My semester flashing before my eyes.

Although I've been diligently prepping myself for the ensuing three finals, I really must continue doing so. However, I am finding every excuse to occupy my person in other ways...including writing this.

I'm really sad to be leaving London : (
Saying good-bye is never enjoyable--especially if you know that you may not be back for quite some time, or ever. Loved the people, loved the city, loved the independence, politics, newspapers, public transportation, musical theatre, having a monarchy...
(You realise that if you a confidante of mine in LA, you'll be hearing more than you bargained for about the UK--so I apologise, you'll need to be non-confrontational and tell me "Enough!")

On the other hand, I am very excited to be graduating...in 3 days (technically!). And I can't wait to see everyone!! And I'm curious to see what LA/A-town is like again.

And hurrah! I get to have a couple more weeks prowling about Europe : )

My Roman Holiday

Rome, Italy was a nice enough city. Still, I am much relieved to be back home in London.

La Boca di Verita was my favorite spot. It's from the scene in Audrey Hepburn's debut in the film Roman Holiday.

I was most in awe of the Pantheon. I don't know why, but I never got over how massive & grand it was. Even after 3 visits.

Oh, and I ate a ton of gelato : )

A Greek Thanksgiving

So I went to Athens for Thanksgiving! I'm not sure what else I can concisely say about it..

I thought it was really surreal to see Greek writing. It paid off to be 'greek' with a small 'g', I was able to make out some of the letters and words! As I told my roommate, I should feel at home in Greece...after all, I am a sista : )

On our first night there I stopped a man who was passing us in the street.

"What's that?" I asked, pointing at a ginormous lighted mountain.

"...Acropolis??" he semi-replied/questioned back. (It must have been like asking what century we're in)

"Ohhh okay, just checking...I found it!" I exclaimed.

Yikes. What a tourist.

It must be so strange to be Athenian...to have the Acropolis and old civilisations in your backyard. Also, I was pretty excited to be on the south slope of the site--It's supposedly the place where Pablo gave his famous speech about the "unknown God"!

I wish I could imagine what it was like to be there amidst temples and togas. Instead there were cranes and construction workers putting the ancient stones back together.

Good food, though : )

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving!

Istanbul, Turkey

It began on the plane.

My travel buddy, Mo, and I found ourselves seated amidst a group of Turkish men who were acting as if we were at a bar rather than on a 3 hour flight. They were standing around in the aisle unchecked by the very British flight attendant, Francesca, whom they kept calling over so they could buy more drinks. Every 5 minutes, they would burst out into unified Turkish song. It was pretty intense (And this is already skipping the part where our plane got struck by lightning).

And, of course, these folks became our new friends. By the end of 3 hours, Mo and I were invited to come to a Bisiktas football game, the official team of Istanbul.

Our new Turkish hosts were more than hospitable. They took us out to eat, drink, and sightsee--and wouldn't let us pay for a thing. Right before the awaited game, they brought us into the team gift shop and insisted that we choose Bisiktas gear to wear for the game...and then they paid for it. We protested with all our might, but they acted truly offended at our rejection of their hospitality.

"Wouldn't you do the same for us if we came to Los Angeles?" demanded Ercument.

"Uhhhmmmmm..." said we.

"Well, whether you would or not, this is how we do it." he replied to our awkward pause.

Istanbul itself was an incredible experience. I had never been in a Muslim country before. There were mosques galore and we immediately heard the 5 daily calls to prayer from the loudspeakers posted on the top of the minarets.

It was really neat to be able to travel from Europe to Asia (and vice versa) daily. The Bosphorus Strait was an interesting body of water with lots of vessels traveling through it.

You'll have to ask me later about the strange hostel receptionist, ridiculous rain, racial issues, why the Turkish flag design came to be, beer & wine, and near drugging experience. There are, again like Madrid, way too many stories to recount.

All I'll say for now is that Bisiktas lost 2-0 : ( , yet I am still a fan for life. Also, I have never been offered the sale of so many carpets!

Sadly, I came out sick from the weekend; a combination of not fully recovering from the previous weekend, my sick host, and being immersed in rain-water. Please pray that:

1. I'll get healthy again.

2. I will get all my assignments done.

Thanks : )

Fin de Semana en Madrid, Espana

I would like to start by thanking God that I am alive and safe at home in London.
This was the worst and also the best travel experience I have had yet.

