The End of Part 1 of the Adventure

I finished school yesterday, so now I finally have some time to update. It's crazy how fast this semester has gone by. I fly home in 2 days! 

Day #76 - Friday, December 3: I had class today from 2-5. After going to class, I went to meet up with my friend Katie, who I worked with in the admissions office this summer and who is studying in Vienna this semester. She wanted to come visit London, and I let her stay at my flat. It took me ages to find her...she said she was at a Pret next to a Starbucks near the Victoria Underground Station. Well there are about 5 of those combinations near the tube station, and she didn't have a working phone. After finally finding her, we met up with Paige for fish & chips. Then we headed home and made gingerbread houses and watched Elf to get in the Christmas spirit!

my gingerbread house!

Day #77 - Saturday, December 4: Today Katie, Paige, Sam and I spend the day in the Notting Hill area. We grabbed lunch at a cute little cafe and then headed to Portobello Road, which is a famous market street in London, and on Saturdays, home to world's largest antique market. We spent a good 4 hours wandering up and down the street, and I don't even think we covered half of it! After the market, Katie and I went to a Christmas Festival in Hyde Park called Winter Wonderland. There were a couple of rows of booths selling various items, and I found a couple of neat Christmas gifts. After spending an hour or so there, I headed to the London Philharmonic Orchestra Concert. It was amazing! It really made me miss being in band and playing my Clarinet. 

Day #78 - Sunday, December 5: I slept in today and spent the afternoon working on homework, skyping, and watching Grey's. I went out to dinner with Katie and Paige for Katie's birthday, then came back and spend the night working on more homework and house hunting online for senior year!

Day #79 - Monday, December 6: I had class today from 11-2, then came home and took a nap. I spent the majority of the evening working on redoing a couple of pieces of work and editing some of my pictures. I also finally got a portfolio site up and running www.kelseylampman.carbonmade.com. The only part that's complete is my photography section, but check it out if you're interested! I also got to iChat with mom & dad and also Eric. 

Day #80 - Tuesday, December 7: Today I got up around 10, and left at noon for the Camden Markets with Paige and Sam. We ate lunch outside and almost froze (yes, I realize that since I'm cold when it's 34 degrees outside I'm going to DIE when I come home for break...it's supposed to be a high of 1 on Monday when I get home, I don't think my body is going to know what to do!) We spent the afternoon shopping and then met up with a friend for dinner. 

Day #81 - Wednesday, December 8: I had class today from 2-6. I came home, napped, and spent the evening working on homework! Nothing too exciting today.

Day #82 - Thursday, December 9: I had a meeting today with the study abroad director. Then I did some window shopping...and in the process broke my phone, whoops. I came home and did some homework, then had dinner with Paige. We thought it would be a great idea to make dinner with all of the food we have left that will go bad over break. Well it turns out that was freezer burnt chicken, tortilla shells, and pasta sauce. After attempting to make something tastey, and attempting to eat it, we both looked at each other and said "McDonald's". So that was dinner. I was up extremely late tonight doing homework, but finally finished everything!

Day #83 - Friday, December 10: I had my final class of the term today! I got done with class around 6, came home, made some dinner, and having not gotten any sleep the night before, went to bed at 930!

Day #84 - Saturday, December 11: I woke up rather late today, and spent the afternoon packing (yes mom and dad, I packed before the night before!!) and cleaning my room. I am all packed up to come home! Who knows how much my suitcase weighs, so I could be in for another adventure on Monday, but oh well. 

I can't believe the first semester is over! I am very excited to go home, but also excited to come back. I don't think one semester would be enough time here, I feel like there is so much more for me to do. I am excited to do more traveling next year and also learn more about myself and the city and the world. I've got quite of the list of things to do next year and I'm excited to get to them! This is going to be my last post till after break, but thanks to anyone who's been reading :) I hope you've learned some things and enjoyed reading about my adventures! I'll be back in January!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

Day #70 - Saturday, November 27: Today I went to Bruges, Belgium! I woke up at 5:30 to be ready to leave at 6:30. I traveled to London with a tour group I found, and we took a small little 16 passenger van. We drove from London to the Chunnel, drove the van onto a train, then took the Chunnel to France, and drove off. It was weird to still be in the same car even though there was an ocean between where we just were. Then from France, we drove to Belgium. There was snow all over the country side on our way into town, it was gorgeous!

