12.05.2007

Another day, another of those boring posts....

Hey guys!! Hope everyone is doing well since I last posted (yesterday was it?). I'm doing fantastic at the moment, but I'll get to my long free travel as soon as I'm done with the rest of everything I've left you guys in the dust with. Sorry about that...still trying to catch up, but I'm a week down and...still about three left, but that's better than nothing!

So, off we go again, then, eh? Sweet.

18 November 2007: Another Sunday

Well, this Sunday, nothing too important happened. Went to church at Wembley again and then went back and did some homework because I'm studious like that. Too studious like that. Had class that afternoon. Once again, didn't pay a lick of attention (because we're not even tested over what we spend 7 hours a week learning - pointless classes really) and spent most of my time surfing the internet or playing games. Seriously, I really don't care about that class - I have an A and I'm happy with that. So, onwards and forwards!!

19 November 2007: A "Class"ic Tea Party

Still have class on Mondays, in case you're wondering - so I went because I can't skip. I only really like my Brit Lit class. Speech is ok, too, but I've already had it and it's not hard. Taught by the same teacher who's pretty much amazing on her own. We always have fun in Ms. Dillion's class - most of the time, we don't even stay on topic - she doesn't seem to care that much because she has fun with us. Yay Ms. Dillion!!

Anyway, after class, I still had homework to do (and this is supposed to be a RELAXING semester....yeah right) so I did some. But that afternoon at 4, Ms. Dillion was treating ALL of us (students, teachers, and students' families) to a High Tea Party in the boy's flat. So, at 3:59, I dropped my studious bit and went right across the hall to flat 4 to have High Tea (it was the only time in London that I was able to have High Tea). It was great!!! We had all kinds of tea, sandwiches, crumpets, mince pies, desert pies, jams, cookies, biscuits, and the like. She bought so many sandwiches, though, that they didn't all get eaten. We basically had a box of 25 sandwiches for each person because Ms. Dillion bougth 25 boxes!!! Every box held 25 sandwiches...you do that math. That's a lot of food!! Yeah, I ate so much and drank so much tea - but it was amazing! By far one of the best group activities we've ever done. I tried a mince pie (it wasn't very good) and ate like 8 sandwich quarters and drank several cups of tea...then I stopped. Ha! But it was so good! Perhaps we HUE people can all get together one day and have another High Tea afternoon. It was definitley an experience I think EVERYONE who goes to London should take advantage of.

After the tea party, I went back and attempted to work on my speech (but that didn't happen) when the fire alarm went off. It typically goes off sometimes for about 3 seconds when FSU is testing it every week. This one? When it didn't stop after a minute, I decided to go out and see what was going on. When I didn't see anyone, I walked over to the boy's flat and found Ms. Dillion, Kaity, Jordan, Jordan's sister and Jordan's mom all watching Ms. Dillion on the power risers. It was the funniest thing!! No one seemed worried that the alarm was going off so I stayed inside...until Jordan's mom said that she smelled smoke. Poor Ms. Dillion didn't know what to do! She couldn't take off the power risers without risking being burned alive and she couldn't walk down the stairs because the risers were so new to her and hard to control. I went down, hoping everything was going to be ok. I got outside and ran across the street (barefoot - in 40ยบ weather and even colder rain) and looked up in the window. What I saw was hysterical - at least to me because you really had to have been there. I saw Ms. Dillion, still on the power risers, trying to walk down the stairs, only she looked like an awkward T-Rex (but a much smaller T-Rex) trying to fumble its way down stairs in the dark. It wasn't dark on the stairway, but I think you catch my drift. It was great. After about 5 steps, Ms. Dillion decided that she couldn't make it down all 64 of them, so she turned around and went back up the stairs - sure to be burned alive had there really been a fire. As soon as she returned to the safe-haven of flat 4, we were able to get back inside. Most of us HUE'ers went up the stairs to see if Ms. Dillion was ok. She was great! She'd never had so much fun in her life!

Oh man...good times. Good times.

