Last night, after my flight from London to NYC, delta announced that they cancelled my direct flight to Dallas because of the weather conditions from the morning. What does that have to do with flying out at 7pm?? Ughhh. I didn't bring my US phone charger to Europe, so had no way to call my family and was so tired from all the flights. After standing at the delta counter for 30 mins, they said the only thing they could do was put me on a flight in the morning to Atlanta, then to Dallas, but I would have to pay for my own hotel bc this wasn't their fault- wtfffffff?!!
So, went to the hotel counter and the cheapest room is $200 for the night... And then the guy at the counter informed me that I looked stressed! Ya think???!!! Idiot. After a shady, expensive dinner, I had trouble sleeping bc of the time difference. I did manage to borrow the bartender's phone charger so finally got to use my cell to call home. :)
I only have a 30 minute layover in Atlanta; I'm gonna kill someone if I miss my flight home. I know I didn't wanna leave Europe, but that doesn't mean I wanted to be stuck in NYC, lol.
I had breakfast at the airport and checked out the New York skyline, so some good did come out of this. I should be in Dallas by early evening. After sleeping for a few days, I'll be ready to hang out Dallas peeps. I might go to Atx this weekend, but will have to see how jetlagged I'll be.
So, technology is amazing bc I'm in the air on the free wifi, awesome!
Kk, naptime. Btw- my US phone works now, so y'all can call/text my regular number instead of the google voice one. :)
♥ from the sky above Charlottesville
P.s. Sorry for the terrible writing in this post. I'm typing on the itouch and half asleep. Xoxo
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Fanny whaaa??
Oh my gosh, just had the most amazing dinner last night with my Bath friends. =] Megan was working, so couldn’t make it, but Sarah and I made dinner (garlic bread, spaghetti, chocolate cake) for her housemates. It was so nice to chill with everyone for my last night in Europe. Love, love, love them.
So, after living in the UK for about 2 months, I realized… English is not English everywhere. I know it sounds weird since I was in England, not some other country, but I was confused A LOT when I first got to Bath. The accents are different and they use different phrases so I had a lot of confusing conversations (and still do).
British Phrases Lesson 101: (I bolded the more interesting ones)
“hiya, you alright?” -- Hi, how are you? (I always thought they thought something was wrong with me… nope, just saying hi!)
“surgery”—general doctor’s office
“chemist” -- pharmacist
“jacket potatoes”—baked potatoes
“chips” – French fries
“crisps” – chips
“biscuits”—cookies
“digestives”-- crackers
“dispensing” – physically labeling a prescription medication
“labeling”—typing an rx and printing out the label
“tea” – dinner
“dinner”- lunch
“school”—elementary school, I think
“college”—high school
“university” or “uni”--- university/college
“trousers” – pants
“jumper” – sweater
“saucy” – cheeky/scandalous?
“cheers!” informal thank you
“tutor”—professor/teacher/mentor
“cashpoint” – ATM
“veg” – veggies
“braces” – suspenders
“suspenders” --- lingerie garter belt (super awkward conversation at the hospital where I said one of the male employees wore suspenders a lot—whoops! They laughed at me for awhile!)
“locum”- traveling/agency/floater worker. Ex. Locum pharmacist- floating pharmacist
“stone”- 14 pounds. Ex—people always say “that weighs a stone” or “I gained 2 stones”
“roll”—sandwich
“bap” – bun
“Fanny/clunge”- vagina (it does not mean butt, so saying “sit your fanny down/fanny pack” is very NOT appropriate)
“bum bag” – fanny pack
”jelly” – jello
“candy floss”- cotton candy
“carpark” – parking lot
“scone” – biscuit
“waistcoat” – vest
So, with this lesson—you will be well on your way to travelling more successfully than I did around the UK. I can’t believe I’m going to be in Dallas soon. It sounds crazyyyyyyy to me! I left for Europe at the end of August after a crazy summer semester and felt so ready to leave Texas behind. But once I got to Europe, I started feeling really homesick (the food/travelling was taking its toll) and wanted to go home ASAP. After settling in and working in Bath, I really started to love life in Europe. It’s soooo different here compared to Texas. I mean, I love Texas and am looking forward to seeing family and friends, but it’s just different here.
I’ve wanted to go study abroad for a long time now, and I’m sooooo glad I did. I mean, it wasn’t easy being away from home, but I finally adjusted and started embracing everything. I realized although life sucks without a cell phone, I can do it. I probably will get on my internet-capable phone as soon as I get home, but whatever—haha, can’t change everything about me. I know I’m not going to come home a totally different person, but I hope that I will be a little different. I learned that I need to be more open to trying things—you’re only young once and I need to be less of a homebody. It’s great to sit at home and watch tv—but there’s so much that’s happening out there and I don’t want to miss anything. No more grandma Loc, lol!
