White Cliffs of Dover

On 10/25 nine of us went to Dover in Kent. We had to get up and meet by 710 to head to the coach station in town to catch the bus to Dover. It was a 2 ½ hour drive but I slept almost the whole way. We got there and had 10 hours to spend. We had no idea where anything was or what we were doing, other than seeing the White Cliffs. One of my friends/planner of the trip told us about this 6 quid boat tour so we headed toward the beach, where we took some pictures and I stole a rock off the ‘sand’ (which was all rocks) as a keepsake. We bought tickets for the Southern Queen, our trusty vessel. There were 5 other people on the tour we got, so we decided it wasn’t tourist season. The boat tour was about 40 minutes and it let us get an ocean view of the cliffs. We could see the coast of France in the distance, since its less than 30 miles away. After the boat tour we went to a pub we had seen that was very cheap. We all got some drinks, pear cider for me, and then some food. Since it had been a while since we ate, it was now 1 o’clock, we all started to feel the drinks and got the tingly feeling.


After lunch we headed for the Cliffs. We climbed a steep hill and then a steep set of stairs, where we were met with a ticket man. We didn’t want to pay to see the Castle, just walk around on the Cliffs. He told us to walk up the road and it would become a narrow, winding country road. He explained it would take about 40 minutes since we didn’t have a car. We began walking up the regular road and saw some beautiful views. However, the narrow country road was exactly that; a very narrow and very windy road. We walked on the shoulder but I thought we were going to die. Eventually someone suggested for the second time we walk on the footpath on the other side of the brush, I suggested it the first time and no one wanted to listen.


The footpath was fine and followed the road, but all of a sudden turned into woods. We risked it and continued. We kept trying to locate the road again so we could follow that. Eventually we heard it and continued risking our lives on it. Way past 40 minutes we made it to the top! It was a gorgeous sight. You could see France a little clearer, but it was still foggy; the English Channel and all of the boats coming in to the port, which is the busiest in England because of its location. We were on top of the white masses we saw on the boat cruise. There were footpaths to walk around so I went off exploring to find a place to get close to the rock and take some pictures. I walked and walked and finally found some places to take pictures. I wanted to go down to the next ‘level’ of footpaths but it was too steep to climb down, trust me I tried to do it. It was serene and beautiful, even though the voice of a woman talking about security at the port kept coming over the loudspeaker. Caity took out a piece of paper on which we wrote the poem ‘Dover Beach’ and we all took turns saying a line from it. It was very cute. We decided to walk down before it got dark so we wouldn’t have an even greater risk of dying. However, we then found a staircase which led right down into town. I still have no idea why the people we asked for directions from didn’t say go here and take the staircase. It led us down to the port where there were some houses, one of which was Matthew Arnold, who wrote the poem ‘Dover Beach’. We walked back into town and ended up having dinner at the same pub we went to for lunch. There were some cougars in the pub, which is a slang term for a woman after 35 who dress sexually to get attention from men, especially younger men. Their table was full of bottles and glasses already and it was only 7 at the latest. We watched them for a while and men coming up and flirting with them, and allowed the woman to sit on their laps. It was pretty funny because they were all sloppy drunk. Our bus left at 830 and I passed out yet again on the way home. I was exhausted after the amazing day we had.

a very crazy, expensive week of my life.

On Saturday (10/18) I went to see Wicked with Brittany and Alex. It was amazing! Our seats were in the balcony but we had a perfect view of everything. The storyline was great with so many twists and turns. The actresses were awesome and had wonderful voices. I was high on life after this..how could I not be since it's about the Wizard of Oz of course. We went into Convent Garden after and Alex showed us this cool brewery called the Porter House. She told us to order a fruit beer, which was from Belgium. I order Mango and it was sooo delicious. It tastes nothing like beer, which suits me perfectly. After our beers we tried to find a place to have dinner, all of which were super packed. We ended up at Fridays of all places. We got drinks, an appetizer platter to share, and a brownie obsession for dessert. So perfect. On Sunday I had a low key day of trying to write a paper for one of my classes. That night we went out to dinner at Pizza Express on these wonderful inventions called two for one coupons. We got four different meals for a total of 7.50 per person. So cheap!

