A Year In England

5 Adventures in 1

2010-06-01T14:34:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I am horrendously horrible at updating my blog. That means either a) my life has been far too busy for me to update regularly and I therefore have much to tell you or b) nothing has been going on and this will be a rather short and pointless update. Actually the answer is c) nothing has been happening on a weekly basis but I’ve left it so long that I’ll just do a massive update on my ‘recent’ adventures that have happened since returning back to the RAC in beginning of April.

Adventure 1: Ciren Pub Crawl
Ondine and I were at Cirencester two weeks before classes were suppose to resume and I had absolutely nothing to do really. I actually worked on and finished coursework during those to weeks (that was due the week after classes started). Basically Ondine and I would work/ride (Ondine has horses) during the day, go to dinner, then sit in her room and watch TV or movies. We watched a lot of comedy specials and I got her addicted to Russell Howard’s Good News.

However, there was one exciting night. We decided one Saturday to make our way through some of the local Cirencester Pubs. We ended up running into these guys at the first pub who (given that they were the only other people in the pub besides us) could easily be overheard talking about sexual deviant acts (mainly involving one’s pooper shooter). Then at the end of the night when we were at the last pub we ran into them again and went to Ondine (slightly louder than I should have) ‘Look! It’s the anal guys!’ To which the then turned around and recognized us as the girls from the first pub.

Adventure 2: Canterbury, Kent
Another classic Ondine/Dana adventure. Ondine was returning home to Canterbury to get her horses shod (have shoes put on) and I went along to explore a legendary city and its cathedral. On the way however we had some excellent banter. Ondine managed to hit a bird with her car, then pointed to some cows and told me to look at the sheep. Some days I think she is more blonde then me, and then I remember all the stupid things I do that don’t make it to this blog (and some of the ones that do e.g. Adventure 1) and I realize I’m much worse.

Anyway besides riding in a horse lorry (semi-truck like contraption), meeting Ondine’s mother for lunch, and making friends with a truck driver in a different lorry I did something cultural and went to see the Canterbury Cathedral. It was absolutely stunning and being the complete nerd that I am (and I apply the term nerd with love for it is the only way to be) I kept thinking ‘OMG ITS LIKE HOGWARTS!’ It is exactly what any [in]sane Harry Potter devotee would have thought.

Adventure 3: The Ballet
This is one of the things that I am actually most excited that I got to do, and it is not an Ondine/Dana adventure. It’s a Dana and the Main Building Crew (James, Nick, and Emily) adventure. Basically James and Nick were in London for the weekend (it happened to be a bank holiday weekend meaning no classes/work on Monday) and on Monday Emily and I took a train and joined them for the day. We did a bit of shopping went to Harrods’s (one of the few things on my London list I hadn’t done yet) and went to dinner at this AMAZING Indian restaurant which is James’ favourite restaurant.

We then went to Covent Garden to get our tickets from the Royal Opera House to see the ballet Cinderella, and guess what? We had our own private box. Sure it cost a pretty penny but it was most definitely worth it. The show itself was quite moving and then we caught a London Taxi (another thing on my London to-do list) to the train station back to Ciren. Some days it still feels like a dream how prefect that day was. Even the bad parts (not being able to check our bags before the show) seemed wonderful.

Adventure 4: Summer Sun
So this isn’t really an adventure, but more a summation of what has been happening at the RAC before Adventure 5. We had a bbq one night out on the lawn with Pimm’s and raspberries. Pimm’s have quickly become my favourite drink and I’ve been trying to do research to see if they are available back home because if not (even if so) I’m bring some back with me. But the best part has been soaking up the sun and learning how to juggle. And the evening spent watching the sunset with the Main Building Crew with our Pimm’s and lemonade was one of those moments I’ll never forget.

Oh there was also an Election that went on and Ondine and I spent our Thursday nights in the Tythe watching the first televised Prime Ministerial Debates in British history. As well as the election coverage of what has been a historic election. In case you live in a box or don’t pay attention to the news the Conservative and the Liberal Democratic parties have formed a coalition as no party (including Labour) had an outright majority meaning that there is currently a hung parliament. The coalition basically means the Lib-Dems are working with the Conservative party and that David Cameron, the leader of the Conservatives, is the new Prime Minister.

Adventure 5: The May Ball
Now I’m sure you probably want lots of details as to what it was like and what went on and I’m not going to lie to you. I don’t really remember much. We had a bit of bubbly before the ball and the MBC boys went to their dinner while the girls chillaxed. Everyone looked stunning and yes I managed to make it through the whole 11 hours of the party for the survivors’ photo at 7AM. But other than that you’d have to experience it for yourself. It was however amazing to have most of the people that I’ve met here at the RAC in one place.

Right so that is 5 adventures I’ve had since Ireland. Hope you enjoyed and I can’t say there will be too many more blog post from England as my time here is rapidly drawing to a close.

Shamrocking Adventure

2010-04-27T08:08:00.000-07:00

Okay so as you probably remember I went back to Ireland over the Easter holidays with my friend Erin and Ondine. Bloody Brilliant time we had too. So just in case you were wondering what we did and why I almost killed Ondine or you just want some ideas on where you should go or avoid at all cost (as it may be) read on people, read on.

So I arrived at the airport by plane from Copenhagen late evening and met Ondine and Erin there. My plane in Copenhagen had been delayed and that was irritating, but it worked out for the best because all three of us arrived at the same time. We spent the night in Stanstead airport and didn't really do much sleeping. Fairly certian we were keeping everyone else up as well. Morning finally came though and we had our delicious (sarcasm) airport breakfast and watched a Stag party (Bachelor Party for Americans) start their pre drinks at 5 AM.

Eventually we were on the plane and were off for an amazing 10 day adventure in the land of the Leprechans. Our first day was spent in Dublin and we toured Phoenix Park, the Guinness Storehouse, and the Jameson Irish Whiskey distillery. Erin was selected on the Jameson tour to be a 'whiskey taster,' so she got to compare Jameson with two other whiskeys (a Scotch Reserve Whisky and Jack Daniels). We then went to the hostel had a nap made some dinner and made our way to Temple Bar for an extremely overpriced drinks where we were hit on buy some rather old men on a stag night.

We then headed to Cork City. Our hostel there was amazing and if you are ever in Cork stay at the Arran House Tourist Hostel. The lady who runs it is so sweet she gave us directions to Blarney and the bus station and gave us some resturant recommendations. And there was a dog! Anyway while in Cork we headed over to the Blarney Castle. Stunning! And I kissed the Blarney stone which was scary as...as...well I can't think of a metaphor right now so just make one up for yourself.

Returned to Cork and then went out to some clubs. Ondine proceed to chat up the bouncer and get us free entry into two night clubs. At one night club she then had all these body builders chasing after her. The body builders then decided that it would be a good idea to win Ondine's love by seeing who could pick her up and hold her for longer. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it) for Ondine, while the body builders were discussing who one a new guy came in and took her away. Erin and I stood there and laughed.

The next day we headed to a small village in the country side called Inchigeelagh. Our hostel was actually about 5 km outside of the village and a nice woman gave us a lift there. It was so goregous there and we went for a walk on the first day and made some dinner then watched TV. We ended up watching a show in Galiec on American Country-Western music.

Day two in Inchigeelagh consisted of an epic 70 km bike right through a mountain pass and back by a different route which was not any less steep. We'd originally planned on having a short bike ride to explore the area. Then we saw a castle on a map and though...'let's bike there and have a picinic, its not to far.' We got there just fine, but on the way back we managed to get lost. We did eventually make it back at 10 that evening and I was so sore that I couldn't stand up straight or sit down properly.

We went to bed after a meal of leftover spaghetti and Irish soda bread then awoke bright and shiny (well sore and in pain) without realizing that while we were sleeping the time had changed. So we left thinking we still had two hours to get to the bus station. And did I mention it was absoultely pouring buckets? Luckily a nice man gave us a lift to the bus stop so we made it there in time. However the bus driver was a jerkface and yelled at us for getting the tickets wet. Clearly he hadn't noticed it was raining.

We headed to the Aran Islands via Cork City, Galway, and Rossaveal (where we caught our ferry). The Islands were amazing. We stayed at the Kilronan hostel and if you stay anywhere else on the Inishmore you are an idiot. The people who run it are friendly and breakfast is provided. They have a bike hire and plenty of books to read and movies to watch and games to play in the evening. We went out for meal and discovered the brillance that is hot whiskey and hot port after being out in the freezing rain. Oh and I apparently waddle like a penguin when I'm cold and soaked.