Bruges (or Brugge, as they call it in Dutch), is a small city in Belgium (about 115,000 people), and is famous in Europe for it's Christmas markets, which we went to. I later found out too that Bruges is a UNESCO World Heritage Site! The town was perfect! It was very small, had cobblestone streets throughout, was decorated for Christmas, and had Christmas music playing everywhere. It really put me in the Christmas mood. There were also horse drawn carriages constantly running throughout the city, which was fun to see and hear.  We got to Bruges around 12:30, grabbed a bradworst (bratwurst!) for lunch, which was delicious, and shopped around the little Christmas market all afternoon. I found all of the signs with Dutch on them very amusing, it is a very intriguing sounding language.  We left Bruges around 5:30pm and drove back to London. While coming back into the UK, the French border patrol reminded me of Canada (Mom, Dad, Kathi and Dave will appreciate that I'm sure).

The entrance to the Chunnel in the UK

Cute little street Bruges

Funny street sign #1: telling people to pick up their dog poop

Funny street sign #2: Absolutely no clue what this says! Something about going to kindergarden maybe?

I loved their architecture! 

Brugge Markt...Markt is Dutch for market

Scooter at dinner in Brugge with my Coca-Cola light and Dutch placemat!

Day #71 - Sunday, November 28: I slept in today, as I was was trying to recover from cold number two of the season. I did some homework, some serious power cleaning of my room and the kitchen, made Chili for dinner, skyped for a bit, and did homework for the rest of the night! Lazy Sunday accompanied with tea!

Day #73 - Monday, November 29: I had class today from 10-1, came home and took a ridiculously long nap. I spent the afternoon working on a group project (by myself nonetheless, awesome group). For this project we had to do a 3 minute sound composition of a location, and for my location I chose to do Brugge. While I was there on Saturday, I had my iPad recording all day long. It was kind of fun to go back through and re-listen to my day. It's funny what you don't hear when you are actually there. My project is a fun little keepsake from my trip. I got to iChat with mom & dad tonight, and I enjoyed it as always. Only one more iChat till I'm home mom & dad :)

Day #73 - Tuesday, November 30: Seeing as today was Tuesday, I had to honor the laziness of Tuesdays by once again sleeping in. IT SNOWED TODAY!!!!!! I went to the grocery store and it was rather humorous to see people reacting to snow. Lots of people had umbrellas, which I thought was very funny. The flakes were huge and gorgeous under the street lights, it really made me miss home! Also, after grocery shopping, I got a nice little postcard from mom and dad in the mail which I rather enjoyed. It said "IOWA...where you can hear corn grow!"

Day #74 - Wednesday, December 1: How on Earth is it already December?! I had a meeting with my course leader today at 2 to discuss how things have been going with class. He was telling me about some of the projects for next term and I'm really excited! After class I attempted to go get Starbucks, but the didn't have a card reader for my card, so I wandered around in search of Christmas socks (I'm feeling very holiday-ie and I want Christmas socks!!). After that I came home, ate, skyped for a bit, and spend the night working on my sound project about Belgium. Still fighting a cold, I headed to bed early.

Day #75 - Thursday, December 2: MORE SNOW TODAY! It was funny how slow the buses were driving today, there was like 1/4 of an inch of snow on the ground. Silly British. I had class from 10-3, and then worked on a group project from 3-5. I ran into Paige at the bus stop, and as we were talking on the bus, a lady sat down behind us and asked where we were from in America (she had hear our "accents") Paige told her Boston and I said Iowa. She took out her hand to shake mine and said "Nice to meet you, I'm from Centerville, Iowa" What a small world! We got to talking, and it turns out she went to school at Luther, got married and moved to London. How bizarre! I cam home, cleaned for a bit, and am now updating my blog!

I can't believe I come home in 11 days! I am ready to take a break from the city for a bit, and come back refreshed next year. I'll have a couple more updates before I head home, so look out for them :)

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!

Keep On Keepin' On

So as school becomes more involved, posts are being more spaced out, but I'm still keeping a journal everyday so nothing is being missed! Thanks to anyone still reading, I hope you are enjoying at least part of what I write!

Day #52 - Tuesday, November 9: Still a bit exhausted from my travels to Glasgow, I slept in today. I spent the afternoon working on some homework and also Skyping with Eric. My night class got canceled, so I honestly did nothing exciting today! I also spent a while with my library books looking for some inspiration for projects.

