So, not much has been going on since I got back from my previous trip. School is boring, but my teachers think I’m the best thing since sliced bread, seriously, so I think I’m okay. Since half the people on this trip are pretty much stupid or hung over half the time, I get to show them up with my astute knowledge. Yes, I’m afraid my ‘Miss Know-it-All’ comes out a bit over here, mostly because she’s allowed to. Our grades are based mostly off of classroom participation I think, so I take every opportunity to pipe up and say something smart.
My boring classroom. :PMichelle DenBeste, mom’s old boss from Fresno State, is really cool, but she seems like she’s always trying to be my best friend. It’s hard because I don’t really know how to respond to her, AND she wants us to call her Michelle. Now that’s a hard thing to do. None of us, not even the Grad students, can bring ourselves to call her Michelle, so we call her ‘D.’ Yeah, it’s kinda funny when we walk into class and say, “Hey, what up, D?” She laughs.
Regina and the rest of our flat still aren’t getting along, so nothing new there.
On Thursday, our group went to the London Transport Museum. I wasn’t expecting to like it that much, but it was SO COOL! It was totally interactive and we could walk and sit in old trolleys from the early 1900’s. They recreated an entire exhibit dedicated to the tunnels during WWII when civilians camped out in there during the Blitz. It made me want to cry after seeing how brave those people were. It was neat because the museum took you back in time through an elevator—kind of like a ride. So I, being the absolutely cute and funny girl I am, was like, “C’mon, Marty! We gotta get the Delorean up to 88 miles an hour!!!” They laugh at me. So they think I’m funny and/or stupid. Either way I’m happy. =D
Then, yesterday, we went to Windsor Castle. Wow. We could see that much of the castle, but what we did see was amazing! We started off by watching the Changing of the Guard. This time I had a front row seat (well, I was standing) so I could see everything, unlike at Buckingham Palace where I could basically see nothing. I got some awesome pics! The band played some classical British marching songs, which put us in a very patriotic (and traitorous =D) mood. Then they immediately go into playing the Mission: Impossible theme song. The British tourists there are like “Yeah, Cool!” and the American tourists are like, “WTF, Mission Impossible?!” I was trying so hard not to laugh at everyone’s faces. Then they played, of all things, the theme to Harry Potter, and that made me feel better. And the guards were so cute in…erm, I mean…the guards were so strong and manly and scary in their uniforms. I wanted to take one home with me, but Marika talked me out of it. They’re too expensive and they’d never fit in my suitcase anyway. :P
We saw Queen Mary’s dollhouse. It makes the Barbie Mansion look like a cardboard box. This dollhouse has electric lighting, hot and cold running water, real marble floors, real porcelain tubs and sinks…it’s incredible! The dollhouse was built by one of the royal architects and the castle’s gardens were planned and “built” by some really famous gardener for the royals. Gold, precious jewels, jade, ivory…it’s all in this freakin’ doll house! It was so totally awesome! The whole thing stands at, maybe four feet high. Mind boggling. After the dollhouse, me, Marika and Josh walked through the State Apartments, most of which are still used during state events today. We sat St. George’s Hall, which I’d seen on some PBS presentation called “Windsor Castle.” I remember watching it with dad when the servants were setting up the grand banquet table and measuring the distance of the plates with a ruler and laughing. Well, now I’ve been in that room! It’s so cool! The amount of detail in the paintings and gilding is so stunning it’s impossible to describe. I was able to see the original paintings of so many works of art I’ve studies; for example, the portrait of the young Elizabeth I in her red dress holding a book. It’s so famous and I saw the real one—like two feet in front of me. I could see the brush strokes!
There were no pictures allowed inside the State Apartments, or St. George’s Cathedral, so you can Google them if you want pictures. It’ll be worth it, I promise.
Last night we had a “Cool Peeps Only” party. It was the three girls from our flat (Regina wasn’t invited, not like she’d come anyway. She was out drinking or something), the two couples from next door and Josh. Everyone brought different meals, so it was really eclectic. We had tacos, complete with shredded lettuce, tomatoes, tortilla shells and cheese. Trust me, it’s not easy to make Mexican food here! We tried to make guacamole, too, but we couldn’t find some of the ingredients, plus avocados are pickin’ expensive here. There other thing that’s hard to find here is ice cream, surprisingly. Most ice cream comes in bar form, so you can eat in on the go, but good luck trying to find a quart of ice cream. The cheapest we could find was ₤4.50. That’s over $9 for a pint of ice cream! Ahhhhh!
It’s weird how you start to miss things you’d never think you’d miss. I miss Ranch dressing. It doesn’t exist here. I also miss the sugar packed cereals here. Here there are aonly about 8 different kinds of cereals: Cherrios, Frosties (Frosted Flakes), Shredded Wheat, Cocoa Pops (like Cocoa Puffs, but even more disgusting) and about four other wheat/grain cereals. I miss Fruit Loops and Cinnamon Toast Crunch, even though I never ate them much at home. And the fresh fruit. I MISS the big selection of fruits and veggies. The veggie/fruits aisle is about half the size of one of our basic grocery store aisles back home. So sad.
So, now I’m just catching up on homework and emailing and organizing my pictures with no ice cream. *sigh* The weekends are crazy busy here, so I probably won’t go out much today. It’s homework time! Whoot!
That’s all folks!
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