Invictus Premiere

The Odeon Theatre is where the premiere played.

WOW.  There is so much that I want to accomplish while I am here and I'm really excited that I've already begun checking things off my list.

Rolling out the red carpet.

One of those goals was to go to a red carpet movie premiere and today I did it.  Invictus Starring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon made it's UK Premiere at 7pm tonight.  I went with a new bunch of girls, and it was good to mix up my crowd, push my limits and forge bonds with new people.

That's my main man Morgan Freeman.  Yeah I was really that close.

We arrived in Leichester Square at 4pm and found a spot at a corner.  It was along the handicap section so we thought we were going to have a great view, but right before the celebs arrived a Warner Brothers PR agent with a bunch of photographers so stand in the empty space.  It was kind of a bummer, but also awesome because that meant that the celebs were going to stop right by me, which resulted in some awesome pictures for me.  I also made friends with one of the photographers and he said he would get me an autograph.  Sadly I didn't get that autograph but he did try, but celebrities go with the crowd, and sadly the crowd pushed away from my side.  No worries, it was such a fun experience.

Director Clint Eastwood and Star Matt Damon!

I was freezing when we left.  I didn't realize how cold I was until I tried to move and had to force it.  The next movie premiere is Valentine's Day on February 11th.  I really wanted to go, but we have class that day and wouldn't be able to get good spots, and Bailey, Alex, Joe, and I are leaving for Dublin that day.

We planned our trip tonight.  We're taking the coach to and from Dublin so we can sleep and we might even try something called Couch Surfing, where people lend us rooms or couches in their houses.  Bailey and Alex are all for it, and I'm willing to try it, but I would personally rather just stay in a Hostel and chill with other traveling students.  We will see.  Next weekend we travel to Liverpool, and the weekend after is when we will travel to Dublin.  Tours of Jameson and Guiness factories are in order I think.  I'll keep you posted.  Leave a comment on your thoughts of the couch surfing idea.

Pip Pip Cheerio!

Scavenger Hunt & Meeting Locals

Yesterday was such a great day.  Probably my favorite since I came here about a week ago.  I didn’t get much sleep the night before so when I woke up I was really tired.  We had our first class that morning followed by a travel seminar.

Our first class was the British Experience Seminar, which is held at Birkbeck College.  It’s about a half hour tube ride from where we live.  It wasn’t anything special.  We were introduced to the course and give our first two assignments.  We have to visit two markets and interview someone who lives here.  Shouldn’t be too tough.  Not that worried about it.

The travel seminar is what really got our attention.  A rep from STA came and gave us some free stuff and talked to us a little bit about travel.  Everyone was whispering to one another about where they wanted to go first.  I can’t wait.  I believe Ireland and Dublin is going to be my first stop.  Should be a blasty blast.

On our way back from our first class Bailey, Alex, Joe and myself all stopped for some lunch at a place called HaHa Bar and Grill.  Awesome name!  Anyway, I got the Cottage Pie from the authentic British food menu.  Basically a Cottage Pie is cooked beef with vegetables topped off by mashed potatoes.  It was really good.  It reminded me a lot of a meat sundae that I had at the fair this summer, just reversed.

At 1400 we all gathered in the lounge and were assigned a group for a London scavenger hunt.  We had to go around London and gather pamphlets, a toy, a menu and various pictures.  Through the scavenger hunt I learned how the bus system works.  That’s good knowledge to have in this town because the tube stops running at midnight.  The hunt was so exhilarating.  We were flying past people in the tube, going up and down escalators in the fast lane made me feel important, and being propelled off the end was good fun too.  I did stumble once and that was slightly embarrassing.  In the end my group grabbed 13 points, and Bailey’s group (who will probably win) grabbed 17.  Props to them for moving so fast.  It took us 3 hours to get everything.

Last night is where the real story begins.  We wanted to go out, but not to a quite suit pub, but to a place that was at least mildly hoppin so we could meet people.  We probably googled places for an hour or so before we settled on one over in the Oxford Circus area.  We didn’t plan very well though because none of us thought to look up specific directions so we wandered around Oxford Street and Regent Street and settled on a pub hidden in an off street.  The place was packed but it was the best decision we made all night.