I’m going to be home in Dallas for about a month before going on a cruise to Mexico and then to Barbados with the family. I have lots of plans to fill my time in Dallas—can’t wait! I’m going to start running again, meet up with old friends who I haven’t seen in forever, try to learn Spanish, read my pharmacotherapy handbook to get ready to rotations, figure out where people go out in Dallas and then go there, take a dance class, go shopping, and the list goes on forever (and not in that order). I have many, many goals (been writing them down to keep track) and hope to accomplish at least some of them during the one month home, we’ll see, haha.
♥ from Bath
guy tightrope walking AND playing the violin in Bath city centre
So, after living in the UK for about 2 months, I realized… English is not English everywhere. I know it sounds weird since I was in England, not some other country, but I was confused A LOT when I first got to Bath. The accents are different and they use different phrases so I had a lot of confusing conversations (and still do).
British Phrases Lesson 101: (I bolded the more interesting ones)
“hiya, you alright?” -- Hi, how are you? (I always thought they thought something was wrong with me… nope, just saying hi!)
“surgery”—general doctor’s office
“chemist” -- pharmacist
“jacket potatoes”—baked potatoes
“chips” – French fries
“crisps” – chips
“biscuits”—cookies
“digestives”-- crackers
“dispensing” – physically labeling a prescription medication
“labeling”—typing an rx and printing out the label
“tea” – dinner
“dinner”- lunch
“school”—elementary school, I think
“college”—high school
“university” or “uni”--- university/college
“trousers” – pants
“jumper” – sweater
“saucy” – cheeky/scandalous?
“cheers!” informal thank you
“tutor”—professor/teacher/mentor
“cashpoint” – ATM
“veg” – veggies
“braces” – suspenders
“suspenders” --- lingerie garter belt (super awkward conversation at the hospital where I said one of the male employees wore suspenders a lot—whoops! They laughed at me for awhile!)
“locum”- traveling/agency/floater worker. Ex. Locum pharmacist- floating pharmacist
“stone”- 14 pounds. Ex—people always say “that weighs a stone” or “I gained 2 stones”
“roll”—sandwich
“bap” – bun
“Fanny/clunge”- vagina (it does not mean butt, so saying “sit your fanny down/fanny pack” is very NOT appropriate)
“bum bag” – fanny pack
”jelly” – jello
“candy floss”- cotton candy
“carpark” – parking lot
“scone” – biscuit
“waistcoat” – vest
So, with this lesson—you will be well on your way to travelling more successfully than I did around the UK. I can’t believe I’m going to be in Dallas soon. It sounds crazyyyyyyy to me! I left for Europe at the end of August after a crazy summer semester and felt so ready to leave Texas behind. But once I got to Europe, I started feeling really homesick (the food/travelling was taking its toll) and wanted to go home ASAP. After settling in and working in Bath, I really started to love life in Europe. It’s soooo different here compared to Texas. I mean, I love Texas and am looking forward to seeing family and friends, but it’s just different here.
I’ve wanted to go study abroad for a long time now, and I’m sooooo glad I did. I mean, it wasn’t easy being away from home, but I finally adjusted and started embracing everything. I realized although life sucks without a cell phone, I can do it. I probably will get on my internet-capable phone as soon as I get home, but whatever—haha, can’t change everything about me. I know I’m not going to come home a totally different person, but I hope that I will be a little different. I learned that I need to be more open to trying things—you’re only young once and I need to be less of a homebody. It’s great to sit at home and watch tv—but there’s so much that’s happening out there and I don’t want to miss anything. No more grandma Loc, lol!
I’m going to be home in Dallas for about a month before going on a cruise to Mexico and then to Barbados with the family. I have lots of plans to fill my time in Dallas—can’t wait! I’m going to start running again, meet up with old friends who I haven’t seen in forever, try to learn Spanish, read my pharmacotherapy handbook to get ready to rotations, figure out where people go out in Dallas and then go there, take a dance class, go shopping, and the list goes on forever (and not in that order). I have many, many goals (been writing them down to keep track) and hope to accomplish at least some of them during the one month home, we’ll see, haha.
♥ from Bath
guy tightrope walking AND playing the violin in Bath city centre
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Birthday Happenings. Barcelona Pt II
My birthday in Barcelona this year was sooo awesome—it’s hard to describe the wonderful time I had. =] Amelia made sure to make me feel so special with birthday joy all weekend long!
