A little taste of what is to come...

I have received several angry messages for not updating my blog in the past week. I tried to give the excuse that I was away in Paris for 4 days where the only internet I had was in a dingy little hostel that had a French keyboard (think of putting all the letters in a cup, shaking it up, and then spilling them out in a random order arranged neatly in rows), however this doesn't seem like a sufficient excuse. I am currently on my way to a FREE meal...very rare in these parts. However, I do plan on updating you all on my life this evening. In the meantime, I will give you some KEY words to let you piece together in your mind an imaginary tale of what my Paris adventure was like. Here you go: PYRAMIDS, NUTELLA, TIFFANY'S, SHEEP, ACCORION, ELEVATOR, and last but not least CHEESE PIZZA. I hope these are helpful, but in case they are a little ambiguous, I will fill in the details in my next post :)

I Lost My Love for Libraries...

Today started out just like any other day. I awoke early to my annoying travel alarm clock, attended all of my classes (a given), and then headed to the library to meet with my group... This is nothing new, my life has consisted of varients of this same schedule since Comm School took over my life. But TODAY was different. I entered the library (the ONLY library on campus...) and decided to wait out in the front main area. While I was standing there, I took a few bites of my sandwich and then saw another girl in my group who joined me and was eating her sandwich as well. Within minutes out of nowhere comes a women dressed in a long brown coat and glasses (she kind of reminded me of Inspector Gadget). At first she says to us, "Would you mind taking your food and drinks into the foyer, we do not allow those in the library." Ok, I sitting there thinking, fine, I don't like what I'm hearing but keep in mind I'm still processing what exactly she is referring to when she says "foyer." Before we can even make a move, she then says, "EXCUSE ME, can you please get that food out of here RIGHT NOW. That is not a 'SAFE' drink and food is ABSOLUTELY not allowed." Well, I think she got her point across. So I threw out my sandwich, and headed upstairs... We couldn't find a table with an outlet right next to it, but we finally found one where we could reach the laptop cord across an aisle, so we settled for it and sat down. Again, within minutes, some guy passes by and tells us for our own good that having a cord go across the floor like that was a hazard and someone might seriously injure themselves. We took that as a "proceed at your own risk" warning, and left the cord plugged in. Another 10 minutes passed and a man walked by and INSISTED we unplug it. Meanwhile, we were probably the only 4 Americans in the room, and we now commanded the attention of the entire 3rd floor of the library. So I can now record that today is the day I lost my love for libraries...at least this one anyway...

Wal-Mart, I miss thee.

Don't ever take for granted that huge supercenter of goodness in all of its big box glory (mainly the one in Lexington). I didn't realize how much I could miss even the idea of a huge one stop shop until I arrived here. If I could log in all the man hours it has taken me to search all of the tiny shops in this town for simple things like sheets (which I later learned were called duvet sets) and hangers (which I still have yet to find). And let us not forget the amazing concept of a 24-hour store. I think that deserves a moment of reflection for all the times you yourself have had to make a late night visit in search of some particular item that was urgent or pressing enough to make the trek out in the night. I, for some reason, haven't gotten the hang of things and I always seem to need something around 8pm... lucky for me the only store left open in all of Bath is the Esso gas station that is about 5min from my dorm. Me and the Esso checkout man have become quite close over the past couple of weeks. I know this post goes against everything my tree hugging professor has taught me, but I just thought my sentiments for Wal-Mart needed to be shared... Thank you Sam Walton.

