Merry Christmas!

Hello All!

It's Christmas day! I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday and eating lots of good food! My parents were lovely and brought me a few gifts! I now have the 11th Doctor's sonic screwdriver (google it) and the 4th Doctor's scarf! I also received a very nice card from Sherry and Jordan Sim along with a big bag of Canadian skittles. I'm saving them for the new year. My parents brought me some really nice loose leaf tea, some cookies, Kraft Dinner (so excited) and a few other little bits and bobs.

It's been nice showing them around Chichester and outlying areas. We went to Portsmouth and nearly got blown over by the wind and the rain. Oh and the scary drivers. On the 28th we head off to Paris so this is my last blog before January 8th.

I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful new year!

-Kirsten

Semester One Done

Hello!

So as of Friday last week, I have officially completed my first semester abroad! It's funny, now that all my essays are in and I'm faced with this big stretch of time until semester two starts, I'm not so sure what to do with myself day to day. If I was back home, I'd be working the holiday rush so my days wouldn't seem so long. In all honesty, the days probably feel so long and boring because I'm waiting for my parents to arrive. They get here TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!! Can you tell I'm excited?

Since I've completed the first semester, I think it's a good time to review what I've learned since I got here.

1.) Roommates = Good. Some people might have a different view. I've certainly heard horror stories of roommates past but in my experience I've actually had a blast! Yes,we bicker about dishes, the state of the kitchen, doors slamming and parties keeping people awake but for the most part it's been fun. Even with the bickering no one has ever been outright nasty, and most arguments don't drag out endlessly. Also, you'd think the drama level would be high in a house of girls but most of the drama I've experienced has been outside issues. There has been very few inside the house incidents which has been amazing.

2.) FaceTime is wonderful. I love the fact that I can actually see my parents when I talk to them. Even if it's a five minute call it still helps keep the homesickness at a manageable level. Some days suck, others I don't think of home at all and I think that's because I'm able to actually see home when I call. The world shrinks a bit and it's nice.

3.) If everyone is doing it then why the hell should I? I've had lots of new experiences, some good some not so good. The point is I know who I am and what I like and I don't see the point of doing stupid crap even if other people enjoy it. It's not for me, it will never be for me.

4.) Eat yo damn veggies. Seriously I have no problems eating fruit but I have to remind myself to eat veggies. It's easiest to do the veggies thing if I a.) make a lot of stir fry with a crapload of veggies and b.) prewash, cut, prepare the veggies I do buy so I have no lazyass excuse not to eat them.

5.) No one is going to tell me what is going on so I better figure it out for myself. This one is huge. Most of the time when someone says "I'll email you" or "I'll call you" it'll NEVER HAPPEN! You have to track their lying asses down and get answers. If they won't give you answers straight away you become a permanent pain in their sensitive bits until they give you what you want or pass you off to someone else who can actually help you. Of course when you finally get your stuff be nice and say your pleases and thank-yous so they don't hate you when you have to once again beat an answer out of them.

6.) Everyone is in a permanent state of illness, power through it. Unis are a germ farm. There is no such thing as being "healthy" here. There is only states between illness. Savour those moments.

I'm sure there's more stuff I've learned but my brain isn't coughing any of it up right now.

My parents arrive tomorrow, something I've been looking forward to since I got here. I don't know how regular updates on here will be once they get here. I think there will be one on Christmas Day (as it is a Wednesday) but after that there will be no updates until around the 15th of January. We're going to Paris on the 28th and then the 8th of January is when my parents fly back home. No time to update between then I don't think.

Until next time,
Cheers!

Final Stretch!

Hey!!

Sorry this blog is coming in later than normal! Hayley and I went shopping today in Portsmouth. We just barely made it onto the train down because we left the house later than we intended, but a bit of running never hurt anyone!

The shopping was mostly for me. I needed a smaller suitcase for travelling over the holidays and into the new year, a dress and some other bits and bobs. I was able to get everything I needed which was awesome! We went shopping at Primark, a very inexpensive department store that's popular over here. Chichester doesn't have one, thus the trip to Portsmouth! It was actually a really nice day for it too. It was frosty in Chichester when we left for the station but Portsmouth was quite warm! I was wearing a sleeveless red dress and a jacket but I was actually too hot in the jacket so I walked with just the sleeveless dress.