At the pub we met four young English gentlemen.  They were really nice.  Conversation was easy and we talked about London and where we were from.  The main guy that I talked to, Bing they called him, said he didn’t think London was that impressive.  We argued a bit over that one.  He also said something very interesting.  He said that America was a lot more Christian than England.  He said that church isn’t something that a lot of people do here, it’s something that you stumble into if you’re bored.  I never really thought of America as that way before.  His friend, Coops, asked Bailey and I if it’s true that American women love a guy with a British accent and we affirmed his suspicions.

From there they suggested that we go to a pub on the Hipster side of town, so we hopped in two cabs and went to Dolsom.  There we introduced a new sort of dance to the British people.  Of course we fist pumped it up.  I will take credit for starting the dance floor.  I hadn’t danced in so long, it was a great release.  They also showed us the lunge.  I’m not sure if that’s actually a popular dance move or not, but they seemed to enjoy it.  At the end of the night we hopped on a bus that took us to Waterloo and then we walked the 1.5 miles back to Vandon House.  I’ve walked more here than I ever have in my life.

Last night was so great.  I hope that we can stay in touch with those guys.  It’s my first real weekend in London so I hope the fun continues.  I’ll update again soon.

Pip Pip Cheerio!

1st Solo Adventure

The last few days have been pretty incredible.  Two days ago I went on my internship dry run up to Farringdon.  I did go the wrong way on the streets a few times but I found my way nonetheless.  My internship seems to be in a pretty cool building.  Apparently that part of London is more artsy and lot of creative people live, work and play over there.

It was my first adventure on my own in the city and it was lots of fun.  I learned three things while doing it.  First, if I ever go on the tube alone again I am bringing reading material.  It can get really boring because no one talks to anyone and you can only look at a map of the tube so many times before you have memorized it completely (which I think I have got some lines memorized already).  The second thing I learned is that I don’t like where the street signs are located in London.  It’s not necessarily in the same place for each street.  I don’t know how driver get around cause it’s so hard to locate the darn street signs.  The third thing I have learned is that basically no map of London is correct.  Honestly I’ve never been more skeptical of maps in my life.  Only tube and buss maps seem to have everything in order.  Otherwise streets are missing, or alleyways connect you to a street instead of the street actually connecting.  It can be confusing at times but I still love it.

When I got back from doing my dry run (which took 40 minutes to and 30 from) I met up with my new friends Alex and Joe.  They were heading over to the Tate Modern so I tagged along with them.  The Tate Modern was really interesting.  There were some really famous people featured there whose work I had never hoped to see up close.  It was really awe-inspiring.  But there was also work there that I had to cock my head to the side and say to myself “I could do this” or “Is this really worthy of the Tate Modern?”  Hopefully my Art in London class will help me to be more appreciative of that sort of art.  There were also short film pieces featured in the TM.  Most of them involved weird nudity.  One video, for example, was two naked people, a man and a woman, playing with a large white balloon.  I didn’t quite get it.

Later that night our whole program went and saw the Lion King at the West End Theatre.  I had never seen the Lion King on stage before and I was really excited.  The set and costumes were amazing.  They are really elaborate.  The show itself was a little disappointing.  The kids weren’t the most talented and the men who played Mufasa and adult Simba sucked it up.  But Nala, Zazoo, Timone and Pumba were excellent.  Even our program director, Mark, said it wasn’t as good as it should have been.  There was no standing ovation at the end, which I thought was basically standard nowadays.

Since I have written so much for this day I will end it here.  My next post will be about our first real night out.

Pip Pip Cheerio!

1st Cooked Meal

I would say today has been very productive.  I got some good sleep, showered and was able to relax for the first half of the day.  After that Bailey and I fixed the problems with our phones (turns out beautiful 02 phone man messed it up) and then we went out to lunch at Pizza Hut.  Now this was unlike any other Pizza Hut that I had ever seen.  The waiters were dressed in all black and there were wine glasses on each table along with wine list.  All in all it just seemed more refined.  That being said, I got the buffet and ate the pizza the only way I know how... with my hands.  Apparently that is not the typical custom of Londoners who took up a fork and knife to theirs.