[insert away message here]

Sunday 8:04 PM

I am online, but may be away from my computer. Back on AIM...finally! So true. Man, I'm only gonna lay awake and watch her sleep. In wintergreen with arielle!!! call usss! With the most wonderful person everrr. iLoVeyOu. Cell. Camp Fair in Charlottesville. Back around 6. Life's a dance you learn as you go, sometimes you lead and sometimes you follow. Don't worry about what you don't know, life's a dance you learn as you go. Happy Birthday Rachel!! Working til' 3. Out for the afternoon with mom...leave a message or call the cell. Everything hurts...including the bite marks... Was in desperate need of a change of scenery...@ the law school library. I love sun. Getting some beauty rest, text the cell if you need me. I could never live with myself knowing I have been called second best, good thing I don't have to. A show, then off to the fair. I'm a little excited! GYM. Sunday: getting your life in order day, includes but is not limited to: cleaning room, making bed for the first and only time all week, laundry, schoolwork, and facebook. Way too much to do today. New sn! ^please im me there. Track meet. Out. Meetings. Studying. I've been inhilated, irrigataed, and somewhat violated but its debated that this was one of the most reposeful weekends ever created. Enter away message text here. 3 hours of sleep and now its GAME TIME. DO WORK. New cryptic away message. chyeaahhh. I am away from my computer right now. A thousand miles ain't shit to wlak if I'm walking to hold you. Library. Mass. Gym. Library. Too bad I didn't do anything over the weekend...ooops. Estudiando muchisimo. Work. Greatest friends in the world. Gonna be a fun night. Lunch, lax game with my dad. Research. Clemons. You can find me in da noke. Around. Still repairing my damaged itunes library. Brown belt and black shoes? Youse a crazy fool. Sleep, definitely SLEEP. Library ALL day today. Warning: The wearing of TAG Body Spray in collegiate settings may result in straight As but a complete misunderstaing the French language. Comprende? Nap after a verrry long week. p.s. I have the best friends. really. you should be jealous. Shower. I am in Clarke and will be aaalll day so drop me a text or something. Around, just call. Long day ahead.


Ok so I thought it was be an interesting experience if I typed out everyone's away message from my buddy list and then read it. I figured it could turn into one of those cool games where you go around the circle and every person says one word and it turns into this crazy story that makes no sense but is hilarious... Unfortunately this just makes no sense. This is what happens when you only have class 2 days a week...

Scrabble Party?

Ok so this evening I was invited to a mock "American" frat party... pretty much things I avoid while in America to begin with. ANYWAY, I was dragged over there by the girls on my hall, and we made it suffiently awkward as usual. The highlight of the evening was when one of the boys who lives in France comes up and asks Samantha if she will give him an "American" kiss since she is always asking him for a European kiss on the cheeks. The conversation then took off from how Americans kiss to the origin of the French kiss, to the fact that "French kiss" has more than one meaning in France. I will let you know that the second meaning of "French kiss" is not on your everyday Dawson's Creek teen drama. Eventually we escaped the supposed "frat" party and made it back to our side of the hall where I decided we should play Scrabble. Now yes you may think that Scrabble is a game for losers, but I happen to enjoy it... I'll let you be the judge of whether or not I'm a loser (please do not inform me of your decision, thanks). The three of us sat down and started playing and within minutes we were joined by our fourth British player who had wandered away from the party as well. After about a half-hour the whole party came into our kitchen area and was making fun of the fact that we were playing scrabble, but I do believe that if you are making fun of someone for playing scrabble you have to be able to take the heat for WATCHING it as well. Anyway, I'd say it turned into quite an entertaining evening with drunken English, Irish, and Bulgarians trying to spell...

Does anyone actually read this blog other than Tyler? If so please write me a comment so that I know I'm not writing to myself. That would be quite sad and pathetic really (kind of like this picture). But I bet I would continue to write even if I was writing to myself and I don't think that would surprise anyone being that I'm the anti-social girl we all know and love.

PS: Tyler I apologize for putting a picture of you crying on the internet, however, the good news is I think that we are the only ones who will actually see it, AND I had to put it up because it makes me laugh when I think about the fact that you were crying because you were never on a team. I miss camp. LYB.

The Office

"You think Stanleys grow on trees? Well they don’t. There is no Stanley tree. Do you think the world is crawling with Phyllises? Show me that farm. With Phyllises and Kevins sprouting up all over the place. Ripe for the plucking. Show me that farm."

