Crap, I'm in Cardiff, was I sure to pack...

1-Umbrella (rain): I think I can safely say that it rains here more than there is sunshine. Not that I'm complaining, it gives me a reason to splurge on wonderful Wellies and get an all around stylish look for rainy times. Therefore I will be better looking than most other women in the States when it is raining there. Keep in mind, there are many different types of rain, and all of which require an umbrella. Luckily if you find yourself without one, most street venders and every single shop sells some by their doors for a few pounds. Personally I love the "I love rain" umbrellas that I see everywhere. Because in Cardiff, it rains every day. Even if it's only for 10 minutes. Therefore I recommend that you carry an umbrella at ALL times.

2-Hairbrush/comb (wind): As Cardiff is on the water, there is a lot of wind. Anyone who has ever been to a beach (especially the OBX) knows that it can get mighty windy! Well just imagine that, but all over. You will see many people walking out of their houses looking amazing to go to work, class, a date, a meal, pub times, concert, rugby match, etc., but within 5 minutes their hair is in disarray, clothes not in the proper place, and worst of all... their cheeks are red from the wind. I refer to this as windswept. It never fails to make someone go from looking great to looking crap. And now that I have a fringe (bangs), I realize how horrible wind can be. I have taken it upon my self to carry a hair tie with me at all times, because I have curly hair.  But for those that don't, or maybe straightened it, get a hairbrush and keep it in your bag, you'll need it.

3-Rain coat (rain with wind): Are you looking like a hot mess in Cardiff because of the crap weather? Do you have your umbrella and hairbrush? Oh crap...well, how else can we fix it??? Mostly because your umbrella is bound to turn inside out and then what use will a hairbrush be when you're soaked to the bone. By then all you need is a towel or a dryer of sorts. May I recommend a sturdy rain coat. This keeps out the inevitable rain that is bound to happen whenever you're NOT expecting it. But it must have, and I will not budge on this insistance, a hood. If you don't have a hood, there goes the hair! I spent a good $50 on a Northface rain jacket before I moved to Cardiff last year, and I have to say, hands down, that it is the best investment I made while being here.

4-High Boots (so much rain there are puddles bigger than a car): Ashely and I were walking to a cheese and wine (aka a wine and cheese, I have no idea why it's flipped) and it was a bit drizzly. Enough that we could handle it without an umbrella (although there was one in my bag) and no rain jackets. But we did just miss a nice steady rain, and now there were puddles. Boo, I say, boo. Now, I learned very early in life to watch where I'm walking, or else I run into things and fall over (at which point I always say: awww maaaaaaan). Ashley, I know, does this too. But due to the black sidewalk (aka pavement), and it was night, we couldn't see the huge puddle that Ash stepped in. She was wearing cute fabric flats and skinny jeans, looked great when we walked out of the house 5 minutes ago, but now (still looking good) she had wet feet and a sad look on her face. :( That is why I always try to wear high boots if there is even a threat of rain. High boots keep out the rain, if they are leather, not only around your feet, but also most of your leg! This means us girly girls can cross our legs without wetting most of the other leg because of a soggy bottom half of your jeans.

5-Red things (sporting events and all around Welsh love): If you ever plan on leaving wherever you are on a Welsh sporting event day, don't you dare where anything but red. I love my red cardigan, my red dress, my red shoes (that I haven't bought yet), and my recently acquired red Wales scarf. This is how you show your love. Unless it's St. David's day, then you where a daffodil pinned onto you somewhere. Even better, really want to show your Welsh pride? Get a daffodil hat (yes, they are real) and throw on a Welsh rugby jersey, then make up your own language... I'm sure it'll sound similar to Welsh.

6-Good Socks (cold): Maybe this is because, as my sister said once in an airport: "Our people are a tropical people." Then I quickly reminded her we were Polish... where it's cold. But I did grow up in Virginia, which is roughly about the same latitude as Italy. I guess that means we do have all our proper seasons, including a full blown summer. But as I'm sitting here on my bed in a Snuggie, I think that is proof enough that I'm cold. Heck, my mom would know that because I'm wearing socks. That's right Mom, Dad, Steph, and anyone else who ever let me jump into their bed when I was a child and complained about ice cold toes, I'm wearing socks. And often! I still wear my flip flops out and about, but man... in my house... it's cold. I remedy this by putting on socks. I wear wooly socks, slipper socks, knee high socks, athletic socks, holiday themed socks, the list goes on. When I'm out of socks, it makes me sad. In fact, yesterday, I wore two pairs of socks because my feet were cold. Although I still, and I don't think ever will, wear them to bed.

7-Mug (cold, rain, wind): We've covered the cold, the rain, and the wind. And honestly what is better to warm you up than a nice warm cuppa??  It's amazing!!! Travel mugs tend to be, well, non-existant here. I mean there are entire aisle's of them in Target. Why do I have to pay an absurd amount just to get a silly one from the Wales Touristy shop?? Well thank god for my birthday and for Catherine... she got me this great mug. It says: Men have feelings too, but who really cares! It cracks me up every time I read it. And it makes me happy because I know there is something delicious inside waiting for me.

www.addicted-to-whatever-site-you-find.com

I found that with my few first weeks back in the UK, I am unable to get myself away from the internet. Although it is a lovely thing that supposed Al Gore invented (or so he says), I think I speak for all procrastinators, college students, people who are bored at work, and don't forget the bloggers: we can't live without it!!

I was here a whole week without the wireless connection in my house and disappearing to the library every day to get in and check my gmail, catch up with people on g-chat, facebook updating the world on my shenanigans, or even just catching up on the news. This doesn't include my favourite activity of the world, streaming my US TV shows because they will not air in the UK for another 4 months. (But that is because that is not what libraries are for. They are for learning, which at that point I was not doing as classes hadn't started yet.) Gotta love it! I'm sure that the streaming thing is illegal, but if there was a cheaper option to grab these I would do it! Considering that it comes down to having decent protein in my diet or getting a TV license... I think protein wins. I can't live without my red meats... they are my favorite after all!

