course stood on, so i was in two time zones at once, and completely defied the laws of time and space. We also had a look at the first (I think) camera obscura, which is basically a dark room with a hole in ceiling and a series of mirrors that shows the outside world, in real time. Now, we all know that it is clearly real time, but this was a major discovery back in the 1800's. There were plenty of time experiments and such, and in the end the camera obscura was a very early forerunner to the camera (see the link between the names?).

After all that running around I was tired and so when we got back in the afternoon I took a 4 hour nap and then woke up in the evening for dinner, and sat around with the rest of the flat and hung out, made fun of each other, watched incredibly bad British tv, and then called it a night.

Tuesday was also a busy day, because my British Life and Culture Class had a tour of parliment! You aren't allowed to take pictures of the inside (very disappointing), but I did remember my camera...though I didn't change the batteries, so it wouldn't have worked in the end...haha. Our tour guide was really cool, and we learned loads about the building and traditions that surround it. We talked about the ceremony of the official opening of Parliament, and what the Queen does. We learned that the color of the House of Lords is red, and all the seats and everything is done up in red, while the House of Commons is green, so everything in their room is green. We also thought it was interesting that the House of Commons was destroyed during WWII and the bombing of London (a bomb landed right on it unfortunatly, but the rest of the building was relatively undisturbed). Churchill had it rebuilt in almost the exact dimensions as the old room....even though it wasn't big enough at the time...and now it still isn't big enough for every MP to have a seat. This was done because of tradition. Very odd if you ask me. Also nearly every single house of representatives in the world (or whatever they're called in each country) is roughly modeled on the original set up of the British parliament. For 300 years the parliament met in a rather small room that was long and thin, and so the speaker sat on a chair at one end, that was actually on a set of stairs because of the lack of room. And ever since the speaker in GB, and elsewhere in the world has sat above the rest of the floor. Also the similarities between even what the chairs look like is astonishing. The speaker's chair here is almost exactly the same as the chair in the HoR in the US. We're all just a bunch of copycats!

After the tour it was back to the flat and another nap for me, and then politics class. After class I went grocery shopping (meh) and then back to the flat for food, goofing off, and then bed.

Today I have politics again, and then some sort of reception because we have some AU professors or representatives here to see us...woo? Tomorrow is Thursday, which means no class, so I suppose we'll prolly head out somewhere tonight. I think I shall continue to be boring though, because even though I'm much better and no longer ill, I keep getting headaches, so no alchie for me. Kinda sad, but kinda not, cause I can still have fun without it, and then I can watch all the antics of the drunkies in my flat. Haha.

Oh, one last thing....I did the webshots thing, for those of you who love pictures, but its actually very hard to use...either that or I'm just dumb. And I tend to put up way more pictures on facebook. Now here's something great about facebook, they now have a link I can give all you non-facebook users where you can go and see the pictures even though you're not on it! So I'll just post links to it when I upload new pictures. Here is what there is so far:

Album 1 "Please Mind the Gap Between the Train and the Platform"


Album 2 "Alight Here for Buckingham Palace"


Album 3 "Real World, London"


So yeah, yet another change on the picture front, and I apologize, but I think I've got it for real now!

Cheers!

Lets Take a Walk....

I'm sure you'll all be glad to hear that I am better! Hooray! I've been taking it easy because I would absolutely hate to over-do it and get sick again, but I did get out and do some fun things today and yesterday. Yesterday started slowly and in the late afternoon I finally ventured out with Jason and Justin to have a peek at Abbey Road. So we hopped onto the tube and whisked down to St. John's Wood and walked the few blocks to Abbey Road. We got there and there were about 7-8ish tourists around doing the same thing we were...having a look at the Beatles' recording studio. Really all it is is a building that is still in use and doesn't look spectacular in any way. It does however have a blue plaque because Sir Elgar also recorded there, and he wrote Pomp and Circumstance (also known as the "graduation song"). Buildings don't get a blue plaque until 20 years after the person its representing has died to protect the family from public scrutiny. Madonna doesn't want everyone knowing exactly where she lives cause she has a life and family...ya know?

