Back Home and Catching Up

As I look back and see what I have been through on this journey abroad and what I have recorded I realize one valuable lesson...
I need to work on my blogging skills :/
But hey I suppose that inference works for why I came abroad in the first place: to learn about me, learn what I want to do on my own and to learn what I need to learn.
I forgot to mention a big chunk of my trip: so here it is in parts
The first installment cover November and December:

My trip to Stratford Upon Avon: Laura and I went to the land of Shakespeare and you can imagine how stoked I was. Let’s just say I was pretty stoked. We saw where he was buried, where he was born, and where is wife initially lived. Unfortunetely we only took a day trip there so we didn’t have time to see a show. But around this time I realized I may need to return to Kingston to act in a film. Nothing too fancy, but still an opportunity to gain more experience points. So in my return my plan is to visit places I either feel need another go around or places I could not visit this semester (*cough* Paris). So Stratford Upon Avon watch out!

Brussels: Once again, Laura and I decided to go for the day on a foodie trip. After taking a little trip to the Atomium, or as I liked to call them, The Largest Balls on Earth, we engorged ourselves on Waffles, two kinds (at least in Laura's case), fries, snails (in may case, hey i escargot is pretty awesome!) and of course, the chocolate. It was a delicious trip, where we just decided to wing it completely and go with the flow. I must say the Grand Place is the most gorgeous architectural display I have seen.

So this is the first of a few more to recap of my final part of my study abroad stay. I owe it to all of you, my readers...
And you know what they say, better late than never right? Right? Right!

Cheers for waiting!

So hey! It's been a while, there's no excuse...My last entry was a little over a month ago right before my epic 2 weeks. I began writing this long ass blog for you about what happened and while doing so my internet shut down...serves me right for not copying my work and putting it somewhere else.
In the process I have forgotten what was really important and that is to relay experiences I have had, while not trying to bore you. So here it goes a fast recap of my epic two weeks a few weeks ago:
Scotland: Amazing! Ali Hamburger, fellow blogger and traveler joined our big ol group of 7 for a Halloween weekend in the land where Halloween was owned! From old castles in Stirling and Edinburgh to a ghost tour in Edinburgh, I plan to return. I gotta get me summore of that honey whiskey.
After two days of rest Stephanie and I ventured forth to the Academy Brixton to see the Black Keys, who's performance, I must say was nothing short of, well SICK!
Immediately after, Steph and I ventured to the City of Bikes, among other things, Amsterdam...where we saw History, Art, Desserts and way more of the Red Light district than we needed to say.
You think I am finished, but after a visit from two old friends from High School, I was off with Laura to Dublin, Ireland, which only seems like a week ago to me...strange...It was in Ireland that realized that I don't like Guinness. I know what you're thinking, well that's no fun...now wait a minute what about the other Irish treats...Bailys and well...erm Soda Bread, which is better than a few of the ones i have tried in New York. And I must say, the Irish are so nice! We were not there for more than two minutes, before we were welcomed graciously in the arms of every Irishmen and women we passed (okay maybe I'm overexaggerating, but they were pretty nice whereever we went), just the service was a little slow...
So there you have it...after one month of thinking what to say, it takes my internet shutting down to push me to do it. All we need is a little push sometimes. I'm glad for that because, well frankly, it's about time!

If you can find any free time in my Diary for the next two weeks, I'll give you a pound!