After Pizza Hut we hopped on the Tube at Victoria Station for our first ever unsupervised Tube ride.  We even switched lines to get to Bond Street so we could see the United States Embassy.  To get to the Embassy we walked through Grosvenor Square.  According to the sign Grosvenor square has been associated with the US since the 1930s.  In the square there was a statue of FDR, a bald eagle monument and a reflection garden in remembrance of 9/11.  Thought that was pretty cool.  Bailey and I saw the American flag and sat down on a bench in the middle of the square and sang snippets of American songs like "God Bless America" and the National Anthem.  We felt pretty awesome.  We later went up to look more closely.  Bailey wanted to see the guards with the big guns and to see if we would be allowed inside.  Going inside isn't really an option, and we met the guards with the big guns when we attempted to take a picture of the Iowa flag in front of the embassy.  He came over and asked us not to take ground level pictures for security reasons.  Needless to say, the cameras went away.  Big gun = Yes Sir!

We went back to our room and relaxed for a while before Bailey wanted to go on her dry run to her internship and afterwards we would go to the grocery store to pick up some essentials.  Turns out her internship is in the "Dodgy" end of London.  Maybe not the best idea to go at night, but there were three of us so that made it more comfortable.  It took us 50 minutes by tube to get there and then about an hour to get back because the tube was so freaking crowded.  I mean you couldn't move.  More than once I was the last one on and had to suck in so the doors would close.  Good times.  But we made it back fine and hit up the G-store for some food.  I made Pasta Carbonara and Bailey made Macaroni and tomato soup.  I told her it would be better with tomato sauce but does she listen?  Haha it's ok, we all have our own tastes.  It was a darn good mean, and judging by how much our materials cost, bother our dinners came out to about 1.50 pounds or $2.20.  Not bad eh?  We will definitely have to eat in more.

Pip Pip Cheerio!

Side-note:  The Apple iPad looks soooo amazing!  They released it today and I can't wait til I get my own someday.

Australia Day

January 26th is a very unique holiday that I had not heard of until I arrived here in London.  It's called Australia Day and basically you celebrate the awesomeness that is Australia.  To celebrate we went to a local Aussie bar called WalkAbout.  There were probably between 20-30 of us from the Central program that went.  I used the time to try and get to know some more people and get to know some others a little bit better, and we all had a really good time.

Bailey and I waiting in line for the hottest place in London on Australia Day.

Our table group.  We had test tube shots that tasted like candy.

We brought the fist pump to London.

Let me tell you, Aussies know how to party.  There was a live band that played a whole bunch of classic hits, mainly from the US but with a smattering of Aussie songs.  You should have seen the crowd go crazy when they played "Land Down Under".  The bar didn't close until 3 but I had already spent too much money there at around 1:30 (There was a 7 pound cover, which I would probably not pay anywhere else), so a few of us decided to walk back.  It's a little over a mile back to Vandon House from Walk About and I was wearing heals, so needless to say my feet hurt a little bit today.  I believe that we want to do some dry runs to internships today and get my mobile situation sorted.  Not too much going on, but enough to keep me busy.  See you all later.

The London Eye at night.

Pip Pip Cheerio!

1st Tube Ride

Yesterday was your basic introduction day.  They took everyone in the program to a room in the chapel across the street and talked to us for about 3 hours.  We heard from our program director and the head of Westminster Police on safety.  It surprises me how safe London really is.  There biggest crime is theft of handbags, which as a female isn't too awesome because I carry a handbag, but as a student it's nice to know that that's basically my biggest worry.

After lunch we went on a walking tour.  It started at Tower Hill and ended back at the Vandon House.  We took the tube from St. James to Tower Hill where the Tower of London and Tower bridge are located.  We didn't actually go inside but the castle looks pretty awesome.  We went to some notable places.  One being the London Bridge.  I was disappointed that's no longer extravagant like it was in Shakespeare's time, but it was fun to know that I was walking in a place that both Shakespeare and Charles Dickens and other great minds had once traversed.

The Tower of London Castle keep.

The Tower Bridge is not the same as London Bridge.

The United States purchased the ground under the George Washington Statue outside the National Gallery so that he wouldn't have to stand on British soil.  Lol we're snobs.

After our walking tour we had meetings about internships and house rules.  Those were not so much fun.  Vandon House has a ton of freaking rules.  Some of the more stupid rules being that I have to be dressed for the day to eat breakfast (that means no PJs and no sweatpants) and no food in the rooms.  I like to eat and I don't want to walk all the way down stairs to grab the bread I bought the night before, that to me just seems silly.

Everyone has a really great attitude and I can't wait to get to know them better.  I had my advising meeting today and found out where geographically my internship is at.  It's about 40 minutes by tube.  While Bailey is in class next week I will do a try run and find out where the building is.  We are still figuring out what to do today, but It will be great I'm sure.

