Manchester

Well I successfully made it to Manchester! I didn't sleep at all, except for maybe a half hour on the plane from Dublin to Manchester.  Meghan was skyping with me while I was attempting to pack.  My flight to Philly leaves in an hour and I want to go buy EVERYTHING in the WHSmith shop.  I already raided it and bought 6 bottles of Ribena and a UK flag sticker that also says London. The lady at the check out called me love and I am going to miss that.  I bought myself a tomato, mozzarella and basil panini in honor of the first thing that I ate when the train to Sheffield went disastrously wrong! But good memories :-) I can't believe that its already been almost 12 weeks and I'm really leaving.  I still feel like I only just got here.  The hardest thing is that I don't know when I'm going to come back, and that is probably what is bugging me the most.  I know I will live here someday, probably in London.  But for now, thanks England for a great term (even if I didn't learn that much academically :-P).  It's been a great adventure and I couldn't have asked for better friends that I met along the way.  This experience has been everything I thought it would be and so much more.  But for now, I must say farewell and thanks for the memories, but I will definitely be back :) Cheers!
Love,
Carolyn

Luck of the Irish!!!

Well I woke up at 8:30am this morning and had breakfast in the hotel.  I had a delicious veggie omelet and some delicious granola with yogurt.  The coach picked me up and then picked up some other people too! YAY! About 12 people and they were all American.  Today was more driving around and seeing the scenery rather than exploring and such, so it'll be a short post.

But the highlight and the title of this blog post came from when we had our first stop.  We could have tea or browse the gift shop.  I was looking around the gift shop and found a great present for my dad for Christmas.  I went to go pay for it, but their credit card machine ended up being broken.  I ran out of cash yesterday and was never able to find an ATM so I was SOL.  I gave the lady back the item and headed outside to look at the scenery.  One of the ladies on the trip came outside and just as she was asking me if she could lend me the 10 euros, I looked down and what did I see? 10 EUROS LAYING ON THE GROUND (soaking wet in a puddle!) The gift was 9.95 so that gave me just enough cash to buy it! I STILL CAN'T BELIEVE THAT HAPPENED! The Irish luck came out of me today :D

After that we drove around some more, took a few photo stops, and saw the Atlantic Ocean.  In one of the towns we past through, I saw a sign for a store that read "Bubbles Fishing Tackle!"  It was a laundromat, dry cleaning service, and also sold fishing rods and tackle.  Also in that gift shop and a few other ones I was in, I saw a few different key chains and other gift items that had the Irish flag intertwined with the American flag.   I also saw both an Irish and an American flag flying outside of one business along the way (two separate flag poles).  I still don't know why this is.

Later on, we stopped at a pub for lunch and I had a half pint of Guinness and fish 'n' chips! It was delicious :) Also along the way, the driver/tour guide was playing different Irish music, including Lord of the Dance!!  I don't really know what else to say other than the fact that it was a great tour and I saw some amazingly beautiful scenery, especially when the sun was setting over the mountains.

I was actually on the same train back to Dublin with the lady who had come out to lend me some money and another lady she was traveling with.  They were from Alabama and so nice!! They bought me a cup of tea and we talked the entire 4 hour train back to Dublin.  It was nice to really talk to someone.  I enjoyed traveling around by myself, but I will always enjoy the company of other people :)

I think I'm more nervous about going home than I was about going to England.  It's definitely going to be weird and strange.  I can't wait to finally read the book that Meghan gave to me for Christmas on the plane home!!  But before that I have to repack all of my bags and then catch the shuttle to the airport at 4am (it's 1am now).  I think I'll grab another cup of tea.  I really enjoyed my time here in Ireland! The people here are some of the friendliest people I've ever met, and I will definitely be coming back.  Leaving England is going to be so hard tomorrow, even though I really left it on Saturday.  I can't explain how I came to love that country, or really why I do, but I know I will live there some day.  Time to sign off for now! <3
~Carolyn

IRELAND! IRELAND! *cue celtic music*

This morning I woke up at 5:45am and set off on my 2 day rail tour around Ireland.  I was going to try and take the bus to the rail station but that didn't work out so I got a taxi and made it just in time. On my way there I saw a TON of Guinness signs all over the place. We got on the train to Cork at 7am and got there around 9:50am. I was quite happy to be back on the train and started reading my Brandon Sanderson book. :) After that, we transferred to a coach bus and set off to Blarney.  There were 3 other people there, all from Australia! My tour guide, Bob, asked me where I was from and I said Buffalo, NY and his first reaction was "Ah! Where the wings come from!"

We headed off to Blarney, and he was telling us all about Ireland, Cork, and a bunch of things.  Some of the stuff that I wrote down is that in that area, the prevailing beer on that side of the island is Murphys rather than Guinness.  Also, on every public announcement sign (highway signs, street names, everything) it is written in both English and in Irish (or Gaelic).  Irish is still the official language, even though only about 6% of the population speak it fluently today.  Also in that area we passed the European HQ for Apple.  You have to wear your seat belt on the coach.

See the hole in the middle?
That's where I had to lean
over to kiss the Blarney stone.

We got to Blarney and walked around the castle.  I climbed the stairs to the Blarney stone and I did kiss it! It was weird though.  You would think that it would have been on a display case or something, but it was actually built into castle and I had to lay down on my back and lean back over a hole 120 ft. up to kiss it.  It didn't look like anything special...just part of the actual castle.  But I kissed it so I'm waiting for the added eloquence to make its debut.  I also met a really nice family from North Carolina.  I walked around the poison garden after that  and saw plants like Wolfsbane and the European Mandrake (High five if you know why I wanted to break out my standard size 2 pewter cauldron and turn to page 394).  I wandered around the grounds some more, over to the Witches stone, wishing steps, Rock close, and lots of other cool things that were around.  It seemed like a very magical place and it was really pretty.  On the walk back I learned that Queen Elizabeth I came up with the word "blarney."  I headed back to do a bit of shopping in the Blarney Woolen Mills and get some lunch.  I had Blarney beef stew which was quite good, but they were playing obnoxious American Christmas music and completely ruined the atmosphere.