I can't even imagine what my world would be like without it. It's funny how I can remember way back in the day when we all had AIM, ICQ, dial up, for my US peeps: when we had hotmail accounts. Who remember's their ICQ number? I wish I did, that thing was hilarious! And it spring boarded my social life in middle school. As I'm sitting here late at night on my computer, because the stumbling fresher's are walking from Tally into town to do their nightly clubbing rituals who are therefore keeping me awake, I realised that I don't know how I would waste the hours of the day without internet. (Disclaimer, follow the ***) What would I do without Suri's Burn Book tumblr, people.com, BBC, or dearblankpleaseblank.com?? I probably wouldn't laugh as much as I usually do, I probably wouldn't email funny things, I definitely wouldn't know all the random crap I know about Hollywood Gossip, and I would not be up to date on the Amanda Knox trial (but lets not go there as I haven't made up my mind on how I feel about that yet).

The internet is very useful for all sorts of everyday things, that could probably also be found in books. But who has time to read through 35 multivolume texts when I can just google it? AND the google search engine page changes every day! Seriously, who hired those guys?!?! They are wonderful! The Freddie Mercury day? I was so excited when my sister showed it to me! What a great way to remember many amazing days in history. Besides the fact that Google is taking over the world and I'm ok with it, the internet is useful for research, finding recipes for tonight's dinner, watching last night's episode of House, and attempting to find the answer to that stupid Dispensing homework problem that I just gave up on until tomorrow. I guess what I'm trying to say, is it's not just for fun and time wasting... just look at the good things that came come of it too! Here are my favorite examples from this week: Laughing at the Pundit Kitchen Putin page, skyping with friends and family back home, finding out the Christmas plans so this year I don't miss Christmas with my family because they wanted to celebrate it a week early, finding out when my student loan money was coming in so I can keep myself within my budget, and being able to email my family telling them that I have received their cards and they should hopefully be getting one in the mail soon in return. I guess what I'm trying to say is: good thing I have the internet, so I can keep up with all that is happening with my close ones all over the world. I hope they think that too :)

***I've always been a kid who gets my schoolwork done first thing. My mom often says both my sister and I had it done before we even got home from school, so I am doing my work. As well as maintaining a good social life and eating correctly.

PS: I love getting mail, not email, real mail. So please, send me something... My birthday is next month if you need an excuse :)

F&*$, the zipper busted

Another year beginning at Cardiff in just a few days, and I've started the marathon packing sessions. I'm one of those people that pack and am ready to go about a week before I departure and then repack the suitcase maybe 17 times. Luckily this round only required 4 repacking attempts. (And only one suitcase change) Well, this year I didn't have time to do that. Mostly because I decided that it was more important to run around and see the people who matter to me. From going to Colorado, to Harrisonburg, to Williamsburg, to Northern VA (all over the place) over just a few days.Man I'm exhausted! It really is such a shame I didn't get to Florida, but I will try my hardest to come see you Meg Ward, I mean Ahrnsbrak. But we must power through to work on the packing...

With only 2 suitcases, because 3 is just too much to handle for my freaky small hands, and 50 pounds of stuff in each... I just don't know how I do it! It is so much harder than you would think. There is always something that I'm forgetting, and it'll just be a shame when I get to the airport and realize I don't have it. It's funny how you forget how much crap you have before you try to fit your whole life into a suitcase.

Example A: Who knew I had 27 pairs of shoes in the US alone. I know for a fact I left at least another 5 in Cardiff in storage. This is crazy talk. And how often do I actually wear these shoes? Well often enough that half of them are too beat up for me to justify bringing them. But man, I love shoes. Anyone who came to my house in Copper Beech at JMU would know about my shoe closet... it was a closet in the hall between the two rooms on the top floor that had 5 shelves full of shoes. I think I need to start getting rid of these shoes, or just stop buying them. Although practical flats are needed, so New Look when I get back :)

Example B: Movies, everyone knows I keep the majority of my movies in a giant CD case. It makes sense for travel and what not. But recently I've discovered that this CD case just isn't big enough! I don't even bring my seasons of TV with me. And when I get the Harry Potter DVD box set or the Lost complete collection eventually I'll really have to get a new one. But luckily I only am bringing 5 extra out of the 150 I own. To give you some perspective: I'm pretty sure I left at least 15 there and the 100 in my case so only leaving behind 30 movies... not bad I say, not bad.

Well the fun will soon begin when I actually carry these suitcases to the car and getting them down the stairs will be a challenge in and of itself.  I'm pretty sure at least one of these bags is overweight, and hopefully I can make the lovely airline worker at the airport feel sorry for me and not charge me for it. I guess it's time to turn on that southern charm and smile really pretty and ask many questions about their day and how things are going for them and "oh I would really appreciate it if you could do this for me please ma'am." Got to work that charm while I can still say I'm Southerner.

Long story short, I guess what I really need to keep in mind is just to check for my Passport, medicine, umbrella, and my cards before I walk out the door and the rest is up to what I threw on my floor before I started the packing process.

Lessons Learned From My First Year in Cardiff

The most important thing is to figure out the lessons you learn along the way. Every year on my birthday, my Dad ask's me if I learned anything important in the last year. Well at least this November, I'll have a whole list for him! These are the things that I considered important that I will carry on to next year. They are in no particular order, just how I thought of them over the last month or so while I've been home:

The value of a good cwtch: For those that don’t know, a “Cwtch” has no direct English translation. It is similar to an affectionate hug, or as I say: a good snuggle. When things are down and a good ole cuppa won’t fix it. I find a good snuggle will.  My flatmates or even some friends who were down, if they didn’t want a cwtch with a person, they found my teddy bear just as good. But then there were some who were rather amazing at the cwtch when everything was low and just needed a bit more than a hug.

