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Monday, February 27, 2006
Ice Skating Owns Me
2/27/2006 05:44:00 AM Literally, from my ankle up. Sadly, one would probably assume I'm talking about watching the exciting sport on tv, what with the Olympics abound, but I am tv-less while abroad, and even if I weren't I hear this is the lowest ranked year for Olympic viewership in ages. But that leads me down another tangent. So to clarify some of this mass confusion, let's get back to the beginning. I actually went ice skating Saturday, for the first time in probably 7 years and it was wondermous. Took a bit to get back into the groove of things, but after 10 or 15 mins I was floating across the rink like Michelle Qwan, if only she hadn't pulled a groin and ruined her competing career. The actual skating rink was pretty neat. Minus the fact that it was in the middle of a bunch of skyscrapers, it was just like Skate Island...but on ice. They had the crazy techno and 90s music pumping, and of course, myself being myself (Steph, that is), I decided that if I could car dance, and roller dance, then I could ice-skate dance. So I did. In between multiple crash landings. The best was when Becca and I were "salsa" dancing, taking turns skating backwards etc, and then we'd go to opossite ends of the rink and take off at each other, and then grab arms in the middle and fling eachother around. As dangerous as this sounds it was actually quite non-productive, but at the rare occassion that we actually didn't miss our grasps, it was extremely fun. The kick-you-in-the-crotch-spit-on-your-neck-fantastic part (ie: not fun) came after our time was up, and immediately upon removing my shoe/boot/skate I could feel my ankle (yes, the bad one I broke when I fell off the ladder) swelling up like a grapefruit. By the time we exited the rink I was pretty much limping. So today, I'm stretching it and contemplating how long I should wait so it can heal before I go ice skating again :) Oh yeah. THAT'S how much fun it was. Some Pictures If You So Feel Like Perusing: (Click Here) Saturday, February 25, 2006
Ode to Mrs. Bond
2/25/2006 09:32:00 AM Today is her birthday. And the day of the renound Loup City Red Raider. So if any of yous guys home this weekend see her there, be sure to tell her and get her flustered. This week I went to a Raul Midon concert, he was utterly amazing once again. If you remember reading about the first time I saw him, you might remember that I said it was like a religious experience, and to keep in that same vein I'll just say that this time I was at home, attending a regular mass, and still finding myself amazed. Then I got back on the tube on the way home, and found myself surrounded with KC posters, tourbooks, and even a girl playing back the audio she had recorded, and I felt like a traitor, haha. It was like some kind of creepy dream, but I loved it. Oh well, she's too expensive in London, and I'm sure the show went well without me. But probably the biggest highlight for me the whole night was that I had to go to this concert on my own (for my music class we have to attend 2 concerts of our choice to include in our papers) and I think it was the first time I've ever gone anywhere in London completely on my own. I was so proud of myself, I got on the right train and everything, and got myself from the tube station to the venue without having to stop and ask anyone for directions or anything like that. So at least I'm finally finding myself capable of being self-reliant in London. Which is pretty cool, cause let's admit it, this city is freakin huge (I think the largest in the world population near 12 Million?)and can be pretty overwhelming. Also, you know you're starting to get used to living here when suddenly you find yourself walking down the left side of the stairs or hallway, naturally without haivng to consciously think about it, therefore leading to a significantly lower amount of bodies being smashed into you. Always a plus ;) I'm gonna be so backwards when I get home...but time for confusion later. The time for hurrying through homework to go ice skating tonight, is now. The other day Michelle and I went wandering around the city looking for Canada Square (what we thought was a little park where this ice skating rink is) and found it instead in the middle of all these skyscrapers in this fricken business district which was extremely reminiscent of Chicago. Of course that may have also been helped by the fact that the wind was killer yesterday. Oh yes, this morning I woke up with wind-burn. How lovely. Basically though we decided it would be better to go back tonight, so we wandered around Canary Warf and then walked the river Thames back to Blackfriars Bridge, and then finally took the tube from Waterloo back to Regent's. It was adventurous. We even discovered an underground MALL!! I didn't think they even had malls over here. I guess they just hid them from tourists so we all get stuck crowding eachother at the markets. It was amazing so we might go back to that later sometime. Okay, so enough procrastinating, I'm gonna do some work.
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Monday, February 20, 2006
'Cest Bien, No?