After that it was back on the coach and off to the train station to drop off two of the people who were going back to Dublin that night.  We drove through Cork and saw Cork Univeristy, which has its entrance as the entrance from a former jail, but is also world renowned for its cancer research.I also saw a good number of gingers walking around Cork too. America has touched Cork in a few ways.  First, Washington St. is named after George Washington, our first President.  Also, there is a John F. Kennedy park because he visited Cork the same year that he was assassinated in.

We continued on to Cobh (pronounced Cove) to visit the Heritage Center and St, Colman's Cathedral.  Cobh is the place where both the Lusitania and the Titanic docked for the final time before they were both sunk.  We saw the port where the Titanic pulled into.  The cathedral was very beautiful, and when we went inside, they were setting up for Christmas.  We moved onto the Heritage center which had an exhibition that covered the potato famine, Irish emigration, the Titanic, and the Lusitania.  I had just enough time to enjoy afternoon tea and a scone before we headed to the train station.  From the Cobh train station we went to Mallow (or Mala in Gaelic) and I said goodbye to my guide and the other lady (I'm the only one on this actual trip, the other people were on different ones) and I transferred to the train that would take me to Killarney.  

Irish people so far have been very nice.  I was working to heave my duffle bag onto the luggage racks and this one guy helped me out.  I read more Brandon Sanderson on the train ride to Killarney.  I arrived in Killarney and managed to find the driver that took me to my hotel for the night.  This is a really nice guesthouse! I got settled in, had a cup of tea, and then headed out for some grub.  I walked along the streets that were all lit up with Christmas lights, and found the Failte hotel which also had a restaurant in it.  I ordered a pint of Guinness, the soup and the duck.  The soup was a creamy vegetable with garlic croutons and it was delicious!! They also had some really good bread with this salty, olive spread that was delicious! I was really happy to actually be enjoying Guinness in Ireland :D.  I got over my thing about eating alone in a real restaurant.   It was a really cozy restaurant which helped and they were playing some really nice instrumental Christmas music.  The duck came and I was really surprised.  It wasn't a pile of grease and fat and it was AMAZING! It came with mashed potatoes and veggies and stuff.  SO GOOD! The lady was also really nice, asking me how my stay was and how I was enjoying Ireland.  She also told me that Guinness is nutritious because it has a lot of iron.  I just googled it and this is what I found.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/sns-holiday-stpats-guinness-good-for-you,0,535155.photogallery

I met that family from North Carolina, and their accents were CRAZY STRONG! I know some of this has to do with the fact that I haven't been hearing American accents that much.  I was watching Treasure Planet with Meghan and Jen last week, and it wasn't until we were at least halfway through the movie that I realized that the main characters all had English accents!

I am kind of worried about going home.  I am afraid I'm going to go completely mad since I won't be traveling....pretty much at all! But I'll have some of my friends around me and I'll text Jen and write letters to Meghan so it'll be okay.  It's definitely weird even thinking about it.
Hope you had a good day!
~Carolyn

so....much...sugar...gahhhhhhhhhhhhh

Well, it certainly has been quite a day :) I woke up and was out the door by 8:30am.  It took me about 10 minutes to walk to the Cook n with Class school. I went inside and was greeted by Pino, the chef for French Desserts.  He told me to wash up and put on an apron.  At that time, a grandmother and her granddaughter also came in for the class and did the same.  They were from Florida and were in Paris for a few days before heading to London, as a gift to her granddaughter for graduation.  We were also joined by another older lady who was from Canada.  Pino began the class and I can't even remember the order in which we made everything, because we made about a billion different things for the 5 desserts.  We made everything from scratch for eclairs, a christmas log, creme brulee, chocolate lava cakes, Italian meringue, and Madeleines! We got to taste some of the stuff throughout and it was just a fantastic time! The creme brulee we made had real vanilla in it, and he told us that you can keep vanilla pods in alcohol (they will stay plump, and as time goes on, the vanilla flavor will penetrate the alcohol) or dry them and grind it up with sugar to make vanilla sugar.  We got to take all of it home, and so I took a piece of the Christmas log and some madeleines.  Basically I can never live in Paris, because I would just eat crepes and visit the boulangerie (bakery) ALL THE TIME...I want a cheese toastie now though.

Madeleines

Rolling the Christmas Log

Italian Meringue Mushrooms!

 I'm definitely planning on making eclairs and madeleines for Christmas Eve and then hopefully the Christmas Log for Christmas day (but we'll see how I do with rolling it).  After that I had a fun time getting a ride to the airport, but I got there in time and made it to my flight.  On the flight I sat next to this American guy who looked like a teenager that never grew up (definitely at least 40).  He was a photographer and just had this air of an arrogant person who thinks that he knew everything.  He was nice and all, but I was happy when we landed.  We flew into Dublin just as the sun was setting, and it was beautiful.  It was also kind of weird traveling by airplane. I still love flying, but it seemed a bit less exciting.  I missed watching the English countryside go by.  But at least I will get to see the Irish countryside tomorrow! I didn't get out to see Dublin much (except for what I saw on the bus ride over here), partially because I'm kind of in a boring area, I'm exhausted, and I have free Wi-Fi here so I've been planning out everything for the next couple of days.
I will probably update either tomorrow or Wednesday night with all of the fun shenanigans that occur during my rail trip around Ireland! :-) Have a great day everyone!
~Carolyn

Paris!