So After this past weekend and the next 2 weeks, I'm going to seriously need a 3 day resting period just to recoup!
So Last weekend I went into London to visit my good friend, Laura for the weekend.
We did so much!
Had Fish n Chips from one of London's oldest Fish n Chips places.
Saw "the Social Network" which was pretty good i must say!
The next day a little shopping at Notting Hill's famous Portobello Market, which i must say, if u want to do some great shopping for nothing, GO THERE! really sick music selections there!
After some delicious melted chocolate in a cup at "melt" in Notting Hill, was the main event: Sister Act the musical...ummm I have the cd on Spotify (european, public music library, where u can get as many songs u like for nothing), so i guess u can say i loved the show! Whoopi Goldberg also came in, which made the show even more AMAZING! But she sadly did not want to take pictures or sign autographs at the stage door :( but that's alright she's from New York, I'll find her!
The next day, Laura and took a Little walk across 3 famous London Bridges: The Millenium, The London, and the Tower! After a nice and healthy lunch at the Tate Modern, we did all this!
A little Bit of Harry Potter siteseeing at the site of the Leaky Cauldron and the Market that inspired Diagon Alley!
A slight setback: our plans to get London's Best Hot Chocolate had been foiled by Sunday and the fact that no stores are open that day! Definitely not the city that never sleeps lemme tell ya!
Everything was made better with Ben's cookies! Just go there, i can't explain what I think may be the best cookies ever. Also, it was Ben's cookies that i first heard Alexandra'Burke's song, "All Night Long" NEW FAV SONG RIGHT NOW!
Don't care about typos!
It's my rushed blog, because while I'm writing this, I'm prepping for what's to come... and that is:
1. A little Halloween weekend in Scotland with the crew, which includes fellow blogger, Alison Hamburger. We are going where some real scary crap goes down! I'll see if i can take a picture with a kilted lad for you guys ;)
2. A tour of the Royal Court Theater back in London with my playwriting class...pretty stoked
3. A little break for homework and prepping for the next few days (like to leave u in a little suspense there)
4. BLACK KEYS CONCERT!
5. Amsterdam with my girl Steph and meeting up with a few other fine folks there.
6. Guy Faux Weekend with Joey and Vinny, who are coming to visit Ol' London!
7. Then off to Scotland with my darling Laura for 3 days...

If you actually see me at all next week, which I doubt, I may need your shoulder to rest on for 5 seconds before i continue on this wild Euro-trotting Marathon.
Don't worry I'll relay the details of everything when I return.

Be England what she will, With all her stuff she is an pretty sweet country still.

So people do not say "How Are You?" or "What's Up?" here.
They say "Are You Alright?"
Am I alright? Do I look sick? I'm pretty happy, there's nothing wrong with me. I check myself before answering, "Yea I'm fine...at least I think so".
I wasn't even aware that this is how they greet you, until a friend of mine spotted it. And just like that, similar to when a friend spots a flaw on their face like a pimple or something (perhaps something more appetizing) and all of a sudden it was the first thing I notice. Now all the time when people ask me "Are You Alright" I'm prepared..."I'm in England, I would say so!"
This other little language difference I discovered all on my own, aren't you proud? then again how could I not.
"Cheers" is not only where Everybody knows your name, but a term of gratitude or a way to say goodbye. Also "cheers" is a way to respond to the gratitude. I mean if I had a nickel for every time someone said cheers to me saying thank you, I'd probably would have a quarter... :/
I always seem to forget that I am the foreigner here. So when I start talking in my incredibly obvious accent, I got to stop caring too much about the curious stares I get from random strangers. It's fun to talk on the phone in public places though. Like when I'm on the bus. I make sure it's never a private convo because damn the whole the bus would know, even those on the top deck would have a listen.
I forgot all about those famous Double Decker buses. You know the signature vehicles of transport that identifies mainly the British cities (including those Britain colonized). Lemme tell ya about them. It is quite a treat to be able to climb the stairs and enjoy the sights just a wee bit higher then the common folk...despite a little instability at turns, I must say this experience is one to take advantage of, if you ever to find yourself in the UK or UK colonies.

Lot of Tea....need that Sympathy

Tea Chronicles:
This past Saturday, I ventured into London for some fine dining and a little sight seeing, if the mood strikes. Turns out tea seemed to be the main focus. Well at least for my bladder...
First stop on the tea train: Dim Sum in Chinatown near Leicester Square (part of London's Theater District, a spot I have and will be spending a lot of time in) with Stephanie, a fellow Kingstonite, hailed from San Francisco, but full Chinese in background. So it was only customary that she show me the good stuff, i.e. tea. Instead of the cheap tea they initially offered us, she made sure we had jasmine tea. Now there was something about the taste that reminded me of upstate New York, don't ask me why, I will have a cognitive connection to memory later as I further study Cognitive Processes this term.
Next Stop and literally with only a half hour brake, was Kensington Palace for tea time with Laura, a home friend. She is not a fan of the hot beverage, so I took it upon myself to take care of the tea she might not enjoy. I convinced her to order the chocolate tea she was curious about instead of coffee. With my tea tray I got an orange tea that was recommended by the restaurant. Looking back I wish she got coffee. She did not like it, and as I promised, I took over. The chocolate tea was very much like watery hot chocolate, not necessarily my cup of tea (hah). The tea I chose, had a delightful fruity balance.
In total I would say I had about 8 to 10 cups that day of tea. Add non-stop food to the mix and you could tell how much my insides hated me, especially when all three of us met up to go on the London Eye. Luckily no tea there, but some of the most spectacular night views I've seen.
So you would think that day would put a tea bag damper on the rest of my exploration. Nope, it didn't stop me from having a nice cup of black tea and sweet cream the next morning.
As a matter of fact, I think i have more of a taste for the leaf based drink. Starbucks, you better be ready for my tea orders.

