An Up to Date Update...or Something

The end of the term is closing in so fast! Just over 2 weeks left and I'll be back home for Christmas, so only a few more posts left this term (I will write again once I get back in January!)

Day #62 - Friday, November 19: I woke up today and headed to class,  and waited 45 minutes for the bus. The bus that takes me directly to class is the C10. Back in Minneapolis, there is a bus line, the 7, that we all refer to as a "dirty whore." Inappropriate but justified, as it either never arrives on time, or when it does, it will just drive right on by and not pick you (it also stranded me in downtown in the winter once, that was fun). So, needless to say, the C10 has become the dirty whore bus of my London experience. I decided that since the bus wasn't coming, it was my sign to not go to class (don't worry mom and dad, class was only a review of stuff I learned at home my first semester of college, so I knew it wouldn't be imperative!)

I went window shopping in the Westminster district of London, which is wonderful. They have a strip mall where the outside between the buildings is covered in glass, and it was all decorated in Christmas lights and beautiful! After spending a few hours wandering around, I decided to head home. Lesson #21: During rush hour, always take the underground tube! I very rarely travel during rush hour, and it took me over 2 hours to get somewhere 20 minutes away. There was an accident somewhere along the way, delaying it even more. I even passed 3 tube stations on my way home, and of course wasn't smart enough to get off the bus and get on it!

After I got home, Paige, Sam, and I went out for dinner and a nice little Indian restaurant called the Blue Eyed Maid. Super cheap and definitely recommended! On the way home we stopped at the grocery store to get some dessert. Everytime I go to the grocery store I always notice "Prawn Cocktail Crisps" made by Lays' sister company. I decided to try them finally, and it was the strangest tasting chip I have ever eaten. Gross but I couldn't stop eating them. I'm bringing some home for people to try! 

Day # 63 - Saturday, November 20: Today I spent my afternoon at the Museum of London. If you are ever in London, it is definitely a great place to spend your afternoon. The museum was set up wonderfully. The exhibits were London Before London, Roman London, Medieval London, London Before and After the Great Fire, The Great Fire, War and Plague, London till 1960, and then Modern London. Also, at the end they had a London Futures exhibit that was postcards designed from the future. There were so many interesting artifacts and stories and interactive features of the museum. I could go spend another afternoon there and read deeper into everything. 

In the spirit of Christmas, a nice little fact I found :)

Upon getting home I found a cute little postcard in my mailbox from mom and dad saying "From Iowa...with Hogs & Kisses". I really enjoyed it, thanks mom and dad :) After coming home, I made dinner, skyped with Amy for a bit and attempted to go to bed early. I was awoken at 11:45 by a million (okay, maybe like 10) people shouting along to Thriller. Unable to fall back asleep thanks to their Michael Jackson sing-a-long fiesta, I stayed up and ended up skyping with my mom and dad and then Eric for a bit. Then bed!

Day #64 - Sunday, November 21: I woke up late today, as I had another nasty cold developing. I bummed around all afternoon, then left at 5 to go to the Goo Goo Dolls concert!! Eric got me a ticket and it was amazing!! We were in the second row. It was just amazing! I have always wanted to see them, and to be that close was amazing. They put on a really good concert. Concert pictures never really turn out too good, but here are a few (no zoom!) Oh, and also, the opener was a band called Unkle Bob, who has had music on Grey's Anatomy before!!! Even more excellent. 

Goo Goo Dolls!!!

Lead singer of Goo Goo Dolls. The girl in the corner was in the front row. So close!

Day #65 - Monday, November 22: Today I worked on a group project from 10-1, then had class till 5. I came home, got groceries, took a nap, iChatted with mom and dad, and headed to bed!

Day #66 - Tuesday, November 23: Today I worked on my group project again from 9-12. We have a really neat wood and metal studio in the school that I didn't know about, and we spent the morning building an old fashioned flip book viewer (a mutoscope). After working on that, I came home, took a nap, spend the afternoon working on homework, skyped with Becca, did some more homework, and headed to bed!

Day #67 - Wednesday, November 24: Woke up today and once again worked on my group project all morning and part of the afternoon. I came home and had a relaxing afternoon. I just spent the evening listening to music and playing games on my iPad. Every once in a while I just need a stress free night, and tonight was that night. I took some Nyquil for my still lingering cold and passed out around 11. 

Day #68 - Thursday, November 25: HAPPY THANKSGIVING :) Today was probably one of the hardest days to be away from home. Almost everyone I know got to spend the day with family and friends, while I got to spend the day at school from 12-5. I still have many thanks to be thankful for, I was just feeling a bit homesick. The program I came through, Butler, put on a Thanksgiving dinner for all the American students. I'm not sure who they consulted on what we eat for Thanksgiving, but the only things we ate that were normal were turkey and pumpkin pie (both of which were gross). The dinner wasn't very good and they had ridiculous decorations (see below), but oh well. I came home and skyped with Eric while he ate his Thanksgiving dinner (he had to work at 3 on black Friday and couldn't go home). After that, we watched A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving together via the internet and then headed to bed.

These were the "Thanksgiving" decorations. Happy 4th of July? I think they forgot to consult someone on these ;)

Day #69 - Friday, November 26: I hope everyone enjoyed their black Friday and bought some unneeded cheap electronics! I had class 2-5 today, grabbed some dinner with Paige, came home and cleaned and relaxed, and am now updating this! Also, in the holiday spirit, I made a paper chain for days till I'm home! I'm heading to bed early tonight as I'm going to Bruges, Belgium tomorrow, bright and early!

Paper chain!