All packed for one final picnic...

So here I am...laying in the hallway on the floor in my spot in the flat...for the last time. And yes, you're all right...it's bittersweet. Haha.

I can't even begin to tell you how crazy it is over here right now. We're all leaving tomorrow (because the flat people kick us out at ten...) and we're all going our separate ways.

I can't wait to be home with my familial unit and that silly cat of mine. I miss everything so much. But I will...strangely enough...miss some of old London town. Go figure.

I could sit here and write about all of the things that I am worried about, such as airport security, but I think I'll just write and tell you that I'm excited too. I'm excited to come home. I could tell you what I did today, but I'd rather tell you when I come home tomorrow.

More importantly...the weather hates me. It is snowing in London and it is now starting to stick. However, Heathrow is still functioning...as of right now...and the tube (the underground) shouldn't stop working because of the aboveground snow. Should it? No worries...I'll wait if I have to, I've waited three months...but I'm coming home.

Home is more than where your heart is...it's oh so much more.

Haha. I think I'm too excited to write a coherent blog post right now. I will just say that there is a list of things in London I'll miss:

Going to get gelato/milkshakes in soho, seeing football matches, wearing scarves as masks, running by Big Ben, walking along the Thames, going to the Globe for a performance, getting coffee before class, going to Benito's hat, going to open air markets, going to Abbey Road, going to St. Paul's, going inside record stores, traveling around England, living in a flat that is essentially a dungeon, having a crappy internet connection, talking in the laundry room on the phone/skype, eating really good yogurt, walking everywhere, taking the tube, getting lost, discovering nooks and crannies of london, going to Candid, taking the buses and riding on the second level, walking through the parks, sitting in Green Park in the sunshine, carving pumpkins, being able to go to pub quiz every wednesday, umbrellas, impromptu rain EVERYDAY, tea time, the evening standard...and the list goes on.

I know this is a random blog post...

But I miss you all. And I already know I'll miss London and how much it's taught me...hopefully I can bring some of London Becca back to the states. See you in less than twenty-four hours!

Cheers!

We can work it out...

So close!

And yet...I'm so sleepy...I think it's the snow that has been falling all day long in good old London town. Luckily, it has not stuck. I'm not being a grinch, I just want to come home on Thursday...so if the weather could slow down a bit until I leave this Island...I'd be completely content with life.

But like I said, so sleepy!

I packed today with the help of Kemper. Actually...she pretty much packed me altogher. I'm ready to come home...

One more final in the morning so I'm going to bed now. One more day. ONE MORE DAY!

Love you and miss you guys!

Cheers!

"Did you know they sell frosty's at Wendy's?" - Kemper

TWO DAYS LEFT TWO DAYS LEFT TWO DAYS LEFT TWO DAYS LEFT!!!!!!!!!

I can't even tell you that I need to pack...because that would just stress me out! How did I end up with all of this stuff? AGH. I'm just going to say that most of it is my love of hoodies. I can't help but be warm and cozy when I have the chance. :D

Alright - so today.

I got up and went to the library and proofread/printed my Shakespeare paper. That means I don't have any more papers to write...just one final left! I have my Art and Architecture final on Wednesday...and I'm so glad that I'll be done with my classes. Isn't it crazy to think I'll be home this week. Like, woa, man.

After the library Kemper and I made grilled cheese sandwiches and I tried the really big apple that was twice the size of my face that I bought at Portobello Road. The apple was too tart...but it was a nice attempt.

Anywho, after the grilled cheese we went and did some miscellaneous shopping for groceries and souvenirs for friends and such. Why are souvenirs so fun to shop for? Eh. Every time we go to the Waitrose by our flat they have added more Christmas lights. London all dressed up in Christmas lights is absolutely gorgeous...but I wonder how much it costs? I should probably be wondering about other things. Haha.

Let's see...After all that we went and sort of got some of Kemper's things together for packing. I was looking through a vogue and I kept wondering to myself...How do women wear heels. Really, HOW do they do it. I don't. I just fall down or don't get very far...

Finally after all that we went to the eye! I finally got to ride the London Eye. It's one of the neatest/possibly largest ferris wheels in the world? I don't know if I just made that up, but I feel like I read that in a paper somewhere once. Anywho, we went as it was getting dark and even though it was really, really cold...the city was lit with dazzling lights. I couldn't take my eyes off of Big Ben or St. Paul's. Kemper helped me get a lot of good pictures, since I was shaking the camera and the flash didn't work with the glass!

I was so amazed at the size of the city. You could see lights for miles and miles and miles...(the who!)...and I just felt that it was such a different view from above than when you are below and standing underneath towering buildings. London is such a multi-leveled city what with the underground and the multi-leveled high rises. It blows my mind a little. Well a lot actually.

After that amazing experience, we came back to the flat and got Hillary and made fajitas for dinner. It was amazing, as always. We spent some time trying to figure out what we're going to do on Wednesday afternoon...if anyone who reads this has any suggestions tell me...I'm kind of off of museums at the moment though, to give you a fair warning. :D

THEN...we went back to the Italian place in Soho and got gelato. I got the pistachio this time. I can't help it I'm addicted and when I go back to Little Rock and eat the other stuff it just won't be the same. London's got the yogurt and gelato figured out. I think I can do without all the weird candy though...isn't candy supposed to be better over here? I guess oreos aren't really candy...Haha.

Alright, alright. Here I am. Two days left. I'm SOOOOOOOOOOOO excited. I'll check in tomorrow. Miss you guys!

Cheers.

Harrod's...Also synonymous with Dante's Inferno...

Well hello there! It's Sunday evening and I'm chilling on the floor in the hallway - my usual spot. I just got off the phone with Mumsy and Dad, and I can't wait to see you guys. You've no idea. Especially since it's so cold over here!

Alright...Today was crazy. I got in the early Christmas Spirit...because I went to Harrod's. For those of you who didn't know (previously me, pre-Harrod's trip) Harrod's is also synonymous with Dante's Inferno. Why, do you ask?

Well...Imagine a nice, large sidewalk in front of a huge London department store. THEN, imagine this sidewalk stuffed with as many tourists/Londoner's as spatially possible. And thus, my morning began outside the Knightsbridge tube station at eleven thirty. :)

I went in with Kemper and we elbowed our way through the crowds to get a couple of choice items. I can't tell you what they were...except that I eventually got myself some really nice tea! :D

We waited more than thirty minutes in the queue before we finally could pay. Then we had to bust our legs as we made our way over to the High Kensington Tube Station...where Hillary was waiting. Today we had a farewell lunch at Sticky Fingers. :) I can't get enough of the Beatles or Stones...and picking between the two would simply break my heart. Haha.

I got a nice burger and had some Amstel on draft. I'm going to miss the pints over here -it's the thing. After that Kemper and I had a nice walk by Hyde Park and Queensgate (the place where I stayed over Fall Break) before going back into Harrods. We didn't get everything we needed in round one, so we made a round two. Goodness, what WERE we thinking?

We got in and out pretty quickly, however, and then we hopped on the tube and made our way to Russell Square. We decided that I would make Green Things for dinner so we went to WaitRose and bought all the ingredients for dinner. We then grabbed Hillary from my flat and got to cooking in Kemper's flat.

The Green Things weren't as good as Turkey Day, because somehow I put too much cheese in it and didn't quite let it cook enough. It tasted alright, but I think I messed with the consistency a little bit. Haha. Oh well, we still ate it all. :) I'm telling you, you can't just have one helping of Green Things. Those things are addicting.

Anywho, after that I proofread my Politics Paper and I am now done with that class for forever. :P All I have to do is go turn it in tomorrow and HOORAH! I'm done. No MORE POLITICS EVER! NONE. NEIN! NO! NIET!

Haha. After Kemper, HIllary, and I printed out our papers we went to get gelato! We went back (with Erin and Laura) to the place that Kemper and I went to on Turkey Day. I got a different flavor than Pistachio this time, to be different. I got a chocolate thing and an even chocolatey-ier thing...but I should have just gotten Pistachio. Pistachio gelato is my favourite in the whole world...even more than peppermint ice cream, which I can never say no to. Haha.

After that I came back here and showered and then called Mumsy. I will be so glad when I'm on the same time zone as you guys. It's so weird being hours ahead and being ready for bed when you guys are just eating dinner or something like that! Go figure.

Alright, alright, well I'm really tired and my eyes are so tired of staring at computer screens. I will be updating tomorrow...Guess what? Only three days left. NO joke.

Cheers.

Football anyone?

Football...football...football...I think I prefer the American kind to soccer. I shall fill you in on my beautiful 'football' experience after I start out with my whole day!

Ok...but first I forgot to mention that last night Hillary, Kemper, and I went to Benito's hat for the last time! I got a Margarita because they have a two for one Margarita happy hour. I liked it...but I only ever need to have one of those. Whew.

Anywho, I don't know why I forgot to mention that but I got all upset that I didn't tell you guys about it because Benito's has been such a part of my London experience over here. :)

Alright on with today. So I woke up and Kemper and I went to Portobello road. I managed to get the last couple of gifts that I needed to get for everybody...so now I can mark everybody off the Christmas list. :)

And Kemper and I got some fresh food for dinner tonight. Kemper made this awesome broccoli, cheese, and potato bake thing with sauteed mushrooms and lovely bread. I'm telling you what, it was lovely.

But I'm getting ahead of myself...we got back from Portobello road...and I just had to have some coffee. It's so cold over here...I feel like there's less people out on the streets and I think it's because of the weather...but I could just be making that up.

Anywho, after coffee we put on a million layers for the match. We went to see the Queen's Park Rangers take on Cardiff (which is a Welsh team...) AND MAN! I will simply say it was an experience. I have never been to a sport game that loud before. I may have possibly blown both of my eardrums out...Well maybe not. We were in the home team section...and we had really nice seats actually.