During this week I was very adiment on getting my paper finished so I worked on that a lot. Wednesday night everyone was heading to their theatre class and told me they had an extra ticket if I wanted it, so I got to see 'Now or Later' for free. It was a really great play about a hypothetical presidental candidate's son and his battles. An added bonus to the night was Keanu Reeves sat two rows in front of us. We attempted to take pictures of him, but it didn't go so well. After when we were all finding each other he came about two feet away and I got very excited. Its not because he's an amazing actor, rather he is just a famous person...a very attractive one too.

Thursday I didn't have any classes so I was able to venture into town. I bought a standing seat for 5 quid to Oedipus at the National Theatre starring Ralph Finnes! I'm sooo excited! After buying my ticket I walked along the river and saw this graffiti heaven/skate park. It was so cool with all of the colors and layers of pictures on every inch of the place. I managed to get some very cool photos. I headed to the National Portrait Gallery after and was able to check that out for a little bit. I saw the Annie Leibovitz exhibit which was fascinating because it had famous portraits she did but also some of her family and their private lives. I started the Tudors section but I was getting tired so I decided to head home and relax before the show. I got to the theatre a bit early. Having standing seats I decided to sit down against the wall in the back to give my legs a rest from the walking I did and get ready for a two hour show. However, I was scolded for sitting on the ground and told I had to stand. This put me in a bad mood because they were just being rude and crazy. The show itself was amazing, and Ralph Finnes did an awesome job. It was very powerful especially towards the end. I won't ruin the play for anyone who might read it later in life, but if you are familiar you know what I'm talking about. It was raining when I went to go home and I had to find my way back to Waterloo. Luckily I found it and was safe and sound.

Friday I had yet another day off so I decided to head into the Natural History Musuem to finish it. The second day wasn't as exciting as the first time. I think its because I had seent he best exhibits on day one. It was still pretty cool but there were also lots of young kids and their parents giving me dirty looks for doing the interactive stations. "What is that creepy girl doing here by herself?" I can only imagine the though process. I tried so hard to start the Victoria and Albert Museum, which is a lot of fashions, textures, sculptures, etc, but I was too knackered out. I just wanted to be home in my bed. I had an exciting day Saturday to prepare for...Dover!

shopping is becoming a problem

On Friday I went to Camden Market. It was an interesting place and a must see. However, it was not at all what I expected. The markets I've been too have been a mix and blend of food, produce, clothes and other random things. The best thing to compare them to are flea markets, but very very busy. I strolled through a lot of shops and stores selling very similar things, especially souvenirs. I have seen a few things to buy people, except I don't want to be uber cheesy buying everyone something with the Union Jack or tube map on it. Walking into the market place you're overwhelmed with booths selling practically the same items. I wanted to haggle SOOOO bad but I was a chicken. After walking through a million clothing stores I finally bought this beige/gold dress with a cute bow and string of 'pearls' on it. Tre chic! I am waiting for the moment to wear it out; perhaps I'll save it for a romantic dinner with Parid in London or for a fabulous night out during my excursions across Europe. Also I got the best deal ever on scarves, 3 for £5. All of the other people were selling 1 for £5 or 2 for £5. I'm happy about it. I then took the tube to Tottenham Court Road which is close to where our orientation was. I ate at this shop called 'Eat.' That's the name just 'Eat.' with a period. I bought a baguette with tomato, basil, and brie. SOOOOO DELICIOUS and cheap as well. I believe it was only £2.10. I walked to Oxford Street again to catch the bus which was impossible because I couldn't remember the stop. Finally I found it but it took 3 buses to get home. Each bus would stop after 5 or 10 minutes and terminate. The last one was one stop away from school and decided it would end there. I walked the rest of the way. Also I only paid for one bus, don't tell anyone though ;) . We went out to Hobgoblin for Bari's birthday and met a wonderful drunk man from Australia. He had dirty dirty long hair. He then attempted to jump into Tom's story by saying 'then she tried to grab your balls and you let her?' This then led to a good 10 minutes of Tom making up malarkey just to appease this guy's sexual appetite of slutty American girls. He went to buy Tom a drink and never returned.

