Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Stranded in London, Day 4

Things are starting to look up, although I'm doing my best not to get my hopes up as I don't want to be disappointed again.

Heathrow has reopened their second runway and are currently relocating planes and crews back to where they're actually supposed to be. In the meantime, they are currently operating 70% of flights. From everything I've read, they've been prioritizing long-distance flights over the short-haul ones, which should mean I have a good chance of my flight leaving on Friday. Knock on wood.

Again, I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but there's not really supposed to be any more snow, so things are looking good at the moment. Everyone keep praying that I make it home. If my plane actually leaves, I think I may start crying on the plane, which could be embarrassing, although I'm pretty sure everyone will feel the same way.

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Spoke Too Soon

Yes, I know that I said the previous post was my last post, but I take that back. This is my last post. And I will attempt to explain (quickly, as I hate reliving this experience) why exactly the last post did not end up becoming a reality.

As many of you know, I had a flight to leave London this morning at 10:15 am. As I post this, I would have been landing in Chicago had everything gone according to plan. As you may know, if you've been watching the news, London got hit by a snowstorm yesterday, although their definition of snow storm and mine differ greatly. Basically all of the flights yesterday were canceled, and thus Heathrow became filled with travellers who had nowhere to go. People were sleeping in the aisles, and it was impossible to move. This is the situation that I entered this morning at 6:30 am, when I attempted to check in to my flight.

There were about 5 separate lines feeding into the American Airlines counters, which basically meant a giant mob of people waiting for something to happen. No one knew what was going on, and there were very few employees walking around. Those employees that you did manage to pull aside to talk to had no clue what was going on and were thus completely useless. People could barely walk through the airport, as there were just mobs of people everywhere.

Eventually, I found out that my flight had been cancelled. My parents have now gotten me onto a flight that supposedly leaves on Friday, but we'll see how that works out. According to the Heathrow website, there will be more flight cancellations and delays tomorrow, so I'm not too hopeful that I'll actually make it home in time for Christmas. I may not make it home at all this break. I sincerely hope that won't be the case, but I don't want to get my hopes up and end up nearly bursting into tears at the airport again.

This is ridiculous and I am utterly disappointed in the Heathrow airport. This is disgraceful for one of the most important international airports in the world, and especially now, during the busiest travel season of the year. They should have been prepared for this, and I hope they correct their stupidity as soon as possible.

That's about all that I can bring myself to write at the moment, as I am furious and don't want to get myself too riled up online. If I find out any more information, I'll be updating my blog. Until then, wish me luck.

Love you all
Emily

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Heading Home

Hey,

This will be my last blog post of the term, and it's going to be a bit of a short one, but I just wanted to give y'all an update on what I've been doing for the past two weeks.

One of my friends from Tulane (who some of you might know), Kimi Coleman, came to London for a couple of auditions for music grad schools and stayed with me for two days! I picked her up from the airport, we dropped her luggage off at my dorm, and then got her phone situation taken care of, and went for pizza. For anyone coming to London ever, ICCo, or Italian Coffee Company, has the best pizza that I have found in London. It's amazing. And I love pizza, so that's saying something coming from me.

She then proceeded to get me hooked on The Hunger Games (plan for winter break --> read the other two books in the trilogy) and I "helped" her pick music for her auditions. Basically, with no knowledge of difficulty level or what the judges or whatever they're called were looking for, I just pointed to the ones that sounded the most amusing and said she should sing those :) I'm just so practical and helpful aren't are I?

Wednesday night, we went out to a bar with Zab, making Kimi the first Tulane, or US in general, friend to meet him. She liked him and said he was definitely a gentleman, so I think that's a good thing! On Thursday, she had a second audition, and then left for Scotland. So, definitely a short visit, but we had a good time and it was really nice to see someone from Tulane, as I've really missed everyone.

The rest of my time has been pretty lazy. Yesterday I went to Westminster Abbey, which is one of my favorite places in London, and then wandered around Covent Garden for awhile. No, they're not anywhere near each other, but they were the two places I wanted to go. There was a man giving out mistletoe for donations, and I decided to get some. I'd never actually seen mistletoe in person and it's a really beautiful plant! It may be one of my favorites now. If I weren't so lazy, I would get out my camera and take a photo. Unfortunately for you, I have no intention of doing that.

Tomorrow I will (fingers crossed) be flying back to Chicago. There have been so many flight cancellations and delays, with the ice and the snow, that it'll be interesting to see if I actually do make it out of London. Wish me luck everyone!

Sunday, December 5, 2010

I'M DONE!!! ....basically

As some of you know, my last paper for the term was due on Friday. I also had my last tutorial that day. And on Monday, my last seminar is on a book that I have already read and written a paper on. All of this means that, as of Thursday, I have been completely done with all the work I have to do this fall! To all of you in universities back in the US who still have finals, I am so sorry, and I offer you my sincerest sympathy.