What is cool though, is there is a low wall and then fence atop the wall surrounding the building. And the wall was painted white....once upon a time. Its been completely covered in sharpie and markers of the like as tourists will do to pay tribute to the band. Its really quite remarkable. And then there is the cross walk that is the extremely famous because of the Abbey Road album. We were originally going to have a go at getting a photo of us crossing and looking like the Beatles, but there was a bit of traffic, and we abandoned the plan. Justin, however still wanted a general picture. So he stopped to take a picture, and right at that moment there wasn't any traffic, so i decided to cross. Justin ended up with a near perfect picture of me crossing Abbey Road like the Beatles. I'll be putting it up asap.

With our Beatles adventure at an end, we headed for home. On the way we decided that since it hadn't taken too long, we'd stop by Buckingham Palace for a look around outside. It was pretty cool, though we nearly got taken out by an lady on a bike. Instead she tried to avoid me and the others and ended up crashing herself. She flew over her handlebars and hurt her knee. It was pretty intense. But we saw her walking away a little bit later, so we knew she was ok.

Then it was home for real and dinner time. After dinner we decided what to do with our evenings. Some went out to party and get crazy, but I thought that would be too much for me. So I ended up going to a sports bar with 5 guys and was just another one of the guys for the evening. It was fun and low key, and none of them judged me for not drinking, cause they knew I had been deathly ill and fighting the plague this week. We went to this bar because they were showing the Red Sox v Yankees game, but we had to wait till midnight for it to start. So we sat and waited and by the time it started most were ready to go home, so we left after the first inning. I was cool with it, cause I'm not a huge baseball fan, and I was tired. But boy was there some entertainment while we waited. There was this incredibly intoxicated woman who was all over the place dancing like a stripper, making out with random men and men nuzzling her busom. All the while the bartenders are like, "Yeahhhhh woooooo". It was like watching a car crash...you know its horrible but you can't tear your eyes away from it. And this woman, she kept coming over to us and slurring random things. Right after the nuzzling occurred she came over to me and said something to the effect of "this is the best part about being a woman".....uhhhh yeah....She also came over and tried to hit on 3 of the 5 guys in the group....all of whom were like....uhhh...no.... she wrapped her arms around Justin who instantly removed them with a look of disgust on his face, and she looked at him and said "Big mistake, big mistake, big mistake." It was pretty bad. It went on from there...there were plenty of antics...ending in her taking off her shirt and dancing around in her bra for a few minutes. At that point security escorted her out of the building and that was finally the end of her.

So after the sports bar and drunken woman show we headed home and I went to bed. Today we all decided to take part in the Thames River Festival. It was really cool, and I have pictures of it...its hard to describe, you kinda have to see it. But there were markets and vendors and food and music every where and it was really neat. We also wandered away from the festival and onto the doorstep of St. Paul's Cathedral. And it is absolutely gorgeous. Tomorrow night there are fireworks, and a bunch of us plan to attend that. As for tonight I think a bunch of us want to keep it low key, so we're going to head to Kav's for a pint and then bed.

Cheers!

p.s. I've tried about 7 times to upload pictures to picasa, and basically the website hates me. I've moved on and started to put up pictures on webshots. I've got a bunch on there so far, but no captions or anything. It takes a really long time to upload for some reason...but it does it so thats all I'm worried about it. You're welcome to have a peak now while I work on it, or you can wait until Monday when it will all definitely be done.

community.webshots.com/user/sarahbutzer

If I'm stuck inside, it could at least rain.....

Its now Thursday morning, and I sadly, have next to nothing to report. Why? Because I spent all day Monday in class, and then on Monday night I very suddenly got sick, and have been sick ever since. I am proud to say that I was a trooper though and made it to all my classes. Which really was just one on Tuesday at 5 in the afternoon and one on Wednesday that was at 1 in the afternoon. But still, it certainly wasn't easy. Right now I'm doing my best to get better, but I really don't want to visit the doctor. I don't think I need to, just take it easy for another day or so. Which is why its a really good thing I have a 4 day weekend. Woot! I have a 4 day weekend because I don't have class on Thursday as it is, but I have class Friday morning. But not this week, my professor had to cancel class because he's presenting a paper he's written. I dunno. It means I have a 4 day weekend! Woo! Oh, this same professor (history class) decided that 8:30am was "dodgy" and that we are going to meet at 9am from now on. Pretty sweet if you ask me.