Saturday Brittany, Tom, Jack, and I went to Greenwich, which is gorgeousss! It has a spectacular view of the city, free museum exhibits, a market, park, and is right along the Thames. We spent the whole day walking around markets and being outside on yet another beautiful day. We bought some arancini which ended up not being very good. I was disappointed. We headed back home and had a casual night when Jack said the three of us (Brittany, her, and I) should go to the Hobgoblin to just chill. So we spent a relaxing night bonding and such, regaling each other with hilarious stories.

Sunday per usual was lazy lazy lazy which consisted of me watching some movies and lounging. I read for my class but that was about it. This week I didn't do a whole lot other than be unproductive. I had my first tutorial for Psychology & Law on Wednesday afternoon. Now I need to write a paper about the 'psychological factors which cause wrongful conviction.' Its kind of a difficult topic to research only because I'm not sure how to write a paper here. I'm very intimidated by the style and what they would expect from me. Fun fact: My professor from this class is pretty well published in his field. I was informed that if he wasn't in my references I had a problem.

Today (10/17) I went to London with Alex and Brittany. We headed to Fortnum & Mason to go to a free chocolate sampling for Chocolate Week. Then Alex and I went to Portobello Market in Notting Hill. It was awesome with tons of shops and cafes/restaurants. We headed to this place called Gail's. I got a mango, lettuce, and mozzerela salad of sorts. It had a sweet vingerette and was soo delicious, especially because you wouldn't think the flavors would go together. After snacking we went to the markets and shops. I bought this amazinggg jacket for £60, I know very expensive. It is 50 or 60 years old and from Pakistan. The wives would make jackets for their husbands who were nomads. The one I bought is this purple color with lots of embroidery and detailing. Again, tre chic! We headed to Leicester Sq to check out Wicked ticket prices, which were £42.50 for the matinee on Saturday so we went ahead and bought them. The seats aren't terrible but it'll be good anyway. I am so excited for it. After going broke 4 times over I decided to lay low for the night and most of tomorrow until the show. No more shopping... for a while ;) .

I'm going to Rome!

Another week has practically come and gone since I've posted anything new. Where to begin?!



Monday I had a relaxing morning because I don't have class until 1p.m. This class made me really nervous at first, but now its becoming more and more interesting. I'm learning about neoliberalism & Foucault. Its also a lot about self-recognition and subjectification. The lecture was based on a quote: a fiction that functions in truth." When we get into more of it I'll let you know exactly what that means. After class & the seminar I was able to hang out and relax for a while. I started getting very into the planning of trips. After about an hour at my computer looking for the best deals, I discovered a trip to Rome for about 110 GBP. Amazing, I know. I sent an email to people to have decisions by the next day and we'd book it.

On Tuesday I had class, but it was cancelled so I had the whole day to myself. Except I didn't seize the day very well. I got back into bed and watched 'Almost Famous'. I had a meeting at 230 with an Arcadia Representative. After I headed to Iceland (basically a frozen food mecca with most things under 2 GBP) to buy frozen pizza. A few people were coming over before Pub Quiz to make final plans. Five of us are officially going to Rome for 5 days and 4 nights. We booked the plane tickets (which were about 53 GBP a person) and the hostel (which is under $80 USD each for the whole stay). We estimated the trip would end up being about $220 USD per person without food/admission involved. I think thats amazing for that amount of time. This trip is Nov. 2-6, a day after I go to Stonehenge and Bath, and I come back from Rome the night before I go to Paris for the weekend. Oye vey! Pub Quiz was fun. Since we were the worst last time we decided to embrace our lack of knowledge and called ourselves 'The Sophisticated Suckers'. After one round I proceeded to write "have pity on us, we're American" on the top of the page. However, this week I did pretty well supplying answers, especially in the music round.