By the end of the game I was totally into it, screaming at the refs and all that. However, I will say, for those of you who think soccer is boring...go to an Enlgish football game. I don't want to hear any complaints about the bore of the sport. I think that's all I'll say on the matter on this blog...I come home in FOUR DAYS so I'll tell you the whole story when I get there. :)

After the game (and after my toes had frozen all the way off!) we got on the tube and rode all the way to King's Cross. King's Cross. Ring any bells? I went and got my picture taken in front of Platform Nine and Three Quarters. No lie. I am an absolute Harry Potter nerd and I can't believe that I waited this long to mark that off of my to-do list. Yes they have a luggage cart halfway through the wall...! I would love to post the pictures for you, but you'll just have to wait till I get home! :D

Haha. Look I'm keeping you guys all waiting with baited breath aren't I?

After all the excitement we came back to Kemper's flat. Kemper made dinner (which I mentioned above - was AWESOME!) and I wrote my politics paper which is due on Monday. I am so ready for the end of that class. I just have to proofread it tomorrow and then I'll be done with homework essentially until my Art and Architecture final.

Alright. I miss you guys! Sorry if these posts are short but I'm so ready to be home!

Cheers.

Six days of singing...

I come home in six days. The next five days of my life are going to be extremely busy and a whirlwind! Let me start with updating you on today and then telling you all the things I have to do so you can keep up with me. I can barely keep up with me...

Alright. Today was Friday...and I'm done with classes besides the finals I need to study for/write papers for. They're pretty much all papers except for one and that's essentially an in-class paper. I really have to do a lot of writing.

I woke up this morning at seven and I thought that I could sleep for about two more hours. Well...I did sleep for a bit longer and I didn't wake up until ten thirty. I grumbled and mumbled and made myself get up and go running.

I enjoyed running today because London was really sunny. However, I got trapped in a group of Italian tourists that were shouting at me. I couldn't figure out what they were going on about. I think the only thing they COULD have been pointing at was my leggings, which I had tucked into my socks because I have to do laundry before I can have my real running socks. I didn't want to bleed on my heels...that hurts! But sheesh, what did they expect? It's cold out there...literally it has been so cold today!

After running I showered and everyone was cleaning up the crazy Thanksgiving mess that was in our flat last night. Haha. I took some pictures that may appear somewhere someday. It really was a great time.

I grabbed Hillary, we grabbed Kemper, and then we went to the library. We spent the whole day in the library and I wrote my Shakespeare final. I should have written my politics final because that one is due on Monday, but it's alright, I'll write it tomorrow and then bleed over it on Sunday.

Tomorrow I'm going to Portobello in the morning with Kemper and then we have a soccer match that we're going to watch at three. We're going as a group, the whole London group is going. I'm really excited, but it's going to be so cold! Luckily, I don't think it's supposed to rain. Don't worry, I'll wear neutral coloured clothing.

After that I just plan on writing my politics paper. Just bleeding tears into it...I hope he likes it. Ugh.

Then I'll probably update again and tell you all about the homework I've done! YAY! Haha.

Let's see...my London to-do list is pretty long for the next five days. My homework is number one on my list, but I'm about to be done with that one. I am going back to Sticky Fingers and Harrod's on Sunday...and I plan on going to the eye once before I leave. Besides all of those things...I have to pack. I get so stressed about that...Momma will remember how I freaked out two weeks before I jetted off to London. I will cry when I hit US soil. I'm just so ready to be home, not that I haven't loved certain things about London and all that...I'm just ready to be home. In my little castle, with my familiarity, and my little familial unit.

I really wouldn't mind getting to see that Johnny Gately creature either. :)

I miss all of you guys. I hope you had a Happy Turkey Day. Gramner sent me some pictures. :)

Cheers for now...See you oh-so-soon.

Is this a door...or art? And TURKEY DAY!

Oops! I haven't updated enough lately...so I thought that I would remedy that....

Well today is Turkey Day...or I suppose Thanksgiving Day, whichever you prefer to call it! I personally like Turkey Day...because you usually eat a lot of Turkey!

Alright well I'm going back to Tuesday...which was a pretty busy day...

Tuesday November 23 2010:

Tuesday was the day that I presented my Beatles presentation. I woke up early to walk over to the school building to make sure that my powerpoint worked. Of course it didn't work...so that was something that I had to deal with.

No worries though, I just popped into Nero and got a coffee and went and found my seat. I decided that I would present with my powerpoint on my small computer...But surprsiningly that threw me off so I was kind of slow with the actual presentation and it may have been a bit disjointed...But I think all-in-all it went pretty well! I still can't wait to show Diddy my powerpoint!

After that class I decided that I didn't want to go running...mainly because I can running anytime at home, but I can't go do certain things at home that I can do in London. So we (Hillary, Kemper, and I) went to the Tate Modern Museum. I really wanted to see more of that than we did when we had class in there with Barnaby.

So...I got to see some Picasso, Warhol, and only my favourite Dali...No worries. It was really cool...and some of it was really strange. In fact, we were in one of the wings of the gallery and this girl was taking a picture of a door. We laughed so hard. I think she thought it was art...because I mean, we WERE looking at modern art...but hey. It was a door, NOT art. But still, a laugh is a good thing to have. :)

After that we ended up back at the flat before our Greek Farewell Dinner that Hendrix paid for. It was totally awesome because I got to order a £25 meal! I got chargrilled lamb and potatoes and some kind of amazing dip with pita AND baklava! I should have gone running I suppose. Haha - all in all, it was a great day.

After Dinner Kemper and I went to Sainsbury's and we got all the ingredients for Green Things. We pre-made it and froze it because I knew that that would make Turkey Day so much easier. :)

SO that brings me to Wednesday 24 November 2010:

Wednesday was my last day of Art and Architecture and Shakespeare. I mourned the last Shakespeare class, but I don't mind being out of Art and Architecture...at least this particular course wasn't necessarily my thing.

Anywho...we went to four different galleries in Shoreditch for our morning art class. Most of it was naked photographs and stuff...and all I can say...is...I don't understand why nudes are considered art. UGH. Whatever, man, I'm tired of naked photos. I must just not be getting something.

After that we rushed back to the flat to quickly have lunch. I had a beigel and cream cheese and some chips and stuff. It was good, but I don't like eating in five minutes. I know I ALWAYS complain about that, but hey, my food is important haha.

We then rushed over to Shakespeare. We got our last papers back and I did really well, so that was good. We also got out really early and we all went to a pub together. Jean bought me a half-pint of Spitfire...it was really good. I should have been partaking of that more often this semester.

After pubtime I went to proofread my Riddley Walker (politics) paper one more time and then printed it. Then we had dinner in Kemper's flat and got ready for pub quiz This week we convinced Nick and Danni (this girl who lives in our flat and goes to school somewhere in California) to go with us. We only came in last again, but we did better than usual. Our name this week was "Five little Turkeys" - in honour of Turkey Day. :)

Wednesday was good - but at that point I realized how much I'll miss certain things over here...Like Shakespeare. Haha funny how life is, isn't it?

Thursday November 25 2010:

TURKEY DAY! WOW. Today was pretty busy. I got up this morning and walked with Kemper to Nero to get my free coffee. I had one of those little member cards that I had finally gotten stamped enough times. So that was nice. :)

After that I went to politics like every Thursday, and we talked about A Man for All Seasons. However, we got out very early, which was nice. I mailed my package of goodies home today. I finally got a really nice lady at the post office to help me instead of that mean guy that is always the only one who is free. WHEW. I managed to do that...and my packaged should arrive the same day I get home...In just seven/six days! HOLY SMOKES! I'm finally coming home! So excited.

Anywho Kemper and HIllary helped me do that - I needed moral support. After the Post Office I went on a nice run, which turned out to be the smart thing to do. After my run I showered and got dressed and then went to help at Kemper's. Kemper made a bunch of home-made biscuits for Thanksgiving and we had to pop the Green Things in the oven.

We finally did all that and arrived at my flat (where the party was) and we had a buffet styled set-up with everything from pumpkin pie to turkey to biscuits to salad to carrots to GREEN THINGS. And I will say that all the Green Things are gone. (That may be because I ate half of them myself, but hey.) :P

We ate for forever and afterwards we were like oh my goodness it's only five thirty. haha. We went over to Kemper's and blew bubbles and laid on the floor trying to get over being so full. Poor Hillary fell asleep on the floor. I'm telling you, Turkey will do that to you every time. Haha.

After that Kemper and I went to this place in Soho that I've wanted to go to since we planned our Ireland trip that has gelato. I got some pistachio and I will say that I've honestly never had pistachio that good. I know that I am far away from you guys...(my family that is) but I had a pretty great Thanksgiving over here. I'm glad that I got to eat a really great dinner and realize how amazing and special everything and everyone is. I can't wait to come home!

I hope this is a sufficient update...I'm not sure it really matters because I'm about to skype all you people! Miss you guys! Cheers!

(Oh and before I forget - Thanks Gramner for the card! :P)

"Nothing's gonna change my world...Nothing's gonna change my world..."

Well it's Monday, which is like my Sunday...and wow. Just ten more days and then I come home. Tomorrow we'll be in the single digits!

I'm listening to the Beatles. I'm giving my presentation tomorrow and I'm excited. I worked really hard on this thing and I'll be glad to have it over with and glad to present. I had a lot of fun doing all the research and such.

Well...let's get today out shall we?

This morning I woke up around nine thirty and got all ready to run only to discover that Johnny Gately was still awake...so I had a nice morning chat with him and then I went on my morning run. It was nice this morning, although a bit colder than it has been. I feel like I say that everyday, but that's because that's how I feel it's getting to be FOR REAL this time.

After running I showered and got ready for an intense day of study. I feel like all I do lately is that - study. And when I say study I mean write papers...Haha.

I met Kemper and we decided that we wanted to go and study in our classroom in the class building. Well, this was a great idea, except that you can't get internet there! UGH. So we worked for a while (Hillary had to go to the Library because she NEEDED internet for her paper...) and then we ended up doing homework in Kemper's flat.

I suppose we've been spending a lot of time inside lately, but that's partly ok with me because it's miserable to go outside.

But I finished my paper and powerpoint. I'm sure Dad will want to see it, haha. :)

But more importantly - I got three letters today! Mom, Dad, and Jess sent me each a letter. Boy, do I feel special! So...I opened Dad's letter and it had some money and a couple of tube cards! YES!