Well, here I am, laying on my bed in my hotel staring out my window at the Basilique du Sacre-Coeur.  It has been a long couple of days but very fun ones nonetheless :)  The train trip yesterday was very long indeed, and running on now sleep made it a bit of a challenge.  The Eurostar was interesting, but I fell asleep for about an hour of it, but it was alright.  I arrived in Paris and walked for about 15 minutes to my hotel.  I was supposed to go see the Galleries-Lafayette but was running on negative sleep so I just stayed in and prepped for the next day.

I woke up at 6am, and was able to be up and out at 6:45.  I walked down to the Metro station at Anvers, after having walked into a car park because it was dark and I couldn't see a sign for the metro.  But I made it and was off to Versailles! I grabbed a raspberry muffin for breakfast during one of my train changes.  The ride there was really nice.  I was actually on a double-decker train, which I didn't know existed.  I got to Versailles and the sun was not up yet and the castle didn't open until 9am.  I killed the half hour walking around the gardens and taking pictures :) Disney World music (from the actual park, not songs from the movies) came on and just added a sense of grandeur and a certain je ne sais quoi.  So I switched my iPod to play just that album and it was EPIC! Rather nerdy, yes...but it seemed to choose the right songs and would swell at such good points (like when I walked into the Hall of Mirrors). ANYWAYS, after walking around I queued for tickets, and I heard a person talking with an English accent and I smiled.  I got my ticket and walked inside the gate.  I turned around the sun was rising just over the one side of the Palace.  It seemed so fitting that I saw the sun rise over the former residence of the Sun King.

The heels = WONDERFUL

I walked through the chateau and it was stunning! I couldn't believe that I was really there, after the years of learning about it and seeing pictures in french class.  The Hall of Mirrors was just as amazing as I thought it would be.  I also had a mini fit of joy when I saw the painting of Louis XIV in his heels and wig :D
Have a glance through my pictures on facebook to see everything!

After that I headed back to the train station, which ended up taking me at least a half hour to find.  The Chateau has a bunch of small streets that come together right before the main street to it, and so I ended up taking the wrong one.  But I eventually found it and made it back to the city :) After that I headed to Notre Dame! Again, just as spectacular as I thought it would be.  I was thinking about going inside but it was SWARMED with people so I decided I would be okay skipping that.  After that I walked over to the Louvre.  But on my way I decided to head over to this one interesting looking building that seemed to have a mob of people in front of it.  It turned out to have a giant ice skating rink and a stand along the side selling crepes!! FOOD! SO MUCH HUNGER! I got a crepe with nutella, and it was warm and it warmed up my freezing hands and it was DELICIOUS!

After that I headed over to the Louvre.  There were a butt ton of people around trying to get everyone to sign something, but I managed to slide past them and get down into the mall.  I bought my ticket and headed up to see the Mona Lisa.  As I suspected, it was incredibly underwhelming.  It was tiny...and quite frankly, when you think about it, I still don't quite understand why this of all paintings is so insanely famous! After that I walked around some more, walked down to the Greek artifacts and then the medieval section.  

Arc du Triomphe 

I headed out and across the gardens to the Champs-Elysees!!!  Before that I walked past a Ferris wheel and this really cool Obelisk. I grabbed a ham and cheese crepe from one of the vendors.  Onto the Champs-Elysees!  It was in full Christmas mode and stretched for a few miles! Stalls lined up side-by-side selling crepes, hot wine, Christmas ornaments, souvenirs, and many other things.  There was also a section for free 10 minute massages, but I decided to press on instead.  Along the way I saw a soldier in fatigues with his gun on his shoulder...which kind of puzzled me.  But onward! The Christmas Market ended and soon I found the Holy Grail aka Laduree.  This place is known for its macaroons so I waited in line and got 6 macaroons in a very pretty light purple box.  I saved them for later though and continued on to the Arc du Triomphe.

After walking around the Arc du Triomphe and seeing the tomb of the unknown soldier with the eternal flame, I hopped back on the Metro.  I got off and headed to the Eiffel Tower :) I was actually a croque monsieur...because I had to (ham toastie with melted cheese on top), and enjoyed the amazing view.  I wasn't on ground level with it, and it was getting cold so I didn't go up.  I hung out, enjoyed my croque monsieur, and took in the fact that I was actually seeing so many of the places I had read about in high school.  Ir was definitely an amazing day :) I am now EXHAUSTED! I also wanted to give a shout out to Kara for making my entire itinerary for me! Even though I took a few wrong turns, I still saw everything, plus a few things that weren't even on there thanks to those wrong turns :-P  I have now spent the rest of my night in my hotel, delaying packing by skyping people and blogging :D It's now a little past midnight, and the light on the Basilique is off.  Maybe I should just pack and go to bed.  Alright, night everyone!!
~Carolyn

My last day in Lancaster

Well, that's it.  It's all over. :( My final day at Lancaster has come and gone.  I spent an hour trying to find a working printer on campus but failing before heading off to my EU class.  In that class, I ended up teaching my classmates what s'mores are and winning some chocolate euro coins for the best EU presentation.  That seminar was good fun and some very smart people in it as well. I wish I was staying for the whole term just to see what else is going to come out of them in seminar. :)  After that, I handed in my 3 essays and went home and finished packing and cleaning my room.