As far as classes, I have one seminar left, on Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It's a really good book, so if you like The Great Gatsby or just have any interest in Fitzgerald or the 20s, I highly recommend it. I also have a couple of lectures, but that is not a big deal as there's no preparation to do for lectures. So now, I have two weeks to just hang out in London! First up on the list of things to do- buy Christmas presents.

I also need to stop by a few more museums and possibly some monuments, and hang out with my friends here, especially the ones who are leaving in December.

Well, that's it for this post. I just wanted to share my excitement at being finished :) In case you're interested, I'm listing the topics of the papers that I had to write this term. Yes, there were only four.

1. Chaucer: Whether The Book of the Duchess a secular or spiritual work.
2. Modern English Language: Subtle differences in meanings and usage of modal verbs.
3. Moderns I: The use of dialogue in the works of Hemingway and Fitzgerald.
4. London in Literature: The way in which Oscar Wilde used fashion and clothing to reveal character.

Next term I'll have another four papers to write and, again, I need to come up with my own topics. I'll be taking the same classes, so if anyone has ideas for subjects that sound interesting, PLEASE let me know. I would definitely appreciate help in choosing essay topics. First up, my Chaucer paper on The Canterbury Tales.

Well, that's it for now. Time to eat lunch and go Christmas shopping.
Love,
Emily

Monday, November 29, 2010

I Can Believe Anything Provided it is Quite Incredible

You may have guessed from the title that this post has something to do with Oscar Wilde. On Saturday morning, I went on an Oscar Wilde walking tour, which took us around Mayfair, where Wilde lived. As many of you know, I am slight obsessed with Oscar Wilde. Okay, make that majorly obsessed. Plus, I'm currently writing a paper on his use of fashion and clothing to reveal character in his plays, mysteries, and novel.

So, Saturday morning, I dragged myself out of bed and made my way out to Mayfair, despite the fact that it was absolutely freezing outside. Over the past two or three weeks, it has gotten absolutely miserable here. I basically never want to leave my room. Anyway, that's not the point of this story. I go to the Waterloo tube station and went outside where I found the tour guide. He was easy to spot, since he was dressed as Oscar Wilde! Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture, sorry about that. But you can see what he looked like here ---> Oscar Wilde walking tour

The tour lasted about 2 hours, and I was more than ready to get back to my warm bed by the end of it, but it was really interesting and I definitely recommend going if you're ever in London! For the rest of this post, I'm basically just going to show you a few random photos from the tour. Enjoy!

Mayfair, the area where Wilde lived.

The market where Wilde bought his buttonholes, and where a few of his works were published.

One of the many hotels Oscar Wilde stayed at- The Albemarle House.

The shop where Oscar Wilde bought his cigarettes (Turkish tobacco, very expensive) and, bonus fact, Winston Churchill bought his cigars here!

 This used to be a hotel, and Queensbury was living here when he sent the calling card accusing Oscar Wilde of posing as a sodomite. It was conveniently (and purposefully) located right next door to Wilde's club.

Well, that's it for this post. I think you get the general idea of the tour :) It was great and I may do some more of their tours. They're only 6 pounds for students! Back to paper writing now.

Emily

Oh, random fact, I met the cutest lady from Chicago. She's also a huge fan of Oscar Wilde and was a member of Tri Delta sorority when she was a student at the University of Florida. Not Phi Mu, but still pretty awesome! We talked about tuition fees and the fact that when she went to school, it cost (total, including sorority fees) $600 a semester. Crazy!

Friday, November 26, 2010

What I'm Thankful For

I know this is a day late, but I totally forgot about writing on my blog until now. So, as you all know, yesterday was Thanksgiving and, for the first time in my life, I was not in the United States to celebrate. Unfortunately, this means that I missed out on sweet potato puff, green bean casserole, mashed potatos, cranberry sauce, turkey, etc... However, I did get to watch the Saints vs. Cowboys game :) Who Dat!

In honor of Thanksgiving, I have decided to compile a list of all of the things that I am grateful for (or at least, the things I can think of right this minute). Here we go.

1. My family: I am lucky to have a family who loves me unconditionally and who I love in return. I know that no matter what, they will always stand by me and be there for me.

2. My friends: I have been very fortunate in my life to be surrounded by amazing, true friends who I can talk to about anything and have soooo much fun with! Love you and miss you guys! <3

3. London: This semester has been one of the most amazing semesters of my life and I am so glad that I decided to leave New Orleans (as difficult as that was) and head off to another continent. I have learned so much being here and truly love the culture here in London.

4. My teddy bears and blankets: Okay, not quite as serious as the others lol. I don't know if you're aware, but it's COLD in London. Hence, I am so thankful that I am able to curl up at night underneath my puffy comforters and with my teddy bears and keep myself warm.

5. Healthy food and the gym: The reason that I have lost 2 dress sizes and am down to what I consider to be a pretty healthy weight.

6. Chapstick and moisturizer!: For reasons why, see number 4 and add to that the wind, which is not my skin's friend.

I hope you all had an amazing Thanksgiving!
Love,
Emily

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Denmark Part III: Friday night and Leaving

And here we are, finally at the end of my trilogy of Denmark. Are you excited? Because you totally should be.