Importance of friends: I honestly wouldn’t have been able to make it this past school year unless I had such amazing friends. People to make me go to class, who were fun to sit with, made my degree fun! They didn’t make me feel bad about going to the library for the afternoon, we had fun while we were doing it. Having a few great flatmates made it really feel like home. I will never forget when Rachel and Katy gave me tea and cake when I first walked in the door. I loved being there with them. You can get homesick when you’re that far away, but sometimes all you need is a movie night with a Canadian who has similar enough of an accent that you feel like you’re at home (That’s right Ashley…).

Food does not have preservatives in them- eat quickly. Milk will go bad in a few days, so drink up or you get chunky milk in your tea. All though I’m convinced this is overall healthier for you, it’s a bit hard to get used to buying food every few days. 

Know what days the grocery does specials: I found that if you go to Lidl on Sunday afternoons, that’s when the meat is on special. Being a college kid and knowing how expensive protein can be, this is very very important! When you find a way to make money stretch because you have pub golf on the next Monday, you find out when the specials are. Or buy two for one because you can always put one in the fridge!

Know the important Welsh words: don’t ask me to say them, but I do know a few… such as cwtch (snuggle), bwyd (food), nos da (good night), dim (no)… really that’s all I learned. I do need to learn more I’m convinced, or at least how to say all these words. There are too many ll’s, ydd’s, w’s, etc… honestly, does the language have vowels?

Always carry an umbrella: In Cardiff it rains for at least 10 minutes every day. It might rain all day, or you might just get that annoying drizzle, but you will get wet if you don’t have an umbrella. Even if it looks like a beautiful day outside with sunshine, no clouds, and a bit of hot temperatures with little to no wind… if you leave the house, go to Barry Island, you will get caught in the worst downpour of the last 10 years! There is a reason why the street venders sell umbrellas that say “I Love Rain,” because to live there… you have to!

I should have gone to school in Ireland: I found throughout my time in Cardiff that people from that Island loved me! I would run into them in class, clubs, pubs, Boots – and every single time they thought I was lovely and wanted to meet up with me afterwards. Two of my best friends at Cardiff are even half Irish! It’s crazy, but if I wanted to find a husband quick, as my mother wishes, I should have gone to school in Ireland!

My Last Hurrah (or should I say Huzzah?)

I know it's been a while, but that is what happens when you have exams, international trips for best friends' weddings, more exams, and packing to move back across the ocean. It's been a real blast living in the UK! I love Cardiff and I spent my last weekend going out in style! I'll give you a play by play for the last few days:

Friday: I got to go take advantage of the NHS for one last time before I come home, woot! Yeah free health care! Considering my medicine, if I get the non-generic brand will cost me about $200 a month, this is amazing! I got to have one last coffee date with Glendragon, and it was a good one. Only 3 hours at the coffee shop, that's pretty good for us. They last at least 2 hours and have been known to go up to 6 if we just keep talking. I'm going to miss him. 

Saturday: JOUSTING TOURNAMENT! It was so absolutely everything I hoped for and more! There were knights, a guy dressed as Robin Hood, and an American Civil War buff (I will explain shortly)! Katy got to sword fight, we cheered on knights in their jousting and horrible grammar, and got rained all over! It was just such a good time, I would say that anyone who has the chance should do this every year at Cardiff Castle, you'll see me there! Now for the American Civil War guy, who actually was the guy dressed as Robin Hood... It was kinda freaky when after a sword fighting display he came over because he heard my accent and asked me where I was from. When I told him I was from Virginia, he said "I should have known, you look like a true Southern Bell, I can tell from the way you say y'all and how you carry yourself." It just made my day. We spent a good hour talking about the American Civil War, when he should visit Virginia and when they do all the reenactments, and the beauty of the Shenandoah Valley in the fall. Of all places, I find a Lynyrd Skynyrd fan who owns a Museum quality 3-star general outfit at a glorified Renaissance Fair. Granted, this blows Medieval Times out of the water. That may be because it was in a castle and was really really funny. 

 

After the jousting, came back, packed then made an awesome dinner and got dressed to the nine's to meet some good friends at a pub in town. I wore my 4 inch high heeled shoes and rocked a LBD, I looked way too over dressed, but it was fun while it lasted :)

Sunday: This morning, after getting home last night at 2 AM woke up at 5:30 AM to go drive to Gower and jump in the Irish Sea/Bristol Channel/Atlantic Ocean... Where it's located, it could have been any of the 3. At 5:45 we headed out the door in clothes that were easy to take off and put back on with many towels and warm thoughts in our heads. Around 8 AM at least 390 people ran into the body of water completely naked and swam around with the jellyfish. It was great! There was a stag party next to us, and that was how they ended their stag weekend, people who awkwardly ran into their neighbours from Port Talbot and feeling a bit embarrassed, and the nudists. It was a great way to raise money for the Marie Curie Foundation, and well worth the impending pneumonia ! We broke a world record, my name will be in a book for at least a week until the next attempt to break it in Ireland. It was great, and side note: people have tattoos in the weirdest places. 