Jude, Jen, Ciara and I decided to hang out in the kitchen for a while, just having a chat. After that, Meghan, Toby, Matt and I went to Wibbly Wobbly for burgers and chips.  I had the luscious lamb burger one more time along with chips and garlic mayo. Those two guys are amazing :-) I've only known them for a few weeks and they are like my little brothers.  I will truly miss them.  After that, Ciara, Jude and Jen came down and we all went to Grad Bar together so I could have one last pint of Guinness in a proper English pub.  Matt and I were talking about Top Gear and Michael McIntyre and then Toby and I were talking about how Americans view the English and vice versa.  We headed back, and Jude and I made up our own rendition of the back of the bus game by saying There were 2 people linking arms tonight! Haha it was such good fun!!! At one point I also gave Matt a short piggy back ride, when Jude magically ninja-ed off Matt's belt whilst still on my back.  We all stared at him in awe!  Basically, it was such good fun and I laughed so much.

We went back to Meghan's flat for more frivolity and we ended up filming a 15 minute long video that covered everything from Obama to Michael McIntyre. After that came some Scrabble before we all ended up moving back to my flat.  Meghan said she was just going to go to bed so I hugged her goodbye...and cried. Oi.  Back at my flat we played Ring of Fire and were still laughing ourselves silly.  Meghan actually ended up texting me and saying "A part of my brain just went you're an idiot Meg, you can sleep later.  Go see Carolyn now" so she came back!  Ring of Fire continued and some more chatting.  Meghan and I went for a walk at one point, because the kitchen was really warm, and it was hailing out!!! We got back and just were swapping stories with Matt and Toby.  Meghan bowed out one more time and said she was going to sleep.  Shortly after, the porters turned up and told us all to stuff it because it was 3:45am.

Sooooo Jen and I went back to Matt and Toby's (also Meghan's) to chat some more and enjoy our last night.  We played music and Meghan actually eventually just came in and sat with us.  We ate food, swapped more stories, talked about plans for when Matt and Toby come to the USA, the care packages we're going to send each other, and how we all wish we had met sooner.  But soon, it was half six, and Jen and I decided to head back.  We hugged Matt and Toby goodbye, and I hugged Meghan goodbye for the third time that night :-P.  So here I am now, in an empty room, at 7am, waiting for the taxi to get here at 8:45am.  It would be useless to sleep.  I have to catch a train to Manchester airport to drop off my duffel bags, then to London to transfer to the Eurostar, and then arriving in Paris around 8pm.  I know Kara told me to go out tonight and explore a bit, but I don't know if I'll have the energy! I have a feeling I'm going to be completely shattered by the time I check into my hotel.  Since I have to be up and out at 7am tomorrow, a good night's sleep would probably be best. And so begins the journeys outside of Great Britain!  I probably should pack my carry on bags...
I will probably post tomorrow night once I'm back in my hotel after gallavanting around Paris. :)

Hope you have a wonderful day!
~Carolyn

P.S. I still can't believe it's over. I feel like it's only been about 4 weeks, not 11. I am going to miss all the wonderful friends I made here, but I know we will keep in touch :) Jen will be at mine for New Years!!

P.P.S. I apologize for the poor post.  It's 7am now and I'm completely knackered, but I'm afraid if I fall asleep I won't wake up to my alarm.

Carlisle with Meghan!!

Whelp, today was the final adventure with Meghan.  We decided to go to Carlisle because it was cheap and had a castle! We left around 9am this morning (after a long day prancing around Lancaster yesterday), and arrived in Carlisle around 10am.  We headed out and first stopped at this gorgeous old cathedral!  The grounds were beautiful and the inside was even more breathtaking.  The ceiling was painted to look like a bunch of stars!! After we walked around the rest of the cathedral and the treasury we set off towards the castle.  Along the way we kept smelling something delicious, but never figured out what it was! We got to the castle and went through the military museum.  Unfortunately we couldn't actually go through the inside of the castle because it's not open Monday - Friday :( .  But we got to go up top and walk around the upper outside part of it! The views were fantastic and we found a funny sign :).

After we roamed around the castle, we went back to the cathedral to go have lunch at the Priory kitchen.  I got leek and potato soup and a smoked salmon and cheese sandwich, with tea of course! I also got a chocolate caramel shortbread and it was AMAZING! I was quite surprised how good it was, and I think Meghan thought I was a little nuts because I was rather fond of it.  We continued walking around and ended up finding the indoor market.  I found someone who sold treacle toffee so I bought some to take home.  We also found a Waterstones and I found the Vegetarian Nosh for Students cookbook that Meghan has, which looked like it had some really good recipes in it.  After walking through some more stores and taking lots of pictures, we headed back to the train station.  We got back to Lancaster, and I realized it would be the last time I would actually return there.  The next time I'm on a train, it's only going one-way, no return ticket to Lancaster :(.  I can't believe tomorrow is my last day here! I can't believe it's already been 2 1/2 months, it feels like it's only been 3 weeks.  I'm just happy that I made a few wonderful friends who I know will keep in touch.  

After Meghan and I got back to Uni, Jen and I went over to hers for cheese toasties and to try the bread and butter pudding from the vegetarian cook book! It turned out to be really good! :) 

Last night we also did our Christmas gift exchange between the 3 of us.  I gave Meghan my travel books to London, Edinburgh, Oxford and Cambridge and some cool Shakespeare post-it notes I found in London.  I gave Jen a copy of Simon's Cat the book! Jen is giving me my present when she comes to visit for New Years, and Meghan got me the Book of (Even More) Awesome.  She wrote a long note in the front, and then some notes below some of the stories in the book.  I haven't read it yet, because she told me that some of them may make me cry. Oi...haha so I put a post-it on it saying don't read until the plane ride home.  It'll be perfectly acceptable to be sniffling and crying on a 7 hour flight! Haha :-) Well tomorrow is going to be kind of rough, saying good bye to Meghan, but the three of us are going to hang out and have one last movie/girls night.  I head out to Paris pretty early on Saturday so I'll probably update once I'm in Paris, but it might not be until I get home...Fear not though! I will tell you all about my crazy travels to Paris and Ireland :D

Hope you have a great night! <3

~Carolyn

Middle East class

This term I took a class called Contemporary Issues in the Middle East.  We covered everything from oil economies to the Arab-Israeli conflict to the Arab Spring.  This is was one class that I was really excited to take, but figured I wouldn't talk very much in the seminar since I was American.  But, the professor was probably my favorite professor of all time.  He is maybe mid 30s and actually had several jobs in the Middle East.  I remember at one point he told us a story of him in Iraq with some of his co-workers and they took off their bullet proof vests and were running around in t-shirts and jeans.  He talked about how this was vastly different from a lot of the Iraqis who were dressed up in full suits and such, and one person even told him that them walking around in scruffy t shirts and such was coming off as disrespectful.  I learned a lot from him and he was really nice and approachable.

