Who can it be now?

So, Obviously, Thursday night was the decades dance. And hopefully it's also obvious that I dressed as the eighties. The dance was kind of a flop, not a lot of people were there, and those who were there weren't dancing. Which basically meant a whole lot more room for me and my friends to boogy down. I personally had a great time that night. How can you not have fun when you look like a twelve year old from the eighties?

Friday I worked on my second paper all morning and got it done. My papers are not my best work, but considering I had to call my mom so she could talk me into actually writing them, something is better than nothing.

That afternoon Sarah and I finally went to tea at the National Gallery. It was delicious!

Today we went to Brighton. Once again it was only a small group who went becausee a lot of people are either traveling, or still working on their papers. I guess some people actually did come here to study. way to make the rest of us look bad!

Anyway, Brighton is an adorable beach town, similiar to the Boardwalk, but different. The beach is actually rocks. And not just pebbles, but rocks. It was fun, though. They have a pier with rides, so Will and I rode the log ride, and got cotton candy. It was a good day.

Tomorrow, Sarah, Will, and I are off to Scotland for a few days, and then to Ireland. Hopefully I'll be able to write a few short updates while I'm away. If not, I'm sure that I'll have a lot to say when I get back!

What did I learn while "studying" abroad today? Dont't have tea before a two and a half hour bus ride back to campus, it just makes for an uncomfortable ride.

Just remember, Gelato has twice the sugar of ice-cream, which means twice the crash later on!

Well the past couple of days certainly were an adventure. It started out with miscommunication between Kori and I on where we would meet in the bus station, in order to catch our bus to the airport. After an hour and a half of panic, we found eachother and made it to the bus just in time!We made it to Gatwick and spent the night in a near by hotel, that normally I would have run away from, however I was too tired to move (still it was not as bad as that hotel in Montana!). We then dragged our tired butts out of bed and were at the airport and waiting for our plane. We hopped on it and in no time we were in Italy.
Now is where the fun begins. First of all, did you know that they all speak Italian in Italy. It was the weirdest thing, and really hard to communicate. Didn't see that coming. We found a tourist information desk, and she gave us specific instructions on how to get to our hotel: take a bus to the train station, and then a train to Magliano. Sounded easy enough. We hopped on the bus and had a carefree bus ride to the train station. However, when we got there we asked the girl who worked in the booth where we go next (she said si, when we asked "Parlay ingles?") and she sold us bus tickets. I was weary, but vulnerable and trusting. We were so stupid. We hopped on the bus, and after a little less than an hour, and asking countless other passengers where our hotel was and getting no where, the bus driver turns around and says that it's the end of the line and kicks us off the bus. He is not my favorite Italian.

Now we were in the middle of an industrial/residential neighborhood, and the prognosis was looking grim. I literally held back the tears while I sat with all of mine and Kori's junk while she went into a nearby store to ask for help.

We then walked, and walked, and walked, to the town center where we would suposedly have a clear view of our hotel. When we got there, though, no hotel. And by the way, there were no canals, no friendly gandaliers, no italians sipping on cappuccinos; we were not where we felt we should be. The tears were getting a lot harder to hold back.

We finally got some better directions and happened to stumble into a hotel to ask them where ours was. Turns out, it was our hotel, just a different name than the one Kori had. What a mess. After we where in the room and composed ourselves we learned that all you had to do was catch a train, and two stops later you would be standing in front of the Grand canal. We were so there!

Yay! We're finally here! Don't we look so European with our matching scarves? Anybody? No...we still look American?

Oh just wait...

There's that American! Reading her guide book! Hey tourist!

Our first plan was to eat and then we just walked around and got lost. It is so beautiful there. Exactly like pictures and movies, only in real life. It's hard to explain, but don't worry I have plenty of pictures that will help!

Isn't it beautiful! Just kidding! But the food was seriously amazing...as you would probably guess!

The view from either side of a bridge!

Kori and I each bought a water color painting from this adorable Italian artist!

The rest of the day was great and the next day was great too. We walked a lot, and ate even more. I figured everyone would be proud. We became addicted to caffe lattes...I think I had three or four in one day.

Coming home was a little easier, still had to run a lot so that we could make all our buses and trains on time, but this time we knew what we were doing. When we were sitting at the train station in Italy, when we were leaving, this old man came up and started talking to us, and then groping me. Apparantly he thought I was a "pretty woman"..."like the cinema." He was pinching my cheek, and holding my hand, and, oh, ya, rubbing my bare leg because I was wearing a skirt. Typical, we are surrounded by young, hot, Italians for two days, and then this man whose old enough to be my grandpa hits on me. It was pretty darn funny. Gave Kori a good chuckle!