Pip Pip Cheerio!

1st Walk Around Town

I'm up a little bit early today - 6:35.  Didn't mean to, just couldn't sleep for whatever reason.

Yesterday was a pretty great day.  Bailey and I went out for walk just before noon.  We decided to go to Buckingham Palace.  As it turns out we were able to see the changing of the guard, kind of.  It was the tail end of it.  The guards were wearing Gray which I believe means that the queen is out.

After Buckingham Palace we walked through St. James park, past a few museums and ended up at Westminster Abbey and Big Ben.  It was pretty freaking cool, and bigger than I thought, and by bigger I mean wider.

We then walked across the bridge and got a close up look at the London Eye.  From there we went west to Waterloo Bridge and crossed.  We walked along the north bank of the Thames River to Millennium Bridge.  That's the bridge that's featured in Harry Potter 6.  We originally planned to walk all the way to Tower Bridge but that is forever away and decided to turn around.  We walked probably 5-6 miles.  Bailey's knee was killing her and still is today.

This is Millennium Bridge.

1st Meal - Travel Day

London has been nothing short of interesting so far.  I love the brick buildings and the architecture.  It's so old school and awesome looking.  Bailey and I are roommates.  Our room is kind of small.  There is one desk, a tiny TV, one dresser and one closet that will have to be used by 3 girls.  I already feel as though luggage is taking over the room and we still need our last roommate.

Basically after touring our room and getting acclimated to the power situation we skyped our families.  Bailey was so exhausted she took a 3 hour nap.  My nap was only about 1-1 1/2 hours.  I practically had to shake Bailey so we could could go to dinner.  Two girls on Bailey's flight in our program told us of a Pub nearby that had cheap food.

A lovely sign, don't you think?  It was by the bathroom which was right behind us at the pub.

Before we went to the pub we stopped at the 02 store and got new phones.  The man who helped up behind the counter was beautiful and had a perfect accent.  I think I'm in love.  We got the cheapest phone and the cheapest plan but its supposed to be unlimited texts and data for 15 pounds.  My new phone is barely visible on the right side of the picture below.  After that we got dinner at a local pub, and that's where the highlight of my day comes.

After we were seated and looked at the menu 3 out of the 4 of us went up to order.  There was a lady there.  She had just payed and turned around to me and Bailey and just started talking.  She said she was a Danish Princess working against the struggle of female prostitution or human trafficking or something along those lines.  I was smiling at her, thinking "O good for you!  I'm glad someone is doing work against that."  Then suddenly her attitude changed and she became really pissy.  She said she was sick of  people like me going and pissing all over her work.  I think that means that she thought I was a prostitute.  I don't know why though.  I was dressed in jeans and a pea coat.  Basically no skin was showing.  Maybe it's because I am blonde, or because she didn't recognize me, but either way that woman was crazy.  She shoved Bailey to get out and slammed the door behind her.  People who were closest to the incident spared a glance in our direction.  Good start right?  Haha!  Anyway, I ordered the ham and mature cheddar sandwich with chips.  I know that it doesn't sound or look like much, but it was cheap and pretty tasty.  Well, this has my travel day in a nutshell.  More to come later I am sure.  More pictures will be posted as well.

Pip Pip Cheerio!

1st Flight - Travel Day

My journey has just begun.  I’ve traveled a total of 100 feet from the baggage check-in, through security and to my gate.  I arrived about 2 hours ahead of time and I’m already going a little bit crazy.  There are so many emotions going through me right now.  I’ve got some nerves and so anxiousness to get over to London, but my eyes are also slightly filled with tears.  Not enough to spill over, and probably not enough for the casual passerby to notice, but enough for me to feel them there.  I feel them when I think of my family.  As I left my mom just before security her eyes were red and I could tell tat she was trying as hard as she could not to cry in front of me.  But the allusion of tears is enough to make me feel for her and fight back my own.

I’m not sad that I am going, but I am sad for what I am leaving behind.  Sure it’s only four months, but that’s four months of not seeing my family face to face.  Four months of not seeing my best friends.  Four months of not playing cat and mouse (you know who you are).  But I know that this experience is well worth it.  I love you all and will keep in contact as much as possible.  Skype dates anyone?