2/20/2006 09:13:00 AM I don't know if 'bien' is actually 'good' in Latin, but a nice mix of Latin and Spanish never hurt anyone, right? Unless there was some kind of ancient fueding war between their cultures that I'm ignoring. Anyways, to get this party started: Today I realized how much I like my Sociology teacher (no, not in that way you sickos). Over here at Regent's College there is a massive problem with little rich kids who never show up to class. Or if they do, it's an hour and a half late. Usually the teachers can't do anything about it, because the kid will just pay to keep taking the class as many times as they have to, and eventually end up just buying their degree. It's ridculuous and the most annoying thing about this school. It's funny because then the teachers end up favoring the American students because their the only ones who show up for class on time and seem to have any respect for the teachers. Maybe because we're mostly middle class like them, or because somehow we've been raised to have more respect for authority than Europeans, I have absolutely no idea why it is the way it is. Regardless, as most teachers simply let these students walk all over them with no reprecussions, today my Sociology teacher did something brilliant. The first week of class after people started coming in at 2:00 when class starts at 1:30, he made a rule that anyone in 10 mins after class has started is absent. Not just tardy. Unfortunately even though their counted absent, their still there to learn the material and at least manage to show up for class to take the test. Today he took it a step further. At 2:00 today with only 9 students out of 23 in attendance, he went to the Registry and cameback telling us that we were switching to another classroom, that way anyone who came in late wouldn't be able to find us, and therefor would really be absent, so that if they wanted to make it to class, they'd really have to make it on time, and we wouldnt be constantly interrupted by latecomers for the entire first half. I have a feeling he may do this a couple more times, which I think is fantastic. It may seem really odd for me to be saying that (especially coming from a teacher's kid) but when you're here with these students it's amazing how much MORE respect you have for your teachers and the staff, so I don't blame them for being asses to the kids. If that's what they have to do, then that's what they have to do. Oh yeah, the other reason I love my Soc. teacher is because today in class he mentioned "Crash" :)
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Sunday, February 19, 2006
You know Ben, right?
2/19/2006 10:52:00 AM I just learned last night that I can see Big Ben from my window...how awesome is that? Don't lie. You're jealous. This week has been horrible for me, sleep deprivation speaking. I've discovered that Katie and Kayla usually get together on Thursdays in Kayla's room to watch Ellen and Tyra and due homework that's due Friday, and so if I stay up till usually 3a or so, I can catch them online, or now that Kayla has skype (sort of) call them. It's GREAT. It's just makes me really sleepy. Almost every night this past week I've been getting to bed after 2:00am, and Thursday was like $4:30, Friday we had a Lost Marathon in Kevin's room (he's French, therefore his dvds play in the tvs properly) and that show is so addicting we watched episodes untill nearly 6am, and then again last night after we got back from Stonehenge until 4-ish. Sadly, we are all caught up now with all the episodes that have come out, at this point, in the states. So that means, we have to try and hang out with Kevin more anyways so he doesn't think we just use him for Lost. Which we do. But it's okay, cause he's French. He likes the attention. If you caught it above, yes, I did mention that Saturday we went to Stonehenge. Due to the night before I either ended up sleeping through my alarm of forgetting to set it, because at 8:30 Becca was banging on my door so we could get on the bus at 9:00. Surprisingly I wasn't tired, and didn't sleep at ALL on the way there. Which slightly annoyed people. But not Michelle, cause she was awake too. It just would've helped if we'd sat next to each other instead of chatting across rows of sleeping bodies. I have some absolutely hilarious videos that I'll try and post of her crazy antics. Apparently early mornings leave her slap happy from being too tired, or she simply is the Energizer Bunny. Which is the theory I choose. Stonehenge was actually right next to the highway, we were all suprised when we pulled up and it was right there next to us. It just always seemed like it was out in the middle of nowhere. Which it kinda is, but there also happens to be this highway that runs through this middle of nowhwere. Apparently the place used to be a giant forested area, but all the trees were removed somehow and this ancient (what they think it was) burial ground was erected. The wierd part is that the stones come from a specific area in Whales (thousands of miles away) so no one has any idea how they were transported here, and then set up. They do know that before the stones were used, they had used wood, and dug the ditch around stonehenge with deer antlers, because bits of these were found in the ground and carbon dated back to an earlier time than the stones themselves. Anyways, here a few pics of that. It was extremely foggy when we got there, so that helped set the mood alot. More Photos Here After Stonehenge we were dropped off in Salisbury, and did some market shopping (they had a "poundland"! a british dollar store, haha!) and visited the Salisbury Cathedral (I believe theres one more, in France somewhere). They're doing some repairs on it which started in 1986, the year I was born, and will supposedly be finished in 2005, but it was really cool just to see how old everything was, and all of the detail on the outside of the building as well as the inside. The interesting thing about the inside, that I've never seen in any other church, is that they have tombs all over around the interior. Some of them were built slightly different, but most of them had the tomb with a statue/figure on top, and all of the figures had some sort of animal at their feet, a dog, a lion, birds, etc. More Photos Here Today we were supposed to go Ice Skating but its raining today, which sucks since London has been so non-London wheater wise since we've been here. But apparently it's getting back to normal, so we're saving Ice Skating for next weekend. It'll be awesome, it's an actual ice skating rink near the river, and the Tower Bridge. (interesting bit of info for you: London Bridge was actually not the official name of the bridge everyone naturally thinks of, so someone bought it, and ended up with the real London bridge which was much smaller and now resides in Arizona) Sunday, February 12, 2006
Flan, Football,and Fire?