The biggest thing for all you peeps is that I finally got my pictures sorted out, so they'll be up very soon! And then you can all live vicariously through me! Ha.


Oh, and we've been here 12 days and it has yet to rain. So much for the stereotype that it always rains here.

Cheers!

How come every time you come around my London, London Bridge wanna go down?

So this weekend has been a great one for exploring the city and learning new things. Friday afternoon we had our coach tour and saw the city from inside the bus and we started picking out things we wanted to do and see that way. Friday evening we all decided to go to Kavanaugh's to watch the first game of the Rugby World Cup. And a few of us had dinner in the pub. And what else did we have but fish and chips at the pub. Yup, I had my first fish and chips. And it was rather yummy. I also learned quite a bit about rugby. Its a fascinating game. The opening game of the cup was France vs Argentina, and since not too many Americans (including me) are not fond of France, I was rooting for Argentina. They ended up winning the game 17-12. So it was pretty close. The interesting thing about the game was that the British HATE both France (which is completely obvious) and Argentina. Hating Argentina is a little less obvious unless you pay attention to British life a bit more. The Argentinians invaded the Falkland Islands in the 80's to reclaim land they thought was originally and rightfully theirs. At that time the Argentinian economy was in deplorable condition and the political leaders decided to take this action to play of the people's long standing feelings about the islands and try to get a last ditch effort of support so they wouldn't lose their jobs. There were few casualties on either side, and there were little economic problems for the British, however, the Brits still have very strong feelings of hatred towards the Argentinians because of this. This posed an interesting question on who we were supposed to pull for while watching the rugby match. It also begged the question of why they were watching in the first place. But rugby is a serious sport here, and you watch no matter who is playing, especially if its the world cup. After the game was over there was a DJ at the bar and it was kinda weird and I didn't want to drink beer, so I went back to the flat and had some wine and relaxed and called it an evening. Dirty Dancing Havana Nights was on and I watched that, and then hung out with the rest of the flat once they came back from the pub.

Saturday my GrandBig, Nisa came to visit! She's here visiting her cousins and came into the city to visit for the day. She's on her way to India for 9 months to work and travel and get experience in a hospital before heading off to grad school. She came to play, and we went to Portobello Road market. Its a fantastic street market with clothes and antiques and knick-knacks and food. We spent hours walking around and walked the whole street. I got a few things that are rather cute, and cheap! We had lunch at a Thai restaurant and I had drunken rice, and Nisa had drunken noodles and Angelica had red curry. Angelica had never had Thai before, and she really liked it. My drunken rice with chicken was incredibly spicy, much more so than any Thai I've ever had in the states, and it made my nose run the whole time, but it was so delicious I ate the whole thing. I also ate it with chopsticks, cause I'm that talented. On the way back from Portobello Road (which is in Notting Hill) the underground was having severe delays for some reason, so at High Street Kensington we ditched it and took the bus. None of us had ever taken the bus, and so we had to figure it out...but it was not too hard, and we got on the bus. Our first double decker, and of course we sat up top! It was fun. Once back we went to Kav's again to see some more rugby (England vs USA and we got our butts kicked) and football (England vs Isreal). It was a good day for England cause they won both games handily. Then we went to dinner at a pizza and pasta place down the road...the same place I had my first legal alcohol.