Day #53 - Wednesday, November 10: I woke up today around 10:30 to go to school to meet with my study abroad advisor. Upon getting there, I noticed campus was really strange...all the gates were closed and there were security people all around the perimeter. Upon entering the building, a security guard promptly asked me for my school ID, which I have never been asked to show. I knew there was some sort of demonstration going on, but wasn't sure the extent it was going to reach. I ended up having to post pone my meeting till 3:30, so I decided to head out and go to the National Geographic Store, which I have been wanting to go since I first saw it a few months ago.

On the way to the store, there were some students on my bus that were part of the protest going on. As it turned out, over 50,000 students from London showed up in Parliament Square to protest tuition rises. They marched from Parliament Square to my school, which would explain all the added security. I thought the whole idea of it was a bit silly, I mean students at my school pay under 5,000 pounds a year to go to one of the top design schools a year. And tuition was going to go up minimally. Kind of stupid in my opinion, but it seems  young students always need a reason to complain. And I guess the march got way out of hand, with broken window, kids arrested, etc. If you're interested in reading about the stupidity of my generation and at my school, click here. The bus driver had a fun time mocking them...the whole time we were driving through the crowd he was chanting "What do we want? MONEY! When do we want it? NOW!" 

Once I finally got through the angry mob of college students, I finally made it too the National Geographic Store. How amazing! I spend a good hour and half in there, drooling over all the photography, books, DVD's, etc. I found a really great book that I caved in and bought called National Geographic: Guide to the National Parks of the United States. Exploring and re-exploring some (hopefully all!) of the National Parks at home is something I'm really interested. My parents and Eric and I are planning a road trip this summer so hopefully this book comes in handy! :)

After finishing drooling over the store, I went to meet with my advisor. Essentially, I have decided to come home a term early and need approval. So, instead of staying in London until the end of June, I'll be coming home in April. It is required that I have two internships to graduate, and seeing as I only have one year of school left, I don't want to leave myself trying to have two internships that year. So, that leaves the summer. My visa is up in July, so I can't stay here and get one, and decided it would be better to come home and get an internship so I can graduate on time! My top contender right now is Meredith Company, based out of Des Moines (they own better Homes and Gardens, etc.)

 Day #54 - Thursday, November 11: I had lecture this morning from 10-12. The tutor I have for that class is the spaciest man I have ever met. We'll be talking about design terminology, and then all the sudden he'll yell "It's like...what the fuc* is that? Since when did farmers walk on all fours? Oh wait it's a cow. Wait, why the fuc* is the cow drinking beer?" All said with a goofy Irish accent (This is a direct quote from today's lecture). I can't understand half of what the man says because his accent is so thick, but from what I can understand of him he is crazy, but also intelligent nonetheless. 

After lecture, I had a final review for my film project I've been working on all semester. That lasted until 5:30. I met up with Paige, and we decided to go get some dinner. Afterwards we went to TGI Friday's and got some cookie dough cheesecake and some fun drinks. I came home and had some more lovely flowers and chocolate awaiting me for Eric and I's anniversary. I did some homework and headed to bed!

Beautiful orange roses :) my third set of flowers from my wonderful boyfriend!

Day #55 - Friday, November 12: I woke up today around 1230, got ready, and headed to my typography class from 2-5. I came home and cleaned for a bit (my room was atrocious, even to me, and that's saying something!) I also spent a good amount of time filling in my new journal. I found a really neat London Adventures journal at the National Geographic Store, and decided to use it to put all of my experiences in one place, along with items I've been collecting (previously, I had just been jotting down my days on any scratch paper I could find, and I wanted it all in one place). After I finished that, I skyped with Eric for a bit for our 6 month anniversary. Then I watched Thursday's Grey's Anatomy, and headed to bed around midnight, since I had to be up at 6...and I am the farthest thing from a morning person.

Day #56 - Saturday, November 13: I woke up around 630, left around 730, to head out on one of the adventure excursions put on by the Butler program I came through. I had quite the exciting morning. All I wanted was some coffee, but I guess I wasn't meant to have any. The bus ride was supposed to be 45 minutes, and about 20 minutes in, at a bus stop, I heard screaming from the bottom level. Well, it turns out, some drunk woman (yes, it was 8 in the morning) got into a fist fight with another angry woman. And the cops (4 cars worth) had to come and question them. But instead of getting them off the bus and letting us get on our merry way, we weren't allowed to go until they were done. Finally, what seemed like forever later, another bus showed up and I got to continue on my journey. I got to the departure place late, coffeeless, and grumpy. Around 9 we headed out to Bath.

