21!

Hello all!

So as you may or may not know, I turned 21 this past Sunday! I didn't have a big party or anything, just hung out with my roommates and friends from next door, but it was great! I made myself a vanilla funfetti cake, which is basically a white cake with sprinkles mixed through it. Generally you see Betty Crocker boxed mixes for it but I did mine from scratch. It was nice to bake again, it's been a while since I last did anything.

Mmm Cake!

I did add candles in the shape of a 21 when we all got down to the eating part. Jim and Nikki from next door came over to help Evie, Hayley and I eat it. Harriet is still away on holiday so she didn't get a piece! I wasn't nice enough to save some for her. SORRY HARRIET!! 

Like every year I ordered Chinese for dinner. The Lotus, while delicious was not Lucky Yeung's and I  miss my spicy pork and bean dish. I'll have to get some when I get back home. 

As far as gifts went, I had saved a few Christmas presents to be bday presents. So my skittles from Sherry and the tea from my parents weren't opened until now. On Monday I received a lovely package from my cousin Mary containing a jar of Cheese Wiz. I've been craving the stuff like MAD! 

After all the eating of cake, Nikki, Hayley, Evie and I all went to see American Hustle at the theatre. That movie is LONG! I can see why its up for oscars to be honest. They like their long and plot heavy flicks. All in all it was a pretty good movie though. 

What else? Oh! I was able to FaceTime home on my birthday. It was really nice to talk to my Ma and Dad. They sang Happy Birthday too which was really sweet. Too bad there isn't a hugging app that comes with FaceTime. Oh well. 

Other than my birthday it's been quiet. I've been doing reading for my classes and trying not to let the crappy weather get me down. It's cold and rainy. At least my Hunter boots and welly socks are getting good use! 

My plan for today is to do a bit more baking. I've got a bunch of baking ingredients than need to be used in the next day or so before they expire. 

OH! I purchased my plane ticket home! May 18th! I'm looking forward to being back on Canadian soil. 

I hope everyone is doing well! 

-Kirsten

Insert Clever Title Here

Hello once again!

So what's been happening this past week? Well Evie and Hayley moved back in for the new semester. Harriet isn't back until the 4th of February because of her program. I've had 3 of 4 classes and so far they don't look too bad. My history classes are going to flow together quite nicely because they are both focused heavily on the world wars, one being about contemporary Europe and the other about Facism up to 1945. My english courses shouldn't be too bad this year. There's a creating writing class (short stories) and then a contemporary drama course. I haven't had the intro class yet, that's tomorrow. But judging by the Moodle (online class resource) it's not too different from the english drama courses I did back at TRU. I actually really enjoyed those classes so this one should be good. According to the Moodle we are going to see a play for that class as well so I'm very much looking forward to that.

In other news I've redyed my hair, with help from Hayley so I'm back in the shocking red territory. Why can't my hair just grow this colour? Scientists should get on that. I'm also back focusing on the whole dieting thing. I've been eating way too much comfort food so that needs to stop. The good thing about doing it now is that almost every girl on my housing block also seems to be into the eating healthy thing so there's less outside temptation. That being said my birthday is coming up and I'm eating what I like that day. Diets resume on Mondays, as does running.

Speaking of running, the mornings here are ridiculous! There's heavy fog and frost so the sidewalks are slippery and it's hard to see five feet down the road. I've actually been too nervous to cross a road because I can't see oncoming cars. By midday it all clears up and it's quite sunny and warm. Then by about dinner time it gets cold and rainy. I can't seem to dress appropriately so I'm always either too hot or too cold. Ugh.

That's all I've got for now, sorry there's no pictures this week! I'll try to get a picture of the fog over here one of these mornings.

All my love to everyone!
-Kirsten

Food Words, Rude Words and I Love Yous.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

So my parents have headed off home and I'm once again on my own in England. It's funny walking around Chichester on my own now. It feels a bit like there's something missing, because I got used to showing my parents around my corner of England. Admittedly I'm homesick but it's okay. My courses start up soon and my roommates move back in on Saturday, so I'll be longing for peace and quiet soon enough.

So let's talk about Christmas!