The next day we road bikes again! This time it couldn't possibly be as bad as it was in Cork because the island was ony 17 km. We toured the island on our bikes, got caught in the rain, went to the Seven Churhes, had a picinic lunch in a pasture, and saw lots and lots of rocks. We had an early night were Ondine made toad in the hole and Erin made putin (cheesy fries and gravy). Which all the food made me feel really sick...so Ondine made faerie cakes...basically cake with chocolate chunks. TOOO MUCH GOODNESS! We did some more touring the next day before we said good bye to the Islands. If I get the chance I will definitely be going back.

Galway was the final stop in our trip before heading back to Dublin to catch our planes to Bristol for Ondine and I and Glasgow for Erin. We had an early night because we had spent most of the day on the islands and wanted to go out the next night. In the morning we did a bit of shopping, had a light brunch, and chatted with the guy running the hostel about the best pubs to go to for a pub crawl. That night we went to five different pubs, heard live bands in all but one, met some interesting characters who asked us to meet them later and promised to bring sheep, embraced a pear, sat in a throne, and convinced one band to play some Johnny Cash, because nobody does it better than the man in black.

Morning came and we were a bit sluggish from the night before. But we managed to make it to the bus station on time. We stopped at Supermac's (an Irish fast food chain) and had a quick bite to eat and most importantly ice cream in a hot choco-chip muffin. Then it was time to return to England, but not before some jerk bus driver drove off to the airport without Ondine or Erin on board.

Copenhagen, Arhus, Aunning, & Sunds

2010-04-09T09:16:00.000-07:00

Right so I have some much to say, mainly because I'm extremely bored being at the RAC 2 weeks before everyone else really returns, although there are some postgrad, 3rd years and 2nd years here working on projects and dissertations, but I digress. Where was I? Oh yes all these things I have to say about my Easter break that it will be broken up into two section, at least, one for each place I visited. And as some of you know, but most of you probably don't I have family that live in Denmark. So I thought I'd drop by and say hello to them while I was so close in Jolly Ol' England.

I was slightly ashamed of how I passed what can be considered one of the biggest drinking holidays in the States. St. Paddy's day was uneventful as far as the typical RAC culture goes. I went to an Indian restaurant to celebrate my friend Emily's 19th birthday, it was meant to be a surprise but certian boys named James are not very good at keeping secrets for very long. The night however was amazing, good food, good company, and good converstation, even if we did cover all the taboo dinner topics (Money, Religion, Politics, and Sex).

I was then forced (AND I DO MEAN FORCED) to attend the final night at the Rock. Normally, as I'm sure anyone who has read this blog before will know I'm quite up to spend the night at the Rock, however I've recently given up on the Rock. It's kinda a dump and I was quite miserable there.

Thursday marked the day of voting for the new Student Union who'd been campaigning all week. The highlight was of course the hastings which involved the candidates standing on a platform and having food, irons, fake eggs, and pretty much anything that was sticky, smelly, and nasty. I have pictures, but my computer has died and there are only two words that can possibly describe my destress at this...sweet life. Thursday was also the day I left for the airport to make my 7 am flight the following morning. I had a 4 hour wait in London and in that time consumed 5 cups of tea, watched the sun rise, witnessed a fight on a double decker London bus (a true bus indeed), managed to get off the bus at the right stop, sat in a McDonalds until the train station opened.

I was from the time I left Cirencester constantly traveling. 3 Trains 1 Plane 1 Bus 2 car rides. And the train I took from Copenhagen to Arhus (Basically traveling the whole of the country) took 4 hours...needless to say I fell asleep. I did finally arrive in Arhus where I was picked up by one of the son's of the people I was staying with. We went to pick up his girlfriend then went to his apartment where I was offered a traditional Danish Christmas beer...and it was delicious. We (one of his brothers and his parents joined us for dinner) had venision for dinner and it was oh so good! We then finished the evening off with some fine Scotch Whisky...I think I may be in love with my family in Denmark.

I was then taken to Aunning where I was going to be staying for the weekend. I had a lovely time and then we woke up and went to visit the third and final brother in Sunds for lunch. We went and saw this strange art scuplture and was shown around the college where the 3rd brother went to university. We then went to visit Thorkild's (the person I was staying with) brother who has a farm. And as I've mentioned it was a hog farm. It was very similar to a typical Iowan hog farm and he only focused on farrowing not finishing.

We then went on a walk around Aunning the next day as it was my final day before going to Copenhagen where I would be staying with Thorkild's nephew. It was a lovely walk and we visited Emil (on of Thorkild's sons) and played Wii and Guitar Hero...except my guitar had low batteries or I would have kicked Emil's butt.

The next day I was to get on a train in the morning and it was my Birthday. Thorkild and Grethe were very sweet and got me a chocolate Easter egg and a card. I then was back in Copenhagen where Jeppe (Thorkild's nephew) took me around on a walk and showed me some of the sights of the city. Did you know that there are no tall buildings allowed in the city center? It give the city this kind of old world charm while still being quite modern. My first full day in Copenhagen I went to the Royal Theatre musem and the Carlsberg Brewery. And I had sushi for dinner! Yum yum.

My last day in Denmark and I went to see the Crown Prince's future home and the little mermaid. And then it was time for me to leave Denmark. I hade a most amazing time

White Night, Mr. Methane, and Easter Break

2010-03-20T00:33:00.000-07:00

Right, so let's forget about the witty banter at the beginning and dive right into White Night at the RAC. Basically its exactly what it sounds like, everyone wore white clothing and they had a hole bunch of UV lights to make it look really cool. But the best part of white night? The foam pit! Pretty wild night.

Yeah, this will probably be a very short blog because we are alreayd on to point two. Mr. Methane. And yes it is once again it is exactly as it sounds. Mr. Methane is a professional... farter? Is that the correct term? Well anyway first their was a comidean, with a tattoo of Ron Burgundy. Then we had Mr. Methane. And I was a bit skeptical at first but it was actually qutie interesting. Finally there was a live band, and they were quite good.

And finally what I'm doing for break. I'm currently in Denmark (hence the horrible spelling and possible typos from using a Danish keyboard) visiting family. And today we are going to visit a hog farm! Then from here I'll be flying back to Ireland with Ondine and my Canadian friend Erin for a Shamrocking adventure through out the countryside.

Until next time

Weekend at the Manor

2010-03-11T07:43:00.001-08:00

Alright, sit tight and I'll take you on a journey deep into the wild wilderness of Gloucestershire to a place where the dogs are the size of polar bears and swans rule the ponds. It's time for a trip to the Huntley Manor. (And before I go any farther, much apologies for not being more on top of my updates. I am a very busy person :P)

So a couple of weekends ago my friends James, Emily, Tim, Valeria, Matteo, and I were invited by our friend Venetia to come and visit her at her home near Gloucester. We took off in the morning and I was quite glad to be in the car with James and Emily as the others managed to get quite lost on the way there. We blast our proper motoring music (Classical Radio of course) until Emily finally changed it to something a bit more contemporary (BBC Radio 1). Upon arrival at the Manor we were shocked and amazed at the buildings and grounds. All I can say is breathtaking. Shortly afterwards we were introduced to the Polar Bears who guard the Manor. They had two Pyrenees Mountain Dogs who were absolutely adorable and liked to shed their white fur all over James' dark clothes. Extremely entertaining to watch James with the dogs, but not nearly as funny as Matteo who, while he would pet them, would not let them rub up against him and spent most of the time trying to get away which the dogs thought he was playing with them.

After meeting the Polar Bears we were shown around the house and two our rooms. I was staying in what was apparently an old nursery and their was a second kitchen right next to my room where Emily and I had a good chat before dinner. Also I got to stay in a proper four poster bed, which I was super excited for.

After the others finally joined us from their detour we had a spot of lunch in the pool house. Personally it would quite hard to get me away from the pool house if I lived there it was absolutely gorgeous. After lunch we, obviously, went for a long swim and a splash in the hot tub. Some people even did a bit of tanning.

Our swim eventually led us on to a tour of the grounds, where we met a swan at the lake and saw the helicopter pad the previous owner had put in. We also went to see this old tree referred to as the "Sleepy Hollow" tree and it was quite scary looking. Our party then broke up to take a nap before dinner. Emily and I went to find the kitchen for a chat. We knew that our rooms were in the part of the house the reminded us of the secret garden, and we found Emily's room right away. But we forgot where my room and the kitchen were. We did eventually find them but it took some time.