20 November 2007: Meandering a maze and drooling over a dollhouse

So, another Tuesday, another field trip and the next to last one with awesome bus driver Tony. This was the final "Have to see this place before I die" location, which I will reveal in just a minute. So, we get on the bus and drive to our first location. We've done quite a bit with King Henry VIII, and this was the last stop. We were going to Hampton Court, which he built. It was really nice. Went through the apartments and saw some amazing (original) artwork from some famous artists at the time, but don't ask me who they were, because I don't remember. All I know is that I really liked some of them, just some of them. I honestly don't remember much about the court. So much has been pumped into my head this past semester, I'm surprised that I remember any of it! But there was this cool maze thing in the gardens. It was small - a third of a acre - and I'm surprised that I even found the middle. One can put a lot of twists and turns into a third of a acre - but I kind of wanted it to be larger, just for kicks because then I really would have been able to get lost. Yeah! Can't go home cause I'm lost in a maze - what a tale! *ahem* Anyway, did the maze thing right? Yeah. Did the court thing, right? Sure did. Got back on the bus and then we passed through Runnymede. Does anyone know what that is?! Ha! History majors should know :-) If you don't, you're a little behind, I'm sorry to say. Runnymede was where the Magna Carta was signed - and I've SEEN the Magna Carta! Twice!! Ha!!! Now all I have to do is transport myself back to 1215 and see the actual signing - don't think that will happen in my lifetime, but it's nice to hope. So, passed through that on the way to my final "have to do before I die" locations. Where is it? I'll tell you.

Windsor Castle! Dr. Harris (my wonderful advisor and teacher) was actually the first person to tell me about Windsor back in my Freshman year when we were discussing my trip to London. She told me things to see - priorities and the like. In case you didn't know, Windsor is also the summer residence of the Queen of England - at least I could see ONE place the Queen gets to stay. I must say, I was VERY impressed with Windsor...I can only imagine what Buckingham Palace looks like after today. So, we get in the vicinity of the castle, and, as I'm about to burst with excitement, learn that I have to pass through a shopping center of sorts just to get to it. Blast - that will take another 10 minutes, not to mention the fact that I still have to eat before I die if starvation. Great, another thing to prolong my agony. How long will it last?! Not long actually. 30 minutes was enough time for me to eat my bacon bap and head to the entrance where my ticket was ready and waiting (like it usually is). I received my ticket and my audio guide, and it was OFF TO EXPLORE WINDSOR!! It was breath-taking. I loved it! The day was foggy, so not a very ideal day for taking pictures, but I did what I could. Since you weren't allowed to take pictures inside (which always saddens me), I had to do what I could when I was outside. Granted, it was quite a view even though fog blanketed just about everything. So, audio guide in hand, I marched into the castle and started my tour. We always seemed to get places about an hour or so before they closed, so I had to pick and choose what I was to go see. The Queen's doll house was the FIRST and ONLY thing on my list of things, though it wasn't the only thing I did, thank goodness. I found the location of the doll's house and made a beeline. Dr. Harris had told me that if I get to see anything in the castle and nothing else, the doll's house was the thing to do - so I did. And you know what? She was correct as always. It was the biggest doll house I have ever seen. It was made for Queen Victoria during her reign just to give her some amusement (it didn't help that she was obsessed with dolls, but hers were considerably larger). If I were to guess how big it was I would say about...8 feet tall and 8 and a half feet long. Oh yes, this was a BIG doll house. It wasn't made for use to play with dolls, just to show off what living in a house during that time would have looked like. I have to admit, I wanted to live in it - shrink to about the size of a coffee mug and live inside - oh yes, I could actually live inside. The house has a library with REAL books written just for it. It has electricity and running water. It's 4 cars really run - on gas. It's all real. There's even a jewel room where there is housed miniature crown jewels. And the Hoover vaccum cleaner really works - its about 5 inches tall. I was amazed at just how large and intricate it was. I probably stood admiring it for a good 20 minutes before I realized I was running out of time to see the rest of the castle. Stopped by and looked at the Victoria's collection of dolls - which are montrous and have their own sets of clothes, shoes, gloves, and evening gowns. They also have their own cars, which were driven down the Champs Elysee in Paris. Too cool :-) I kept on exploring what I could in the time that I had left. I wound up in the Stateroom/Grand Staircase room and this blew my mind! It would be impossible for me to try to explain what this place looked like. I wouldn't even know where to start!! There are suits of armour everywhere, knight on horses, guns, knives, swords, stolen goods from other countries, the bullet that killed Lord Nelson in the Battle of Trafalgar (remember, he died on the HMS Victory that I had seen the previous week), and busts of several famous British people, including (as always) Winston Churchill. I saw where the Queen sleeps when she's there (which is actually quite nice and homey), where the king would sleep if there was a king, the drawing rooms, etc. It was a whole labyrinth of unique stuff that I wish I had time just to sit and look at for a really long time. Windsor is one of those places that you have to go to as soon as it opens and stay until it closes in order to get the full amount of it in. I want to go back SOO bad! I have made a pact with myself to go back one day - at the end of the year when the Queen isn't in residence - and spend loads of time there just browsing to my hearts desire. Windsor is DEFINITELY on the top 5 things to do in London - it competes for first with the Tower of London, which is so cool.