This morning when I woke up I was slightly nauseated.  I’m not entirely sure why.  I mean the obvious answer would be that I am going to a completely different country by myself.  But I’m sure of myself.  I think I can make it anywhere and hold my own just fine.  I’m not worried about me.  Although everyone constantly telling me to “be safe” is slightly daunting.  I mean, how much trouble can I, Rachel, get into?  I’ve heard horror stories, and I know there are dangers out there.  I don’t think that they can’t happen to me, but I don’t dwell on the possibility that they will happen either.  Like I said, I am resourceful.  I don’t wish that the worst will come, but if it does, I’ll deal, and I’ll be ready.  Black belt say what?  Lol.

Anyway, now that I here by myself for a little while, my nerves are calming.  I have this huge urge to nap.  I don’t want to subject myself to reading just yet.  I now wish I would have packed my Sudoku book.  I’ll probably bust out the ipod soon.  Texting Bailey helps.  (sidenote: I switched my American phone to my brothers old phone, so I now have only family numbers and Bailey’s number, so don’t offended if I don’t text you right now.  I want to)

Great, I just looked up and my flight has been delayed 40 minutes.  Awesome.  Good thing I switched my flights.  Now I will only have 2 hrs and 20 minutes between flights, which should be enough, but just a little bit less downtime.

The Internet here at the airport is pay Internet so I wrote this and was forced to post it later.

New Haircut - 3 days & 3 hrs

Today's big accomplishment was getting my haircut.  It's pretty different from what I had.  I have bangs once again.  I probably won't be getting my haircut while I'm over there so I decided that my new look has to be something that will grow gracefully.  My brother saw me and didn't mention a thing.  I had to be all cliche and say "notice anything different about me?"  At which he responded, "Well you got a haircut."  Men, take notice.  When a girl does something like get a big haircut, MENTION it.  you don't even have to tell us you like it until we lead you into that.  Just say something like "Hey, you got a haircut."  I don't know why it's a big deal, but it is.  Just say that you've noticed, that's all we want.

Here is your classic image.  Not feeling very photogenic today.

And here is your classic myspace pic.  I couldn't help myself I had to take one, toilet and all.

I am so white in these pictures.  I can't wait to get some color in my skin.  Anyway, I work tonight. 3:15 - 11 ish.  I'll be driving 2 hrs to film a high school basketball game and the weather is supposed to get a little icky.  But my friend and fellow London traveler, Bailey, will be going with me so it's not so bad.

Pip Pip Cheerio!

Nature Adventure - 3 days & 17 hrs

I made this video while visiting family in Arkansas.  I just thought I would post it here for fun.  It's called "Nature Adventure."




Let me know what you thought in the comments.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day - 3 days 19 hrs

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day everybody!  It may be an American holiday, but everyone should honor this great man.

Today was not so unproductive.  I got a new wallet and belt at Target along with some 2-in-1 shampoo conditioner.  I don't usually do the 2-in-1, but I don't want to deal with multiple bottles in traveling.  Plus it's heavier.  On the way home I picked up the contacts that weren't supposed to be in until Friday, so that took some stress away.  Along with that, I got a new 500 GB western digital portable hard drive.  It's another of my new loves.  Works like a charm.

The big chore for today was cleaning out my car.  That wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be, but it was rather entertaining.  In my car I had posters for my friend who ran for Miss Iowa, 2 toga costumes, a sailors hat, a Freddy Krueger fedora, a pair of shoes, a pair of rain boots, one rubber shoe (I should probably find the other), one wooden wand, a blue tie, a faux suede coat, two big car magnets, a dorm trash, two pillows, and a poncho but I will stop there cause the list goes on and on.  I collect random stuff in my trunk it's just weird.  Or maybe it's called being a college student.

Last night at about 1 am I applied for a checking account at Bank of America online.  That saved a trip.  Thank you technology.  Only problem now is that my card may take up to 10 days to come, and as you can tell by my title I have less than 4 days until I leave.  Looks like my mom will be sending me a care package earlier than originally planned.  Tomorrow is dedicated to calling all my cards and visiting my bank.  Then I work from 4 until about midnight.  Should be fun.

Drake classes begin tomorrow.  Everyone is back in town.  Can't wait to see them all soon!!!

Pip Pip Cheerio!

Little Things - 4 days 17 hrs

My time in the good ole USA is coming to a close.  Just under 5 days left.  It's going to be a very busy time.  I've procrastinated some stuff long enough.