We did tons of sightseeing for my birthday, had dinner at two awesome restaurants (one Spanish, one Korean), got into the football match excitement (BCN vs. Madrid), saw the most awesome fountain show ever, partied, and I even got cake! =]
Two nights ago, Amelia and I went out for tapas. We had loads of tapas in Madrid (all SOOO delicious), but they were mostly ordered from a menu or from a market. We went to this awesome place in BCN where everyone stood at the bar and they had certain tapas out… and then periodically brought out new tapas that they offered to everyone. We had no idea what we were getting this time since there were no labels/menus, so I was a brave girl and tried some amazing tapas! I have no idea what some of them were still, but it was soooo fun to try them all, not to mention DELICIOUS! Mmm… Hopefully I can find some tapas places in Dallas. =]
If you know me at all, you know I live in a hoodie at home… but when I arrived in Bath, I realized I didn’t pack any hoodies! WHAATTT??? So… Amelia knew how sad I was and she surprised me with a BCN hoodie for my birthday—it is so soft and awesome!!! I am so happy I decided to do my birthday in Spain this year—best decision ever!
I’m sitting at the Barcelona airport waiting to fly back to Bath right now. We had a scare this morning because I got an e-mail saying my flight might be cancelled because of the snow in the UK. I freaked out of course, and then realized the email said it was only a possibility, not definite. I’ve been waiting at the airport all morning now to make sure everything is still good to go, or else I don’t know what I would do. Spending the night in Bath tonight before taking two trains to London Heathrow Airport tomorrow morning. I booked my trains to be right on time for my flight, so I hope there are no delays tomorrow!
so awesome
♥ from Barcelona
UPDATE: my flight is delayed (of course), so I just started to chat with the people next to me—turns out, Gatwick (the other London airport) is closed due to the snow today and they’re not sure about Heathrow. I’ve been panicking about leaving Barcelona, but maybe I won’t be able to fly out of the UK anyway. I already bought my train ticket from Bath to London though; ugh, I hate wasting tickets (money). Let’s just hope I get out of Barcelona and get to Bath okay. Will have to worry about my flight home to Dallas once I get to Bath. Upside: I get to see SNOW!
We did tons of sightseeing for my birthday, had dinner at two awesome restaurants (one Spanish, one Korean), got into the football match excitement (BCN vs. Madrid), saw the most awesome fountain show ever, partied, and I even got cake! =]
Two nights ago, Amelia and I went out for tapas. We had loads of tapas in Madrid (all SOOO delicious), but they were mostly ordered from a menu or from a market. We went to this awesome place in BCN where everyone stood at the bar and they had certain tapas out… and then periodically brought out new tapas that they offered to everyone. We had no idea what we were getting this time since there were no labels/menus, so I was a brave girl and tried some amazing tapas! I have no idea what some of them were still, but it was soooo fun to try them all, not to mention DELICIOUS! Mmm… Hopefully I can find some tapas places in Dallas. =]
If you know me at all, you know I live in a hoodie at home… but when I arrived in Bath, I realized I didn’t pack any hoodies! WHAATTT??? So… Amelia knew how sad I was and she surprised me with a BCN hoodie for my birthday—it is so soft and awesome!!! I am so happy I decided to do my birthday in Spain this year—best decision ever!
I’m sitting at the Barcelona airport waiting to fly back to Bath right now. We had a scare this morning because I got an e-mail saying my flight might be cancelled because of the snow in the UK. I freaked out of course, and then realized the email said it was only a possibility, not definite. I’ve been waiting at the airport all morning now to make sure everything is still good to go, or else I don’t know what I would do. Spending the night in Bath tonight before taking two trains to London Heathrow Airport tomorrow morning. I booked my trains to be right on time for my flight, so I hope there are no delays tomorrow!
so awesome
♥ from Barcelona
UPDATE: my flight is delayed (of course), so I just started to chat with the people next to me—turns out, Gatwick (the other London airport) is closed due to the snow today and they’re not sure about Heathrow. I’ve been panicking about leaving Barcelona, but maybe I won’t be able to fly out of the UK anyway. I already bought my train ticket from Bath to London though; ugh, I hate wasting tickets (money). Let’s just hope I get out of Barcelona and get to Bath okay. Will have to worry about my flight home to Dallas once I get to Bath. Upside: I get to see SNOW!
Sunday, November 28, 2010
SAY MY NAME! Barcelona Part I
Greetings from Barcelona! BCN has been soooo amazing. Will have to write a two-part blog.
Amelia (& Belen & Lynn) planned a Barcelona birthday extravaganza for me this weekend and it has been amazing so far. (Part II is tomorrow).
inside La Sagrada Familia, Gaudí is amazing!
love the outside of the building!