Ok, so I promised that we would start with the trip to the club. It seemed that the most popular club in Copenhagen was this place called rust/ (yes, that's actually how it's spelled, lowercase and with a slash). On our way out of the hostel, the manager saw us leaving and asked where we were going. We told him, although we were a little confused as to why he wanted to know, and then he shocked us by saying "Oh, I know the manager. Let me get you some free entry tickets." And he proceeded to go to the front desk and pull out some tickets for us. Awesome! We thanked him, and then were on our way into the city.

Once we got there, we realized that there were A LOT of Americans at the club, and that it was a crazy long line, and that a lot of those kids apparently didn't go out very much, because they didn't really seem to understand how clubs worked. Anyway, we got in line and waited. It took awhile, but we have definitely waited longer to get in to a club. So we got through the line, got our free entry, and went down to the coat check, where we handed our coats to the most gorgeous Danish boy I've ever seen.

We then got a drink and forced our way onto the dance floor. It was all techno music, so it took us awhile to figure out how to actually dance to it, but after we got it figured out, it was so much fun! Once all the drunk American college students left to get more drinks, the dance floor got way better and stayed that way pretty much until we left. It ended up being a really great night, and we didn't get back to the hostel until about 5am.

The next day, we slept in until about noon, as we were exhausted (obviously), and didn't have any real plans for the day. At noon, we got up, folded our sheets and packed up our bags. We then went downstairs, left our bags in the luggage area, and went out to the city for the last time. When we got there, we realized that they had started setting up the artist trees in preparation for Christmas. I had known that they would be going up soon, but I thought it was going to happen after we left, so needless to say I was really excited to actually be able to see them. Here you can see a picture of half of the trees and me in front of my favorite tree :)


Pictures of most of the trees are on my facebook page. There were some really neat ones, like one that was set up at a hospital for kids to decorate and one covered in $1 bills, yes American dollars. We also decided to do a little shopping that day on Stroget street, which is the major shopping street in Copenhagen, and I discovered that I am two sizes smaller than I thought I was, which is fabulous!! Although, of course, it means that I have a bit of a shopping trip to make when I get home, since pretty much everything I own is now too big.

And then it was time for us to leave. The trip back to London went ridiculously smoothly considering the hassle we had getting to Denmark, until the last leg of the trip, which was supposed to be the easiest. We took a shuttle bus from the airport to a tube station in central London. From there, I was supposed to get on the Victoria line and go 3 stops, straight back to my dorm. However, we failed to take into account the fact that we were getting in during the weekend, when the tube is notoriously unreliable, and so the Victoria line was completely closed. Instead, we had to get on the District line and go a couple of stops and then get on the Northern line and go a few more stops.

Now, a quick explanation about my dorm's location. I am pretty much right in the middle of two tube stops, Warren Street and Goodge Street. Warren street is very slightly closer, and so is generally the one I take, but to be totally honest, there's not much of a difference in distance. While we were on the Northern line, I was debating whether I should just get off at Goodge since we reached that stop first, but I decided to be lazy since Warren St. is slightly closer. Well, surprise surprise, we passed Goodge St. and they then announced that Warren St. was closed. So, I got off at the next stop, and went back in the other direction to Goodge St. and finally walked back to my dorm. Oh, the Underground. How I love you <3

All in all, it was an amazing trip and I am so glad that I went! I hope you have enjoyed the saga of my journey into Denmark. And now, I'll have to figure out something else to talk about lol.

Love,
The Princess

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Denmark Part II: Thursday and Friday

Wednesday night, Molly and I managed to get a much more significant amount of sleep and so we were actually prepared for the day ahead. Thursday, the major event planned for our day was visiting the Carlsberg beer factory. Carlsberg is a Danish beer that we can't get back in the US, hence why most of you will not recognize the name. It's actually pretty good, although not my favorite. Anyway, the point is, they have a touristy factory that we decided to go to.

It took us awhile to get there, as the train to our stop wasn't running, so we had to figure out the bus system (keep in mind that everything is in Danish and neither Molly nor myself speaks Danish or German, which would have helped a little bit). We eventually made it to the town and proceeded to wander around a really creepy parking lot and then walk down a random street before finally finding Carlsberg Ave. or whatever it was called. I have decided that Denmark only wants dedicated tourists, who are willing to be lost for awhile in order to find the places they're going to. Once we made it onto Carlsberg Ave and were within a few meters, signs started appearing everywhere and it was really easy to find. We also found gorgeous archways, such as this one.

Since you can't really read it, the sign above the arches says Carlsberg. So, we went on our tour, which was self-guided, and towards the end when the tour took us out into a random garden, we discovered, much to our delight, that the factory has a replica of the Little Mermaid statue!!!! We got to see it! Well, sort of. You know what I mean. And honestly, that replica was close enough for us.