Then it was out to Leicester Square again for another club, and time to say good-bye to Nisa who met up with her cousin to go home. The club we went to was called Oxygen and was a really good time. Me and Angelica danced for hours and decided to stay with Jason when the rest of our group decided to go home. We were just having too much fun, and Jason wasn't quite ready to go either. There were some sketchy guys, but there always are at clubs, so it wasn't too awful. There was one that just wouldn't leave Angelica alone though, and I begged her to let me deck him. She said no. And that if anyone was gonna hit him, it would be her. I was disappointed. Lots of guys kept trying to dance with me all night, and it was odd, cause I'm totally not used to it. Angelica says its cause I was having so much fun and could actually dance. Ha. It made me feel good, weather its true or not. We finally left around 20 after 1 and had to grab a bus that turned into a 45 minute to an hour charade, that was quite funny. We finally made it home and chilled for a bit and then headed for bed.

Today we're headed for Hyde Park and Speaker's Corner. And some grocery shopping and general getting ready for the school week. Ah! I actually have to do stuff! I just wanna have fun! lol.

Oh....my camera and computer aren't compatible and I'm working on getting some things sent here from home to make it work. But I do have a few pictures from other people's cameras. And there is facebook for all you college kids. For everyone else, head here

http://picasaweb.google.com/sarahbutzer

cheers!

Please mind the gap between the train and the platform

At this exact moment this morning I should be sitting in my History of Britain class. I, however, am not. Why? Because our professor forgot to show up. Hmmm.... so I thought I would take this extra time and update ya'll on my life here. It sort of takes care of the "what now" question since there are only 3 of us in the flat with this class, everyone else was up rather late last night and are all still currently sleeping. And we have things planned for 2 this afternoon (a coach tour of London) so we really can't go anywhere and do things.

So, I'll pick up where I left off....Wednesday. The day was pretty standard. Got up and got ready for my class, politics again, and it lasted all afternoon. It was 1-4. Then I went to the grocery store to get some food and made dinner. We then decided we needed to get out of Kensington and experience the city's night life, because its tops in the world, second only to New York City itself. So we hopped on the tube around 9 and went to Leicester Square (pronounced lester). Once in Leicester Square all we had to do was choose exactly what we wanted to do. We ended up in a club called Metra and there we had drinks (rather weak ones at that) and danced for hours. It was free to get in and we were all happy about that, cause we didn't stay too late. Then it was back on the underground and to our flat where we continued to hang out and have fun till around 3 in the morning.

Thursday was a huge day. The majority of us didn't have class at all, and those of us who did, didn't have class until 1 in the afternoon. So we slept in and then we all got ready to explore the city. We took the tube and got off at the London Bridge stop, and from there we went to a bridge and looked up the Thames and saw the famous London Bridge, and from there the picture taking started. We then walked along the river all the way up to the bridge and then walked across. We also saw City Hall, which is the most unique building I have ever seen that was a government building. Its really rather ridiculous. Once across the bridge we saw the Tower of London, but didn't go in, because we think our classes are taking us there, and we didn't want to pay the 16 pounds ($32) when we could possibly go for free. We then walked around for a bit and then hopped back on the tube and went to Westminster. As we came up out of the tube stop we turned around and Big Ben was directly behind us. It was seriously cool. We saw Westminster from the outside, but it was closed to the public because there were services in progress, so we couldn't go inside. Another time though. We also walked all along Parliament which was pretty sweet, though there weren't any trash cans, period in that area. Too much of a bomb threat is what people have told us. Its actually very hard to find a trash can on the streets here.

After Parliament we walked down to the opposite end of the street and saw Whitehall and then we were in Trafalgar Square. And in the UK there really are a lot fewer rules, because you can climb everything and not be in trouble, like you would be in the US. Its quite nice, cause you can get up on the big statue and sit down and have some pretty sweet pictures. There are some of me...yay! After Trafalgar Square we walked a few more blocks and were in Covent
Garden. There we walked around the market stalls and saw street performers. I took a video of one guy juggling knives while standing on a tightrope on one foot. It was pretty impressive to say the least. But what is kind of annoying, is how blunt they are asking for money. The guy must have talked about it for like 5 minutes about how you should give him money if you liked the show.