I opened Jess's and there was an amazing drawing of Simba in there! I'm telling you, if you lived somewhere cold you'd have to have a cat for a pet so you could cuddle with it at nighttime. :)

Then I opened Mom's and found a couple more moneys so as Dad says, "I hope this relieves the stress" - the good news is - I went out to dinner tonight! In Soho. We went to this 'pop-up' restaurant. I really liked my burger and fries, although there was some miscommunication between the waiter and us...I enjoyed eating out. I think I'll miss just walking to Soho and looking at the menus outside trying to figure out where to eat.

I meant to make my green things tonight and then freeze them for cooking on Thanksgiving day, but I didn't really have the energy to get them all ready...so I'll have to probably do that tomorrow.

I had some of Kemper's amazing dessert stuff from last night. It was so good! So now I'm laying here in the hallway all full thinking I"ll work on some postcards. I miss you guys!

Mom, Dad, and Jess, you have no idea how much the letters made me smile today...and it wasn't just the money but I felt really special. Thanks for taking the time for each of you guys to write me one. :) I love you guys.

Alright well ten days...almost nine by my time...SO. Get ready!

Cheers!

"Dear Prudence, won't you come out to play?"

Well hello there! It's Sunday and I only have ten days left till I come home. Just thought I would get that lovely announcement out of the way (I've never been so adamant about counting anything before...)

Today was a homework day mostly. I've been really focused on homework. I want to be sure that I don't mess up my grade because I've only got a couple of them that are going to count for anything.

So, London essentially closes down on Sundays. The University of London library - The Senate House Library - is closed. No service. Which is pretty ridiculous, if you ask me! I mean, what are you supposed to do if you need to print something out for Monday or if you need to study for a test? I guess you go somewhere else...

But where do you go when everything closes down early or doesn't even open?

Let me backtrack, I'm getting ahead of myself again! I woke up around ten and went running this morning. No one was out, and they were doing a lot of construction work right down by the river. I grumbled as I ran by them because they were totally taking over my running path.

The good thing was that I had the streets to myself (besides the construction teams) because no one was out. It wasn't particularly sunny or anything like that, but hey. It wasn't that cold today so I enjoyed my run. Big Ben was sparkling down on me as per usual. :)

After my run I showered, had lunch, and discussed with Hillary where we would study for the day. We didn't really know what to do. What are you supposed to do if you don't want to do homework in your flat and you need internet? Well, go somewhere with free wifi I suppose...Ugh. It was so complicated.

We finally settled on a Cafe Nero which is close enough to the flat that we could walk. We spent about three-ish hours on homework. I am almost finished with my Beatles paper, I just need to add citations for the quotes and add a works cited page. The other thing I need to finish for that presentation on Tuesday is my powerpoint presentation...Ugh. (Well not ugh, it's fun to do, but I'm such a perfectionist about it.)

After we did that, we went to Kemper's flat to discuss dinner. We decided on homemade pizza again. Kemper also made some delicious raspberry white chocolate dessert cake thing. It was amazing.

We chilled at the flat and played that ludo game again. It's like sorry but...a bit more...eh...special? Haha. We always have interesting times with that game. I also painted my nails black today...but I'm so impatient that they're all messed up looking and such. OH well. I tried, haha!

Ok well I know that's a very short update, but for once, there's really nothing going on. I've been doing homework for most of the day, running and eating for the rest of it. And counting. Counting down the seconds till I get to come home! I'm soooo excited!

I can't believe you're having Thanksgiving without me. :( Sad day. I miss you guys!

Cheers! (TEN DAYS!)

Don't judge a book by its cover.

So I'm sitting in the hallway with my new Oxford Sweatshirt...I accidentally bought a large in stead of a medium...but it's so incredibly comfortable! SO I think I ended up with the right hoodie...

Yesterday I went to Oxford. It was a really interesting time. I really liked Oxford...but let me start at the beginning.

November 19th 2010 - Friday:

I woke up early and went running! I really like when the streets of London are empty. It makes the city a whole new kind of place. I really enjoyed getting to run and hear the flapping of my shoes on the pavement because everyone else was either asleep or already at their jobs. Who knows...but they weren't out walking/jogging on the streets. I've decided that the average Londoner does not walk to a destination - they run.

Sheesh.

Anywho, I got all showered after running and had lunch before I was ready to hop on a train with Erin, Hillary, and Kemper that was Oxford bound. I took plenty of pictures, no worries. :)

It took about an hour to get there, and the lovely thing was that the sun was out shining in full force. However, after we spent about fifteen minutes on the train, we noticed a weird fog surrounding London town. It was crazy.

But foggy or not, we continued on our little journey. I was immediately lulled into a sort of foggy sleep that I couldn't really shake off for the rest of the day. BUT we finally got there and hopped off of the train onto Oxford Soil.

The town (I would call Oxford a town, compared to London anyway) was very quaint. It looked very Gothic to me and walked by a bunch of the colleges and such. It was intense. I took a bunch of pictures. I've decided that the reason I like all these towns and cities that have an ancient/old/gothic/antique feel is because I haven't ever really experienced that ever before in a city/town. I don't think the US has 'old' in the same sense.

Anywho once we walked around a bit we found a covered market. Kemper has a friend that goes to Oxford for undergraduate studies and she suggested that we go to this market. It was very quaint. They had fresh groceries (when I say fresh, I mean meat hanging from the ceiling) and all sorts of other nice veggies and such. After wondering around there for a bit we stopped at a nice little cafe for lunch.

I got a panini thingy. Then we dropped Erin off to meet with one of her friends who was studying at Oxford. Kemper, HIllary and I found Christ Church (where the Great Hall from Harry Potter was filmed) and then we found Christ Church Meadows. It was really, really pretty so we walked down this neat little garden pathway and took pictures among all the colourful leaves. I love when the leaves change colours.

After that we had to go find Erin again and then we went back to the same spot in the Meadow. Hillary made some friends with some of the ducks passing by. Haha. There were also some cows nearby with some pretty intense horns. Like I said, I really liked the town, it was quaint and nice.

Next we went and found a little coffee place and I got some tea. I got the same Twinings tea that I made Dad try at that cafe in Covent Garden. It was really good - mango or orange cinnamon or something like that. I absolutely loved it!

After tea we walked around in the dark (it gets dark at four thirty over here) and we waited for Kemper's friend to text her. When she did text we ended up meeting her and going to this Italian restaurant for dinner. I had a bunch of questions to ask her about the Oxford way of life and school system. It pretty much blew my mind. Here I am thinking that Hendrix is hard. Pssssh. I should have gone to Oxford. Yeah right.

SO anyway, after that we walked back to the train station and stood outside for five minutes. A train came up and we didn't know if it was the one for London or not. We kept arguing about it, because the electronic sign said it wasn't a London train...so we didn't end up getting on. I was completely under the impression it wasn't a London train. One of the train workers even got on the loudspeaker and tried to explain to everyone where the train was going, but we couldn't hear/understand him.

Turns out the train is driving away and I see, "London Paddington" on the back of it. WELL. Why in Hades would you put the destination of the train on the back?! You then don't see where it's going until it's literally already gone!

Anyway, we had to wait about forty minutes for the next one, which put us back in London around eleven thirty...and we were scared the tube was going to be closed. Luckily, the tube was NOT closed. We were safe! So I returned and I was so tired that I didn't even update. But now I'm chilling in the hallway with my comfy hoodie and a nice glass of water. :)

So that brings me up to today

Saturday November 20 2010:

Today I managed to sleep in. My nonsleepy thing was finally catching up with me. In fact, I slept in until ten! WOO! I used to be able to sleep so late, but now I get up early. The only problem is that I don't go to bed any earlier than I used to...I still go to sleep at about three sometimes. So it's probably not the best.

I have a theory, however. I think the reason that I can't sleep in late anymore is because I love being up before everyone else. I can ensure the quite and peace of the whole flat to myself. Isn't that selfish of me? Haha. I wonder if when I get home this will hold true? Probably not, I'll probably be sleeping in as late as I can. :) Isn't that just the way it works?

Anywho, after I got up I went over to Kemper's to prepare. We went to Portobello road market. I wish I had gone there earlier in the semester! It puts Camden to shame. There was soooo much just junk and stuff and food and everything. It was a little too crowded for my taste, but I had a great time. I bought some Jimi Hendrix. What can I say? I'm a little obsessed...I think. With the records...I think I know what I want for Christmas. HINT.

After that we came back (we spent a good two-three hours exploring the whole street and the side crannies and such. It was intense.) Kemper had lunch (I didn't because I had already eaten a lunch earlier.) Then we went to the library and studied. I worked on my Riddley paper today. I literally got my Riddley Walker paper done today, all I have to do now is proofread it. I might have Johnny read it if he has time, because I want to know if it makes sense. That makes me feel a little caught up on these four papers I have due soon, because two of them I have a rough draft for. So, that's progress.

Then we went to the store to get a couple of things because tonight we had a girl's night in and we made Tex-Mex. It's cheap to do this, and when it's cold like this outside, you essentially don't want to go anywhere! Gosh! I barely made it to the store. I'm glad I come home in ELEVEN days! (I'm going by my time and it's currently 12:08 AM so - ELEVEN DAYS!) Get excited!

I seriously could not handle a winter over here, I could barely handle a fall. Haha.

Well that's my update for my lovely little familial unit! I miss you guys. I'll be home in the blink of an eye.

Cheers!

Here Comes the Sun - The Beales - Abbey Road

Seriously. Abbey Road. The Beatles. I went there today...and HERE COMES THE SUN...I come home in two weeks from today. I hope you guys can handle it. :P

SO let me backtrack and tell you about today.

Today is Thursday...so I had politics this morning. Each time I have a politics class I realize more how much I hate it. I hate it soooo much. Ugh. Not necessarily the class, but the subject. It just makes me want to fix the world and I know I alone can't.

But today we talked about A Man for All Seasons. The class discussion was pretty interesting. I don't know what I'll write my paper for that play on yet. But we'll see...I'll keep you updated I'm sure...apparently my goal for this blog right now is to constantly update you on my homework.

Anywho I got up early enough to meet Kemper outside so we could try this new coffee place. Well, she already had tried it, but I wanted to try something new. Every Thursday I essentially have to have coffee to get through the day - it's like my Friday. So, you know, I need a little extra push.

