Ostrich Farming and Racing

What an exciting weekend I had. I went out Friday and met up with some people. Came back to my room, no wait my roommate decided to have her boyfriend over for the weekend and kicked me out so she could...I'll let you finish that sentence. I'm not the only one who's got a crap roommate either. Sam hasn't had much luck with hers and has actually moved rooms, I don't think I'm quite that desperate yet. In fact, she removed almost all of her things from the room, so operation "GH2MO", also know as Get Her To Move Out, seems to be working well. AND now for a studying in England Tip

TIP #2: British student (this includes Welsh, Scots, and English) have a mindset that they will have their own room at university, it doesn't matter whether they sign up for a shared room or not. They do not tend to care about their scared, shy, foreign roommate nor have any respect for the possessions, personal space, and feeling of the person they are sharing with. If you are planning on studying in the UK I suggest trying a single room. While it maybe awkward at first you won't have to put up with horrible roommates like both Sam and I have.

Now before I go and offend the British in public they are generally warm and inviting, and if I'd gotten anyone else on my floor as a roommate we probably wouldn't have this problem. I think that they will agree with me, however, that single rooms are preferable at the RAC if you live in the dorms.

So, lets move on to something happy! Saturday I got up and went to breakfast at half 8, then I went and sat in the tythe and watch TV in my PJs until lunch. After lunch I got dressed, the returned to the TV until the England vs. Argentina rugby match was over at 5. In other words it was an extremely productive day.

Sunday Ondine and I went shopping in Cheltenham where she proceeded to convince me to buy a pair of new green shoes to go with the two tops I'd already bought (the tops cost a whole 6 pounds together). I also got new socks and some wrapping paper for Christmas.

Monday- Nothing

Tuesday- Tythe

Wednesday-Nothing (however my roommate decided to have a mate sleep over and when they came back from the Rock at 3 AM they had a boy with them and had a conversation in the hallway for an hour and a half before finally calling it quits. I went out and yelled at them around half 3 to shut the hell up. I was very happy considering I had an early lecture that morning, which ended up being canceled. I then proceeded to wake them up when I got up at half 7)

Now I bet you are wondering what the title of this blog is all about. Well I'll tell you. Anna (and no I don't mean you Miss Kreis although some of the conversations we have are very "you and I") and I had this amazing conversation over the weekend. She's going to buy her dad a peacock for Christmas and she happened to mention that the person she's getting this peacock from also has Ostriches. Well we then had lovely little discussion about Ostriches and some how the conversation came up that we should ride this ostriches. Which then led us to the realization of our new life long goal to own and operate an Ostrich farm where people will come and pay good money to ride our ostriches. Also as part of our farm enterprise we're going start up an Ostrich Racing League (ORL) and become world famous Ostrich Racers. Keep in mind it's like horse racing not dog racing, only you ride an ostrich. It's brilliant! How could we fail!

AND one last thing before I go. The latests Doctor Who special aired on Sunday. Don't worry I'm not going to tell you anything about it. Just thought there would be some people out there who'd like to know.

I Miss the Sun

Alright peeps, if you can't tell by the title there isn't much sun where I'm at. I do really want it to just be sunny and dry, none of this damn drizzle crap that seems to happen all the time. By the time I get back to Iowa in July I'll have forgotten what the sun even looks like.

Now I bet you're all wondering how my trip to Wales was, well I didn't go. Debbie Downer strikes again! I 1) had to much course work to do and 2) would have had to miss lecture and I'm paying quite a lot to attend them. It was also a lecture in which I have no clue whats going on. So I did nothing but coursework the whole week, but I got it turned in on time!

Thursday was apparently this almost holiday called bonfire night. There has been fireworks all weekend also in celebration of the almost holiday. Anyway, we went to the Tunnel House Inn (a local pub where lots of RAC students go) for a bonfire and some dancing and of course the favorite hobby of students, drinking. I also discovered that it is Red Bull, not alcohol that does me in. Yeah, its definitely the Red Bull. I came back from the Tunnel at about 3 in the morning and was up and ready for breakfast at 8 AM. And by ready I mean still in my PJs.

Friday someone (cough cough, Naomi, cough) thought it would be a good idea to go out again she also had this idea on Saturday after we'd spent the entire day at a horse show.

So, Saturday I went to a livery yard which was an experience in itself. I'm not afraid of horses, but I'm not a big fan and it was made very clear to me that I AM NOT and never will be a horse person. But I do enjoy watching the show jumping during the Olympics so I thought I'd go along and support my friend and then I can say I've been to a real horse show. There was also the potential for me to finally get a pair of wellies.