So to end my shenanigans in Cardiff, I've had more than enough to fill my plate. I've had an amazing year filled with good, bad, awkward, fun, mind blowing, and crazy good times that I hope to never forget. It has brought so many opportunities for me to do things that I never would have done at home. It may be an expensive year, and I need to learn to manage my finances, but it was worth every second I spent here. I learned a lot, and hope to learn more over the next few years. And moving internationally, if you have the chance- do it. You really learn how to pack efficiently and its worth the stress :) There are many people I will miss this summer, and a few of them will be all moved away somewhere when I get back in September and I guess that'll just give me an opportunity to travel the UK some more. And maybe get some real home cooked food :)

Mothering Sunday / Mother's Day

Today, April 3rd, is Mother's Day here in the UK. Now at first I thought it was just that we all celebrate at different times all over the world, which is true, but not just because we want to (similar to changing the clocks, done by country). But as it turns out, it's celebrated at different times all over the world! Most Arab countries, although it is a bit condemned here and there, celebrate it on March 21. Compared to Norway that celebrates it the second Sunday of February, a baker's dozen who celebrate it with International Women's day (March 8), with pretty much everyone else around the world recognizing their Mothers sometime in May.

Here it is celebrated on this day because it is the 4th Sunday of Lent. Now this Sunday in Lent is known as Laetare Sunday where you celebrate the mother of the church, which is theVirgin Mary. This day started here in the UK as a Catholic tradition to visit your mother on this day annually around the 16th Century. Since travel wasn't all too common in those days, unless you were at the royal court or something of that sort, it was made a big deal and even sometimes servants who had family close by got the day off to go spend with their mothers. The other part of the tradition was to go to the Mother Church, which was the largest church in the area. The holiday slowly stopped happening all over Europe until about 1935.  Cue the Americans who came in to help during WW2 and sparked it back into life!

The states, we celebrate Mother's Day the second  Sunday of May every year. It all started with this woman Anna Jarvis in West Virginia in 1908. She was determined to show her love for her mother, I guess the woman had a rather large impact on her life. It was Anna's mom that wanted to have a day that celebrated all mother's all over the world. And in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson made it an official holiday! But like most holiday's in the US, it has since turned into what is temed a Hallmark Holiday. It now is the day that has the largest sales of flowers, greeting cards, and most international or long distance phone calls.

As with both types and reasons for Mother's Day, it has now become a day that involves gift giving to one's mother and in my family taking them all out for dinner or at least lunch after church. It is so very important, that most child custody cases involve where the children will be on either Mother's or Father's Day. In my family, even though my dad got every other weekend and 3 weeks in the summer, he always got my sister and I on Father's Day and my mom had us on Mother's Day. As far as church goes, I usually only go 3 times a year: Christmas, Easter, and Mother's Day. That is all my mom ever asks for a gift from me, who knows if it's that's reflecting poorly upon me... I'll let you know when I figure that out.

Mother's Day has been celebrated for many reasons: Catholic Dogma, love of mom, Muhammad's daughter's birthday, to honor the woman who had no children of her own but saved countless Jewish children in Nazi Germany,  Royal family's mother's birthday, and countless others. So everyone should do something special, on whatever day you celebrate your Mom. Sometimes, even though it's corny, they still love to get that hand picked bouquet from the garden, the macaroni jewelry, or simply by wearing a shirt that says "I Love Mom," it will make sure they keep loving you and are willing to cook you your favorite meal every once in a while. Let's face it, no one will ever make food like Momma, Mother, Madre, Mam, Mum, Mommy, or whatever you would like to call her; make everything better when the world feels like its all going to hell; remember they brought you into this world, and no matter how much they love you, they will still threaten to take you out of it. So Happy Mothering Sunday Momma, you're still getting your card and presents on the US Mother's Day :)

I love Tuesdays... I miss Tuesdays...

A friend of mine had on her bucket list to become a regular at a bar. (I think I may have succeeded twice so far in my life) In Harrisonburg we quickly made that happen after the second time I met her and took her to my equivalent of a local known as the Boston Beanery.  If you are one of Beanery crew you have a load of names for it because Boston Beanery is just too long to say, here's a few examples: The Bean, Beanery, Beans, BB, going to see _______ (usually Mike Davis,  Mark or Elaine), etc. Everyone has a regular table, or at least as close as you can to it. Mine was the corner table in the bar section, the 4 top. I sat there almost every Tuesday for a year and change. I loved it there. Nothing was ever quite the same if I missed a Tuesday. It threw off my week. Tuesday's quickly became my favorite day of the week for multiple reasons: I didn't have lab's on Tuesdays, I had CARE meetings on Tuesdays, and I could go the Beanery afterwards for a nice $2.00 drink that depending on who made would either put me under the table in one, or maybe same result 3 drinks later. If you were there before 9, you fit in as many drinks as you could! You were allowed 2 in front of you at a time, and Amy and I would always grab Rachel's attention while chugging one to get us another before it's too late. The big clock was on the wall next to the countdown to St. Patty's day over the little walkway to the bathrooms. And I loved every little bit of that place. It is lit by Christmas lights no matter the time of year!

Wow, I was there late! It's almost midnight!

I really knew that I made it as a regular when I didn't even have to sit down to have the bartenders make my drink while I did a round around the bar to say hi to everyone. Walk in and know that my table if it wasn't open, would be soon, and that Rachel was off getting either a Bourbon and Ginger or a Vodka Cran depending on my mood and would be at the table by the time I finally got away from Mike Davis's table because I got my way and convinced him to play whatever song I really wanted that time. There are people who I can never forget because of Tuesdays. Waiting for someone to creeper hug me from behind, ok honestly every time but one it was AJ (sorry Mike for mistaking you that one time) maybe with a little kiss on the cheek. It was always good times. The waiters and waitresses who's names I remember, even though they probably don't remember me: Chris, Dan the Man, Ted, Ian, Rachel... Thank you for making me spend money, and I hope I tipped you well enough, and every once in a while putting a drink on special when it really really wasn't.