We had planned to scary Matteo that night with some mask, so about an hour before dinner we went back to the helipad(in the dark) and got some scary masks from the storage shed there. They were put in my room as mine was the most out of the way room and therefore the were least likely to be discovered there. However later that night we gave up the plan and I quickly moved the masks to the kitchen as they had started to freak me out, and I would have found it very hard to sleep.

We all met for dinner in our formal clothes and Venetia graced us with some lovely harp music while we sipped champagne and discusses cultured things. (James and I, being somewhat of suckers for culture and worldliness, had already determined it was the culture weekend. In fact the biggest insult you can give James is he is uncultured.) We also had a bit of fun playing with some Venetian masks. Makes sense that Venetia would have Venetian mask. Music was followed by a delicious dinner and of course some wine. And dinner followed with some desserts which were amazing. All in all I ate way too much that weekend, but it was so nice to get a proper meal for one. Dinner was of course followed by a movie, once we'd cleaned up. The movie was not the greatest but the company was so that made up for it.

Then it was time for bed and we were all quite tired. But it felt like I'd only just fallen asleep when Valeria and Emily tried to get into my room and made fun of me for barricading my door shut from the masks. I would like to point out that I did not barricade the door, there was a chest that made it hard to open and close the door. The girls were all up, dressed, and ready for the day at 9 am, but the boys were still sleeping. So we did what any sensible girl would do and went to get the papers for the family and the Financial Times for James as he simply cannot live without his weekly FT.

By the time we got back at 10 some of the boys had rudely started breakfast without us. But we forgave them, as it is what any Jane Austen character would have done and we all felt like we'd stepped back in time a little bit that weekend. (I would actually say it was more Agatha Christie without a mystery, but it could easily have been Austen as well. Manners at the Manor.) We toasted our breakfast muffins, crumpets, pancakes, and bread over an open fire and I even drank some coffee. Shocking I know, I still hate coffee, but thought I'd been offered tea and felt it would have been impolite to not at least sample the coffee.

The afternoon was spent chatting and feeding the chicken. Which I must admit watching a city slicker like James feed a chicken was hilarious. We had to take photos just to prove he could actually do it. Lunch followed quickly and then it was back home to the RAC. Good news a sequel weekend is in the works, bad news I had to eat dinning center food yet again. The food they serve here actually makes me miss ISU dining food, now that is saying something.

Next time in Dana's Blog look forward to the events of White Night, Mr. Methane, some comedian, and my plans for break!

PS. Took this quiz just for giggles, though you might like to know how British I am.

You Are 70% British

Congrats, mate. You're are probably British.

(If not, definitely Australian. Or Kiwi. Or Canadian.)

You enjoy most aspects of mainstream British culture, without being stereotypical about it.

You also have a typical British temperament. You wouldn't dream of being impolite.

How British Are You?

Blogthings: Quizzes and Tests and Memes, Oh My!

RAG Week

2010-02-22T03:12:00.000-08:00

Okay so RAG week has been finished for a while now and I haven't really been bothered to do much of anything other than watch the Olympics (and with the time difference it makes it rather hard to watch the Olympics and get sleep). For those of you who don't know RAG (Raise and Give) Week is a national univeristy event in which schools all across the country raise money for charities. The RAC supported 3 charities (2 of which were local Cirencester chairities, in an attempt to improve the reputation of the college amongst the citizens) the Diabetes UK, Riding for the Disabled and the Pasternos School. Anyway I'm gonna let you in on all the amazing fun I had! Starting with the first offical event: The launch party.

The RAG Rave (aka the RAG launch party) use to be another ball with proper formal dress and all that jazz but it was transformed into a Rave about 3 years ago. Now instead of ball gowns and tuxedos students don white and neon colors in the form of tutus, leg warmers, high visablitiy road workers costumes and body paint. Instead of a live band (which is always followed by a DJ set) the college brought in some professional and (apparently) famous DJ's. Of course everyone's favorite resident DJ (DJ Longy, a RAC student) kicked things off and would also end them later on. Matt Hardwick and Judge Jules, who'd I'd never heard of but are apparently quite famouse were next. I, however, being the clever person that I am managed to spill my drink in my eye at some point during the night.

Sunday brought the quite morning of recovery for most of the students and sleeping in would have been they highlight of my day on a normal sunday, but this was RAG Sunday RAC style. The famous RAC RAG Auction was scheduled for Sunday and they had some interesting lots up for grabs. A place on the annual ski trip, a flight around the area with lunch at the Kemble Airfield resturant AV8 for 4 people, dinner at several student's houses (including Chesterton Farm which is legendary for its shenanigans), a pair of Hunter wellies, a case of premium Rock Cafe Champagne, hunting and fishing trips, subscription for Polo and Beagling, and the 2 'get out of parking jail free' card (worth £15-30 each) that went for a grand total of over £300. Sunday was also the night that Anna, Rosie, and I made last minute plans to go on the Rally following day. (More specifically we made the decision less than 12 hours before we left Cirencester)

Monday and I'm up early to start packing for my trip to Newcastle. The annual RAG Rally is a crutial part of the week. Almost the entire college drive from Cirencester (which is in the south westerly part of the country near the bottom of Wales) to somewhere up in the North easterly part of the country (this year was Newcastle). The Lineup was amusing. Music, food, (and for some alcohol before noon), and pranks. Most people, having not made last minute decisions had decorated their cars up with stickers and funny objects (such as a blow-up doll or making the car look like a tractor). Also, one had to be careful from eggs and flour being thrown at your car, as well as be warned that the police where waiting right off campus.

We left Ciren with a bang (literally)! Some people had brought flares, smoke screens, and crow bangers which were set off in celebration as we were escorted out. And it didn't stop their, you could follow the trail of raw egg and flour all the way to Newcastle. Cars would pass each other and wave, whether or not you'd actually met the people before or not (it felt a little bit like home). And of course no road trip would be complete without a few pitstops, all of which were populated by Ag students.

We finally made it to Newcastle, and in one piece too, and then it was off to Bar Blanc for the next part of our journey. While there we watch a car of fellow RAC'ers get pulled over and the police began to cirlce the bar. At that point in time we thought it would be best to go and check into our hotel, but we proceeded to get lost first. We then met up with Anna's sister, whose name is also Rosie, and returned to Bar Blanc for the pub crawl. After that it was off to Sam Jack's and Tiger Tiger Nightclub for the rest of the night. (Lucky for us our hotel was right next door to Tiger Tiger).

Tuesday morning we took our time getting back. There was no rush to return to Ciren as the only thing that was going on there was the Rally Survivor's Party that night. Plus we were quite tired from the day before. The Survivor's Party was quite the event. Everyone was still completely shattered from the night before but that didn't stop them from going to the tythe for another late night party.

Wednesday things were a bit more relaxed. Beagling, with a complimentary glass (or two) of port, was suppose to take place at 10 in front of the college. However the Beagles were there, the port was there, the people were there, but the beagling did not comence. Instead it was moved to 1 pm at some off campus location. The annual Bledisloe Clay Pigeon Shoot was also on that day and Emily and I went and watched it for a while, until we decided we were a bit too cold and so we went and got some ice cream. We then went back to the shoot as there wasn't much else to do. That night was Tweed and Tracksuits night in the Rock followed by late night/early morning food at a local restaurant called Greasy Joe's.

Thursday and I attend my lecture like a good girl, unlike most people. I then went for a Bacon buttie (bacon sandwich) and some bubbly before helping to 'pull' a tractor through town. The Tractor Pull is another classic RAG week event. Traffic in Ciren stops as students attempt to pull a tractor from the center of town back to campus. People donate money to help speed up the process. The Tythe Bar was then open from the time we got back until late, with the Student Union running the bar adn several social events going on.

Friday, the final night and of course it was going to go out in style. Deano and friend shared a very special dance with us to kick the night off. Afterwards it was another late night party in the Tythe.

Saturday & Sunday...campus was dead as everyone had either gone home or was sleeping.

Back at the RAC

2010-01-26T07:35:00.000-08:00

So we are already entering week 4 of 10 for the spring term and its going WAY TO FAST. We're back in full swing and my social calender barely leaves any time for sleep and coursework. There isn't much for me to really tell you that was different than last term in regards to my daily activities. So what am I going to talk about this week then.