I remember I had seminar with him the day before Thanksgiving and after it was done he was asking if I had any fun plans to make dinner or what I was doing.  I told him I was making Thanksgiving dinner for my flat with all the trimmings and he told me that him and his girlfriend (or partner as he sometimes refers to her...which I quite like) were actually going to be hosting a Thanksgiving dinner at their house in London.  No one was American, they were just throwing a Thanksgiving party for fun and a chance to get together with friends.

Today was my last seminar and I'm honestly rather sad that it's over! The course was one of the most interesting courses I have ever taken, and to have taken it outside the United States was even better. After he gave his speech of "you've been a wonderful class and I've really enjoyed teaching you this term (he's not going to be here next term)" everyone applauded him and headed out.  I went up to him afterwards to ask a quick question about essays, and then talked about when I was going back and what I was going to be doing.    I was talking about my flight home on the 22nd and hoping the weather will be alright and he talked about when he was flying back to London around the same time and it was absolutely atrocious! After that he said "it has been a pleasure teaching you and good luck with everything in the future."  SERIOUSLY BEST PROFESSOR EVER! I'm almost glad I'm not coming back for another term here because I wouldn't be able to take another course with him.  I honestly respect him as a professor, which I can't say for my IPE professor, and I'm very happy I took this course even though it meant I'll need to take 6 courses next semester.  If I hadn't taken this course, I would have lost all hope in the educational system here. Thanks Professor Smith!!!

Here's a map!

Click on this text to see a map of all the places I have been and where I will be going before I leave!

Only 3 more days :/

Well, I am sitting here, waiting for my English breakfast tea to steep (however no milk due to my lack of milk *sad face*), staring at my Galaxy Caramel bar, debating whether or not I want to open it, listening to the wind howling outside and waiting for the inevitable sound of rain, curling up under my blanket, thinking about whether or not I want to buy more Ribena tomorrow, and listening to Alex Day (an English singer on Youtube).  I think this country has rubbed off on me just a little bit :-P I have noticed a few words that I say differently now as well as some English slang that I have picked up.

I spent the evening in the Learning Zone with Jen and Meghan working on papers.  We went to Sultans for dinner and later on Greggs for tea and hot chocolate.  After Meghan's laptop died, we headed back (and filmed going through the spaceship doors!) and I went to Meghan's in hopes that she would help keep me on task. For the most part we did get work done, with some interruptions to take strange videos, discuss who would win in a fight versus orange boy, and watch the first 20 minutes of Casablanca.  My laptop ended up dying and so now I'm back in my room.  I just have to write conclusions for my 3 essays and I am DONE!!! :) :) :)

Christmas Pudding

I thought of a few more random things that are different here that I'm pretty sure I haven't blogged about yet (if I have, I apologize).
1.  When you're at a cafe or a place like McDonald's, there aren't bins around for you to throw away your rubbish.  You're just supposed to leave it on the table for one of the workers to clear away.  I have now gotten used to this (in the beginning I felt really bad) and will have to make sure I don't make such mistakes in the USA.
2. The cash register is called the till here.
3.  Pudding is not the pudding that we think of at home...it's pretty much any after dinner dessert.  For example, Christmas pudding! It's basically a cake...but it's called pudding.  What we think of as pudding is called custard over here.  Rice pudding with vanilla custard = UTOPIA IN A CUP.
4. The shopkeepers and people selling things on the market, anyone really...pretty much call each other "love."  When I go to buy lamb from my favorite meat guy at the market, he pretty much always says  "Alright love?" Some people may find this creepy, but I quite enjoy it! It always makes me smile and it feels like such a  nice and cheery thing to say. I can't really explain it, but I will definitely miss it when I go back to the States.
5.  The service in restaurants and such is a bit slower here, not the GET IT OUT AS FAST AS POSSIBLE that we have in the States.
6.  People talk about the weather here not just for small talk, but because it is constantly changing! Last Friday it was really nice in the morning, but then that afternoon it was raining and then turned cold and into slush! Everyday is different and you never know what's going to happen no matter what the weatherman has predicted.
7.  mmmmm Tea
8. Guys know how to dress over here and it has been wonderful just walking around campus.

That's all I can think of for now. The plans for tomorrow and Thursday are going to be good fun :)
Tomorrow, Meghan and I (hopefully Jen as well) are going to walk all around town! We're going to go up to the castle and the priory, around to the canals, through the market, and anywhere else she thinks I need to see.  I think we're also planning on watching Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead tomorrow night.  I am making a list of the things I need to buy in town tomorrow to take with me back to the US including treacle toffee, good Twinings tea, and maybe a package of crumpets.  I wish I could smuggle back some Red Leicester cheese, scones and flapjacks from Kayes and lamb from the guy in the market.  I have already made a list of things I need to make when I get back, but top of the list is definitely flapjacks! :)

Thursday we're going to Carlisle, which is a town in Cumbria. Meghan suggested it, it was only 12 quid return, and I was up for a trip to anywhere that would involve at least an hour long train ride.  We're going to check out the castle, Hadrian's wall, and just get lost in another English village!

