Today, I decided that since it was Monica's first full day in England, and I had no classes that we should go to London, and it was also because I'm still celebrating my birthday. We went to Harrods, Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, and The Globe. Of course that order is backwards, so let's start at the beginning with The Globe.

From Waterloo, we walked to The Globe, it wasn't a bad walk, and I got to see a different part of London. A nice London, that give me five seconds and I would move into. The walk took us like 20 minutes, but our legs were fresh and all set for an adventure. We passed this one place, that we will be going to before we leave London... and for you Harry Potter fans out there here's a reference. It's called the Hogs Head. Yep, you see why I was excited. We were going to go there for lunch, but when we got to The Globe, we realized that if we did, we wouldn't have enough time to get there, eat, walk back and still get good um standing room for the show. We of course bought groundlings tickets, because that is the only way to see a show at The Globe. We saw Antony and Cleopatra, and OMG the show was sooooo unbelievable. Our standing area was great, we were leaning against the stage! Best place to see the show! The woman who played Cleopatra was so awesome! She was funny when needed, but then she beat everything out of a servant and yelled at the top of her lungs when the script called for it. She flips a lid when she finds out Antony marries Octavia, and she got an ovation for that performance! Poor servant who had to tell her the news! Some of the beating took place right in front of Monica and I, we could have touched their shoes without trying! The actor who played Caesar was great too! He reminds me of Max Pirkis who plays Octavian in HBO Rome! It's in his voice and attitude! Monica agrees with me too, so thank god I'm not crazy! I guess anyone who plays Octavian has to have a certain way about him, a certain attitude. Unfortunately the guy who played Antony was nothing like the actor who played him in HBO Rome, this actor was old, but still really good! The scenes between Antony and Cleopatra were good, and his death scene was funny, but also sad. He had the blade of his sword in his stomach, and then he ran at a pillar, and all a sudden he says, "Not dead! Not dead!" Everyone laughed, and all I could think of was Monty Python! And I almost forgot the drinking scenes! OMG! There was a party, and everyone was pissed (haha British term) and it was just so funny! Caesar kept falling over, but when he was standing it was right in front of us! All the actors were dancing, and it was just soooo funny! Everyone clapped at the end of that scene!!!! I loved how I felt like a groundling, I cheered for the violence, wanted more, and adored the drinking scenes. Of course I always cheer for the groundlings, but here I was clapping for more! Overall, it was a sweet idea to go see it, I really enjoyed the play! Before the show we went to Pizza Express, and that was awesome. It was such a fancy place, but lived up to its name. The pizza was awesome, we split one and a Caesar salad!

After the show, we walked over the bridge, the one just for people, and that was fun. Monica really wanted to do it because its been featured on movies like Love Actually. Someone was filming when we were walking over so that was fun, it was just two people doing like a home video or something for a class. I then took my first ride on the London Underground, and it was cool! Oh I forgot, St. Pauls. Monica took like a hundred pictures of St. Pauls, and though we did not go inside, we stared and gaped at the massive buildings. They were doing repairs to the front of it, but it was nice to see. So back to the Underground, we got on at St. Pauls, and went to Kensington and Hyde Park. I needed to see the Peter Pan statue, and that is where it is. I got lied to though, I was trying to figure out where it was, and online someone had a picture of it and said that it was in Hyde Park. Monica thought it was in Kensington, and Mom had once told me it was in St. James, so I was more than confused. We went to Hyde Park though, figuring that there would be a map, and no matter where it was, it would still be beautiful to see.

We got off the Underground at Marble Arch, because that was a cool name, and yes there is an arch! We couldn't walk under it though, which made us sad but it was pretty to look at! London has these things where you walk underground, it's like a pedestrian highway under the road. We went in one to get across the street to Hyde Park. It was fun, probably a little sketchy at night, but in broad day light it was fine. So we entered Hyde Park, and all I can say is it was BEAUTIFUL! Well okay I can say more, I was amazed at the size of Hyde Park, and the greenness of the grass, and the amount of people just sitting talking to their friends, or playing football (soccer). It was really amazing! On one of the trees there was a sign saying it had been hit by lightening June 2, 1999. It looked like it got beaten by lightening! That was cool to see. We walked down to the water, and it just got more beautiful. There were more trees here, and it looked more natural. As I was walking, I couldn't help but think that this is what my essay was all about, walking in a park just like this. Letting one's mind just rest, walking, seeing all the pretty little things, and without a care in the world. It was a wonderful experience. But for the life of us we could not find the Peter Pan statue. By now it was raining, and we did see a sign for it thankfully. We followed the sign, but there was no more signs so we just kept walking. At some point, Monica thinks we entered Kensington Gardens but who knows. There were a few people out, but none looked official so we didn't ask. The maps they had were pointless, none of them said where the statue was. We walked the banks of the water for a few seconds, went under this bridge and came up on the other side. There was a map there, and on it was a symbol for the Peter Pan statue. Victory, but then it didn''t say where we were. Oh boy. So we walked, and we walked in the rain to the other side of the park, where we found another map and this time it said where we were. The statue was just down the road a little bit. All this walking probably took us more than an hour, and we still hadn't seen it yet. We thought maybe Peter Pan was playing tricks on us and kept moving all over the Gardens. It was a thought anyway.

