England today, New England tomorrow

First, I am very very sorry for my terrible blog-keeping habits! My intentions were to blog frequently… whoops. But here goes nothin’!

Since my last post (Portugal&Spain), I went to Glasgow for a few days with Joyce and took a day trip to Edinburgh where I actually went into the castle and ate lamb (by accident).

I spent some time in Southern France where I kayaked on the Mediterranean, took a tour of a winery (with a wine tasting!!!!) and climbed a mountain (where I watched the sunset, slept on top, then saw the sunrise the next morning). 

Sam came to visit me (who comes to see their friend in England?! She’s the best), we went to Paris where we went to the top of the Eiffel Tower, saw the Mona Lisa in the Louvre and survived an extremely drunk, angry French guy on the metro.

We took a day trip to the White Cliffs of Dover, and then spent a few days in London where I met One Direction (… sort of) and witnessed a protest/riot which included the metropolitan police AND swat team!

I took my exams in huge, intimidating halls will invigilators (that was their title, I’m not kidding). I do not have pictures of this because I probably would have been tackled to the ground if I took out any sort of electronic device.

So after all of that, here’s my final blog post. I decided its only going to be things I’ve learned and things I’ve loved while here, because honestly I don’t think I could come up with a list of things I didn’t like that actually mattered (like the no Dunkin Donuts situation here… that was a little rough).

Loved (in no particular order)

1)      WHY CAN’T AMERICAN GUYS DRESS AS STYLISH AS BRITISH GUYS?

2)      Nandos

3)      Pizza Express (they put eggs on their pizzas here… SO GOOD).

4)      Berry Cider

5)      How everyone here likes Obama more than Americans like Obama (Don’t get me wrong, I like me some Obama, but people here LOVE him).

6)      I can’t tell if it’s a good thing or not, but I find it endearing when a Brit calls me a Yankee… I don’t know why?

7)      It’s the birthplace of 4/5 of One Direction… HOORAY!

8)      The Uni accommodations over here;  Coed (pros and cons), an actual house, heated towel rack, big bedroom)

9)      All the grocery stores deliver right to your house

10)   They love Nutella here… I love Nutella… we just go together

11)   How you can travel literally, anywhere you could ever want to from England.

12)   The view at night when you get off at Westminster station (on the Circle/District line), and go up the staircase towards Westminster Abbey. As soon as you get to the top and walk out from under the overhang, Big Ben is just right there. You’re so close to him, and at that angle he seems as big as he does in all the pictures, and it just so London. I can’t think of any other way to describe it. It’s by far my favorite thing about London and the ungodly amount of pictures I have from that exact spot can vouch for me.

13)   LONDON (my favorite city I went to in the past few months, hands down).

14)   The city Centre in Canterbury (“High Street”). There’s so many good restaurants, stores and LOTS of people speaking LOTS of different languages. It just really cute with its cobble stone streets and old buildings.

15)   .. I just really like the stores on most High Streets…

16)   How the Eiffel tower sparkles at night on every hour (I wanted one of those souvenir towers that lit up SO BAD).

17)   Simon, the crepe man down in town is one of the nicest guys I’ve met here (he noticed when I had a tan too… J). Hombre makes the best crepes I’ve ever had (even better than any I had in France!)

18)   The drinking age

19)   As much as people may think the UK isn’t much different from the US, there are a poop-load of differences and I like that

20)   I’ve come to really like public transportation! When I first got here I despised every form of it (especially the tube, it’s quite confusing and frustrating at first). But now I see how essential it is here and how they must save loads of money because they don’t have to worry about filling their tank)

21)   Dominos is so much better here

22)   CADBURY

23)   Technology

24)    Cab drivers (when they actually show up when they’re suppose to) are really nice

25) Tea. Especially Twinings raspberry&strawberry and lemon&ginger. I’m going to be a sad girl if I cant find a similar replacement back home

26). Crab & Winkle Way, my running path which is full of fields, sheep, horses, cows, cow poop and i love it.

 

27) Canterbury, England

Learned

Studying Abroad is studying Abroad. No one’s experiences are the same, and no ones experience is better than anyone else s. It doesn’t matter if they speak English, watch the same tv programs, listen to the same music or if a lot of other Americans study there. I don’t think its so much about going somewhere where most people don’t or trying to impress anyone with where you go, but more with going somewhere you’re interested in and getting out of your home country.

When someone asks, “Are you alright?”, they’re not concerned with your heath, nothing is wrong. They just want to know what’s up, what’s shakin’ bacon?

No matter how many times I go through airport security, I still forget to take the plastic water bottle out from the side of my backpack and I’ve come to terms with that. What can I say? I’m forgetful.

I have the best parents in the world. Seriously though, any argument to this is invalid. Find me another set of parents that will send both their kids across the world for 5 months… then we can talk. Love you madre and padre!

… I have the best sister in the world (even thought she wouldnt let me hug her when i got to spain). HI AVERY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You don’t always need a plan, or a destination. One day in Spain Avery had class all day and I didn’t want to bother her or friends so I just got up in the morning, got breakfast somewhere and then wandered Seville by myself and it was just great. I don’t know how people can travel somewhere and not want to be walking around and seeing as much as possible because they’re on their iPod or iPhone talking to people BACK HOME.  NO COMPRENDO, PEOPLE!