I got a Mocha...but I think they may have given me a latte or at least forgotten to put the chocolate in it. Oh well, it still was pretty delicious. I had enough caffeine to pay attention. Alright so after class we went to the post office today. I'm sending my last post cards this coming week...so WOW. Let's see if they get home before I do. ;)

After that escapade (which I must stop and give you a side note: for the first time in three months I had a really great post office employee help me out today. He was very nice, which is a rarity in London...) Kemper, Erin and I found ourselves getting off of the tube in St. John's Wood. ST. JOHN'S WOOD. Abbey Road, anyone? Excuse me? Look at the pictures that I am posting on this thing. Totally couldn't help it...it had to be done.

Anywho I had an amazing awesome time and managed to have my camera this time around. So that was helpful. I finished writing my first draft for my Beatles paper today. I just need to freshen it up a bit and put in a good conclusion and then hopefully my presentation will flow from my paper. I'm really glad I picked something I was so interested in, because I think it'll be easy to talk about.

So, after that we went to the store, Kemper, Hillary, and I. I decided that I wanted to have baked salmon for dinner...so I made some. It was absolutely delicious. I'm proud of myself...I didn't really think I was capable...but I liked it! I thought since Salmon was such a fresh thing over here that they had a lot of I should try and get some before I leave...you know? Hmmm...14 days.

We all cooked over at Kemper's. Hillary and Kemper had some crazy awesome grilled cheese and Kemper made some home-made biscuits. Also...there were fresh cookies. I had three of them...I'm going to just have to tell you now that I've never had better M & M cookies. :) I like the M & Ms with the peanuts the best. :P

So we did that and chilled and talked and I took a mini nap on the couch over there because I'm having a hard time sleeping I'm so excited about coming home. I'm on the downhill stretch here! 14 more days! 14 MORE DAYS! I have a homework and London schedule planned out so that I get to do all the things that I was banking on in the last days here so I'm going to be a busy beaver! (Busy bumblebee?)

Anywho so tomorrow we're going to Oxford. I'm going to get a sweatshirt so I can pretend to be all scholarly when I get back to Hendrix. Ha! Besides that I'll have to update you tomorrow about how the day goes!

I MISS YOU GUYS! So, so close.

Cheers!

Hot Dog Vendor

Today was Wednesday...and Wednesday is my busy day! I had sooooo much today. I had a presentation for Art and Architecture and I had to turn in a paper for Shakespeare.

Wooo. I know this sounds like a normal amount of work, but for me, it was a bit of a mess. I've been used to assignments with breaks in between them...but now that I have FIFTEEN days until I come home...well, we have to cram everything into the final stretch here.

Homework update: I have started on my Beatles presentation and have written half of my paper so far. I have decided on a topic for my final Shakespeare paper. I am doing alright on my Riddley Walker paper which is due next week. I also enjoyed Man for All Seasons, which is a political play...and I have to write a paper on that...I'll keep you updated. I think I plan on doing that this weekend. What else? I just have to worry about my Art and Architecture final...who knows where that could lead me...

So more to today. I got up early and got all ready to meet Kemper and HIllary outside. We had to be at the Tate Britain at ten to start our presentations. I had to go last. I picked a female artist who did what is called a 'wordscape.' It looks like this: http://freeartlondon.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/6pxqjmt83ij0lsb88xnjtsleo1_500.jpg, but it is actually entitle "Top Gun." It's her interpretation of the movie Top Gun. I think it's great because it's all words. How ironic is it to call a block of words a piece of art? I LOVED it. I hope my presentation was up to the high standards...however....

The paper I turned in for Shakespeare was something Ms. Smith would have enjoyed...so I don't think I'll be too worried about that. I think it's lovely that I've spent at least half of my post already focused on homework and such. Sheesh.

Between my two classes I literally ran to the Hot Dog vendor right outside the British Museum. Mom and Dad will remember how good those vendors all smell? Well I couldn't help it. I've been waiting almost three full months to try one of those things...so I bought two. I ate one as I walked back to my flat and I ate the other in Kemper's flat with Hillary. Oh my goodness it was a little piece of Heaven! However, it was not quite the same as a Hotdog that you get from the baseball game at the ball park...sad day. That is mostly what I was expecting... :(

Let's see...after Jean's class I came back to the flat and listened to the Beatles and wrote half o my paper. Then Kemper, Hillary and I went to Benito's Hat. I got a huge burrito for dinner and tried to pretend like it was legitimate Tex-Mex. It was pretty good, I mean, Benito's really can't go wrong.

After that we came back and chilled in Kemper's flat and tried to read the paper and study up for Pub Quiz. Pub Quiz at the College Arms (which is our home base pub) is always so fun. I don't know why, we never win. In fact, every single time we have come in last place. First our team name was Turtles, then we were Team Latin for Fail, and this week we were Team This Didn't Work Out Either...Needless to say...we came in last.

However, I contributed two correct answers this week. I knew that the Beatles' first number one hit in the US was "I Wanna Hold Your Hand." I also knew who David Mitchell was...JOHNNY GATELY! So there we go! I know useless trivia!

Haha. I had a good day today. After the Liverpool fail, however, I think most days are good days. And the good news is, I come home in FIFTEEN days. That is literally almost just two weeks away. I hope you guys are ready for me!

I miss you!

Cheers!

Your cat eats cold waffles?

Apparently, Mandi's cat eats cold waffles. You learn something new everyday.

Well hello there! What's up? I'm chilling (literally freezing) laying on the floor in the hallway of my flat. It's so hard to get good internet in here sometimes.

Today was pretty good, minus the fact that London all the sudden is extremely cold. I am such a Southern girl in the sense that...I can't take this 'freezing' business! Seriously, I don't know how people do this every day. How are you supposed to get up out of your cocoon when it's sooooo warm? HOW?

Well somehow I do (just barely) and go to class. I went to British Life and Culture this morning. We discussed the movie we saw last week, which was interesting enough. After that we had a nice dude come talk to us about British Sports. I tried to listen to what he was saying about the rules of Cricket...but I'm afraid that one will always just go over my head...

Anywho, after class I went running. We did learn when the sports dude was talking to us that the people in London who are running with backpacks on their backs are training...and generally the backpacks have weights and such in them. Isn't that absolutely ridiculous? I now know why they look at me like I'm not running fast enough. I'm probably running fast enough I just don't look hardcore because I've got my little pink shorts on with leggings and alas...no backpack. For the first half of my run I let this bother me...and then I just started laughing really hard. Who cares what anyone thinks of me when I'm running? I probably look ridiculous anyway, but who am I trying to impress? My last running distance...sheesh. :)

Then once I finished this dialogue in my head as well as returned to my flat I showered, made lunch, and then went to Kemper's. I got two letters today. :) I really like a good poem. Then Kemper and I decided to go to Hyde Park to find the Peter Pan statue. So we went all the way into the Kensington neighbourhood to find the park to find Peter. The only thing was, it took us forever to find him.

And then when we found him, he wasn't as big as I thought he would be. But hey. What can you do? It was really sunny today for London (at least the way it's been lately) and I found myself reveling in the sunshine. However, London was hazy today. As I was running back towards St. Paul's I saw a darkish cloud around the rotunda and thought that rain was nigh...nope. It was the dusky, hazy light that the sun has been attempting to shine through all day. It was kind of creepy and mystical.

Also, when we were in the park it was all misty and foggy. The sun was still out and such, but it was strange and sort of...well...ghostly or something. Haha. You never know with London.

We hopped back on the tube and turned up over by our flats. We then got our books and trudged to the Library. I did a bunch of research for my Beatles paper today. I took notes from some books from the library. I was excited to get as much done as I did. Now really, all I need to do is sit down and write a rough draft and make a powerpoint. This will be a fun presentation to give to the class.

I need to work some more on this Riddley Walker story of mine that I'm coming up with. Good old saint nick. I'm not sure if I've explained that assignment...but I don't really feel like it right now so I'll have to do that later. Haha.

I've got to come up with an idea for a paper article for hendrix. It's got to be London related. Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm absolutely drawing a blank.

Let's see after the library I made dinner and chilled out with Hillary and Kemper. And now here I am cold. GAH.

Guess what? 16 Days. I'm keeping a count and I'm excited for any temperature besides freezing...but if you could keep Arkansas in the seventies...that would be lovely. :)

Miss you guys!

Cheers.

"We all live in a yellow submarine, a yellow tambourine, a yellow jellybean"- Hillary

Well. Today (the beginning of today) was an ultimate FAIL. I don't think I've ever failed so miserably. So...let me tell you all about it. In case the suspense is killing you, I didn't get to go to Liverpool. :(

Alright so about a month ago I looked up train fares to Liverpool, and I found one out of Padington Station that was about £20 there and back, which is quite reasonable. That's the price for Brighton (if you travel with a buddy). So we got up early and we left at 8:30 to be at Paddington by nine...because we looked up the timetables and saw that the train we needed left at 9:19.

WELL...we got in line to get our tickets...and the lady typed it all in her computer and she said, "That will be £189." I seriously probably poohed my pants. That is probably more than it cost me to travel to both Edinburgh and Belfast. SHEESH.

So we then went to Victoria bus station thinking we could get there in time still. Well unfortunately the buses that leave there leave later than I would have needed to get to my tour...and they were all at least six hours long when Liverpool is only about two hours away.

SO. We got back on the tube and returned to the flat at about ten. I have contacted the people in charge of the tour to see if I can get refund on that one, we'll see. I just can't justify spending that much for a train tricket for one day. I mean...GAH.

Needless to say I was a little (perhaps this is an understatement) upset after we got to the flat. I went on a very nice, long run. It's really cold now though, so I should probably run with my hoodie or something. But anywho - after that Kemper had the great idea of going to Brick Lane to get our favourite Beigels to cheer me up.

SO we grabbed Hillary and went. I got a half dozen and a salmon-cream cheese filled one for lunch. We went and sat in a park and ate it, even though it was cold. We felt a little awkward because in the park we were the minority: in gender and in ethnicity. Strange feelings...so we ate quicklky and hopped back on the tube to get back to our flat.