I am looking forward to Paris and Ireland, but I wish I was coming back.  I am glad though that I'm not doing another term here at Lancaster because I'm pretty sure I would go crazy.  The academic system here just doesn't work for me at all.  But that's okay...I'm going back to Geneseo...where I'll be stressing over 6 classes.  Oi...when I go back I'll have to worry about bridesmaids dresses, making sure I can get into my 6th class so I can graduate, clear up some paperwork issues (completely dependent on if they still have the paper work) with the School of Business so I can get my Economics degree, having enough money to get through next semester, and lots of other things.  It's not going to be pretty, but at least I can skype with Meghan and Jen, look back at pictures and videos, and plan my life in London whenever that will occur (because it's definitely going to happen!). Whelp, I think it's about time I get to finishing off these essays so I can proof them and hand them in on Friday. Woo!!! :-)

Cheers!
~Carolyn

Term Time and Poetry

WELL! I still have my 3 papers and 1 test question to do.  Meghan and I went to the Saturday morning market and got food, including scones.  We ate the scones for breakfast and headed back home.  We both got back and within an hour or so fell asleep! We have since awaken from our slumber and have come to find that we can't focus on work AT ALL.  This is much more strange for Meghan than it is for me but still...she ended up writing this poem on my wall.

It must have happened in town, or on a bus

Curving through the small twisted red-brick building streets

A wave of energy, a radio pulse, 

Zapping our minds, bodies, pulling out of us what? 

DNA, brainwaves, the blueprint of a human soul? 

Or possibly there was a sedative in the scones we ate

Walking and talking and shopping our way through the chilly Saturday market. 

The only possible explanations for two hour naps on Saturday afternoons

During term time. 




Voila...our friendship

Christmas Market and Shenanigans :)

Well it's been a fun day :) It's still freezing in my room so after classes I snuggled under my blankets and watched a few more episodes of Soap.  When Jen and Meghan got out of class I met them at the Christmas Market.  There were a bunch of stalls selling food, gifts, and had live music with fake snow flying around.  Meghan and I went on the carnival ride swings and the three of us bought a bunch of food.  One of my favorite bakers was there and was selling flapjacks (not pancakes...they are like epic versions of granola bars) so I bought some to last me for a couple days. It was pretty cold but there were Christmas lights and it just felt wonderful.

After that we headed back to our flat and I headed back over to County Bar to meet up with the Study Abroad Society exec for drinks.  They got me a card :) It was really nice!
I headed back to my flat and Meghan and I made spaghetti for dinner with chicken, spinach, onions, garlic and tomatoes.  It was delicious! After that I actually fell asleep on Meghan's for a few minutes O_o.  Haha  oops! I woke up and we ended up taking a bunch of random pictures.  We were also chatting with Jen's sister on skype and the four of us were giggling :).  Then, Meghan and I ran away to make a giant cookie...which took AGES to cook because the oven in our flat is awful.  We brought it into Jen's room and the three of us ate it right out of the pan! About an hour later, Meghan decided she was going to head back to try and do notes and I very stealthily snuck her laptop into my room and hid it. :-P I eventually gave it back and she headed out.

It is nights like these that I will miss so much.  The three of us just hanging out and being absolutely ridiculous together...usually after consuming chocolate :D.  Haha at one point we were all looking each other and jokingly saying "Why are we friends??? I've only known you for a month or two!?!?!?!?!?" I'm really going to miss those two.  But Jen will be coming to visit me for New Years and the 3 of us will probably try to figure out a trip somewhere over the summer when Meghan gets back.  Meghan will be here for the rest of the year.   So I will be totally living vicariously through her via her blog, pictures, letters, EVERYTHING.

I think the other thing that will be difficult for me once I return home is the sheer inability to travel.  I can't just hop on a train and be somewhere new and interesting in an hour, and I definitely can't do it last minute.  I have fallen in love with the ability to hop on a train whenever, watch the English countryside go by, and explore some random place...even if I had already been there.  There are so many places in England that are less than 15 quid return to get to, and I could just get lost there for the day.  The place I will miss the most other than Lancaster? Probably even more than Lancaster?  London.  I'm glad that I will have a few hours there before I have to hop on the train to Paris.  I will miss that city so much.  Okay, time to get some more cleaning done while listening to One Direction.
Have a good night everyone! <3
~Carolyn

New plans and adventures still!

Well, work on papers and tests have been going well.  I'm done with 5 out of 6 test questions and then I have to write my 3 short 5 pg. papers.  I should be done with work by Saturday and then hand everything in on Monday!  On Wednesday, Meghan, Jen and I are planning to walk all over Lancaster one more time together, going through the market, up to the castle, along the river etc.  We might go up to the Christmas Market in Manchester that night as well since train tickets are so cheap! Thursday we're potentially going to Carlisle for the day to walk around and explore for the day.

I also just booked myself a cooking class for when I'm in Paris!!!!! It's something that I have been thinking about for a while and several people told me that I should just do it because cooking is still one of my passions and who knows when I would get this kind of opportunity again.  I CAN'T WAIT!!!! :) :)  I'm going to learn how to make 5 classical French desserts from scratch.