After we saw the show we started walking around looking for somewhere to eat that didn't seem too ridiculously expensive...cause the whole area is pretty pricey because its just swamped with tourists. We found a place that didn't seam too bad, and ate a passable meal. But we were all tired from walking allllll day and the food wasn't the greatest, and the service was pretty horrible (they forgot to make 3 of the orders) so we weren't exactly thrilled. After dinner I went in search of ice cream, and I had an ice cream bar, and it cheered me up immensely. It was then finally time for the last thing of the day. We had tickets for Stomp at Vaudeville Theatre. I've never seen it before, and man, it was super cool. I was exhausted and wanted to keep falling asleep, but I stayed awake because it was so awesome. It was also rather loud, so I suppose I would have had a hard time staying asleep. Haha. After the show it was back to the flat for relaxing and unwinding and a shower. Because goodness, London is a incredibly dirty city, and I was filthy. Then it was off to bed for me.

And then this morning was the class that wasn't meant to be.

I also promise I'm working on pictures, I've just run into a snag or two, but I'll have them up this weekend. Promise!

Oh the stories you can tell.....

After I posted last night everyone went to Imperial College for our welcome bbq. There was free beer and burgers. Guess what! I ate my first burger in about 16 years. I rather liked it. A bunch of us AU kids sat with some Brits and made friends. Mainly me and Angelica talked to them and hung out for a while. We thought the guy, Emory, was 24 or 25ish....nope. Turns out he's 31. And a doctor. But not just any doctor. A cardio-thorastic surgeon. Whaaaaaaat. Insanity.

We were back to the flat by 8:30 and we had a flat meeting to work out things like the fridge and bathrooms, cause lets face it, if there aren't rules 13 people are gonna have a problem. Then we went back to Kavanaugh's for the evening. Angelica, Diana, and myself sat at the bar and were talking and an older guy started talking to us. We had a great conversation about politics and business and society, and it was really intellectual. And then he bought us another round of drinks! Hoorayy! And it turns out he's an executive of Waterford Crystal. The second whaaaaaaat of the evening. We got his card. Go us! lol.

Today we went shopping for groceries and other essentials and then in the evening I had my first class. British politics. It lasted nearly the whole 3 hours, and there was lecture the whole time.....and I didn't learn anything....cause I already knew it all from a previous class. That'll teach me to be a know-it-all. Lol. I did impress the socks of the prof. though.

We came back to the flat and hung out, and then for the third night in a row, we went to Kavanaugh's and closed the bar. Now, thats not as bad as it seems, since the bars here close at 11. And you only have time to drink a pint or two if you don't get there till 10 (like us). It was a rather smaller group this evening....just 5 guys and myself and another Sarah. I was one of the guys, and it was fun.

Now its really late, cause those of us who went out again came back to find those that stayed in were being crazy. So we all sat around and goofed off and had ridiculous conversations, thousands of crazy photos and barrels of laughs. It was a great evening.

Now I suppose you can put pictures on here, but I think it would make it annoyingly long and tedious, so I'll work something out so ya'll can see some pictures, and I'll work on that tomorrow. For now I need to get to sleep....its nearly 2am here!

My first few days

As my plane landed at Heathrow airport I saw one thing even before we touched the ground that made me smile and think, "Holy shit I'm in London." It was a bright red double-decker bus. One of those things you automatically associate with London.

Now, clearly my trip wasn't that great, but they never are and I was grumpy for a couple hours yesterday, and Angelica told me about 15 times that it wasn't allowed and I still was ornery, so I got it out of my system. So I needn't tell you all about it. I'll just say that I'm rather sore from lugging my suitcases all over, I wish they had lifts so I didn't have to carry it up a couple of flights of stairs rather awkwardly in public places (thank God for chivalrous males), and I wish I could have gotten better directions from people who are supposed to know how to get you somewhere.

Once I got here and all checked in we did a walking tour of the area and our main buildings that we will be using all semester so it was useful. We also went to Boots which is their equivalent to CVS. And the whole time I was just like, "Oh look they have this, and this and this, just like us" I don't know why, but I seem to be acting like the British are aliens and don't use anything that is the same brand. I find it funny and amusing to find different brands, and amazed and glad when I find something the same...even if I don't use it. Its reassuring somehow. Angelica and I grabbed a quick bite at a deli before the tour, and I got something different, cause I am in London after all. I had a sandwich called Tripole (tree-p0-lee) which is avocado, mozzarella, tomato, and basil on bread that is best compared to Cosi's bread. And it was delicious. Mmmmm.