Then there were the bartenders... oh man, the bartenders. Mark, who never remembered my name but always remembered my face. And I will never forget the one time telling him how bad a friends day was and I was getting her a vodka cran and we were telling him about it while he filled the glass with vodka.... only to add a splash of cran at the end. It had a color similar to pink lemonade. I remember helping her drink that and every time we got maybe a half inch into the drink we'd ask him to put some more cran in it. Now that is a good man, someone who understands that you had a bad day and helps you out with it as best he can. Now Mark was a staple for Tuesdays, right up there with Elaine. Sadly Elaine hasn't been there the last few times I've been back down to Harrisonburg. But she always smiled and stopped to talk if it wasn't packed. She was lovely, and pretty good for the boys to come and watch make their drinks. Now if you couldn't make it on a Tuesday, you better make it for Thursday for Long Island day. $2.00 for Long Islands? None of that mixer shit, it was that good. This guy below was always entertaining, and I have to say that because of him and Mark, they made my life my official last Tuesday before I came Cardiff:

Thank you boys, and for not grabbing my ass while you were at it :)

You know what, I haven't even touched on my favorite part of Tuesday... Mike Davis. AJ is going to be happy because when I asked him what to write about, he said "Mike Davis." Before I forget: thanks Mike, for letting Amy and I pick songs that one night, for always putting up with the shenanigans, for bothering to become a friend, for friending people on facebook while you play songs only 10 feet from me, and for your musical abilities. I loved getting the occasional shout out, although my favorite was Man Eater... Think about it, he had a following. People would go to the places he played throughout the week just to see him. The bars figured it out, and their business increased. He was a god amongst us, and even though I never did get the chance to sing with him (to my knowledge)... maybe someday... :) There is nothing like Mike yelling at the bar because it was jell-o shot time and I didn't have one. He got Elaine to throw one at me even though I'd already closed out my tab because he was making a toast and I needed to have one. I mean who else can come up with such amazing songs? Or have an entire bar sing along with a song called Beer Factory??? Even now I'm singing the words in my head about working a 12 hour shift and a 30 pack for free....

And in part, that pretty much sums up my Beanery life. Cheap drinks, good tunes, and great friends. I know I focused mainly on staff people, but everyone else who I saw there on the regular... You know who you are, and if it counts for anything, I miss you. I miss it a ton, but luckily for me... I have a decent substitute here: Blackweir...

Now, the thing about going to Pubs in the UK... it doesn't matter the time of day, the week, the months, the year, as long as you are over 18, you are expected to get a drink. You go for watching the match that day, you go to meet with friends, you go to get breakfast, lunch, dinner, a Sunday roast, to entertain the bartenders, as a stoping point on your way into town. You just do it. Now luckily for me, within my first 3 days here, I got to be at least decent friends with a few of the barmen... yes Rhys and Jon, you don't have a choice, you're now my friends. Maybe that was because they realized that I was friends with the "super-fit" girl, and they were just being nice. Or maybe it's because of my American accent (which they recently admitted to liking)... But we're going with because I'm that cool. Now, I dont know when Glen gave them my number, but ever since, I have a responsibility to fulfill to their every whim, but I'm not complaining. The cheaper than normal drinks, the making me drinks they legally aren't allowed to because it's a pub not a club, and  the atmosphere. I really do love it there. The couches, the board games, my friends who love it there too. The getting to play pool if I get the chance depending on who else is on the tables. It's just so lovely. It's also nice to say I have a local, and that I have somewhere that I can go all the time and know that I have a 5/8 chance of knowing the person behind the bar. It makes me feel like I'm starting to become part of this culture as well as my own from back in Virginia. It's even better because I actually get to go out with them after they close because they close early and the clubs don't close until 4! Maybe the drinks are a bit pricey, but it makes up for it in other ways... Mostly the amazing barmen who are just so nice, even Rhys if you give him the chance. I promise they aren't scary for those that think they are. Yes I know that Rob looks a bit scary, but I promise he is a very sweet pirate and gives you tarter sauce in a shot glass for your fish and chips. And they are nice enough to let me tag along with them, or maybe they follow me... not sure yet. I'll observe this week and get back to you on that :)

Horrible picture, on all parts, I'm sorry but it's true. Thanks Rhys for having the color popped :)

They also make one of the best chocolate cakes I've ever had, and I don't like chocolate! I'm sure its from frozen and the such, but damn is it good! My flatmates and I tend to take a trip at least once a week to get some if we can! For only 2, its a good thing to do if we can in a flat in girls! We need as much chocolate as we can and that is cheap enough and it is just anywhere from 2-15 minutes of heaven. And we can even stay for a drink if we want! And there are Wednesdays! I love Wednesdays, the Hockey Social... It is just so much fun to sit there and judge them. I love it. And now other people do too! So I don't feel bad for judging anymore. The hockey boys and girls make me feel better about myself and my drinking every week. And they bring in some great CD's to be played while they are there. Seriously, how do I get a copy of that 90's one? It has N'Sync, BSB, SClub7, Britney, and that "doot-doot" song that I love so much! I know the staff hate it, but just to sit and watch the wreck they become. It's like a car crash that you know is coming, and you dont want to look away, you just want to laugh at the carnage that is about to happen because you have a secret knowledge that no one will get hurt. Well that makes me sound a bit morbid, but I'm sure someone out there will understand...