A stall at the Christmas market in Portsmouth! 

So much candy! (No I didn't get any.)

My haul. The bag is a lot bigger than

the picture makes it look. 

Hayley and I also grabbed a nice relaxed lunch in town at a place called Yates. It's a chain place but the food is really good and a great price. We were able to get two lunches for about £7 combined. We splurged and got dessert too. It was 2 for 1 so why not? They had rocky road sundaes that were absolutely amazing. My stomach didn't thank me for it though, too much dairy. And yet, I regret NOTHING!

There was about an inch of whipped cream

on the top of that thing. 

As far as class stuff goes, I'm half way through my last essay. I honestly should have started it earlier but oh well. I'll definitely get it done by tomorrow so I'm not that worried about it. Once that gets handed in I'M FREE! 

I've started prepping for my parent's arrival. Ma has started packing stuff so I've let them know the general temperatures to pack for and I've been scouting out places we can go and store times for grocery shopping. On Monday I am going shopping for bits and bobs that Ma and Dad need when they arrive, like breakfast food. I'm counting down the days and getting more and more excited as it gets closer. 

EIGHT DAYS!!!!

Let There Be Light!

Hello lovely people!

I totally forgot today is a Wednesday. I don't know why I forgot but there you go, it happened. I think now that it's exam/final essay time my sense of time is just sliding about a bit.

So what's been happening this week? Last Thursday was the tree lighting in the centre of town. I was actually not aware there was THAT many people in Chichester. The place was uncomfortably crowded. I was on my own at this event because my roommates were finishing up assignments. I think the other international girls went as well but I didn't see them in the crowds. There were pictures on Facebook though so I'm glad they saw it. ANYWAY, the tree lighting actually turned out to be a big community event. There were vendors selling things, shops were open later and there was a really great choir of primary school kids and church goers singing christmas carols. It was more traditional churchy carols though, so no Jingle Bells. It's a bit of a shame when you think of it. There's nothing that screams "CHRISTMAS" more than a huge crowd singing Jingle Bells. Well maybe Mariah Carey singing about what she wants for Christmas but the world tends to have a love/hate relationship with that song. How 'bout some pictures? These were all taken on my iPod so the quality is a bit sketchy. Sorry about that!

Ice Giant performers! Really nice people who

would pose if you asked them to. 

These blinky light things were EVERYWHERE!

Free seizure anyone?

There was a HUGE line up to see Santa. 

Unlike Mall Santa lines, the kids were very well

behaved while waiting. Good kiddos!

Carols time! The kids were in their uniforms.

So cute!

This was just part of the crowd checking out

the festivities. It was PACKED!

Mayor of Chichester making a speech

before hitting the big red button.

And they're on! The lights go all the

way down the high street. 

So festive!

Not much else has happened this week. It's the end of classes now, and I've turned in 2 of 4 final assignments. No exams for me this semester! The two essays I turned in were the biggest ones I had to do so I've been relieved to have that out of the way. I still have to do the other two but they're not as big a deal. Well...yes they are but they won't kill me trying to complete them. 

OH! Hayley and I saw The Hunger Games: Catching Fire on Saturday! For those of you who are unfamiliar with The Hunger Games, it's a movie series based on a book series about a future where kids have to kill each other every year in an arena for the amusement of others. Yes, that's disturbing. But very well done. I am unashamed to admit I cried through the whole movie. 

On a lighter not, my lovely friend Alison from back home sent me Lightsaber earrings! I just received them this morning and I've been over the moon about them! 

That's all I've got for this week! Wednesday of next week I plan on going to Portsmouth to do a bit of shopping so the entry might be a bit later than usual. 

ALL MY LOVE TO YOU ALL!

-Kirsten

P.S. 15 days until my parents get here!!!!!!!

Is It Christmas Yet?

Another Wednesday, another blog post!

So, what's been happening in the land of Fish and Chips? Well for those of you who didn't know already I have FINALLY moved back up to my Havenstoke accommodation! I made the move on Friday morning before class started. It took three hours but it's great to be back in my proper room and have access to things like an oven again. It's also really nice to be back with Evie, Hayley and Harriet. Goodness knows I missed the heck out of them.