There are so many stories that came out of this weekend; I'll only write about the main events here.

The worst part:
Upon arriving at the airport, I took the Metro to meet my host & was pickpocketed :(
My cell phone and all my cash...all taken.

I was supposed to text my host when I arrived at El Diamante, a bar in the centre of Madrid. This is when I discovered that I no longer had my phone. I wasn't sure which option to pursue: a) run back to find the perpetrator (which wouldn't help), or b) sit down and cry. In the Metro station, I found a police officer and told him my sad story (good thing I speak a bit of Spanish...).
He answered me simply with a, "Es dificil." (essentially "tough luck") and a shrug.

I pulled myself together and asked for directions to the bar. I emerged into the cold night of Madrid and stood on the corner next to El Diamante alone with all my stuff. No way to contact my host, and hence, no place to stay. Also, no numbers to call, nor did I know a soul in the city...or the country for that matter!

I was desperate enough that I started asking random men if they were my host, and when they denied such an identity, if they knew where the nearest Internet cafe was. I finally came across two girls who were English-speakers. They felt so sorry for me that they told me that they'd try to help my situation when they finally met up with their friend.

Altruistically, they brought me to their friend, a gentleman named Miguel. They insisted that I come along with them since they were going out for Halloween night. So with my backpack and all, I tagged along to watch an amazing Flamenco show and then to a club to dance the night away to house-esque music!

At 5am, when the night ended early (in their opinion!), I arrived with Miguel back at his home. After a much needed night's rest, he was kind enough to show me around Madrid and lent me his guest bedroom for the weekend.



The best part:
Madrid was beautiful and sunny. It was in the high 60s F! What a welcome change from London : )

The loveliest part of Madrid was El Parque de Buen Retiro. Amazing acreage of grass, waterfalls, ponds, gardens, walkways, etc. People all come to rollerblade, stroll, walk their dogs, sleep, read, jog...you name it : )

Miguel thought it would be a great idea to take a rowboat out on Enstanque, the big pond. It was very charming, although rowing is a lot harder than it looks : )


And the best part is that I got to practice my Spanish. It was awesome to see that I was able to effectively communicate...although in some cases it was not to my benefit...

The lessons I learned is that: a) there are things worse than death, b) there are more devastating things to be lost than material possessions or money.

And for this I'm a thankful girl : )

Vocab Words

Some words that I would like to export:
-Dodgy (adj.): iffy, of shady origins or background. [American English: sketchy, shady]
-Flat (n.): residence that is multi-level and includes seperate living spaces for individuals or families. [American English: apartment]
-Queue (n. or v.): formation used for individuals to wait their turn for a service. [American English: line]
-Pudding (n.): final course in a meal, usually sweet. [American English: dessert]
-Rubbish bin (n.): container which holds unwanted waste items. [American English: trash can, wastebasket]

A word I would not like to export:
-Loo (n.): toilet. [American English: bathroom, restroom]
*Note: When asked my surname at the pub after church one Sunday, I simply pulled out my Driver's License, threw it on the table and walked away. The entire table exploded into incredulity and then uncontrollable laughter. They could scarcely speak because they were rolling on the floor.

Currently reading:

Watching the English: The Hidden Rules of English Behaviour

It's an anthropological book about, obviously, the English.

To be perhaps redundant (but clear), it's about the people/culture of England--not of the United Kingdom or Britain, or Northern Ireland, Wales, or Scotland.

Call me boring, but I'm really enjoying it so far : )

News from North America

I heard that there's serious fires back home. Thankfully it hasn't touched LA or A-town. But unfortunately, look at everywhere it has hit: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/la-me-fire23oct23,0,4293348.story?coll=chi-homepage-fea

Side note: I feel that the rumours are true--Individuals outside of the US, and specifically CA, are much more informed. Or at least I feel more informed while outside of the States. I was reading The London Paper today, and although it's admittedly a tabloid, even there I heard about the fire crises in California.

Must be very smoky/ashy right now. Is everyone okay?

Back at Home

As we're travelling about, very often my flatmates and I will say, "When we get back home we'll do this..." "...I hope the weather is good back home." etc.

And we're really talking about London.

I'm thankfully home for these next two weekends. I am rather worn from jet-setting every consecutive weekend : ) although I don't regret any of the trips I've had.