TIP: If you are planning on going to the RAC make sure you get a pair of Wellington Boots, more commonly known as wellies. They are vital to survival as it is always wet, rainy, and muddy and you will be touring farms where these conditions are worse.

Now, because I'm stubborn and I want the wellies to be my main souvenir I'm going to get Hunters, which are rather expensive but extremely nice and sturdy and they last a long time, instead of doing the cheap option and getting a pair to muck around in for about 5 pounds. The show however did not have any wellies for sale and like usual it was cold and wet and muddy. While the show itself was inside we had to walk through tons of mud to get indoors and also there were rather large horses and it's like the book says, Everybody Poops.

The show itself was interesting. There isn't really too much to tell. People mount their horses and jump over fences. I think the reason I like watching it on the Olympics is because I'm a bit of an Olympics fan girl, I love it and pretty much will watch any sport if it is for the Olympics.

Sunday I went to the RAC Pub Quiz, which is literally a quiz that you do for fun in teams. There were 6 categories. General Knowledge, which my group did rather well at. Sports where I guessed at every answer so the British Open is being held in D.C. and there is a football(soccer) team called the Toronto Maple Leaves. Agriculture...I would have been shunned both here and at ISU if I'd failed this round. Music, where the played the beginning of a song and you guessed it. And finally a picture round of RAC students doing naughty things, and a RAC gossip round. So since Thursday I've gone out every night but Tuesday.

Tonight we're going to the Rock Cafe again. Theme tonight is Doctors and Nurses and I was going to be real clever and go as Doctor Who, but I have no suit and no trench coat so I'm not sure how I'm going to dress up tonight. My friend Kim is going as a witch doctor in order to reuse her Halloween hat, I came up with that brilliant idea for her.

Also I had no class Monday or Tuesday and tomorrow I only have half a class. I know what you're thinking, how can you only have half a lecture. Well two different people present lectures for one class and the early one is canceled, therefore half a class.

One last thing before I go. Shortly after I got here I found out about this project where four guys from the UK helped the Youtube/internet community to make a song and are trying to hijack the UK charts (Its called the ChartJackers project). Anyway this song was made for Children in Need, a charity in the UK, and since Children in Need owns the song all the profit goes to help kids. The song is called I've Got Nothing and it's out now on iTunes only. Even if you don't live in the UK (and according to iTunes I don't) please consider buying the song its 99 cents. Link to buy here:

Nostalgia

So this really has nothing to do with my year in England except for the fact that I have been reminiscing about life back in Iowa. I'm not exactly home sick because in my opinion homesickness is when you just can't stand to be away from home and you're considering throwing everything you've worked so hard to get out the window and flying back home.

And while I do miss Iowa slightly, what I miss more in talking with my niece, and I know what you might be thinking. Come on! Your niece is probably what? 3 years old at the most. What kinda conversation can you have with a 3 yr old! In fact my niece is only 2 years younger than I am (Yeah I was an Oh Shit! Baby, I admit) and we were raised like sisters/best friends. So we are rather close, and I do talk to her over Facebook and MSN Messenger. But we had a conversation last night that had me cracking up over how us it was.

Now, we are a bit odd, I'd even go so far as to say we were really, really big nerds. So we were discussing the distance and then...

Caitlin: you're like 12,ooo miles away. Its not like i can just drive over there. Its a little too far and there is an ocean in the way

Dana: Actually its not like 12,ooo miles its a lot closer to 5,000 miles. and all you really need is an underwater car. They're the way of the future

Caitlin: Oh yeah and I'm the easter bunny.

Dana: I KNEW IT! does that mean you'll leave easter eggs for me in Paris?

Caitlin: maybe

Dana: Where are you going to hide them in the Eiffel tower? or with Lady Liberty? or in a baguette?

Caitlin: The Easter bunny never reveals his secrets. Thats not the point

and after a long pause in the conversation

Dana: if you're the easter bunny does that make Branden's [her boyfriend] the tooth fairy?

Caitlin: Gasp, who told you?

Dana: The leprechauns

Which made me remember that just before I left my family had a big sit down dinner to say goodbye and Caitlin came over early. Well, she got a call from Branden and he asked what was for dinner and we told him hamballs.

Branden: What's that?

Caitlin: How would you describe hamballs Dana?