I have found a new obsession. The Office. Absoutely hilarious. Anyway, this is how I spent most of my Valentine's Day. Lying in my bed watching "The Office" on my laptop. *exciting I know* Don't worry, I did leave my room evenutally, and well I think I pretty much walked into an episode of The Office. Two of the boys on my hall decided to buy drinks and make crêpes for everyone for dinner. While they were cooking, the kitchen filled up and before I knew it, I really didn't know anyone except the Americans. Anyway there is a guy on our hall, who I am going to nickname Dwight, and he is just well he is exactly like Dwight is in the Office. He was the social butterfly trying to spread Americanness around the room, and I really wish that I could do this story justice. But I can't type what I was feeling in words. It was truely a mixture of hilariousness, insanity, embarassment, and absurdity.

And then I found $5.

21 and Invincible! (part 2)

DAY 2:
We awoke promptly around 11am, and were quite impressed with ourselves. We let Kelly sleep in and we headed out in the grey skies to partake on a whirlwind tour of London's greatest attractions. First stop: food. We had a classic american meal... yes I know, I really should start embracing the culture and maybe try some fish and chips? Then we were off and headed to the British Museum... I bet you can not imagine my excitement when I discovered it housed a grand circular library right inside the main doors. Yes, I love libraries, and I did take a picture. Next we wandered around and as my eyes began to droop, I tried my best to find at least one exhibit in each wing to read and really soak up. Some of my favorites include this exhibit that had a net that rolled out and encased tons of tiny little pills that were supposed to show how much medicine a person takes in their lifetime. It was pretty impressive, but a little scary. Then my other fav included an exhibit in the Africa wing of this tree & animals made completely out of welding guns together that had been collected from this one villiage in Mozambique to stop the violence. Ok, now sadly I wish I could say that I learned a whole lot more, but my fatigue was hard to shake off, and sadly we left and went across the street to Starbucks... COMPLETELY missing the egyptian area!! We might have to make a return visit. Next we went to my absolute favorite stop on our tour, MADAME TOUSSAUD'S HOUSE OF WAX! So much fun. We had to wait in line for about 40 min, but it was easy to pass the time by comparing our hand sizes to Michael Jackson's and trying to name all the various wax face cut outs that lined the room. We finally made it to the front, and entered into a room where you have never seen so many pictures being taken. Take your pic, all your favorite celebs were there. I of course had to pose with some of my loves: Johnny Depp, Charlie Chaplin, Simon Cawell, Brad Pitt, Beyonce, and the list goes on. I will say that I did have a bit of trouble when we came to the Chamber of Horrors, where the wax was no longer wax and real bloody people kept chasing after me... I think I lost my voice from all the screaming. Moving on, next stop on our list of things to do was ride the London Eye and see the view of London all lit up at night. It was absolutely beautiful. You go around this farris wheel looking thing that has huge clear glass pods and it takes you around the wheel in about 30 min, giving you plenty of time to admire the sights. I think this was was of the best views I've seen so far. After our ride, we made our way and found a posh little restaurant called Girafe and decided we would look much cooler if we sat at the couches instead of at a real table. The food was amazing, and the cute little girafes they put in your drink were worth every penny :) We ended out the evening playing cards and learning a new game, Mao, that is ridiculous, yet addictive. We played until the tube closed and the buses were our guest's last resort home. Another amazing night in London. I'm already planning my next trip :)

21 and Invincible! (part 1)