Well I did actually do something quite exciting. On Friday (the 29th) I went to see this band/dj called Chase and Status in Cheltenham. It was amazing. We had to do a pit stop on the way there...in the middle of the field/side of the road...entertaining. And me being the klutz that I am ended up falling down the stairs and majorly bruising my legs. Also some girl had a bloody nose and thought it would be funny to use me as a tissue, which was not cool and could be the worse part of my evening. But its all good because the next day we went for a proper meal made by my friend Ondine in her horse lorry, now that was a truly amazing party.

So, what else is there for me to tell you? Not much but this Saturday is the kick-off party for RAG (Raise and Give) week. Which is a huge week long party for the most part, but partying for charities so that makes it all good. They have clothes for sale and eventually a calender (which I might be in) and it all goes to make other peoples lives better. They also have a Rally where in students drive to New Castle, party there for the night, and then drive back and party some more. A tractor pull through town, and not in the traditional tractor pull sense...the students literally drag a tractor from the city center back to campus. So pretty much I should have a lot to tell you...and I do mean a lot.

Dublin

2010-01-18T04:50:00.001-08:00

Ahhh I'm so bad at updating my blog. Okay, this is gonna be typed really fast and probably not in too much detail because I'm a horrible person. Now that the baseline of my exisitence has been establish lets move on to my recent activities in Dublin. Once again because I've waited so long to update the blog I'm having some trouble remembering what I did when so I'm gonna to do in on a week by week basis. So here we go Adventure lovers, my 2 weeks in Dublin as told by me.

Week 1

Let's not jump ahead of ourselves here, I was so tired on the first day I slept for about 14 hours. There is just something about flying that drains you of all energy, no matter how long or short it is. And I'm one of those people who can't sleep on planes so when Sam and I first flew over here I'd been up for about 36 hours and was still trying to function like a normal human being. Anyway I did make it to Dublin okay, even though the bus driver yelled at me because I didn't know what I was doing. Found some amazing cafe where I could get a panini and a tea for 5 euro while I was there. I spent some time looking like a typical tourist in Starbucks and went and saw the Christ Church Cathedral and Trinity College. Mostly I just did a lot of walking and most of the times ended up somewhere in the suburbs where I was just a little bit lost. It was way fun! I love getting lost!

Now I did spend New Years in Dublin and it SNOWED! How exciting is that! It actually snowed quite a bit while I was in Dublin. After the snow I went for a walk in Phoenix Park. It was absolutely beautiful. And that about sums up the first week. Except for the fact that I ended up slipping on the ice quite a bit because I didn't have any traction on my shoes.

Week 2

I did more sight seeing during week 2. I went to the National Museum and they had mummified bodies from the bogs and they were awesomely creepy. I also had my first pint of Guinness at the Guinness storehouse. It was definitely different, but no unpleasant as so many of my friends told me it would be.

Most of my time during week to was spent trying to complete a piece of coursework that was due the first Monday back. Yeah holiday homework! And also worrying about whether or not England would be able to cope with their so-called massive amounts of snow long enough for me to make it back to the RAC. I did make it back, but for a while there it looked like I might not.

Really there isn't to much more to tell about my time in Dublin. Except that while in comparison with Iowa standards it is still a large city it doesn't feel that big. I'd say its like Cedar Rapids, it feels big to someone from a small Iowa town but people still run into people they know on the streets. Where as London you rarely see anyone you know unless you've planned to meet them somewhere.

London...Again

2010-01-05T09:44:00.000-08:00

So after my first trip to London, where I spent 80% of the time walking, I came back to the RAC and was unable to stop my legs from moving. I couldn't sit still for about a week and I'd only been there 2 days. Now I've been in London for about 4 days and I'd say that, other than sleeping, I'll I've done is walked. And I plan on doing quite a bit of walking in Dublin as well.

What did I do on my own in London? Well I'll tell you. Sunday I went to the West End, Trafalger Square, Leichester Square, China Town, Oxford Street, Buckingham Palace, Tower Bridge, and the National Portait Gallery. I went for a walk along the Thames and ended up in the suburbs for awhile away from the tourist traps of Big Ben and Buckingham. Eventually I made my way back into the heart of London and caught the Underground back to Hendon, where my hostel was.

I'm finding it hard to keep this blog exciting and still tell you what I did. I feel like its starting to become like (or may always have been like) I did this and then I did this and then I did this. Is it that way to you Blog Lovers?

Anyway, Monday I was going to visit the Globe Theatre (I know you can hardly control your excitement) BUT I got there around 1:30 and the next tour didn't start until 4 so I went and did something else. I decided to go and visit Big Ben again walk along the Thames some more. I ended up going to the London Film Musuem and getting an amazing deal, they let me in as a child instead of as a student. Pretty much it was a whole bunch of sets and costumes and props from different movies and then history on British studios, actors, actresses, directors, ect. It was quite interesting. They had an exhibit on the new Sherlock Holmes movies, Harry Potter, Star Wars, and...DOCTOR WHO! I got to see the TARDIS and some Daleks (I was excited even if you aren't excited for me).

Finally on Tuesday I went to the Globe, and it was amazing. Since I had to get up extremely early the next morning (we're talking 4 AM) so that I could be on a train by 5 AM so I could be at the airport by 7 AM for a 9 AM flight I called it a day quite early. To be honest it was kinda a miserable day. It just rained and rained and rained. And I wasn't excatly out of the rain on my tour of the Globe as it's not an indoor theatre.

I spent quite a bit of the day in the hostel keeping dry and warm-ish. And I actually met some people. Of course it was the last night I was staying there and two American girls arrived and were staying in the same room as I was. It was nice to get some human contact that spoke "American".

The Post Christmas Blues

2010-01-03T08:41:00.000-08:00

Contray to the title of this blog I am not suffering from the "Post Christmas Blues." I'm currently back in London (and I still don't have internet so as you read this I'm probably in Dublin or I might even be back at the RAC) for a few days and as I have nothing better to do I'm uploading photos from Paris. So I thought I'd tell you what I did since my last update and give you a few more travel trips.

So we were up to Tuesday when last I wrote (stupid internet connections). Naomi and I went on a boat tour to see the sights, only someone (NOT ME!) didn't get up until 1 in the afternoon and we didn't even leave for Paris until about 3:30. We had planned on taking the tour in the day so I'd have a better view of the sights, but by the time we'd gotten their the next boat didn't leave until 8 PM, so we went on a night tour. Unfortunately for us however, it was only 5 so we had a bit of a wait. So we walked around the city for a bit and I did a bit of tourist shopping (although I didn't actually buy anything for myself in Paris) and then most importantly of all we got crepes. I had a delicious chocolate, banana, and whip cream crepe...YUM!

We finally got on the boat tour but we had yet another misfortune. I wasn't able to take pictures because without the flash it was way to blurry to actually see anything but if I had the flash on then all that you could see was the reflection of the people behind me. They happened to be American and I can honestly say that they made me feel very embarassed to be an American. They complained the whole trip about every little thing, now I know not all Americans are like that, but to disassociate myself with them I started talking with a British accent (although several people asked me if I was Russian that so maybe I should have gone with a Russian accent). They were just in general rude and pushy, which leads me to a tourist tip!

TIP #3: If you have made the decision to travel to a foreign country, especially if you are going to were you do not speak the language, DO NOT ASSUME YOU ARE BETTER THAN EVERYONE ELSE. As Americans we tend to have this image that we are awesome and everyone pretty much wants to be us. This makes the local look down upon us and judge everything we do by how our tourists act, and obviously we are not all rude, stuck up, whiney tourists like the ones who were seated behind me on the boat tour, but thats how most people see Americans.

Anyway, Wednesday I went to the Versailles. Naomi and I went to the Palace and we attempted to go to a horse museum, but that was closed (luckily). I was impressed with the Palace, but Naomi, having seen it several times before, was bored and not afraid to show it. Towards the end I was quite sick of my audio guide. 1) It made you look stupid no matter what you did or who you were and 2) while it was sometimes entertaining it was for the most part tiresome.

Christmas Eve was finally here. My family celebrates most of Christmas on this day, but I went to the Louvre and spent some quality time with Venus de Milo and Mona Lisa. Naomi had "stayed home to do coursework" (aka sleeping, facebook, and TV) so Bethany and I went to the Louvre ourselves. We went to Bougival train station and quite literally just as we finished buying our tickets the train to Paris left and we had to wait for an hour until the next one came. We finally made it to the Louvre and when we came out we went to grab some lunch, where I noticed that I didn't have my wallet. I started freaking out, everything (except my passport) was in that wallet. But once again being the genius that I am I'd left it back at Naomi's house.