Dana: Tell him it's like meatloaf but made with ham and rolled in to balls not a loaf

Caitlin: Its like meatloaf but made with ham and rolled into balls not a loaf and then it has this sweet sauce on top

Branden: So it's meatballs made with ham?

Caitlin: Duh Dana, Why didn't we just say it was meatballs made with ham?

Dana: Because, it's nothing like meatballs

Caitlin: Yes its like meatballs Branden, but made with ham

I don't know why but I found this conversation to highly entertaining at the time.

What I'm really doing is wasting time. I have a piece of coursework that's due on Friday and is worth half of my grade in that class and I haven't really started. I'm a lot further along than most people in the class, but still. Plus, I'm going to Wales tomorrow so I won't get any work done then.

Another thing I miss about Iowa...I'm not such a Debbie Downer there. I feel like most of my blogs I'm complaining about something or telling some sad story. Well not today! Today...oh wait nothing exciting happened today. I went to the Gym to work out with Sam and I missed breakfast because I overslept then I proceeded to miss lunch because my class got out late. And I've officially mad the bank transfer so I've been checking my account online every 5 minutes to see if its there yet. No luck so far. So I guess I'm still Debbie.

I'm going to try and be optimistic. OK Dana, what's one good thing that happened to you? I've officially booked my trip to London. I will be in London the last weekend in November to do a bit of Christmas shopping and to see the city. There one good thing. And it only cost me £8.90 per night at the hostel, which I thought was pretty good. And the hostel is near Hyde Park so yeah. Also I get to ride a train and use the Underground. *Cheesy American Tourist Alert*

Actually I've thought of two good things. I might be going to Cambridge for a weekend. Naomi is going to visit her Grandma in Cambridge and she's invited me along. So I'll have a little adventure and a poke around town.

<3>

Happy Halloween...Late!

I know that it is official November and that Halloween has been over for about 16 hours here, but I’m going to write about Halloween anyway!

Now, Halloween is not as big in the UK as it is in the States but the RAC did try their best to make it a pretty big deal. They even had fireworks and I laughed at all the “ooo-ing” and “aww-ing” that was going on because lets face it, Americans like to shoot of fireworks when ever they get the chance. Anyway they had a party going down in the Tythe Bar and people were asked to dress “scary” for most student this meant a little fake blood, some vampire teeth, maybe a mask or two, and some devil horns. I, however, went a bit crazy. Back-combed hair, slit throat, blood everywhere, tacky eighties style outfit, grey-white face, sunken eyes. In other words, everything you need to be a proper-like Zombie. It was good time, mainly because I had two Red Bulls before going out and had a bit too much energy to spare.

I’ve finally got my bank sorted out! I’m very excited. I still don’t have any money in my account but I do have one. Pretty much I told HSBC to bugger off because they took over a month to process my application for an account and there was still something wrong with it and it was going to take another month before I could even get the account opened and have any money at all. So I switched my account over to Lloyds TBS and they open my account the same day and now all I’m waiting on is my bank card to come in and my wire transfer to go through. BUT Lloyds is going to give me a debit card unlike HSBC which was just going to be a ATM card. Word to the wise for any future exchange students to the RAC…Bank with Lloyds!

This past week it seems like there was quite a bit of partying going on. Monday there was a bus for the whole college to Cheltenham to go to a night club called Dakota. I however did not take the bus as it was going to cost money and my friend Ondine offered us a ride there so we didn’t have to stay until 3 AM like the rest of them.

Thursday was Ondine’s birthday so we took her Scottish Reeling and watched a movie. Very low key, but this Wednesday we’re all going to Wales and going to have a proper meal at a restaurant since it’s the only time we can all make it and have money at the same time! (Which is mainly my fault) So hopefully there will be some good stories to tell you about Wales and the Road Trip.

Friday was the Pink Party and we were suppose to wear pink to raise awareness for breast cancer. It made me realize that I don’t actually own anything pink, and what I do own thats pink wasn’t cool enough to make it into my suitcases. So, me trying to be clever again, I wore a pink plastic sack around my neck, and using my Halloween makeup put two pink ribbons on my cheeks. I also remembered that I packed my coral pink shorts so I wore those with my coral shoes and borrowed some pink nail polish. So I was pretty much as Pink as I will ever get.

One last thing. I found out an interesting little tidbit, I’m not sure how true this is as I have no factual evidence, just the word of a friend. But apparently if they place where they filmed Harry Potter in didn’t work out the RAC was the second choice for Hogwarts. SO I really did find Hogwarts while I was over here.