On Saturday there was a Christmas party for the international students on the Bognor Regis campus. I ended up in a Jenga war with a nice guy from Bulgaria, a girl from Poland and Eriko, my friend from Japan. Food of a vaguely festive nature was eaten, horrible mulled wine was drank and Santa swung by to give us some goodies. I got a package of something called Dolly Mix. I tried a few pieces but it gets stuck in my teeth and is so sweet it hurts my teeth so I think I'll just stop eating it. Oh well!

Saturday was also the day that the 50th anniversary episode of Doctor Who played. For those unfamiliar with Doctor Who, it's a show about an alien who travels around in a time machine disguised as a 1960s police box. The show has been going since the 1960s, and is a rather big deal. I got hooked on the show in 2011 when my friend Fonda told me about it during German class. I actually ended up seeing the episode twice, once on my computer thanks to the BBC catch up website (I don't have a TV license to watch live) and again on Sunday at the theatre. The anniversary episode was actually filmed in 3D and beamed live across the world. It's not just a British thing anymore! I think the total viewing figures are somewhere around 7.7 million on the Saturday alone.

Chichester is getting more and more dressed up as Christmas gets close. The huge tree is now decorated and they're adding decoration to the buildings now.

Yes, that is a tree stuck to the side of a building. They actually look quite nice! More and more stores are getting window displays up and christmas music is everywhere. There are also a lot of winter related novelties that are popping up in stores. I'll admit I laughed out loud when I saw this one. 

Honestly, how long would it take for you to scrape your car with that thing??? Your car would be iced again by the time you finished!

As far as the imminent end to the semester goes, I'm equal parts excited, homesick and stressed as heck about the whole thing. I need more time to get assignments done but I want time to go faster so I can be on vacation and see my Ma and Dad FINALLY! I know I'll see them soon but still. People are talking about their plans for going home and it makes me a bit sad. I miss friends and family and just Canada in general. 

Well that's all I've got! It'll be a quiet weekend for me as both Harriet and Evie are going on trips. Hayley and I have plans to go on a mate date and see The Hunger Games: Catching Fire in theatres. I just hope I get this damned essay done before then!

Hello!

Okay so I'm cheating on this blog entry a bit. It's not wednesday, its late Tuesday night. 11:42pm if you care to know. Why am I up this late? Why am I writing this blog entry now rather than Wednesday when I usually get this thing out? In short, essays. I've got a lot to do when the clock rolls itself over into Wednesday. My goal is to finish the draft part of my big English essay as I have really run out of time to mess about with it any more. I've got another 1,700 words to write so wish me luck!

As far as the past week has been, I haven't really done much. I mentioned at the end of last week's blog that I was going to see David Tennant playing Richard II. I wanted to see the Royal Shakespeare Company production live but tickets sold out so fast it was not to be. Luckily the company broadcasted one nights shows live across the UK and I was able to get a ticket for that one. Was it any good? YOU BET YOUR REAR END IT WAS! It was three hours long (including a 20 minute break) but I didn't feel like I was sitting around waiting for anything to progress. The RSC really knows how to put on a production and David Tennant is just too adorable for words. I highly recommend people see it if they can. The costumes were great, the casting was flawless and the set was gorgeous!

What else has been happening? Not much. Assignments are taking over my life as I said so most of my time is spent trying to keep up. I did have to rattle some chains this past week when it came to registration for next semester's classes. I've been waiting and waiting for some direction about what to do or where to go but nothing happened. There's a rather shocking lack of communication between students and administration here. Some people might say worrying about next semester's classes is a bit premature but it's not. Classes end the first week of December. The two weeks after that are dedicated to handing in final assignments or writing exams. They're all marked during this time and then fed into the system via the administration offices and then everyone leaves for Christmas holiday on December 20th. Want to complicate things even more? Each department (English, History, Theology, Sport etc) has their own administration office. None of these offices communicate with one another so if you're like me and you're straddling two (History and English) you've got to track down answers in two different places. So these offices are about to get swamped and won't have time to give me the information I need in a timely manner if I wait even a week more.

With me so far? Good, moving on.

