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!
Monday, February 21, 2011
Thursday, February 17, 2011
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.
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.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
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?
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?
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
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:
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.
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!
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.
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.Wednesday, December 22, 2010
I feel like Eloise at the Plaza
Eloise at the Plaza, its a story about a little girl who lives in the Plaza Hotel in New York. She causes a lot of trouble and manages to get everyone angry at her, but she is just so damn cute! So it doesn't matter.
Thanks to the loveliness that is the BAA, British Airways has put me up in a hotel for the past 4 days, and I check out tomorrow to **hopefully** catch my flight. Hotel living is kinda fun and sad at the same time. I get to lounge around in my room and watch TV, which I haven't done in months! I mean, who thought that catching Dukes Of Hazard last night on TV would make my trip. Thank god no one tried to talk to me after that, or they would have heard the worst of accents. But at the same time, it's a bit lonely.
It was more fun when Anna was here, because there was someone to talk to. I really now only have myself to talk to, and as my Aunt Mary says: "At least you know you're having an intelligent conversation." The plus side is, I don't have to worry about waking anyone up, or having them wake me up. I can do whatever I please and no one can stop me. I really have no responsibilities right now, and therefore no one to answer to. I could be doing some studying for my exams in January, but I'd rather not. I might work on my Chemistry coursework that is due when I get back, but I'm not going to stress over it just yet.
The most interesting thing about being in a hotel is eating alone. I could just order room service, it's about comparable to the restaurant... but I feel that is even more sad, and then I would never really leave my room. So I go to the restaurant. It's funny how many people are down there eating at a table for 1. I even thought about asking one of them to join me, or just sitting at one of those tables and making conversation. But that would be weird, maybe I'll try it tonight when I go down. And I will report back as necessary. Who knows, I may meet the love of my life down there.
Here is what one does in a hotel:
1-eat
2-sleep
3-take really long showers
4-watches TV
5-goes to the hotel bar/restaurant
6-talks to people at home
7-goes exploring
8-reads
9-Anything else that doesn't involve studying
I think a nap may be in order... along with some lovely TLOTR:FOTR (if you don't know what that is, shame on you)
Thanks to the loveliness that is the BAA, British Airways has put me up in a hotel for the past 4 days, and I check out tomorrow to **hopefully** catch my flight. Hotel living is kinda fun and sad at the same time. I get to lounge around in my room and watch TV, which I haven't done in months! I mean, who thought that catching Dukes Of Hazard last night on TV would make my trip. Thank god no one tried to talk to me after that, or they would have heard the worst of accents. But at the same time, it's a bit lonely.
It was more fun when Anna was here, because there was someone to talk to. I really now only have myself to talk to, and as my Aunt Mary says: "At least you know you're having an intelligent conversation." The plus side is, I don't have to worry about waking anyone up, or having them wake me up. I can do whatever I please and no one can stop me. I really have no responsibilities right now, and therefore no one to answer to. I could be doing some studying for my exams in January, but I'd rather not. I might work on my Chemistry coursework that is due when I get back, but I'm not going to stress over it just yet.
The most interesting thing about being in a hotel is eating alone. I could just order room service, it's about comparable to the restaurant... but I feel that is even more sad, and then I would never really leave my room. So I go to the restaurant. It's funny how many people are down there eating at a table for 1. I even thought about asking one of them to join me, or just sitting at one of those tables and making conversation. But that would be weird, maybe I'll try it tonight when I go down. And I will report back as necessary. Who knows, I may meet the love of my life down there.
Here is what one does in a hotel:
1-eat
2-sleep
3-take really long showers
4-watches TV
5-goes to the hotel bar/restaurant
6-talks to people at home
7-goes exploring
8-reads
9-Anything else that doesn't involve studying
I think a nap may be in order... along with some lovely TLOTR:FOTR (if you don't know what that is, shame on you)
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
LHR, my Frenemmy
December 18, 2010:
Ever seen the movie 'Love Actually?' Honestly, who hasn't? It's one of the great recent Christmas movies that has come out recently. Although it is great, there hasn't been much competition for amazing Christmas movies. But that is an argument for another time, place, and day.