So we kept walking in the rain, I gave Monica my umbrella, and I put on my USM sweatshirt that has a hood. It was better this way than trying to share an umbrella. After we figured out where we were, the walk wasn't bad, and finally we came upon the statue.

The statue is amazing. There are no other words for it. It has Peter Pan with one hand in the air, the other holding a pipe, and he's standing. Under him are fairies, maybe Wendy (it's a girl), rabbits, and other animals. It was still raining when we reached the statue but it didn't matter, everything was so peaceful, so amazing, and I had finally seen this statue. I've loved Peter Pan since I was little, and seeing this statue was a dream come true. The story behind the statue is was made in 1912, and James M Barrie had them put the statue in at night to keep the mystery and secrecy of Peter Pan alive. Monica went picture crazy as we walked up to it, but I still don't have a camera so I just went up to it and observed. It was so nice, and we took each other's pictures standing with the statue. So awesome.

After we stared for a while, we decided it was time to leave. Our last stop of the day was Harrods which isn't took far from Kensington Gardens. The only problem is... it was on the other side from where we were. So we walked all the way around the gardens. Not a big deal, except it was still raining and we had been standing for three hours at the show, and walking all day long. It started raining even harder, and it was getting dark but still we walked. We made it though, tired and dying to sit down, but we reached the street it was on, and both of us were wondering which way on the street it was when I turned and saw it. It's like a Christmas tree all lit up! White lights just cover the whole building, and it has lights that spell HARROD'S. Yep, we were there. We walked to it, and realized it was only open for another half an hour. We went right for the food court because Monica said I needed to see it. Inside was so unbelievable! Rooms and rooms of things only J.K Rowling could buy! The food court though, OMG! Everything you could ever want to eat, half of which I have never heard of... it's all there! Monica and I got chocolate, we had to for the bags! She got ten little pieces of chocolate, and I got a big piece of fudge! So good! We are savoring the chocolate, only eating a little bit at a time, but the big news is each of us have a bag!!!!!!

We went home after that, we got on the Underground, back to Waterloo and home! It was quite a day, and an awesome way to spend a birthday!

Happy Birthday to me! Big 21! I'm on a bus right now to pick up Monica from Heathrow, and of course things did not go to plan. I thought I planned my trip carefully, but I thought Kingston Church was the church down the street, but of course it wasn't. I made sure to be there early, but then I realized I was wrong, so I basically ran around Kingston at 7:15am looking for Kingston Church or any place I could pick up a bus to go to Heathrow. I finally decided to try Cromwell Bus Station, because the bus stop right outside my dorm goes there, and then you can get a bus to Heathrow. Should I have done that to begin with? Maybe, but I didn't really want to go all the way to Cromwell, when I knew the bus would be going by my dorm. So I went to Cromwell, it's really not that far, it's right next to the train station. So I got on a bus, 10 minutes later than what I had planned, so overall not bad, but those 10 minutes would make all the difference. The bus stopped a hundred and fifty times, and Monica's plane got in early, so yeah she was out of customs just as I was on the bus going by Kingston Bridge House. Just awesome. I was in line for customs for like an hour, and that is what I thought would happen to Monica.

So I picked up Monica, got there at almost 9am, and we got right on a bus to Kingston. I had class at 11am, and the bus would take at least an hour. Of course Monica's bags were sooo heavy, and I took charge of the heaviest one since I could lift it, and I dragged it from Heathrow onto the bus, and then to the dorm. We didn't have any problems getting her into the dorm, I thought there might be one or two because here is this girl with two big things of luggage, and I thought there would be questions... but no, no one noticed or cared. Sweet deal!