Anyway, Italy was a success, as well as Kori's trip. She left today, although, she did miss her flight, she is booked on another one. Good luck to her. After the past couple of days, I will be glad to stay away from public transprotation!

What did I learn while studying abroad today? I need to learn some German and French before we hit those countries, I refuse to get kicked off a bus again!

I hope you're ready to hit the ground running!

So the school disco ended up being such a blast! Everyone who was there did their best to try and put together a school uniform, and those who didn't, put on a toga. Why? I don't know, but it was awesome!

It ended up being a very late night, so after just two hours sleep, I hopped on the tube and rode it for an hour and a half (it felt longer) and then I was at the airport and instantly greeted by Kori. I couldn't have been happier to see her!

We got her back to the dorms, and got her checked , settled in, and then we hit the ground running. We went to the Tower of London and did the tour with the Beefeater. We saw the Royal Jewels and I picked out my crown for when I get coronated after Prince William and I get married (any day now). The we went to the Ice Bar. It sounds like what you think it is. You go into a very cold room, where you are surrounded by very cold ice, and drink very cold drinks out of ice cold glasses. Did I mention it was cold?

Then we ate at the fantastic Italian restuarant, which is convienantly located right next door. Needless to say we went directly back to the dorms after, and crashed.

The next day was another fun filled packed to the brim day. We managed to hit Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, Tea at the British Museum, and the witchcraft bookstore.

My favorite part of the day was when we were about to leave Hyde Park. Suddenly we hear beautiful music. We head towards it, and is if out of main street in Disneyland there is a band playing in a gazebo. It was so cool! Dad I am looking into to seeing if they will be performing while your here.

After this long day we once again crashed.

The next day, we went to St. Paul's Cathedral. I waited for Kori while she climbed to the top. I just couldn't bring myself to do it again.

Instead, though, being the genius that I am, I decide to hit the Millenium Bridge. I made it about half way across before getting dizzy, and had to turn around. I would swear that sucker would sway everytime someone walked by me. And trust me plenty of people were wizzing past me!

Then we went to the National Gallery, and The British Museum.

That night we went to the Zoo Bar. It was Fernando's last night out, and Kori's first night out. It was a lot of fun.

Yesterday, we once again dragged our butts out of bed early and packed in a lot. First we hit the Sherlock Holmes Museum. Then we picked up sandwiches and had lunch in the Queens Garden in Regent's Park. Lastly we hit Camden Market, where Kori and I bought matching scarves so we can look more European.

Kori hit the sack early last night, because she had a tour of Stonehenge, Bath, and Salisbury today. I decided to stay up with people who had just gotten back from Paris, and then sleep in today. Not a whole lot of luck there.

At some point this morning, not really sure what time, the fire alarm went off, and we all had to evacuate outside. Let me tell you, we all looked extremely classy. The plus side to this was that the fire department came. What was hilarious was they pulled up, and slowly mosey out of their truck and saunter up to the dorm. We're all freezing out here, but please, take your time. Apparantly someone's blow dryer had set it off. Oh well to sleeping in!

Anyway, Kori and I leave for Venice tomorrow, so today has been spent packing and getting my first paper done.

The next couple of days should be quite the adventure, so wish us luck!

What did I learn while "studying" abroad today? Firefighters are just as hot here in England as they are at home, only here, they have accents!

The theater! The theater! What happened to the theater?

Last night a group of us went and saw Phantom of the Opera. First we ate at this amazing Italian restaurant...probably the best meal I've had here so far (oh the irony)! Then we went into this gorgeuos theater to watch one of my favorite musicals of all time.
I was disappointed. Unfortuantely, the girl who played Christine was not very good, which kind of ruins the whole thing. What is even more unfortunate is Roaul and the Phantom were amazing. So had Christine been good, it would have been the best play ever. She just aggravated me.
What really bugged me, though, is when she came out for her bow at the end, you could tell she thought she was hot stuff. Oh well!
Tonight is the school uniform disco. My outfit is quite the hodge podge of articles that I've found at random shops. It should be fun!
And then I get up really early tomorrow and pick up Kori. I can't wait!

What did I learn while "studying" abroad today? Unfortunately, I actually have been working on my paper alllllll, dayyyyy, looooooong. I hate actually studying abroad!

My Official "Study" Day

Sarah, Jennifer and I went to Oxford yesterday. We were hoping that the study skills those brainy kids who attend the school have would rub off on us. No such luck.



What did I learn while "studying" abroad today? Why even pretend, there's no studying going on here!

