A little over a week until my next adventure in England starts!  I was thinking today and realized (soon I'll be spelling that with an 's' instead of a 'z') that I'm making so many huge life changes at one time..

1. Moving to another country.
2. Moving in with a boy.
3. Starting graduate school.

All very exciting developments in my life (that I'm sure will take some adjusting to..)!

I've received more information about my grad program over the past few weeks.  The syllabus has time built in for tea between 3-330 everyday - how very British of them!  I've also started reading some books on my 3-page introductory reading list.  I have a feeling I'll be doing a lot of academic reading over the next 12 months!

I started the packing process today - by that I mean I watched my mom pack one of my 2 massive suitcases :)  I sent a suitcase of boots and winter clothes back with Mat when he was here in June so I should be able to fit all my belongings into 2 (very large) suitcases.  All I have left to do before I leave is sell my car, buy a new computer, finish packing, and say goodbye to all my friends and family - although hopefully it won't be too long until I'm back in the US of A for a visit.

This post is not very exciting, but soon I'll have tons of pictures and stories about my assimilation into British culture.. stay tuned! :)

Europe Trip

Longest blog post I've ever written. Sorry everyone!

London:

It’s funny how different it is going back to England after living there for a few months.  In a way, it feels like going home.  Not in the sense that my family is there, or that I grew up there.  But I feel comfortable enough in getting around, knowing where I am.  I’ve seen the same landmarks a bajillion times.  Although it’s sad, Trafalgar Square and Covent Garden seem less exciting the 50^th time you see them!  Also, I’ve managed to outshine Mat a few times in the England street-smarts department.  He, for example, had no idea that you could use Oyster cards on buses outside of London (like in Dorking).  Turns out you can!

This trip was one of the least relaxing vacations I’ve ever had.  Before I went, I felt like we needed to jam-pack a million things into the 9 days I was there.  We bought Lion King tickets, made dinner reservations at the Globe Theatre, and booked a trip to Brussels.  We also had to go see Mat’s parents, visit his brother in Brighton, and I wanted to go back and visit my school.  So many things to get done in 9 days!  I almost wish we had planned more time to just hang out, not doing anything planned.

I have to say, although it was disastrous for the most part, my last day in London was my favorite.  We got up and had a lazy morning watching Saturday Morning Kitchen (nothing but cooking and cars for Mat!).  We left for Lion King around 1:15, giving ourselves plenty of time to get to Convent Garden for the 2:30 show.  Good thing, because everything that could go wrong, did!  We got on the wrong bus to start with, so we ended up going to Broadway Market.  We got off the bus and had to walk back to the taxi place and just get a taxi (it was pouring rain as well).  We get in the taxi (it’s 140 by this time) and he takes the most convoluted route to get halfway there, then decides he needs to stop for petrol!  You could literally see the smoke coming out of my ears!  We finally made it to Lion King, soaking wet and 16 pounds poorer.  The show was amazing – incredible set, costumes, and performances by everyone involved! 

Afterwards, we had dinner at the Globe Theatre.  Also not an easy place to get to, as all the theatres in Convent Garden let out around 5 pm so there wasn’t any empty taxi in sight.  Also, still pouring down rain.  We finally found a taxi and went to the Globe, still soaking wet and another 16 pounds poorer.  Dinner was lovely at the Globe.  We had pre-dinner drinks in the bar, and went up to the restaurant at 730 for dinner.  The view was amazing out the window (besides the gloomy rain).  We were looking out over the Thames, and could see Millennium Bridge.  Our food was amazing (after we had them re-cook my steak – I’ve never sent food back in my life but if you’re going to pay 31 pounds for a steak and ordere it cooked medium, it’s hard to enjoy it when it’s well done).  Our waiter was lovely, and the atmosphere was nice and relaxing.

This trip also helped me realize how much harder everything is in a city like London.  It sounds so simple to just get a taxi after dinner at the Globe to go home.  Instead, we end up walking around London Bridge (not an empty taxi in sight!) for a solid hour in the absolute pouring rain.  The place where the taxi rank should be was under construction, and it seemed like everyone else was also looking for taxis!  We ended up taking the Tube home, which also sounds easier than it actually is.  Hopping on the Tube at London Bridge, 1 stop to Bank on the Northern Line, changing to the Central line, 3 stops to Bethnal Green, then getting on a bus, 5 stops to Mat’s flat in Hackney.  The whole process is just long!  Especially when you factor in waiting for the trains, and waiting for the buses, and the overcrowded trains you have to ram yourself into.  As efficient and convenient as the public transportation system is in Central London, it doesn’t compare to being able to hop in your car and drive home in 10-15 minutes.

Brussels:

The most notable thing about visiting Brussels is how similar it is to other big European cities.  There were times I forgot I was in Brussels because it looks so similar to the streets of Rome, and Paris.  Old cobblestones, small alleyways filled with tiny shops and restaurants with outdoor seating.  Even the men outside the restaurants trying to beckon you in to eat at their restaurant instead of the identical restaurant across the street were the same!

At the Eurostar station, the language barrier was immediately obvious.  I went into a pharmacy to buy toothpaste.  The man told me my total in French, and I just kind of looked at him trying to decipher what he meant.  He then quizzed me about whether I’d studied French in school, and how long did I study.  I didn’t think anything of it, just thinking the man was making conversation.  Mat informed me, however, that the Belgian people are very impatient with English-speaking people who don’t make the effort to speak French to them.  Because British children study French in school for many years (usually), the Belgian people feel like they should all speak French.  Lucky for me, I have an American accent so I could get away with not attempting any butchered French-speaking.  Thank you, America!  Most of the country speaks Flemish, which is similar to Dutch, but Brussels tends to be French-speaking.  Most signs were in French, Flemish, and German, so it was definitely a test of how much French Mat and I remembered from school!