Class was interesting, I went to class and Monica walked around Kingston town centre. I had 18th Century Literature, and my teacher was like 25 minutes late... in America, I would have been out of that classroom after 15 minutes, but no they just sit and wait. It's unnerving! I like my teacher a lot, and the class should be interesting. I was amazed though at the lack of knowledge of history by my fellow class mate. They didn't know the Battle of Waterloo (which even I know, because there is always some reference to it), or the last time there was a revolution, which installed the current system of government that England has. The teacher then asked what happened in 1776, and three hands went up at once. I mean you ask an American some history and they might not know it, but we know the big dates, and this isn't the first time I've heard these dates said in class but they don't know them. Maybe I'm amazed because I love history, and I find this stuff fasincating, but they don't know a lot about their history. Maybe I should attend a history class and get beaten down...

After class though, I basically ran back to Monica, who was waiting for me by the dorms. We waited around a little bit, but then my suite mates came back, and we all went out to dinner to celebrate my 21st. We went to this cool little restaurant, Rococo, the owners were amazingly nice to us. Amaya of course informed them that it was my birthday, and on the house they gave us a garlic pizza. We got a bottle of white wine for the occasion, and for dinner I ordered lasagna. It was good, it had mushrooms in it, that of course I took out, and there was some green stuff, most of it I ate, some I ate around, but all of the lasagna was gone by the time I was finished. It looked like I didn't eat a lot of it, because it was baked like in cheese, but I can't eat that much cheese, and as I said there was no more lasagna. I had desert though, it was little pastry things filled with whip cream and vanilla ice cream was in the middle of them. They put a candle in the middle of it, and sang Happy Birthday to me! It was so sweet! The owners kept coming over to make sure everything was alright, and even the cook came out. Granted there was not a lot of people in the place, but they really took care of us. It was good too, it was Monica's first time with all the girls, and everyone got along really well. We all have common interests aka Johnny Depp. We told stories to Monica about what has been going on here, and the interesting events that have taken place. She had heard a lot of them from me, but of course I tell stories differently than Amaya. We were at the restaurant for 2 hours, and then we headed home and watched Dane Cook. He is sooooo funny, and it was awesome. We went to bed about 11pm, Monica and I were both beat!

So that was actually my birthday, and the next post is the continuation of my birthday... London with Monica.

Well I thought everyone would be pleased to hear that I am making friends... hahaha yep. It all begins Wednesday night I was up at like 2am taking out the trash. Why was I up at 2am taking out the trash? Well because Patrick the inspector of our kitchen and suite was coming at 9am and there was no way I was going to be up for that. Anyway, I was going down the stairs with the trash when his kid stops me on the stairs, he is probably a little tipsy, guessing by the drink in his hand, but he looks at my shirt and says, "You play hockey?" Looking down I realize I have on my Huskies Hockey shirt, so I say yeah I do. He nodded and said that he did too! Now there is no question in America what kid of hockey a guy plays, but here its a little less obvious so I asked, "Field or ice?" and he looked at me like I had three heads and said, "Well of course field." I need to learn to think before I say something, but I laughed, and said, "That's not really hockey. I play ice." I'm sorry to those field hockey players out there, but you can't hit, you can't use both sides of the stick and each player has a little bubble around them that no one can enter... how is that a sport? So this kid is like, "Of course it's a sport, I don't take balls to the head for it not to be", and I was just looked at him and said, "How about a puck to the head, and ice takes a bit more talent since you have to skate and then worry about the rest of the game." At this point he started going up the stairs yelling to anyone that field hockey is a better game than ice hockey. I continued down the stairs to take out the trash.

