AMSTERDAM!

Hey Team!

Just got home from another action packed weekend in Europe. This weekend we traveled to the beautiful Netherlands, Dutch Country, Amsterdam. I'm just gonna be honest from the get go...Ma I did not take a beret pic in Amsterdam. I completely forgot to take it out with me during the day and it just never happened. :( Anyways, night one consisted of a huge rage club that some Amsterdamians that we met on the street took us to. Definitely a good time had by all.

Day 1: wake up for around 9:30 to catch free breakfast at our hostel. Which by the way was a super grime fest/I hope I didn't catch any diseases over the weekend. If you were wondering, free breakfast really just means a piece of bread, a piece of cheese, and a hard boiled egg. haha. So basically we then went out for a second breakfast and I had a delicious chocolate pancake Dutch authentic style and it was fabulous! After breakfast we met Morgo and her friends at the Anne Frank house. Anne hit us with some knowledge and some history, so it was overall a good experience. Afterwards we hit up a coffeeshop and were pretty much done-zo for the day. We went back to our hostel and took the world's largest nap. It was essentially through the grace of god that we awoke and put our raging pants on for night. We went to some real grimey club (because it was only 5 Euro to get in, and it is important to always be as economical as possible in the current financial climate) Anyways it started off pretty packed but within the first hour of being there it baaaasically cleared out, and the boys we were with were not impressed with the boy to girl ratio so they left...Erin and I, however, were getting free drinks all night from our new best friend, Rob the bartender, so we decided...once again, to be economically efficient and stay there. All in all, solid first 2 nights.

Saturday: Another tough wake up, we managed to leave the hostel by 12:30 cleansed and ready to replenish the body...oh the hardships of being a tourist. We met up with Morgo, had some more fabulous Amsterdam pancakes, and took a canal tour to the Van Gogh museum where I saw the original Starry Night (pretty cool stuff). After Van Gogh we did the Heineken Experience, which was actually a) worth the 15 Euro and b) very interesting! We learned all about the company, how they brew the beer, made a music video, had a virtual reality expereince, and about 3 free beers in the process...definitely would reccomend it next time you are in Amsterdam.

I should interject here my overall opinion and thoughts of the city. Positives: canals everywhere, everyone bikes everywhere, lots of modern art galleries, modern architecture, everyone speaks English, chocolate chip pancakes, and the coolest airport I have ever been in. Negatives: graffiti, Eurotrashy people, too small of a city to consider home, annnd everyone is probably blazed out of their minds 24/7 which would get annoying.

Night 3 was kind of a bust, because my economical efficiency had run out, plus we had to get up at 6:30 to catch our plane home. I flew home with Erin and all morning she had been saying that she didn't feel good, her tummy hurt etc (Aunt Flow was in town if you catch my drift). So, we just had some fruit for breakfast since she couldn't really handle anything else. We slept on our half hour flight then we got on an hour and a half bus ride once we got into London. We had about 15 minutes of the journey left and Erin looks at me. She does not look good. I ask: Are you ok, are you going to puke? She starts doing the hand over the mouth gagging move. Oh no...its coming. I open my bag and pull out a plastic envelope thing that I put my research paper notes in, take the notes out and hand it to her...ohhhhhh but its too late because she just puked everywhere. And by everywhere I mean on me, on her, on the floor. She had like a resevoir of puke in her lap. She looks at me afterwards like she is going to cry but I just start laughing (because what else are you going to do when your friend pukes on you while riding home after a weekend in Amsterdam on an EasyBus?) Then she starts laughing...then we are the two American girls covered in puke laughing on the easy bus. We had to take off our scarves to clean up the puke. Soooo you would think that would be the end, that we could just get off the bus and be home. Oh no...we had to put our bags and pukey bodies on the tube for four stops then we had a 6 minute walk home from there. We basically just laughed the whole way home in a pukey delirium.

So to finish off the blog I would say that 1) I am thankful that we ate fruit for breakfast (if it would have been something crazy like an English breakfast I do not think I would've laughed so hard) and 2) Being a girl really sucks.

Morgan's coming on Tuesday for St. Pattys and staying til Sunday so we should have some good stories for next Sunday's blog.

Love Love!

Paris!

Bonjour my loyal readers!

Let us recap our weekend in Paris.

Day 1: Early morning start on Friday traveling to the Eurostar to take the Chunnel from London to Paris. To get on the train you have to go through airport-like security. After Erin and I got through security we were immediately stopped by some train station employee flashing her badge at us, “Excuse me, we are required to survey every 10th person that walks through security, and you are number 10!” Great. Security lady: “Since your arrival upon the UK how much money do you think you have spent (housing accommodations not included)” Erin: “Umm maybe around $3,000.” Security Lady: “Wow, $3,000 since January 13th!? Are you sure? That is quite a lot.” Erin: “Yeah…” Security Lady: “So, since the 13th of January you have spent three thousand dollars?” Erin: “Yes! I have a shopping/drinking issue!”

Fast forward to arriving in Paris. Since this was a trip sponsored through Arcadia we got on a 2 hour bus tour throughout the city which was actually pretty neat. After the bus tour we saw the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs-Elysées where the unknown soldier is buried. We (group of 5 IU kids) randomly ran into Joanna and Cait on the streets which was hilarious. Following the reunion, all 13 of us took a 5 Euro boat cruise for an hour up and down the Seine River. When we finally docked the Eiffel Tower was doing its every hour on the hour sparkle show which was beautiful.

That night I got hit on by a French man from 30 feet away while waiting for a Metro. Apparently it is completely normal for French dudes to blow kisses, wink, and stare at you for extended periods of time. The night consisted of the typical drink drank drunk + dancing experience. Scott: close your eyes and jump to the next paragraph. Then it was 4 am and we were ready to go home. We attempted to hail down a cab for about 15 minutes (which in drunk time was about 2 hours) After we all decided we were never going to get home some young-ish man tells us he can take us home for 10 Euro each in his car. Yes, his car, not his taxi. We think, wow, what a good deal let’s go. We (Myself, Erin, Sharday, Joe, and Evan) get into this man’s tic tac piece car and begin our journey home. Midway through we realize, hey we are getting pulled over right now. He tells us he is just going to go talk to his “friend”…right buddy. The guy has to step out of the car, do the drunk test, do the open the trunk to make sure you aren’t trafficking drugs test, and after about a 25 minute delay we were off again. We finally got home around 5 am (safe and sound!).