When we arrived in Bath, we got a walking tour of part of the historic parts of the city. We saw the Crescent Palace, the Bath Circus, and the oldest house in Bath. We broke for lunch, then reconvened outside the Roman Baths and went on a guided audio tour. I didn't listen to much of it, I was too busy taking pictures! After finishing there, I went to a few little shops, and then we loaded up to head back. Here are some pictures from my day!

A bridge in Bath. Every single building in Bath was made of the same stone (Bath stone!), which was kind of boring but also interesting to be completely surrounded by it. 

Part of the Bath Circus. The man who designed it was obsessed with Stonehenge and the number 3. The circus area is the same diameter as Stonehenge, has 3 buildings, each with 3 floors and 11 on each floor, so 33 rooms per building. Also, from above, the circus looks like a key, which was a mesonic symbol. 

Columns at the Roman Baths

Crescent Palace in Bath. An interesting piece of information our tour guide told us: notice on the left, right below the building, how there is a little ledge in the grass. Extremely rich people lived in this palace many years ago and they wanted to have animals to look at outside their window, but didn't like the idea of fences. So they built a tall ledge that the animals couldn't get over, and that was unnoticeable from inside. Kind of genius! 

East Bath at the Roman Baths

The main Roman Bath

Jane Austen Center! Which I sadly didn't have time to go to. 

Day #57 - Sunday, November 14: I decided to not set an alarm today and slept in. Really, really, really late. I will spare you the actual time, because it is kind of embarrassing, but I guess I was really tired! I woke up, got some groceries, made dinner, then spent the rest of the night doing research and starting to teach myself a new Adobe program. Lesson #20: The new education system over here is teaching me something; you can only be as successful as you are driven. You can't reach your full potential without drive. At home, I never would have taken the time to teach myself a program. But I've been motivated to be a better designer and learn more, even if I have to teach myself. 

Day #58 - Monday, November 15: Today, I had class from 10-2. We spend most of the morning watching videos on the history of motion graphics (a branch of graphic design). After class, I came home and worked more on learning the program. Eric was nice enough to set me up with an account on lynda.com. For anyone looking to learn anything about any (and I literally mean ANY) program on computers, this site is heaven. One of my flatmates made us all dinner. On the invite it said we were eating "pasta, chili, cheese" which turned out to be spaghetti. Same thing I guess though, except the chili was pasta sauce. Silly British. Then I iChatted with Mom and Dad for an hour or so, then with Eric, then to bed!

Day #59 - Tuesday, November 16: Tuesdays always seem to be the day where I have absolutely nothing to write about. Today is no exception. I spend the afternoon with a cup of tea (Turkish Apple Tea...amazing!), some music, and lynda.com. I went through a bunch of tutorials and am continuing to teach myself things!

Day #60 - Wednesday, November 17: I had class 10:30-12 and 2:30-4:30 today. After class, I came home, ate quick, and headed to Peckham. I'm sure some of you who read this have noticed that I mention "Peckham" a lot in my posts. Since the first week of class, we have all been working on producing short films about businesses in the area (Peckham, that is). At the culmination of it all (which was tonight) all of our films were shown in the Peckham Multiplex. On a big screen! The films we created were showed to the public for 2 pounds, and the theater was full! It was really gratifying to finally see all of our hard work and frustrations pay off on the big screen. Here's a link to the description in the Londonist! After the showing, we had a little after party at a local business. I became more aware than I already was at the fact that this country is slightly alcoholic...as my tutors were all rather drunk. It provided some amusement but it is definitely not something that would happen at home!

My groups film description in the program!

Day #61 - Thursday, November 18: I got an email from my professor this morning saying his "throat hurt and class was cancelled"...aka we all saw him very very drunk last night and he couldn't make it. This country is ridiculous. I had another class from 12:30-2:30, then went to the library to get some more books. On the bus ride home the girl sitting across from me had her school uniform on and it had a pin that said "PREFECT" on it. It instantly reminded me of Harry Potter! WHICH COMES OUT TONIGHT!! If I can find tickets I might go tonight, otherwise I'm going to go Saturday.

English Language Revised

pastry - more of a crossant, not the sweet type we have

cheese bread - grilled cheese

Time Flies When You're Having Fun

It's been a while since I've updated, but here it goes! I can't believe I only have just over a month left here before I come home for Christmas. It's crazy how fast time flies!