Crossing the street has become easier. I look the correct way now & haven't been hit yet : ) When outside the UK (where cars drive on the right side of the road), like in Austria & Germany, I got confuzzled because I've become so used to left-side driving.

Also, I absolutely adore the Tube and all the independence and ease that it brings me. I can just go to the station and end up in a completely unique part of town.

I think a huge reason why I'm enjoying myself so much is because I'm truly a student here without any responsibilities. I know approximately 19 people on this continent (plus some random Brits) which is so freeing; I can go anywhere and do anything I want at any time. My roommate agrees that it's quite a vacation here.

Rugby World Cup 2007

Last night was the final match-up: England v. South Africa. To show our support, we all wore red and took the tube up to the Grand Union, a pub in Camden Town, to watch the game on a wide screen.

The place was packed. We ended up standing on the tables so we could see.

Although the British are known for not displaying emotion, their hearts were really into the game. At random or brilliant moments in the game, they would sing in unison, "Swing low, sweet chariot...coming for to carry me home!"

I also did my best to sing the British anthem "God Save the Queen." It's the same tune of "My Country 'Tis of Thee."

At the end, South Africa played the better game and took the Cup. As one would expect from the British public, they showed their disappointment by singing and applauding.

Congrats to South Africa : )
but, good game Johnny Wilkinson.

Bagpipes & Kilts

We took a 9 hour bus to Edinburgh, Scotland. Ouch.

However, it was another of the best weekends ever. We arrived on Thursday at 8am and took the bus to find our host.

It would have been quite an uneventful journey had he given me proper directions. Rhys (pronounced "Reese"--it's a Celtic name) had written me very detailed, but inaccurate information on how to get to his house. Therefore, I showed up at the correct house number, but on the wrong street. Of course I confidently rang the bell, and the door was opened by an older gentleman with whom I proceeded to have a very confused conversation, as you can imagine.

To cut short the story, we managed to get ourselves to the actual house and promptly became obsessed with our host, Rhys.
He is originally Welsh but was raised in England and now attends university in Edinburgh. He speaks and dresses like a young Englishman, also speaks Spanish (because he lived there for a bit), and a tiny bit of Welsh. He's also lived in India for about a year and London and Florida...and a number of other places around the globe. I was quite impressed.

He is on the whole 'quintessentially British,' as I told him, and has a penchant for bantering and arguing as every good British citizen does. He noted my sarcastic humour as being unusual for an American, or indeed a non-Brit--and I'm still not sure if I like that about myself.

While he was in class, we took a walk about the city and saw Holyrood Castle, residence of the Queen when in Scotland.


We're pretty sure she was there when we passed by because she isn't in London at the moment and her royal standard was flying!



We passed by Scottish Parliament, which is the most modern, heinous building I've ever seen.
I think my camera actually made it look better than it does in person. Rhys says that the building turned out this way because the original famous architect died with only an impressionist sketch of what he wanted and a group of people tried to interpret for themselves what he was going for.


Next we climbed Arthur's Seat, the extinct volcano which sits, watching over the city. It was an amazing view.

In my opinion, Edinburgh is one of the most beautiful large cities anywhere. It's more like a little-big city. It's very clean and green; it seems like everyone goes running and walking with their dogs.


The next day, we took the train to North Berwick (pronounced "North Barracks") which is a little fishing village on the sea.

We ate at a little shop called the North Berwick Fry which is famous for having the best fish & chips. I think we used up an entire bottle of vinegar. Mmmm.

And the best part that happened was the celidh (pronounced "kay-lee") which is a traditional Scottish dance. It is definitely not a spectator sport. The emcee announces the dance and talks everyone through it and then the band plays and all the newbies stumble their way through it. It was a lot like square dancing, except the men were wearing kilts.

It was intimidating at first because the hardcore dancers took the dance steps really seriously and I didn't want to mess up. Amongst ourselves, we gave names for two particular kilted men who were overly serious about the celigh: "Fascist Scot" and "Braveheart." It was so much fun!

I'll look for pictures of that.

Amy Winehouse

Evidently the stars also shine in London.
After taking the Eurostar from Paris back to London, we saw her on the train platform.

Paris

So we went to Paris as a USC group.