Day 2: I of course set my phone alarm for 9:30 am so as not to miss breakfast. (Got to be as economically efficient as possible ya know!?) Apparently, continental breakfast attire is not the same in Europe as it is in America. I walk down wearing Uggs, Adidas shorts, and a Notre Dame T-shirt. Everyone is dressed, showered, and staring. Oops! Anyways, day two we went to the catacombs, which was creepy yet intriguing. We saw Saint Chapelle and the stain glass windows literally took my breath away. And the last sight seeing destination of the day was Notre Dame which almost made me want to be Catholic. After all that sight seeing we needed to get a crepe: Nutella and Strawberries=to die for. If you haven’t experienced Nutella you need to jump on that tasty train because it is unreal!


Day 3: A little exhausted…being a tourist can really take it out of you. It was raining in the morning which did not make a very impressive beret in front of the Eiffel Tower shot, but you can’t win all the time ya know? After that we went to the Pompidou, which is a very famous modern art museum. We were there for about a half hour before everyone that I was with started the modern art complaints: I don’t get it, this sucks, I think I made this in 3rd grade etc etc. So they all left and I stayed. I bought the headphone sets you can wear around the museum and type in the number corresponding to the art work and you hear an explanation of the work…it was probably the best 4 Euro I spent (besides the crepe). We all met up at 6:30 pm in the lobby to go home. Got back around 11 pm, did some homework, and now its time for bed.

I’m Exhausted!!! Aurvoir mon ami!

Madrid!

Hola mis amigos!

So Madrid was absolutely amazing. Erin and I arrived at the Madrid airport around 10:30/11:00 pm and realized...Hey, we did not establish a solid plan to find Joanna or Caitlin and airports are kind of large. So basically we ran around the airport for 45 minutes trying to find each other but when we did it was your classic: yell each others name across the airport and run into each others arms reunion style. We got back to Joanna's apartment where a beautiful pasta dinner and birthday cake awaited us. We ate, drank, and I got some Bday presents from Cait and Jo which were PERFECT! Jo got me this amazing bracelet from a boutique in Spain and Cait wrote my name on the Lennon wall (very famous in Prague), took a picture of it, blew it up, and framed it for me.

By 3am we were ready to rage, we went to a club called Orange which Erin and I got in for free by offering the bouncer a piece of my gum. He then supplied us with two free drinks passes...man I love starting my nights off right! We didn't pay for drinks all night because we were with two of Joanna's friends...who are blonde...which in Spain means you are the hottest thing around! At one point Spice Girls-Wannabe came on so we clearly had to yell the entire song lyrics in one large group. We got home around 6:30/7 am...people in Madrid know how to party.

We woke up to blue skies, sunshine, and 65 degree weather! Erin, Caitlin, and I spent most of the day commenting on how much we miss the sun and how fabulous the weather felt. That day we went to a beautiful park and explored around Madrid. It was a perfect day. That night we put our raging shoes on and went to this super posh club called Joy. We were "on the list" so we got in for free (normally its a 20 euro cover charge) and danced our brains out. An hour into our clubbing sesh, i look on stage (where the VIP section is) and there is Cait and Jo! Cait and Jo started talking to this old dude who turned out to be an owner of another huge club in Madrid so he got us all into VIP (7 girls in total). Check out the facebook pictures to get the true effect of the club. Although I never got into that large wine glass I would constitute night two as a success.

Day three we walked around and did some shopping because in Spain every store has government regulated sales twice a year during February and August. aka Jill Marsh's optimal months of travel. Riley, I got you a Barcelona jersey...I didn't get you a Real Madrid because they were 100 Euro and thats a little serious for a jersey in my opinion...the Barcelona jersey is tight though! After shop shop time we went to Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia (a spectacular modern art museum) and I saw one of Picasso's most famous art works: Guernica. We walked in the room and it was so massive and powerful I felt like I couldn't breathe. We probably spent 1 week discussing this painting alone in one of my classes at IU and the fact that I saw it in real life was definitely one of my highlights as of yet.

Night 3 contained a slightly more controlled version of raging seeing as we left the club at 3:45, went back to Joanna's apartment to change, and then jumped in a taxi to the airport. Our plane left at 7:30 am and the airport was a good 45 minutes away so sleeping clearly wasn't on the agenda. Erin, being perhaps a little too shwastey for a 5:30 am security check lost her wallet at the airport. Thank god her wallet didn't have her passport in it, otherwise we would have been in quite the pickle. So to wrap up the weekend we got back to our apartment around 10 am. I showered, went to a really cool street market, and played soccer with some of the guys from my flat. And now I am laying in bed, ready to catch up on some much needed sleep!

I Love you all very much! Hasta Luego!

Scotland!

Evening bonnie lads and lassies (translation: Evening beautiful boys and girls)

Scotland Beret shot right there for ya Jill!

This weekend was certainly one for the books! It all started with a 5:30 am wake up call, a 40 minute tube ride, followed by a 4 1/2 hour train ride and we were there! We first went to our hostel which was so cool. There were 50 rooms and they all had themes, our room was the Scottish Isles, and there were 14 of us. Friday we walked around the city with our tour guide Mike (who was a true Scotsman who never removed his kilt). Obviously it was raining that annoying European rain and I didn't have an umbrella, but we toured all around Edinburgh and learned some interesting facts. For example: Back in the day when they used to throw their shit out on the streets they always had to yell, "Hey watch out I'm throwing poop on the streets." But when French policeman were patrolling the streets they had to yell, "Garde de LOW" but since Scottish people are silly they couldn't pronounce the LOW and instead said LOO in their accents...aka why the bathroom here is called the Loo.

Anyways, that night we did a pub crawl to 5 of the classiest (joke) pubs in Edinburgh starting at 8 pm home by midnight haha. I was coerced into taking a shot of Absinthe at the last pub...but I have no fabulous stories to tell of from that experience, except for a nauseating morning bus ride. Saturday we got up at the ass crack of dawn, threw some breakfast down our pie holes and jumped on the huge bus with our 65 year old driver Sandy, and Mike...yelling Scottish tidbits at us over the bus microphone. And when he wasn't informing us of the wonders of Scotland, we were listening to Scottish music...loudly. It was hilarious. Scotland is exactly how you picture it: huge mountains, lakes everywhere, open beautiful green fields, sheep grazing, grayish skies...BUT we actually saw 2 full rainbows with the mountains in the background it was gorgeous! We stopped in a tiny city named Dunkeld, then I hung out with the Loch Ness monster for a while. Which by the way, maybe I am the only unintelligent person, but Loch actually just means Lake. Silly hu? Later in the afternoon we toured a whiskey distillery and I learned way more than I ever need to know about whiskey. This picture (which looks fake) is at the scene of the Glencoe Massacre...aren't we so cute?