I had a wonderful day and only wished that I had had more time to explore. Of course I went to the gift shop and bought stuff - hello classroom!! Then I got a picture taken "with" a royal guard (it's the only place you can get one and not get yelled at) and then it was dark - time to go. As we were leaving, we noticed that the bells were ringing, and had been for some time. We soon realized why. November 20 is the Queen Wedding Anniversary - she is married 60 years this year, longer than any other monarch in British History - as we went to one of her houses. Wahoo!! November 20 also marks the 15th Anniversary of another incident - the burning of Windsor Castle. Sadly, it happened in 1992 on the Queen's Anniversary. Where it burned was in the Tower - there is hardly anything original left there any more because it was all destroyed...except for one of the floors. It just so happened that one of the beautiful hardwood floors was spared, charred but spared. The workers simply took up the hardwood, turned it over and waxed it up. You can't even tell it was burned. In fact, it was because the castle was burned that it was opened up to tourists - England itself couldn't afford to pay for the refurbishment so they made the Castle a tourist attraction in order to have the funds to pay for the remodeling. Now, you can't even tell it ever burned. I would never have thought it - there was no evidence that I could see that anything had ever been touched by burning ember. It was simply beautiful.

If you've never had a desire to go to London, this should be your new desire. I would go to London for 5 days if just to see this wonderful place again for as long as I could stand it.

Is anyone up for another field trip?!?!? I want to go back!!!!!

*Ahem* So did the cool castle thing, right? Check. Got my fill of Windsor? Um...no, but I will one day.

Got back on the bus for the trip back to the flat where I basically crashed after doing more homework (seems to take up a majority of time, doens't it?). Sleeep is good. Very good...

21 November 2007: Another day, another class

Still had classes, though this was the last week as the following week was finals and I had homework up to my eyelids that I still had to complete. For some reason, teachers always seem to think it's funny to have EVERYTHING due during the last week. Now, myself being a procrastinator (which, obviously, I'm not afraid to admit), I had enough on my plate. But it was all busy work that I could have started earlier, but didn't. Why? Because I know, in the end, I'm going to put it off to the last minute anyway so I might as well not start anything early because it's never going to be as good as my last minute stuff (trust me, I know this from experience). So I'm working away and thinking about all the things I need to do, should be doing but aren't, want to do, wish I could do, people I wish I could see, places I ...hang on. Mind is drifting TOO far off homework. *sigh* I need a movie. So I go across the hall and borrow The Notebook from Chris. Sometimes, you just need a mushy gushy movie - I don't like watching these types of movies very often just because they make me depressed, but I was in the mood for one at the time. So I watched it while trying to do some research in the process. It went like this: Oh credits, I have time to look up...yeah, ok, picture, check. Oh, it's starting! *watch movie for 5 minutes* Got to get back to research! *research for another 3 minutes* Oh! A good part! I'm not skipping it! *watch good part* What am I doing?! I need to be doing homework! *Research for 30 seconds* Forget this. I'm watching the movie *Puts movie into full screen mode and sits back to enjoy Rachel and Ryan gush it up on screen*

Yeah...that's the last thing I did before going to bed 6 hours later. Oh, I attempted to do homework, but I do it better when I'm under pressure to get it finished so I put if off more. Way to go! You're going to DIE in a week!!! Oh boy...can't wait....

22 November 2007: Thanksgiving in the Great Hall
*Disclaimer: If you are not a fan of Harry Potter, you should probably skip this section*

So, it's the next to last Thursday in November...and Thanksgiving back in the States (because it doesn't exist in England). While everyone was getting ready the night before and thinking about all they wanted to bring to the Thanksgiving potluck that night, Sasha and I were preparing to take a journey of our own. That's right, we were SKIPPING Thanksgiving in lieu of something else. Something both of us had been wanting to go back to since almost the start of the semester, and today was our last chance (literally, our last chance). We were going back to Oxford! Yeah! For those of you who don't know me very well, I'm a big kid at heart. Being a big kid at heart also makes way for the fact that I read Harry Potter. Oxford is where a lot of the first two Harry Potter movies were filmed - at Christ Church College of Oxford University in Oxford, England. So, Sasha and I were going back to take the tours of all the Harry Potter places. Sounds nerdy doesn't it? Yeah, well if you're mad at me for skipping Thanksgiving go right ahead, but I've celebrated it since I was born - skipping one is not going to hurt me or America's feelings. Besides, I had one last chance to see this place and I was NOT passing that up. So we went. Wahoo! Taking a bus to Oxford while everyone else...is...cooking.......food.........*sigh* I can eat when I get back!! Ha! So it's not really skipping afterall.