I know it's the most famous, incredible city, etc. but it's not my favorite. I don't know if it's because I don't know much about French culture, language, people. My only point of reference is Victor Hugo and my adorable French speaking friends (you know who you are).

Anyway, the museums were incredible, so that was worth it. The Musee d'Orsay held impressionist artwork, which I thought I hated, but I really am impressed now that I had an explanation of what it all means.

Here's one of my favourite paintings called "Danseuses bleues" ("Blue Dancers") by Edgar Degas.

The Lourve was incredible.


Mona was there:

The Winged Apollo was present:

Venus de Milo was accounted for:

I've never read The DaVinci Code, so I didn't really understand a few things...


We also were there for Nuit Blanc, which is the night when Paris doesn't sleep and all the museums and famous buildings stay open through the night. On this night, they have a tradition of displaying contemporary art in Concorde; I don't get modern art as a rule, but fire was involved and the whole place was lit up--gorgeous.



Plus, France had just beat New Zealand during the Rugby Cup! People were wildly excited. Horns were honking in the street and French flags were waved. I've never seen more trashed streets.

There were a few little things we saw also, like the Ceremony for the Unknown Soldier at the Arc du Triumphe:

And I climbed the stairs of that little thing called the Tour d'Eiffel.



And finally...

Home, sweet, London : )

A German-speaking weekend

**Beware: Long story**

On Thursday evening, we boarded a plane for Salzburg!
On the way, I sat next to the ringleader of a group of 7 British boys who were taking a holiday to Salzburg and Munich together. As I found out, they had gone to University of Southampton together and were now all in the working world. We had a nice conversation…and then I fell asleep.

Upon arriving at Salzburg’s W.A. Mozart Airport, my travel buddy, Mo, and I walked to our hostel. Once we walked into the lobby, we saw the same group of guys that we had met on the plane! We waved to them and went to the front desk to check in. When I gave the receptionist my name, she started laughing and told me that I was placed in a 4-person room with 3 of the guys from that group. It was a rather interesting experience for my first time in a hostel. I had a lovely chat with one of the guys who came in early for the night. He’s a very British environmentalist. Other than that, I slept early so that we could get an early start on Munich!

Also that night, Mo & I wandered down to the river. We found a little stand that was open and bought ourselves Burenwursts and bread rolls. We camped on the bridge that overlooks the river and ate there. We looked a bit homeless : )

The next morning we woke up early and found fruhstuck (German word for breakfast) at a little pastry shop. It was delicious.

When we arrived in Munich it was quite rainy. Still, we made our way to Oktoberfest—and it was really intense. We went inside one of the many beer tents which was decorated in green and white. It was so crowded that we had to make friends in order to be able to sit down at a shared table. The best part was the pretzel that I bought : )

I didn’t escape from this festival without also consuming a metre-long bratwurst, apfelstrudel with vanilla sauce, and a tasse schokolade (hot chocolate).

The funny part is that I never knew what Oktoberfest was until freshman year when EVK was celebrating it.

Anyhow, we didn’t have a place to stay the night in Munich since every type of accommodation had been booked since July, so we planned on spending the night in the Hauptbahnhof (central station). On the way, 2 German boys asked us for directions to the station, and we told them that we were also rather lost. They asked some locals for directions and we decided to follow them there. The boys asked where we were staying & we told them our sad, homeless story.

Fast forward.
We found ourselves on a train to Agatharied, a Munich suburb about 1 hour outside the city, also home of Gery and Matthias—the two boys that found us at the train station. Gery and Matte are actually neighbors and also best friends from birth.
“Are you sure this is okay with your family?” I asked Gery.
“Yes. My mother is cool.” He replied in his not-too-shabby English.

We alighted from the bahn in a gorgeous German suburb where the stars were shining brightly. Gery’s place was a large, beautiful 6 story house. He and his mother made up a bed for us girls on the couches in the living room—a very welcome change from the cold and wet outdoors. We slept like babies.

In the morning, we were greeted by his mother and 3 family friends along with a huge German fruhstuck, complete with an assortment of breads, cheese, fruit, eggs, tea, and coffee.

During breakfast, Gery informed us that we could take a train straight from his house back to Salzburg, however, we could only buy train tickets from the neighboring city. He said he’d drive to get the tickets, but he could only take one of us along to purchase them since he drives a motorcycle.