I’m really bad at budgeting

To appreciate my home uuniversity ecsu. It may be a lil ol’ university in Willi but I did miss is more than I thought I would. There were a few times I wanted to go to Hurley….. i feel eembarrassedadmitting that hahah

More patience (I think)

To bring my camera everywhere

Lastly, I learned that I want to travel in the future, I NEED to. If I could travel with my Social Work degree I would be one happy girl 🙂

To end, I’m gonna share a quote that I’ve found to be awfully true, from the movie, Into the Wild, (if you haven’t seen it, stop reading this right now and find it online. It’s sad, but SO GOOD).

“Happiness is only real when shared”

I wanted to study abroad to learn how to do things completely on my own. I wanted to know I can be completely independent in life, because to me, depending on someone for everything is a heck of a scary thought. I came to England with the hopes of meeting and making lifelong friends. Traveling to cities alone, and forcing myself so outside my comfort zone that I ddidn’tknow what to do.

While I do think I became a lot more independent, and I did meet SO many people from and insane amount of different places, I realized that for me, the moments I spent with the lifelong friends I already had, are my favorite ones. Yeah, I could’ve went to London all the time, visited Glasgow,  got drunk in Spain (womp, did I say that?), watch the sunrise on top of a Mountain in southern France or even see the Eiffel Tower sparkle at night, all by myself,  then this whole semester would not have been the same.

I didn’t accomplish everything I wanted. I still have so many countries to see, personal characteristics I want to work on, and always more people to meet, but even with all that, this has been the best 5 ½ months of my life. Anyone who tells me my semester abroad was any sort of fail, or says I didn’t do it properly is probably… no, most DEFINITELY a plonker (just little British slang… look it up 🙂 )

Tomorrow I get up at an ungodly hour (4am) to get to Heathrow for my journey home! I’m sitting here finishing this post, and packing up everything and I can’t believe how fast the past 6 (technically 5.5, but i round up lol) months have gone. It feels like just last week I was on a train from London to Canterbury, practically pooping my pants because I was so nervous to move in. Now I have less than 12 hours in England, and I’ll be hauling my WAAAYY overweight suitcase from London, to Toronto, to Hartford. It’s been a longtime coming, but I’m trying not to tear up by convincing myself that somehow, someway, I’ll be back. I feel so blessed and thankful that my parents let me do this and supported me the entire time. Madre and Padre, thank you SO SO much for letting me live in another country for this long. There’s no other way I would’ve wanted to spend my semester than in England and going places I never thought I would get to go. Hopefully next time, we can travel Europe together (and get so many cute family pics)!

So for one last time, cheers! and i love you, england.

amanda

REUNITED (in Spain!) AND IT FEELS SO GOOD!

Guess what this post is about?

Oh yeah biddy, that’s right. Moomoo and ave back together! .. for one week at least.

So the first week of April was the last week of classes (WOOT WOOT!) and Thursday, April 4th, I got a bus to London and then took the underground to Heathrow to board a plane down south! My first plane left London around 11, and went to Madrid where I had a super short layover. I was only supposed to have about an hour layover in Madrid but I ended up being there for almost 3 hours. I got on my plane, pilot says we’ll be delayed in it for about 45 mins, after 30 mins we go out onto the tarmac and are about to take off, pilot turns the plane around, parks the plane, comes on the loud speaker, says something in Spanish, the Asian lady next me to looks at me says “cambiar?” and i was like shit. cambiar (to change) can only mean one thing. So everyone got off the plane, went to a new gate where we waited for an hour for a new plane, then they let us board again, but instead they boarded us on a bus and took us across the airport to this random plane in the middle of nowhere. Case in point, i eventually got on the plane and made it down to Sevilla, but i definitely would have appreciated maybe a free bag of peanuts or something? I’m disappointed in you Iberia!

Anyways, I made it to Sevilla around 7 i think, took a bus into town and when i got off Ave was walking towards me :’) I tried hugging her but she told me not to hug her and keep walking… hahahaha. Man did i miss her enthusiasm 😉 She brought me to my hostel for the night. It was conveniently right across the street from where she lives, so after i checked in we went over to her room where i finally met her roommate and some of her other friends! 

Friday morning, we met up and went to catch our bus to Portugal! We were in Portugal until Sunday night, and then came back to Sevilla. Words can’t describe how much I loved Portugal. It was so nice to the weekend with just Ave. We literally did nothing all weekend except lay on the beach and get burnt, which is exactly what I wanted to do! We stayed at an apartment-hotel in Albufeira, went to the beach there, went into the new town, and the old town, went to Lagos for the day Saturday. Here are some pictures I got!Albufeira!

Our balcony in our hotel room. I couldn’t get over our view of the beach in the distance.I thoroughly enjoy this picture lololBeach in Lagos 🙂 Just like pinterest

After the beach in Lagos we went into the city center, where we ate at an American diner, then walked around and i had a PULLED PORK SANDWICH. YES. it was a great moment.we were going for the, “moo with moo” thing

Old town in Albufeira on the last day:'(ALL SHELLS! they were everywhere!Mammy, much? but really. how great are these salt and pepper shakers?After this beach in Albufeira, we got on the bus to go back to Sevilla. Which is is what the second part of this post will be be about :))

So when we returned, I checked into the second hostel, which was a little bit farther from Avery, but really nice nonetheless! I was in a 10 person dorm that night which wasnt bad. Avery had class for the majority of the day Monday, so I took the time to wander around by myself, which was surpringly really nice! I sat by the river, bought some souveniers, took pictures..