Now eventually I'll have to pick one to say that it is mine. But for right now, I'm going to stick with one in each country. There are stories that I will tell about both places, and have stories told about me I'm sure. Yes, other regulars, I am recalling that last Tuesday in Harrisonburg... I think that goes up with another story that Amy has about me from Freshman year... Yes, My Chocolate Muffin, I am now shaking my head in shame as I recall it. I feel I may have talked about alcohol enough, but really... if you read between the lines, you can find most of my crazy, fun, amazing times that I've had over the past two years. The things that when my kids and my younger siblings go to college, what I'll be telling them I did, and to not make my mistakes unless you can handle the responsibility that goes with it. And my one piece of advice: get to know the person pouring your drinks. Because when it matters, they will help you out. Either by cutting you off, getting you home, or making that one drink a bit stronger because you can't afford a second one. Some people make fun of me for it, but I feel it's important in places you frequent. I wouldn't change any of it for the world. But maybe my bank account would :)

Squash, the Veg, the Sport, the Drink

Now, the city people may say I'm country, and the country people may say I'm city, but I say I just love to be outdoors. Now where I come from, squash means just one thing: my dad's back garden and the yellow vegetable that is larger than my arm. Maybe that is because he waits a really long time to pick it off the vine while it grows, or maybe it's because when the entire family of 7 is there for dinner, it'll take at least one of those to feed us all.  Squash also makes me think of summer and pools and being tan and grilling and some really nice sangria. Squash, it just makes me happy, and if it's cooked just right, makes my tummy happy too. I learned this from my friend Jess, but if you ever need to make squash a little bit more tasty, cook it in a bottle of salad dressing of your choice and make sure you keep it covered because it will spitter and spatter at you. (But it really is delicious) I digress:

Then I come here, and my world was shaken around, mixed up, and poured into a tall cool glass of lemonade for nice summer consumption. I learned about the sport Squash when I was staying at my friend Alex's back in 2006 in Winchester, England (Not it's sister city back in the States) and supposedly he was really good at it or something. I was really confused about it all and tried to understand why you would put yourself in a room with a crazy small weirdly shaped tennis racquet and call it a sport. I just didn't get it. Thank God I came back and went to college a few weeks later. Luckily at JMU we had our UREC (University Recreation Center) which had every type of gym equipment you could think of. It went from ping-pong areas, rock climbing, and most importantly the sauna and hot tub for after work outs. But what was most interesting, and probably the only reason I found it was because of a friend on my hall, there was an area that had Racquetball. Once I got my friend to get me to terms with Racquetball, then I could begin to grasp what was happening with Squash. They have almost the same rules, as least close enough for government work, and the racquets look similar. The only real differences are out of bounds, ball that is used and points that are earned. If two dudes want to be locked up in a glass room getting sweaty while hitting a small rubber ball around the room, who am I to stop them?

So that is 2 out of the 3 squashes in my life. Now, Squash the drink. Once again, I didn't know what this was until Summer 2006. And I had orange squash with some sparkling water. And it was so close to orange soda I wanted to say: "Who loves orange soda? Kel, loves orange soda! I do! I do! I do-oo!" But I stopped myself before I could be made a fool. Which I usually can't stop that from happening, even on a good day, with good behaviour. I just always happen to let something slip out of my mouth that is horrible and there is nothing I can do to fix it other than dig myself a deeper hole in hopes of getting out in China somewhere. Oh well! Squash, the drink, is absolutely amazing! It's like having juice that is just the right amount of juice to water ratio. You can mix it yourself in the way you like. You can have it be as clear as looking at water through rose tinted glasses or opaque as you like. AMAZING! Even better, there are so many flavours that it's just damn near impossible to find not a single one that fit your fancy. And you can mix it with any of the following options: tap water, sparkling water, lemonade (sprite), and even Strongbow. My personal favorite: Blackcurrent with Apple. It is just so yummy! And it's purple! I can almost call it PURPLE DRANK! But it's not Kool-aid, and I'm not awesome like Zo to be able to call it that.

So what have we learned this time? Squash isn't just a vegetable, but it also a sport and a drink. It comes in a variety of colours, flavours, and smells. Is there any clear way to distinguish between the 3? The only way I can figure it out is by the verb that is placed in front of it. (Examples: eat, play, drink, have, borrow, etc.) But for those Americans who didn't know about the other two Squashes, now you do. And for my family that says I party and never go to class, at least I'm getting cultured.  Have you noticed how I spelled certain things in this post? I'm learning the spelling of the Queen's English, maybe soon I'll pick up the accent! Here's hoping!

The Power of a Cuppa

I can't tell you how many times I've heard over the past few months, "I can't wait to get to ______ so I can have a cuppa." Now for those of you who have never spent significant time on this island, know anyone from this island, or maybe even never been served by a flight attendant who may have a bit of the accent, a "cuppa" is a cup of tea. This is something that is I would say the epitome of British culture, right up there with football and the pub. Think about it, who else conquers the world for tea?  Every place there has been a Union Jack, they have been able to  grow tea, even great tea. Let's look at two prime examples: India and China. Just think about it for a bit, are you done thinking (because we don't want anyone to get hurt)? Because you can see I'm onto something here. (Note: I would say the States, but we grew tabacco, not tea. So our cash crop killed a bunch of people rather than making them calm) Granted, this statement was taken from my Aunt Mary who pointed it out to me when I told her about how some of my friends say things like "hide the oil, the American's a-commin'" whenever I walk into a room. So all due credit goes to her.

Now a cuppa can be a cure for many many ills. I always thought of it as a way for me to help me get over being sick. Maybe to give that 5 minutes of complete and utter pleasant-ness in my chest when I get my bi-yearly bouts of bronchitis. My college roommate, Amy, always drank about 5 or 6 cups of tea a day right before she got sick. That was her cue that "the sick" was coming. I've had cups of tea for sore throats, hangovers, coughs, before singing in a musical, something relaxing to have during a movie or late at night, in my travel mug in the morning because I didn't drink coffee at the time or don't have a coffee machine available to me or a cafe on my way to class from my house... The list goes on.

But recently I've discovered something new: the cuppa to make you feel better emotionally. How many times has a flatmate knocked on my door asking me if I wanted a cup of tea? Or maybe one after a really hard class test? Or maybe it's time to leave the library and stop studying because you need a cup of tea... There is something about a nice warm cuppa that just completely calms you. It relaxes me from my Costello head to my short stubby toes. A friend of mine recently said that he remembers when he travelled to America and wasn't having the best time. He was there for 10 days, and it hit a point where he went and bought some Yorkshire tea and he just remembers every muscles in his body relaxing and felt like jell-o going onto the floor.