So last night was the Ice Ball, and I was told by Eugene the Student Union President that there would be ice, because the main attraction was you could skate. And I looked him straight in the eye and asked, "Will there be actually ice... like frozen water?" He said yes. HE LIED! It was the most disappointing night of my life, and to top it off as I was leaving I ran into a DeadWing fan. I had my Avs jersey on because I was going skating, I even had on two different socks... it's my thing. So this kid is returning his skates and he said, "Are you an Avalanche fan?" Now the way he said Avalanche was weird and it took me a few seconds to realize that he had said Avalanche. But then I said proudly that yes I am an Avalanche fan. He looked in straight in the eye and said, "Well they aren't a very good team are they?" Were we talking about the Bruins or something? I gaped at him, and he continued, "Well they haven't won the Stanley Cup recently have they?" Not hesitating I said, "They won it in 2000-2001." And he said that 2001 was a long time ago... it was 5 years ago! And I asked who he supported, and of course he said the Red Wings. I did the automatic step back and growl at hearing the Red Wings name, and basically growled, "You like the Dead Wings?" The Dead Wings being the nickname some Avs fan gave Detroit in the prime of the full out wars the two teams use to have back in the glory days of Patrick Roy. Now if I had been a second quicker I would have realized that the Avs had just played the DeadWings in preseason the previous night and the Avs won in the shootout, but that completely slipped my mind. It was almost has though he had never heard the term, "DeadWing" which makes me question his level of support, because when I said, "Won't say I'm sorry that I called your team the DeadWings but I've been a fan since Patrick got there and well your team does not like Patrick." I don't think he knew who Patrick was, even when I did call him Patrick Roy. You can't be a fan of hockey without knowing Patrick, he's a legend! So yes I walked away from that, he was just stupid.

But that's me making friends one person at a time!!

This post is going to be a long one, it's even longer in my journal but there is a topic that I have been meaning to discuss... the differences between the British and Americans. I can actually sum this one up with one question that Bas keeps asking us, "Are all Americans this loud?" Though for my defense I am not loud, I can be loud, anyone can, but usually I am not loud. Now Amaya, Kathleen and Cassie well yes they are loud, they know it, they strive on it, and embrace it. They have to be doing something every second of every day. They could never just sit and watch the sun set... I can, I am somewhat doing that now. Amaya strives in an atmosphere where there is someone who is just as loud as she is, and that is Kathleen. Cassie wanders from room to room looking for things to do and people to entertain her. When I was sick she kept coming in and I offered to let her watch Miracle with me but she couldn't sit still for five minutes. Back to differences though- the British stroll, and compared to them I sprint. I was down in the town centre today getting food and I was doing some fancy foot work to get past everyone. But they stroll, they look at everything, slowly talk to their friends as they walk slow as can be! I can stroll, when I'm with a group and in the back, but if I'm leading the group, I lose the group. When I'm alone, I'm on a mission. But the British stroll as though they have no where to be for that entire day, and it drives me mad, and some of them are going to be run over soon. I'm not sure if this applies to everyone... but the people of Kingston need a reward for the way they stroll.

One of the most annoying British terms for me right now is 'hole in the wall' A WHAT! They call a ATM a 'hole in the wall'??? What idiotic person came up with that? The first day that Amaya was here she asked the desk where the closest ATM was, and they looked at her if she had three heads. She was like, "Money... ATM... need." They finally figured out that she wanted a hole in the wall.

The whole driving on the wrong side of the road freaks me out too. I still think cars are being driven by invisible people, or omg a 7 year old is now driving! But what gets me the most about Kingston is two things actually. In Kingston if you put your foot onto the road people stop and let you pass. Of course if you do that in London you lose your foot, but here in Kingston they stop. The other thing is Americans complain about rotaries, and the Cape is getting rid of the rotaries by the bridges but Kingston is full of them! Everywhere you turn is around rotary or roundabout! I never hear that much beeping either, rotaries in the states require a horn!

The whole wardrobe thing gets me too... only Mr. Tumnas is allowed to wear scarves... did they not get the memo? Boys do not equal scarves unless its cold, windy and snowing, but just in an outfit??? Especially when its pink like I saw last night. And you can't go outside in your sweats, or looking anything but your best. I've walked into Hannafords or Stop N Shop in my sweats, but I don't dare do that here! My suite mates of course are no help, they are always dressed to impress.

I also love when we don't understand each other's expressions. Like I said, "Fun" in response to a lot of things, just because, but they don't understand it. For example, CJ a friend of Martins was over and was introduced to me. I asked where he was from, and he said from London. I said Fun. They looked at me like I had three heads. I said fun in response to a lot of things, like its a sarcastic response or serious one, depends on the conversation. They didn't get it, CJ was like, "Well I guess you can call it that..." He didn't understand.

Well the sun has gone down and I can no longer see what I am typing, so good bye! Cheers to all the quirks of the British!