As I said on my blog last time, my parents and I headed off to Paris for New Years! We took the Eurostar train under the English Channel. Surprisingly you're only under there for 20 minutes. The train goes something like 300 miles an hour but you don't really feel it. The ride is super smooth, much nicer than the regular commuter trains I take to get to London or Portsmouth. The train dropped us off at the Gare de Nord station and we took a taxi over to our vacation rental apartment. The stairs up to our floor were both twisty and very narrow. The walls were funny because they weren't quite straight. Some of them bowed inward so hallways would narrow a bit and then let out again. The place we had was great! Small but it worked for us just fine. Plus free wi-fi! We did have a bit of an issue with the keys to the building though. On our first day out the security gate at the bottom of the stairs clamped down on the key and wouldn't let go. We were stuck for about 20 minutes before Dad was able to get the key out! The door key to the apartment was much the same, you have to barely turn them and jiggle it in just the right way to get in. Dad had the magic touch with the keys after our initial lock in, so I just left it to him.

Our first day out was spent at the Louvre! Ma was super smart before we all left and bought this thing called a Paris Pass. It had passes to a bunch of museums, attractions and tickets for the metro. Using the museum pass we were able to skip the massive lines and use a sort of side entrance to get in right away! I didn't take that many pictures in the Louvre, I mostly wanted to walk around and see the place. We did it in two days, the bulk of it on the first day. Even with the two days we didn't see everything. The place is MASSIVE! Here are the pictures I DID take in there!

Louvre! The glass pyramid is where the general public 

enters the museum! 

Ma and Dad! 

Venus de Milo

Code of Hammurabi

Close up of the writing on the Code. 

Mona Lisa

That last photo of the Mona Lisa was actually taken on Louvre day 2. We got there just as it opened and pretty much ran over to see it. It's really hard to get close to the Mona Lisa at other time of day, as the crowd is at least 16 people deep. There's signs at all the major picture stops warning people about pick pockets. I had a death grip on my bag the whole time, not going to lie. 

We went to see the Eiffel Tower on New Years Eve. The lines were massive but they're always long at the major attractions. We decided to walk up, rather than taking the elevators. 700 stairs to the second level. You have to take an elevator if you want to get to the very top. Dad was awesome and got pictures off the side as I was a  bit too nervous to get near it. It's very well enclosed but the heights were bothering me a bit too much. Weirdly enough I felt safer at the VERY TOP of the tower. That might've been because you were in a room with windows rather than a metal grating at the ledges. 

Eiffel Tower

Views from deck one! Very green grass. 

View from deck two! 

Ma and Dad at the very top!

We also saw the Arc du Triomphe, and the Notre Dame Cathedral. The day of the Arc du Triomphe was a looooot of walking. It was also the day of the worlds most overly posh bathroom. (Posh: elegant or stylishly luxurious). The bathroom was 2 euro each. You'd wait in line then an attendant would show you to your stall. When you were done, the attendant would go clean the bathroom and then show the next person in. At least you knew it was clean? 

After we saw the Arc du Triomphe, we got on a hop on hop off bus tour around the city. From there we saw the Shakespeare and Company bookstore. A little backstory, I've had a computer background of this bookstore for about six years. It's been on my bucket list to go there AND WE WENT IN! It's amazing in there. It's crooked and busy and filled with squishy chairs, nooks to read in and people who try to hard to look like their famous writers. I was in heaven. 

Like the TARDIS, it's bigger on the inside. 

My bag! The photo on the bag is the upstairs of the

store. I bought a notebook and a book in there too. 

Next photos: Notre Dame! The line to get in was around the block but moved very quickly, so that was awesome! We weren't standing in the cold for too long. The inside was absolutely amazing. You're not supposed to take photos inside but a lot of people do. 

Notre Dame!

Guess who! (Yes I was happy to have them with me.)

As far as language in Paris, we got by. The longer we were there the better we got! By the end we were all able to order food and drinks without too much trouble. We actually found the people in Paris really friendly and helpful when you opened with french. Sometimes our conversations were a mix of french and english but we got there in the end and it was a good time! I actually find the people in Paris are nicer than the people in London. 

Okay this post has gone on long enough. I will be adding more pictures and more info from the trip as I remember it in the coming weeks. 

Love you all, 

-Kirsten

(Oh and HAPPY BIRTHDAY ONCE AGAIN GRANDPA!)