I come home, tell someone about my recent boy issues, bad day of classes, how I want to kill physics, or any over all drama, and 8 times out of 10 someone will say, "do you want a cup of tea?" When I did this at 448 Copper Beech Circle, before I could get through my story, Amy or Marie would have a corkscrew and a bottle of wine in their hands and asking me to get us some wine glasses from the second shelf in the cabinet to the left of the sink. "It's not a wine problem, it's a wine solution," as Amy would say. We'd talk it out, maybe out back on the porch in our stolen chairs... It always felt so good under that clear sky with all the stars. Now I feel I have that again, in a cup of tea with one sugar and a splash of milk.

The only thing that can outdo a perfect cup of tea, is a long walk out of doors. Whenever anything is wrong, go for a walk. There is plenty of countryside, air, and space to think! And considering it's never too horribly cold here, or horribly hot either, it's always pleasant. Take into account that I live spits distance away from Bute Park, might as well. Crappy day, give me a bit of blue sky or a sunset to chase, some green areas, pretty trees, maybe a body of water and no shin splints, and I'll come home feeling a bit better. And maybe I'll top it off with a nice cup of tea to make it one of the better afternoons I've had in a while. So whenever you're having a bad moment, day, week, etc... Just consider getting off your sorry butt, and take you pity party moving to either the kitchen for a cup of tea, outside for a walk, or heck... do both.

Way to procrastinate through exams...

So every university student I know can procrastinate. I say, if we could get degrees in it, we'd all graduate with top honors. To damn bad we can't... But every single kid I know has a method on how to procrastinate to the best of your ability and still be able to write that paper, study, or get that extra hour of sleep before an exam if it is at all possible. Here are just a few of my favorites:

1-Cooking: for some reason, you would think that during exam season lunch would consist of a quick sandwich, breakfast a piece of toast, and dinner is a pizza that you either order for delivery or put in an oven for a few minutes and do work while it cooks. From experience, I think college kids all become the next Chef at the next 5 star restaurant during exam week. We all come up with elaborate meals, making sauces that go on top of various vegetables or meat, make soups from scratch, try something new that will require us reading a recipe in detail and go to the store at least twice, etc. Something as simple as a Tuna and Cheese Toastie becomes a work of art that probably looks better than most modern art does anyway. (Sorry to any modern art enthusiasts, I just don't get it) On Tuesday, I made a pizza for dinner. I was trying to make something quickly so I could get back to my studying in two shakes of a lamb's tail, as my grandmother would say. But nope, that is not what my procrastinating brain told me to do. It told me to sauté up some onions, roast a little garlic and grate up some fresh cheeses for toppings for my pizza. Cooking and preparing the toppings took even longer than after I put my pre-made cheese pizza in the oven to cook. Sad, or genius? To prove my point, I am known for my baking during stressful times in my life. I love to make cookies, cakes, breads, pies, anything I can get my hands on when I'm stressed out, I have the burn scars to prove it. If I have enough flour, butter, eggs, milk, and sugar, it's done. The funny thing is, I don't like sweet things that much. I have a salt tooth. Why do I spend my time slaving over a bowl, wooden spoon, and an oven in an apron when I know that I won't eat any more than a mouthful? Procrastination

2-Gym: Go to any university campus, the University of Virginia (UVA) most notably, and everyone is running! I mean everyone! You can't get down the street without seeing someone running. We love to keep in shape in college. Our metabolism is slowing down, yet we don't want to get out of shape in the possibility that we will meet the next hottie by us on the treadmill. I'm pretty sure we care more about our weight than we did in high school, and we can't seem to get rid of the extra pounds like we did those 2-3 years ago. That has an easy explanation, we drink more beer. But we shall save that argument for another day. When people were working out in the States, I knew it was for Spring break the majority of the time. In the UK, I don't have an answer, maybe they are just health conscious as a culture? If you have an opinion on that, let me know. Now what happens when you work out properly? You sweat, now to procrastination method number 3---

3-Showers: As a girl, I like to shower. As an American, I shower at least once a day if not more. I can't get over my own personal hygiene. I have to be clean. Sometimes I can't even sleep if I feel gross. Now anyone will know, that nothing feels better than a good shower. The hot steam, the smell of your body gel or shampoo, how wonderful it feels to have water hitting that spot in your back that you now have a knot in your muscles from being hunched over a desk. Or even better, a not that hot, but not that cold shower after a work out to cool you down. You think to yourself, "After I shower, I'm going to put in a good few hours of work, I just feel so relaxed that I could conquer the world." When in actuality, you could simply just conquer bed because you are that relaxed. Some people take quick showers, like, me and some already take 20-30 minute showers. Well extend your normal shower time by about 10 minutes, and thats how long a shower will be during exams. It just feels too good, and there is no way you can work study material into that time of your day. But then we have a problem, you get out and your wet... oh no! Need to do something with the hair, put on some clothes, because you can't study in a towel, and now where are those favorite pair of socks??? Procrastination

4-Cleaning: Well crap, can't find your favorite socks? How the hell can you study without those? Maybe they are dirty and in the laundry, well you better do it, just in case. Maybe those fuzzy warm socks are in your sock drawer, better organize that, along with the closet too! Everything has to be just neat enough. Well, you've already come this far, might as well wash the sheets, towels, vacuum if you can. Let's go ahead and take out the trash, that would make sense. The rest of your room is clean, might as well. Lets get the bathroom too. Who knows, the socks may be behind the toilet. Well better organize the desk, that just makes sense. You should probably have your notes in a very shapely fashion, in order, and maybe even color coded before you begin your studies. Nothing wrong with that. You look around at your bathroom that smells like bleach, clean floor, nice warm fresh from the dryer sheets, empty laundry basket, and completely organized room, and maybe you finally feel like everything is in it's place and now you are able to study. But where are your damn socks?