Wednesday I had my psychology & law class. This is my favorite psychology class I'm taking here. Its so interesting learning about the basics of the UK government and miscarriages of justice. I have a tutorial next week where we'll discuss the psychological factors involved. After class I had to do laundry which took forever and is so expensive. I thought someone stole my clothes but I located them finally. The dryer didn't do a good job drying them so I hung them all over my room and flat. People were able to recognize my clothes from across the way thanks to my tie dye sweatshirt. We went to Club Sandwich, again. Somehow I became quite intoxicated and had a rough wakeup call this morning (Thursday)

Today I practically fell asleep in my class and wanted to die the whole time. This lecturer was terrible. Neuropsychology is starting out a bit like physio so lets hope that changes soon so I learn some other stuff. For the rest of the day I kind of just hung around and was lazy thanks to my hangover. I needed to save my energy for my day alone tomorrow anyways :). Alex's mom came in tonight and she's so nice. Its cute to have a mom in the flat. We had cake and ice cream for her birthday, then after she, Alex, Brittany, and I all talked for a while.

Borough Market

So yesterday a four of us (Margy, Nick, Tom, and myself) all braved the rain to go to the infamous Borough Market. I have never been so overwhelmed in my life! There are vendors from all over who are selling such an array of foods. Everything from cheese, chocolate, ciders (alcoholic), fish, ostrich meat, and jams. I'll definitely be going back to pick up some souvenirs. After the market we went to the Southwark Cathedral and checked that out. It was more or less to get out of the wind and cold, but interesting as well. They have a small shrine-esque piece dedicated to William Shakespeare because the Globe is nearby and he was an inhabitant of the church. After this side trip we went to the Tate Modern, one of the art museums. It was huge and I only saw a small portion of it. Tom, an art major, hung out with me for a while. He had already been there so he gave me the scoop on interesting stories about the paintings. I saw some Francis Bacon, Pablo Picasso, and Jack Pollack. After the museum we headed home and took the longgg way. The bus went through all of the residental areas of New Cross and we saw some interesting places we want to investigate. Last night I went with my flatmate Jack to the Circus themed 'Fresher's Ball' . Some people took it far with the costume choices, a lot was very dark circus. I did my best to fit in with a purple ensemble and a balloon hat a clown made for me. It was a really fun night.

Today was another lazy Sunday. I watched the Bucket List, a tear jerker, and napped. However, I ventured out for groceries and an evening tea with some of my friends. We discussed travel plans. Hopefully Dover Cliffs on Oct. 25th and possibly Italy in November during reading week.

On a side note...I have an unhealthy obsession with Nutella. Its absolutely delicious and its getting out of control.

Day Alone in London

Today I went into the city by myself to have an adventure. Without classes on Friday I figured this would be an amazing way to see everything I want to see. This morning I left at about 1130 to go to the Natural History Museum and Kensington Gardens. I took a bus to Wesminster and discovered how windy/cold it was and since I didn't know my way around I opted for the tube to the South Kensington stop. I found my way to the museum which was amazing on the outside. It didn't look like a museum at all. On the inside there is an extremely long dinosaur (Brontosaurous). I decided today would be the Blue Zone day. This included dinosaurs, human biology, mammals, and fish/water animals. The exhibits were all huge and had a lot of interactive aspects. In the dinosaur exhibit there was a bridge to walk above the exhibit and look down or at the hanging skeletons. On the other side of the bridge was a mechanical T-Rex. Then you were able to go into the part of the exhibit you'd seen from above on the bridge. It was all very organized and enabled you to see everything without getting too sidetracked with what was ahead. The mammal exhibit was very cool with lots of life size specimens or replications. The blue whale practically took up the whole room. Among the animals I even saw a manatee (represent youthcare!). The human biology exhibit was the biggest and most detailed I had ever seen, especially when it came to the birthing room. I have been noticing for a long time that the Brits do not necessarily censor a lot. But this was more than I would ever want any child under the age of 18 to see. The drawings of the birthing process, life size models of how your body changes in puberty, and the enormous fetus in the 'walk in womb' heartbeat included.