Can't Help But Mind the Bullocks, Sometimes

It's funny. The things that people do and say here are so similar and yet, so different. Well derrr, but seriously, the way things are here make it seem surreal. I guess the best analogy to describe it, however lame, would be if my environment back home was summed up in a color, it would be regular blue, while in England, things would be navy. Does that make sense?
Well I guess this is just simply a response to the one thing most of the study abroad advisers warned about, and that is culture shock. Some people have it in the beginning, in the end, in the middle, not at all, or the whole time of the trip. I guess I had, or at least I hope I did, last week. I don't know what it was but some things really bugged me.
List Time!
Well for one, you know how people just bump into without regarding they just rammed into a person like them? No? I sure as hell didn't know people did that until I came over. I swear it's almost like their job to bump into as they pass by. Trust me, I am not the only one who realized this. My fellow international students, especially those from America agree. I mean seriously, without even an "excuse me" and when I say something along those lines they look back with a look that can only be described as a look one would give if I spat in their food.

Another thing, I guess I was spoiled by the NYC bus system, but here the buses just go by their own terms that is if you don't indicate at the right moment that you want to get on the bus. This you can do in various forms, from waving, picking up your pace to catch up with the bus, just sticking out your hand...i guess you can improvise that. But otherwise the one opportunity to get to class on time has just passes you by.

One thing about being here, is since my accent is so different, every time I hang out at the pub with the English students, they want me to do my best English accent. But Now that I am here, I don't think I can ever do one like I would with ease back home. There are so many different variations to the English accent. I suppose that goes without saying, but geez I simply cannot figure out what sounds more Northern or London-urban. Although it is quite fun to challenge their American accent skills ;)

Anyhoo that's a few things that just reminds me that I am not home, and yet I am not in some exotic land.

Oh Bugger, What a Week!

As I pop The Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" into my computer for a listen, I feel this is a good time as any to relay the happenings of the past week.

I have a lot to say seeing is that it's been a while since my last post...I hope I can remember all of it.

I guess I will start with the earliest memory: So my school's "study abroad" program (not including European exchange students, odd enough) went on a day trip to Brighton, a city by the sea...i suppose that's the song "By the Sea" from Sweeney Todd referred to (courtesy of my musical theater friend, Ali), because there is no other evidence of beach life in England at all. It reminds me of Coney Island in that its one of those turn of the century towns re-configured in the '80s for tourists and has never been redone. Okay back to the story, so thinking we need water-proof shoes, I wear my sperry topsiders, heavy boating boots. Of course something has to happen to them. As expected while chilling by the ocean side with a few friends, a wave crashed into my boots, filling my entire show with salt water. I was forced to walk around Brighton and a little of Kingston in my bright red Virgin Atlantic complimentary socks, with little planes on them. Let's just say I can't wear those socks anymore :/
Other stories are shorter, I assure you...
Kingston has a really awesome underground live music scene, which is inspiring me everyday to pursue in one way or other some aspect of the music world.

In Harry Potter news: On a day trip to Oxford, I went to Christ Church College, the location for several scenes of the first movie. I have pictures (stay tuned for my pictures on facebook, they are coming soon).

So Finally this past Sunday, before catching the Second Part to Henry the Fourth (which in my opinion, despite my company's opinion, wasn't as entertaining to me as the first, although it did allow for quite a few laughs), my study abroad comrade and long friend from high school, Laura and I had lunch at Harrods, London's famous department store. After spending an afternoon there, I am quite convinced of its renown. THE PLACE IS A MUSEUM of expensive items ranging from clothes to food to furniture to anything you can think of really. I will go back, prepared with a camera and more money ;)

So there you go, woah, that was a lot. I'm seriously considering a different approach to this "blog" thing.
Well at least these happenings are entertaining my Swedish friend and flatmate, Cecilia a great deal.