So in conclusion... college kids have exams. They are hard, they are long, they require a lot of studying that sometimes we just can't fit it all in. But we do try most of the time. Before we hit that breaking point where we can't read anymore, do equations, research, open a notebook or even try to get to the private silent study rooms at the library, we procrastinate. But on the bright side of not being smart and planning ahead, we end up being well fed, in shape, clean, and even have our rooms tidier than our mothers even thought was possible. Well maybe I shouldn't speak for all mothers, my momma wouldn't believe it. The question I leave for you to answer is this: I have an exam in the morning, I did study for it, took a practice test and did very well. Was writing this piece of literature my method of procrastination? We all have our methods of procrastination, it may not be the best idea in the world, but hey-

isn't that the life of a University student?

Bored and Observing from Heathrow Airport

I know this is late, but this is what happens when you have 5 days of hanging around waiting for your flight, followed by 2 weeks of non-stop movement to see everyone you know and love, to coming back to school just to study for 4-6 hours a day while attempting to get over jet lag, buy groceries, and do some laundry (if I can get any coinage)... Well here it is:

1- it takes a lot to get a plane ready. You have to burn some fuel from the engines, supposedly to clear it out so they can refuel it... or put oil in, or whatever they need to do so I can get home

2-The lovely calm voice that announces important messages in the airport terminals always announce in English, then French, then German, and maybe if you're lucky: some Spanish or Italian depending on where the flights are going at that time. And that bell to let you know that they are announcing, is super annoying. It's like the toll of a bell that wants to start but NOOO! There is an extremely important announcement to make about not leaving you bag unattended or they will be destroyed. 

3-HSBC must own part of this airport. All of the walkways from the terminal to the airplanes have HSBC written so huge that I can read it from the opposite side of the terminal from where I am sitting. How much did they pay for that? maybe enough to remove snow from the runways and from around the airplanes? Apparently not!

4-English people love WHSmith like the US loves Starbucks. When you walk through the airport here, there are 2 in Terminal 5 (before security), and 7 so far between Gates A and B. While there are many other shops as well, and a spa I may add, if my plane gets delayed, or god forbid CANCELLED... guess where I'll be going?

5-There are no trash bins anywhere! How does this airport stay clean? I've only seen 1 in this terminal and that was in a coffee shop! It's kinda ridiculous. I just happened to look over right now to look at the super large flat screen Samsung TV that was provided by T-mobile (at least that is what is printed on the back of the TV0 and there happen to be a trash and recycling bin right next to it. Darn you BBC voices distracting me with your perfect diction and correct level of loudness voices and making me want to talk like you and therefore forcing me to watch the TV so I can see the face that goes with that amazing tone and diction... You made me disprove my point...

6-Really the flight crea and check in people don't know more than you do. They only know what their computer screens tell them when they click into the right screen with the correct striking of the keys on the keyboard. They claim they do, you put your trust in their hands, and yet they know nothing. Maybe that's why terrorists strike airports so often. Let's face it, it's complete chaos in an airport. People are running around, no one know's what's going on, and what's more people are tired and only worried about themselves. So the most observant of people, well they aren't on the ball, that's why they are now x-ray scanning or touching EVERY inch of your body  in the US now when you go through security. Let's face it, people are selfish. And they will always be so, anyway that they can.

7-Nothing excited waiting passengers more than the arrival of their flight crew. We loooooove it! you start getting impatient and getting closer to the check in desk, pacing if there is space, packing up your things like you're ready to go when you know that you aren't departing for another 45 minutes anyway. Being in an airport makes me want to work for an airline. Just which one? Ane how? I can't be a pilot because of health issues, even thought that is one of my life's ambitions to get my pilots license. I have to be a flight attendant then! I would be good at it I'm sure, just like I'd make a good bartender. Simply because, let's face it, I have the personality for the job. And I love people, I'd love to meet people, new ones every day if possible. I'll work on that another day, when I'm less tired, stressed out, or needing something to fill the void.

8- Heathrow makes it impossible to find toilets. It's like they want you to wander through the shops as much as you can to spend more money! I'm thinking that this may have something to do with airports being a money-sucking machine. And there is nothing you can do about it. Take the average price of anything anywhere, double it, multiply by 9, divide by 4, subtract 10% and amazing! You have the airport price! I wish that I had that kind of skill, because people will pay for it at the airport. I've been in the airport for 2 hours, and yesterday i had a 3-course meal with 2 glasses of wine, just for dinner, and I've still spent more money here than at the hotel! How is that possible? I smell like Chanel Coco Madmoiselle because it's amazing, and although I didn't buy it, I was really temped in the duty free store. Not a good idea... 49 pounds, I wish I had that to spare, but I don't... darn being a poor-starving-university-student-living-overseas!

9-Almost anyone who is travelling and brought a laptop has a Mac. This makes me feel like I fit in. They must think I'm an important business person, or well not because I'm wearing leggings and sneakers and my Univeristy hoodie... So they must think that I'm a spoiled university student. Which I'm pretty close, just not quite. I work for most of what i have, just sometimes I call mommy and daddy and get them to send me money. But only when I'm desperate and say... stranded at an airport for 5 days and don't have enough money for food, hotel rooms, and needing to pay down  my credit card so I can keep charging the room. Thanks parents, Grandmother, and anyone else who helped me out... Man I keep getting wiffs of this Chanel... I'm going to ask for this, or possibly buy it if I can get it any cheaper.

Most importantly, it's time to finally board the plane that i've been waiting 5 days for. I will be  home soon, and it's only been 5 days and 4 hours since I started my traveling adventure. I will talk about this for years I am sure. And now my departure anxiety issues will only get worse I'm sure.... Now I will have to be at the airport 4 hours early at least!