But work must get done before I can even think about the next couple of weeks! So back to the writing!  BYE! :D
~Carolyn

Random Post #Infinity

Tonight we had the Christmas dinner for Study Abroad Society at Bella Italia in town.  It was really really good food! But we got one giant bill for about 30 people and I had to count the money for it all.  A large group of people left a pile of money and then left before we had it all sorted out.  We ended up being about 30 quid short and it was such a headache.  Eventually it all got sorted.  It was weird that they couldn't split the bill for us, even into the smaller tables. We voted for a new treasurer tonight, and Greg got it.  Yay...now I have to transition him in.
It's just been a stressful couple of days and I have a lot of work to do before I leave.  I am listening to Hugh Laurie's album right now and it's so relaxing.  I'm going to miss this country like crazy, but I can't wait to get out of my flat.  Jen, Meghan and I are trying to finish all of our work by Monday so that way we can have all next week to just hang out, hopefully travel some, and just enjoy our last moments in England together.  I wrapped their presents and worked on their cards.  It's so bittersweet.  I'm so ready to go back and seem my family and friends, but I don't want to leave this wonderful country.  They talk about the weather a lot here because it changes so much! It actually snowed for about a minute earlier this evening.  I just happened to look out my window and saw some snow mixed in with the rain. I'm so tired but I should stay up a bit to do work.  But I shall finish this off now.  Have a good night everyone!
~Carolyn

Changes

I have noticed over this past term, that I have become a bit more comfortable to standing up to people, calling them out, and not being a huge push-over. Will I still give people more chances than they probably deserve? Yeah, but hopefully not quite as silently.  I have been trying to improve my ability to communicate with people and realizing that those who actually care will be there and those who don't, won't.  I've got to learn to let go of those people who are in that last category.  Here's hoping I can do that. It's also made me even more thankful for the friends that I have made who actually know what it means to be a friend.  It's about giving AND taking, and not just when it happens to be convenient for them. Okay...back to working on essays.

Another random post

1. Ribena is delicious! It's a blackcurrant juice drink that Meghan introduced to me.

2. Wibbly wobbly Burger Bar - it is right next to my house.  They make fantastic lamb burgers and the chips are delicious!

3. Every time I walk into the Learning zone I have to go through these circular doors.  You walk in the one end, stand in the middle of this little room, wait for the door behind  you to close and the the circular doors in front will slide open.  Every single time, I think in my head, or out loud if I'm with Meghan "Beam me up Scotty!"  It feels like I'm walking into a teleporter or something.

4.I love going to Meghan's flat :) It's so warm and inviting! Plus her two flatmates, Toby and Matt are awesome! They are super nice and really funny.  Matt is like a younger brother and Toby is the friendly best guy friend.  It's nice going to a flat where the guys are just friendly and nice.  Matt was the one who read Shakespeare in a Southern accent.  

5. I have been listening to some new music since I've been here.  I bought a few of Alex Day's albums (one of my favorite youtubers), Hugh Laurie's blues album, and a few other things. 

6.My overall love for Hugh Laurie has increased! His blues album is incredible and I'm hopefully getting his book for Christmas.  I have been watching House, but also some Jeeves and Wooster as well as a Little bit of Fry and Laurie. You should check out this link (click on this).  When I first watched that video, I told Meghan that I had achieved going beyond melting into a puddle.  It's also probably my favorite song off of his album.

7. I will miss being able to get really really really REALLY good curry from Mung Mee.  Mmmm :) 

8.  Two weeks from today I will be in Paris.

That's all I've got for now.  Have a good night everyone.

~Carolyn

Football game!!! :)

Well it has been a fun couple of days! :) I got a message from Meghan saying let's go take crazy night pictures!! I took this as the time to make up for the pictures we wanted to take on my birthday, so I dressed up with my Buffalo Sabres cape! Jen came with us and we went to the playground across from our house.  Meghan went on the swings and I joined her.  Jen didn't wear the proper foot attire for such mucky ground, so she just hung out over by the one climbing thing.  Soon I was climbing on top of some logs and Meghan started taking pictures!! This is my favorite one.  We played around some more and then headed back in when it started to rain.  On the walk back, Meghan told me that I should use my cape to protect me from the rain! I did that, and it looked like a veil.  Meghan and I started cracking up and I asked her to walk me down the aisle.  :-P  We're just silly.

Saturday morning, I woke up early to go to the market with Meghan.  We went into town and went into Unbox, which is a quirky knick knack shop. Meghan showed me this old medieval knight sculpture.  We then walked down to the market, and it was all decorated for Christmas :) I bought Hugh Laurie's CD, some Christmas presents for people, and some delicious scones.  We walked down by the river and came across this memorial for African slaves.  After that, we headed back because I had to meet up with Jen and Zhen to go to the football game! I had just enough time to put Hugh Laurie's album on my iPod and then we were off!

The bus ride there, I was watching the English countryside go by while listening to Hugh Laurie sing Blues.  It was strange...but still somehow worked.  We got to the Wigan stadium and made our way over to the turnstile.  It was all automatic but I didn't see where you put the ticket in so I asked one of the security guards about it. He showed me were to scan it and then once I did was yelling at me to go through! It was really funny :-P I'm pretty sure it was timed or something.  So we finally got inside and found our seats.  The field was as large as I thought it would be, but the actual stadium was really small!  We went to go get food (you could either have a hot dog or a pie), and I got a meat and potato pie and some tea.  We watched the end of the Newcastle vs. Chelsea game on the TVs and then it was time to head back out for the game.

I love watching football :) It's a fast-paced game and the clock doesn't stop until half time and then the end of the game.  Arsenal was the visitor and their fans were on their feet and cheering the entire game! They were singing songs and chanting. The Wigan fans had a tiny corner that would occasionally be vocal...but they were easily drowned out by the Arsenal fans.  Arsenal was outplaying Wigan for the majority of the game and soundly kicked their butts 4-0.  We ran back to the bus and headed for home.  I went over to Meghan's for soup and then went back to my room and had an early night.

Today, Meghan and I went to the Learning Zone. I was able to outline all 6 of my test questions in 4 hours so now it's just a matter of hammering them out.  Also, Jen booked plane tickets for her and her sister Janet to come visit me for New Years!!! Haha we were talking about how when we hug at the airport, we'll actually just be saying "see you in 2 weeks!"  I really wish Meghan could come but it would be really expensive and she doesn't have that long before she has to fly back out here for next term.