2/12/2006 08:08:00 AM What in the world could these things all have in common? Read on, and be enlightened ;) Friday After our little day of shopping, we decided that what we needed to was to just chill and see a movie. Originally we planned on staying in to do this, but then Dustin, a friend down the hall, stopped in and said he had found a movie theater that was playing movies for £1. So we thought, hey a movie for a buck (or literally two, in the US) is a pretty good deal, we should do it. So in our lack of enthusiasm, or just plain energy, we wander out into the evening in Central London (if you're wondering why this sounds like such a task it's because in London, you literally walk everwhere, and we'd just finished a day of shopping on one end of the city, walked home, and then now were heading to the opposite end). Of course, just to spite us, we arrive at the theater and get in line moments before the manager comes out and says the 9:00 showings are sold out. Which happen to be the last ones of the night. Well, that was fun. Now what? We decided to wander for a bit, and saw some signs toting "£5 Comedy Show" so we decide, humor is exactly what needed to be added to our situation at hand, and get tickets. The show was actually pretty good, and although there were so many of us Americans in the audience, there were also good sized groups from Ireland, Sweden, Whales, France, and Scotland to offer a more wide variety of countries to pick on than just us (or our political leaders). ------------ Saturday The day of the big game!! Yep, today I attended not only my first live 'soccer game' but also my first English 'football match'. We got on the tube for our half hour ride to the Fulham stadium (teams were Fulham vs. West Bromich) The crowds were intense, and people were squeezed tighter than sardines onto the tube. Once we got there the choas only ensued. I have to say I don't think I've ever seen so many drunken people in the middle of the day (we left at noon) before. In England it's not illegal to drink in public, hence the hoards of people walking around with booze in their hands, and its also not illegal to be intoxicated, or basically drunk and disorderly in public. This would also help explain part of why the crowds at the game are so much more lively and loud than at any American sport I've attended. The West Bromich fans (partially due the fact that their team was losing the entire match) were standing and cheering the entire time. I tried to learn some of the cheers, or better yet, just try to understand what the heck they were chanting, but between the accents, the shouting, and the drunken slurring/singing all was lost to my ears. But it was quite fun to listen regardless. Fulham ended up winning by 6-1 (a high score in football/soccer) and after the game we headed to a mexican restaurant we'd heard was quite good. However, I have my own points to contradict this: 1) any Mexican restaurant that doesn't serve chips and salsa is not "good" 2) any Mexican restaurant that doesn't have Flan or Fried Ice Cream on the desert menu, and instead New York Cheesecake and Brownie Sundaes, is just plain wrong. 3) any Mexican restaurant that serves you French Fries instead of beans and rice on the side of your order IS NOT MEXICAN!! As you might've assumed by this point we were all quite dissapointed. I mean, really...French Fries? For goodness sake, they have the word FRENCH in them, that is definitley not Mexican. And I know that fries are called "chips" here, but in the realm of Mexican food, chips are things preceded by the word tortilla that are served with salsa, which we were DENIED! All in all the decor was nice, but obviously Britain needs some illegal immigrants to swim over here and open some real restaurants to show 'em how real Mexican food is done. And if ever in London, and craving Mexican food don't eat at Chiquito. But if you're in London and feel like a fahita or a wrap and some fries, feel free. So after our dissapointing dinner, we were all missing America a bit (if only for the Mexcian food) and on the way home we saw a banner advertising £1 ice cream/blizzards at Burger King. So in our 'British food sucks' angst we decide to pop in only to find out that their ice cream machine is out of order...too bad that's the main item of food that their employees are advertising all over the city. It only fueled the fire. Which brings me to the next event of the evening. Our school caught on fire. Yep. Right after we had all settled in for the night, and I had literally JUST changed into shorts and had no shoes on, we were rushed--or rather slowly, tired and confused (the alarms here sound nothing like anything signaling 'fire') shuffled out of the building. After freezing in the extreme cold for 40 mins or more, the fireman signaled it was fine to enter the building again. Which was very nice of them. Not nice, however, was the leftover smell of burning nastyness (still don't know what the source was) left for us to uhh..savor throughout the rest of the night slash next morning. Sounds like an eventful weekend, yes? Pics of the football game can be found here: Fulham vs. West Bromich