The reason I bring it up, is 'Love Actually' starts with the super awkwardly sexy voice of Hugh Grant (I love Hugh Grant) saying something along the lines of "if you ever need to believe in love, go to the Heathrow international arrivals area..." They never said anything about the departure zones.
I was supposed to be leaving for home on Saturday (18/12/10) to go back to the US, where everything is bigger, steak can be served at every meal, and anything will probably give you a heart attack just from eating it (although it is probably worth every delicious bite). And here I am, stuck, at Heathrow. Where there is probably the best shopping, food, lounging areas, or anything else that makes you think of comfort, happiness, and spending too much money. But you have to get past security first. Which means you have to have a boarding pass. Which means that you have to have a flight that is taking off. Which I don't have...
Why? You might you ask... simply because Heathrow airport got some snow. Oh LHR! One of my favorite airports. I rave about how I love to fly in and out of here all the time. I'm a pro! I love to take the Heathrow Express from terminal 1-3 to terminal 5. It's so fast, and well, AWESOME! But nope, today British Airways (BA) had to cancel flights from 10-5 today. There is a total of about 5-8 inches of snow, and the roads were pretty terrible on the way in today. Ashley and I worried about it on our way and even laughed when traffic slowed down and we just kept saying "it can always get worse." The sad thing is: I knew about my flight getting cancelled at about 9 AM, I was just already on the bus on my way to Heathrow and there was no turning back. It's kinda ironic. There is nothing that I can do to fix it, except maybe offer to shovel. But at the same time, there isn't that much snow, why can't they cope? On our drive in today, there wasn't a single plow that I saw on the road and it was a 4 hour drive. Where are all the plows? Scotland?
I'm not hating on the system, I understand they have no idea what to do and how to appease 2,000 people who are all stranded before the holidays. But man, it's fun to sit next to some sisters from Frankfurt and hear them swearing in German as they try to get home. Or even some other American citizens who are on my same cancelled flight discussing the ability to pay for hotels and trying to find out where to go for the night, and even worse: how to get there. I'm only a few hours into my waiting, but I think I'm going to stick it out. Hope for the best. I'm sure I'll be updating this every little bit, for you it may be a new paragraph, for me a few hours. I think I need to find a way to play my epilepsy card.
Update 1(3:30 PM): Ashley's flight got cancelled and she is coming to terminal 5, where it is considerably less crowded, to join me. This should be fun as we try to figure out what to do about a hotel. BA is paying for it, I have a letter to prove it, so why not?!? I'm going to go try to talk to someone again, who I'm sure will tell me to go home if I can and call and reschedule. But I want to get out of here soon... so no, I'm not going back to Cardiff. That is a residence, not my home. Virginia is my home, get me there!
Update 2 (8:30 PM): no hotels, they were way to expensive and the queue for hotel reservations was crazy not fun times. We were in line for almost an hour, when the lovely Anna showed up and we decided it would be better to find a plug to charge our phones and get a good dinner and go find a place to camp out and go to bed! Well, trashy magazines, sausage and mash, and a lovely bit of relaxing on a couch later... we are back to hanging out in Terminal 5. Keep in mind I'm the only one flying out of this terminal (if I get a flight). But it's so comfortable, and less crowded, and somehow has happy babies, not screaming ones. There is a queue from one side to the other in the terminal, with who knows how many twists and turns for rebooking in the morning. The desk for rebooking doesn't open until 5:45 AM... and its not even 9 PM yet. Oh I can't wait for the morning!!!! Well it seems we are getting comfy, as Anna and Ashley have blankets. But i'm sure I'll have something to say in the morning. Especially now that I finally have internet after trying for 6 hours to get onto it, and paying 9.95 pounds for it for the next 24 hours.