We then all grabbed homework material and went to the library. I finished Shakespeare paper numero uno today and I printed out my politics rewrite. I also read the play we have to read for Politics this week, and I'm working on my Riddley Walker paper. Kemper and I managed to check everything off of our homework list for the weekend...so that's good.

After about three hours at the library (in which I uploaded some photos from halloween and scotland...) we went to Costa and I got a Hazlenut latte thingy. I think at that time I felt a little better about the Liverpool thing. It was just so disappointing. I felt stupid for wasting our oyster cards and wasting my pre-booked tour and I didn't get to go see where the Beatles started...their household homes and strawberry fields and penny lane. :(

BUT...I had scrambled eggs for dinner with mushrooms in them and I've been wearing a Beatles shirt all day...that sort of makes it okay...right?

I will go on another Beatles Walk this weekend...so...I suppose it's ok. I'm also going to "The Beatles Cafe" on Thursday afternoon and Abbey Road again to take pictures...so...(Can you tell I'm trying to make this all ok? Haha. I am laughing at myself a little bit though, because it was such an uber FAIL.)

Oh well seventeen days till I come home. I really miss everybody like crazy. Just two more weekends and then a couple of days and I'm off! Crazy huh? I'm starting to think I'll miss some of the London.

Isn't that the way life is?

Well - cheers I suppose. Haha. No worries I'm smiling...sort of. :P

"Can I have a glass of water...?"-Kemper, "Sure, why not" - strange waiter dude in Chinatown

Hello hello hello!

Guess what? I got to go on a Beatles London Walk today! OH MY GOODNESS. I WENT TO ABBEY ROAD AND GRAFFITIED THE WALL! (On a side note - I forgot my camera, so I'll be going back on Thursday to take pictures. Hey, why not?)

The walk was great! I had this really great tour lady named Desiree (at least, I think that's probably how you spell it). She was very theatrical and into everything she was telling us. Most of what she told us, I already knew, because I read that 400 hundred something biography. I think for my paper I'm going to title it "Beatlemania" and focus on the Beatles in the 60s (and the cultural backdrop that helped them rise to such a huge level of fame.)

So anywho, I got up this morning really early and went running. I owned the streets of London. They were all mine. Except when I got to the Thames path there were groves of old war Veterans decked out in their uniforms. I discovered later that today was the remembrance service. I should have jogged on over, apparently the Queen was there! Gasp!

Anyways, I ran back to the flat and had breakfast, showered, and got dressed in time to get to start some homework for a bit before the tour at eleven. I managed to show up in the right place and I took some notes and such. It was great. I mean, I got to walk around and listen to facts about the Beatles.

The only problem was that I got up today and London decided it was going to be FFFFFFREEEEZING! I mean, seriously. I went running in a t-shirt and I came back with arms raw from the wind. Sheesh. SO walking about London in the rain that was inevitable was slightly miserable. In fact, I am just now getting my feet all warm and toasty. I'm doing laundry. Woot.

After I finally made it back I popped over to Kemper's to find Hillary and Kemper making another homemade pizza. I was in the mood for Christmas Starbucks blends, so I asked if anyone wanted a coffee. I walked to a Starbucks and got myself a Toffee Nut Latte. It was really good, but I should have just gotten a white chocolate peppermint mocha. I will save that one for Gramner. It's such a Christmas time thing!

Anywho then I did a bunch of homework all of the remaining afternoon. I finished my politics rewrite for good, worked on my shakespeare paper, and started my Riddley Walker legend paper. I get to be creative in that one as long as I can make it political. I will do my best. I fear that class the most - politics. Bleh.

Then, HIllary and Erin were going to Chinatown for dinner...so Kemper and I jumped on the bandwagon and joined the troupe. I love food from Chinatown. I don't think I'll get Chinese food quite like that in Little Rock. :) (And in Little Rock I have a hard time convincing Dad to eat it with me.;) ) Anywho the waiter was very strange. When Kemper asked if she could have a refill he replied in a very grandiose manner, "Sure, why not?" I really think service over here is totally different from service in the States. Just saying.


But my fried rice was good. And on the way out of Chinatown, Kemper and I stopped at this little sweets shop and got a cupcake thing with a frosted animal on it. Jess, you're going to have to learn how to do this. Actually, it was sort of like a sushi roll cupcake, because the base was cake rolled up with cream and such. Like an oreo...but not. Haha. Here I am dissecting my sweets again. Sheesh, that must be all I'm good for.

After we ate those I came over to the flat to start laundry and talk to this Johnny Gately fellow. :) In case you haven't read Notre Dame won. He was very enthused. (This is for all you Razorback fans out there.);)

Tomorrow morning I'm getting up early to go to Liverpool. I have a tour booked. I'm soooooo excited! I'm going to Liverpool, you know, where the Beatles started out? As the Quarrymen? No worries, I'm charging my camera as we speak. I shall update tomorrow. Pinky promise!

Miss you guys!

Choose your own adventure

Hey there. Sorry I didn't update yesterday, but if you happen to be my mom I did! :) I think we talked for an hour...so much for me putting more money on my phone.

So let me backtrack a day....

Friday 12 November:

Ah Friday. You gotta love Friday. Let's see...I got up early (for a day in which I could have slept in) and I went on a little morning run. It was nice, but I should have gotten up even earlier so that I could have the city to myself. I love the moments when I feel like I own the streets. Haha. Fat chance of that happening when there's millions living in this city.

After that I took a shower, had lunch and then popped over to Kemper's. I sort of have a routine going on here don't I? Anyway, we went to the Tea and Tattle to plan out the weekend (study schedule) and I really wanted a traditional pot of tea. Something about having 'fancy' dishes and such is amazing. I tried oolong tea. Apparently it's from Taiwan? I liked it. :P

After that we went and captured Hillary and went on an epic walk in the rain to Candid to work on Shakespeare. We all annotated our sections and such and I got another cup of tea (three mint - even better than peppermint!). We don't have pukka in Arkansas - it's a brand of tea. It seems to be really popular in the little independent cafes and such.

Anyway, after that we made stuffed pepper's at Kemper's flat (both vegetarian and meat-lovers options) and we watched a movie. Superbad to be specific...which is a guy movie but it makes me laugh sometimes.

After that I passed out...after I spent an hour on the phone with mumsy. So onwards and forwards...

Saturday 13 November:

Once again, I got up early to go running. You know what? I hate running in the morning, but this whole - it gets dark at four thirty thing has really forced me into running early. I would way rather run with the sunrise than with the darkness...besides I think my parents would disown me for being unsafe...:-/

But fortunately I managed to get up and go running. After that, I showered ate and went to Kemper's because we had a date to go to Camden market. I finally decided to spend some of the money that I had saved for spending. :P

SO...what did I buy myself? Albums. If you're curious to know which ones...leave me a post! AHHHHH the suspense is killing me. I'm quite happy with my purchases though. I also got a new bag (a newsprint one to replace my old one) a ring, a necklace, a pair of earrings...and something that mumsy requested. :)

I saved the rest of my spending money for Liverpool and Oxford.

After we went to the Market we went to the library and wrote our Shakespeare papers. I have a first draft...so tomorrow I'll probably finish it up. I'm still waiting on Barnaby to approve my selection for my presentation on Wednesday...till then I can't do anything for that. UGH.

Anywho after the library we came back to my flat and chilled with Hillary before she had to go see a show tonight. Then Kemper and I went to the store and got food stuff for dinner. We had a Mexican Fajita/Guacamole night. Oh man it was sooooo good. I love Tex-Mex. These people over here are NOT EVEN CLOSE. Someone ought to introduce them to Taco Bell. Just sayin.

Anyway I tried to make Mumsy's famous guacamole dip, and it was alright, but not quite up to snuff...although it's pretty much all gone. :) Kemper also made a delicious cake. I'm telling you, she should just open a bakery because people should have to pay for something that is that delicious. :P

We chilled in the flat and such, watching TV and chatting, waiting for Hillary to come eat some cake. I'm so sleepy, I'm only forcing myself to update this because I want you guys to leave me posts! I'm a little stressed about all these papers I have mainly because I haven't homework in ages...:-/ UGH.

And I want you to guess the albums I bought. And I want to tell you that tomorrow I'm going on a Beatles London walk. I'll be sure to update tomorrow and let you know how that one goes. I miss you guys. Jess I hope you liked your college visit today I was thinking about you.

Also. I miss that silly cat! Simba. Sheesh.

Cheers.

Caught in the Deluge.

Good morning - afternoon - evening...what time is it?

You know when I was at Hendrix last year I had a clock that was set an hour ahead so I would remind myself that Johnny was a full hour ahead...AND I wanted to try to do something like that whilst I was over here. However, this is problematic seeing as the familial unit is six hours behind and Johnny is five hours behind. Sooooo much math that my brain can't handle. (There's a reason I'm an English major...)

So. I never really know what time it is...and by who's time I should be going by. Shouldn't I be going by my own time? I suppose so. That means it's midnight here - so for the rest of you - six pm and five pm, respectively...here we go. :)

Thursdays. Thursdays here have the slight magical of Fridays...but on the level that Fridays were when I was a kid and got picked up by Gramner and Grandad every Friday afternoon. We would always get Jess popcorn for 50 cents on the way out. Forrest Park popcorn was pretty good even though I don't even like popcorn.

For some reason my nostalgia meter is higher than usual...HMMMM.

Anywho we discussed more Riddley Walker in class today. (Politics. Which. IS. NOT. MY. THING!!!!) After class I went on a run. And let me tell you, today was real London weather. The skies looked clear as I left the flat jamming out to Jimi Hendrix...however, as I was finishing up and walking back I got soaked!

Soaked I tell ya, soaked. It was quite literally raining cats and dogs and possibly cows and antelope too! I was so drenched that I couldn't see through my glasses anymore...but then I just started laughing. All the suits and ties were walking haphazardly under their umbrellas (or what was left of them it was really windy!) and I was just splashing through the puddles right by them. There comes a point once you're wet, that you're really wet, and all you can do is laugh and keep moving. Just keep swimming as Dory says. (NEMO Jess. NEMO. WE have got to watch Nemo a couple of times over the break - they are on beaches and stuff, I bet it's warm in the ocean around Australia...)