After the Massacre we headed to our final destination for the night: Oban which Mike describes in our itinerary as "a beautiful harbour town with spectacular views of the Isle of Mull." Ya, okay, whatever buddy. That night we took it easy, went out to dinner, where at one point a fat man stood up and started banging four spoons against his bald head and stomach while singing Old McDonald had a Farm. The funny thing about that is that we were at a nice pizza place, not a nasty pub. It was definitely interesting. Following dinner we went to a pub and listened to some live Scottish band music, very enjoyable.

A typical conversation with British people after they hear your voice: Them-Where are you from? Me-America. Them-Well I know that, what part? Me-Indiana. Them-??? Me-It's in the middle you have no idea where it is. So basically I just need to start telling people I'm from either California, Florida, or New York...it'll make conversation a lot easier.

Sunday was chalk full or more touristy sight seeings: a 120 yr old church built by one dude, more and more castles (I mean once you've seen one you've seen em all...I tried to explain that to Mike but he did not appreciate that) We also saw some Braveheart action-William Wallace's spot, which was pretty cool. After Braveheart we were ready for a nice relaxing train ride home...kinda. Because once we got on the train we found out our seats had been double booked and that we actually didn't have any seats! So for the first 2 hours of the journey home we kept getting kicked out of our seats. Finally, myself, and about 5 of my colleagues got smahht. (Smart in a Boston accent) We essentially snuck into first class and said "See you later you Coach riding commoners." The last 2 1/2 hours of that train ride were fabulous. We all sat around and told hilarious stories...I almost peed my pants.

All in all it was a great weekend. This weekend Erin and I are headed to Madrid to reunite with besties Jo and Cait. We have begun researching hot touristy spots in Madrid aka oldest restaurant in the world! Our original crack pot plan, which only lasted about 12 hours (Scott and Jill you should be proud to know I was the one who smashed the dream), was to go to take an 8 hour bus ride to Cadiz Friday for the last night of Carnival (one of the biggest parties in Europe) rage all night, not getting a hotel/hostel (to save money of course) and then get back on the bus for another 8 hour journey back to Madrid Saturday morning. Right. So basically we are staying in Madrid all weekend and Jo is gonna take us around! Woo woo...well I have been writing this forever and neglecting my studies for twice as long. Love you all so much...hope snow in the SB is great because I'm going to Spain bitches! hehe

It's My Birttthhhhday!

Happy Birthday to me! Yay! The day has finally come where I can legally make bad decisions on a weekly basis. It feels amazing. Tonight we are going out to eat and then to Punk club for dancing and drinking. Great quote from me last night:
Erin-So Punk club is 21 and over club, I hope that I get in (because its really not that strict here they just want to weed out the little babies)
Me-Oh man, I look like I'm 12, not 21! I'm never gonna get in....(long pause) Wait! I'm gonna BE 21!! haha

So let's back up to Thursday. Long day at work, tired, its raining (obviously), I get home and there is a package waiting for me on my bed, which can only represent two of the greatest things in my life: grey uggs and chex mix! Jill, this batch is so on point you don't even understand. Perfect proportions of all ingredients and I definitely showed all my friends the "Party like its your birfday" line, very much enjoyed, and I've already basically finished off bag one, naturally. Also we should talk about the silly polka dotted nightie you got me, which I totally put on after my shower to appease Erin. (She's a big fan of the "after shower dress" concept) And lastly lets talk about the new blankee (Blankee Jr.) I actually took Blankee Jr. into my room last night and formally introduced the two Blankees. Erin: "That really just happened. That reeaaallly just happened." haha well of course it did, Jill understands that you just cant throw a new blankee into the mix without proper introduction. So the point of the story is that Ioved my package and I love Scott and Jill more. Everytime I look at my desktop pic I miss you ragers like crazy.

Did you realize that when I get back we can go grab a drink together? How faaabulous! And I will be very much accustomed to day drinking at that point because thats standard here so you better jack up those tolerances and make sure your drinking pants are ironed and ready to party. Anyways Erin got me a contemporary art book for my B-Day which is a perfect way to gain some knowledge and enjoyment simultaneously. And I also received a card from Ally (my other roommate) and obviously one from Erin that has a cartoon person wasted in a shopping cart with "thats you in your birthday taxi" written underneath it. Fabulous.

One last thought to share with you all: I don't get hungover here. Which is a) dangerous and b) promoting unhealthy habits (aka drinking all the time). Every morning after drinking I am hungover for about 20 minutes, I eat a bagel, and its gone! The beer here is magical I swear. I am really gonna miss that about London. I would also like to add my friend Chad just gave me a birthday card with a cat on it with its paw up in the air and this underneath "Never be too proud to admit you know all the dance moves to the YMCA" Classic. Card signed "Can't wait to carry your ass home again tonight, Chad." hahaha, love my life. But love all of you more! Hopefully this blog posting has satisfied Jessica Lynn Froshaug Larbes's traveling beret cravings!

Wait, is it Christmas again!?

hahahahahahha! Does everyone recognize, appreciate, and believe it's THE shirt?! It traveled to London to haunt me! When I saw my friend Sharday wearing it I freaked out (I obviously didn't tell her that she is wearing one of the most hideous shirts, no offense Jess, that Jill Marsh has every purchased for me!) I told her I was taking a picture of all my friends to show my parents. hahahaha. Wow, I don't have anything else to say about that.

Yesterday at work big boss Cora was gone so Giada and I essentially played on facebook alllll day...it was exhausting. Oh and another mindblowing fact for you guys: I ordered my groceries online! It was a truly amazing experience, on Monday from 8-10pm my groceries will either be delievered on my front door or in my kitchen for a small 4 pound fee! Which by the way is actually cheaper than me going to the grocery store, carrying two large back packs and getting a cab home! Wow...how my life has improved since the shambles update.

Last night we hit up the karaoke scene which was naturally a horrible but at the same time a reward winning experience. I mean look how happy this guy is! Anyways today we are going to a pub to experience some die hard Chelsea fans (jealous Riley?) I will get you a jersey I promise! Would you rather roll with the Real Madrid or Chelsea (your response: both!) haha. Annnyways I'm gonna clean up the room before we go, love you all very much!

Baby It's Cold Outside

And by outside, I mean inside...which in the case of my working environment is one in the same. Outfit for work tomorrow: leggings, jeans, two pairs of socks, a long sleeve shirt with a sweater over it, scarf, gloves, and my coat (which I will not remove from my body for the entire day.) So basically on Tuesday when I went to work I almost died...of hypothermia. My hands started to turn purple and my feet went numb. It is a rough knock life working in the art world, lemme tell you. So basically I cannnnnot wait until March. Working conditions is about my biggest update as of right now. I have no idea what the weekend has in store for me, but I am hoppping for either a comedy club or karaoke! Woo Woo! Love you all very much!

Snowday!

