Bye, Abby!

This weekend, my friend Abby visited! I took her around London and such, and saw a few things I hadn't seen before!!

It was so nice seeing someone from home!

I don't know why some of these are so huge!! ... BUT I LIKE IT!

After Abby left, I went to the British museum... I've been dying to go for ages!

Real life wizard's chess, anyone?

This one really gave me the creeps...

Olympic medals for 2012!

A cast of Oliver Cromwell's face... again, really creeped me out.

Little Ben!

It'll be nice to see Abby again... AT SAINT VINCENT!!

The one-month countdown has commenced! Only 27 days, 15 hours, 6 minutes, and 1 second until my plane takes off. I'm so torn between homesickness and being in love with this city! :)

Remembering Sunday

Hope everyone had a good Remembrance Sunday! :)

*Tear* It's About Time!

HEY EVERYONE! I got my first malware referral!

I knew 11 views from Russia was a little weird, since I in no way know Russian.

And the site that was registered in an obscure Pacific island was also flattering. In a "Yay, viruses want me to go to their site!"

I feel so legit now! :)

I Wish I Could Say This Wasn't A Normal Occurrence For Me.

I am officially nocturnal.

Every morning for the past week, I way oversleep my alarm and wake up usually minutes before sunset. Sunset is at 4:30 this time of year, but still. I feel like a bat or something.

So then I can't fall asleep at all until about 5 am. I set my alarm for about 8:30, but it is always futile.

It's a little weird, but this happens to me at home, too!

In other news, I'm starting to prepare everything for next semester. Classes, where I'll be living, jobs, etcetera.

I still have a long way to go, but not as long as I'd like! In fact, my flight departs in 37 days, 8 minutes, and 51 seconds. That is going to fly by so fast! It almost seems masochistic to come here for only one semester. You meet all of these wonderful people, but you know you'll be gone by Christmas.

I'll admit that I'll probably be buzzing with excitement in 37 days... I can't wait to see my family and friends again! But until then, I have 3 tasks that have to be done in order:

1) Become diurnal again!
2) LIVE IT UP and go into London/travel England as much as possible!
3) Cram all the coursework in at the last possible moment. Helloooo pass/fail courses! :)

Oh man, do I feel bad about this one.

Happy belated birthday to my brother, who just so happens to share his birthday with an old anti-Catholic holiday!

I really didn't forget about you! I did kind of forget about this blog, though!

Anyway, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! :D

More on Guy Fawkes Day!

So last night, my friend Anna and I decided to try to follow the sounds and find a good fireworks show. Ultimately we found out, though, that one firework would go off.

...

Then another would go off in that same place about a minute later.

Imagine this happening from ALL directions! We felt like we were in the midst of a battle. It was pretty crazy-slash-a-little-bit-scary! We got really spooked by a firework near the beginning of our hunt!

Ultimately, our wanderings led us to the moonlit Thames. There were some distant lights downstream, along with the additional firework. Willows lined the bank, with the occasional bench, and it was totally deserted. PERFECT DATE SPOT. It was so beautiful!

And then we went back to Anna's house to watch "Tangled" and have a noodle party.

Despite the anti-Catholic history of the holiday, I still had a great time! :D

Happy (*cough* night after *cough*) Bonfire Night, everyone!

Oh wow. Sorry about the lag!

So, the last substantial post was about Rome.

While it was great, I also went to Paris with Bernadette to meet up with Abby!

What a fun weekend! It was great seeing friends from home!

The flight from Rome to Paris. Some of the white is cloud... but a lot is SNOW! On what I later learned were the Swiss Alps!! They were incredibly gorgeous! Oh, how I miss snow! :)

We got on the right metro... but it was headed the wrong way. We only figured it out after the train left the last stop, and we were literally the only ones left on the train. Abby and I freaked out (see above) and booked it as fast as we could (not very fast on a moving metro) to the front to let the driver know we were still onboard! Bernadette was all rational and was all "You guys, it's okay!' But we were unconvinced. Long story short, after some really creepy behind-the-scenes views of the Paris metro, the train looped around and we were on the right track. Good. Times.

YAY!

This is a picture of the Eiffel Tower "light show that lasts 10 minutes." Which should really be called "sparkle for about 4 minutes." Still, we had a really good time relaxing in the grass behind the tower.

Credit to Abby! :)

We also walked the Champs-Elysees, which is the busiest road in Paris. Kind of disappointing shopping-wise, but I was mildly freaking out as a WWII nerd. Can you say LIBERATION?!

Yeah, I was there. 67 years later, but whatever! I still felt GREAT walking down that road. Even though we were all starving.

In fact, quote Abby, upon spotting the Arc de Triomphe: "Oh, there it is. [brief pause] Let's go get food." We agreed, and it was good.

Rando fountain!

No, I did not steal this. Isn't it perfectly wallpaper-worthy? I love Paris this time of year! 

I need to stop watching Jersey Shore... lol

This is Bernadette holding an escargot shell. We all partook. They were delicious, actually!

Speaks for itself.

And there you have it!

We also watched "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" on our last night in Paris. Crazy movie... I literally laughed out loud at a really intense part. Basically, imagine the above picture with LAVA pouring out of the windows. Truly a quality film!

And now to catch up on the work from the week of fun!

I had a trip to Scotland planned for next weekend, but I decided to cancel it because I got a relatively large solo during the Remembrance Sunday mass. Honestly, that seems WAY cooler than anything Scotland could offer, or at least anything I can't do later. Maybe I'll make a daytrip there later, who knows!

Thanks again for reading!!

Reporting From The Field!

So you want to perfect your English accent?

Well, you're on your own.

BUT. I can tell you what to say!

5 REAL Phrases That People Use In London


1. "You alright?" - This is the equivalent of "How are you?" in America. It's part of the standard greeting. While passing someone in the halls, you will probably hear "Hey, you alright?" It does not mean that you are obviously bleeding and need to double-check that you aren't going to die.

2. "Innit?" - Short for "isn't it?" I mostly hear this in my seminar classes. When trying to support an argument, people follow their supports with this phrase. For example, you may hear "If you're busy counting passes, your attention's more likely to be inverted, innit?" It seems to be a filler word, almost like "isn't that right?" or "does that make sense?"

3. "As well" - I have yet to hear a non-international kid use the word "too." Instead, people use this phrase! For example, "I like butter with my Marmite, as well!" I really like this one... it sounds so fancy!

4. "Gutted" - To be really sad or disappointed. The films are right on this one! Example: "My kitten was so gutted when our pet mouse ran away."

5. "It's nice" - Though this phrase can also be used like it is in America (to describe an action that was kind, or something like that), it's also used to describe food. For example, "That steak and kidney pie I had yesterday was really quite nice!"

And there you have it. Surely there are more, but these are the ones I've heard most often!

Cheers!

Remember, Remember, The Fifth of November...

And the fourth. And the sixth. It's the third day of fireworks over here... crazy!