Well I thought I would write so you would not think I died or something because I almost did last night. I woke up yesterday at like noon, because I went to bed at like 3am, and I had a headache and stomachache. Um no big, had some Frosted Flakes and then some aspirin. I decided that today would be a chill day, and that was cool, I spent the whole day on my bed watching Hogans. 5 hours later I ate dinner, just some pasta, went back to bed and watched Miracle and then almost died. Around 9:30 if I moved my eyes I felt like I was going to throw up. Wonderful! Miracle ended, I fell asleep, kept waking up, falling back asleep. And now I will not go into my night, because I don't really remember a lot of it, but also it's kinda gross.

But I'm better today, and I will be going to the Ice Ball tonight just because there is ice skating. My suite mates asked if I was okay to go, and I was like, I'd go even if I felt like I did last night... this is SKATING! I get to skate!!! I'd go dead!

So will give full updates on Ice Ball later, and if I live.

It seems that whenever I have just a few minutes I pick you up but I cannot help it. I love to write, and I need to share these adventures and what I think about each of them. Things are well, we are waiting for the train to take us to central London. It's kinda weird, everywhere I look there is another sign for Roehampton University where Elyse will be going to next semester. Next to some of them are posters for Kingston College, which I do not go to. Kingston College is down the street.

Alright so I took a break for awhile, we are now in central London and I am standing by the Thames. They (suite mates) are having lunch right now but nothing here interests me. We've been in London for about an hour and a half and haven't left the Thames festival yet. There are little shops set up here, so of course my suite mates are shopping. But while they eat there is a crew race going on which is pretty cool. I asked a woman next to me if it was a college race, and she told me that they come all over the continent. That didn't really answer my question but okay. The Thames Festival is cool though, there are people dressed up as statues. My two favorites are the Invisible Man and the guy with a suit on, glasses askew and his tie up in the air with a weird expression on his face. All these people remind me of the Gilmore Girls episode- The Festival of Living Art, except these people move. They don't move a lot but they do. They also have collection cups. I just stopped wriitng for a moment and saw Big Ben, and I'm still trying to believe that this is not some dream but I am actually here in London standing next to the Thames.

Okay so back to this race, just saw one team from Ireland, one from France, maybe Belgium, and an an all girls team! These teams I believe are no where near first place, they went by when I first started writing. I'm looking down at the Thames and I think I see the bottom! It doesn't look very deep anyway, and kinda dirty. Back to race, I just noticed a lot of people on the bridge to my rioght cheering on the boats. There is probably 50 people up there. Hahah, a little kid behind me just yelled to his mother that he found Nemo! There are guys walking around selling balloons, and I guess there is a Nemo balloon! That little guy is popular everywhere!

Okay so now I'm no where near the Thames but sitting in the National Gallery at the Espresso Bar. I ordered a hot chocolate and a chocolate chip muffin! I'm branching out slowly! I had the most wonderful experience today and I'm going to be hard presed to explain it. Let me start off by saying we went to Buckingham Palace. The size, the statues, I don't even know where to start, and it will have to wait.

Okay back, um Buckingham Palace is gigantic, it's out of this world, when I first saw it, other than thinking, 'how can anyone live here?' I was in complete awe of the history that glows from this place. It wasn't the palace that amazed me as much as what is in between the gates. A big thing with 6 statues on the points and one huge statue ion the middle. Two of the statues have people standing next to lions. The statues are so big and still in wonderful condition. There is one statue in the middle that is Queen Victoria. Of course this description is only a fraction of what I felt and thought. I was lost in the moment and so of course upon leaving we almost got hit by a taxi!

We went to the National Gallery and got audio guides and walked in about 5 rooms. Everytime I sat down I almost fell asleep. The National Gallery i in Trafalgar Square which is really cool, but they were setting up for a concert so we couldn't walk through it. Love the statues of Lord Nelson though, will have to tell Patrick! But now I am living a dream. I am in St. James Park, laying on the grass just writing. This is what my essay was about. I could just fall asleep here, well as soon as I finish writing. I never thought that I would actually be here, in a park, with a little pond in front of us, and hundreds of people just lounging around like us. We were sitting in the chairs but a guy came up and demanded 1.50 pounds, and I laughed at him and we moved to the grass. Everything is just sooo awesome, and I am in complete heaven!

