I have settled into my semester routine, and it seems to be working just fine for me. Even though I don't have class until 12:30pm Tuesdays/Thursdays and 2pm (now that I dropped the waste of a time psych class) Mondays/Wednesdays, I have meetings and work every morning, so at least I'm not turning into a complete lazy bum. This semester's classes seem very manageable, with the most difficult most likely going to be Cognitive Development in Children. I didn't do so hot in Developmental Psych, and this class has a lot to do with topics covered in that class, but hopefully I'll fare better this time around. One of my classes, Politics of the Media, is going to be very enjoyable for me. It's all about Media's coverage and, in some cases manipulation (cough Fox News cough) of political issues. My professor is kinda dull and harsh when someone brings up a point she doesn't agree with, but the students in my class all are talkative and bring up good points for discussion, such as yesterday when we talked about "what defines stupidity" and whether or not political ignorance is included in that. I argued that it is not, because not everyone cares about politics, or has time to watch CNN or MSNBC. Many disagreed with me, but I think they were just trying to please my teacher, who, as a media and political expert, of course disagreed. Not everyone grew up in a house where political discussions were the norm, such as my house, so how can we define these people as stupid just because they don't know who Robert Gates is, or who the PM of Great Britain is? And no, every student in my class, it is not Gordon Brown. If they don't know who Barack Obama is, then yea, they're stupid, but more in depth stuff can arguably just be lack of interest.
It's the first long weekend of the year coming up, and of course, I am on-call. I normally would have probably gone home, but oh well, one more weekend of watching drunk freshman stumble home!
Cheers!
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
Senior year has begun!
Now that the chaos of training and freshman move-in is over, I can finally start enjoying the start of my senior year! So far, everything seems to be going very well (knock on wood). I love my residents, they seem like a great bunch. Phi Mu had a very successful recruitment... we made quota, plus 2!! The new phi's seem really great so far, and 3 of them live in my community in Jones, so I'm really excited about that. So far no roommate, just one empty space on the other side of the room that I cannot wait to decorate! We have been instructed not to move anything on that side until Sept. 15th, so I am eagerly awaiting that date.
The more that I move back into the swing of things, the more I realize that I changed a lot this summer, as cliché as it is to say after a semester abroad. I feel much more outgoing and much more positive. I was so much calmer last week compared to last year, and have found myself really enjoying working both the desk and being a CA more than I ever have, which is great. Last night we took our residents to the Tiger Walk, a 15 year old Mizzou tradition that starts with the Freshman class walking through the columns on the quad towards Jesse Hall the eve before class starts, and will end in May with the Seniors walking towards "the real world". I didn't do this my freshman year and kick myself every day for it. I watched from the sidelines last night and it was so great to see all of the freshman run through the columns, eager to start college. There are lots of pictures on my facebook, check them out!
I had my first 2 classes today, Cognitive Psychology and Trends in World Cinema. Cognitive Psychology makes me worried because I feel like it is going to be a waste of time. We have no tests, just one paper on anything to do with Cognition. I feel like, even though I don't necessarily like cognition, this is an important class for me to take since I am thinking about specializing in the brain, but I'm not going to learn anything. We'll see though, it could be ok... I hope. Trends in World cinema will be great for me. I love watching foreign films, and the teacher seems really fun and laid back. Plus, a girl from South Hampton, England (about an hour from London) is in my class, so I already love it, haha. Tomorrow I have Childhood Cognition, social psychology, and politics of the media. Lots of psych and sociology classes this semester, I can't wait! I hope I stay this positive about the semester, although I might just be on a high from celebrating the end of training...
Cheers!
The more that I move back into the swing of things, the more I realize that I changed a lot this summer, as cliché as it is to say after a semester abroad. I feel much more outgoing and much more positive. I was so much calmer last week compared to last year, and have found myself really enjoying working both the desk and being a CA more than I ever have, which is great. Last night we took our residents to the Tiger Walk, a 15 year old Mizzou tradition that starts with the Freshman class walking through the columns on the quad towards Jesse Hall the eve before class starts, and will end in May with the Seniors walking towards "the real world". I didn't do this my freshman year and kick myself every day for it. I watched from the sidelines last night and it was so great to see all of the freshman run through the columns, eager to start college. There are lots of pictures on my facebook, check them out!