That night we went to a friend of Naomi's parents for dinner. We had a good time, despite Naomi's warnings of extreme boredum and tedious conversation. Roast pork and venison and 2 helpings of dessert..once again YUM! We ended the night with some trivia and racing reindeer. Nothing like the oyster stew and chili my family should have been eating (they had prime rib instead of our traditional christmas soups and snacks) but no the less delicious.

Finally it's Christmas day. All over the world children are waking up at unreasonable hours to see what Santa brought them. Suprisingly, Santa did find me in Paris and he left the tradition British satsuma in the bottom of my stocking. Most people leave the satsuma until its no longer edible, I ate mine for breakfast. Church was next on the agenda, once everyone was up that is (certain people, mainly Naomi, thought they could sleep in). After church came presents and then the traditional UK Christmas dinner of turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, sprouts, carrots, peas, roast potatoes and parsnips, and Christmas pudding. That over with everyone sat in front of the TV and fell asleep. Sounds a lot like Thanksgiving? that's because it is. You stuff your face full of food and then settle in front of the TV until you fall in to a turkey coma. I even got to see part of my Doctor Who Christmas special. I didn't get to see all of it because we were watching James Bond (which is apparently a Christmas tradition in England).

Boxing day, now contray to the belief of my family boxing day does not mean you punch everyone you see. It's really not anything special, but a lot of sales start on boxing day...making it even more like Thanksgiving. We traveled from Paris back to England, and while I enjoyed Paris it felt like coming back home, even though I was heading towards a hostel in London and not back to the RAC.

An American in Paris

2009-12-31T07:19:00.000-08:00

Now for some adventures in Paris. Sunday we stayed in and relaxed, well I stayed in and relaxed. Naomi went with her sister to the hospital because they couldn't figure out why her cheeks had swollen. It's okay, she only had mumps and is still alive and I didn't catch the mumps. Also, my mother would be so proud of me, I went to church that night.

Monday we went for a bike ride around Croissy sur Seine (the surburb of Paris where Naomi lives). It was rather chilly and I hadn't really done too much physical exercise for about 3 weeks but it was a good way to see Croissy. Also there was a circus on our route and they had an adorable baby tiger. Then the reality that I have coursework due the day I get back set in and I spent all of Tuesday attempting to work on that, I didn't get too far.

Wednesday we went to La Defense and saw the Grande Arch, which looks like a big hallowed out square and if you look one way you see the Arch de Triumph and if you look the other way you see french things (most people don't bother to look the other way). We also did some shopping, window shopping. Oh, I almost forgot I took a French train, they aren't much different than any other train, they're just French. While at La Defense we went and saw Twilight: New Moon 1 1/2 times. We didn't have a clock on us so we weren't sure what time it was but we went to the cinema and ended up walking in on the last 45 minutes-1 hour of the movie before we realized that we had the time wrong. So we went to the actual showing we paid for as well.

Finally I made into Paris on Thursday. We were going to go to the Catacombs, which would have been amazingly cool, but when we got there (which took some time because we didn't think to look across the street) it was closed to due to vandalism. So we went to the Effiel Tower and yes I walked up the stairs. We didn't go clear to the top but I'm not so sure I could have made it. I'm not so good with heights, and I was fine walking up and I could walk clear to the edge, but taking the stairs down is SCARY! especially when a pigeon flys toward you. The we went to the Arch de Triumph and the famous shopping street of Paris (I cannot for the life of me remember what it's called, nor could I probably spell it).

Friday we went to Naomi's school (The Bristish School of Paris) to see her friends and watch a Talent show...of sorts. I met a few of her friends and then one of them came back to help us build a snowman because Anna and I were having a competition to see who could build the best snowman even though we were in different countries. Unfortunately the snow was all wrong for snowman and we just ended up throwing it at each other and drawing stick figures in the snow. Naomi, her friend Alex, her sister Bethany, and I then went to see a Christmas Carol at the cinema. Alex tried to convince us it was written by Jim Carrey because he didn't know who Charles Dickens was. What are they teach students at the British School of Paris? Anyway, we got on the train to go to the movie and met some nice Austrailian students who were touring Paris...and a little drunk.

Naomi's parents left Saturday morning for something or other and we decided to stay inside. Alex came back over and we played some games and talked and had a little sleepover in general. I went to sleep around 6 in the morning and was up quite early at 10:30. Stayed in most of the day on Sunday as well, but we did go out for dinner at a little Italian restaurant in Croissy. Monday, being typical girls, we went shopping and it was absolutely mad with the Christmas rush. And I got Hagen Daas ice cream, YUM! And we went to...get this McDonalds. I know I can get McDonalds in the States, but it some how tastes different and by different I really mean better and not nearly as greasy.

To be honest with you I'm not really missing Christmas in the States too much. I do however miss having an endless supply of Chex mix, cookies, and fudge at my disposal. As well as Sierra Mist Cranberry Splash. I'm almost sick of mince pies and Christmas puddings (which aren't that nice or pudding like). Anna had actually bought a box of mince pies for me to try when we were back at college, she ended up eating most of them before I even got 1. Mince pies are almost like a British holiday answer to Americans and apple pies.

Alright that's all for now, I promise that I'll try and be better at updating in the new year!

SHAG Week, The Christmas Ball, and Recovery Week

2009-12-30T07:18:00.000-08:00

HELLO BLOG LOVERS! Welcome to the Dana can't seem to be bothered to update her blog show. Last time we meet I'd just been to London and now we're back at Uni (I'm not actually, I'm on Christmas break, but at this point in the blog we're at the RAC). The week after London was SHAG week at the RAC, which is about safe shagging! The condom fairy passed out free condoms and there free Chlamydia testing for anyone who hadn't being shagging safely.

To celebrate SHAG week the Student Union had arranged for a Ladies/Lads night on Monday. So the girls went to AV8 while the boys headed off to the Tunnel. Once at AV8 there were people selling sexy lingerie, a variety bedroom toys, and things of that sort. They also served girly cocktails such as Sex on the Beach, Peeping Toms, and something else that had to do with the male anatomy and being sparkly. But the highlight of the night for both sexes (at their own parties of course) was the..."exotic dancer." Not gonna lie, the "dancer" took forever to get ready and all he had to do was take his clothes, also I found it quite weird that he came out in an American Marine uniform and with a British flag.

After AV8 we all went to the Tunnel for a Christmas party. There were bucking reindeer and dancing and most importantly of all a bonfire. I miss standing around in the cold watching logs burn. And then some guys decided to try and walk through the fire, can you believe they were drunk? Well they are Ciren students, they're always drunk.

Tuesday was uneventful, but on Wednesday we went to the rock for Red, White, Short, and Tight night. Had a good time and get this I met some new people. I've also determined that if I were to update this blog more regularly I would remember more of what I did during the week and therefore make this blog longer because once again Thursday I did nothing.

Friday however, was the Christmas Ball which was awesome! Everyone looked so pretty in their formal wear and penguin suits and the Scots wore their kilts. They had a scrambler...which word to the wise is not probably the best ride to go on while drunk. There was also sumo santas and a live band which was much better than the one they had at the Freshers ball. And there was literally mistletoe everywhere! It was a late night and I got about two hours of sleep and then decided to get up and do some work.

Saturday I did my laundry and then went to Anna's room for a picnic lunch of chocolate, Goldfish (sent to me from the States), decorated a gingerbread snowman, and watched The Mighty Boosh (which is a great show by the way). Then Liana and her brother came over and we went to the Tunnel for dinner.

Sunday had another little picnic with Anna and went ice skating in Swindon. It was a really good time and it was cold at the skating rink. You might never believe this, because I've probably never mentioned it, but I miss the freezing, dry, and snowy winters I grew up with. This mild and rainy English winter weather is useless. Anyway, after ice skating it was time for Top Gear.

Monday there was a Christmas Carol service at the college. A traditional English Candle-lit Christmas Carol service. So everyone is in their formal dress with all these lit candles...I could see a disaster waiting to happen. The service was really good, everyone was in the Christmas spirit and even though some of the tunes were not the proper one (at least not for the American) I had a lot of fun. After the service we had a traditional English Christmas dinner in the dining center. Turkey, stuffing, roast potatoes, veggies, chicken liver patte, cranberry sauce, wine, and Christmas pudding in brandy sauce. They also had Christmas crackers and a bagpiper. Pretty much if everyone had a jolly good time. And then we went to the Tythe for some more socializing.