(Picture of me and the suite mates: Cassy, Me, Kathleen, Mayor, Amaya, and our friend Jenna)

From 15 Sept:

So I'm sitting in a cute little restaurant on the Brighton pier in the amazing town of Brighton! I adore this place! It's so amazing, France is just 25 miles away, and Philip or Dr. Phil said that you could hear the bombs from France during WWII. The history here is just awesome! For example, King George the 4th's mistress ha a house here that got turned into a YMCA, or the story behind the Royal Pavilion is amazing. The outside is an Indian style of architect, but it wasn't the first one. The Royal Pavilion was first a small house, and then added to once, and then the big thing came in. It was added to for the final time because the horses had the first Indian style architect, and King George was like 'um why are the horses in a cooler building than me?' so he expanded the Royal Pavilion! Soon we will be touring that place so I'll let you know how it is! I'm walking around with my suite mates, but right now we are eating!

Let me see if I can describe Brighton. I can see this place overflowing i the summer, but even today on a weekday there are a lot of people. The shops are mostly small, unfamiliar and sell weird stuff, and then you come upon a Baby Gap. The streets are narrow, we small a market on some unknown street! We went in one store that could have been in any town in the US, it was full of movie stuff, and both old and new movies. I didn't buy anything but they bought buttons and keychains. In the narrow streets, there are electricity lines running overhead, and there are shoes hanging from them! Like a dozen in total all along one of these streets! It's insane! There are a lot of outdoor restaurants too, and a lot of bakeries and I am not leaving without something from one of them! Brighton I hear is a good place for wedding, and I truly believe tha one.

So I was away for a while. Our food arrived and then we headed for the Royal Pavilion. UNBELIEVABLE! It was so beautiful and a lot of it is still original! King George 4th had awesome taste, the inside is oriental, and the wood was carved and painted to look like bamboo! So cool! It's on the walls, and the banister, basically everywhere. When Queen Victoria was ruling she sold the place and had it stripped and brought most of it to Buckingham Palace, but gave in and returned a lot of the stuff. Every room is completely out of this world! There are dragons everywhere, and they are both European and Chinese. The difference being Chinese dragons do not have wings. A lot of the paintings are not originals as they are hanging in Buckingham Palace. One of the paintings that is copied, the artist put his face in it, and not the Chinese guy. One of the rooms had furniture dedicated to Lord Nelson, and his victories. The dining room was completely out of this world! The paintings were just so awesome, and the table was long and beautiful.

After the guided tour we went upstairs and looked at the rooms up there. There is a tea room that of course we had to buy something from, and while we were there so was the mayor of Brighton. He came up to us, shook our hands, kissed our cheeks and was amazed that we were all from America. We had our picture taken with him, and he was so nice. He told us about how he owns the place, which of course is true. Brighton is the only place where the state or monarch does not own a palace, it belongs to the town. Queen Victoria sold it to the leaders of Brighton.

So now I am sitting on the beach. Our group has a new member Jenna from NY, and she lives in Seething Wells. She's pretty cool. Kathleen and Amaya are walking the beach and I am just sitting here writing, and enjoying myself. We walked most of Brighton, and went into a lot of the stores. I think I would be very happy to never leave this place, it's so nice and peaceful!

I've been in England for three days and I feel ao much at peace with myself and surroundings. Maybe it's because classes haven't started but for the first time in a year and a half I am at peace, and my only worry is money! Um.

Oh one more thing... I never mentioned Fabeesh, or that's how we liked to spell it! He is a boy that will be living in our suite, and Kathleen and Amelia love his name. Of course I do too. Every time we walk in a store, a room, our hall someone yells Fabeesh. It's our thing.

Til tomorrow..

I wrote this while on break at orienation...

I'm at orienation right now, and we are having a break. It has mostly been a quiet morning. We (sutie mates) and I walked to Penrhyn Road which is the main building on campus. On the way, we saw a woman judge with a wig on!!! Yes, an old fashioned wig! It made my day! The walk wasn't bad, I can so see myself walking most days.

I got my schedule which I am really excited about. I have one class on Monday and Wednesday, two on Tuesday and that is it! My earliest class is 11am! So in heaven! Kathleen has a four day weekend like I do, but her schedule has classes on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. I prefer mine!

