// So the adventure begins…//

I don’t mind airplanes. I just don’t like 6 hour flights that transcend time zones and give me 6 hours to sleep. They fed us dinner, snack and breakfast because those were technically the meals we did in the air but that took out of the sleeping time so needless to say we were friggin’ jet lagged when we landed into Gatwick, which is 30 minutes from London. We took a bus from there which was cool cos we got to see the countryside from the train and by countryside it was like going along the lakeshore go train into Toronto. We got into Victoria statie and moving my bags (I packed wayyyy too much) from the station to the tube was retarded. 50 pounds up and down stairs? Not fun. Only one guy offered to help me and that was probably cos I was in his way. Finally we got to the hotel though - we stayed at the Maranton House Hotel in Earl’s Court, Kensington, London - and found out we were on the top floor (it’s like they knew we had stupidly heavy bags) and had to haul them up 66 stairs (mum counted because ‘she was dying to know’)

After that we set out right away with the sightseeing, not wanting to miss a moment even if we were tired. We ended up at the Earl’s Court Pub where I tried John Smith’s Ale under someone’s advisement back home. We had some mixed pub food tray since we were starving and ended up back at the hotel to get something only to fall asleep - oops! When we woke up we went to Piccadilly Circus and wandered around looking at everything. We managed to get tickets to Broadway and headed off to see The Wizard of Oz. It was really good but now that I’m an adult I realize how campy the story is. Mum and I both had trouble not falling asleep during the play and managed to get through it somehow. When we left we ended up back at the hotel and crashing for the night. Not a super productive day but it was fun to wander Piccadilly and see a play.

The next morning we got up and had breakfast while walking to Stamford Bridge London Stadium where Chelsea (my football team!) play. Mum got us stadium tour tickets for my birthday and I bought myself a team shirt. Almost considered getting a Lampard shirt but for 30 extra pounds I decided it wasn’t worth it. It was really cool to get to walk around the stadium even if it wasn’t for a game (tickets are around 150 each, ouch. So I’ll have to find another way to get to a game while I’m here). After that we left and went to this mall for a bit where we wandered around and then went to the grocery store. Mum loved walking around there and found tons of cool stuff. She practically wanted to buy the store and take it home with her haha. After that we got back on the tube and ended up at Westminster where mum wanted to try and get into the abbey. When we got there we were so tired we didn’t realize we were looking at Big Ben until like a half hour later. We were too late to get into the Abbey though, which mum was disappointed about I really didn’t mind too much I mostly wanted us to get in cos we had done Chelsea for me that day. We wandered over to the London Eye only to find out it was closed so then we walked around the Waterloo Pier for a while before hoping onto the tube again and going off to find somewhere to eat. We went to the Aberdeen Steak House restaurant which was retardedly expensive and not so worth it but it was a filling meal which was good because we were averaging eating once everywhere 10 hours or so. Afterwards we ended up back at Leicester Square in Piccadilly and went to see The Rum Diary at the movie theatre. It was cool how they do it, you buy your ticket and then pick your seat. It’s like going to one of those premium theatres back home where you can have alcohol in the theatre. Really small with like 30 seats and it was awesome. Even if the movie wasn’t. Awesome cast, confusing movie. Afterwards we went back to the hotel and crashed again.

The next morning we got up and went out to The Tower of London bright and early. We ended up spending 3 hours there wandering around and looking at everything. We got to see where Anne Boleyn was kept and the changing of the guard. Plus we saw some of the royal crowns which was cool. The oldest they had was 1650 ish which is sick that they’ve kept it so intact. After that we left and had drinks outside of the London Bridge. We decided to try Westminster Abbey again and took the tube back but it was already closed (closed at 3:30pm, how stupid) so then we decided to go to Buckingham Palace and both thought that it was close enough we could walk. Retrospectively, yes… it was close, but we’d been walking all day so we were in pain by the time we got there. Once there it wasn’t nearly as impressive as you’d think it would be so we decided together to grab a double decker and go to Harrod’s. It was only like 6:30 and we killed two hours looking around there and ended up buying a lot of food - good food, tasty amazing food - and went back to the hotel where we had a mini feast on the bed. I ended up falling asleep at 10 - I was exhausted even though mum had wanted to go to a pub for the night.

This morning we got up and packed up everything right away. The hotel was nice enough to let us leave our bags there before we hopped on the tube to go to Richmond where we caught a bus that took an hour to get us to Hampton Court Palace. I had a nerdgasm all over the place the entire time because it was amazingly wicked. We had sorted out that I had 2 hours to see everything and that was cutting it close. By the time we were done we had an hour and 45 minutes to get to the bus station to catch our bus to Leeds. It was a lot of running with 50 pounds of bags and snippy remarks between mum and I but we managed to make it - with one minute to spare. The bus ride was 4 and a half hours long and I slept for a lot of it. Apparently this jetlag thing is still getting to me, hopefully I’ll get myself into a schedule soon. We got to Leeds and managed to get to the hotel - with a lift yay! And had dinner in the in-dining of the hotel. We decided to spend the night in so we got Real Steel on the tv and I came on to blog our so-far adventures. It’s wicked cool here and I think I’m going to love it but I haven’t explored Leeds at all yet so I can’t say for sure. I nearly die every time I hear a British accent though so I’ll probably combust before I get home in 6 months.

That’s it for now, I’ll post some photos following this.