After the museum I walked to Kensington Gardens, which was close by. The park is so large. I got lost trying to find my way to the Peter Pan Statue, even though I was following the signs. It was a bit chilly but I feel that made for some artsy pictures. There weren't a lot of people and the sky was gray. The still green trees added a nice contrast if I do say so. After searching, asking, and determination I finally arrived at the statue. My dad better appreciate the picture I got for him. A nice couple offered to take my photo and I decided why the heck not, I worked hard enough to get here.

After Kensington Gardens I went to Oxford Street, which was quite the walk. It was enjoyable even if it was chilly. Once there I was bombarded with lots of people. I found the Primark, which is huge, hectic, and has wayyy better clothes than the one in Lewisham. I'll have to go back when it won't be so busy. The fitting room line and check out looked like amusement park lines. I walked into Selfridges & Co. which is a little expensive for my taste. I also saw a million Zaras and H&M's. I went into an H&M to only find that the dollar sign had been replaced with the pound sign. Prices were exactly the same as in the US but with a pound value. Not cool. I'm sure I'll go back and buy things though because it is still one of my cheaper options compared to TopShop. I searched for a bus back to New Cross when I arrived at Oxford Circus where the 436 to Deptford Bridge was going to be arriving. Thank God. I came home and practically collapsed after eating dinner. Needless to say it was a very enjoyable day all on my own and I can't wait until next week to do it again. :)

The Plague Strikes Again!

Since I wrote last time I have been suffering from the plague. I have been sooo sick and 'that girl' in class who coughs uncontrollably and blows her noise in a disgusting manner. I have then proceeded to pass it onto my flatmates and friends...sorry guys! Sunday I stayed in my bed all day long. I watched an entire season of Weeds and was told half way through I had watched too much and needed to wait 120 minutes to start again..how pathetic.

Monday started classes. To kick off the semester I walked into the largest lecture hall of my life, nearly peed my pants out of fear, and was greeted with metal music coming from the speakers. The class seems interesting and should be interesting. After class I proceeded to stay in bed again and rest. That night I braved the world to see people and hang out while we attempted to plan trips for the tutorial/vacation week in Novemeber. I'm personally thinking Italy.

Tuesday I started to begin to feel better, but definitely still sick. I had Psychopathology this morning and it is a lot like abnormal psych. Its pretty interesting and the professor reminds me of Emma Thompson, an actress. On the way home I hit a downpour and got soaked. Instead of following through with a museum date we all postponed it for another day when the weather would cooperate with going into town. That night we went to Pub Quiz night. There weren't as many people as I expected but it was still fun. They also had £1 pints of strongbow, my new manly drink of choice. Our team was called Carphone Warehouse and we proceeded to be the worst team, getting only 13 out of 60 questions correct. Go USA. In all fairness the questions were a lot of British common knowledge, like candy wrappers or music. However, the bonus round was something I thought we could do. Rap/sing the theme song to Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Easy, right? Ohhh nooo. We were then informed it was the full three minute version. The winning team received a bonus point and a round of pints for the team. It took a while but finally someone got it, a girl no less.

Today (Wednesday) I had psychology and law, which is veryyy cool. I did have a coughing fit in the middle and had to leave the class before I interupted even more...good thing I was sitting in the middle of the row. The professor is the nicest I have met so far. He actually was interested in the fact we were international students. After lunch we went to Sainsburys to get some essentials. Loving life since I found store brand, Sainsburys basics, Vodka. I also love that the label reads: 'No fancy packaging, just vodka. It was £7 and is comparable to prices at home for smirnoff (which is over £16 here for 750 ml bottle). Tonight is Club Sandwich, lets hope some fun techno nights occur again.








Oh if you want to test your Fresh Prince skills listen to this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1ZRb7VubjM