My hand shot up in the air.

I got to ride through the German countryside through green fields of white geese on the back of a motorcycle with a German boy. It was really fun. I got to wear a motorcycle helmet and this jacket that he’s wearing below.

But eventually, we did make it back to Salzburg safe and sound. And then, I got to see some of the Sound of Music sights/sites.

*sigh of happiness*

My favorite part about this trip to Austria & Germany is that German really is the language spoken. I couldn’t help but pick up a few words…which is pretty good considering that I went with zero knowledge about German. And now, as a result, I really would like to study the language.

Love Actually

I saw this film for the first time this week. Everyone has told me that I would love it--and I really do.

I feel connected to this movie, perhaps because it's very British (obviously). It was much better that I saw it here; after living in London for a month, I could pick out all the little things that I wouldn't have noticed otherwise. For example:

-Not knowing anything about the plot of the movie, I immediately knew that Hugh Grant was the Prime Minister just because he walked into 10 Downing Street. I screamed when he was greeted with "Hello, Mr. Prime Minister."

-I identified the biscuits that the PM was served: Digestives.

-I identified a few landmarks: the river Thames, the Gerkin, Big Ben, etc.

-Loved the Irish accent of the father character.

-Was amused by the anti-American slant: poor character of the US president & the way American girls were portrayed

-Agreed with one British character that he just had to open his mouth & be well received in the US because of his accent : )

This makes me want to stay and be British.

Hillsong London

This past Sunday, I went to check out Hillsong Church. It was a really unique experience because they were having some kind of special event, so the service was inside the Dominion Theatre on Tottenham Court Road!

This probably doesn't mean much to you if you're not in London...but this is the theatre where one of the biggest musicals, We Will Rock You, has been playing each night. We Will Rock You is the musical based off of Queen's songs.

Anyway, the band was, of course, good. And the audience was huge. It was interesting. Yep.

Wicked

I finally saw it.

We took the Tube down to The Apollo Victoria Theatre & made it right in time for curtain call!

Despite all the hype, I was not disappointed at all : ) I am thoroughly impressed with the two female leads that played Elphaba and Galinda--I want to be them.

We're going to see it again.

Visit to the Queen

Although I called in on Her Majesty, she was out on holiday : )

So we got to take a tour of Buckingham Palace while it's open for the season. From what I understand, the palace closes in 10 days. I could mention a lot of the history I learned, but I'll just show pictures from the gardens. We weren't allowed to take photos inside.

This is the lake in the gardens. Can you imagine having this on your property in the middle of the city?


Here's the backyard view of Buckingham. Our professor showed us pictures of himself here when he was invited to the Queen's garden party. He wore tails and a top hat : )

The most 'brilliant' part about the palace is that there's a large mirror in the White Drawing Room that is actually a secret door that the Queen uses! The candelabras are bolted down on the mirror table so that they won't fall off when the door swings open. That's pretty awesome.

Irish Holiday

Over the past weekend, I went to Dublin! So, I took the advice of my esteemed freshman year roomie : ), and went couchsurfing there.

A little nutshell description for those who aren't familiar with couchsurfing: It's an online network for people who are travelling & need a place to stay, and those who are willing to host people that are visiting their city. It's nicer than hostels because you get to be in an actual home and there's someone to give you advice on what to do & see.

Anyway, we ended up staying with a Turk who had moved to Dublin 2 weeks prior! We were expecting to be thrown onto a little couch. Instead, after our overnight, very red-eye travels, we were greeted by this sight:


It was amazing. Our host is an employee for Microsoft (the building you can see from the balcony in the picture). The company is putting him up in this luxury tower and he was nice enough to pay it forward to us.

As for Dublin itself, it was rather small. Some of my travel companions were very disappointed with its lack of 'real culture.' After a day, I had to get out of that place. We took a bus to Belfast!

While in Belfast, we got to see Belfast Castle. There was a castle in Dublin also, but Belfast's was so much more picturesque--and was quite a hike to get there. It looked a little like this:




When we arrived, there was a wedding going on *sigh of happiness.* The gentlemen in the wedding party were in black tails with pink ties and pink roses on the lapel.

I'm sure other things happened in Dublin/Belfast. But these are the highlights : )

I arrived back home on Monday after 4.5 days away from London & went straight to class after doing the last edit of a paper!