Tuesday I had a late lecture and got to miss dinner! But other than that and spending the evening socializing in the Tythe nothing much happened. And then Wednesday, Oh Wednesday. It was the last night at the Rock and lets just say I might not really remember to much of what happened. But I had a good time, or so I'm told.

We went to the Tunnel on Thursday as normal but it was quite sad as it was our last night before we left for Christmas break. And I wasn't in the best condition so I wasn't much good with the whole using words to form sentences thing. I might have fallen asleep on the table, but ya know, its whatever.

Finally Friday was here and Naomi's mother came and picked us up and took us to Paris. And that is where I am now. Didn't do much that night, but we went and got a real Christmas tree on Saturday. Quite an exciting time considering you're reading the blog of a 19 year old whose never had a real tree in her life, so it's not that exciting because we didn't go out and chop it down ourselves. It came pre-cut and wraped up in plastic netting.

That's all for now, if I put anymore in you'll be here forever reading it.

NOTE: Due to my internet failures I will be posting a new blog everyday until you are updated on the past...I think its about 5 weeks now.

Computer Troubles

2009-12-17T12:05:00.000-08:00

I am not able to update as I am having computer trouble. Will do it as soon as I am able too!

xx DANA

The London Chronicles: Part 1

2009-12-06T02:49:00.000-08:00

Alright, so I've been really bad about keeping this up-to-date lately, but that's all about to change. So when we last left our heroine she'd just returned from Suffolk and went as Jesus to the Rock. The rest of her week had passed on as normal, the tunnel on Thursday after going Scottish Reeling, nights out at the Tythe, the usual list of entertainment. And then Friday came...

I can't do my whole blog like that, its gonna drive me crazy. Anyway, on Friday Naomi and I went to Kemble to catch a train to London Paddington Station where we caught, get this...the TUBE! to get us closer to our hostel. And as your guide to everything typical and american touristy-like over here in Jolly Ol' England I cannot hide the excitement of my first ride on the London Underground. Once we were off the Tube and start our search for the magical Hostel we were to be staying in we managed to get lost. And I don't mean "we took a wrong turn lets turn around and go back" lost, I mean we got lost as in "Bejing...that's right next to London correct?" sort of way. We spent three hours trying to find our hostel in Kensington and spent two of those three hours walking every street in Notting Hill and the third hour was spent trying to figure out the bus system...which we failed at. But we did eventually find and it was just hostel a bed to lay my head on.

We called it a night pretty early as we were going to start our day by 9 AM and had to be up at 8. Although we were woken up in the middle of the night when someone staying on the top bunk fell to the floor, while this would seem to be rather amusing to anyone who it didn't happen to the fact that it was 3 am was not amusing...to anyone.

Now the first day we went to Starbucks to plan our route for the day and determine where we were going to start. We then headed off to the tube station...once again I was an excited American! We decided to go the to Musem of Brands first, which as its name implies was all about brand names and their development through history. It was actually quite interesting and we had a good laugh at the fact that we felt the need to whisper, even though the only people there was Naomi and myself.

We fought our way down Portobello market, which was packed, and went to Subway for lunch...and I was extremely sad to realize that the greatest Subway sauce is only available in my little corner of Iowa...not even just the world but it's not available in the whole of Iowa. Gosh I really miss dill spread. When I return home...after my Mexican buffet...because i miss real mexican food as well...I'm getting a Subway sub with extra dill spread.

Next stop was the Tower of London and it was really quite cool. I saw the crown jewels and the armour of Henry the VIII and I saw what I believe to be the worlds largest ravens. They were gigantic!

We ended our tours with a trip to Madame Tussauds. The queue to look at a bunch of wax statues is amazingly long, it took us 45 minutes and we went during the "slow" part of the day. It was good however. I got to see lots of famous people, have dinner with George Clooney, almost be run over by a giant disco ball with Indiana Jones, gave Steven Speilburg ( I know i can't spell and I can't be bothered to look it up right now) some advice on his movies, kissed Orlando Bloom...and several others as well, and I rocked out with Miley Cyrus.

Day 1 in London done and we headed to the hostel to try and find somewhere for dinner. We ended up going to this restaurant and ordered pizza. It was lovely except that the olives where not pitted...that was rather annoying. But I kept my leftover for dinner the next night when we would be on a train. We called it another early night and this time no one fell out of bed.

The next day we decided to just "look" at places, and of course it decided to rain and we had to carry all of our luggage with us once we left the hostel. It was probably not the most pleasant of days but I got to see all the London sights. We went to Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, the London Eye (although we didn't ride it), all the places you'd expect to see on one of those expensive tourist trap bus tours, but instead of 25 quid we paid 5 quid for an all day Underground ticket.

Soon it was time to return to campus and watch some Top Gear. Top Gear, for those who don't know, is not just an amazing show but also a major social event at the RAC.

I know there isn't much detail this week but I also told you I've been way behind at keeping it updated so I've forgetten some things.

Adventures in Suffolk

2009-12-01T08:23:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I didn't post an entry last week. Sorry? Wait why am I apologizing? I've been to busy to post anything, and now that I need to do some coursework I can think of nothing better than to let you know about my weekend I spent in Suffolk with Anna.

So, to start off with, and to better explain the time it takes to travel across England, Suffolk is a county on the complete opposite side of the country from where I am. It only took about 3 hours to get from Cirencester to the village where Anna lives in her awesome beach house. The first night we went to a local pub and had some, then I received a tour of the house, watched some TV, and called it a night. Oh, I also met her family and her grandparents, who'd invited us to see a play with them on Saturdaay.

Saturday we woke up, had some breakfast and then Anna drove us (me, Anna, and Anna's sister Helen) to the train station to meet her Grandparents. I rode my first train, which was rather exciting and I found out some rather interesting things about where I was. For starters there was an old American air base not far from where Anna lives. Anyway, when we finally reached our destination, Lowestoft, we went to grab a tea and I had my first scone. We then proceeded to do what most girls do when set loose in area where there are these things called stores, we shopped.

While waiting for the play to start we also walked down by the sea. Apparently Lowestoft 1) is the furtherest most eastern point in the UK and 2) used to be a major port in its hayday, even though now it seems to be slowly dying. At the sea we did what any tourist would do and take lots of pictures of the brownish water of the North Sea, and then we went and played games in an arcade.

Finally, we met back up with the Grandparents for some lunch and then we were of the see "My Dog Has No Nose." It was meant to be a comedy, and the first half was very funny, but somewhere around the middle of the second half it took a very dark turn, down a very dark alley, in a very shady neighborhood. And I think most of the little old ladies who were there, which would be most of the audience, were a little shocked. Actually everyone was a little shocked, the little old ladies where very shocked!

When then went and grab another cup of tea from the restaurant where we went when we first arrived. Which maybe this is the nostalgia for the lost of department stores and the slow decay of shopping malls that my generation secretly keeps tucked away behind our xboxes, porn, and buried underneath our alcohol drenched party clothes we don't want our mother to find out about, but I was really excited that this restaurant was actually part of a real department store. Now, before you argue that Wal-mart had departments and restaurants and cafes and nail salon and photographers and hairdressers and opticians it's just not the same as a real department store or a mall. Maybe it's because I grew up shopping at places like Younkers, Sears (before Kmart took over and it was actually good), Von Maurs, and does anyone else remember Montgomery Wards? Don't get me wrong, I am a Wal-mart Shopper and a frequent one at that, but I still miss real department stores.

Sorry, I got really of track there. Back on the train we ate the remainder of our lunch because we are just that cool. We learned old school ways to remember things from a book Helen had bought, launched some sheep from Anna's iPhone, and then we were back. Watch some more TV, and an in depth conversation about the rise and fall of Girl Power and Boy Bands and Simon Cowell's global domination, ate some sausage plait (aka sausage braid), watch some more TV, and went to bed again for another busy day.

Now, Sunday was kinda a special day. We went to Aldeburgh, another seaside city. Aldeburgh is apparently the place to get fish and chips, so we got up early and drove there so I could have my first real fish and chips. OH YEAH! As were driving we past through at town called...Snape. I being a huge Harry Potter nerd 1) laugh in an insanely silly giggle and 2) started singing Snape Snape, Severus Snape, Snape, Snape, Severus Snape. Anna and Helen also joined in. The car ride was full of Wurzels and Old school music provided by Helen from the iPhone. And we brought Primrose (the neighbors dog) with us.