So last week I tracked down the History admin and asked what I was supposed to do for class registration in semester 2. There was some slight confusion as to why I wasn't registered for classes already but after we stored that out I got a handy dandy time table of all the classes and axed the ones I couldn't take so I was left with a working estimate. Then I did the same with the English department. A bit more complicated there as several classes they were offering were ones I had already completed back at TRU. I made an appointment with my academic advisor for this past Monday and we were able to make a schedule that worked. I then took the courses back to their department of origin and they got me put on the right lists.

To be honest I felt a bit like my Ma, with all that running around and demanding information that should have been provided in the first place. Anyway, it's done and I don't have to worry about it anymore.

On a final note, Chichester is getting ready for the impending holiday season. The giant tree has been put up, though it remains undecorated and the shops have their winter themed window displays. Christmas music I've never heard before is playing in all the shops and the trees ARE FINALLY CHANGING COLOUR AND LOSING THEIR LEAVES! It's beginning to get festive and I can't wait! One month to go until my parents arrive!

This is going to be gorgeous when it's 

decorated!

Cheers guys!!

Oxford: Very Old and Very Expensive

Yes, it's Wednesday once more and that means it's time for another exciting blog entry. Why is this one exciting you ask? Well, this one comes with PICTURES OF OXFORD! 

The International group at Chichester University teamed up with Chichester College and sent us all up to Oxford for the low low price of fifteen pounds a head. Those of us on the University campus had to walk over to the College campus to catch the busses, which wasn't bad. I was the only one who thought to write down directions to the campus though so everyone was at the mercy of my directions. I actually had great directions and got us there in good time but the others apparently had no faith and questioned whether we were going the right way or not about fifty times. Oh well, next time they can figure out where we're going. 

The bus ride up was nice, but some parts of it felt like driving in the lower mainland of B.C. due to the leafy green trees and the big box stores just off a highway. I guess that's a world standard look. I also saw a Best Western hotel, which weirded me out. For some reason I thought that was a North American thing and not a place you'd find worldwide. Anyway, we got to Oxford just the rain started. I was an idiot and forgot to wear my wellies so I resigned myself to a day of wet feet. The busses don't actually drop you IN Oxford. There's a bus zone just on the outside of the city and you get to walk in. Mind you, it's about a five minute walk and you're in the heart of the city so it's not that bad. 

The first place we stopped at was the Christ Church. Confusingly enough this houses both the famous Christ Church Cathedral and the University of Oxford. The Grand Hall where the students eat was also used as a location shot for the first Harry Potter movie. Yes, I went in. 

Going up the stairs! 

The doors are less magnificent than I remember them

in the film. 

I felt underdressed in here. 

It's surprisingly small in here. You'd bump elbows

eating at those tables. 

The Church grounds themselves were huge. Lots of open green space that, had it not been for the rain and the guards telling you where you could walk, you'd want to stretch out on. 

It's November. That's too green for November.

In the Cathedral part of the church there are, of course, lots of tombs and religious artifacts you'd find in any church. I hunted around and found the oldest readable burial notice I could. Yes, that's a bit morbid but I find it's a great way of seeing just how long the structures have been standing. It sort of makes time feel a lot bigger, and the world a lot smaller. 

After leaving the Christ Church, I headed off to discover the rest of Oxford with the french international girls Paola and Valentine. We headed for the Bodleian Library. It was opened in 1602 and has a library of about 2,000 books. Sadly as entering almost anywhere in Oxford has a charge of between 5 and 7 pounds we didn't go on the tour. We DID go into the gift shop where I found several cute (yet expensive) bits and bobs. I didn't buy anything but Paola did, though for the life of me I can't remember what. 

Leaving the library we headed for Radcliffe Square. Theres a gorgeous lookout point at the very top where you can see the majority of Oxford. We shelled out to go up and get some pictures. 

This staircase was so squishy. It got worse when I 

had to stand in a small hole in the wall while 

people were coming down the stairs. 

This is now a reading room for the Bodleian Library.

Seriously, grass should not be that green in November.

Thanks Paola for this picture!

The streets of Oxford are really cute!!

Just look at that cute street!

Right: Paola, Left: Valentine. Belles filles françaises.

This gargoyle kept dripping on my head while I was

taking pictures. Not cool.