Update 3 (10 PM): MOM GOT ME A FLIGHT! Ok, by this point I know you don't care. But she did, and she is awesome. She told a stranger that she loved them, but hey, it worked. This means I'll be stateside tomorrow by about 3 PM! Hopefully that will actually happen. Now if only I didn't feel bad about leaving Anna and Ashley with the luggage while I go have a celebratory drink at the 5 Tuns, I wish they could just bring it to me instead of me walking the 27 feet... now just waiting for the confirmation email.
December 19, 2010
Update 4 (5:45 AM): looks like most flights are cancelled again today... I think Anna and I are going to go find a hotel, because this floor is not comfortable. Ashley stands a chance, but we are considering trying to get a room simply for the shower and the actual bed to sleep on. Well here I come Radisson Hotel...
December 20, 2010
Update 5: We did get a hotel. We did take a shower, which was very much needed. But the best part: We took baths. I haven't evne had to option to take a bath for the last 3 and a half months. I dont understand how this is working. BAA keeps cancelling most flights, today for the third day in a row all flights have been cancelled for the rest of the night starting at 4 PM. They will be trying to get international flights, and have eased the night flying restrictions to allow airlines to operate through the night if they can. it feels like they don't know what they are doing. i have to say, hope is gone for most. I'm sticking with my Thursday flight, and praying I don't get bumped. If anyone knows where I should go to pray and/or make sacrifices to the airport gods... let me know, because I'm going to apply to be head priestess. Anna has run back and forth from the airport so many times today! I just hope that the next time she goes she can stay and get on a flight. I know our plan for the day involves finding food, watching movies, and doing what we can to get home earlier. I hope for the best...
Ever seen the movie 'Love Actually?' Honestly, who hasn't? It's one of the great recent Christmas movies that has come out recently. Although it is great, there hasn't been much competition for amazing Christmas movies. But that is an argument for another time, place, and day.
The reason I bring it up, is 'Love Actually' starts with the super awkwardly sexy voice of Hugh Grant (I love Hugh Grant) saying something along the lines of "if you ever need to believe in love, go to the Heathrow international arrivals area..." They never said anything about the departure zones.
I was supposed to be leaving for home on Saturday (18/12/10) to go back to the US, where everything is bigger, steak can be served at every meal, and anything will probably give you a heart attack just from eating it (although it is probably worth every delicious bite). And here I am, stuck, at Heathrow. Where there is probably the best shopping, food, lounging areas, or anything else that makes you think of comfort, happiness, and spending too much money. But you have to get past security first. Which means you have to have a boarding pass. Which means that you have to have a flight that is taking off. Which I don't have...
Why? You might you ask... simply because Heathrow airport got some snow. Oh LHR! One of my favorite airports. I rave about how I love to fly in and out of here all the time. I'm a pro! I love to take the Heathrow Express from terminal 1-3 to terminal 5. It's so fast, and well, AWESOME! But nope, today British Airways (BA) had to cancel flights from 10-5 today. There is a total of about 5-8 inches of snow, and the roads were pretty terrible on the way in today. Ashley and I worried about it on our way and even laughed when traffic slowed down and we just kept saying "it can always get worse." The sad thing is: I knew about my flight getting cancelled at about 9 AM, I was just already on the bus on my way to Heathrow and there was no turning back. It's kinda ironic. There is nothing that I can do to fix it, except maybe offer to shovel. But at the same time, there isn't that much snow, why can't they cope? On our drive in today, there wasn't a single plow that I saw on the road and it was a 4 hour drive. Where are all the plows? Scotland?
I'm not hating on the system, I understand they have no idea what to do and how to appease 2,000 people who are all stranded before the holidays. But man, it's fun to sit next to some sisters from Frankfurt and hear them swearing in German as they try to get home. Or even some other American citizens who are on my same cancelled flight discussing the ability to pay for hotels and trying to find out where to go for the night, and even worse: how to get there. I'm only a few hours into my waiting, but I think I'm going to stick it out. Hope for the best. I'm sure I'll be updating this every little bit, for you it may be a new paragraph, for me a few hours. I think I need to find a way to play my epilepsy card.