Emily got into Sevilla late Monday night and when she checked into the hostel, one of the owners had us swtich into a 4 person room FREE OF CHARGE. Twas bangin’. Another guy ended up being in our room for just that night. I met him in the afternoon when we came back for a break. We talked for only like 10 minutes, but ladies and gents.. he was very attractive. He was from Oregon and was backpacking Europe for 2 months ALONE. But yeah, Tuesday we walked along the river, around Ave’s Uni (*cringe*), and some random parks..At dinner Tuesday night!

Later Tuesday night, we all went out to some club that you can get in for a euro till a certain time. We didn’t get back until super late, somewhere around 4:30. I was practically dead so I just climbed right on up in my bed, trying not to wake up our roomie. I remembered Emily saying something to me about a note that night, but i didn’t really pay attention to what she was saying  When I woke and got out of bed, Danny had packed up and left and there was a note from him hanging on the top part of our bunk bed..HOW NICE IS THAT? I am pretty sure we were meant to be, and i let him walk away because I couldn’t open my eyes for more than 10 seconds to say anything. *face palm*

 Wednesday, Ave showed us around some places like Plaza de Espana and the gardens, the Cathedral, and Las Setas!

Wednesday night, because Em and Ave had to get up really early to catch their flight to Italy, they both slept in the hostel, and with the help of Avery’s friends Nicolette and Izzy I pretended to me ave and slept in her bed at her residencia that night! Thursday morning I even managed to have lunch in her dining hall without anyone catching us 🙂

Thursday afternoon I took the bus to the airport and went back to rainy England 😦

But I had THE BEST TIME, and when I was there I actually started to wish I had chosen a school in Spain instead of England. Everyone I met down there were really nice and friendly and really enjoyed the fact that we were twins and it was warm and sunny and just great.

But the weathers been pretty nice here in Canterbury, so I’m glad I chose here 🙂

I got back to Canterbury Saturday, had enough to catch up on sleep, do laundry, and then Monday I took a bus to Glasgow to visit Joyce! Post on that coming soon 🙂

xo Amanda

 

UPDATE! it’s a snoozer though..

first off, SORRY SORRY SORRY! I know I have been really sucking with the lack of updates I’ve been posting, but nothing too exciting has been happening in the past few weeks!

Last Sunday, I had an Eastern dinner with Emily and Lindsey! We had ham, corn, salad, mashed potatoes, baguettes, carrots and then cake for dessert! It was so extremely good, and I felt nauseous afterwards cause I ate too much.

The past week and a half have been busy with all reading and writing essays and getting them in by their deadlines, which trust me, you don’t really wanna hear about. But the good news is I got all of mine handed in on time, and I am officially done with classes until exams! SO EXCITING! This means that as I write this post, I have nothing to do, and that makes me a happy girl 🙂 I’ve found that even though England’s uni’s have less class time than the States, it’s harder. I’m not sure about anyone else here, but I’ve definitely found myself struggling to understand what the heck they’re talking about sometimes. 

So what now? WELL, now that I am done with classes, there is nothing but fun and exciting events scheduled until exams! My exam schedule is May 7th, June 4, 6, & 7! But as for awesome things coming up, I’ll lay them out for you…

Tomorrow I leave for SPAIN!!!!!!!!!! I have to get up at 4am to get ready and finish getting everything together, I’m taking a taxi down to the bus station then I take a bus to London and get there at 730. When I get to London I have to make my way to Heathrow to board a plane at 11:10 to Madrid! From Madrid I get on a plane to Sevilla and by 5pm I’ll be at my final destination! AAHH! I am SO excited! I’m staying at a hostel tomorrow night and then the next morning (Friday), Ave and I get on a bus for a weekend trip to Portugal! We’re going with a program that Ave’s resident coordinator does so the weekend is all planned out (complete with trips to beaches, caves, cliffs, bars and clubs!). We get back Monday and then I’m going back to Sevilla until Friday!I haven’t seen Ave in 3 MONTHS so I plan on giving her multiple embraces throughout my time there (there will be plenty of pictures, no one fret!). I’m also looking forward to some nice vitamin D! This girl needs some some, badly! I actually feel bad for those people in Portugal that are going to have to look at my blinding paleness… 

So I get back from Spain on the 12th, come back to Canterbury and probably sleep a lot lol. I’m hoping that that week I can up to Glasgow to see Joyce at her university!

Then the week of the 22nd, Kailyn AND Joyce are both coming to Canterbury  Kailyn’s coming in first into Heathrow we’ll probably spend a little time in London! I’m wicked excited to finally be with both of them at the same time (we’ll have cute pictures from this too!)

Then May 7th is my first exam! It is going to be the hardest exam I will ever take, probably. It’s my Race & Racism module which is a stage 3 module (everyone in the module is graduating this spring……..). I will be the happiest girl in the world when that exam is done and over with!