A thoughtful return

Today, I went to the InfoLab Cafe with Meghan and Jen.  We were doing work when Jen started asking us questions that she had to fill out for a study abroad course she was taking through UofM.  These questions mostly had to do with going home and re-adjusting to everything there.  Everyone says that re-entry shock is much more difficult than the initial culture shock when you get there.  I can see why this would be.  I feel like I have changed since I've been here and I have learned so many things outside of the classroom.  So I figured I would share these questions and my answers because they are interesting and helpful.

1.  In what ways have I changed?
I think I have changed in several ways that are a bit more subtle.  I've always been an independent person, but this trip abroad has shown that I can cope fairly well on my own.   I have also learned how to make a great cup of tea and the art of jacket potatoes.  This trip has also shown me that I can function abroad and makes me think even more about moving outside of the United States.  I also think that this trip finally helped me to overcome those people who say they care, but are never there.  I can only hope that this continues once I actually get home.  I have realized so much about myself because of this trip and I am so happy that I got that chance.

2.  In what ways might my friends and family have changed?
I don't think much will really have changed with them.  My family will be further along with the wedding plans for both of my brothers and it comes even closer to the reality that they are both getting married next year.  Thank goodness I love both of my future sisters :) As for my friends?  I don't think they will have changed that much either.  My sisters will have changed the most in adapting to losing so many wonderful seniors last year and gaining 2 fabulous sisters!!! Some of my friends will be leaving to go on study abroad trips next semester and I hope we continue to keep in touch...especially if they stole my tiger! (*cough* JAVI *cough cough*)

3.  How would I like my family and friends to treat me when I return home?
Please please please please don't get too frustrated with me. I know I'm going to bring up England a lot.  Also, if you don't really want to hear about my trip, that's totally fine! But if you do ask...be ready because I will probably do on a long, nostalgic summary.  Also, if I say something in English slang, don't get mad at me! It's become habit and often it sounds a lot better (and makes more sense) than the American term for it. As long as I keep busy, it won't be as bad...and writing letters to Meghan and Jen.

4. What am I looking forward to the most?
Being able to hug my family and friends. I MISS HUGS!! I love Meghan and Jen but we can only hug each other SO many times. I am also looking forward to driving my car again, u-hotz, hanging out with my Pheta loves, NETFLIX, my Wii, my bookshelf, no more time difference between my best friend and myself, fast internet, good peanut butter, and watching Sabres games.

5.  What am I going to miss?

Being able to run into Jen's room at anytime. "Meet you in front of the porters in 5" with Meghan.  The Farmers market in town and on campus.  Being able to travel to fun places in a short amount of time and last minute, crumpets, BBC iPlayer, Sainsbury's, the bars on campus (esp. Grad Bar with Live music every Thursday), cheese toasties at 2am with Jen, cookies and music nights with Meghan and Jen,  Arrogance and Ring of Fire with the flat, Nerf gun wars with Jen, attacking Jude and Greg with our Nerf Guns, the bar stool we found, Top Gear magazine, good beer, cheap wine, Lancaster,  public transport that is efficient and wonderful,  train rides through the English countryside, buying lamb from the nice guy at the farmers market on campus, not getting ID-ed when I buy alcohol (drinking age is 18), English accents, guys who dress so well, being only a 2 hour train ride from London, old buildings and architecture, seeing really nice cars driving around all the time, short lectures, discussion seminars, being on facebook right next to Meghan and still posting on her facebook, going on trips almost every weekend, the view from my room, Ribena, being a 2 hour train ride from Edinburgh, and SO MANY OTHER THINGS.  Yeah, kind of freaking out about only having 3 weeks left. But as Meghan said "DO NOT GO THERE! We have two weeks left. Enough time for sadness at the end of it. Now is for fun time. :)" Our last night, the 3 of us are going to have a 

slumber party, watch movies, take pictures, bake and eat cookies, swap Christmas presents and reminisce 

about everything

6. What am I not going to miss?
Classes here (except the semindars), how hard it is to read people here, needing to read between the lines of what people say to understand what they actually mean because they are too polite to just say what they mean, arguments over English words vs. american words, and the anti-socialness of my flat.

7. What are the lessons I have learned that I never want to forget?
I never want to forget how I spent my time here, that I tried to make the most of it and saw as much as I could.  I have also learned that I don't work well without deadlines.  I need to work on my ability to focus on projects that have a loose deadline or one that seems way down the line.

8.  What are some skills I have learned?
How to make a great cup of milky tea and jacket potatoes. I also learned how to fix damaged clothes, hand wash clothes, and make a clothesline out of random objects.

9. Some say that re-entry shock is more challenging than initial culture shock.  What are some things I might do to make the transition easier?
I think I need to talk to other people who have done study abroad because they will have been through this before.  I also think I will need to keep in touch with my friends from the UK, especially Jen and Meghan. As long as I keep busy, it shouldn't be too bad.  I also think that when I get back to Geneseo and see all of my friends it will be easier.

10. What have been the most important things about this study abroad experience that I want to share with friends and family?
I would like to talk about difference in how the education system works here. I also just want to look at pictures and tell people about them, but only if they actually want to see the pictures and hear the stories.

11.  What do I want to do with the experiences I've had?
I want to make a compilation video of pictures and videos.  It would give me a project to work on and let me remember all of the amazing times I had here.  I would also like to hear what changes other people have seen in me.

That's all I can think of for now! :) Thanks for reading and I hope you like the new layout!
~Carolyn
P.S. now that you actually can comment...PLEASE DO SO!!! Haha :)