After making our way back down the steep staircase of doom we went in search of food. Along the way we passed the Oxford version of the Bridge of Sighs. The real one is in Venice, so named because criminals on death row would walk across it and see their last view of Venice before dying. They're not exactly the same in looks but I feel like I've collected a set because I've been across the one in Italy as well. 

Just past this lovely piece of stonework is a small winding alleyway that leads you to a famous tavern that students of Oxford have gone to for years. I'll let the photos speak for themselves.

In case that is hard to read it says,

The Famous Turf Tavern: An Education in Intoxication

They weren't kidding about the intoxication part. 

Sadly this tavern was too crowded for us to eat at, as were the next several we tried. We ended up just getting a panini from Starbucks and continuing on with our walking. 

So that's about all I have as far as the Oxford trip goes! It was loads of fun to just wander through the city. You can take walking tours but I think the best way of seeing a place is just getting lost. 

The rest of my week has been boring by comparison. I'm still at Springfield, and the semester is drawing to a close. Today was my last class for one of my English courses, as the rest of the time will be used for one on one sessions with the seminar tutor if we need it. I'm working my way through essays and final projects, though I'm not going as fast as I would like. I'll be picking up the pace this week.

As a final note, I'm going to see David Tennant in Richard II tonight with my friend Stacy and I'm very excited. 

Take care guys!

Remember Remember

Hello!

So I've officially made it into November! It's funny how time is flying now. I guess that's what happens when you have deadlines rapidly approaching. I didn't get nearly as much done as I wanted to over reading week so my personal deadline schedule has to be re-done. Oh well. I have all the information I was missing last time to get it all done so as long as I don't let stuff get ahead of me it will all turn out fine.

My last week was rather uneventful. I kicked a cold and then caught a new one, hung out with the Springfield roommates, and learned that while the tear has been repaired in the Havenstoke roof, it's unlikely I'll be back in any time soon. They ARE going to deep clean my carpeting so hopefully that will get rid of any water damage/mould that might be lurking in there. Oh and maybe help the smell. I went up to it the other day and it smelled like someone died in there. Awesome right? (Yes, that is sarcasm.)

In other news, I have experienced my first Bonfire Night/Guy Fawkes Day. November 5th is, of course, the day where people commemorate a man who failed to blow up Parliament. I will admit, while I heard a lot of fire works I did not go out. I looked for info on public gatherings/bonfires but it seems like the public fireworks shows will be this weekend and the stuff that happened ON November 5th was private parties. Understandable as it was a Tuesday. Other events coming up are obviously Remembering Sunday and Remembrance Day. Over here they do Remembering Sunday and Monday is just a day like any other. I have purchased my poppy, and am wearing it daily so that's my contribution. I'd love to go go a ceremony but I haven't seem much information about things happening in Chichester. My google-fu skills have told me that most people will go to the big ceremony in Portsmouth instead. I was waffling for a while on whether or not I should go up to London again and see the ceremony there but I decided that I wanted to go on the International trip to Oxford instead. Can't do both sadly.

That's about all I've got for this week. Please enjoy a photo of my poppy!

They're quite different, and less pokey!

Just My Luck

Hello all!

So I've had an eventful week, if you didn't see it all on Facebook. That roof leak that came back? Well since it's going through my lighting and the all powerful bucket trick didn't work, I had to move out of Havenstoke and into a temporary room. No word yet on how long it will take to fix the damn leak either so who knows how long I will be here for. Worst case scenario is that I will be here until Christmas. Not. Pleased. At least the people here in Springfield 5 are a lovely bunch. I do miss having immediate access to an oven though. If I want to use an oven I have to go up to Havenstoke because the Springfield blocks are catered residence and don't have a "full" kitchen. I'm self catered so it really eats into what I'm able to make for dinner. I'm eating a lot of stir fry. Not that that's a bad thing really.

Alright, enough of my tales of woe. On Saturday I FINALLY made my way up to London! I met up with a friend of mine, Jane, who I had worked with back at Chapters. She moved back to England in May so I haven't seen her in ages.

The lovely Jane!

So Jane was awesome and showed me around the touristy bits of London. We did Buckingham Palace (which is somehow even bigger in person), the British Museum (SO MUCH COOL STUFF) and then made our way over to Parliament and Big Ben. The following are pictures of that lovely sequence of events.