So after our tour we all came back to our flat.....where 13 of us live together....and relaxed. I took a shower to get cleaned up because I realized that I had been wearing the same clothes for 24 hours straight and was rather gross (dragging luggage across London = lots of sweating). We then went to dinner and I had my very first legal alcohol. Hooooray! I had a glass of red wine with my delicious pizza (I ate the whole thing...hehe). And I was impressed with the wine, because it was rather good, and I don't usually like red wine. Directly after dinner our group went to Kavanaugh's. Its our local bar...and by local I mean around the corner. And there I had my first pub experience. And I drank a whole pint of Carling! Although everyone else had 2 or more, wine goes right to my head, and I just can't drink that much liquid. Plus, a pint and a glass of wine is pretty much my limit. Some of the kids ragged on me, and said by the end of the semester they'd have me drinking 5 pints a night. But really, thats just too much peeing, and far too expensive. Haha. After the pub we came home and called it a night, because we were all absolutly exhausted from our long day. I figured that by the time I got to sleep around midnight I'd been awake for 35 of the last 36 hours (I only got about an hour on the plane).

Thus far today we've been rather busy as well. We had a walking tour given by a blue badge. I guess that means they're a real guide...meh. It was nice though. We walked all over Kensington and got to know the area, were given great places to shop for things and saw Kensington Gardens and the palace. And we learned quite a bit of history of the area. Like double buses came into being in the year 1851 because thats when Crystal City was built. It was a arts and sciences fair that Prince Albert supported (he was their patron). In the 3 months it was open 6 million people visited it (London now only has 7 million people). And there wasn't enough transportation so they started putting benches on top of the carriages, and people loved it...thus double decker buses. We also saw the houses of T.S Eliot and some other notables. After our tour Angelica, Dianna, and myself all went to find something to eat and came across a super cheap and rather decent pizza place just around the corner and down the street from our flat. We then had orientation where we received our ID's and tube passes and all sorts of information.

And thats everything I've been up to since I've been here! We're about to go to a welcome bbq and have free burgers and beer. Yup, the program is providing alcohol. Its sooooo different!! Also, the UK subsidizes alcohol for university students....they make it cheaper and easier for us to drink in the university pubs! And we have access to them because we're temporary members of their student union.

I guess thats all, because we're about to leave. Lots more to come!

And so it begins....

Today is the day! In just a few hours I will be on my way to JFK international airport in New York, and a few hours after that I'll be boarding a Boeing 777 for a transatlantic flight to my new home for 3 1/2 months. Needless to say, I am incredibly excited. I am also slightly nervous...understandably.

I have finished my packing, and incredibly, I have a little extra space! I have a giant duffel bag, and a large suitcase that I am checking (both under 50 pounds....i'm amazed) and a little suitcase that is my carry-on. Then I have a few essentials, including my laptop, that are going in my backpack and a pillow. I've been steadily packing up all week, and now that the day has arrived I can finish up and place my last minute things like shampoo and toothbrush in my bags. My flight is an overnighter, which is great because that gives me most of the day to finish up these things so I don't have to rush around in the early morning.

When I get to Heathrow I'm meeting up with Angelica, a girl in my sorority who is also in the program. We're on different flights coming from different airports, but we land within 5 minutes of each other, so we're going to take the Tube together to our flat in Kensington.

Thats all for now, cause thats really all I know. This is the most spontaneous thing I have ever done thats taken 6 months to plan. I say that because while I have known that I am going for ages and been planning all that I can, the only thing I am sure of is getting there and coming home, because I'm the one who booked the tickets. The people who run the program have told us next to nothing about what is going on and what we will be doing. And what they have told us is so confusing and cryptic it may as well be jibberish. I wonder if they think that is part of the fun. Anyhow, once I get there and things start happening, it'll be here!



The road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it meets some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And wither then? I can not say.