Bill Engval (skit about a weatherman in Texas): "Ladies and gentleman...an inch of snow is headed to your area. An inch of snow, enough snow to make, a footprint! Is headed to your area. If you are an elderly American, you will not make it through this storm. We urge you to steal food, horde gas...You guys (talking about a region in the Midwest somewhere) an inch of snow you're like, hold on I can still find my golfball"

London would be equivalent to the Texans attitude of snow. They have no idea how to handle it here. The United Kingdom economy lost 1.2 billion pounds due to the weather; 20% of the workforce didn't show up. Last night we got 6 inches of snow and the city was an absolute shit show, the busses were shut down, most of the tube lines were closed, and school was cancelled! So naturally we built a snowman. Isn't he precious!?

Tomorrow I actually have to write a paper (due Wednesday) about our homestay weekend, which everyone in our program has been putting off until the absolute last minute. Another activity I'm not looking forward to is freezing my ass off at work for 8 hours. I'm kind of getting the hang of it now: leggings under my jeans, two pairs of socks, and a heavy sweater kind of deal. Oh well, I suppose I have to do something productive with my life while I am here. Time for bed!

Love Love!

Shambles

My life is in shambles. I have drunk myself retarded these past two nights, I think the picture pretty much sums it up. I have no money and temporarily I have no phone or coat. Erin and I woke up at 8, wasted, made a pizza and pasta then went back to sleep. I need to get my life in order. Erin is currently still sleeping I just did the dishes, some laundry, and cleaned our flat. For some odd reason there was rice EVERYWHERE and an orange on my pillow. Now I'm waiting for people to wake up and entertain me...or perhaps for Scott and Jill to read my blog and email and send their poor daughter some money. The exchange rate is raping me. Today I am turning over a new leaf...the leaf of productivity and sensibility. I think we are going to go see the Tower of London today and not lounge around like a bunch of hungover idiots. Okay I'm gonna go wake everyone up now, wish me luck! Love you!

Update: Just got my coat back! woo hoo.

Ice Ice Baby

Good Morning ladies and gentleman. It is official, I am an intern. I have worked three days and been to the post office twice and the bank once. Yesterday my big task was to run around London by bus, by tube, and by foot, to retrieve a Blackberry Curve skin for Gill's wife, Emanuela. The task had to be completed in an hour. I was actually running around to get that stupid cover. Which, I never got because I ran out of stores and time. I went into 5 different cell phone stores and they either didn't carry it or they were sold out of that model. Great. I would also like to add that I was wearing heels throughout this endeavour, which makes it all the more entertaining.

Moving on. Tonight my University is sponsoring a Casino Royale night which myself and a few of my esteemed collegues will be attending dressed as beautiful 'Bond girls' haha The event will take place on some sort of watercraft on the Thames river. Another term of endearment for activities such as this would be a 'booze cruise'; but you usually don't have esteemed collegues dressed as beautiful Bond girls on booze cruises, so it really just depends on your mood I suppose.

As if I'm not cold enough every day at work, it would only make sense that we plan to go to the Absolut Ice Bar on Saturday. Where everything is made out of ice. Blurb from the website: "Made of crystal clear ice, ABSOLUT ICEBAR is literally the UK's coolest bar. Enjoy 40 minutes in the exhilarating -5 degrees environment. Entry tickets include a cape, gloves and a personal ice glass plus your first ABSOLUT vodka cocktail"
Sounds fascinating hu? I'm sure the pictures will be amazing.

Today I have to go to my stupid school to drop off some stupid paperwork. So all for now darlings. Scott and Jill behave in the Caymans, I don't want to get a call from the police saying you are raging too hard! Love love

Indiana Jones Represent

Hello kiddos! Been a long time, but I have just been oh so busy ya know? Lets see what kind of fun adventures I can update you on. First day of school was kind of tragic. I didn't get into the art history classes that I wanted so I had to settle for 'New Product Development' and 'International Human Resources Management' and yes, both of those classes are just as boring as you think they are...AND they are both 3 hrs long. Vom. AND they are actually going to be hard, sorry for getting your hopes up Riley, but it turns out that study abroad classes actually do require a lot of work! Unfortunate.

First day of work was...interesting? I love being an intern, you get to do allll the bitch work. On Tuesday I went to the bank and the post office, which it must be noted that there were 40 people ahead of me in line at the post office! No joke. So that was great. Also I am essentially working outside because there is NO heat at the gallery. Soo if you just want to picture me sitting on an aluminum stool, staring at an excel database, in the freezing cold for 8 hours 3 days a week, you would be pretty much dead on.

The highlight of my first day was that I fell in love. Not really, but kind of. All that know me well understand my appreciation and slightly creepy infatuation with older business men; so it's no surprise that when Gill (pronouced JEEL), the gallery owner, showed up yesterday I was lovin it. He is such a stereotypical old French dude, he says Sheet and Fuckher a lot and sounds super classy while doing so. I couldn't stop laughing when the boot leg Asian DVD man shows up at the gallery and Gill proceeds to buy 22 dvds!! He made me check 5 of them to make sure they were legit, he called it an 'intern job'. Haha. I have never seen someone bargain with another individual quite like yesterday...at one point Gill yells as he is walking out the door away from the Asian man 'Don't you know we are in an economic crisis!!!?' And then he winked at me; I was dying with laughter. He also called me Indiana Jones, which I also thought was funny.

Okay, enough of Gill, my other Frenchman, Marcel, and I went on date #2 yesterday which was good. Fav part of the date:
Marcel-"What do you call these in English?"
Me-"Kalamata olives?"
He then tells me what they are called in Spanish, Portugese, and French...what a show off.
Another great line from Marcel: "You don't understand how hard it is to talk English right now. I have been speaking Spanish all weekend and to speak English right now is like a brain exercise!" haha. Must be tough spending the weekend in Spain.

Obviously this is a really long blog posting because I got off work early and am wasting time in the computer labs at school right now before my class starts. Can I tell you that I am not cut out to be a woman!? I have blisters all over my feet from wearing heels all day, yuck. Godo thing work isn't that dressy; as soon as Gill goes back to France I am wearing tennis shoes to work!

Oh, one last thing here for the Bloomington fans that read this. They have Pizza Express here! Nooo big deal...except it is a super classy lunchtime restaurant, not the 3:00 in the morning drunk fest that we all know and love. Okay well I am sure you are tired of reading so I will give you a break. Love you all very much!

My First Beret Sighting!