We also got free beer included with our tour, so we decided to try the new Christmas beer, which was really pretty good. I'm also kind of a sucker for holiday-themed alcohol, so I'll probably end up getting it again sometime. Anyway, that pretty much concludes our trip to Carlsberg. We then ended up getting hopelessly lost in Copenhagen, trying to find Rosenborg Palace, which houses the crown jewels (notice the theme of us being lost). We did manage to find a 7-11! Apparently they're really big in Denmark. Who would've guessed? So, we got slurpees and then managed to find the palace. Unfortunately, it had closed at 2PM. Seriously. Things close sooooo early in Copenhagen. It was so bizarre.

We ended up getting some food and eating carrot cake cupcakes in an adorable little bakery and were about ready to call it a night, when we decided to check on the hours at Tivoli Gardens. The plan had been to go the next night, once all the Christmas things had started. We probably weren't going to ride the rides, as it was 75 dkk to get in at all and another 250 dkk to ride the rides. To get the approximate US prices, divide by 5. So, basically, that was crazy expensive and we weren't willing to pay it. We were just going to go in and see the Christmas-y things. However, when we went into the ticket office to find the hours, the lady told us that they had a special deal going on that night. 150 dkk and you could do EVERYTHING. Yes, rides too. The full Christmas event wasn't up yet, but the decorations were up and basically all we were missing was Santa and the elves who would be wandering around, which neither one of us really cared about.

Of course, we took advantage of the deal and went in. It was amazing. Unfortunately, I have no pictures as it was dark and my camera doesn't do well in the dark. Plus, we only had 2 hours to do everything we wanted. The first thing we did was go on the swing ride, which is my favorite ride at any amusement park. This ride, though, was way cooler. Instead of just swinging you around barely off the ground, they lifted you in the air to what was basically the highest point in the city (to be fair, it's a very short city) and swung you around up there. It was terrifying, exhilarating, beautiful, and awe-inspiring all at once. Molly then went on a rollercoaster that I chickened out of (I hate going upside down) while I shopped. We then went on a Hans Christian Anderson ride and wandered through what we termed Creepy Christmas Land, which was Christmas-themed animatronics. It was so funny!

On Friday, we finally made it to Rosenborg castle and the crown jewels, which unfortunately, I was not allowed to take photos of. But it was fantastic. So many sparkly things! As you can imagine, I was pretty much in heaven there :). We also found Christiana, which is basically a hippie town that was sent up just outside of Copenhagen. That was one of the top things on Molly's list. It was pretty cool, although I did feel a little out of place. Most of you who know me are well aware that I am no hippie. We also wandered around Copenhagen and saw the outside of a lot of buildings, like the Round Tower and the church where Hans Christian Anderson is buried.Oh, and here's a pretty picture of the canals for you! P.S. If you want more photos, they're all up on my facebook page :)

Friday night, Molly and I went out to a club, and it is there that we will pick up with Part III.

Yeah, I know, total teaser. Sorry about that lol :P

With all my love,
Emily

Monday, November 15, 2010

Denmark Part I: Getting there + Wednesday

Oh God, I just looked at the date of my last posting and it was two weeks ago. Sorry about that! Well, there's a lot to say about the Denmark trip, and since I don't want to leave anything out, I've decided to divide it into three parts :) I know you're excited. So, part one, which is what you're reading right now, is all about the insanely difficult time we had getting to the airport combined with the activities of that first, severely sleep-deprived day in Copenhagen. Hopefully, part two which is all about the activities of Thursday and Friday, will be up tomorrow, and by the end of the week, I'll have put up part three, our Friday night out + Saturday + getting back home which, although less difficult and traumatic than getting to Denmark, has its own fair share of annoyances and stories.

So, here we go, with the start of my trip to Denmark. Our flight left at 8 am on Wednesday, which meant that, between taking buses to get to the bus to take us to the airport, checking in, and getting to our gate on time, we needed to leave for the airport around 4 in the morning, which I did. (Keep in mind that through all of this, Molly and I were both severely sleep deprived as she was a little hungover and I had been unable to take a nap at all). The bus route was supposed to take me 45 minutes max, so being the cautious person that I am, I gave myself an hour and a half. When I was forced to wait at my FIRST bus stop for twenty minutes, I realized that I might have a problem. Eventually, that bus did show up, and I got on it and got to my next bus stop. Once there, I started checking my watch every two minutes because I realized that I would be cutting it close.

Eventually, the bus showed up, but then proceeded to tell me that he wasn't leaving for another 10 minutes and that instead of the 20 minute ride I was promised, it was going to take around 36 minutes to get to my stop, which would have gotten me there well after my bus to Gatwick airport had left. So, I started freaking out. I called Molly, who was on her bus and well on her way to our final bus stop, and she kept me calm long enough to find a cab. Unfortunately, I then realized that I didn't have enough money to pay the cab driver, so he followed me to an atm, where I pulled out some money, and then he drove me straight to my bus stop (Yay for awesome cab drivers!).