Day #44 - Monday, November 1: First thought of today...how on Earth is it already November? And today was quite the ugly start to November. I was supposed to have class from 10-12, no big deal. But instead, I had class 10-4:30. Shocking that class ran 4 and half hours late? Not really. Frustrating that class ran 4 and half hours late? Yes. I didn't bring any money to school for lunch because I figured I'd be home for it, so I was starving and crabby and very very impatient. We had one half hour break at turned into an hour break, and another 10 minute tea break (yes, my tutors give us those) that turned into a 45 minute break. Just another lovely example of cultural differences.

After class I went on a little adventure to try and find a new phone provider so I could text my parents internationally. I had done a bunch of research on a specific company, but the employees ended up being idiots so I decided to go to a different company next door. Customer service is key to customers, whoda thunk?

After that fun adventure, I came home and iChatted with Mom and Dad for a while. Dad told me something interesting about the pound coin over here...that each year when they mint them, they update the picture of the Queen, so it shows her aging. I'm going to try to take pictures of all the pound coins I get to see it! Also, I told them about a funny story from the day before that I'll share on here.

When I was at the Camden Market on October 31st, I was getting very claustrophobic/impatient/frustrated with how slow EVERYONE was walking. For anyone who knows me, I'm usually a calm person. But I just got so stinkin' frustrasted with everyone that I basically hit two large men who were in my way and shoved my way through the crowd. My friend that was with me said everyone was staring at me like "did that 5 foot tall girl really just hit two people?" Needless to say, my little outburst of anger passed, and once I had some air of my own to breathe I was fine!

Day #45 - Tuesday, November 2:  I was supposed to work on a group project this morning at 11, but we didn't start till 12 because my group was late. We did some filming till about 5, I came home, napped, got some groceries, and worked on some homework. 

Day #46 - Wednesday, November 3: Again this morning my group was absurdly late to work on our group project. I have come up with a new theory: it is culturally acceptable to leave at the time you are supposed to be somewhere. I'm starting to get used to it, but having been raised in a culture where timeliness is key to everything, it is still a bit frustrating. Mom and Dad and I talked on Monday about how maybe they've got it right and we've got it wrong. I mean in the end, who really cares about the time of day? Most European countries give their workers 6 weeks of paid vacation a year, as compared to in the US only 2 weeks at most jobs. America is the hardest working country in the world, but at what cost? Lesson #18: "Sometimes the things that bother you the most in people are the things you wish you could change about yourself." I think this might be the case with the cultural differences...I'm learning that maybe time isn't as important as our culture makes it seem. In the grand scheme of things, it doesn't really matter if you're 15 minutes late to something, does it? I'm learning that maybe my crazy anal on time characteristic might not be the way to live. I guess I'll continue to explore this idea and maybe become a bit more relaxed and live a little more :). I went home for lunch and grabbed some food, then headed back to work on our project a bit more. 

Upon coming home, I found of some really sad news. A peer of mine from home, Cory, died on Monday. The whole idea of someone my age, in my program, doing what I'm doing, had died was a bit hard to digest. Lesson #19: As we all know, but sometimes forget, life is short. Tomorrow isn't promised and you never quite know what tomorrow bring. In light of living my life and doing things to the fullest, I decided to plan a spontaneous trip to Scotland. Why not? I'm over here, happy, healthy, and alive, so why not live it up. So on a whim, I booked a train and a hostel in Glasgow, Scotland for the weekend.

Day #47 - Thursday, November 4: Once again my group was late, but it seemed to bother me a little bit less this morning than usual. I took some time to sit outside and read and think, it was good for me. We did some filming and then I went on a hunt for a little suitcase for the weekend. Then I did the unthinkable...I was 40 minutes late for class (the bus was super duper late), but I didn't really care too much. I guess I am officially initiated into British culture...or something. After class I came home, ate, packed, Skyped, and headed to bed.

Day #48 - Friday, November 5: I left today around 2 to head to Glasgow. The train left at 3:30, and I got into Glasgow around 8:00. As the train was pulling in, there were fireworks going on outside, it was a nice way to be welcomed into the city!  We went and found our hostel, which went incredibly easy. The city of Glasgow has a really neat subway system, nicknamed the "Clockwork Orange". Instead of having 12349979 billions confusing different lines like London does, the subway runs in a circle, with an inner and outer track, going in opposite directions. So you really can't get lost, which is really nice. After dropping out stuff off at the hostel, we went and found a place to eat. I had the largest calzone I have ever seen, it was the size of a small child. After dinner we went to a little pub across the street from out hostel and had a bit of wine and listened to all the locals talk. 

