Tuesday.

I am all unpacked (finally!).. I managed to fit all of my clothes into our tiny wardrobe and only had to move a few of Mat's into the wardrobe in the hallway :)

Good news - our landlord emailed us yesterday and gave us permission to buy a new garbage can (ours is very broken), a new door handle (we don't have one on the back door at all) AND he's going to call someone about installing the dishwasher (that's been sitting in the kitchen for 3 weeks now).  Very exciting!  Because it's a furnished apartment, we have to ask before we throw anything away, hence the need for permission to buy new things (and he'll reimburse us too).

I managed to piss off our downstairs neighbor yesterday - oops?  I took the garbage out and didn't take keys with me.  We have 2 doors, the outside door, then the door to our apartment and the neighbor apartment (only 2 apartments in the building).  I left the doors open, but the outside door slammed shut with the wind, so I had to ring the doorbell.  I rang it twice before the guy finally came out yelling all sorts of profanities, in a towel.  I apologized but he was just not happy.  It was 1 o'clock in the afternoon.. not like it was 6 am or anything!  Needless to say we won't be having any barbecues with the neighbors :)

I went to Covent Garden yesterday to meet Mat at his restaurant for lunch.  Only my second solo tube ride ever!  Covent Garden was really busy - it was a bank holiday and the Paralympics started yesterday.  We haven't been able to get tickets.. it's nearly impossible!

Got to Skype with Momma Keys last night :)

Today is kitchen cleaning day.  I accidentally slept in until 1030 this morning so I'm having a hard time finding any motivation.  I just want to sit on the couch all day!

Wedding weekend

I survived the weekend!  Holy cow was it a long one!

Wedding number 1:  We left for Stratford Upon Avon around 3 on Saturday.  It was an hour and a half on the train.  We got to the station and were going to get a taxi to the hotel.  We go to the taxi rank and the guy says it's a 15 minute wait, but we "can just walk.. it's only a 15 minute walk."  British people have such a warped sense of time/walking distances!  It was a 2.2 mile walk to the hotel.. and it started raining about 1 mile in.  We met up with Mat's friends from university at the hotel and had a few drinks before we went to the reception.  It was a great night!  We were up until 4, though, and had to be on a train at 915 the next morning back to London.  We took a nap when we got back, then got ready for wedding number 2!

Wedding number 2:  We met Paul at Victoria station at 340 to get a 345 train to West Malling (we tend to cut it really close.. I was pretty sure we were going to miss the train).  It was a 40 minute train ride, then a "15 minute walk" to the reception - we got a taxi since I now understand what a 15 minute walk really means.  The reception was at The Swan, which is a sister restaurant to the Globe.  It was beautiful!  We ate amazing food and drank lots of beer, then got back on the train to London at 930.  Back to London at 1020, 20 minutes on the tube, then a 10 minute walk home.  Needless to say, I was exhausted by the time we got back last night.

Today I'm going to unpack, finally!  I'm walking to the shop down the road to buy hangers and hoping all of my clothes will fit in the tiny wardrobe in our room.. Mat's clothes might need to go in the hallway :)

I live in England...

I made it to London!  My journey was pretty uneventful.  Flight to Dallas was quick.  Left Dallas on time for London.  9 hour flight.  I tried so hard to sleep but I wasn't really successful - maybe slept 2 hours?  I started reading a new book - Gone Girl - that I just couldn't stop reading!  The flight went by pretty quickly.  The line at immigration at Heathrow wasn't tooooo bad.. I waited about half an hour.  No problems getting through immigration except that my passport wouldn't scan.  I picked up my suitcases, which was no easy task!  I had to carry my backpack (at least 35 pounds) plus my carry-on bag, a 62-pound suitcase, and a 47-pound suitcase.  I was stubborn and refused to hire a person to help me so I just struggled out of baggage claim, and then made Mat carry them :) After an hour on the tube and a 15-minute walk we finally arrived at our new house (well, new to me.. not so new to Mat).  

I knew everything was going WAY too smoothly for my life.  So, of course, something had to go wrong.  I went to open my old blue suitcase and the zipper was stuck closed.  It would not unzip.  So Mat had to cut it open with a knife.  Needless to say I'll be throwing that suitcase away.  Upon opening the suitcase, I found a note that said TSA had searched my suitcase so I'm confident the broken zipper was their fault. 

Mat and I spent the day being in love.  We took a nap (I tried to hard to make it through the day without sleeping to avoid jet-lag but it was not happening), went grocery shopping, cooked dinner and hung out (and skyped with Katie and Nug!).  Doesn't sound very exciting but it is exciting to do normal things with each other after being long-distance for so long!  

Tomorrow begins wedding weekend!  We're going to Stratford Upon Avon for a wedding tomorrow afternoon, then down to Kent on Sunday for another wedding.  I will sleep like the dead come Sunday night!

That's all for now!

Last Day in America

Last day in America! Spent the day packing and getting my hair done.  Now I'm spending the night drinking Spotted Cow with Momma Keys and Pops, and eventually going out to eat.  Cameron might even take a night off from his hoppin' social life and go out with us!

I wonder if I'll know which bags are mine in the airport in England? :)

The flight from Dallas to London is 9 hours long.  I have a hard time sitting for 9 hours, so I usually try to sit in an aisle seat.  Apparently, British Airways/American Airlines now charge extra to sit in the aisle seat! How annoying.  So I'm not in an aisle seat.. I'm going to have to warn the person who's lucky (or rich) enough to sit in the aisle that I'll be climbing over them every 2 hours to stretch my legs and use the bathroom.  Hopefully they'll just trade seats with me :)

My next post will be from across the pond.. hope you're ready Mathew!

Packing

Packing is proving to be far more difficult than I originally anticipated.  The fact that America wouldn't fit into any of my current suitcases was the stress of the day today.  We took America to the FedEx shipping place who said they could pack it and ship it..... for $250!  Outrageous.  So we went on a hunt for a larger suitcase.  I managed to knock over a whole suitcase display at JCPenney - fell just like dominoes.  After testing America in about 48530 different suitcases, we finally settled on a Samsonite that's almost as big as me.  We packed it - aka Momma Keys packed it while I watched - and weighed it.  Of course it weighs 57 pounds (50 pounds being the airport limit).  We're going to do some re-situating and see if we can fix the weight problem tomorrow.  We might even take a trip to the airport and weigh both suitcases on their scales before Thursday!

I also bought a new laptop today.. a brand spankin new MacBook Pro.  She's a beaut!  Cameron's going to take my old one and use it till it runs out of steam (which may be sooner rather than later, unfortunately for him!).

That was the excitement for the day.. only 3 more days until the big move!

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!