Hey team! Yesterday I filled my tourist duties and saw a little bit of what this city had to offer. During the day we went to the Tate and it was everything I had hoped for and more! I want to go back again by myself and spend the whole day there, instead of just two hours. We walked around the museum area by the river etc. We also did a little shop shopping around, which is always necessary. (Don't worry Scotter no big purchases to speak of.) During the evening hrs 24 of my study abroad mates and myself went on the London Eye; which is really just a huge ferris wheel, and when you get to the top you can see the whole city. It was a really great experience. I obviously snuck some vodka on and made it my own little booze cruise. I just uploaded fb pics for you all to check out. The night progressed into one of drunkardness and debauchery per usual. It was a great ending to a 2 week vacy. Tomorrow I actually start school! Yuck. I have no idea when my classes start so that is on the to do list for tonight to figure out.

As you can see from the pic, someone is actually wearing a beret. We were on the tube and I clearly got way too excited when I saw him. I pretended to take a picture of Erin, but I really just wanted to capture this mans beret. Although I think he was foreign, I will still count it as number one. Today I rounded the troops up early to head to a place called Brick Lane. It is a HUGE market place with fresh food, clothes, jewelry, restaurants etc. Some dude told us if we wanted to see the "real" London, we had to go to Brick Lane. It was so awesome. Morgan and Cait when you guys come we will have to go there because both of you (especially Morgan) would love it. There are so many interesting things there! I got a dress, a cool bracelet, and Chad Christine and I all bought matching sweatshirts with this creepy kitten on it (we thought it was really funny.) All in all it was a really good day! Just got home around 5, and thinking about dinner hardcore right now. I must go eat before I starve to death, but I love you all very much!

Cheers! (they say that after EVERYTHING...I kinda like it though)

Ctrl V

Hello kittens. Today is the first morning I haven't had to wake up for some kind of organized activity. The date with the Frenchman went well. He met me at the Piccadilly tube stop and he was a cutie! The bone structure comment was dead on and he was tall and manly with great sandy curly hair. I would also like to add that he was wearing a turtle neck sweater, which in my opinion would not fly in the states, but he was so Europeanly beautiful that it definitely worked. (He was also obviously wearing a scarf if you were wondering.) Anyways, we went to a cocktail bar and just chatted and had drinks. Apparently he's a half and half type of guy: Brazilian and French, he informed me that I absolutely must go to Brazil. Marcel is currently completing his masters degree in engineering while working at the same time. It should also be noted that he definitely falls into the charming, complimentary, Frenchman stereotype. After a couple of hours we parted ways. He dropped me off at the club where all my friends were and he went home because he was traveling to Spain in the morning for business. Supposedly we are meeting up for dinner when he returns from Spain but we shall see.

Moving on...last night we did it up American style and played some BP, instead of going to the Eye as originally planned. I was absolutely exhausted last night because I stayed up til 3:30 the previous night then had to wake up at 8 am the next day for work and then class registration. For my work I will need to memorize every artist that the gallery features and a list of their works, which is slightly daunting, but also exciting because I will be learning so much. European people do not have mad computer skills either; they are using outdated software, are lacking knowladge of any keyboard shortcuts, and they type with four fingers...geez o peterson ladies, we gotta get some "ctrl-c" "ctrl-v" action going on at the very least!

We are going to the Tate Modern today (so pumped), and the London Eye tonight which will be a full day of exciting things! Erin has another date with her boy tonight (they are going ice skating and then out to eat for Moroccan...how cute!!) So we will obviously be strategizing outfit options today as well. So as you can see friends and family I am ready to begin an action packed day. I hope all is well and I love you all very much! Tata! (I don't think people actually say that, but it does sound quite British)

Expanding My British Dictionary

Hi friends...I have some new British phrases that I learned today:

• Dog's breakfast- a mess or muddle
  
• Dog's dinner- dressed or displayed in an ostentatiously smart manner
• Dog's bollocks- excellent - the absolute apex...important to make a note that bollocks itself means testicles. (the Brits are so odd)
  
• Nappys- diapers
• Row- most up to date Harry Potter readers would recognize this word, meaning fight or disagreement, however what I found interesting today is that it isn't pronouced Row as in the thing you do in a boat, but Row as in rhyming with Cow.

Today we sat through 3 hours of lecture on the European Union and British politics, aka British torture round two. I also learned I am a complete idiot today, which is always humbling. We took a 10 question quiz on the EU and I got two right...from guessing. Wow. My daily two hour tube time just transformed into two hour newpaper reading time.

I would now like to transition into dresscode. As I was warned, everyone here is always put together. Even if they are not super trendy glamazons, they are still a very well managed population. I have been here for a little over a week and am already used to not seeing t-shirts, sweat pants, and dirty tennis shoes. The tube rides are such a fabulous time to observe trends. All the men wear long peacoats with scarves...oh my lanta the scarves in this city--short ones, long ones, some as big as your head. Literally. Yesterday we saw some super trendy lady wearing a scarf as wide as and maybe 12 ft long, she was obviously fabulous.

Tomorrow is class registration day and a short orientation at the gallery, whoopie. This weekend we have plans to do some touristy things; check out the London Eye, some museums (hopefully the Tate Modern), Brick Lane market (where I hear they have a 24 hr bagel store!!) etc. Tonights the date with my Frenchman and as seen from the previous blog postings I understand Scott and Jill are a little worried, so I promise to be extra cautious and "aware of my surroundings" a favorite quotation by Mr. Scott Marsh.

All for now. Love love!

French Fries and Frenchmen

Hello my darlings...so I'm staying in for the first night in a thousand years and I'm pretty excited about it and so is my liver. I had my interview at the gallery yesterday...not as posh as I was expecting at all. It turns out I will NOT be Jennifer Aniston from the breakup, sorry to disappoint some of you. I think I will be doing mainly office work such as keeping all the artists profiles up to date, entering new works, etc. I'm thinking it will be fun and a good experience. I'm only working with two other chicks and one of them is named Giata, so she's probably good at cooking. Last night Erin went on her date with the Englishman (Jamie) and had a fabulous time while I went to a club with a group from our flat. It was a night full of drunkardness and bad decisions. Needless to say my 8am wake up call was a little intense. The tube ride to school I was definitely still drunk for and the two hour lecture on the British education system was kind of like poking my eyeball with a pen.

But after the eyeball poking session myself, Chad, Christine, and Elizabeth walked around outside of school and ran into a street market, where I purchased a pretty girl dress for 15 pounds and a grey wool coat for 15 pounds! What a deal. Erin on the other hand, was in a posher area of London today after her interview and went on the craziest shopping spree I have ever heard of: a rain coat (97 pounds), boots (90 pounds), a sweater, heels, a dress, and skinny jeans. She called me afterwards and it was like someone had just given her meth, it was hilarious. I also got my bangs trimmed today...but when I went into the hairdressers and said "Can anyone trim my bangs right now?" Everyone looked at me like I was an idiot, apparently bangs are called fringes. Kinda cute, might bring that one back to the states.