Haha. So yeah. That was sort of a fail but one of the best runs I've had whilst I have been here. I made it to Big Ben as usual and just stared. I'm going to miss that clock more than anything else (building wise - except for maybe St. Paul's...)

After that I showered and ate some lunch and then made my way over to Kemper's. We had decided earlier in the day that we were going to try to go to a market this afternoon for a nice walk around. I was excited. So I picked one off of this website that supposedly had the best street markets in London.

SUPPOSEDLY.

We ended up traveling through the tube to this area only to be blasted by wind and rain and the market was...closed. It was such a fail. I felt bad - because we essentially wasted a tube fare...and it was my choice. UGH.

But we found a Poundland - which is the same as the Dollarstore in the US. Is it funny that being in there made me nostalgic for birthday parties? Summer and birthdays in my family is like clockwork...and for almost every birthday this summer I was at the dollarstore getting cute little decorations and such. Just missing my family extra today. Haha.

SO I got some packing tap for a pound, because I have to send some goodies home soon. Probably in the next two weeks, because quite literally it's only twenty days till I come home. I'm counting down, counting down, can't wait.

AND just get ready because a little bird told me it's been hot in Arkansas. As soon as my plane lands it'll be cold and windy and rainy...and how knows it'll probably snow. I'll probably bring London weather home with me. So just count with me and we'll get the fall/winter weather on the way. :)

Dinner was a success however. We made homemade pizza. Kemper looked up a recipe for pizza dough and then we winged it (following Kemper's instructions) and made a Hawaiin and Vegetarian pizza. They put DG to shame. Just saying. Jess would have been impressed.

We bought a game at PoundLand that is just like Sorry but it's called Ludo. SO we played ludo for a bit but the we got distracted and just chilled. All in all, I had a great day. A bit on the nostalgic side...but still lovely. I miss you guys like crazy, can't wait to come home. (By the way, going to Liverpool on Monday, so I'll be here all weekend. Updating the blog and such.)

Cheers for now.

I am a bird...

Hola! (Oh how I miss espanol...)

Hello again!

Today was Wednesday...which means it was my busy day. (I had two classes today, woa freak out!) So I got up early this morning because we had to meet Barnaby at South Kensington Tube station...which is a tube station that I got familiar with when my parents were here.

Lovely. We had to go walk around Hyde park in the negative degrees (ok really it was only thirty something but STILL) and it was so cold. We looked at some contemporary pieces by some dude named Anish Kapoor (I probably didn't spell that right.) And unfortunately I found myself so cold that I had a hard time paying attention. I did take notes though, so that's good.

After that we went to the Victoria and Albert and we had to pay (WHICH if you want me to go on a rampage I can. But I probably shouldn't on my blog - so shoot me an email if you'd like to know more about my frustration...) So we paid to see this exhibit about cameraless photography...

Which was alright...but I was so overwhelmed by the small space that they placed the exhibit in that I don't know if I really got the full effect...GAH.

After that we rode the tube back to Russell in time for lunch (a quick one) before Shakespeare. Shakespeare was GREAT today. I know that I'm about to turn into uber-nerd but that's alright with me. We acted out some scenes from Hamlet today and I was Ophelia. (Lovely, cast the role to crazy female to me...lovely lovely, I suppose it's appropriate? Haha.)

It was fun to discuss the difficulties of staging certain scenes in Hamlet. I mean, this Billiam dude, this Shakespeare got himself in a bit of trouble with some scenes. I wonder how he coped with it? Anywho...:P

After that I came back to the flat and worked on my politics paper for what seemed like hours. I sent that thing to Johnny...it probably makes no sense by now...I've been working on it for entirely toooooooo long. UGH.

Anyway after that I went over to Kemper's (because I'd done all my other homework for now) and we chilled. Hillary and Kemper and I went to the Pub Quiz tonight at the college arms. I am almost positive we came in last for the tallying of scores. I mean, hey, our name was : "Latin for 'fail.'" If that doesn't get the message across I don't know what will...

But we had fun trying to guess all the answers. I thought I'd at least be able to help in the geography apartment, but apparently not. I need to start studying some maps again for next week (if we go that is). :P

We didn't stay for the reading of the scores aloud, that would have been horrible. But apparently, our counterpart team won tonight. Go figure.

I can't really think of anything else great to tell you that occurred today. I finally got so cold I had to wear a very heavy sweater under my coat...if that's any indication of how cold I am...I just got out of the shower and I'm STILL cold. STILL cold. Sheesh.

I miss you guys. I hope all is well...

I'm home soon!

Cheers!!

I'm twenty...but I still love the feeling of clothes fresh out of the dryer...

Well hello there! Long time no post! What can I say - I went to Edinburgh this weekend and I've just now found the time to sit down and tell you about it. (Note the title - I've been doing laundry and London just keeps getting colder.)

SO. Let's start from the beginning shall we?

Friday November 5th:

Well, I got up really early to turn my article in for the Hendrix newspaper. I worked on it over a beigel so I really hope it worked out...this was all pre-coffee so I probably turned in a really...um...colourful article to say the least. But I managed to grab a quick breakfast before heading out to the stoop to meet Kemper. I really don't remember the time, I think it was eight something?

Who knows. But we hopped on the tube and made our way to Victoria coach station...which contrary to popular belief is a different building than Victoria tube station. So. We walked around for what seemed like hours (only because I had a heavy backpack on my back) we found it! Hooray. I considered doing a dance but then I managed to refrain.

And then we got on a coach and just chilled for nine hours as we made our way to Edinburgh. I actually read the best Beatles biography that I've read thusfar in my life, and I've read a few of those. I've figured out that I don't get all sea-sick like if I sit in the front of the coach and in the aisle seat. It's actually worse for me to sit near the window, probably because looking outside hurts my eyes.

But so yeah, I read for the whole trip and then we got in around six. And it was cold. I've been thinking London was cold? Well Edinburgh was C-O-L-D. Seriously. And it was raining and we had to get to our B & B in the dark. So get ready for story time. Kemper went to ask the guy at the information desk in the coach station in Edinburgh for instructions on how to get where we needed to go and I watched the bags. Then we figured out that we needed to take the number 12 bus.

OH how I hate the number twelve bus. Oh my goodness. SO. We went outside in the rain (luckily I had mom's coat) and we stood there at the correct bus stop for at least forty-five minutes. In the wind. In the rain. I finally (after about twenty minutes) got my umbrella out. I figured that I wouldn't need it because a bus would be along. Kemper said that the guy at the information desk said that there were good services with all the buses that evening. Well he neglected to tell us that the number twelve bus is out to get travelers to Edinburgh. SHEESH.

We finally just broke down and took a cab. My first official emergency cab ride. It was nice actually. I think anything was nice after the terrible standing in the rainy, cold outside for what seemed like forever. Luckily, the cab fare was nowhere near as expensive as it would have been in London and came out to just about five pounds between the two of us. AND we were at our B & B warm and well, working on the dry part.

We got in to discover that our B & B in Scotland was run by a family of a Middle Eastern background. There were elephants and plants and great wallpaper everywhere. But, even though we weren't expecting it, we had a great place to stay. It was warm, had a nice TV that actually had channels on it, and it wasn't too far from the city centre.

Now, after I had laid out all my clothes that got soaked in our rain standings and I changed my socks because my converse shoes got soaked, Kemper and I ventured out to get on a bus to go to the city centre for dinner. Funny, huh? Round two.

Actually not really. We discovered that we could take the 12, 31, 26, or 48 bus to get where we needed to go, and we successfully took one of them. And whilst we were waiting we witnessed some pretty cool fireworks in celebration of the 5ht of November - Guy Fawkes...Remember, remember the 5th of November...(We snobbishly avoided 12 for the rest of the weekend, since it refused to pick us up in the first place.) We alighted on Princes Street which is the huge shopping bit in Edinburgh. It was crazy, Louis Vuitton and the whole deal, man.

Anywho we wandered around (no worries it was finally raining less heavy than previously) and we settled on a little Italian place. I got a calzone, because apparently that's what I do when I go traveling, I get a calzone.

After that we returned to the B & B via bus and we passed out. Literally man, I was exhausted. However, I did not sleep as well as intended, but I was bright eyed and bushy tailed the next morning...

Saturday November 6th:

Saturday we spent the day exploring Edinburgh. This is my favourite city that I've been to this whole time by far. I loved it even more than Paris! (except for the constant rain and constant cold...) UGH.

We ventured through some public gardens all the way to Edinburgh Castle (which is located perched on a hilltop.) The neat thing about Edinburgh (well one of the neat things) is that is a city in both hills and valleys and it borders the sea. We walked down the cobblestone streets to the main thoroughfare and walked through a secret looking graveyard. It sounds spooky, and I'll admit...it kinda was...

After that we climbed a hill and walked around an old observatory and looked out upon the sea. Then it was time for lunch. I tried the national dish - Haggis. I'll let you look up what's in that - but I'll just tell you - it was delicious. Eww gross. I know, I know.

Anywho after that it was raining so we found a neat looking coffee shop to spend some time in. This coffee shop was legit. I mean they brought me my coffee in a french press with a little wooden timer! Kemper had to explain to me how to work the french press - because I was completely ignorant.

(I am taking this time to tell you that I'm listening to Ben Folds' "Still Fighting It" and eating one of Jess's famous pumpkin cookies. I'd be in heaven if we could just get the location right.;) )

After my lovely coffee (which was unlike anything I had ever tasted and quite nice) we returned to the flat for a while to kill time because it was cold, rainy, and there wasn't anything neat going on like theatre shows or music venues. We did book a tour for the next day to tour the Highlands and seek for Nessie at Loch Ness.

So we watched this discover channel show about birds. No joke, I was actually interested. Those flamingos are slightly ridiculous. Haha.

After that we went back into the city centre for dinner. We managed to find a legit looking Mexican restaurant, and I'll say, that this is the best Tex Mex I've had in Britain. (In Scotland, go figure.) I got quesadillas, pretty much like always.

Anywho, after this little escapade we went back to the B & B because we had to get up early for our tour...six something early. Sheesh. That is an ungodly hour to be awake.