Casa Batlló
outside the Casa
Park Güell
Arc de Triomf
at the beach
<3 BCN
fountain show at Plaça d'Espanya
amazing!
soooo beautiful!
It's been so awesome here-- we've had sooo much yummy food and I've honestly had the best time! =D We went out last night for my birthday-- can you believe I partied til 430am?! How things have changed!
Soooo... Amelia has been planning all of my sightseeing around BCN, so when we were at the beach:
Loc: Let's go that way!
Amelia: Excuse me, who is your tour guide? Say my name, SAY MY NAME!
L: ...
Haha, after that, I learned not to question Amelia and just to follow her blindly. I have had such a fantastic time here-- I'm not ready to go home yet!!!!!!!!!!!!!
♥ from Catalonia
Amelia (& Belen & Lynn) planned a Barcelona birthday extravaganza for me this weekend and it has been amazing so far. (Part II is tomorrow).
inside La Sagrada Familia, Gaudí is amazing!
love the outside of the building!
Casa Batlló
outside the Casa
Park Güell
Arc de Triomf
at the beach
<3 BCN
fountain show at Plaça d'Espanya
amazing!
soooo beautiful!
It's been so awesome here-- we've had sooo much yummy food and I've honestly had the best time! =D We went out last night for my birthday-- can you believe I partied til 430am?! How things have changed!
Soooo... Amelia has been planning all of my sightseeing around BCN, so when we were at the beach:
Loc: Let's go that way!
Amelia: Excuse me, who is your tour guide? Say my name, SAY MY NAME!
L: ...
Haha, after that, I learned not to question Amelia and just to follow her blindly. I have had such a fantastic time here-- I'm not ready to go home yet!!!!!!!!!!!!!
♥ from Catalonia
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
¡Bienvenidos a España!
Hola from Madrid!
Amelia and I had a FANTASTIC time in Madrid! We have been doing a Spanish food tour with sightseeing in between. =] She promised I wouldn't go hungry anymore, and she definitely kept her promise--- SOOO much food!
We discovered the joys of food:
seaweed salad & tapas from a market
tapas
churros dipped in hot chocolate-- they tasted very light, surprisingly!
half a chicken for only 5.40 euros!
lunch
okkkkk, I guess we did do a lot of other things besides eat(kinda):
Madrid palace
walk through the park
today: we took a day trip to Segovia.
Roman Aquaducts
Cathedral
castle! it was soooo awesome-- we felt like princesses! =D
Going to Barcelona next! So sad I won't be in the States to celebrate Thanksgiving this week with my family, but am so excited to party it up in BCN this weekend for my birthday!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone-- love y'all!
♥ from Madrid
Amelia and I had a FANTASTIC time in Madrid! We have been doing a Spanish food tour with sightseeing in between. =] She promised I wouldn't go hungry anymore, and she definitely kept her promise--- SOOO much food!
We discovered the joys of food:
seaweed salad & tapas from a market
tapas
churros dipped in hot chocolate-- they tasted very light, surprisingly!
half a chicken for only 5.40 euros!
lunch
okkkkk, I guess we did do a lot of other things besides eat(kinda):
Madrid palace
walk through the park
today: we took a day trip to Segovia.
Roman Aquaducts
Cathedral
castle! it was soooo awesome-- we felt like princesses! =D
Going to Barcelona next! So sad I won't be in the States to celebrate Thanksgiving this week with my family, but am so excited to party it up in BCN this weekend for my birthday!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone-- love y'all!
♥ from Madrid
Friday, November 19, 2010
oh London
Greetings from London!
I just had a wonderful Harry Potter filled day. First, I went to Kings Cross station and made my way to Platform 9 & 3/4.
After some sightseeing-- I walked to the BFI Imax to watch Harry Potter. It was so awesome to see the movie on "the biggest screen in Britain!" They even had an employee introduce the movie like it was a play, lol.
LOVED, loved, loved the movie. It can be pretty confusing for people who don't know the plot really well though. Oh well, suckers!
So... I think the English are trying to kill me on the tube. I was on the escalators going up the other day when this lady tripped a bit and pulled me down with her. I had to cling onto the handrail and then she said "Oh, sorry, I probably shouldn't have pulled you down with me." UGH. Then another man wacked me with his big bag and I lost my balance and almost fell down the escalator. I get the point y'all-- I'm leaving, geez. Haha.
Going to bed a little early tonight since I have to catch an early flight to Madrid, Espana! Can't wait!
♥ from London
Piccadilly Circus: they showed it in the movie
cool ship-in-a-bottle thing at Trafalgar Square
Tower Bridge, way cooler than London Bridge
Big Ben
I just had a wonderful Harry Potter filled day. First, I went to Kings Cross station and made my way to Platform 9 & 3/4.