I almost forgot to mention that I have a date with a Frenchman tomorrow (Marcel). hehe. We are meeting up in Piccadilly Circus for cocktails and then possibly clubbing afterwards. I met him at a club one night, and I don't 100% remember what he looks like, but my friend told me he has amazing bone structure, so it can't be half bad right? haha, sometimes I even know how ridiculous I sound. He called me today to make date plans and has a totally thick Frenchman accent, he called me Heh Lee. Don't worry Scott and Jill, I have devised an emergency plan with Erin and Sharday in case he turns out to be a total creep, they will call half way through my date and pretend that there is an emergency (also similar to Jennifer Aniston in The Breakup). So, I'm basically all covered there.

Cait I hope you have recovered by now, you were absolutely pathetic earlier. I believe that contains all my updates as of now. Love you all and miss you as much as I miss American food. OOH one last thing...the bacon sucks here. Riley, remember the time in high school where Jeff Guy tried to cook bacon one morning and totally did not cook it long enough at all? Ya...thats what the bacon is like. And there is bacon on EVERYTHING. Along with french fries...so many french fries, or as they call them "crisps." I think I will never eat another french fry again after this trip. Ok, I'm done ranting about the food for now. Love Love!

A Horrible Horrible Journey

Hello all. I've just returned from a horrible horrible journey. But we will get to that in a minute. Last night we went out for Christine's 21st birthday. We pregamed hard with a bunch of people from our flat and hopped on the tube (it closes at midnight every night) and got off at Piccadilly Circus -(the stop that has all the night clubs and pubs etc. The Broadripple of London perhaps...except a thousand times better hehe Sorry Jess and Riley) we met up with 20 or so other people from the Thorsby house (the housing unit close to our school) and raged till 12:30 because thats when the bar closed. We hung out with people from our flat till like 3:30 though so it was a lonng night. Christine got her 21 shots in for the night so we labeled it a success.

Now let us discuss the horrible horrible journey. This morning we had to be at our school at 10am to meet with our advisor to talk about our internship etc. We wake up at 8, leave at 9, and we were still late! We didn't get into our classroom until 10:15. Yuck, what a commute! So I meet with my pseudo advisor because my real one wasn't able to make it today and she is absolutely horrified by the location of my internship. Apparently it is one tube stop past our school. So that will be another hour or so commute every day for my internship. And it's not a straight shot either. I will have to switch tube lines twice, and then I have a ten or fifteen minute walk to the gallery. Advisor: "Oh my, what a horrible horrible journey every day. This is absolutely horrible. [She pulls out the tube map to double check how horrible my journey is.] Oh dear, you will have to change lines at least twice! Why aren't you living in Thorsby? You really should since you are so close. Thorsby is only a ten minute walk or so."

She continues to discuss how stupid my commute will be for another ten minutes then tells me what I am actually doing...which will hopefully make the commuting worth it. My interview for the position is tomorrow at 3 which means I'll have to leave my house by 1:30 most likely. She told me Sutton Lane is a small contemporary gallery that does a lot of public relations and promotions for modern artists! Aka Haley's dream job. Someone told me that their friend was hired after they completed their internship; they went back to the states to finish school then moved to London. How exciting!

After my daunting meeting with the woman, I decide it would probably be a good idea to try and find exactly where this gallery is. So it takes us about a half hour or so to finally figure out where the hell Sutton Lane even is. Sutton Lane is actually an ally, and Sutton Lane gallery is actually not even labeled. Its just two huge black doors, with no windows in a tiny ally. Great. So the interview process tomorrow should be interesting.

Tonight I need to take a break because I can slowly feel my liver deteriorating. If you guys get bored check out the tube map. I start at Earls Court (bottom of map), the closest tube stop to my internship is Ferringdon (top), and the closest tube stop to my school is Angel. So that is all I have for you kiddos as of right now, miss you all very much! Oh ya, the sun NEVER comes out here...if I weren't so busy all the time it might get a little depressing! Love you!

Homestay Weekend

Hello Friends and Family! Lets chat about the weekend with the host family. We got flowers for our host mommies and took a 45 minute bus trip south to Surrey. Totally not what I expected AT ALL. Instead of being the country club lifestyle our Mr. Lecture man told us about we were basically staying in the projects. Jan doesn't have a car so her brother Ted picked us (Jessica is the other girl that stayed with me) up and took us to Devonshire, aka shit hole land. It was one of those apartment buildings (aka flats) where people hang their clothes up outside on lines to dry. Jan doesn't have a job. Apparently she just hosts random study abroad students and her housing is paid for by the government. If you are a single mother in England the government pays for EVERYTHING and they give you an allowance each week depending on the number of kids etc.

The first night we had a meal consisting of frozen chicken, frozen broccoli, and potatoes...not too bad. Then we proceded to watch 2 hours of British television, which if you were wondering is absolutely horrible. Soap operas are HUGE over there...apparently everyone watches them...and just like soap operas in America, they suck. We watched two soap opera shows, a really bad sitcom, and Family Guy. It was my frist Family Guy experience but it is actually a really funny show! Jan smokes and drinks a lot of tea, probably about ten cups a day.

On Saturday we all went on the bus, sans host families, and hung out at the Queen's crib in Windsor. It was then that I decided, that although Prince Harry would love me. Royalty life is not for me. Too many rules, and traditions, and intricate plates. Someone told me that last time the Queen traveled to the states she brought two suitcases filled with silk gloves. Geez O Peterson! Jan's grandson, Ryan (age 9) was there Saturday afternoon and Sunday and he reallly likes darts, so we played like 800 games of darts.

As evening came around, the thought of watching another soap opera or playing another game of darts with a sall child made me gag, so Jessica and I asked if we could go to a local pub for a little bit. Jan was cool with that, so we hopped in a taxi and went to a place called RSVP. Initially we thought it was a pub, but it magically turned into a dance club of slightly trashy English persons throughout the night. It was hilarious. We made some friends and played a few games of British pool. Which is basically pool for retards. They have solid colored blue balls, solid colored yellow balls, and an eight ball. Kind of limits your options on game selection. Anyways the night was good and we left in the morning.

Today when we got home Erin and I went grocery shopping which was an EXPERIENCE. Our grocery store is like 20 minutes away (walking) and it was absolutely packed. You would have thought they were giving food away. Since the store was so far away we had to take a taxi home. Next time I think I'm going to bring my wheely luggage to put my groceries in. haha I understand that sounds completely stupid but I think its a good idea.

I have to get in the shower stat because we are going out to eat for our friend Christine's 21st bday! And hopefully kereoking later haha. Love you all!