Sunday November 7th:

So we got up early and caught the Airport Express bus into the city centre and we made our way up the hill to the castle. No one was moving and the sun was rising slowly over the hills. We saw a starbucks like a beacon in the distance, and I can tell you, I didn't care that we had those in the US all over the place, I wanted a white chocolate mocha. It was only seven AM. So I got one.

And I got to the hill where the castle was just in time to take a picture of the rising sun over the clouds and hills. Gorgeous, gorgeous. :)

Anywho we got on the bus and were on our way to Loch Ness! (Loch means lake by the way, and you're supposed to really focus on spitting out the ch sound...Our bus driver happily demonstrated several times for us...)

We sat together for a while at the front of the bus until this German girl came up from the back threatening to be car sick. She sat down in the aisle trying to get some air before the driver finally said, you can't sit there legally. So she asked to switch seats with someone in the front. (The whole reason we were in the front was because of my new found sickness relating to coaches...)

So after about fifteen minutes of no one giving up their seat, (although when asked several people had plastic bags ready...sheesh) Kemper gave up her seat. So there I was sitting next to this sea-sick German that was going to explode at any minute.

For a long time she didn't say anything to me...which I was fine with. I was now sitting next to the window and every now and then I would stare out at the clear blue sky. (Finally a break from the rain.) Finally she said, "The trees are a pretty colour." I nodded my assent thinking, Now we're going to talk about the trees?

But she wasn't kidding the trees were gorgeous! They were all gold and burnt orange and lovely red brown. Even some of the green fir trees...all lining hills and mountains. The terrain was unlike anything I'd ever seen, and I would say that going through in Fall/Winter was the best time to go. The trees were smiling at me, I swear. :)

But so I answered her with an affirmative and she said, "So where are you from?" I said, "The States." She said, "Really? You don't fit the loud stereotype..." annnnnddd after that we didn't have much to say to each other. I understand that there's a stereotype, but we're not all the same are we?

Anywho we got to Loch Ness and traversed through some hills and took some pictures. Then we got back on the bus and drove through snow and such to finally start heading south. I will say, I was glad to get off the bus when we finally alighted back at the castle around eight.

We ate in a pub called the Malt Shovel. It had a green awning. (Enough said.) Haha. Seriously though, I got to try some Scottish Beer. I tried a local Edinburgh golden beer and it was alright (pretty nice actually) and then I tried essentially a Scottish version of Foster's called Tennets. It was quite nice. :)

After that we hopped on a bus to get back to our B & B. I managed to sleep sooooo soundly. You have no idea. But again, we were up and ready for Breakfast on Monday. We wandered around Edinburgh (in the rain -this is more of how I thought London weather would be. Windy, windy, windy, and oh so rainy and bone-chillingly cold.) Not that I'm complaining. Oh no. London weather is fine. (Fingers crossed that it doesn't get any colder than it is...)

Monday November 8th:

Day of travel. We had to listen to a screechy pterodactyl baby for at least five hours. (Ok, maybe I'm exaggerating, but I was soooo frustrated with it! I couldn't hear my ipod over it's screeches!)

We returned to London around eight something and hopped on the tube. Then I was back in the flat. I cooked dinner and thought about doing Laundry, but didn't get to it. I worked on some Shakespeare homework and then passed out.

Which brings us to -

Today. Tuesday November 9th:

Today was oh so lovely. We had class in the building and we discussed the play we saw last week, Blood and Gifts (a political thriller about the British, American, and Russian involvement in Afghanistan in the 80s...) and we watched a movie. The movie was about the second generation Middle Eastern children of immigrants in Britain, and how they sometimes turn to radical religion. It was an interesting movie which we are discussing next week.

I asked Susie if my idea for my Beatles presentation and paper was going in the right direction. I've decided to focus on the Beatles in Britain with the backdrop of the sixties. My main focus is WHY the beatles? WHY Beatlemania...couldn't it have been anyone else that got as big as they did? And what exactly did they do to popculture...oh the questions. They are so endless and I'm oh-so interested. I can't wait for Liverpool this weekend. Those beatles tours are going to be so great!

I'm a nerd. Haha. After class I went on a six mile run, in the cold windyness. I think my skin was kind of raw after that. But then I came inside and took a shower and did some laundry. When I took everything out of the dryer and laid it on my bed to be folded I remembered all those times when I was little in the winter mom would throw the warm blankets from the dryer on me. That is the life man. Having nice warm just dried clothes on you when it's chilly outside!

Anywho, excuse my reverie, after that I read some more of Shakespeare and finished it and then worked on my Politics rewrite. I went over to Kemper's while Kemper and Hillary made dinner I did some more homework. Kemper made an amazing broccoli potato cheese bake thingy with green beans and bread. It was lovely.

There was fruit cake for dessert (which is not what you think it is) with raspberries and blackberries. I don't know when people around me decided to be cooks, but hey. If you've got the talent for it...;)

About that time, after dinner, I went to the library to print off one of the many drafts I've written of this paper. The library is out to get me. Kemper gave me her card because she thought she had some money on it to print. Well I tried both of our cards to discover we were both broke. So I walked all the way back to the flat and got more money and went back to the Library round two!

Of course, this time the library elevator decided to eat me. I got stuck. The elevator doors closed really slowly after I pressed the 4 button for the fourth floor, and then it moved a little bit and just sat there stuck between the first and second floor. I immediately broke out into a sweat and started to panic. Thoughts of I'm too young to die passed through my mind and I thought about screaming.

My first bodily reaction was to move my hand to poke the fourth floor button like a maniac. Nothing happened. I probably only spent about ten minutes in there but I didn't know what to do. Just as it was dawning on me that I could press the little bell button thing...the elevator magically awoke from its random sleep and I was jerked to the fourth floor. Sheesh.

But that's not it folks! The library then refused to print my paper even after I put money on my card. So...I had to go to the desk and get help. The helper did everything I had been doing and the printer worked for him. Sure, sure. Stupid Library has it out for me. It didn't help that I had to take the stairs down and I could hear the wind howling against the building. That building is sooooo spooky!

But anywho, then I worked on my rough draft a bit more. And I got to talk to Johnny Gately finally! and here I am now writing this thing. I hope all is well at home, because all is well here.

I am literally counting down the days and scrambling around to try and finish my to-do list. :)

I miss you guys!

Cheers!

You and me were like a pair of shoes we broke each other in...

Well hello there! Before I go any further - the title of this post is from the show that I saw at the fringe theatre on Halloween. It's literally part of a song taken from the production, "I Think You Stink." Currently it's stuck in my head so I thought I would share.

Alrighty. Well let's get to it then.

I am going to SCOTLAND tomorrow! So that means sadly that I won't post again until Monday or Tuesday. But no worries, I'm charging my camera as we speak so I'm hoping to get some great photos.

Now, back to today. I woke up today to get ready for Politics. I was in a cheerful mood and decided that I would give myself enough time to go get a coffee from Cafe Nero. So I did. I believe that they have better white chocolate mochas than Starbucks, or I could just be used to my coffee Nero style by now. (I refuse to go into Starbucks - we have those at home.)

Anywho I then made my way up to the classroom. We discussed Riddley Walker today. I really don't know how I feel about that book. I actually think I have some fundamental problems with it but I don't think I'll get into that just now.

After class I went on an intense run by the Thames path. It was nice weather today, probably nicer than it is in Arkansas right now. No worries though, I'll freeze my toes off in Edinburgh. After my run I showered and had a quick lunch and then Kemper and I were planning on going to Camden.

The only problem was that I took so long getting ready to do all this that it was late by the time we were ready. I mean late as in three thirty. That may not sound late to you but it get's dark over here at four thirty. Camden pretty much closes when it gets dark and an hour was not enough time to peruse the many twists and turns of the market.

So, instead we went to Kemper's flat and baked a cake thing. I think it was a cake? All I know was that it was delicious. It had plums and strawberries a top/embedded in a light, fluffy vanilla cake. It was moist and spongey. How's my restaurant review doing? Haha. I'm tired you guys I'm doing the best I can.

Anyway after that we planned some more for Scotland in my flat and I did some laundry. Then Kemper went over to her flat to pack and get ready and I did some homework. Yay Shakespeare. Sounds exciting doesn't it? My day was nice, actually. I'm a little stressed about all these projects that are just going to converge all at once - but hey. What can you do?

I'm taking my knitting and my Beatles books with me for the bus ride. Perhaps I can do homework and knit at the same time? I always thought I was a multi-tasker.

OH YES. I remember. I almost forgot to tell you guys about the Becca moment of the day. I fell down whilst running. (Actually that makes it sound more graceful and acceptable than it really was.) I fell down whilst I was attempting to step onto a curb where the sidewalk was.

SO of course I did this ever so graceful (NOT - I probably looked like a flailing willow tree!) face plant onto the pavement. I skinned my knee and hands. Lovely. What am I seven? A black suit man offered me help but I nodded no politely to him. Then when I got up I burst into laugher. At least from all this I can laugh at myself. That shows some sign of maturity right? I should just learn how to use my legs and we wouldn't have this problem in the first place. Sheesh.

Anywho I'm tired and I have to get up early in the morning...so...goodnight to my little familial unit. I miss you guys!

Cheers!

Raisin Face...Pumpkin Head? Hmmm...

DISCLAIMER - November is the last month I have here and it is going to be packed! I would like to warn all of you now that I have fast approaching deadlines and projects...as well as three weekend trips. SO - please bear with me here. I'll do the best I can with my blog updates! I still want you to know what's what!

So in that case - we'll go back to yesterday - Tuesday November 3.

I woke up earlier than I usually do on Tuesday. I think I've managed to train myself to wake up twenty minutes before my alarm is due to go off. What is all that about? That's just one more nuisance to me...

We finally had our British Life and Culture class in the classroom. For the past couple of weeks we've been all over the place - museum after museum and such. Yesterday we discussed that Buddha of Suburbia book I've mentioned. It was a nice class, but I found myself zoning out because I couldn't really communicate my thoughts for some reason. Usually I have no problem formulating something in my mind to share with the class - but it was weird yesterday.