// happy birthday to me.//

i turned 21 today. twenty-one. legal everywhere now which is awesome. it just doesn’t feel like my birthday. i guess it’s cos i’m away from home, i’ve been out of touch with every single one of my friends and i’m in a different time zone from everyone. but it’s still my birthday.

the last couple of days i’ve been settling in at leeds. on tuesday we got to the hotel and just stayed in. watched a movie and went to bed. nothing exciting. yesterday we moved into dorms which was a bit crazy but i met two other girls on an exchange. one from texas and one from arizona. there’s a lot of southerns here so everyones all like ‘it’s friggin’ cold’ and i’m like ‘loooool it’s april weather!’ soo yeah. we went into the uni yesterday which is massive. i’m going to get so lost you have no idea. i’m going to be that kid i just know it. we did this quick intro thing which was stupid cos it just reiterated everything i already knew about this exchange program. i guess it was helpful to anyone who didn’t read all the spam they’ve been sending us for weeks.

after that we ended up wandering down into the city center where all the shopping is. finally got to a primark which was cool cos it was super cheap everything and cute fashionable clothes. definitely where i’ll be going for everything cos it’s in my price range. after that we wandered back to res and walked around here to explore. there’s a bar here but it’s only open until 11 so that’s a bit lame. we ordered pizza and they delivered right to my building which is cool cos i live in a complex of residences where there’s like 12 different buildings but we’re all in ‘bodington hall’. while waiting for the pizza i met a bunch of boys down in the commons who were playing fifa on xbox and learned that i happen to be in the 1st year rez. yay me. but apparently they’ve stuck other exchange students here. i guess it’s less of a case of putting us with people our age than putting us with british kids. they were all really nice though.

when they found out it was my birthday (tomorrow) today they were like ‘oh we’re going out to mission (i guess this is a club)! you should come along and we’ll all celebrate with you!’ so i think i’m going out tonight for my birthday. i feel bad though because now i have plans tonight and tomorrow and they don’t include my mum. she’s starting to realize that maybe she should’ve come until friday instead of monday because i don’t really need her. which isn’t so much the case, i don’t mind that she’s here and i like spending my days with her but i feel bad cos i do still want to go out because i know how crucial the first few weeks in res are. they establish your relationships and if i end up ditching everyone right away well i’m not going to be invited to go out anymore now am i? she says she understands but i can’t help but thing that underneath it all she’s a bit upset. if only clubbing was her thing, i wouldn’t care if she came along i just know she’d hate it.

// upcoming trips.//

so i’ve made a few plans for myself for the next couple of months. turns out poland fell through but i’m not too worried because i’m still going to go no matter what. instead though i’ve made plans to go to dublin for st paddy’s day which will be amazing. however in my attempt to be cheap i sort’ve screwed myself accidentally and i realized that my friends only have our hostel room for the 17-18 and i made my travel plans 16-20 sooo i had to book a legit hotel which was a tad pricey (40 quid) for the 16th because legit EVERYTHING was booked (damnit) and then i got a hostel for 8 quid for the 19th and they have a free shuttle bus to the airport. but either way i’m going to be celebrating st patrick’s in true irish style.

other plans i’ve made include:

- possible york trip on saturday?

- might be going to see chelsea play everton on february 11 if i have the money for it

- angus thongs and even more snogging musical on feb 13

- stratford-upon-avon on feb 18

- ghosthunting in nottingham (yes as in robin hood) feb 24

- london with holly for her brother’s birthday (end of feb)

- there’s a trip to cardiff mar 2 i might go on

- i’m seeing florence + the machine on mar 6

- dublin for mar 16-20

and then i’m off for a month for easter. i don’t know what i’m going to do. i’ve really got to try and get a job but it’s hard because everything i’ve looked at they expect you to stay on for next year too so they obviously won’t hire me. maybe i’ll see if i can get a job at the grocery store or the coffee shop, i’ll have to suck it up but if i want to travel come jun-july-aug(?) i need the money because what i have saved right now is only enough for residence.

// And lastly. //

Marc.

So as I was leaving last night Marc asked me if I was ever going to come back to Nottingham and I said how I’d be back in March because I had tickets for Florence + the Machine. His jaw dropped and I just thought he was impressed cos they sold out pretty fast and he goes ‘so do we!’ and points to his sister. So I said ‘well, take my number we can meet for drinks before’ and so he took my number. Later he messaged me to ask if I had gotten my train okay and I said how the first one didn’t leave until 6:40 and he goes ‘oh well, if I had known that I would’ve stayed with you’. He then proceeded to text me the entire time I was on the train, and it was very flirtatious suggestive texts - I screencapped some so I can share haha…

I ended up falling asleep at one point though because I’d been up for 24 hours and I woke up and apologized for falling asleep on him and he said it was okay we’d had a long night. I asked him if he was tired and he says ‘yeah, but i was staying awake to keep you company on your train ride!’ -insert heart melt here- I told him to go to sleep that he could text me later and he’s like ‘it’s a done deal that i’m going to text you’ and we said goodnight. so then he texted me about an hour ago and we’ve been texting none stop. he’s so nice, sweet, hilarious, BRITISH, loves supernatural (likens himself to dean lmfao), is into the paranormal, loves movies and is old enough to be on the same maturity level as me. not to get ahead of myself but that’s like a checkmark in all my categories for ‘perfect man’.

ugh, i wish we didn’t live 2 hours apart.