Once in Aldeburgh we checked to see when the fryer started and then went for a walk along the beach. There was some kinda of old military post there that we went to see, but road (because it was quite far away and we were lazy and drove) was so bumpy we were practically off-roading. We also went to an antique shop and saw some duck and some swans and the House in the Clouds. It's not really in the clouds, just really tall.

FINALLY it was time to get my fish and chips. And they were delicious and proper like. I even had a pineapple fritter, which is basically deep fried pineapple (I say basically, it is deep fried pineapple) but it's not true deep fried pineapple in my mind because it wasn't served on a stick.

It was then time to go back. We drove through Snape again and I of course had to sing the song, again. Anna and I packed, and then we played with her new Macbook and I went and saw her chickens. But my time in Suffolk was slowly drawing to a close, but not before I had a proper roast dinner. And it was delicious, the whole family had gotten together again and Anna's mom even attempted a pumpkin pie in honour of me being American and celebrating this weird holiday called Thanksgiving, and being away from Thanksgiving just made it seem like an even weirder thing to celebrate.

Finally we were back at college and back to normal. Well as normal as my life can get.

One last thing before I end this blog, mainly because I think it's sheer genius! I went to the Rock again Monday night with Anna. It was superhero themed. Anna was Wellie Woman and I...I went as Jesus. Someone asked if Jesus was a superhero, and being at the RAC and knowing that they like nothing better than drinking I responded with. "Yeah, his superpower is turning water into wine." The response I received "Did he really do that?" I had a good laugh.

Ostrich Farming and Racing

2009-11-19T08:42:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-11T06:41:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-03T08:35:00.000-08:00

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!

2009-11-01T09:10:00.000-08:00

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.

A Title that Doesn't Start with "F"

2009-10-24T14:32:00.001-07:00

Its a Saturday and I'm posting a new blog! YAY! Actually you're probably think "man, how lame is this. Dana's in this super cool country for a year and she's so bored over the weekend she has to update her blog?" But I swear it's not like that. I only slept in until half 12 today (also known as 12:30) and it's been raining most the day and I was out late last night. OK, that's enough excuses. Its just like at ISU there really isn't too much to do on the weekends unless its at night and its 4 in the afternoon here so the campus is pretty much dead. Although there is a strange man walking around taking pictures of the campus.

Anyway, (yes I do realize that half of my paragraphs start with anyway) as you now know, because I'm sure you are an avid reader of this blog and simply can't get enough of it, I am fully healed from the Freshers flu! Which is a very good things as I had planned on walking to Kemble this afternoon but had to cancel do to rain. I swear that's all that ever happens in this country and I probably wouldn't mind it if I had Wellies to keep my feet dry, but I don't.

Most of this week was pretty uneventful. I did socialize with people at the Tythe and like I said I was out late last night at the Student Union "B" party, where we had to dress up as, wear, or bring something that started with a "b". I, thinking myself to be clever, went as Baby Spice and borrowed a dress from a friend that emphasized my bosoms quite a bit more than I was comfortable with. She, however, went in my bathrobe so I guess we're even.

Thursday night, however, I learned how to do some Scottish Reeling. Which is pretty much a cross between square dancing and line dancing set to Scottish music instead of country music, but way more fun then either of those. Except the group I was in when were doing a Reel called Strip the Whip were rather violently flinging the girls around and I have several rather nasty looking bruises on my arm, and they almost make it look like I am a drug junky. It was a really good time and met new people, which is always exciting.

Also, my friend Naomi and I took a bus to Tescos but we were then told that the bus was not returning so we had to walk all the way back to campus. It took about forty-five minutes so it wasn't actually that bad, but still I would have liked to have known the bus wouldn't be returning before I got on it in the first place. But while at Tescos we picked up vampire teeth, like the kind you get for about 10 cents in the US and I got a fake mustache.

On other thing I seemed to be having a problem with some British English and American English words. I don't know if you know this but here in the UK the word "pants" means panties or knickers or underwear and the word "trousers" means pants or jeans. One night we were discussing wearing "trousers" and I happened to be wearing a skirt at the time so I said "I'm not wearing any pants today." As you can see this caused a little bit of a problem because what they thought I meant was "I'm not wearing any underwear" not "I'm not wearing trousers."

Anyway, (I went for three whole paragraphs without using the word it was about time) it is now about half 5 (5:30) and that means that dinner is about to be served. One last thing, my sister sent me a package in the mail and you'll never believe what was in it...TEA! How funny is that I had to be sent tea because there isn't any over here in England. Although if you think about Americans hated British tea so much they threw it into Boston Harbor so it makes sense. ( I would like to point out that I realize this point to false and that they tea was thrown into the Harbor in protest not because we didn't like it)

That's all, now I'm off to go eat undistguishable dining center food (I never thought I'd miss ISU dining so much) and make a video!

Fresher's Flu

2009-10-20T08:38:00.001-07:00

Alright, now I promise this blog will have slightly better spelling and grammar than my last few. The one only reason for this I’m healthy again. YIPPEE! If you did not know, which you probably didn’t because I don’t think I mentioned it, I was very sick last week with what is known as Fresher’s Flu. And of course my hippie-like view of modern medicine and doctors meant that my antibodies weren’t going to get very much outside help.

I don’t like taking medicine, mainly because for things like the common cold (which Fresher’s Flu is really just a glorified cold, commonly mixed with alcohol poisoning) modern medication only masks symptoms not cures them and it also leads to mutations in the disease. So there is some science behind my reasonings, but mostly I just don’t care to spend all that money and cheap cover ups when my body is perfectly capable of taking care of itself. I would like to point out that if it had come to the point of me coughing up my lung, which it seemed likely to happen earlier in the week, I would have sought medical attention. I’m not that much of an idiot and now i’m completely off topic.

Anyway I was very sick and sore, but I’m doing much better now although my voice is still a little hoarse it no longer hurts to talk. But I’m afraid that because of the the Fresher’s Flu I didn’t do anything exciting except go to class and watch movies at night. I did walk into Cirencester a few times, mainly to get sore throat lozenges. I was very excited to see that Superdrug sold Fisherman’s Friends, which for anyone who suffers from a sore throat they taste like butt, but they work amazing. And just for Jacob Hunter they had black current flavored Fisherman’s Friends and I’m going to bring a pack back for you! (Hopefully, if I remember).

On Monday the 19th (which would have been yesterday) I felt like the creepy foreign exchange student for the first time since I got here. I went to my food science lecture/class/module and in one section of the class there was several UK students all chatting amongst themselves. (I should also point out before I go any farther that this was a second year class which meant I knew nobody in the class. ) Then around this small group of UK students were all the Asian students so you could clearly see the segregation of the classroom. I, having not be in the previous lecture like everyone else, came in late and was shunned to the outside of both groups making it painfully obvious that I was not one of them and there for must be some creepy foreign student. Needless to say I felt very awkward and that is not an easy task to accomplish, I’m normally the one making other feel awkward while I am perfectly comfortable.

Saturday I’d planned on walking to Kemble (a town about 3 miles away and the location of the nearest train station) with some friends. We’d actually thought we’d do it Friday night, but I thought that walking back in the dark might not be the best idea but only because we really didn’t know where we were going. Unfortunately, when we woke up on Saturday we thought laundry would be more exciting because we are lazy and didn’t feel like walking anywhere. That’s one good thing about campus compared to Iowa State you don’t have to leave 15 minutes before class to get there on time because everything is really close to your dorm. In my dorm you walk down the stairs and the laundrette, dining centre, and student union/Tythe bar are all right there.

I do have one other piece of news to share with you! I have started planning my Easter break. I have 4 weeks to do what ever I want so my friends Kim and Naomi and I are going to travel around Europe. We’re going to start in Paris (which is where Naomi is from) and we will then travel to Germany (where Kim lives) and hopefully Denmark (where I have family) and a few other places along the way. We’d like to visit Spain, Italy, and Amsterdam to name a few places but it will all come down to time and money.

The irony of having started to plan my Easter break is that I still don’t know what I’m doing for Christmas break. And if you know anything about the calender you’d know that we will have Christmas before we have Easter. I’m not worry, although other people seem to think I should at least have some vague idea of what I’m going to do.

Also, the first week in December Naomi, Kim and I (and maybe a few others) are planning on heading to London for the weekend. This means I’ll actually have some exciting stories to tell you! It’s not that exciting things haven’t happened already, it’s just mostly what I’ve done is what I’d do back home, but London is obviously something that I can’t do at home.