I had my first 2 classes today, Cognitive Psychology and Trends in World Cinema. Cognitive Psychology makes me worried because I feel like it is going to be a waste of time. We have no tests, just one paper on anything to do with Cognition. I feel like, even though I don't necessarily like cognition, this is an important class for me to take since I am thinking about specializing in the brain, but I'm not going to learn anything. We'll see though, it could be ok... I hope. Trends in World cinema will be great for me. I love watching foreign films, and the teacher seems really fun and laid back. Plus, a girl from South Hampton, England (about an hour from London) is in my class, so I already love it, haha. Tomorrow I have Childhood Cognition, social psychology, and politics of the media. Lots of psych and sociology classes this semester, I can't wait! I hope I stay this positive about the semester, although I might just be on a high from celebrating the end of training...
Cheers!
Monday, August 9, 2010
reslife ate my life
Ever since I have been back from London, reslife has pretty much taken over my life. The past two weeks were spent making schedules, manuals and preparing to move into Jones. Fortunately, the move was not as stressful as I thought it would be in big part to my awesome sisters Blake and Jessica who helped me move my stuff from North to Jones. I moved in on Saturday and have been going going going ever since. Yesterday, Sunday, was the start of training, and it was a lot less stressful as I thought it would be. Unfortunately, though, the stress caught up to me today and I have had a sour mood all day. As training goes along I am realizing all of the stuff I have to do before Friday and it is really stressing me out, so I decided to take a break from that and keep up with my promise to keep my blog going. Hope you all enjoy the new lay out. I decided a peaceful tone would be good to keep my spirits up.
I think the biggest challenge this week isn't going to be time management with my 2 jobs, but with my friends. I feel like they don't understand how stressed and extremely busy I am, so when I don't respond to a text or say I don't want to go out they get annoyed, which really is just making me more upset. I of course want to see them all, but I can't balance a social life with everything else I have to do. So sorry friends, I'm not going out all week, period.
My room in Jones is so much smaller than I expected, but I guess it's ok because it will just be extra cozy! My bed is seriously the most comfortable bed ever, though, so that's good. Jones is turning out to be a great time... but we don't have residents yet. And I'm not kidding when I say this, I'm really excited for them to move in! This year will be a lot different from last summer as a CA in College Avenue because I will have so much more time to bond with my residents, not to mention they won't all be football players. As far as the rest of Jones goes, I love all of the staff members, I can tell we are going to have a great year together, and I think that we will all be really supportive of each other also, so I look forward to that as well. We are all bracing ourselves to have roommates, which will stink but it will only be temporary (hopefully).
Sorry for the really crappy post, just needed to vent a bit! Hopefully they will pick up in excitement. Time to finish unpacking my room!
Cheers!
I think the biggest challenge this week isn't going to be time management with my 2 jobs, but with my friends. I feel like they don't understand how stressed and extremely busy I am, so when I don't respond to a text or say I don't want to go out they get annoyed, which really is just making me more upset. I of course want to see them all, but I can't balance a social life with everything else I have to do. So sorry friends, I'm not going out all week, period.
My room in Jones is so much smaller than I expected, but I guess it's ok because it will just be extra cozy! My bed is seriously the most comfortable bed ever, though, so that's good. Jones is turning out to be a great time... but we don't have residents yet. And I'm not kidding when I say this, I'm really excited for them to move in! This year will be a lot different from last summer as a CA in College Avenue because I will have so much more time to bond with my residents, not to mention they won't all be football players. As far as the rest of Jones goes, I love all of the staff members, I can tell we are going to have a great year together, and I think that we will all be really supportive of each other also, so I look forward to that as well. We are all bracing ourselves to have roommates, which will stink but it will only be temporary (hopefully).