Since my new friends are watching me write I might as well write about them! They have made a few suggestions on what I should write, all which is not that much of an lie! Cassandra or Cas is a lot like me, she loves Lord of the Rings, Johnny Depp and Pirates. She is taking that course British Life and Culture, and on it they go to Oxford. She pointed that out to me and said, "I can't wait, I want to go that pub The Eagle and Child". I nearly died, and then invited her on my birthday trip! I like her a lot, sshe is fun to be around, and the one I know best so far! She is from Kansas. When she told me that all I could think of was Mr. Shawver and his Kansas pride. She lives in the biggest room in the suite, in the corner room which I still have not seen. I must go down there some day. I've been a little concerned with my room, and the mess that it is. Amaya is sitting to my left and she also likes Pirates and Johnny Depp. Really though, how could you not? Her main concern in life is boys and alcohol. She is really nice, and she was born in Iowa, and now goes to school in Virginia. The other girl Kathleen reminds me of someone... someone who I cannot think of and it does bother me. Maybe one day I will think of it. She and Ameya have a plan to drink every night expect for Wednesday... this will surely be entertaining and I will be happy just to sit back and watch this show.

So that's my suite mates, um that's the biggest news I guess. Oh I almost forgot... I did not flood the bathroom this morning! The shower still stinks, we turned off the water heater so the water was like luke warm, better than the scolding hot water, but really what's wrong with a hot shower?

Oh and the guy they can't wait for still has not shown up. I cannot spell his name, I doubt they are saying it right but everytime they come in they start yelling his name. It's so funny! They saw his picture, and neither of the boys are good looking so we are hoping for good personalities! They should be coming soon! They will be on either side of me, lucky me!

There is a magical feeling about this place, and as corny as that sounds it is true! I'm sitting on the bank of the Thames watching a girl feed all the swans and there is a lot, like 30 of them. I'm not the only one sitting here, couples and friends sit on the banks talking or just enjoying each other's company. There are a good number of boats in the water, of all different sizes with all different purposes. One of them looks like someone lives in it, while others are just for cruising the Thames. A few have that old, homemade look, like many hours was spent maybe even on this bank fixing it up. Two boats are passing me now, and people are lounging around in the front enjoying the view. These two boats look like they could be put in the ocean they are so big and powerful sounding. Wow, um the two boys who are sitting nearest to me, one almost just got his foot bitten off by a swan, his dangling foot must have looked like food.

The town of Kingston Upon Thames is beautiful. Think of Downtown Crossing... well the aspect that cars are not allowed in it, and then think of Portland, with its little shops, and cobblestone streets, times it by 100 and that's Kingston. I was just down there food shopping with my suite mates, Cassandra, Kathleen and Ameya. They are cool... the last two have two things on the mind at all times: boys and alcohol. They are all from the midwest, and I think we will get along well. But back to Kingston... it's just so nice, people sit around people watching, or talking about their purchases with anyone who will listen.

I saw the most amazing thing on my way here- someone must have hit a big white bird. I don't think swans can fly well, or at all, so not really sure what it could have been. Anyway, a woman put her jacket over the bird's head, and was pressing her hands into the bird's side as though helping to stop the bleeding. There was blood on the bird's feathers, the wind had taken some down the bridge, and that was where I first saw it. A cop was standing over the woman, and another cop was speeding down the road for some reason, and I believe the two are connected. It was interesting to see.

I tried to take a shower when I got here and I flooded the whole bathroom! Thankfully when I told Cassandra she admitted to doing the same thing! There is a handle though that doesn't stay on the wall that well, so I was holding it, dropped it and yeah it wasn't pretty. The water temperature is out of this world too... it's only hot. Like scolding hot. We turned the water heater off so the water was lukewarm, but at least you could take a shower. That is being looked into!

But now jet lag is kicking it, so I will write again later! I LOVE ENGLAND!

Just had to post these two pictures.... oh ONE WEEK!!
These pics show the pub where J.R.R Tolkien and C.S Lewis met and talked about their novels... cannot wait to see this pub! It's also in Oxford!!

So I got annoyed with the way my webpage was turning out so I decided to take the easy way out and make a blog. I need a blog because I am spending my junior year abroad at Kingston University in Surrey, England! I hope you enjoy this page and enjoy looking at the pictures and reading about where I will be going in the next 10 months!

This whole thing about going to England... well I better begin to believe it because I leave in a week! A week! Um, yep I better get that one through my head. It's so amazing to think that I will be leaving in a week. I've been dreaming of this for so long, ever since high school and now I'm leaving in a week. I'm glad though that I won't be alone, and that some of my friends are coming too! It's going to be a good time, and though I still don't believe it, I know it will be one good TIME!

Oh and that picture above is Kingston Upon Thames from the river... HOOOOTTTTTT!