And for anyone who cares to know. I’ve started reading Twilight, and it’s not completely horrible. Don’t get me wrong Harry Potter will always be better than Twilight, but Twilight isn’t all that bad. I still don’t like Edward Cullen though.

Sorry this blog was kind of all over the place. I’d promise the next one will have more structure but that would just be a lie.

First Week

2009-10-12T12:26:00.001-07:00

So classes have officially kicked off and I’m having a bit of a scheduling problem. Two of my classes overlap and so SOMETHING has to be done. I’m just not quite sure what that something is yet. But I should probably figure it out soon or the classes will almost be over.

Anyway, this past week has been Freshers week. For those of you who don’t know it consisted of mostly drinking, drinking, and drinking. We started out on Sunday with a party in the campus bar (aka Tythe Barn). Needless to say I had my first real and legal drink that night. Also I met a few people, unfortunately it was so loud that I couldn’t actually catch most of their names and of course I was bombarded with the same question from several different people. “Are you from America?”

Monday there was more drinking but we also had a few lecturey things to do. We had our official registration and got our ID cards as well as sat a listened to people talk to us but I’m not quite sure what they were actually saying. That night, though, was something called the Fresher’s Crawl. No one was really sure what to expect, except that alcohol would be involved. It turned out to be gross and disgusting and smelling and sick and also, surprisingly quite a bit of fun. And I must say I probably won’t forget it anytime soon. I’ll have to do some gross experiement in biology and the only thing that will come to mind is, “eh, not as bad a Fresher’s Crawl.”

Tuesday we did a team building event where we had to make a farm animal out of cardboard boxes. My group made a chicken although it would pass for quite a nice robot as well. We didn’t win but our chicken was definitely the best of all the chickens. That afternoon was Old School Sports afternoon so we played things like egg and spoon race and tug of war. And that night they had the Fresher’s Fair, which is essentially signing up for clubs and things like that, also known as clubfest as Iowa State.

Wednesday we sat through more introductory lectures and the first Rugby match of the year was played. However since I arrived in this country it has rained everyday but today [October 12th] and it was absolutely pouring out on Wednesday. I did not attend the Rugby match but I watched from my window and caught bits and pieces of it. Also for those who attended the match it was the start of the port challenge, which is to drink a whole bottle of port during the game just because you can. So far all I’ve managed to learn at the college is how to drink and this small college of 900 students could easily put the biggest party school in the states to shame. That night however instead of just drinking in the Tythe like normal it was the first official RAC night at the Rock Cafe, a local night club. Freshers wore their 20 GBP tops they were required to purchase and we all felt like complete twats.

Another thing that I have learned is that they really want to suck every last pence out of you. Excluding all the drinks you buy and extra crap you want they expect you to buy the Freshers top (20 GBP), go to the Fresher’s Crawl (5 GBP), go to the Rock (4 GBP), participate in a scavenger hunt (20 GPB per team of 4-5), and attend the Freshers/Graduates Ball (40 GBP). In totally they expect you to spend a minimum of 73GBP and that doesn’t included all the drinks which are included in none of those prices. You are also required to pay for your own heating and electricity bills if you live in the dorms and pay for club dues and 90 GBP sports kits during the Freshers Fair. I don’t mean to complain but I’m here on a shoestring budget and they aren’t making it any easier on us poor college students. The thing I miss the most about Iowa State is all the free crap they give you, especially the free food.

Now back to the remainder of Fresher’s week. Thursday was the first day of actually lectures and they were pretty much the same as any lecture you’ve ever been to. Nothing really exciting to tell. However there was a scavenger hunt that night which I did not participate in because I had no money to do so. I literally had 2 GBP to my name. I instead watched a movie with some friends back in the dorms because I just couldn’t be bothered to go out every night like everyone else at the RAC.

Friday was more lectures but I didn’t atcually have one so I slept until about noon and got up for lunch. I’d also like to point out that I paid for all of the my meals for a whole year and you can be pretty darn sure I’m going to eat every single one of them. I get up everyday for breakfast and just go back to bed afterwards if I have to. After lectures however we went to AV8 and did some more dancing and of course more drinking, except for me the broke one.

Saturday we went into town and I managed to get more money from my account back home, something I was not really wanting to do. Went to Swindon to pick up a printer with some friends, came back and went to the Freshers/Graduates Ball. Nothing too exciting happened it was like most homecoming/prom/school dances except everyone was drunk and were actually legal to drink. They also had inflatable games including a mechanical bull, but instead of an actually bull it was a penis.

And finally, Sunday I mostly sat in my dorm and tried to recover from the night before which apparently didn’t work so well as I am now sick with a very bad cold. But there was something called a Pub Quiz that took place that night which I didn’t attend because I went out to pizza hut in Cheltenham.

That pretty much sums up my week. I’m sure I left a few things out but you can blame my crippling sickness. Okay so it’s really not that bad just a sore throat that hurts when i breathe, a massive headache that not even the best painkillers in the UK can seem to ease, and a case of the sniffles. Next time I’ll try not to be such a Debbie Downer.

First Day

2009-10-06T07:20:00.000-07:00

Okay, Just in case you might be wondering I have landed in England and I’ve been here almost 12 whole hours. AND yes, I’m already writing my friends back home, but I don’t know if I’ll get a chance to update next week since it sounds like they’ve got the week pretty much planned for us.

It’s still feels a little surreal, like I’m going to wake up back in Iowa, but I’m slowly getting use to it. The whole thing, you know that thing, where the drive on the left side of the road, doesn’t really seem all that weird until you’re in the car with a crazy driver who you think might kill you before you even get to college. We did make there safe, but there was a point I wasn’t quite sure we were.

Other than that I realized I forgot to pack any towels, which if I wanted to be smelly all the time wouldn’t be such a big deal, but I rather prefer to smell nice. You tend to make new friends better that way. So Samantha, the other girl from ISU who is attending the RAC this year, and I went into town to try and setup bank accounts, get phones, and find me some towels.

Needless to say it was all going fine at the bank until he required proof of accomodations, which luckily both Sam and I had forgotten. So he gave us the applications to open an account and told us to come back tomorrow. So we ran across the street to Vodaphone.

I now have a working cell phone in England. Although I’m still slightly confused as to how this works. I’ve returned to the land of prepaid phone systems after I swore off all prepaid phones after I destroyed my Tracfone. While we were purchasing our phones Sam and I were asking questions and the sales clerk must have thought we were stupid when we asked him if there were charges for any incoming calls or texts. Apparently anything incoming is free of charge and we have there for been being ripped off by US cell phone companies who charge for incoming calls and text and charge you twice as much to do.

After that Sam and I walked what seemed like the entire area looking for a store that sold towels. Sam has gone to visit some friends in the next town over so we time to kill, but we just couldn’t find towels anywhere. Finally after Sam had gotten on a bus I was walking back to the RAC and what should appear? A store that not only sells towels but has them on sale. Naturally I jump at the chance and got some nice new towels.

After that I returned to the college and decided to take a nap until dinner, and then ended up sleeping through dinner. So now I’m going to try and find some kinda of food. I would get them out of the vending machines, but I’m not quite sure which coin is which yet.

xo Dana

Sorry about it being so late. I only just got internet in my room to actually post it

Welcome

2009-09-28T20:23:00.001-07:00

Hey. Welcome to my blog. I'm Dana and I'm currently a sophomore at Iowa State University double majoring in Agricultural Education and Global Resource Systems.

First let me start by telling you I am about to embark on a year long study abroad to the Royal Agricultural College in Cirencester, England. I've started this blog for several reasons. 1) I've had several requests to keep people updated and figured the blog would be an excellent way to do that without having to send out a million emails. 2) I'll have a virtual scrapbook to remember my amazing year in England.

Now, my flight goes out on Thursday so I have 3 days left and I've just barely started packing. I've managed to sort through all of my clothes and narrow it done to the bare minimum I'll need and let me tell you it's a rather sad feeling to see how small the pile of clothes you're taking is compared to the large amount of clothes you're leaving behind. I'd say the two piles were like a mouse compared to an elephant.

This past weekend I was in Ames saying good by to my friends from college. It was a good time and I got to see a lot of people I knew, but it made me wish I was there. I ate my lated night Chinese food and went out to the Pizza Ranch. Spent some time shopping for fabric and modeling the ugliest ones. Had a mini fashion show with my friend Brady and pretty much tried to live my entire sophomore year in one weekend.

Anyway, this blog will hopefully be updated once a week with what I've done in England so far. Please enjoy and I promise it will be more interesting from here on out.