After this horrid exam, I fly down to Marseilles to see KAILYN (!!!!) on May 9th, and I’m there until May 12th! My flight for this is already booked and excited to finally get over to the main part of Europe!

2 days after I get back from my visit with Kailyn, I have to catch a bus up to Heathrow to pick up SAM!! She has the best parents/grandparents EVER and she’s visiting here for almost 2 weeks! SHJGKDHKEUOHFIEUHASDFGHJKHGH! <that’s my excitement. i cannot wait to see her. When she’s here I have feeling we will be doing a lot around England (She’s already making a list of places she wants to go, Lord help me!), and then we have a trip to Paris planned for May 16th, probably for 3 or 4 days!

So that’s my plan as of now! 

In other exciting news, I have officially been here for 3 months! Hit the halfway mark which is sad and exciting at the same time! I miss everyone and everything back home, but I really don’t think i’m gonna wanna leave when the time comes 😥 

Since this post is lacking in illustration here are some random pictures I’ve taken from the last time I posted!

These are pictures i took on one of my runs on Crab and Winkle Way! There are SO many dogs on this path it’s great.Strongbow, chocolate cake & cards!The Easter Bunny came for Em and I 😉Random fruit Em put in her cake hahaha

 

That’s really it for now! I haven’t even thought about packing and I leave in less than 20 hours! I will definitely have a post up about my week down in the warmth and sunshine.not too long after I get back, I promise!!

Thanks for actually coming to read this again, and sorry for a pretty boring post compared to past one!

cheers!

xo amanda

ps. the jonas brothers are back. that is all.

London, Dover, Josh Duhamel & more London!

Firstly, I apologize for not blogging in a few weeks. Last time I blogged was about my trip to Edinburgh! It’s been two weeks since then, and to be honest, I can’t remember much that happened in those two weeks. Here is what I can remember..

The Thursday after our Scotland trip, Emily and I went to The Royal Albert Hall in London (near Hyde Park) to see Kooza: CIrque du Soleil. It. was. INCREDIBLE! I had never been to a cirque de soleil show before this one and I was blown away! The performers were fantastic, the music was great and the wheel of death was awesome! The show started at 8 and ended around 10:40. The ride home was definitely interesting. We took a train to and from London, but after 10:30, there aren’t alot of trains running, infact we ended up catching the very last train of the night towards kent (after running through St. Pancras St., and getting hit on my 2 middle-aged business men who said they were going back to Kent too, so we told them that’s the train we were going on). So we got on the train (with those 2 men), sat down, and as the train started moving men realized that this wasn’t the train they were supposed to be on (they were idiots for listening to two Americans regarding london public transportation anyways). They got off at the next stop, and I thought we were home free from creeps… until this guy next to us, Matt, started blabbing. THIS KID WAS THE EPITOME OF CREEPY, PEOPLE. He a few years older than us and just did not stop talking the entire way. He was going to the same Canterbury station we were so he told us how to get back (but it was unfortunately with him). To get back to Canterbury we had one change at Ashford. We got to Ashford around 1230, and had to wait there until like, 1:15 AM!! There was nobody on the platform when we got there besides us so we waited in this little heated hut for what felt like forever considering everytime this kid talked to me his face was inches from my face and Emily left me in there with him while she called someone to escape him (that was an evil move, Em!!). But finally someone above decided I had suffered enough and our train came. I saw the farthest seat away from him I could 9he moved closer of course), but 2 minutes into the ride he was out cold (thank you, Lord!) as was Emily. So I took that opportunism to take a great shot of the two sleep beautieslolol sorry em for this pic :-*

By the time I got back to my house I was exhausted (luckily I didn’t have class Friday) and I doubled check all the locks in our house juuuustt incase Matt followed us home. .. I didn’t want to die a Lifetime Movie style death, ya know.

Over the weekend (I think, not too sure) I sent out a bunch of postcards! YAY! But I’ve only heard of one getting to people so I’m not sure what happend to the rest of them..

Saturday, Emily and I took a day trip to Dover! We walked along the White Cliffs of Dover for almost 4 hours! To say Google images doesn’t do it justice is an understatement. We packed our own lunch so we didn’t have to buy one there, and it was a grand ol’ time. I definitely want to go back at some point (when it’s warmer), and go to Dover Castle as well!I LOVE WALKERS BBQ RIP CRISPS!!!!!!!!!

That same weekend Em and I found a walking path that goes all the way to the beach in Whitstable, it’s called Crab & Winkle Way. We walked about halfway there and turned out because it was getting dark. But later in the week we ended up walking ALL THE WAY to Whitstable and the habor there, and took the bus back because we were definitely in the early stages of hypothermia.

Wednesday, Emily & I spent the day in London (after sleeping an 1 1/2 hours late, sorry em). We went to Picadully Circus, Hyde Park and Oxford Street (PRIMARK!!!).