We left the Eurostar station and waited in a massive queue for a taxi.  12 Euros later we were in Grand Place, the place to see in Brussels.  Honestly, I have no idea what Grand Place is, what its historical significance is, or what it is used for today, but it is a pretty impressive square.  Massive gothic buildings surround the square on all four sides, and the middle is full of art vendors and touristy stands.

Belgium is famous for chocolate, waffles, and beer, all of which we managed to try multiple times in our 2 days there.  It is hard to tell which shops are actually authentic Belgian chocolate, but all the chocolate we ate (whether it was real Belgian or not) was phenomenal.  The shops were ornate, and elegant, and the chocolates were presented beautifully.  The waffle stands were everywhere!  The waffles are served with cream and a choice of other toppings on them.  We soon realized that plain waffles were cheaper, less fattening, and still delicious. 

We didn’t sample the beer until day 2, where we spent a few hours popping in and out of little Belgian cafes, breweries, and pubs.  Mat was more into the beer tasting that I was, but we found a cute little place called the Delirium Café that had 30 beers on tap, and over 200 bottles of beer.  It was tucked away in an alley near Grand Place.  The bartender there was really helpful, letting us sample beers before we ordered them, and recommending some he thought we’d like.  We were the only people there (it was noon on a Friday).  After that, we went for lunch in a place that looked cute and Belgian, but ended up being the worst food I’ve had in a long, long time. 

Brussels is famous for mussels, so Mat was after some good mussels for lunch.  We stopped at a little place by Grand Place and Mat ordered mussels.  I had cannelloni with spinach and rocket.  My meal was absolutely disgusting.  I wish I had taken a picture.  It looked pretty, but smelled and tasted like rotten cheese, and was insanely greasy.  I cut it up and moved it around my plate so it looked like I ate it because I didn’t want to send it back.  Mat enjoyed his mussels, but decided Brussels mussels aren’t any better than mussels anywhere else in the world!

All in all, it was a great trip!  Mat and I had lots of quality time J I can’t wait until we live in the same country so we can hang out all the time and not just for a week every 2 months. 

This is such a long, rambling blog post.  I wrote most of it on the airplane on the way back (it was a really long flight!)

Already counting down the days until Mat graces America with his presence again J … 51 days!

Update

Here's an update on my life for anyone who still reads this :)

1. I got a full-time job - teaching a toddler class at Bright Horizons.  It's fun and frustrating and exhausting and rewarding.  Not something I would want to do for the rest of my life, but it's fun for now!  And it's a paycheck :)

2. I've officially accepted my offer to study at King's College London starting in September!  Very excited!  I just need to get a visa and hope the VA will pay for it.. if not, I need to find $17000 laying around.

3. I got my Minnesota teaching license.  So, if I need to, I could always get a teaching job in Minnesota!  The process to get a Wisconsin one is a little more complicated, so I haven't done it yet.. but I will.

4. Mat will be here in 10 days! Eeeeeeek! Can't wait!

That about sums it up!


Quote for the day:

"Happiness is a mood and it’s a condition, not a destination. It’s like being tired or hungry - it's not permanent. It comes and goes and that’s okay. I feel like if people thought of it that way they’d find happiness a lot more often."

EEEEEEK!

VERY EXCITING!

..

Today is January 7th.  That means in exactly one month Mat will be gracing America with his presence.. CAN'T WAIT!  We just bought tickets to see the Bulls in Chicago at the end of May.. very exciting!  Obviously not courtside seats or anything, but good enough.  It'll be my first NBA game!  Now we just have to find a hotel in Chicago.  The hotels aren't too expensive, it's the parking!  $45 a night?!  Insane.

I'm breaking out the ol' keyboard today.  I haven't touched it since my first house in Winona (aka 2 years ago?).  I'm going to set it up downstairs and teach myself 2 songs by the end of January.. that's the plan anyway!  I'm not doing much else with my days though, so I figure I should do something at least a little bit productive!

I'm almost done with my state thing.. hopefully it'll be done tonight! Yay :)  I'll post pictures when I get it hung up.

A little bit of bragging..

I ordered copies of my final official transcript because I needed some.  Naturally I couldn't resist opening one and look at it.. now I'm going to toot my own horn for a second.
Not only did I graduate, I graduated with KDP Honors, Cum Laude, and with a 3.91 GPA.  Boom. Nailed it.  4 and a half years of very hard work finally paid off! :)

Quote of the day:

"It's a funny thing about life... 

if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it."

Interview

My interview was a success!  They're just checking my references and then offering me the job (as long as my references don't say anything terrible!).  Since I don't have to worry about the interview anymore, I can get to work on making things from pinterest!  Very exciting.  I already have one thing in the works.. it's similar to this, but I'm cutting the states out of an atlas, and putting them in frames.. mine will be way cuter than this one =)

I'm going to a comedy club on State Street with Kelly Kiley tonight.. should be fun!  Cameron's going to tag along as well.  Also, making reubens for dinner tonight! YUM!

Quote of the day:

"We should all start to live before we get too old. Fear is stupid. So are regrets."

Marilyn Monroe