So, we arrive in Oxford and make our way down the familiar streets of Oxford to Christ Church to see the Grand Staircase and the Great Hall, just like they are in the movie. I TOTALLY stood where McGonagall stood, and the rest of the first years. Sa-Weet!!! Then it was through the next doorway (literally, just like in the movie) to the Great Hall. It was exactly I had seen it, except there were only three tables, not four (special effects people!!). But there was the fireplace and the headmaster's table. *Sigh* It was very homey and much smaller than I had thought, but it made sense in my head as to why there couldn't have been many student at Hogwarts. Good times, still.

After we had our wonderful fill of those two rooms, we made our way to the Bodlein Library where the Invisibility Cloak scene was filmed, and where the movie library comes from. It was really old but really cool. We were not allowed to take pictures of this or go down the aisle because it was for students and teachers only. But that was just fine - I got to see it. Wahoo! That and the Transfiguration Classroom (again, no pictures, students using the facilities). It was the best cheap tour I have ever taken. I felt like a nerd, but most of the people there anyway were there to see the same things we were there to see, so it felt a little better.

We finished about an hour earlier than we expected, so we took the 5 o'clock bus home instead of the 6 o'clock and got stuck in rush hour traffic for an hour...whoopdee freakin' do.... Sasha and I finally got off a Baker street, had no idea where the Tube station was, and just had to wing it in hopes of finding a station we knew. We finally hit Oxford Street (which you would if you walked long enouhg) and took the Marble Arch on Central right back home. It was great! We had food waiting for us and everything. Granted, it had to be warmed, but that did not make it taste any less amazing.

That was the extent of that day, besides all the amazing food - mashed potatoes, cornbread dressing, RANCH DRESSING (first time I'd had it in 3 months!), bread pudding, macaroni and cheese, more potatoes and mac and cheese, etc. I'm not a turkey girl, so I didn't eat Turkey. Who cares right? But I suppose it's a good thing it's not the national bird (but it almost was).

So I slept well that night. MmmmmMM!!

Something that I was also reminded of (and didn't realize that a year had traveled by so quickly) was that Thanksgiving marked one year that someone very dear to me, my family, and my high school class had passed away. She was a wonderful mother, friend, mentor, and wife. She had a wonderful caring heart. I just couldn't understand why something as awful as cancer could take our Debbie away from us. Kevin woke me up Thanksgiving morning and told me that she had died. I have never been so miserable in my life. I cried all day, looked up pictures, and watched a video that I had forgotten I had of her. She told me she loved me in it, I don't think I ever told her how much she meant to me. I spent the day in agony thinking of all the things I wish I had said, visits that I wish I had made, and prayers that I wished I had lifted up. I went to her memorial that night, saw where she took her last breath, and read her last scripture, and said her last good byes before she went home. I still miss her terribly. Even now, I start to cry when I think about how much of a void she has left in my life. But I know that one day I will see her again. One day she will be there to welcome me with the open arms I knew so much and the smile that could brighten a thousand darkened days.
One day soon. One day soon I will see her again.

23 Novmeber 2007: The usual...

We had class this sad Friday, which we never do. But since we didn't have class on Thanksgiving, this was the next best bet. Last day of class and I still had a whole bunch of stuff to do. But I was more productive. Got some homework done (yeah!) and had fun with the girls on my last Friday night in London. We watched Mary Poppins and Love Actually. A classic and a new one for me. But both good. Stayed up late (like usual) but had lots of fun. Wahoo!!

24 November 2007: The usual...part II

Well, I was supposed to do homwork, but I really didn't. That was my bad because the next week was awful for my sleeping habits....

Which I will talk about next time!

Bedtime for me. I've been working on this for far too long and it's late.
More next time I have loads of time to sit and write.

Ciao from Florence!

Aimee
acancien@harding.edu

P.S. OH!! And I just changed the settings (I know it's a little late) but now ANYONE can comment on my blog. So if there's something you're curious about, comment and ask and I'll get back with you. Or you can email me. That works, too.

Ciao ciao!

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