Around 5, we met up with a few of our friends for a Nicholas Sparks book signing & discussion with the movies stars Josh Duhamel and Julianne Hough!! Julianne is even more beautiful in person and there are no words to describe Josh. None. We had time to kill after the signing so we went to a cafe right near Waterstones (the bookstore where the signing was)

While we were waiting in line for the book signing, I was checking my twitter and got a DM that I won free passes to an early screening to see the movie Safe Haven before it came out in the cinema! I emailed them back and they said they would send me details the next day (Thursday). So Thursday comes and I get an email saying the screening is TONIGHT (talk about about short notice!!). So I asked my friend Lindsey (HUGE Nicholas Sparks fan btw) if she wanted to come with me and she said yes, but because of late buses, trains, a WICKED crowded underground, delays on a few of the tube lines, 2 of the same cinemas near eachother (very confusing), we got there too late and they werent letting anyone else in. I called/texted the woman who had sent me the email with the details earlier in the day, and she said she was sorry we didn’t make it in time, but she would send me 2 passes to see the movie when it comes out and some Safe Haven goodies! So instead of watching a movie, we walked around the mall, Westfield Shopping Center (wicked upscale mall by the way! Dior, Chanel, Coach, Prada, Tiffany & Co., Gucci, Louis Vitton Versace.. just to name a few), had a krispy kreme, and then had dinner in the fancy food court at a place called Chip & Fish.After we finished dinner, we had almost 2 hours to kill before our train back home. Lindsey hadn’t been on the other side of the River Thames where Big Ben/London Eye is, so we took a nice stroll around there. It is BEAUTIFUL around there at night! It was around 9oclock, so there weren’t tons of people around, the lights were on, it was nice 🙂 (apologize for the blurry pictures. Didn’t have my camera and ipods suck at picture taking lol)When I got home that night, I emailed the lady from the screening my address and she said she would have parcel in the mail the next day! WOO!

Friday, Em and I had banana pancakes, some Domino s and watched movies (she fell asleep though…………..).

That brings us to today, Saturday! This morning I was just laying in bed and someone knocked on the door. I went down later to get breakfast and saw a package for me! It was my little parcel with my Safe Haven goodies :)) 2 tickets to see the movie when it comes out, the Safe Haven book, and 3 mini posters of Josh Duhamel shirtless! Thought it was so nice of them to send this even though I missed the screening! They had no obligation to send anything, but I am very thankful 🙂 (free movie tickets ftw). So since I dragged Lindsey back to London with me the day after we were there and the day before she was going BACK, we’re gonna plan a day where we can finally go see the movie.. for free (:

Now it’s Saturday evening. I’m should really be writing my essay that’s due Tuesday, but I can’t focus, as usual. My reading week is coming to an end 😦 But this friday is March 1, which is CRAZY. Modules here end the first week of April, time is flying by!

But.. I leave you with another list of stuff..

1) i know i’ve said this before. by i really think my housemates TRULY don’t know what cleaning it and how to do it if they did know what it is.

2) … one of them actually ate 2 of my bananas this morning

3) i will be hoarding my bananas in my room from now on

4) i’ve been craving a caramel mocha iced coffee extra cream & sugar from dunkin FOR DAYS

5) there are 2 mugs on my kitchen table, full of cigarrette butts and ashes from on e my housemates that I guarentee I will have to clean up

6) there is also a bowl of cake batter on the table from 2 weeks ago that I refuse to clean.. it’s nasty

7) i just can’t get over how unsanitary the people in this house are. like it would NOT fly at eastern! these biddies would be written up many times already..

8) I finally got my package from home! Complete with more yogas, summer/spring clothes, my watch and a little dog that walks when you wind it up 🙂 (thanks madre!)

9) i miss my dog

cheers! xo amanda

Edin-bruh!

This past weekend I had the exciting pleasure of travelling up to Edinburgh, Scotland for a long weekend! (Hence my title! That is apparently, the correct way to say it!)

Since we didn’t have any classes Friday, Lindsey, Emily & I left Thursday night. After looking at all the possible modes of transportaion, we decided that while the MegaBus would take the longest, it was the cheapest. And so, Thursday night we started on our way up North. First we took a bus from Canterbury to London. Emily and I were dumb and forgot to book our bus tickets for that ride (Lindsey was smart and already had bought hers!). When we got to the bus station, the ticket booth was closed so we had to ask the bus driver if we could buy our tickets from him on the bus. He said yes, but it was a whopping 17 gbp (that’s karma though!)! I had just enough cash with me to pay this right then, but Emily didnt. She said she would go take out money from the cash point and take the next bus there. As I was walking back to my seat the bus driver pulled me and aside and said “hey, go catch up to her and tell her to come back here!” So I ran to Emily, brought her back to the bus and the driver let her on for free. 🙂 He was super nice and just precious.

When we got to London, we had a few hours to kill before our bus ride to Edinburgh at 10:30. We hadn’t ate dinner yet, so we ate at a pub right next to Victoria Coach called the Traveler’s Tavern! It was pretty dead when we got in there, so our food came fast and it was good. 🙂Pro of Wild Berries Cider: DELICIOUS. Con: gives you the worst acid re flux ever known to man. ..But I still got one each night we went out 🙂I got steak & ale pie with chips and gravy. Lindsey and Em got turkey, stuffing & cranberry sauce sandwich on a baguette!

By 10:00 we were waiting in the coach station. Our bus was packed. Emily and I ended up RIGHT near the toilets. Naturally, noone went to the bathroom before they got on the bus, so the poop smell started early. I did take dramamine beforehand and I sat next to a window. But regardless of those two positives, the whole bus ride was a negative. IT WAS THE LONGEST 9 HOURS OF MY ENTIRE LIFE. This bus ride was longer than all of  my travels to get TO the UK, and it was dark out so you couldn’t see any pretty scenery 😦

Nevertheless, we arrived in Edinburgh at 730! When we got off the bus it was still dark, but as we made our way to our hostel, the sun started rising.