Now that my drama was over, it was time for Molly's to begin. She has this fear of buses not going where she needs them to go and so whenever she recognizes the name of a stop, she gets off. Usually, that's not a problem, but this time it was. The personal she asked directions from sent her in the exact opposite direction of where she needed to be and by the time she was actually on her way to the right place, the bus was showing up. I managed to get him to wait until she showed up, and then we were on our way to the airport.

Once at the airport, we ended up waiting in a line that we didn't actually need to be in, and then finally found our gate after wandering through what is quite possibly the most inefficient use of space I've ever seen in an airport. We found our gate, and then had issues with Molly's suitcase being not quite small enough to count as a carry-on and having to check it. However, after all of that was over, we found ourselves in Denmark. Getting to our hostel turned out to be a relatively simple process, thank God. There will be more on the hostel in future posts. However, I will show you a picture of what would, for the rest of our, be our beacon of hope that we were almost to the hostel and it was nearly bedtime. Witness, the greatest pizza place in Denmark, if not the world.

Sorry it's so dark, I almost forgot to take the picture until our last day and it gets dark really early in Denmark. So, after finally checking in to our hostel, we decided that we were not going to waste an entire day, and so we went out to Copenhagen. On our way there was when we found out some news about the Little Mermaid statue, the #1 attraction that we had been intending to see...

It's not currently in Denmark.

I know, seriously? But the Little Mermaid statue is currently (until the end of November) on exhibition in China. Instead, there is an exhibition by some Chinese artist which, although it might have been interesting, is not nearly as cool. So, we did not get to see the statue. Oh well, we still made sure that Wednesday was a Hans Christian Anderson day. We went to this museum called The Wonderful World of Hans Christian Anderson, which is technically a children's museum, but that was about our state of mind in our sleep deprived state. The best part was that they had displays where you could press a button and it would read fairy tales out loud to you, so we could just sit down and listen for awhile.

That night, we attempted to find the place where the statue was supposed to be, but it was dark and late and we weren't really able to comprehend park maps at that point, so we pretty much just wandered around for awhile until we were ready to go back to the hostel and go to sleep. I know it doesn't sound like it from this, but it was actually a pretty fun day. Denmark is beautiful and it was nice to just walk around and see things, plus we ate the most delicious pizza ever and saw a really cute museum all about fairy tales!

Well, that is it for Part I. I will do my best to have Part II up by tomorrow night, although I have a paper due on Friday, so I can't make any promises.

Love y'all!
Emily

Monday, November 1, 2010

Halloween!

Oh wow, that was the best Halloween ever!

So, there was a lot of group changing that went on, as tickets sold out and for awhile one of my groups didn't have tickets, and then they got some, but we had already decided to go with other people, and then most of the first group backed out, so I invited them to come with the second group, but then not everyone was going to be ready at the same time, etc etc...

Anyway, Zab came over to my dorm around 6pm with a few drinks and we hung out for a couple of hours until Molly came over and we all needed to get ready. First on the list of things to do- fit Zab's fangs. Now, when I went to the costume shop and asked for fangs, I was expecting (as were Molly and Zab when I told them the plan) to get those cheap plastic teeth that just go over all of your teeth. No. What I got were two very high quality fangs and plaster to custom fit them to Zab's canines. The plaster on the one tooth did not want to cooperate, but eventually we got them to fit and then Molly started in on his makeup while I made myself sparkly :)

Eventually, we were all ready. I was a fairy, Zab was a vampire, and Molly was a wind-up doll. Witness our cuteness! Plus a bonus photo of Zab and I together, since I know some of you have been dying to see one.


So, after getting ready, we made our way over to Astor college (another dorm) and met up with Jenny (of jennygoesadventuring.blogspot.com and another Tulane student) and some kids from her floor. Together, we all walked over to Koko, which is one of the most famous clubs in London and quite possibly my favorite place in the city. Once there, we got a few drinks and made our way to the dance floor. The music was a dj mix, which basically meant that they didn't play a full song, but just messed with bits of the song. It kind of got on my nerves, but at least I got to dance so it didn't matter that much. Eventually I ran across the other group of girls from my floor, as well as another girl from my dorm (though not my floor) and her group. It was an amazing night. There was so much energy and we danced just about the entire night.

Quick note, apparently vampire costumes were the thing to do this year. On Jenny's floor, pretty much everyone was some incarnation of a vampire and when we were at Koko, it didn't matter what outfit people were wearing, most everyone had fake drop dripping down their face. I totally could have been a vampire fairy lol! I kind of wish I'd done that, as it would have been easily my most ridiculous costume ever. 

Eventually, Zab and I left around 2:30 or 3, when the club was closing. I spent today sleeping in and recovering from last night. Fortunately, I have no classes until Thursday this week, so I can just hang out and relax. Oh yeah, and pack for my upcoming trip to COPENHAGEN!

So, that's it for now. If you want to see more of the few pictures I took on Halloween (all of the getting ready phase), you can go over to my facebook and check them out.

Much love!
Emily

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Why I Love the Gym

Hey everyone!