Sorry for the really crappy post, just needed to vent a bit! Hopefully they will pick up in excitement. Time to finish unpacking my room!
Cheers!
Monday, July 26, 2010
Time to end a great summer
I’m writing this post on my flight home to Chicago. I have never dreaded going to Chicago before, so it is a very weird feeling wanting to stay put and not go home. The past 8 weeks have been some of the most amazing I’ve had in my life, and definitely the best I have had in recent history. Throughout the trip I kept reminding myself of how fortunate I was able to study abroad, what with all the turmoil my family has been put through these past 2 years. Whenever I would see a spectacular view, beautiful church or a captivating painting I would always think back to my life the past 2 years and how much I deserved to be in Europe. I am beyond grateful to my parents for helping me financially this summer, and couldn’t have had a better experience if possible. I saw so much, learned a lot (not by my class, though) and had a lot of great experiences. I feel more cultured than I have ever been, much more open minded, and much more broke, haha. It’s taken a lot of pondering, but I have decided that the top three things I will miss in London will be the bus, Bulmer’s cider, and open air markets. I loved the bus because it was a cheap, easy way to get around and a good way to see the sites while travelling to various places, something the tube does not allow you to do. Bulmer’s cider is a delicious hard cider that is not sold in the US, in fact I don’t think any is sold except in a select few liquor stores around the country. It’s a really crisp and refreshing drink, my favorite to get. I’ve heard the US sells Strongbow, another cider, but I don’t like this one as much. Finally, open air markets, such as Portobello Road and Brick Lane, are places that various venders will sell goods for cheap such as fruits, antiques, clothes, art, ect. They are a really good way to experience British culture because Saturday and Sunday are market days, and all the Londoners go out to the market. Obviously there are tourists there as well, especially at Portobello Road, but the majority of the people are Londoners. Speaking of tourists, this trip has made me hate them. I don’t live in downtown Chicago, so I don’t get much interaction with tourists, thank God, but I definitely did this summer. They are so annoying, frustrating and have an air of entitlement about them. Now I do realize I was often in tourist mode, but being surrounded by them taught me how to travel and not act like a complete tool.
London is now my second favorite city, behind Chicago, of course. Brussels used to be number 3, but then I went to Edinburgh, and that fast jumped the ranks. Basically, I love, love, love Europe. This was not my first time there, but I got to experience it in a different way by actually living in Europe. It is so much more relaxed than the states, even in London. The people are much friendlier, and are very informed on almost everything to do with global and local news, so definitely my kind of people. I don’t think I would ever want to permanently move to London, but if I wasn’t such a home body, and didn’t like my family as much as I do, I would probably try to go to grad school there or have a first job there. The atmosphere is so wonderful, I miss it already. Leaving was so hard to do. As my car mates and I left Palace court, we started waving to various things that had good stories and memories. Notting Hill gate, Café Diana, Tex-Mex, Old Swan, Tesco, I’m going to miss all of it.
Saying goodbye to my London friends this morning was much more difficult than I thought it would be. Jess and I gave each other one look and the tears started. This is by far the best summer I have ever had, and I am so sad it is over. I am going to miss London so much, but I can’t dwell on that or else I will be glum for a very long time. I know I will miss London, but I will miss my friends even more. I had so much fun with them exploring London and Europe, I couldn’t have asked for a better group of people to be with. Last night Jess, Vinita and Shivani and I went to the club Sound to dance our sadness way. When we left, we spotted a busker playing the sax to Lady Gaga. We ended up dancing for another hour on the streets of Piccadilly Circus. It was the perfect end to a perfect trip!
I think I’ll miss my new sign off just as much as everything else… CHEERS!!!