When we got to our hostel, it was too early to check into our room, they let us put our luggage in the storage room and go upstairs to have breakfast anyways. We stayed at the Caledonian Backpackers Hostel. If you are ever thinking of travelling to Edinburgh and want somewhere cheap and nice to stay, I recommend it here! They were super nice, friendly and helpful.

In the bar area, they had this chalkboard up, which I got a kick out of 🙂“Is it bacon?” that one was my favorite…

After eating breakfast, we went out to find a bank to take money out, then ventured to Primark. If I could profess my love to anything in this world besides dogs, it would Primark.

Anywho, after Primark we went up to Old Town. There are 2 parts of Edinburgh: Old Town and New Town. I think the names are pretty explanatory, but New Town is much more modern with all the stores and hotels. This is a picture of the walk up to Old Town:

 

In Old Town we went on a free tour of Old Town. It was just about 3 hours long! Back in high school I went on a week-long trip around the UK, so throughout the tour I was having some major deja vu! People got their ears nailed to this thing…. nastySt. Giles Cathedral: The only cathedral in the world where you can find angels playing bagpipes!Dirtiest spot in Edinburgh! Anyone who’s anyone spits on this heart.Lindsey and I 🙂

After our tour we went to our hostel and met up with Joyce (my friend from highschool for those who don’t know). She’s studying in Glasgow, which isn’t too far away. We went out to Rose Street, which is a long street (seems to go on forever) full of pubs, restaurants and shops. We ate dinner at a pub (where I got another Wild Berries Cider!) and then walked around Edinburgh at night. The next morning, Lindsey’s friends, Olivia and Lauren joined us! We met up with them at breakfast and from there, took a cab to our first stop of the day: Arthurs Seat! Arthur’s Seat is the highest point of an old volcano in the center of Edinburgh. It’s about a half mile from Edinburgh Castle and from the top are the most amazing views of Edinburgh you could ever find! It did take us a while to get to the top, as we started up on the complete opposite side of where we should’ve, and then took the more difficult route up (instead of a nice grassy slope). I was sweating (and swearing a little bit) by the time we got to the top, but man was it worth it! Here’s a little sequence of the walk up:WE’RE NOT EVEN AT THE TOP YET. SEE THE PEAK IN THE FAR DISTANCE? YEAH I DO TOO. and so I continue with pictures..Just taking a breather…how cute is this picture of joyce?

The last few pictures is the view from the top! It was incredible! You could see the entire city, out to the ocean and then the mountains (with snow on the peaks) on the other side. And yes, that is a black lab in two of the pictures. That dog climbed up the mountain better than any human I saw doing it! Here are some pictures my lovely friend Lindsey took with her fancy and super nice camera(credit for these 2 photos go to Lindsey Roesti!)

After climbing down from Arthur’s Seat and tanking it on the way down making it look like I pooped my pants, we went to eat at The Elephant Cafe, which is where JK Rowling wrote Harry Potter. 

When we were done there we walked around a nearby cemetery, where JK Rowling supposedly got ideas for a few characters in HP (Tom Riddle, Professor Mcgonagall). We looked through some gift shops (where I purshed a sheep that’s sporting a nice Scotland sweater) and then looked around inside St. Giles Cathedral. Out on the Royal Mile near St. Giles was this nice man playing a bagpipe. So scottish 🙂

Then we went up to see Edinburgh Castle at night:

 

It was getting dark by then, so we decided to go back to our hostel, relax for a little bit then go out to eat dinner. When we returned to our room I was very pleased to learn that the guy in the bunk above me (we were in a 12 person mixed suite. SO MANY SPANISH SPEAKING PEOPLE OMG) was replaced by a nice girl named Manca. 🙂 We got to talking with her and learned she’s from Slovenia but currently living in England. And i know what you’re all thinking now, Where in the world is Slovenia? WHAT is Slovenia?! But she gave us a nice geography lesson (it’s a small country near Italy and Austria. Google it! It looks really pretty there!) and we invited her to come to dinner with us as she came to Edinburgh by herself (impressive, huh?). We ended up eating at a Japanese sushi place, where I got something called Tempura (?). After eating Lindsey, Olivia and Lauren went out to a pub and the rest of us (Em, Joyce, Manca & I) walked around a little bit and talked. We stopped at McDonald’s and got pies (which are so much better than the ones we have in the states) and then went back to the hostel for a drink (Wild Berries Cider, of course). 

 

And that was the end of Saturday! 😦 

Emily and I had to get up at 4am Sunday morning to catch our megabus back to London at 530. I think you grasped my opinion of the megabus earlier on in the post, but just to reiterate, it was miserable and long and my back still hurts. We got to London around 3 (I think?) and then got on another bus back to Canterbury. It was a long day of travelling, but really worth it! Edinburgh is one of the prettiest cities I’ve been too, and I would definitely suffer through another megabus to go back!