They make you pay to use the bathrooms at the train

station!

Near Buckingham was this gorgeous park with PELICANS!

Traditional tourist picture with a phone booth.

Only picture I took inside the British Museum:

David Tennant on money in honour of Doctor Who.

Another traditional tourist shot! Yay Big Ben!

Two in one! The Thames AND the London Eye. 

I also made my way into the Apple store on Regent street (the BIG Apple store) so I could finally get myself a working laptop. I'm happy to inform everyone that my Macbook Air works wonderfully and I've already made good headway on assignments now that I have a working and reliable computer to do so! 

That's all for this week guys! Have a very Happy Halloween!

Someone Out There Hates Havenstoke

Hello!

In case you missed my saga of misfortune, here is a recap. Last Wednesday the internet decided it wasn't going to work for more than ten minutes. Annoying, as I need the internet to do things like a.) update this blog and b.) do my class readings. I tried all morning to get stuff done but 11:30am rolled around and I had to head out into the torrential rain to get my rear to class. I got soaked on the walk and had to sit through two hours of lecture in soggy jeans. Ick. After class I made my way back home only to find out the roof is leaking into my bedroom through my overhead light. That's a lovely safety hazard to come home to. I called Accommodation and was told they'd send someone "as soon as they could". Maintenance turned up about 15 minutes later, removed my light fixture and basically told me there's nothing they can do until the leak dries out. So I put a bucket down on my floor to catch the drips and hunkered in for a rather dark night. The internet came back for a few minutes and I was able to bang out a fast (and very short) post but that was about it. The following is the thanksgiving picture that I wasn't able to upload!

Starting Left: Ellie, Zoe, Evie, Nikki,

Hayley, Harriet. 

Back to my tale of Wednesday. I posted my blog entry just as the internet kicked out, and started to read my book. Five minutes later I hear a rattling on the bathroom door. Our bathroom door lock is notorious for sticking so I ignored it until the tenth, rather frantic rattle. A second after that I heard poor Harriet bang on the door. Yup. Harriet was locked in the bathroom. So I had to call Accommodation for the second time. I will admit, I laughed pretty hard over the whole thing. (Sorry Harriet!) Maintenance came about 10 minutes after my giggly call for help and Harriet was set free. We were told not to lock the bathroom door and they'd get us a replacement lock the next day, presumably when they came to fix my leaky light/ceiling. 

Think we were in the clear after all of that nonsense? Oh no. At about 8pm, Evie flicks on her bedroom light and shorts out all the lights on the ground floor. Poor Harriet was trying to cook dinner at this point and had to finish making her ratatouille in the dark because Accommodation is closed. I think Karma felt bad for us because thirty minutes after the lights go out, Harriet spotted one of the main Accommodation desk people having a smoke near the path to the Uni. She ran over to ask for some assistance before we were hooped for the night. His response to our third report of the evening? "What are you doing to that house!?" 

The rest of the week passed much more uneventfully than that day. Monday night Ellie, Harriet and I all headed to the Sloe Fair which was happening in a parking lot right near us. It was quite expensive (three pound a ride) but we still had a great time. We capped off the night with fresh spun cotton candy (or candy floss) and headed home. I found it hilarious that the candy floss started melting a bit because of the moisture in the air. It was a sticky walk back to the house. 

This ride spun us so fast my neck still hurts a bit. 

Harriet and Ellie!

Harriet and I.

Ellie and I.

Stacy, whom I have a ball with in English. We bumped

into each other at the fair. She was quite proud of

winning that dog!

Fresh cotton candy anyone?

This Saturday I am FINALLY making my way up to London! I'll be meeting up with my friend Jane who is going to show me around. I will also finally be getting my replacement computer. I will miss this one but the darn thing isn't reliable anymore. 

Cheers guys!

Thanksgiving In Two Parts

Hi!

So the Internet has been cutting in and out for the past two days so this is going to be a short entry!