Due to a person under the train, there are delays.

So much to update. I'll just get right into it.

Thursday night was Karaoke night. What a night it was. I had vowed to not go up, however, after some liquid courage, and a lot of peer pressure, I went up a few times with groups. My favorites were singing Britney Spears with Sarah, Elton John with Shani, and "Hotel California" with a huge group of us. It was a blast. I will not be posting the videos, however. Maybe if some of you are really lucky, I will show you when I get home. I know...what a tease!

Friday Sarah and I officially made it to both St. Paul's Cathedral, and Westminster Abbey. St. Paul's was gorgeous. You can walk all the up to the top of the dome. It's scary as all helk, but completely worth it. Westminster Abbey was kind of creepy, which made it even cooler than I thought it would be.

Just throwing this out there, but does anyone know what the title of this blog means? When Sarah and I were traveling on Friday, they made this announcement while we were waiting for the tube to come. Does it mean literally? Or is just an expression? Please help me out if you can.

Anyway, Friday night was was an early night, because of the night before and all the walking Sarah and I had done that day. What a good night sleep that was!

Saturday we took a tour of Windsor Castle, and Hampton Court. I loved the inside of Windsor Castle. The very first room we entered was a room filled with china. I slowed our group up, and they all thought I was a dork for being so into it. After the inside tour we went to a china gift shop, and I am now a proud owner of a Queen Victoria china tea cup and saucer. It's absolutely gorgeous, and I am so excited about it. Everyone just thought it was funny, because I was in such a giddy mood after buying it!

Hampton court was so cool, and creepy, and gross, because if anyone has seen The Other Boleyn Girl, you know what I am talking about. When Dorothy and I were walking to the King's Apartments we were commenting on how that is the walk that the girls he summoned would have to take. What a creep!

There were gorgeous gardens here also, and a really fun maze. All in all it was a very productive day.

And now to the part that my dad is going to hate. We went out Saturday night, and decided to not leave when the last tube leaves, but instead take the night bus. Don't worry there was a huge group of us, with more guys than girls. When we got on to the bus at 2:30 in the morning it didn't seem so bad. However, when an hour and a half passed and we still weren't back, we weren't happy.
Then, we finally see our stop, and hit the stop button, which the driver decides to ignore, and drive a mile or two (or a million, as it felt) to the next stop and let us off. Ya, we had a walk ahead of us.

What made everything worth it was the last five minutes. We finally made it to campus, and Dorothy, Fernando, Sarah, and I were all bringing up the rear. The sun is starting to come up, and all the bunnys are out, and running around campus. Dorothy and I are commenting on how cute they are, and fluffy, and how much we love them. There is a quiet pause, and then Fernando says in his Spanish accented English says, "I just want to shoot them." We all stopped and started laughing hysterically. It was so perfect. It made the night.

However, I will NEVER do that again!

What did I learn while "studying" abroad today? No more night buses!

It's raining, it's pouring, thank goodness no one is snoring!

Been a while since my last post. Always the same excuse: I have been extremely busy, having way too much fun! What am I going to do when I have to go back to the real world? I don't even want to think about it.

Sarah and I went to Camden Town on Saturday and did a little shopping. The rest of the night was pretty uneventful. I went to bed early (there's that old lady again).

Sunday we drove and drove and ended up in Bath. It is the cutest little town. We didn't have a lot of time, so Sarah and I split from the group (we were allowed to dad, and it was completely safe). We took a tour of the Jane Austen Center, picked up pastys (basically a hot pocket type food), and then rushed through the Roman Baths. It was all so awesome. The Roman Baths were really a sight to see. I even bought some Bath water in cute little jar. Yes I am a tourist.

Then we drove some more and hit Stonehenge. It was, of course, smaller in person.

Happy to be home that night, as it had been a long day, I went to bed early.

Monday I had class. I still thoroughly enjoy everyone in it. We have so much goofy fun.

I got out of class at one that day so Sarah and I decided to hit St. Paul's Cathedral. We got there (by the way we are now pros at the tube...it's really easy, so don't be as impressed as we are), we looked around for about half an hour, and took half a dozen pictures. Then we walked up to the entrance, where we were greeted by a man who said, "We're closed for now." I politely asked what time they would re-open, the man replied, "Tomorrow at half past eight." Typical.

There was a French cafe across the street so we stopped in there. I had tea and creme brulee, and Sarah had coffee and a molten chocolate cake. We laughed at the fact that it was our favorite meal so far and it was in a French cafe.