I had 3 seminars and a lecture Monday, all of which I made it too! *thumbs up for that*

On Monday, I had made a mental list of things I wanted to share:

1) they cannot pronounce Newtown. which I don’t understand because all you have to do is SOUND IT OUT, PEOPLE. it’s not that hard!

2) instead of controversy they say “controvasey” .. which got annoying after the 5th time

3) I have no idea what’s going on my Racism class but there is good looking man in it, so it’s all good

4) I miss my dog

5) when it’s sunny here, i love it

And that brings me to today, Tuesday. As I’m writing this there are only 5 more minutes left of Tuesday, but today was an important day, which I JUST now realized..

I HAVE OFFICIALLY BEEN IN ENGLAND FOR A MONTH. 

This time last month I had arrived in London and was starting on this adventure of a lifetime. I’ve loved everything I’ve done & accomplished in the past month and can’t wait to see what the next few months bring! 

 

cheers!

xo amanda

 

Week dos

Today is Friday, which means… I have completed my second week at UKC! CELEBRATORY DRINKS FOR EVERYONE! (just kidding… although I did dabble a bit into the world of drinks this week, more on that later).

This week of classes I had my lectures AND seminars. Like I said in my last post, I have 3 seminars/1lecture Mondays and 3 lectures/1seminar Thursday. I think I told you how my Monday classes were, so that leaves Thursday. I had my first lecture at 10am, Contemporary Culture. It’s an okay class so far, but the convenor is one of those who argues with himself, ya know? He reminds of the Allie’s professor in The Notebook who says something like “And if I contradict myself, well then, I contradict myself” (those are not the exact words, so don’t quote me on it!). So all I try to do in that class is look at the pictures on the PowerPoint because if I listen to him and actually attempt to understand what his point is… no es bueno! After I got out of that class, I took an uncharacteristic-like nap for about 2 hours! After that nap, I have the rest of my lectures and then my seminar (which I was late to because I have a lecture RIGHT before it, and my seminar has to be located on the 3rd floor of some tower in some building that is wicked difficult to naviagte!!) to finish up the day. This last seminar was Key Issues in British Politics. And just to let you guys know, I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT BRITISH POLITICS! zip, zero, goose egg! There is also the fact that there’s only 12 people in the class, and only 3 are girls. Which as most of you may know, I don’t do well with guys, so as you can imagine I was red the whole class. My seminar leader isn’t the most joyful of creatures either. She’s under the impression that everyone knows everything about all political systems everywhere (she should be fun each week). 

After I successfully made it out of my seminar alive, I got back to my room and that night went out for some mexican! I went with Emily and our new friend Lindsey (we’re going to Scotland with her and her friend next weekend!) to Tacos Locos down in the city centre! Here is what I happily consumed during my meal:(My Strawberry Margarita)(Chicken Tacos Locos, which were definitely locos because I had some serious acid re flux when I got home that night!)(my margarita = no more, hehe)(Fortunately for me, waffles with chocolate or toffee sauce are really popular for dessert here!)

After we finished our dinner, we walked around the centre for a little bit, eventually coming across Canterbury Cathedral!

Lindsey then showed us around a part of town we never knew existed! So thanks to her, Em and I went back into town today to look around this part of town in the daylight! The first stop when we got down there was the fudge shop. And I reccommend anyone who happens to be wandering around Canterbury to STOP AT THIS PLACE! They give you free samples everytime you walk in, and when we went in, we saw them making the choclate sauce they sell.

By the time we got done there, it was lunch time! WOOT WOOT!. We ate a delicious lunch at La Trappiste

UNFORTUNATELY, I cannot post the picture of my beverage (Trust me, I would, but it keeps uploading funny!) But I did have a half pint of raspberry beer! It was some kind of Belgium framboise or something or other? I’m not completely sure what it was called, but it was darn good! 

After lunch Emily and I walked around Canterbury Cathedral in the daylight! There was a graduation ceremony taking place in one part of the Cathedral, so we didn’t see ALL of it, but we’re here until June, I think we have plenty of time to see it 🙂 King Henry IV (fourth) and his wife are actually buried here! I didn’t take a picture of it, but he is the only King buried here in Canterbury. The rest are in London. Isn’t that kind of neat?

Anywho, that is all the fun and exciting things that have happened in the last week. I am even MORE excited to be able to write my next post because it’ll be about EDINBURGH!

And to leave you, here is another list of… whatever comes to my mind!

1) my beer was in a glass similar to a wine glass. I kept thinking I was drinking wine, which isn’t a bad thing, because remember? I do like wine!

2) there are many attractive males here in the England…

… until I see that they have a cigarette in their hand (which is 90% of the time!).

3) there is a boy in my politics seminar who is from England  his name is Harry and he slightly resembles Prince Harry (I’d prefer Harry Styles, but I’ll take the Royal Family!)

4) I don’t think my housemates physically know how to clean dishes

5) I think I’m starting to like bananas

6) Everything that I’m thinking about right now is about food. Which means I should stop this list, and let you guys go!

xo amanda

First Week = DONE!