After some sightseeing-- I walked to the BFI Imax to watch Harry Potter. It was so awesome to see the movie on "the biggest screen in Britain!" They even had an employee introduce the movie like it was a play, lol.
LOVED, loved, loved the movie. It can be pretty confusing for people who don't know the plot really well though. Oh well, suckers!
So... I think the English are trying to kill me on the tube. I was on the escalators going up the other day when this lady tripped a bit and pulled me down with her. I had to cling onto the handrail and then she said "Oh, sorry, I probably shouldn't have pulled you down with me." UGH. Then another man wacked me with his big bag and I lost my balance and almost fell down the escalator. I get the point y'all-- I'm leaving, geez. Haha.
Going to bed a little early tonight since I have to catch an early flight to Madrid, Espana! Can't wait!
♥ from London
Piccadilly Circus: they showed it in the movie
cool ship-in-a-bottle thing at Trafalgar Square
Tower Bridge, way cooler than London Bridge
Big Ben
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
photo blog
Greetings from Oxford! I'm too lazy to post pictures on FB, so will post some fun ones here.
Harry Potter photos:
Church used as the outside of the castle in first movie
HP's parent's house from first movie
Professor Slughorn's House
Hogwarts Express
Entering the Great Hall-- from first movie before getting sorted into different Houses (Christ Church College, Oxford)
me in the dining hall!! AHHHHH!!!!!
better view of the dining room. =]
Random recent pictures:
it was soooo foggy & cold today!
the original equipment they used to try to purify (to mass produce) Penicillin
im so scary, i know
chalkboard from one of Einstein's lectures at Oxford
Edinburgh Castle-- so awesome
1st set of fireworks for Guy Fawkes/Bonfire Night
fall colors-- view from my bedroom window
Melody and me =]
fireworks at uni
just for Michelle-- I'm pretty sure the sheep with its butt to the camera is pooping! haha
My lover Amelia & me from our first city together. we're going to be reunited on Saturday!! <3
Onto London tomorrow!!
♥ from Oxford
Harry Potter photos:
Church used as the outside of the castle in first movie
HP's parent's house from first movie
Professor Slughorn's House
Hogwarts Express
Entering the Great Hall-- from first movie before getting sorted into different Houses (Christ Church College, Oxford)
me in the dining hall!! AHHHHH!!!!!
better view of the dining room. =]
Random recent pictures:
it was soooo foggy & cold today!
the original equipment they used to try to purify (to mass produce) Penicillin
im so scary, i know
chalkboard from one of Einstein's lectures at Oxford
Edinburgh Castle-- so awesome
1st set of fireworks for Guy Fawkes/Bonfire Night
fall colors-- view from my bedroom window
Melody and me =]
fireworks at uni
just for Michelle-- I'm pretty sure the sheep with its butt to the camera is pooping! haha
My lover Amelia & me from our first city together. we're going to be reunited on Saturday!! <3
Onto London tomorrow!!
♥ from Oxford
Sunday, November 14, 2010
down for the count!
I just had dinner in York (UK) with my new friend from NJ, and we were only about 25 feet away from the restaurant when we heard cars honking like mad. Then we heard people screaming. At first, we thought someone had just gotten run over, but then realized we were witnessing a straight-up Mob-kinda fight. There were about 8 boys in total and they were in a huge fight that moved into a busy street. Guy A punched Guy B and Guy B fell to the ground. Then Guy A proceeded to continually kick Guy B over and over and over again even though he was already down. Guys C-H were there and kinda participating, but they were mostly watching. After Guy A kicked Guy B for a good minute, the other guys started to pull him away. I honestly think Guy B has internal organ damage because A was kicking him REALLY hard for a really long time. They stopped traffic and cars/buses had to wait for them.
Guy B couldn't even get up afterwards, poor dude. =[ Although I don't condone fighting, I don't think you should keep kicking a guy once he's down. You can help him back up and punch him again, but it's just dirty to keep kicking him. =[
BTW- my hostel is realllyyyyy nice and looks like a B&B, win!
Heading to Oxford tomorrow morning!
♥ from York
I'm going to Hogwarts!!! =D
Guy B couldn't even get up afterwards, poor dude. =[ Although I don't condone fighting, I don't think you should keep kicking a guy once he's down. You can help him back up and punch him again, but it's just dirty to keep kicking him. =[
BTW- my hostel is realllyyyyy nice and looks like a B&B, win!
Heading to Oxford tomorrow morning!
♥ from York
I'm going to Hogwarts!!! =D
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