That night was games night. It was a lot of fun. My team, consisting of me, Sarah, Jennifer, and Dorothy, went from first place in the first round, to last place in the third and final round. What can we say, the questions got harder.

Yesterday and today were pretty bland days. Went to class, did some laundry, did some homework. I can't wait to have my days free to sight see until my hearts content. One more day of class and then I will!

For next time: We have Karoake Thursday night, so that will be a fun one!

What did I learn while "studying" abroad today? I need to learn my lesson and check online first to make sure the places will be open!

Oh me, Oh my. The past couple of days have been busy, and extremely awesome. First things first, still no cold water on my side of the floor. So I use the tiolet on the other side and the showers downstairs. So that's always fun.

Anyway, I am really enjoying my class. Well the academic part is ok, but the people in it are great. I have been getting quite the education just from them. We all eat lunch together, so it is a full hour of talking, and laughing, and comparing different American quirks to British quirks.

Thursday night I went out in Central London for the first time to a bar. I think everyone here was thinking I was a prude who would never go out, but really I'm just an old lady who needs her sleep. The bar was great. It was in Trafalger Square and right off the tube line, so there was not a lot of work getting to it. It started out as a bar and then a while into the night they pushed the tables aside, and the DJ started to play. It was so much fun!

This is my friend Sarah and I rockin' it on the dance floor!

The next day, my friends Sarah, and Will and I decided to hit the British Museum. We got there at 1:45 and the place closed at 2 due to an employee strike. So then we just wandered around. We found quite a few fun places that otherwise I would have never found. We found a bookshop that is decorated like a family room in a house, and all the books are historical and about witchcraft (Kori I am so taking you there!). It was a lot of fun.

We ended up eating a late lunch in Regent Park, which was absolutely gorgeous! The Queens Garden is inside and full of roses. It was so beautiful!

Last night was the Summer School Ball. It was so much fun. We had wine and a buffet in the

Mansion, followed by casino games, and big jenga and connect four games. The there were fireworks right off the balcony. They were so close and pretty.

After all this they had an after party with a DJ in the Student Union. We danced all night...not really, but I got a good workout!

Now Sarah and I are going to go back to Camden Market, because one of the staff told us there are good charity shops and we want to get outfits for the events coming up! I can't wait for them now!

What did I learn while "studying" abroad today? This is a gem from the people in my class: Fanny refers to a specific lady part (& I don't mean the boobs), not your butt. Think about that for a while, and how crazy fanny pack must sound!

No toilet???

Today I got up, went for a run/jog/brisk walk (whatever you want to call it). I came back and was able to nab the shower before anyone else. Things were going great, the pressure in the showers here is amazing. Then suddenly the pressure started to lighten. I didn't think much of it, so I lathered up my loofah and washed my body, when it came time to rinse the pressure had lightened to a tiny trickle of scalding hot water. I did the best I could, and rinsed off. By the time I was done with the acrobats that result from only having a trickle to work with, the water had actually stopped coming out. Apparantly there was a problem with the water and not even the toilets were working. Needless to say this stressed me out. Us Mello ladies need our toilets. I could not go to bed tonight without a toilet. It would just be too much, I would have to pee constantly if there was no toilet!
I went to class and used the toilet often.
I went to the library, and figured out how to print papers. This was an activity that could have waited until a later day, but why would I go back to the land of no toilets?
I anxiously walked back to the dorms, where lo and behold the water had been fixed, and the toilets are in working order.
A huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders!

So what did I learn while "studying" abroad today? Take fast showers!

Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)

Yesterday was another amazing day. We went into Central London, and rode the tube to Hyde Park. Hyde Park is like the Central Park of London. It is so pretty, with a lake in the middle. It was also so quiet for being right in the middle of the city. I loved it so much!

Then we went to buckingham palace, and then sat in another park. I got a vanilla ice-cream cone, and as weird as it sounds, I have never tasted better soft serve. It was so creamy and delicious (oh Giada!).

Then we made our way to Leicester Square in hopes of watching the red carpet entrance to the premiere of Mamma Mia. We had to constantly ask for directions, but we made it and it was amazing. There was music playing from the movie the whole time, and we got to see all the stars! It was so much fun!

Warning: The videos are shaky, and the second one is long, but I did the best I could. I hope everyone enjoys them!

Today I had class, so no sightseeing. But class was actually pretty cool. There is only seven people in the class and I am the only American, which will be fun! It is an education course, so I will be learning a lot about the British school system, which I think is neat! Anyway, now I am off to bed. I think the jet lag has finally hit me, because I am completely exhausted!

What did I learn while "studying" abroad today? That I am actually going to have to do some studying...who'd a thunk?