Update 1(3:30 PM): Ashley's flight got cancelled and she is coming to terminal 5, where it is considerably less crowded, to join me. This should be fun as we try to figure out what to do about a hotel. BA is paying for it, I have a letter to prove it, so why not?!? I'm going to go try to talk to someone again, who I'm sure will tell me to go home if I can and call and reschedule. But I want to get out of here soon... so no, I'm not going back to Cardiff. That is a residence, not my home. Virginia is my home, get me there!
Update 2 (8:30 PM): no hotels, they were way to expensive and the queue for hotel reservations was crazy not fun times. We were in line for almost an hour, when the lovely Anna showed up and we decided it would be better to find a plug to charge our phones and get a good dinner and go find a place to camp out and go to bed! Well, trashy magazines, sausage and mash, and a lovely bit of relaxing on a couch later... we are back to hanging out in Terminal 5. Keep in mind I'm the only one flying out of this terminal (if I get a flight). But it's so comfortable, and less crowded, and somehow has happy babies, not screaming ones. There is a queue from one side to the other in the terminal, with who knows how many twists and turns for rebooking in the morning. The desk for rebooking doesn't open until 5:45 AM... and its not even 9 PM yet. Oh I can't wait for the morning!!!! Well it seems we are getting comfy, as Anna and Ashley have blankets. But i'm sure I'll have something to say in the morning. Especially now that I finally have internet after trying for 6 hours to get onto it, and paying 9.95 pounds for it for the next 24 hours.
 |
| The queue for rebooking, featuring 5 Tuns in the background |
December 19, 2010
Update 4 (5:45 AM): looks like most flights are cancelled again today... I think Anna and I are going to go find a hotel, because this floor is not comfortable. Ashley stands a chance, but we are considering trying to get a room simply for the shower and the actual bed to sleep on. Well here I come Radisson Hotel...
 |
| waxing the floor around the people sleeping... I would hate to have that job! |
December 20, 2010
Update 5: We did get a hotel. We did take a shower, which was very much needed. But the best part: We took baths. I haven't evne had to option to take a bath for the last 3 and a half months. I dont understand how this is working. BAA keeps cancelling most flights, today for the third day in a row all flights have been cancelled for the rest of the night starting at 4 PM. They will be trying to get international flights, and have eased the night flying restrictions to allow airlines to operate through the night if they can. it feels like they don't know what they are doing. i have to say, hope is gone for most. I'm sticking with my Thursday flight, and praying I don't get bumped. If anyone knows where I should go to pray and/or make sacrifices to the airport gods... let me know, because I'm going to apply to be head priestess. Anna has run back and forth from the airport so many times today! I just hope that the next time she goes she can stay and get on a flight. I know our plan for the day involves finding food, watching movies, and doing what we can to get home earlier. I hope for the best...
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Another item marked off the to do list...
For anyone who doesn't know, the UK is going through some pretty terrible times. Like most universities did in the states, the tuition fees have to rise due to cuts in education. Coming from a family of educators, I realize how important education really is. Heck, I've been in the education system for 20 years non-stop if you count pre-school and learning to read at home before I even entered kindergarten. (If not then its only 17 years... but still I have another 3 ahead of me) This is all I know, this is all I know how to do, going to class is what I do best. It's my fulltime job and I try really hard to be sure to do well and realize that especially college is for education, not just a social life.
Well here comes the problem. The UK tuition fees have been capped at the University level at somewhere below 3,290 pounds a year. That's only about $6,000 a year. For my last year at JMU my tuition was somewhere in the ball park of $7000. Which really isn't that bad for in-state tuition, and JMU is considered somewhere in the middle of the tuition fees world. That did not include the $1,200 I had to pay on books and lab fees, etc. But it overall isn't too shabby.