London is now my second favorite city, behind Chicago, of course. Brussels used to be number 3, but then I went to Edinburgh, and that fast jumped the ranks. Basically, I love, love, love Europe. This was not my first time there, but I got to experience it in a different way by actually living in Europe. It is so much more relaxed than the states, even in London. The people are much friendlier, and are very informed on almost everything to do with global and local news, so definitely my kind of people. I don’t think I would ever want to permanently move to London, but if I wasn’t such a home body, and didn’t like my family as much as I do, I would probably try to go to grad school there or have a first job there. The atmosphere is so wonderful, I miss it already. Leaving was so hard to do. As my car mates and I left Palace court, we started waving to various things that had good stories and memories. Notting Hill gate, Café Diana, Tex-Mex, Old Swan, Tesco, I’m going to miss all of it.
Saying goodbye to my London friends this morning was much more difficult than I thought it would be. Jess and I gave each other one look and the tears started. This is by far the best summer I have ever had, and I am so sad it is over. I am going to miss London so much, but I can’t dwell on that or else I will be glum for a very long time. I know I will miss London, but I will miss my friends even more. I had so much fun with them exploring London and Europe, I couldn’t have asked for a better group of people to be with. Last night Jess, Vinita and Shivani and I went to the club Sound to dance our sadness way. When we left, we spotted a busker playing the sax to Lady Gaga. We ended up dancing for another hour on the streets of Piccadilly Circus. It was the perfect end to a perfect trip!
I think I’ll miss my new sign off just as much as everything else… CHEERS!!!
Sunday, July 18, 2010
OH YEA, I'm in London.
This will most likely be my last post while I'm in London. How sad is that? I hate the thought that in a week I will be sitting on my ass scratching my eyes out because not only will I be bored to death, Jack's cat Elliot will be living at my dad's, whom I'm extremely allergic to. Awesome. This thought has been surrounding me these past few days, which is why I have yet again switched on tourist mode so I can think back to London while I am in allergy hell.
Since I got back from Dublin, which was beautiful and a great trip, I have been going non-stop. I had my last class last Thursday, which was bittersweet because I really enjoyed my teachers and the class discussions we had about various plays, but I also didn't like the classes when we didn't discuss plays. But now I'm free of academic responsibilities... well I have a final Tuesday but I'm not worried about that. I have now hit every museum that I wanted to besides the National Portrait Gallery, which I thought I went to, but I was in the National Gallery the whole time. Whoops. But I've made time to go to that one, because I have heard it is amazing. Yesterday I went on a tour of Parliament. Holy crap is all I can say. It was amazingly beautiful and has so much history, which is still followed today. For instance, when the Queen opens Parliament (one of her few actual responsibilities), her representative in the House of Lords crosses over the hall to the opposite lying House of Commons to get the members of that house. When he reaches the door, it is promptly slammed in his face. This is to symbolize the fact that the Queen is not allowed in the House of Commons, and dates back to the 1600's when the English government began to move away from monarchy rule. One thing I realized yesterday, is that while the Queen is beloved by all Brits, she is not respected at all in the government. After the tour, Carrie and I returned to a time when King Henry the 8th did have total power when we went to Hampton Court Palace. SOOOO cool. I'm obsessed with Tudor history, so it was awesome for me to walk down the same corridors that this royal family did. What was really cool was how interactive the Palace was- they had a guy dressed up like King Henry, guards walking around, and women in period dresses. I loved it here, it was so beautiful.
Today was not as eventful. We went to the Sunday Up Market on Brick Lane, which was really cool. I only brought 10 pounds with me because my money is dwindling before my eyes, but I did find a really cool present for my cousin and enjoyed some kind of Asian food. I say that because it was served to me by a Chinese woman, but it was called Chicken Curry, but it was served with ramen noodles. It was good, whatever it was, though. After the market we all came back to the flat, and I took a 3 hour nap. Oopsie. This week will be full of more jam packed days of hitting London landmarks, a few more museums, and lots of tears because none of us want to leave. Oh yea, it will also be filled with BARCELONA!!!! I'm so excited for this trip, it is going to be completely stellar!! I'm going with my roommate Jessica and two other flat mates, Hallie and Vinita. I'm expecting getting burnt no matter what precautions I take, but hopefully I can avoid that fate.