Scottish accents are kind of ridiculous. It's like a strange combination of British English and the stereotypical Minnesotan accent with over pronounced vowels. And their accents got much thicker the drunker they got, and it was interesting to try and decipher what they were saying. It's incredible how many different dialects of English there are...from Minnesotan to Southern to New Jersey to British to Irish to Scottish and all the little ones in between. I could barely understand some of the people sitting next to me, but it's funny that we both speak the same language. 

Day #49 - Saturday, November 6: We got up and left around 11 today, and wandered around our neighborhood for a bit. It was right on the river and beautiful! Here are some pictures:

It was rainy and gloomy, but I love the architecture in Europe! Something you don't find in the States. 

After we wandered around for a bit, we got on the Subway to go to the Gallery of Modern Art. There was a interesting exhibition going on called Hertie Querty, Unsettled Objects. But actually one of my favorite things I photographed was in the children's craft area. There's something so interesting about the creativity of children, how they don't care if they are wrong or right. I did a poster my freshmen year reflecting on how education shuts off children's creativity because they begin to fear being wrong or having people judge them. There's something magical about art of children. 

Window Art with Crayons

After we spent a while in the Gallery, we went shopping for a bit. We ended up eating lunch at TGI Friday's and I got ranch dressing for the first time in almost 2 months!! It was something I've been craving, and we figured it was okay to eat some American food for the first time since we've been abroad. After lunch we wandered over to the Lighthouse, which is Scotland's Centre of Architecture, Design, and the City, and saw some really neat exhibits. From the top of the building, I had a lovely view looking over the city center of Scotland.

View of Glasgow from the Lighthouse Centre. I love all of their old architecture!

After that we went and got some supper. If you are ever in Glawgow, eat at the Junction Bar. I got incredible chili con carne with chips (fries) for 4 pounds and it was to die for. After dinner, we went to STOMP, which was playing at the Royal Theatre. This was the second time I've seen STOMP, and it was even more incredible than I remembered. For anyone who hasn't seen STOMP, look them up and book yourself a ticket for the next time they're in your area. So incredibly good! Also, as I was reading through the program, I found this. What a small world!

"Cameron was born and raised in the entertainment capital of the world, Iowa..." What a small world that the one weekend that this STOMP group is in Glasgow, I happen to go there? Crazy crazy...everyone sing "It's a small world after all."

Day #50 - Sunday, November 7: We woke up today at 7:30 and went to church at one of the gorgeous Cathedrals down the street from us at 8:30.

The gorgeous Cathedral we went to church in!

After church we decided to hop on and do a bus tour of Glasgow. We got off at the Glasgow Cathedral, a couple of little markets, and the harbor in Glasgow. Here are some pics of the bus tour below! A lot of the stuff I wanted to see was unfortunately closed on Sundays, so I guess I'll just have to go back sometime!

A park near the Glasgow Cathedral

Glasgow Cathedral

Harbor in Glasgow. This ship sailed the world 4 times! It unfortunately isn't open on Sundays, so I couldn't see it.

After the bus tour there was some time to kill, so I stopped at Starbucks and enjoyed my favorite drink while listening to some Christmas music playing. It was a nice way to wind down before the train ride home :)

Scooter in Starbucks in Glasgow, Scotland!

Day #51 - Monday, November 8: I had class for a bit this morning, went grocery shopping, and took a 6 hour "nap." Traveling is always so exhausting and it was good to catch up on my sleep. I got to Skype with Sarah for a bit, then Eric, then Mom and Dad, so it was a good night of video chatting :) Not too much else exciting on this Monday.

Day #52 - Tuesday, November 9: I slept in today and spent the afternoon doing some internship researching for the summer and also catching up with Eric, as we hadn't really gotten to talk much in the past few days. Then a took a little nap, did some more internship research, and found a few I'm really interested. I'm going to start fixing up some of my work and putting in applications as soon as possible, wish me luck! 

English Language Revised

holiday - vacation

jumper - sweatshirt

An End to October

Wow, I can't believe today is the last day of October! My how time flies. Today marks the halfway point of this term, I can't believe how fast the first 6 weeks have gone! Thanks to everyone still reading :)

Mom & Dad - I'm glad you got the comments figured out! I love you both and miss you! And Cotton too!

Kathi - I don't remember the start of the copper tube, but I'm glad we got it passed to us! That's one of my favorite things to do at the campfire...that and the chimney logs. And yes, I did find myself singing London Bridge...although I did discover that the bridge was actually Tower Bridge, not London Bridge. I'll have to hunt down London Bridge some other time!