After class I thought I was going to go running but I got back to the flat and decided that I was hungry. SO...I forced Kemper to go eat Mexican food with me at Benito's Hat. It was great, as usual, those burritos are so HUGE. When I returned to my flat my pumpkin that I carved (Hamilton) was all smushed in and moldy...

SO. I wiped a tear from my face and double bagged him and took him to the stoop for the trash collection. Well, not really. There wasn't a tear, but I did have to lay him to rest in the rubbish pile. :( Halloween down - one more Holiday to go before I come home! WOO HOO!

Anywho after that escapade Kemper and I chilled in her flat all afternoon before we had to go see Blood and Gifts. Blood and Gifts is a play that is on at the National Theatre. It is about the US, Russia, and Britain's involvement in Afghanistan in the 80s. It was very political, obviously, and the ending was very creepy. Lovely to see the view of the Americans from this seat in the house, eh?

I don't really know how I felt/feel about the play yet. I'm still letting soak. I will say though, that it's neat to go see some really great theatre. The sets and the actors at the National (I've been there three times now) are awesome every time. It makes me want to write a play, for real. Actually I've been thinking that I tend to walk around with all these little thoughts in my head for stories and such when I'm walking around (you simply walk everywhere over here)...and I'm thinking it's high time I wrote those ideas out on paper.

I'll do that soon in my spare time. ;)

Right so after that I came back to the flat (we walked to and from the theatre). Actually it was a very nice night out temperature wise, but it was really windy. No rain and it was a crisp kind of night. Mostly I was excited about the no rain thing. I really don't like rain. But anyway - that brings us up to today:

Wednesday 3 November

Today is Wednesday which means that it was my busy day. But it was neat because it was different than usual. I had Shakespeare in the morning because we had a Globe tour and workshop and then we had art and architecture in the afternoon. (And the second class was shorter today because there was a tube strike and my professor had to go pick up his children from school...SO that was a plus as well.)

Anyway - I met Kemper outside at nine thirty and went walking to the Globe. We walked down the Waterloo bridge and then along the river Thames path - just like I took my parents. We walked by that neat little alcove of shops that we discovered. We managed to get to the Globe on time, thank goodness. I didn't want Jean to be upset with us.

Our tour guide's name was Collin and apparently he has been acting for thirty years. He knew a lot of things about the Globe, but I can honestly say that all the historical stuff he told us - Jean has already shared with us. The really interesting part came when he imparted his view of looking at Shakespeare's poetry in his plays. I really enjoyed his perspectives. NOW...this was a workshop so we did have to do some, uh, interesting exercises.

No, I didn't have to be a tree, or turn myself into a telephone booth. Kemper and I role played a dialogue between Hamlet and Polonius. It was fun. Haha. Sometimes you just have to let yourself be silly, and in all honesty, I learned some interesting things. This could be good for a future OM? Who knows...

Anyway after the tour was over we were going to meet Barnaby at the Tate Modern for our section on Modern Art. Kemper and Hillary and I ran into the museum to find one of the many cafes to scarf lunch down quickly. We only had a thirty minute break or something like that. Of course the three of us were last to the group - but here's the deal - I CAN not skip a meal. It makes me grumpy. Haha.

I was disappointed in the shortened class. I didn't get to see anything that I liked in the museum. Who is to say that I'll even like Modern art...but I plan on going back.

After that I came back and went on a run. It was so good to run again after I took a little break yesterday. I witnessed my first wreck today in London. (That's pretty good for the driving record over here considering I've been here about two months.)

Anyway, someone had taken a serious spill off their motorbike. I only mention this because my heart went out to them and I immediately felt helpless. I was so disgusted by the tourists standing around filming the whole thing as if this were Westminster Abbey or something. What is wrong with human nature that we are transfixed by pain and gore sometimes? I know sometimes I get too philosophical but it just really upset me. GAH.

I am an idealist and sometimes I just want to wave a magic wand and make things ok. But even if I could change something that would have a world wide impact, wouldn't I just inevitably be causing some kind of unknown negative consequences on some level? Ok. I'm done. Just thought I'd share.

After that I took a shower and then went over to Kemper's with Hillary to cook. Well they cooked. Well, actually Kemper cooked. Hillary and I chopped things. HIllary had cream of mushroom soup that she's had for about a month now and Kemper decided that we would just make mushroom pasta out of it. I'm telling you what - I haven't ever had pasta that good. It was delicious. MAN. I think Kemper should just open an Italian eatery... ;)

Anywho after that I came back over here and wrote some mail and then I worked on my homework and I finally finished Riddley Walker(that Russell Hoban novel we had to read for politics) and I'm almost done with my essay that I was rewriting. UGH. Rewriting.

I needed to write my Hendrix article which is due on Friday but I haven't done that yet...so...Guess I'll do that tomorrow.

But that pretty much brings you up to speed. I miss you guys terribly. I'm off to sleep for now.

I ALMOST FORGOT TO MENTION! I got my package from JESS. Jess you're amazing. You made me my favourite pumpkin cookies! I love you so much you crazy cook! Thanks for the coloring book - I'll be doing some snoopy pics soon I'm sure. :) Miss you.

Cheers.

<3

Halloween and Homework - the essential H's

Well hello there. Happy Belated Halloween. I shall now delve into the past two days.

(Free Fallin' - Tom Petty) Let's start with Sunday.

Sunday - October 31st (aka Halloween!)

So. Halloween is perhaps my favourite holiday - although it ties with Christmas...and only then because I get to see everyone at Christmas. (It's not really about the presents - I swear!) Kemper and I had big plans for Halloween.

Actually the funny part is that we really didn't. We just were in 'winging it' mode. I went running when I woke up and then I went over to Kemper's flat to discover that it was Day Lights savings...which means that I am now an hour closer to you guys for a week. How weird is that? Can't we all just switch our clocks at the same time? Apparently not. But the important thing is that now it gets dark over here at four.

NO WONDER all the English author's were depressed! It RAINS all the time and it's DARK. Ewww. You see - I make up for these things by eating brown sugar cinnamon poptarts. Like I'm doing right now. (Thanks Momma!)

(Shark in the Water - V V Brown) Anywho we then went to Waitrose to get things for our candy-apple making. We had big plans for these four apples that we bought on Thursday. Then we went to a cafe called Bea's of Bloomsbury and we ordered tea. I got a pot of Jasmine and Kemper got some intense sounding "dragon"-something or other Green Tea. Both were delicious.

In the windows at Bea's there was a huge cake with a bloody knife in it for Halloween (We were sitting outside because there wasn't room inside - and I had time to observe the dark-humoured wedding cake.) As people walked by and commented on the cake it looked like they were talking about Kemper and I. I even begn to think of us as marketing icons for the cafe. Ha.

Anywho - after that we returned to the flat for baking and to check Time Out London for interesting things to do on this particular Hallow's eve. First we melted caramel (the neat stuff we got from the old-school sweet shop in Soho) and then we melted chocolate. We got a kit at Waitrose because they had the little sticks that you put in the apples. Then we just swooshed them around in the chocolate and caramel and then added hazlenuts, m&ms, and sprinkles. I'm telling you. My apple put those apples we get at the beach to shame...

Probably it was just cool that I got to be involved with the making process. I think I ate more oreos than I put on my apple. (While My Guitar Gently Weeps - The Beatles) Next we made some bat cookies. Kemper found this neat little kit that had a bat cookie cutter and we still had a lot of icing from all our previous cake experiences. So we mixed butter and the mix and then made a lovely batch of bats. We each decorated some of them. I took a photo of the lovely little creatures. I've already had two of them. They were delicious.

Then we really perused Time Out. We decided to go to this show in Angel - which is the part of town where Candid (our cafe) is. We walked all the way there only to find out we had the place confused. The real venue (which is a host to fringe theatre) was located a short walk down the street. We got in and we sat down and we prepared ourselves for an interesting stand up act.

All in all it was a lovely, different interesting experience. I loved it. We got their brochure and discovered that they have a 'pay-what-you-can-night" and so we're going to go back soon for an actual production.

After that we went back, and I exhausted, fell into bed.

And so that brings us to today.

November 1 2010 (monday)

Today I got up and went running. When I say this you must remember that on the weekend I often do not get up until ten. It's going to suck having to have real class again someday. Ugh. (Actually me - the nerdlet I am - will enjoy that.) (Fix You - Coldplay)

After that I went over to Kemper's flat and we got ready to go to the Library. There we spent pretty much all afternoon getting a move-on in the Homework arena. It felt nice to do a bit of work actually, but it was really interesting because the lights went off in the library and we were out of power! WOOOOOOO - spooky.

And then we went to Pret A Manager to try and get free-wifi but we gave up and I got a mocha that was spiked with so much sugar that I may never go to bed ever! Haha. Except for soon considering that I'm really tired.

After that I came home and made some dinner (After Kemper and I layed down in the hallway and listened to the BEST. MUSIC. EVER! It was a good moment.)

Then I trotted off to choir again. Round two. It's a bit weird to only sing things like "Kum By Yah" and "Amazing Grace" but the harmonies are beautiful when we get it right. And it's a lovely way to spend two hours of my life. Singing. Something I totally love doing with all my heart.

Today there was a new girl there named Heather. She seems a little bit older than me, or more mature or something. She complemented my boots and wanted to know where I could get them. I am not vain or anything but I mention this because I was totally impressed with the way she was dressed. I just take it as a compliment that a Londoner (a student - but still) complimented the way I, Becca, was dressed. My fashion sense is a bit lacking I think, and mostly involves things that don't match. :) I like to be comfortable.

Also at choir - (Little Wing - Jimi Hendrix) there was a bit of a mess involving me. Let me explain. Today was the day you had to have your membership form completed. Well I didn't know how to fill mine out exactly because I don't really go to the University of London. Ugh. But I AM part of the union, so after literally fifteen minutes of a very confused conversation with the treasurer we figured it out. They said I may not have to pay membership because I won't even get to go to the concert because I"ll only be here for a limited time only.

Doesn't that make me sound like a special edition toy from MacDonald's or something...or maybe a product on TV. This offer is for "a limited time only!" Haha. On a brighter note - that means I'll be coming home soon. Can't wait, can't wait. I'm glad to be here but I'll be glad to be home. Miss you guys terribly - hope everything is going well.

Cheers!