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Thursday, February 09, 2006
Time to Admit Some Things
2/09/2006 09:27:00 PM So it's nearly 5am...and I'm sitting here crying. And honestly...shockingly....I think this is the first time, since graduating high school, that I've sat and cried about my friends. And how much I miss them. I talked to Katie and Kayla tonight, which of course was great. Even though I never really think about it, it was great just to hear their voices. Which I find odd since I don't call them often even when I'm in the country. But after some thought provoking reading (thanks Kayla) I've been thinking quite a bit, and quite bluntly to myself. About myself. Trying to be honest with myself. Maybe it also has to do with the fact that its so late, and my mind just doesn't have the strength to pretend everything is okay. Something I've gotten quite good at over the years. Sadly this only used to be a defense mechanism I mainly developed to keep others from knowing what was really going on...but lately it's become so that I've begun to use it on myself without realizing it. But tonight, I'm letting myself be sad, and listen to what I'm trying to tell me, without ignoring me, or trying to reason a way out of it. So I'm in London. Obviously everyone knows that I've always wanted to come here. But this past year there were more reasons than before. London was to be my escape. To make everything better. I knew that if I could just go to London, I could get back to 'me', get back around 'people'. I like being around people. This past semester I was so alone I couldn't stand it. I felt like I was changing. Changing into someone I didn't like. Or maybe for once I was finally revealed to the real me. So much of who I am, or who I thought I was, was defined by my friends in high school. And I mean that in an amazing, I love who I am, kinda way. It's just that now, post high school, away from friends, finding out if that person was really me, or just reflections of the wonderful friends surrounding me, is starting to become the real trial. These past few months, well more than that, from June till December, were some that I would describe as one of the worst periods of my life. There were ups, but mainly I remember the downs. In every way you can sink down. I was poor, overworked, lonely, and on top of that depressed because of all of this. Trying to deal with the depression only made me more upset, because I just could NOT get out of this feeling of being in a slump. I was getting desperate, I knew that I had to do something. I thought if only I could get away from all of this....crap, things will right themselves, and everything will be okay again. I didn't think I could last another semester, and being around people, new people seemed like it would help tremendously. I decided that part of my depression was from being so isolated, away from campus, away from friends, and that next year when the dorms were finished moving in would be what I'd need to make everything bearable again. Almost on a rash decision I thought, if I go to London for the second semester I'll be able to get away now, quicker, and sort stuff out there, before coming back, and by that time I'll be able to be in the dorms. It was the answer to all my problems. I'd planned on going to London anyways, why not this year. Right now. Move up the plans, it still gets accomplished and I might just figure out what the hell I wanna do with my life while I'm there, shake things up a bit. Perfect. While all that is good and well, running away isnt the answer. But it seems like thats what I was doing. And I don't even know what I was running away from. The fear that the person I thought I was, isn't at all who I am? Someone I don't even know or like? Why would I need to have people around me to feel like 'me'? I know people change, especially from high school to college, it's inevitable. But I think the part of me trying to hang on to the person I was in high school is really trying to hang on to the past for the friends I made there. Because they're such amazing friends, and were--if not are--such a huge part of me that losing some of that makes me afraid to lose them? Not that changing would make me lose them, but especially with how rough things have already been just in the 2 years since college with the distance there is, it makes the future seem so bleak, and I try so hard to ignore that fact, to refuse to accept it. But what if me refusing it just isn't enough. I mean, everyone else changes too, how likely is it that we'll be able to change in the same path/direction/atmosphere whatever it may be. I hate to feel so pessimistic but sometimes I wonder if the constant optimist in me is just too far beyond the reach of reality.