Liz - Thanks :) and thanks for reading! I hope all is well with you!

Day #38 - Tuesday, October 26: I went and worked on a group project today from noon till about 5. The whole entire day it was doing this gross sideways rain thing. I think my group members could tell I was annoyed with it, and one said "Oh don't worry, the weather only gets worse from here on out. You probably won't see the sun again before you leave for holiday." Great! Like I've said in previous posts, it is the most pathetic rain here. I want a thunderstorm, dangit! After having walked around all day in the rain, I came home soaking wet, took a warm shower and a much needed nap. Then I spend the evening working on homework!

Day #39 - Wednesday, October 27: I had class today from 2-5, got home around 6, and made tacos with Paige. Once again, their seasoning failed to be what I was thinking it was (but luckily Eric is sending me normal people taco seasoning, so once that gets here I'll be happy!) After tacos, we made some cookies. Then I had to go take some pictures quick for my group project, and spent a bit of time wandering around looking for Mac n Cheese (the previous time I was in the area I saw it in a shop but I didn't have my wallet!), but the place was closed. Headed home to work on some more homework!

Day #40 - Thursday, October 28: I had class from 10-1 today, then went to the park nearby and read for a bit before meeting Paige for lunch at a delicious pizza place right near school. I had I giant calzone for really cheap! I came home for a bit and then had a study abroad meet up at a local pub (this is the second time my school has offered to buy me alcohol, this country is ridiculous!) I stayed at the pub for a bit then came home and Skyped for a bit and worked on some more homework and my website!

Day #41 - Friday, October 29: I got up early to finish a project for class, then had class from 2-6. No one wants to be in class at 6:00 on a Friday night! I was getting a little antsy because I was going to a concert at 7:30 and was hoping I could make it! I got home and grabbed a quick dinner and went to the concert. Tonight I went to the Spaghetti Western Orchestra. They are an "orchestra" of 5 men from Australia who play western music with a crazy variety of instruments. They played a bunch of songs from Clint Eastwood movies using some tradition instruments - bass, piano, drum set, harmonica, bass clarinet, trumpet, etc - but also used unconventional things like corn flakes, a head of lettuce, bottles, and a bunch of other weird things. But it sounded amazing! It was also mixed with a story line, comedy, and audience interaction. I was very pleased with it, I had a great time. Click here to check out a video of what they do! Here's another one too!

Handout, CD, and ticket! If they ever tour North America they are a must see!

Day #42 - Saturday, October 30: Today I went to the London Zoo! It's located in Regents Park, which is by far the most gorgeous park I've been to in London. And it's huge! I loved the fall weather and fall trees. I'll share some pictures from my day. Some of my favorite exhibits were the butterfly tunnel, the monkeys, and the penguins.

River in Regents Park on my walk to the London Zoo!

I love fall!

I still love fall!

This is what chickens look like over here. No wonder their eggs look weird!

Butterfly exhibit! It was in a climate controlled tunnel, so I was right in with the butterflies!

I loved the patterns on these little guys. There were tons of them!

Another one!

Monkey!  I'm not quite sure what kind, but whatever it was, it was cute!

Another little monkey!

Mom & Dad - I thought you'd appreciate these! A little nostalgia from my childhood, I had to get some! I haven't seen a machine for these in years.

After I got home from the zoo, I went out to eat at Nando's, a chicken restaurant. It's the first place I've found in London with free refills on pop! Heaven! After dinner I dyed my hair (which I've been dying to do since before I even left to come over here...no pun intended). I had plans to go out with some friends, but they fell through so I just spent the evening relaxing. Also, I got to Skype with Eric in his new place! Congrats babe!! I'm really excited for him, and it makes it a little hard to not be home, but I know it is worth it in the end.

Day #43 - Sunday, October 31: Happy Halloween!

Halloween card from Mom and Dad :)

Today I spent the afternoon perusing the markets in Camden. They have endless street markets with endless food and shops and people. It was a bit chaotic, but I found a couple of interesting little shops. I'll definitely be heading back there to do some Christmas shopping! Also, I found apple cider, which I have been craving! No where seems to have any kind of cider that isn't alcoholic, and I was happy to find regular hot apple cider. After shopping around for a couple hours, we went to this thing called "Cupcake Camp." It's a charity event where local bakers make cupcakes, and customers buy little tickets to purchase as many cupcakes as they want. All the proceeds go to a local charity. Lots of cupcakes! I got a caramel crunch pumpkin cupcake!

cupcakecamp and cupcake!