1) MONEY:  I have to open up a bank account with Bank of America.  They have a European partner so I won't have pay out the nose to use ATMs over there.  I have to contact my credit card companies and let them no I am going abroad so they don't cancel my cards if I try to use them.  I also have to withdrawal a decent amount of cash and convert it to pounds so that I have enough cash to get by for a few days, just in case my credit cards do get temporarily canceled or other such calamities.

2) STUFF:  My computer is running out of hard drive so I need to go buy a decent portable hard drive to save music, movies, and I guess school work.  My mom bought a lock and a multi-country power converter for me yesterday, so I can cross those off my list.  I still need a book to read as well.

3) FRIENDS:  Drake starts classes on Tuesday, so that means all my college friends are trickling back into town.  I hung out with one friend, Matteo, on Saturday night, and I saw my old roommate Brynne today.  I've still got to see my sisters, and my fav boys before I go.  There is also one friend that I met this summer on a movie set that I need to see.  I keep missing his phone calls.

4) CLEAN:  I cleaned and packed most of my room.  I haven't touched my car yet though.  That will be a fun experience.

I think that sums is up.

I'm seeing pictures that people who are already abroad are putting up.  Getting a little bit antsy.  Last night I had the hardest time falling asleep.  I hope that's not a trend for the rest of the week because I like my sleep.  I need my sleep.  I'll keep you all updated on how everything goes.  Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!

Pip Pip Cheerio!

Leap Year - 7 days and 18 hours

There is a reason that I have decided to study abroad in the UK.  Long ago a seed was planted deep within me.  It could have been Disney implanting the idea princes, castles and knights.  But as I have grown, so has my Love for the Kingdom.  The landscape, the history, the great minds that have been produced.  Ask my closest friends and they will tell you that I am stuck in the past.  Some say I belong in the 80s and others believe I belong way back in the 19th century.

One of my best friends pinpointed who I am once while describing my perfect (in theory) amusement park ride: "The concept of your favorite ride seems simple... Start going up Harry Potter mountain, take a quick pirates of the Caribbean loop into a spice girl museum while simultaneously reaching the end at a a boring 19th century book sale...." - Ike

Let's go through each of these things.  First, Harry Potter: British and magical.  Second, Pirates of the Caribbean: British and adventure.  Third, the Spice Girls: British and Girl Power.  Fourth, a 19th century book sale, the best writers were British.  Case and point Jane Austen.  All these things have something and common, and what they don't describes different aspects of my interests.

Tonight, I went to see the new movie Leap Year with bestie Jenny.  If you don't know, Leap Year is about a girl who decides to follow an old Irish tradition that a woman can propose to a man she is dating on February 29th of a leap year.  Her boyfriend is in Dublin and but her unfortunate travels to him bring her closer to her "guide".  Anyway, in the movie there is romance, spontaneity, hilarity, and heart break.  Not to mention a great scenic tour of the Irish country side.

While watching the movie I could feel my heart swell.  Not necessarily for the love story involved (but I am sure it was a factor) but for the love I feel for this magical place.  I told Jenny that I think my heart is going to burst when I get over there.  There are so many amazing, incredible experiences and people awaiting me.  I hope I can contain myself.

Basically, one of my lifelong dreams and goals is about to be accomplished.  I have all these emotions coming to me, nerves and excitement being the main ones.  I hope to make the most of it.  From here on out, I guarantee that my heart will continue to swell when I think of the Journey I am about to embark on.

Pip Pip Cheerio!

Preliminary Packing - 8 days

This last week has been a little nuts.  In the past few days I have been packing up my room in boxes, making a website, working and packing.  Yesterday I completed my preliminary pack job.  I say preliminary because my school recommends that you pack once, weigh it and all that jazz, then cut your items in half and pack again.  I find that odd because I will be living in a completely different country for 4 months and I must pack for both winter and spring in under 50lbs and they still want me to cut what I have in half.  They say it's because London is a shopping capital and I will have a whole bunch of goodies that I will want to bring home.  This is true, but since London has a 17.5% sales tax (CRAZY!) I think I will keep clothes shopping to a minimum.

In my preliminary pack job I managed to get everything that I think I need or will want in my new suitcase.    The weight, according to my bathroom scale, is 44.5lbs.  I was hoping it would only be 35-40 because I did want to leave room.  My carry-on is still rather empty tho, and that's a good sign.  I'm currently in the market for a good book to read while I travel.  If anyone has any suggestions, I am very open.  I was thinking maybe The Host by Stephanie Meyer or Dan Brown's Digital Fortress.  I love both of those authors.