Hope everyone is enjoying the last few weeks of summer vacay! I really want to stay in London forever, but I am also excited to see my friends and family, and oddly I'm excited for training for Jones and bonding with that staff. I know I will regret that sentence when I have to wake up at 6:30am everyday for a week straight...
Cheers!
Since I got back from Dublin, which was beautiful and a great trip, I have been going non-stop. I had my last class last Thursday, which was bittersweet because I really enjoyed my teachers and the class discussions we had about various plays, but I also didn't like the classes when we didn't discuss plays. But now I'm free of academic responsibilities... well I have a final Tuesday but I'm not worried about that. I have now hit every museum that I wanted to besides the National Portrait Gallery, which I thought I went to, but I was in the National Gallery the whole time. Whoops. But I've made time to go to that one, because I have heard it is amazing. Yesterday I went on a tour of Parliament. Holy crap is all I can say. It was amazingly beautiful and has so much history, which is still followed today. For instance, when the Queen opens Parliament (one of her few actual responsibilities), her representative in the House of Lords crosses over the hall to the opposite lying House of Commons to get the members of that house. When he reaches the door, it is promptly slammed in his face. This is to symbolize the fact that the Queen is not allowed in the House of Commons, and dates back to the 1600's when the English government began to move away from monarchy rule. One thing I realized yesterday, is that while the Queen is beloved by all Brits, she is not respected at all in the government. After the tour, Carrie and I returned to a time when King Henry the 8th did have total power when we went to Hampton Court Palace. SOOOO cool. I'm obsessed with Tudor history, so it was awesome for me to walk down the same corridors that this royal family did. What was really cool was how interactive the Palace was- they had a guy dressed up like King Henry, guards walking around, and women in period dresses. I loved it here, it was so beautiful.
Today was not as eventful. We went to the Sunday Up Market on Brick Lane, which was really cool. I only brought 10 pounds with me because my money is dwindling before my eyes, but I did find a really cool present for my cousin and enjoyed some kind of Asian food. I say that because it was served to me by a Chinese woman, but it was called Chicken Curry, but it was served with ramen noodles. It was good, whatever it was, though. After the market we all came back to the flat, and I took a 3 hour nap. Oopsie. This week will be full of more jam packed days of hitting London landmarks, a few more museums, and lots of tears because none of us want to leave. Oh yea, it will also be filled with BARCELONA!!!! I'm so excited for this trip, it is going to be completely stellar!! I'm going with my roommate Jessica and two other flat mates, Hallie and Vinita. I'm expecting getting burnt no matter what precautions I take, but hopefully I can avoid that fate.
Hope everyone is enjoying the last few weeks of summer vacay! I really want to stay in London forever, but I am also excited to see my friends and family, and oddly I'm excited for training for Jones and bonding with that staff. I know I will regret that sentence when I have to wake up at 6:30am everyday for a week straight...
Cheers!
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Travel!
It’s been a while since my last post! Sorry, I’ve been busy traveling the globe ☺
I’m starting to write this post in Heathrow airport on my way to Dublin. I’ll be spending the night there tonight, and then I’m coming back to London tomorrow night! Quick trip, just me and my camera… I can’t wait. Of course, an added bonus is that with the conclusion of this trip I will be able to cross off “visit every (major) country in my heritage” from my bucket list. I started this one 5 years ago when I went to Germany with my high school choir, then completed phase two over the weekend in Edinburgh, Scotland, and will effectively complete stage three as I leave Dublin Ireland. Life is great right now!