So, not a whole lot has happened since my last post, and don't worry, there will definitely be another post on Monday or so, after Halloween is over, and there will be a photo of me as a fairy :) I was going to be a fairy princess, but unfortunately, it turns out that tiaras are quite expensive here, and so I had to downgrade myself to fairy lol. Zab is going to be a vampire, mostly because I'm requiring him to be something, so while I was doing my costume shopping, I bought him some fangs and fake blood. We'll be going to an awesome club called Koko with Molly, Jenny (from Tulane, some of you may know her), and some of Jenny's friends from her dorm. It's going to be an amazing night! I am so excited!

However, the update that I have at the moment is that I have joined the gym here. I was really hesitant to join since you pay separately from tuition, which I find really strange. However, I think it's definitely going to be worth it.

As I've joined the fencing club, I am at the gym every Wednesday from 2-3:30. We had our first fencing practice this past Wednesday, and it was so much fun! I'm so glad I decided to join! The other people in the club seem great and the coach and the other teachers definitely make sure that everyone has a good time and play lots of games to help us learn the skills we need. We also got to try on the fencing gear, which is the craziest outfit ever. The best part is that girls have to wear a chest protector, which is essentially a large, plastic bra. It's the funniest thing (although I will say, it's pretty uncomfortable)!

The gym here also has a lot of free classes that I'll be looking into. I decided to try out yoga and it is a lot more intense than the yoga that I'm used to doing at home, but I think I'm going to try to keep it up. If I get any free time between all the papers that I'm suddenly writing, I may try to take another class, but I'm not sure at the moment how well that's going to work out.

So, to conclude this blog post on exercise (yes, I realize that's a strange topic for my blog), I love fencing, yoga, and the Bloomsbury fitness center.

Be excited for my Halloween post!

Love from the Princess

Monday, October 25, 2010

Up Next...Copenhagen!

Hey everyone!

So, I know that reading week isn't for another two weeks and I still have Halloween and one more paper to get through first (and trust me, there will be a post about Halloween), but I just wanted to update y'all on the fact that I am going to Copenhagen, Denmark from November 8-11! Yes, seriously.

I am so excited! Despite the fact that I've been in London for a little over a month, I haven't actually left the country yet, so it'll be amazing to finally see another part of Europe. My friend Molly and I decided this afternoon that our reading week trip will be to Denmark. Now, we just need to make sure that we have indeed found the cheapest possible flight and hostel, and then we can finalize everything. By the way, here's a picture of the adorable Molly <3

While in Copenhagen, we will be visiting the Little Mermaid statue and anything else associated with Hans Christian Anderson, Kronborg Castle, and anything having to do with Christmas, since apparently they've already started celebrating the Christmas season in Denmark. It's going to be amazing! Oh, and just to finish off the week, I'll be spending that Friday visiting Stonehenge.

Trust me, there will be many an update :)

Love,
Emily

Edit: I'm not sure that this is important to anyone, but the dates of our trip have changed. I will now be in Denmark from Wednesday until Saturday, and visiting Stonehenge on Tuesday. Also, if anyone has anyone specific souvenir requests, send me an e-mail or comment (or find me on facebook. whatever) and let me know. I'll do my best to get you what you want!

Thursday, October 21, 2010

M.A.C. Venomous Villains + My Shopping Trip at Harrods

Oh, one thing I totally forgot to mention in my last post, I went shopping at Harrods on Tuesday! And I actually bought something :) I am also now the proud owner of a Harrods rewards card (I know you're proud, Mom lol).

So, M.A.C. cosmetics recently released this new collection called Venomous Villains, which is based on four Disney villains: Cruella de Vil, the Evil Queen (from Snow White), Maleficent, and Dr. Facilier (from Princess and the Frog). The products looked amazing on the blogs that I was reading and I can now attest to the fact that the quality is incredible and the colors are to die for. Unfortunately, the entire collection is limited edition and it's been selling out like crazy. Thank God for a mother who will run out to Woodfield mall straight after work to make sure that you get the magical cooling powder, the most important product that was on my must-have list. Love you Mom!

Anyway, there were a few other products I wanted to look at, so on Tuesday, I ran out to Harrods. In the four years since I was last in London, I had forgotten just how enormous Harrods is. It's also the most stunningly beautiful mall I've ever been in. No detail has been overlooked. I wish I had taken a picture of the Egyptian staircase, but I'm sure I'll be back there eventually, so I'll just have to remember my camera then. After looping around the entire cosmetics section and not finding M.A.C., I started to freak out that maybe I had misread the website and they weren't actually there. So, I finally asked an employee and she pointed me towards the lifestyle section, which by the way is the strangest department I've ever heard of. It was a combination of skincare, sunglasses, makeup, and handbags, despite the fact that each of those items has its own separate section. Whatever. The point is, I finally got a chance to look at the Venomous Villains collection in person. And here is what I got!