Now here is the problem... with the cuts in education that the government has been creating, there is now an issue of how to fund the university. They decided to raise said cap of fees to 9,000 pounds a year... which is about $14,000 a year give or take a few hundred bucks. Thats kinda crazy, and the worst part about it is that the government loans they are offering aren't increasing with the tuition cap. Therefore:
Problem
So there have been loads of protests, and recently I got to go to a bit of a sit in at here at Cardiff. It started as a trip the library to work on my biology coursework that is due in soon. I was in the silent section of the library, 2 floors up from where the protest was occurring and still I could hear them. As an international student, there is no cap, they just make me pay an absurd amount and I just say "OK, sounds great to live in another country and get the degree I want. Why not?" I figure, they might think about raising mine as well, and its on my bucket list to attend a protest. Its like the gods were trying to tell me to do this right now! The sit it was relatively peaceful, and there was a lot of chanting, but it was nice all the same. They walked into City Centre and literally stopped traffic here in the capital of Wales. As I told my sister later that day "might as well buy me a beret, learn french, and spend all my time sitting in coffee houses fueling up for the next fire that I plan on fanning"
But at least there weren't any rubber bullets or tear gas. This was a protest, not to be confused with the JMU Springfest Riots of 2010. Now that was some crazy s***. I'm really hoping that thing here don't get that bad. The student protests have been going on for weeks while the JMU riots went on for less than 12 hours. Lets see who can do the most damage. Right now JMU is still in the lead with the most number of vandalized cars, accidents involving police dogs, and best youtube videos. But JMU also looses because it was just a drunken fest, while at least the students here are rioting for a cause. Recently, students have been getting arrested in higher numbers in London, but really considering the amount of protestors and as of today 3 national days of protesting, not including the sit ins, and the vote due before Christmas in Parliament, I really would like to see if these protests pay off. If you want real information on the UK tuition fees, I say go to BBC and click on the education tab. If you want my version, watch the video's below...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qq-4qcJ53QU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wexfpL9yuII
Well here comes the problem. The UK tuition fees have been capped at the University level at somewhere below 3,290 pounds a year. That's only about $6,000 a year. For my last year at JMU my tuition was somewhere in the ball park of $7000. Which really isn't that bad for in-state tuition, and JMU is considered somewhere in the middle of the tuition fees world. That did not include the $1,200 I had to pay on books and lab fees, etc. But it overall isn't too shabby.
Now here is the problem... with the cuts in education that the government has been creating, there is now an issue of how to fund the university. They decided to raise said cap of fees to 9,000 pounds a year... which is about $14,000 a year give or take a few hundred bucks. Thats kinda crazy, and the worst part about it is that the government loans they are offering aren't increasing with the tuition cap. Therefore:
Problem
So there have been loads of protests, and recently I got to go to a bit of a sit in at here at Cardiff. It started as a trip the library to work on my biology coursework that is due in soon. I was in the silent section of the library, 2 floors up from where the protest was occurring and still I could hear them. As an international student, there is no cap, they just make me pay an absurd amount and I just say "OK, sounds great to live in another country and get the degree I want. Why not?" I figure, they might think about raising mine as well, and its on my bucket list to attend a protest. Its like the gods were trying to tell me to do this right now! The sit it was relatively peaceful, and there was a lot of chanting, but it was nice all the same. They walked into City Centre and literally stopped traffic here in the capital of Wales. As I told my sister later that day "might as well buy me a beret, learn french, and spend all my time sitting in coffee houses fueling up for the next fire that I plan on fanning"
But at least there weren't any rubber bullets or tear gas. This was a protest, not to be confused with the JMU Springfest Riots of 2010. Now that was some crazy s***. I'm really hoping that thing here don't get that bad. The student protests have been going on for weeks while the JMU riots went on for less than 12 hours. Lets see who can do the most damage. Right now JMU is still in the lead with the most number of vandalized cars, accidents involving police dogs, and best youtube videos. But JMU also looses because it was just a drunken fest, while at least the students here are rioting for a cause. Recently, students have been getting arrested in higher numbers in London, but really considering the amount of protestors and as of today 3 national days of protesting, not including the sit ins, and the vote due before Christmas in Parliament, I really would like to see if these protests pay off. If you want real information on the UK tuition fees, I say go to BBC and click on the education tab. If you want my version, watch the video's below...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qq-4qcJ53QU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wexfpL9yuII
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