Speaking of Edinburgh… OMG IT IS BEAUTIFUL!! I was not expecting it to be so stunning, but as we all walked off the train, our breaths were literally taken away (might have had something to do with the huge stair case we had to climb, but still). I absolutely loved it there, and made a point to tell my friends (who included my friends Jeff and Toni from another Arcadia residence, my roommate Melissa and two other flat mates Carrie and Vinita) how I felt a strong connection and sense of kinship to this country. They got annoyed fast, but I couldn’t help but jump for joy when I saw a bagpiper, rows of Scottish tartan shops, the beautiful highlands in the distance and firth of forth waterway. Soon after my group learned that I am of Lamont and Campbell decent, they began the scavenger hunt with me to find both tartans. I did, after a lot of search. Lamont is apparently very hard to find, but I did eventually find it. We also visited a couple of cemeteries and I was able to spot many Campbells, (of which, I would run up to and yell “hello possible clan member!” So much for “rest in peace.”) but no Lamonts. The trip to the cemeteries continued what turned into “accidental Harry Potter day.” At Kings Cross Melissa and Vinita found platform 9 ¾ (which I already visited) and I ended up listening to Harry Potter on audiobook on our train ride north, and that evidentially put some good nerdy luck in our shoes. When we arrived at our hostel we asked where a good place close to eat lunch was. The staff informed us of a cute little café down the road. Oh, and it just so happened to be the place where JK Rowling wrote several Harry Potter books. We all did a little dance and hopped to it. Later that night, after a long day of tartan shopping, castle exploring and scotch drinking, we decided to stop by the cemetery where a dog who supposedly stayed by his masters grave after he died is buried (Greyfriars Bobby, in case you were wondering). We walked through the kirk a bit, and low and behold, we come across Tom Riddle’s (Voldemort) grave and McGonagall’s. Check out the picture of me with a make shift wand in my Edinburgh(ah) photo album. Possibly the best picture every taken. Ever.
Sidenote- pear magners is not as good as pear bulmers, as I just learned on my flight.
Anywho… besides my world traveling, life in London has been great. I only have 10 days left before I go back to the states, so I need to do some serious sightseeing. The only major things I have left to do are Abbey Road and Parliament, which I have obviously seen, but want to tour it. I also still need to go to church at Westminster Abbey. This has been the plan since day one, but I’ve never made services yet. I will though… I think.
I hate to think of what my life will be like when I go back home- sitting on my ass watching TV, because what else is there to do? Oh, I guess I need to start WORK. Sigh, the thought of North/Center desk depresses me because my senior year is so close to starting, and I have no idea what my life will entail when May roles around again. Perhaps I’ll just have to come back to London!! (I can hear my parents sigh's an ocean away…)
I’m landing soon in Dublin… look out Ireland, this chick is whipping out her shamrock tattoo and showing some Irish pride!! Erin Go Bragh!
Cheers!
I’m starting to write this post in Heathrow airport on my way to Dublin. I’ll be spending the night there tonight, and then I’m coming back to London tomorrow night! Quick trip, just me and my camera… I can’t wait. Of course, an added bonus is that with the conclusion of this trip I will be able to cross off “visit every (major) country in my heritage” from my bucket list. I started this one 5 years ago when I went to Germany with my high school choir, then completed phase two over the weekend in Edinburgh, Scotland, and will effectively complete stage three as I leave Dublin Ireland. Life is great right now!
Speaking of Edinburgh… OMG IT IS BEAUTIFUL!! I was not expecting it to be so stunning, but as we all walked off the train, our breaths were literally taken away (might have had something to do with the huge stair case we had to climb, but still). I absolutely loved it there, and made a point to tell my friends (who included my friends Jeff and Toni from another Arcadia residence, my roommate Melissa and two other flat mates Carrie and Vinita) how I felt a strong connection and sense of kinship to this country. They got annoyed fast, but I couldn’t help but jump for joy when I saw a bagpiper, rows of Scottish tartan shops, the beautiful highlands in the distance and firth of forth waterway. Soon after my group learned that I am of Lamont and Campbell decent, they began the scavenger hunt with me to find both tartans. I did, after a lot of search. Lamont is apparently very hard to find, but I did eventually find it. We also visited a couple of cemeteries and I was able to spot many Campbells, (of which, I would run up to and yell “hello possible clan member!” So much for “rest in peace.”) but no Lamonts. The trip to the cemeteries continued what turned into “accidental Harry Potter day.” At Kings Cross Melissa and Vinita found platform 9 ¾ (which I already visited) and I ended up listening to Harry Potter on audiobook on our train ride north, and that evidentially put some good nerdy luck in our shoes. When we arrived at our hostel we asked where a good place close to eat lunch was. The staff informed us of a cute little café down the road. Oh, and it just so happened to be the place where JK Rowling wrote several Harry Potter books. We all did a little dance and hopped to it. Later that night, after a long day of tartan shopping, castle exploring and scotch drinking, we decided to stop by the cemetery where a dog who supposedly stayed by his masters grave after he died is buried (Greyfriars Bobby, in case you were wondering). We walked through the kirk a bit, and low and behold, we come across Tom Riddle’s (Voldemort) grave and McGonagall’s. Check out the picture of me with a make shift wand in my Edinburgh(ah) photo album. Possibly the best picture every taken. Ever.