Honestly, it's a total coincidence that all three pieces are from the Evil Queen's collection. Her items just seemed to work best on my skin tone. So, to explain what you're actually looking at, I got the eyeshadow in Vainglorious, which is this beautiful reddish-purplish-brownish color. I'm not really sure how to explain it, sorry. It's very shimmery and looks amazing on, without overpowering me. Then I got the blush in Bite of an Apple. I really wanted a new blush and this one is so bright and cheerful! And then I got the lipgloss (or lipglass as M.A.C. calls them) in Hot House. It looks really intense in the bottle, but once you've had it on for a minute, it lightens up and just makes your makeup pop. I love it! Oh, and total side note, those are my fabulous sheets that the makeup's sitting on. Aren't they gorgeous?

Well, that was my shopping trip in Harrods! Hopefully, I'll be back there soon so that I can take pictures of the mall itself.

Have a great day everyone!
Emily

Sorry this took so long

Hey everyone!

I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to post again. I just have been really busy and kept thinking that I didn't really have anything to post about, but then I realized that it's been over a week and I just need to tell y'all a bit of what I've been doing.

We held elections for Women for Women International and I got the position as secretary! I am so excited! I was planning on taking this year off from being really involved in organizations, but when I saw that a group I'm really passionate about was reaching out to college students, there was no way that I could say no. I'm thrilled to be a founding member of this group and I can't wait to see what we do with it :)

I also had my first paper due to my tutor, on Chaucer. I'll be honest, I kind of hate Chaucer, and I'm definitely relieved that I'm totally done with that paper now. Now I can write the papers on the subjects I'm actually interested in. So, my tutor said that the paper was good and that I picked up on some important topics. The only problem she had was that she could tell that Chaucer really isn't my favorite thing and that I was a bit confused by the work. Oh well. I just have to do more background reading next time. My next paper for her is one that I'm really excited about. It's for my Moderns 1 class, and the subject is the use of dialogue in novels by Fitzgerald and Hemingway. I also have another paper due in two weeks for my Modern English Language class, which is basically just on grammar. It'll be interesting to write on, since I've never done that before, but I don't know how interesting it would be to explain lol.

As far as what I've been doing in my spare time, this past weekend, I hung out with Zab on Friday night (I actually got him to watch 10 Things I Hate About You!), and then on Saturday, I went to the National Portrait Gallery with a girl from my floor. It was a little strange at points, what with the head made out of real blood and a collection of stuffed birds that cast the shadow of a face on the wall, but eventually we made our way to the historical portraits and I got to see all of the Tudors! It was incredible to see, in person, all of these portraits that I've heard about and seen in books. On Sunday, Zab and I went to the Science Museum, which was also really awesome. It's very interactive (although technically, I think a lot of the interactive things are meant for kids lol) and it's huge, so I'm pretty sure we did not see everything.

Saturday night, I also went out to a bar with a few girlfriends. It was quite possibly the most crowded bar I've been to yet, which is a good thing, but it also gets a little frustrating when you can't really dance and people separate you from your friends every few minutes. Overall, though, it was a fun night, although I have discovered that British people do not know what amaretto sours are, which is a pity since that's my second favorite drink. Oh well. Last night, my friend Molly and I went to a club that's a bit closer to my dorm called The Roxy. We noticed that all the UCL students go there on Wednesday nights, so we decided to give it a try. It took us about an hour and a half to even get inside, which was ridiculous, but once we were in, the music was fabulous (lots of American dance music), the drinks were good, and people were really awesome for the most part. We stayed until they closed at 3am.

Yesterday, Zab took me out to Alexandra Park, which is really far north in London. It's about as far north as the tube goes. It was so gorgeous and we got to enjoy one of the last days of sunlight we're going to have here in London. Witness this lovely picture of me basking in the sun. Yay!


I'm sorry it took so long for me to post this time, but I promise I'll do better at keeping up with the blog in the future! Well, I promise I'll try anyway.

Love y'all!
Princess Emily

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Women for Women International

Over the course of the past week and a half, I have been attending introductory meeting for clubs, such as the Film Society and the Volunteering Society. Well, there's one society that I am really passionate about and I'm so excited that it now exists on UCL's campus.

Women for Women International is an organization that assists women in post-conflict situations, providing them with funding, education, and job skills, so that they can improve their lives and the lives of their families (in post-conflict situations, many women are left as the sole provider and head of their, often extended, family). They have locations in 8 different countries: Congo, Afghanistan, Iraq, Bosnia, Kosovo, Rwanda, Sudan, and Nigeria. Each location is run by men and women from that country, making it far more sustainable than if it were run by foreign aid workers. The funding comes from men and women from, generally, the US and the UK, each person sponsoring one woman in one of the countries. Last summer, I was fortunate enough to visit the Women for Women International location in Rwanda while I was there taking a class on gender based violence. It's an amazing program, and the organization is now creating college societies to take part in fundraising and awareness campaigns. Needless to say, I am beyond excited about this! Oh, the website for Women for Women International, in case you're interested, is http://www.womenforwomen.org/index.php

Anyway, I went to the meeting, and stayed after to hear about the executive committee. I'm hoping to be secretary, so now I just need to work on my statement. There are a lot of people who are interested in exec positions, so there's a pretty good chance I won't get it, but I have to at least give it a shot :)  This would be an amazing opportunity for me to really be involved in an organization that I am passionate about. So, wish me luck!