Just a few minutes ago I changed one of my outgoing flights.  It was scheduled for 6:50 departure, leaving me 54 minutes at O'hare to get to the international terminal and go through security.  My mom wasn't very enthused by this so she had me change it.  I now leave at 4:56 and will have 3 hours at O'Hare.  JOY!  I guess it's good not to be rushed though.  I will appreciate being able to take my time.

The next few days still hold a lot for me.  I plan on continuing to clean and organize my room, and I must get a hair cut before I leave.  I also need to convert a few more DVDs, but that shouldn't take too long.

It's weird that I leave so late.  Drake will have started before I leave, and everyone I know that is studying abroad through different programs is already over there.  For me, it's a waiting game.  Good thing I love games.  That's all for now.  I'll check in again soon.

Pip Pip Cheerio!

I Begin to Pack - 14 days

Well by the time I post this it will be 13 and a half days, but who is really keeping track anyway?  O that's right, I am.  I can't believe it.  Two weeks.  TWO WEEKS!  I do not have a lot left to do, but it feels like a whole lot.  I want to really finish everything that I need to finish by the end of next week.  That way I can hang out and have fun as everyone comes back to school during my final week in the USA this semester.  So basically in the next week I need to finish and publish a website, get in shape, clean my room and pack 90% of the stuff I will take with me.

You probably don't think that cleaning my room is that big of a deal.  How long can that really take?  I mean, it's just a room right?  Wrong.  Not my room.  It's an explosion of clothes, gadgets, and random whoseits and whatsits.  Do you remember the little cave that Ariel kept all her human stuff in?  That's my room, but less organized.  When I am done, it will look like that cave.

Here's how I have decided to approach this task:
I will pack and clean together.  I will use this opportunity to purge my wardrobe of the random things that no longer fit or the stuff that went-out-of-style-5-years-ago-but-I-kept-them-around-because-they-kind-of-fit-and-you-never-know-when-you-might-need-that sort of clothes.  If you haven't guessed it yet, I am a complete pack rat.  I have a really hard time throwing things away.  To me, everything has a memory or emotion attached to it.  That is why it is so hard to throw out.  I don't want to loose those memories.  But sometimes you just have to let go.  Plus, when I move into my new house/apartment when I get back, I don't want to lug all that crap around with me.  My mom says that she will store stuff for me, but not in the fashion of keeping my room around.  That means that part of cleaning my room actually means packing it up in green plastic containers.

Today I successfully packed a pair of running shoes, black high heels, a black leather jacket, pjs, and workout bottoms.  I still have to find out what kind of outfit I need for my internship so I can pack that.  I also successfully purged 10 pairs of jeans, 1 pair of khakis, 3 dress shirts and a $2.50 basketball clock that I never opened.  This is going to be a long process.  I'll keep you updated.

Pip Pip Cheerio!

Winning Moments in 2010 - 16 Days

  So far this year has been awesome.  The teams I'm rooting for are all winning.  The Chiefs gathered their 4th win of the season against their rivals the Denver Broncos and staggering odds, and the Iowa Hawkeyes kicked butt in the FedEx Orange Bowl.  Then, last night, while I was filming high school basketball games, a very famous coach popped in to watch his star recruit play.  That's right, Roy Williams was there. People were pretty respectful during the game, but before, after, and during halftime, they all came crawling, asking for pictures.  I was one of those people thanks to my friend Shay who talked me into it.  Need proof?

  Luckily my new phone has a 5mp camera for emergencies like this.    It was a pretty good night.  In case you don't know who Roy Williams is, he is the head coach for the University of North Carolina Tar Heels.  Basically, he is a legend.  Today I have been working on my brother's senior video for his graduation party.  It's basically done.  Next week my project is to make a website, and the week after is all cleaning my room and packing.  Should be an adventure.

National Hangover Day - 21 Days

Happy New Year and National Hangover Day!

That's right, today is the first ever National Hangover Day in the US.  Don't believe me?  Google it.  But the new year means a lot for me.  This is the year I go to London.  This morning I started reading about Britain with my cup of coffee.  I'm hoping my research will help me avoid culture shock.  I've got tons of books that people have given me about Britain, England and the UK.  They are all different by the way.  England is a part of Britain which is a part of the UK.  Along with making my bros senior video and designing a website my other side project will be reading those books.  Anyway, Happy New Year!

Pip Pip Cheerio!