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Truly Appreciating Wal-Mart
2/09/2006 06:03:00 PM Alas, the absence of Wal-Mart has finally hit me. And hard at that. I don't know how people here can survive. What do you do when you need a tube of toothpaste AND thumbtacks? Well, you go to like 4 different stores to find what you need, bu thats besides the point. The point is I miss cheap find everything stores. Targets are included in this as well. It's amazing how underappreciated their convenience was to me before. Anyways, tommorrow we're gonna wonder around stores all day to finally try to figure out what stores have what, and which are cheaper etc. It'll be like shopping with no fun rewards at the end...but also no sad dwindling bank accounts. So it should be good. Tonight we ate lots of biscuits (cookies) and watched 'Elf' dowstairs in the Reid Hall lounge, which was fun. Then Becca, Erin, and I decided to pop in and see Tiffany (the mraz fan, new favorite person girl) who I love even more now. She got her guitar out and played us a few songs, and she is absolutely amazing. I mean that in every sense of the word. Girl has her some soulful pipes, great songwriting skills, and she can play the freaking guitar. I would compare her to Sarah Bareilles (whom I adore) and/or Tristan Prettyman. If you don't know what that means, you can listen to them on Myspace or maybe those little Amazon clips, and get the idea. Thank God she is transfering to a music school next semester. Probably Berkley. Our friend Chris had recorded her without her knowing it and is gonna make her a little demo cd (he's also a musician and has lots of editing programs etc.) Hopefully they'll be able to get a some good recordings from a live set she's gonna do at the Tuke Pub on campus later in March. I can't wait to get the cd from Chris, and she's supposedly gonna be uploading songs to a Myspace artist page so hopefully soon that'll be up. She really is just an awesome person in general; some good talks tonight. On the topic of music, I'm devastated that I couldn't watch the Grammy's here (even though award shows suck lately, I still find it my duty to watch) but I find comfort in the fact that apparently U2 swept the floor with Mariah Carey. Sorry, but she's just too damn annoying (not to mention a little underdressed for her age--she's getting up there) lately. Besides that, not much of an update here tonight. Hope all is well across the ocean for everyone :)
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Sunday, February 05, 2006
Aero Bars!
2/05/2006 03:22:00 PM I don't know if anyone remembers these, but I do know they don't make 'em in the states anymore (but I hear they do in Canada). Anyways, one of the things I've discovered (or rediscovered if you will) are these little chocolate (or chocolate and mint, or chocolate and caramel, or chocolate and irish creme filled) bars, called "Aero". I remember them from when I was living in Broken Bow, probably around 2nd or 3rd grade because 1) it was rare that my brother and I ever got to get a candy bar from the grocery store and 2) the distinct design of them. The insides look like little honey combs, or the inside of a bee hive. They're insane. But a while ago, we had stopped in a little store in the tube station while we waited, and I saw them and freaked out. Of course I got one then. And then a whole package later in a Tesco (like a mini grocery market you find all over in London) last week sometime. But now my stock pile has run out (since then, now my roomate and others have discovered their deliciousness, and helped me devour them) and it makes me a bit sad. I think at the end of the semester I may have to send a box of them home. So what has happened with me all of this past week since my last update. Well, considering I'm living in another country, I find that some of my defense mechanisms have either been damaged, or deemed invalid. I'm talking about my excuses to not try new foods or to not do some activity because I'd suck or look retarded. None of it matters, because somehow being in another country cancels that all out. How do I cope with this? Well, Tuesday I went to an Indian Market to look at lots of bohemian dresses and really girly clothes with some friends, played Tennis even though mom and Tina can rarely get me to go (don't worry, everyone else sucked more than I did, but it was fun, and we decided to make it a weekly thing), and yes...even ate Tai food. I know, I know....but hey, I've let a couple people get me to eat Chinese before (again, not mom--though she begs, haha) so it wasn't that much of a stretch. It wasn't that bad either (after I picked the giant peppers and onions off of it). Maybe by the time I get home, I'll actually let Maggie's mom feed me some eggplant...that's a maybe. The week flew by fast though, and although I managed to upload some more photos to my photobucket, and squeeze a new post in, I do have a test (first one!) tommorrow to study for. You Stay Classy....World -Steph As promised, the pictures of me in a tree, on the 'circle' in the middle of the road, and a few extras. Don't worry, fully size version are at the photobucket, link on the right ;)           |
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