Sidenote- pear magners is not as good as pear bulmers, as I just learned on my flight.
Anywho… besides my world traveling, life in London has been great. I only have 10 days left before I go back to the states, so I need to do some serious sightseeing. The only major things I have left to do are Abbey Road and Parliament, which I have obviously seen, but want to tour it. I also still need to go to church at Westminster Abbey. This has been the plan since day one, but I’ve never made services yet. I will though… I think.
I hate to think of what my life will be like when I go back home- sitting on my ass watching TV, because what else is there to do? Oh, I guess I need to start WORK. Sigh, the thought of North/Center desk depresses me because my senior year is so close to starting, and I have no idea what my life will entail when May roles around again. Perhaps I’ll just have to come back to London!! (I can hear my parents sigh's an ocean away…)
I’m landing soon in Dublin… look out Ireland, this chick is whipping out her shamrock tattoo and showing some Irish pride!! Erin Go Bragh!
Cheers!
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Paris and Oxford
Today marks the midway point of my time in London, but I still have 27 more days of adventure! It looks like the month of July is going to be jam packed with trips, which is fine with me! I will be going to Edinburgh on July 9th, Dublin on July 13th, and possibly Barcelona on July 20th, depending on whether or not everyone can actually plan this trip. As you may or may not know, I have quite an extensive bucket list. I was able to cross something off of it this week, but more on that later. One of my to-do items is visit every major country in my heritage. With my upcoming trips to Scotland and Ireland, I will have completed this task, for the most part. After a conversation about my heritage with my mom tonight, I guess my family is polish as well. Melissa and I looked into a trip to Krakow, Poland, but with the political unrest in the country (and little desire to actually go to Poland) we decided it is too unsafe to travel there, as well as too expensive. But I'm still going to check it off my list, since I identify as German (which I visited in High School),Irish and Scottish.
As I touched on before, I was able to cross off something on my list with my trip to Paris. I planned on going to the Louvre the morning I left for London, but when I got there the line was too long, so I got a picture of the pyramid and walked around a bit. Good enough for me, since the one painting I really wanted to see, Starry Night, is in San Fransisco right now. Mission complete. The day before was simply wonderful. I was graciously able to stay with one of my sorority sisters, Lauren Bank in her hotel with her family. I got into Paris around 11pm, and then it took about an hour to get a taxi. Apparently, even if they are open, taxis are damn near impossible to hire. Alas, I somehow found my way to the hotel and crashed. We awoke bright and early the next day to see the Palace of Versailles and the Eiffel Tower. I was so pleased and grateful to be allowed to tag along with the Bank family, and had a great time spending the day with them. The palace was beautiful, as was the Eiffel Tower. We got to it around sunset, and it was stunning, so much bigger than I thought. Lauren's sister and brother climbed to the second landing, but the wimps (i.e. Lauren, Mr. Bank and his girlfriend, and I) waved at to them at the bottom as we waited for a lift to take us up. Since I was only in Paris for 40 hours, I was so pleased to go up there because from it's view I was able to see Notre Dame, the Arch de Triumph, and so much more that I did not have the time to see. I learned 2 phrases in french, "Je ne par le pas Frances" and "Parle vouz anglais?" translating to "I do not speak French" and "Do you speak English?" I did, however, practice my Spanish as one of my cabbies did not speak English, but did speak some Spanish. He was able to tell me that instead of taking me to my destination, the Louvre, he was going to be late for something and instead dropped me off in some random location and gave me walking directions. I guess he did not care that I a)spoke no French and b)had all of my luggage with me. None the less, I found my way there, and was able to walk around the city a bit, something I otherwise would not be able to do. Silver lining, eh?