So, I'm sure you are all thinking, how good can a 21st birthday be in a country where the legal drinkinig age is 18? Let me tell you, it was AMAZING. I woke up to an amazing facebook wall filled with birthday wishes, and packed my bags for LONDON (with fergie's london bridge playing in the background of course). Although the bus ride was long, and somewhat hecktic (we cheated somehow and got cheaper tickets and the driver almost didn't let us on!) we ended up meeting a new friend. We nicknamed him 'Deck,' beccause as Americans (& Canadians) we obviously can't pronounce anything correctly. It turns out that Deck was on his way to a call back audition for the UK version of Big Brother! I'm hoping that I we see him on TV so I can claim to know a British celeb! It also turns out that Deck's cousin lives on the same street as Johnny Depp...who knew JOHNNY DEPP lived in Bath?! Anyway, we were quite the Americans on the bus as we cracked up to Friends episodes & asked about a million different prounciation questions, which never cease to amuse me. FINALLY we got to London, and it was time to conquer the tube... I wish I could say that I helped in that department, but as the birthday girl, I left it to my trusty traveling pack to lead the way. We arrived at our free lodging for the weekend (THANKS kelly!) and immediately went to satisfy our hunger at a Jazz & Pizza restaurant... yes we thought this was an interesting combination as well, but the food was delicioius. Sadly, despite Samantha's attempts to turn on her international flirt, we did not recieve a discount, but were complimented on our beauty instead :) Now this next part of the trip may not sound very touristy, but it was time to watch a little GREY'S ANATOMY since we have been TV deprived for so long. I think you have to be here to understand the amazingness. Ok so we were finished being bums after a few episodes and and some cocktails, we put on our dance shoes and headed out in SoHo... its a little like NYC, but ten times better. After wandering around in search of the Zoo bar, we talked to some people who recommended an Australian bar, The Walkabout... Who can say no to anything Aussie?! We went, and DANCED the night away. And despite the fact that the DJ refused to play our plead for Britney's Toxic, we hung around and enjoyed singing our lungs out and sheilding ourselves from the sketchy men that are inevitably at the clubs. The night came to an end, and I fell asleep, 21 and happy. The end.

Po na na (pronounced Poo na na)

So apparently the uni kids here in Bath don't go out on weekends, but they do go out just about every other night of the week. So last night we tagged along with some of our new found kitchen mates and went to the Huntsman, a pub that is very relaxed and enjoyable (minus the scary bouncers who eye you down on your way in). After hanging out there for a bit, I was introduced to Po na na in all of its glory. Can we please just spend a minute and reflect on the fact that it is impossible to say Po na na (pronounced poo na na... I'm pretty sure this has an inappropriate meaning in the US) without being immature and laughing hysterically. Anyway, Po na na turned out to be an equivalent of a bad frat party at UVA where there are so many people that its impossible to get up to the bar, and the music...Does anyone remember that song "Around the world around the woooorld." That was one of the stellar selections they had going. If anything, I was happy to go just so I could say that I had been to Po na na :) I'm going to get it out of my sytem now and just say it a few more times and then I swear I'm done. Po na na. Po na na. Po na na!

Tea time.

Being in England has really put me in a pret-TEA good mood. I now find delight in chit chatting over a cup of afternoon tea and digestive biscuits. Yes, I did just say DIGESTIVE biscuits. The name turned me off when I was first offered one, however once you get past that it is basically like a graham cracker cookie. Who wouldn't like that? So there you have it, I have shared my newest English obsession: a cup of tea. PINKIES UP :)

I'm the Queen of the Castle.

Today we were at a "REAL LIVE CASTLE!" Field-trip style, we all got up early and got on the bus headed to Windsor Castle. Upon arrival while everyone else headed straight to the castle, Samantha, Claire & I headed straight for the caffeine. We had our priorities in order. Of course we did the typical touristy things, and ooohed and awwwwed at the amazing doll houses, gun collections, and chandelliers. The great part was making up our own tour and trying to figure out what the royal family actually did in all of their rooms. Do you draw in the "drawing room?" Do you entertain an audience in the "audience room?" I can't say I'm really sure. Before exiting the castle, we had a lovely chat with one of the guards who I'm sure thought we were all crazy Americans/Canadians. He informed us that there was no way we would ever be invited into the castle by the queen herself, but that wasn't enough to crush our dreams of royalty.

GOD SAVE THE QUEEN!

Zac Efron Wannabe

High School Musical is everywhere. Last night as I was walking home from the pub with some friends, we ran into a group of rowdy boys who were staggering home along the street shouting and singing. From far away, I couldn't make out what they were saying and figured it was some sort of drinking song. As we got closer and were right next to them, I hear this one guy in the group belting out: "WE'RE SOARING, FLYING..." It was the most hysterical act I've ever seen. I was tempted to join in as gabriella.