After that, we headed back. On a side note, a new favorite game to play on Halloween weekend is "Costume or Crazy." I had a lot of fun trying to guess if people were dressed up for Halloween or just weird...and sadly I encountered a lot of people who I just couldn't tell! That's London for you, I guess.

English Language Revised!

period - full stop 

Trucking Onward

As school becomes more and more busy it's getting harder to update (also, this week is rathe boring, sorry!), but thanks for everyone who is still reading! :)

Day #30 - Monday, October 18: I woke up really early today to head to the library and finish a project that was due. I had to do research and present information on Bill Drummond, a really strange artist I was assigned. The library is amazing though! I looks like a scene out of Harry Potter! After class from 2-6:30, I relaxed for a bit and got to Skype with mom and dad for an hour. Then off to bed!

one of the amazing rooms of the library!

Day #31 - Tuesday, October 19: I woke up today with a horrible head cold and decided to stay cozyed up with books and tea today. I did venture out to get groceries, and the second I started walking out the door to walk home, it started downpouring. Of course I still haven't learned my lesson about taking an umbrella (I always think since I'll be gone for 30 minutes it won't rain...wrong again!) About half of the way home, a lady came up to me and said "It's a shame you're getting so wet!" and gave me a brand new umbrella she had in her bag! It's very rare to find nice people like this in such a large city, and I was very thankful for her help! The next time it's raining I'm going to try and give it away to someone else. The traveling umbrella of London!

Day #32 - Wednesday, October 20: Another non-exciting day...class from 10-1, and then I worked on my group film project from 1-6. By the time I got home I was exhausted, and still not feeling well, I just worked on a bit of homework and another blog for class (yay blogs!)

Day #33 - Thursday, October 21: Today was the day of fire alarms! I was woken up by one at 330 am, 745 am, and then there was another one during the day at school! I had class from 10-12 and 3-7, got home, and worked did some doodling.

Day #34 and #35 - Friday, October 22 and Saturday, October 23: Aside from having class from 2-5 on Friday, I did a whole lot of sleeping and NyQuil taking these two day. Every fall I get a horrible sinus infection and this years took full hold this weekend! Luckily it was when I didn't have class. And I'm feeling all better now :)

Day #36 - Sunday, October 24: Today I went on a River Boat Cruise down the River Thames to try and find some inspiration for a school project. I was shocked to find out that the Transport for London (which runs the underground, trams, buses, etc.) also runs a river boat service, and as a student it was really cheap!

London Eye from the river...I'd love to see it from this angle at night!

Me in front of the London Bridge...which isn't falling down!

Despite the murky, gross water, there was colorful boats and buildings all along the shore!

The river cruise dropped me off in Greenwich Village (Gren-ich). I wandered around the area and stumbled upon the Greenwhich Market, a cute little indoor market that is there every weekend. I found a couple of items for Christmas gifts for people back home (always fun to check of the list!) and had an Italian rice ball with spinach and ricotta in it, and a caramel filled churro for desert. Both were delicious!

Greenwich Market!

A quick view of the inside. Lots of interesting stands and shops! I'll be going back!

It took forever to get home from my little adventure. The boat had taken me directly there, but I had to take a bus, train, and the underground to get home! River traveling is a really smart idea and a good time saver! After I got home, I started working on my project. For anyone who is reading and would like to help me (it's an on going project through out the semester, so you can do it whenever) click here! Just click on the "READ ME FIRST" photo to get started. Your help would be greatly appreciated!

Day #37 - Monday, October 25th: I had class today from 10-1, where I had to present my idea for my website (the one above). It went over really well, and I was happy with the positive feedback. I was supposed to meet up for a group project at 430, and instead of going home I decided to spend some more time in the library. Well, I now have 7 books checked out of the library! The whole library is all art and design books...something the U of M doesn't have and that I know I'm going to love having! It's great to have so many design books right at my finger tips, and for free! The library will also order any books that you request so you can check them out, so I'm going to be on the prowl for interesting books I can get for free. I got home around 630, got some dinner, and am now here updating this! Skype soon with my mom and dad, then bed.

All of my library books! Thank you amazing library!

English Language Revised!

take away - to go (they don't understand when you ask for food "to go")

jelly - jello...they have the strangest form of jello over here. it's in weird cubes, I'll take a picture the next time I see it!