Yesterday was spent in Oxford, England. Such a beautiful town, with awesome scholastic history. I've always said that Mizzou has the prettiest college campus, but I guess I was wrong, Oxford takes the gold. I bet we have a better basketball team, though :) Anyway, the trip was so fun, and we got to do a lot of sightseeing of Oxford, including a lot of Harry Potter sights, as evident by my "oh Bollocks" facebook album, which is now my favorite British saying, FYI.
This week was also great because I was finally able to talk to my parents. This is the longest I have gone in my whole life without talking to them, so I was thrilled to hear what's going on at home. I was pleased to learn that Jack got a new job, that dad got to see the Hawks parade, and that mom met VP Joe Biden. And who knows what Katie is up to, since she refuses to answer my calls, even though I told her to not ignore unknown numbers. Stop it, Stinky! On that note, if you do get an unknown number coming through, please answer because it might be me!
Stay tuned for more posts!
Cheers!
As I touched on before, I was able to cross off something on my list with my trip to Paris. I planned on going to the Louvre the morning I left for London, but when I got there the line was too long, so I got a picture of the pyramid and walked around a bit. Good enough for me, since the one painting I really wanted to see, Starry Night, is in San Fransisco right now. Mission complete. The day before was simply wonderful. I was graciously able to stay with one of my sorority sisters, Lauren Bank in her hotel with her family. I got into Paris around 11pm, and then it took about an hour to get a taxi. Apparently, even if they are open, taxis are damn near impossible to hire. Alas, I somehow found my way to the hotel and crashed. We awoke bright and early the next day to see the Palace of Versailles and the Eiffel Tower. I was so pleased and grateful to be allowed to tag along with the Bank family, and had a great time spending the day with them. The palace was beautiful, as was the Eiffel Tower. We got to it around sunset, and it was stunning, so much bigger than I thought. Lauren's sister and brother climbed to the second landing, but the wimps (i.e. Lauren, Mr. Bank and his girlfriend, and I) waved at to them at the bottom as we waited for a lift to take us up. Since I was only in Paris for 40 hours, I was so pleased to go up there because from it's view I was able to see Notre Dame, the Arch de Triumph, and so much more that I did not have the time to see. I learned 2 phrases in french, "Je ne par le pas Frances" and "Parle vouz anglais?" translating to "I do not speak French" and "Do you speak English?" I did, however, practice my Spanish as one of my cabbies did not speak English, but did speak some Spanish. He was able to tell me that instead of taking me to my destination, the Louvre, he was going to be late for something and instead dropped me off in some random location and gave me walking directions. I guess he did not care that I a)spoke no French and b)had all of my luggage with me. None the less, I found my way there, and was able to walk around the city a bit, something I otherwise would not be able to do. Silver lining, eh?
Yesterday was spent in Oxford, England. Such a beautiful town, with awesome scholastic history. I've always said that Mizzou has the prettiest college campus, but I guess I was wrong, Oxford takes the gold. I bet we have a better basketball team, though :) Anyway, the trip was so fun, and we got to do a lot of sightseeing of Oxford, including a lot of Harry Potter sights, as evident by my "oh Bollocks" facebook album, which is now my favorite British saying, FYI.
This week was also great because I was finally able to talk to my parents. This is the longest I have gone in my whole life without talking to them, so I was thrilled to hear what's going on at home. I was pleased to learn that Jack got a new job, that dad got to see the Hawks parade, and that mom met VP Joe Biden. And who knows what Katie is up to, since she refuses to answer my calls, even though I told her to not ignore unknown numbers. Stop it, Stinky! On that note, if you do get an unknown number coming through, please answer because it might be me!
Stay tuned for more posts!
Cheers!
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