Tubes and Toilets

Hey friends and family...I've really been lagging on my blog lately so I should probably catch you all up on my life. We have been super busy with all the orientation activities etc. Tonight we are going to Surrey for the weekend and all staying with different families. Which apparently is a SUPER nice area of London. Our lecturer man yesterday told us that if you live in Surrey "you've made it." I will be hanging out with Jan (mother) and Wayne, the 29 year old son who still lives at home...apparently I shouldn't be creeped out at the fact that he still lives at home bc it is completely normal for kids to "go to University" (they refer to college as University...for example: I graduated from University about 6 yrs ago.) and then come back home to live since it is so expensive here.

Now lets talk about public transportation. The tube is so much fun! And it is really easy. You just take a couple of escalators under ground, swipe your card, and follow the signs. All the lines are color coordinated so it is really easy to navigate around. We went to our school yesterday for a lecture (apparently we have to write a paper on this homestay weekend, assignments allllready, yuck.) and the journey there probably took about 45 minutes, which is kind of a drag but it will be a good time to read the paper, ipod, stare at people etc.

Moving on to night life. Two nights ago we did the Queen thing, which as expected, wasn't my flavor...I actually fell asleep for a couple minutes during the show. Apparently if you like Queen it was fantastic though so thats good I suppose. Afterwards we went to a bar/dance club called the Zoo Bar. And it was fabulous. They played the Thong Song at one point in the night so I was pretty much set. It was 5 pounds to get in which isnt bad at all compared to a lot of other places that are like 20 or 30 pounds to get into. I probably shouldn't include this in the blog, but I left my credit card at the Zoo and had to pick it up there the next day. Oops...Scott and Jill hope you still love me! :) We will just file that one under the learning experience category. Last night we went to another bar called the Whereabout bar which was a lot of fun as well. They play a lot of American music at the bars mixed with some techno shenanigans which is definitely doable. My favorite jam of last night was California by Tupac, really brought me back to the days where we would watch MTV before elementary school. Oh how the time flies.

Cell phone...finally got one, it only cost 5 pounds! My number is 07503820285...I think you have to throw a 001 before that if you are making an international call. Incoming texts and calls are free for me, and its like 20 pence to text or call...something like that. I probably won't be using my cell phone that much except to figure out where people are in case I get lost.

Lastly we should discuss the bathrooms over here. First of all they don't call them bathrooms and they don't understand you when you do either. They call them toilets or loos. This, so far, has been my hardest adjustment. I feel like an idiot saying, "Where is the toilet?" or "Where is the loo?" I mean you should really try and say that out loud. Anyways, I'm working on it. Another note about the "toilets" here is that whenever you go to a restaurant etc the toilets are almost always in the basement, which is kind of weird. You also usually have to travel through two doors to get there, which I find excessive and annoying. Ooh, another wording difference is "till" for the cash register, and "check" for waiting in line.

On another note I really need to do laundry but its pretty competitive so I'm just gonna have to be a dirty kid this weekend. Hope my family doesn't mind! I miss you all very much and am upset I missed the rage with Jill last night. Cait I hope your preparations are going well, and am wondering if you purchased any more exciting accessories? Well I need to go pack and try to organize my life a little bit.

Love you!

Tea and Scones

Total hours of flight "delay": 21 hrs...no big deal. The flight wasn't bad at all thanks to Jillian and my tiny pink sleeping pill. We woke up in time for breakfast, which consisted of a pastry type shenanigan, a yogurt, and a coffee. Customs was a breeze and there was no lost luggage! Plus one for United. We make a call to Andrew Downs (our study abroad representative) and he gives us directions of how to get to the airport.

Problem 1: my debit card doesn't work in the ATM machine. So Erin and I are on the IOU system until my permanent card is sent.
Problem 2: my bags weigh more than my body. It's one thing if you have two 50 pound rolling suitcases, but it is an entirely different story if you have one 50 pound rolling suitcase and one 50 pound duffle. Now it just becomes a juggling act and a test of strength. Oh, lets not forget my large woman purse and soccer sized back pack I was carrying too. So basically I was dealing with a weight distribution problem yesterday.

We navigated ourselves to the Heathrow Express which took us to downtown London. Next we had to find the taxis (there was a line that zig zagged around the train station that said "Taxis, this way"...very convenient). This is when the bag situation was getting a little serious. So, as some of you have witnessed, I set the duffle bag on the ground, put the straps on like a back pack and made Erin help me stand up. Yes people were staring, and possibly giggling, and besides the sore back and shoulders that I am suffering from currently, I believe it was a great idea.

Etc. Etc. Etc. (I think people say that here) We finally got to orientation about an hour late. And as Zach had warned me, orientation is synonymous for naptime. Here's what I learned in orientation yesterday:

• They have a fucked up chocolate candy naming system. Mars Bars are actually Milky Ways, Milky Ways are 3 musketeers, and Snickers are a completely different ball game.
• The night bus is super creepy.
• The phrase "Having kittens" means you have a lot of shit going on and you are super stressed out about it.
• The traffic flow is completely opposite from what we are used to, and pedestrians do not have ultimate right of way like they do in the US, so we should probably try and not get hit by a bus when we are drunk. (they have "look left" "look right" written on the sidewalks to ensure American safety.)

And thats about it. We had three members of parliment come in for a Q&A sesh, which was extremely entertaining because they started arguing (which is apparently completely normal) in a very open and blunt manner. "I'm sorry but I do not believe that your previous statement has a sliver of truth in it. I don't know where you came up with that idea but it is completely and utterly inaccurate."

After the debate we did a little walk around. We went to St. Paul's church (not the same as St. Paul's cathedral) and got a little personalized tour from the minister and free 2009 diaries aka agendas/planners. We saw a street performer climb on top of a ladder and juggle swords, followed by a completely disgusting bum who whipped out a bottle of wine and started chugging it in the middle of the street performance. Then we headed to Trafalgar square (pictured here, I promise I will upload real pictures once I get my battery) and went to the National Gallery for tea, scones, and mini sandwhiches. They were delicious.

Some lady took us to get our luggage and dropped us off at our place (Redcliffe Gardens) which is AMAZING! (Again, I will add pics soon, but the one below is almost exactly what my place looks like!) My building is 4 stories tall (each floor is essentially called a flat) Erin and I live on the first floor flat with a girl named Allie. Erin and I have our own room which is massive...its supposed to be a triple, so we have an extra bed. (all the other girls came in yesterday and were completely jealous. haha suckers.) Allie has her own room. We have a kitchen, a common area, and two bathrooms. I think there are about 16 or 17 other people that live here as well, all very nice people! We have a washer and dryer at our place, although its 1.6 pounds per wash and dry, and apparently the dryer doesn't work too well.