First off…how pretty is this walking path? Friday, Saturday AND Sunday all came with snow showers, blanketing UKC with 4-5 inches of snow. 🙂 

Since I’ve only had one blog post so far (by B, guys. this is hard to keep up!) I will recap all you on my first full week at Kent!! I’m taking 4 Modules (AKA classes): Race&Racism, Contemporary Culture, Social Problems&Social Policy and Key Issues in British Politics. Unlike back in the states where these classes would meet MWF/TR/once a week, these ‘modules’ meet up twice a week. One of these times is a lecture, which is exactly what you think it is. A HUGE group of students in a usually HUGE lecture while the Convenor (professor) says HUGE words (most of which I can’t understand, both because of the accent and I plain just don’t know what the heck it means) for an hour. This is a quick picture I snapped from my Social Problems lecture..

Now, looking at this picture doesn’t do the size of the room justice. There were 3 ginormous screens, and over 250 seats in this gosh darn lecture hall. 

Now that I’ve bored you with a short rant about the size of lectures, I’ll actually get back to the point! So in lectures it’s just sitting, listening, writing, blah blah boring stuff. Lectures are all I had the first week (last week).

The other time we meet for each module is called a Seminar. Seminars smaller groups formed from the students in the lecture. There’s normally 10-12 people in each seminar. There is a seminar leader (different from the Convenor) who leads the discussion and asks questions, but they expect the whole hour to be student-led. 

Each module is accompanied with a Reading Pack/Reading List. Before each seminar you are expected to read the required materials, and then go beyond that, by reading recommended journals, watching videos, and listening to audio. Case in point: it’s a ridiculous amount of reading and they actually say “the key to your success is how much you read.” YEAH OKAY, KENT.

My seminars started this week, 3/4 of them being today. I surprised myself and ACTUALLY participated in a discussion in my Social Problems seminar *pats self on the back*. The other 2 seminars I was actually late for (Sorry, Mom & Dad). The problem is, that my Mondays go 10AM, 11AM then 12AM, with no time inbetween! So despite me haulin’ ass across campus looking like a moron, I was late and me getting lost in every building I went in didn’t help the cause either (It’s seriously so much bigger than ECSU).

Friday, Emily and I went into town (it was Em’s 20th birthday!). The “place to go” in Canterbury is this city centre, which they normally call High Street (but it’s not actually called High Street. It’s like main street in the states). We walked around, went shopping, got chocolate truffles, stopped in a few bakeries, and all that fun stuff.

Sunday I went BACK into town (by myself, like a big girl, mind you!) to return a few things I had bought the day earlier. It was snowing like a hooch Saturday but town was SO CUTE!

This is Westgate! Right through the middle is the beginning of the main street with all the shops and cafes. 

YES, that is a little, cute, British child being pulled down the street in a sled! In the above pictures are all of the city centre, which is normally bustling with life, but since the Brits aren’t accustomed to snow whatsoever, it was pretty dead. I however, found it extremely peaceful walking around in the snow. After getting back home, my groceries got delivered. Yes, delivered. Because you can order them online here. I think America’s a little behind the ball on the that one if I do say so myself…

*Note: Sunday was supposed to be the international students trip to Dover Castle, but it was cancelled “due to adverse weather” AKA noone here knows how to deal with snow. 

After I dealt with all my groceries, Emily and I went for a walk around campus in the b-e-a-utiful snow! People were everywhere outside! I can’t even tell you how many snowmen I saw, people were getting really into it! We walked down off campus a little ways, then came back up on a public footpath. 

I live in Homestall Court! It’s very homey… and i’m hoping that was punny 😉

So that brings me to today, Monday. Full of seminars and lectures and walking through the snow. All the walking today did bring to my attention that my rainboots are cracked somewhere, leaving my socks all wet. It’s no good, i tell you!

And here is a random list of things that didn’t have a place anywhere else in this post:

1) I saw my incredibly attractive neighbor (1D look-a-like) today walking into his house, it was a great moment.

2) I’m really lovin’ the porridge here (that’s right, PORRIDGE)

3) They don’t have ranch dressing…………………………..

4) I’ve seen numerous dogs in sweaters and parkas. It’s fantastic.

5) I still haven’t figured out how to properly answer someone when they say “Are you alright? Are you good” because trust me. It’s just awkward..

6) I can’t seem to find frozen waffles anywhere, IT’S MADNESS!

7) I love bakeries

8) Did I mention I’m going to Scotland next weekend? 

Cheers!

xox Amanda

 

A little late but…

I FINALLY STARTED A  BLOG! AND I’M NOT SURE WHAT TO WRITE! 🙂

For the next 6 months I will do my very best to keep everyone updated on what’s crackalackin’ in Canterbury, England and other fun things! Unfortunately I’m slacking already, because I’ve already been in England (specifically London for Globalinks orientation) for more than a week…  

…ta-da!!

Not only is today the start of my blog, but it was the first day of classes, AND the first time I saw it snow here!

(the sun was also peaking out of the clouds this morning!)

And in other news, I sat next to a British girl in my Race & Racism class today. She hates Disney World, AND told me not to go to Switzerland because it’s boring and a waste of time. WHO SAYS AWFUL THINGS LIKE THAT?

A lot of fantastic things have also happened in the past week:

I’m getting better at british accents

My housemates are nice

They make great Mocha coffees here

We have a towel heater upper in our bathroom

My room is ginormous and has a yellow wall

My neighbor looks like the 6th member of One Direction

I like wine (I AM legal….)

xo amanda