This name of the game this past week had been THANKSGIVING! Yes, I had thanksgiving over here. In fact I had two. The international girls decided to throw one on Sunday and then I had one with my roommates on Monday. The Sunday meal I just paid into and showed up for because the girls in the housing where we got together had it all covered. The food was good and it was nice to catch how with be people I don't see every day. Monday was my favorite though. Hayley, Harriet and I did the majority of the cooking and it all turned out really well! We invited a few friends from the other Havenstoke houses to join us so it was a big group. I wish I could post photos but I'm posting from my iPod and it's not going to happen.

I'll conclude this very short entry with what I'm thankful for this past year.

I'm thankful for my parents who support me.
I'm thankful for my friends back home who send me nice messages and support.
I'm thankful for the emails my grandma sends me every week, because I miss her all he time.
I'm thankful for my roommates, who are a nice group of girls.
I'm thankful for my chance to be here in England and to see what I'm seeing here.

Cheers guys!

One Month Down!

Hello!

So I have survived my first month of study abroad! Excuse me while I throw myself a little party!

Okay, I'm good now. Honestly while the first month sucked I'm really enjoying myself! It doesn't seem like it, I'm sure but now that I know the general layout of where to go things have been a lot smoother. I've also been changing my running route to go through the residential areas near my housing so I'll get to know those areas too. The houses around here are gorgeous and rich. You can actually tell that this city has money based off the houses. I suppose you can do that in Canada too, but this is more of a "this is an estate passed down through generations from the first great Earl of Sussex" kind of money. Old money. 

As far as everyday life goes, it's been quite boring. I'm playing catch up with reading for all of my classes, especially the literature ones because students were given reading lists to complete over the summer and I didn't have those lists. I was placed into classes the day after I got here, and classes commenced two days later so I didn't have time to read the novels associated with each class. As a result, my time is spent in class, sleeping or reading. Add in the occasional shopping trip for necessities like food and sunlight and you have life in a nutshell. Not too different than it was back home! 

The only thing that has really bothered me in the past week was missing my Dad's birthday on October 4th. I was able to catch him on Facetime for an hour before he left for work (yay eight hour time differences) but it's still not quite the same as being there. I know I shouldn't complain, Facetime is the next best thing to being there and it's not like 50 years ago when all correspondence would have been letters. I am quite lucky that video chat is so easy and available to everyone. But I did miss his birthday and I feel bad about it. Sorry Dad!

Well I better wrap this up. Sorry if this entry has been a bit odd, I've just spent the last two hours discussing surrealism in literature and a normal world view hasn't quite set in yet. I think I need a cup of tea. That'll restore some normality.

Cheers guys!

The Road So Far

Hello again!

So this past week has been rather quiet as far as news goes. The roommates survived their first week and much of their second so kudos to them! As a sort of celebration/I need to bake something moment, I made a chocolate cake of special magnificence on Sunday night that was devoured rather quickly and enjoyed quite a lot. I'm quite proud of that cake. Of course since I needed to buy baking ingredients my grocery shop was painfully expensive. At least I have baking basics now! I think I'm going to make muffins next.

From left: Hayley, Evie, 

Myself (and the cake), Harriet

As far as class goes, my first year history module should be interesting. It'll basically be a class about films showing the cultural identity of France and America. An excuse to watch movies? Yes please! The creative writing class will be annoying at best. It's poetry and I really don't like writing (or analyzing) poetry. One of the major poems we have to work on all semester is called "The Year I Was Born". I'm sorry but 1993 was a bit of a boring year for the world. If anyone has any interesting info about 1993, please let me know either by email or in the comment section below.

All in all, I made it through the hardest part I think. September was tough but it's done and October is underway. I'm starting to know where to go and what to do to get stuff done, and my routine is pretty much down. I'm also in a solid running schedule and I actually look forward to my runs around Graylingwell Park. It's hard to get out of bed for it but once I'm out it's a good time to shut off my brain and just move. I need to find a good stretch for my hip though, it's been a bit sore for the past few days. 

Friday is my Dad's birthday and it's the first one I'm going to miss celebrating! Quite sad about that. I do plan on Facetiming in the morning so I can say a quick Happy Birthday before he heads to work but still, I wish I could be there to make a cake (or trifle, or pie) and celebrate properly. It'll have to wait until Christmas. 

As a last note, I am sending out another round of post cards soon but I have yet to track down the right cards for the right people. Maybe this weekend I can do a good hunt in town and find something good!

Much love to all of you!