Last night after we got settled a little bit we went out with about 6 or 7 people from our building. Nothing too special for night one, except I had my first Big Mac because it was the only fast food place open! Pubs close at 12 here, which is completely lame, but the clubs are open late which is fabulous.

Since I dont have any sheets or a duvet cover for my bedspread I didn't really sleep at all last night, aka why I am up so freaking early blogging. We have another full day of "naptime" today and tonight we have free tickets to We Will Rock You, which is a musical based off of Queen songs. All of my close friends, especially Alex Staples, understand that in a normal situation "Queen" and "musical" would make me want to punch someone in the face, but everyone is going, and afterwards we are going to go out so it should be a good time.

Be on the lookout for the beret's first stop...good chances it will be with my host family this weekend (Wayne and Jan!) I love you all and miss you much.

Third Times A Charm?

Back in the airport again. My cell phones dead and Erin and I only have about an hour or so of internet connection left. So after two cancelled flights, a red stingy watering right eyeball, and a night at the Westin Hotel we are back in our familiar Concourse C. Erin and I are now at the point where the people at security recognize us, and joke around with us about our flying misfortunes. Apparently when you buy a one way ticket you are essentially always selected for the "special screening". Which basically means they just take all the shit out of your purse and wipe it down in case you sprinkled anthrax on it. After being told "Damn girl you skinny, you need to eat something. Maybe get you some beans and rice or somethin!" by the woman who patted me down during my "special screening" I decided it would be a good idea to follow her advice.

Today we Erin and I are armed and dangerous with $60 in airport meal vouters. We started off with a nice $18/person lunch (a salad and a water...gotta love airport pricing). During lunch we eves dropped on a conversation between two seemingly established young business men that were talking like they were 14 yr old boys (Ya man, and then she totally took her clothes off...it was awesome). We were clearly intrigued, and therefore probably only said a couple words to each other during lunch.

We followed up lunch by a nice dessert line up consisting of: tiramisu, lemoncello, and a sweet chocolate mousse cup. Dessert cost $15.61, we barely had enough change to cover the 61 cents so we had to haggle a nice sir behind us for some spare change. In the end it was totally delicious and the moms at our gate were eye-ing down our treats. $45 down, $15 to go. We'll save the $15 for our dinner time snack. As usual the internet is providing too much thought provoking conversation so I will have to depart from this blog from now; and hopefully my next posting will be from LONDON!

--Note to Father: things to ship to Haley ASAP would include my camera battery and charger, my debit card, and I think thats it for now! Love Love!

What To Do When Your Plane Catches Fire

So it's the big day...finally! I wake up and Scotter is ready to weigh the luggage...which Morgan packed immaculately for me, thanks bud...only 52 pounds! We play the weighing game, then its time to check-in for my flight. After figuring out that my name isn't Haley Marsh anymore, but Haleyamelia Marsh, we successfully check-in. However, after further investigation we discover my flight is CANCELLED! What a tragedy. So we get on the phone with the Virgin Atlantic people and we have to listen to the British Lady Recording tell me how sustainable their airline is...whatever sister just get me to a representative. After listening to British Lady Recording for 800 hours we finally get to someone in India tell us that our flight caught fire and had to be diverted to Dublin, and would arrive in Chicago tomorrow late afternoon.

(This is the part where Cait and Jill start freaking out.) "Oh no Haley/Erin, you are not getting on a firery plane!" Scott gets into "next step" mode. Apparently Virgin Atlantic doesn't want to put us on a different flight until tomorrow unless its an "emergency." So naturally, Erin starts thinking of potential "emergencies." We could pretend we're pregnant, or maybe that we are estranged sisters and our mother is dying in London...Eventually we just decide to pack up, head to Chicago, and wing it (haha planes have wings get it?) So on the way we finally book another flight for 9:05 pm from Chicago to London. Fabulous.

Which brings me to my present situation. Currently I am sitting on a stool in O'Hare International airport with my computer plugged into the wall of a tiny desk area. Kind of like when you go to the stacks and the desks have walls on both sides so you can't peek at your neighbor. Erin's a couple of mini desks down, probably watching one of the thousand TV shows she keeps up to date with every week. It's 5:10 Chicago time which means I have about 3 1/2 hrs until I get on my plane and peace out of the US.

Interesting airport incidents:

• Bought a sweatshirt. This is interesting because before I left I put my red and black check zip up in my bag claiming I would be too hot with the jacket and the coat. Turns out airports are kind of drafty and the wool coat probably isn't the best pillow. Love you Scott and Jill this sweatshirt is gonna last me forever. It is definitely a good investment. I was almost worried I wouldn't have enough sweatshirts to keep me warm when lounging around my housing unit.
• I witnessed an Orthadox Jewish praying ritual. Fortunately I was on the phone with a Jew at the time and he explained to me what was going on. Before the explanation I was a little confused why the unidentified sir was putting a blanket over his head and wrapping his arm with a leather band. The mini culture shock was a sign of foreign rituals to come.
• The guy next to my mini desk unit is farting and it is making this blogging situation quite uncomfortable.
• I've never been at an airport so long that I've been able to catch both lunch and dinner, so that's obviously exciting.

Well I'm clearly running out of things to talk about in this blog and just trying to waste time at this point. But I love you all very much and I promise my posts will get more exciting! :)

Miss you already.

Explaining The Beret

I should probably start off my blog by explaining the beret reference. Since I don't expect a Jessica Froshaug wedding blog type following, I won't feel the need to explain each character in my stories seeing as I expect only my friends and family to be viewing this website.

So the beret...since Christmas this year was expected to be a small one as I am going to London and thats kinnnd of expensive, Jill didn't really go over the top with gifts this year. The first gift I unwrap is an odd tank top frilly type blouse with a super funky pattern on it. It was one of those moments where you want to be grateful for the present you are receiving but can't hold back your laughter. So the tank top really got the fam going....then as Jill starts to hand me my second present she hesitates...she says, "I don't even want to give you this gift now because you are going to laugh at me!" So I open it...and much to my surprise its a BERET! I mean cmon, I know I'm studying abroad, but a beret? haha I clearly put the beret and the goofy tank top on and ran around the house like an idiot for a little bit. I said, "Jill, there is no way I am taking this thing with me!" She thinks its adorrrrrable (in the way moms think things are adorable that really aren't. Prime example: Candy Clarke--"What!? All the girls at shool are wearing this Caitlin, I swear!" right Candy.)

Anyways, after thoroughly poking fun at Jill for a successful Christmas, I started thinking that maybe the beret isnt such a bad idea after all. About a week ago, I decided to fully embrace the beret, and to not just pack it to make Jill happy, but to take it everywhere I travel in Europe and take a picture of me wearing the beret in front of an easily recognizable location. So thats my beret story and I'm sticking to it.

Love you Jill, thanks so much!