Love,
Princess Emily

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Introducing Zab! Plus, my first week of classes.

First of all, I had date #3 with Zab last night and finally got a photo to show you all!  So here is the now famous Zab!


Yay! I hope y'all appreciate how difficult it was to get that photo. He thought it was funny to hold onto the camera and keep trying to take pictures of me so I couldn't take one of him (okay, so it was pretty funny. Still annoying, though!). So, onto other important subjects, such as the classes that I am taking here in London!

My first class, the only one I have on Mondays (or really any day other than Thursday) was London in Literature. It was a lecture, although it was the smallest of my three lecture classes. It took awhile to get used to the professor's accent, but after a few minutes, I could follow along fairly well, except for random words which are pronounced differently here. It wasn't the most exciting class, but it wasn't horrible.

Moving on, I had no more classes until Thursday. On Thursdays I have my other three weekly classes. At 10AM is Moderns 1. That was easily the most entertaining lecture I've had since getting here! The professor was American and was hysterical. He was enthusiastic and made tons of jokes, like the professors back at Tulane. It almost felt like going back home. After that, I met up with Molly and we went to get lunch at a pub. I got their classic cheeseburger, and it was actually delicious! The fries were soooooo good. They weren't as crunchy as I normally like, but they were really well seasoned and not too potato-y, for lack of a better word.

After lunch, we went to Chaucer. I'd rather not discuss that class. It was horribly boring, and felt like it went on for hours and hours and hours. After that, I went to the volunteering fair, where I found out that Women for Women International is starting a group on campus! They're an amazing organization, and I'll write another post about them later, probably on Monday after the introductory meeting. Then I had my Modern English Language seminar, which is my one non-literature class. It was so much fun. The teacher is really passionate about the subject and people were really involved in the discussion. I was shocked at how much we had to discuss, considering that the class is basically a grammar class. We got sidetracked onto a talk about differences between American and British syntax, included in which was the fact that Americans say "different than" rather than "different from" and that a British speaker would say "It is important that she should do that" whereas an American would probably say "It is important that she do that," or as I would actually say it "It is important she do that."

Since seminars last two hours, I wasn't done with class until 4. After that, I went back to my room, relaxed for a bit, and then met my friend Janna at the Hard Rock Cafe for drinks. So far, London is pretty awesome and overall, I'm happy with my classes. Now, I just need to figure out a way to get through Chaucer. Oh well!

Love y'all!
Emily

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

My First Day of Classes


Today was my first actual day as a UCL student. Of course, as students here only take four classes, that meant that I had one class, at 11 AM.

I showed up to the Anatomy building a little early, so that I could find my class (yes, I am aware that it's strange for my London in Literature class to take place in the Anatomy building). Thank god I did, because that is the strangest, most confusing building I've ever been in. You enter through what is essentially a back entrance, into the basement. It does not look like an academic building and I felt as though I had walked into a horror movie. Fortunately, there was a real UCL student down there getting on the elevator, and so she reassured me that indeed, I was in the right building, and that the building did get more normal once you went up a floor. Fortunately, she was right, and I eventually found my room, which was much smaller than I was expecting.

The lecture was alright. It took me a few minutes to get used to the lecturer's accent, so fortunately it was just an overview of the subject, and the class wasn't too intense. It went a little long, but then I was free for the day! Yay! I also found out one of my seminar sections, so I managed to buy a few more books for classes. Still waiting on one class.

Afterwards, I came back to my dorm, where I found out that Susey and Hannah were planning on going to St. Paul's Cathedral. Because of the strike on the tube, we ended up walking all the way there, and by the time we showed up, they had already admitted the last people for the day, and so we didn't actually get to go inside. But we got cute photos outside!








Standing in front of the Queen Anne statue outside of St. Paul's Cathedral

Once we realized that we weren't going to be able to go to the top of St. Paul's Cathedral, or even go inside, we changed our plan and decided to find the monument that was erected as a reminder of the Great Fire and the rebuilding of London. We managed to get there, after a little bit of confusing with street signs, and climbed the 311 steps to the top. It was a long, terrifying walk (made worse by the one time that I decided to look up to see how much further we had to go. Never do that, by the way), but eventually we made it to the top and got a great view of London.



So, on the to-do list for tomorrow, go to the introductory Fencing Club meeting (yes, I'm considering taking up fencing, don't even ask what I'm thinking), Volunteer Society meeting, and buy tickets for the UCL Garba. And get some work done on my first paper, due in exactly two weeks.

Love y'all!
Princess Emily

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Date #2

Last night, I went on date #2 with Zab. The plan was to meet at Liverpool Street Station and make our way over to Brick Lane for Indian food. It didn't quite end up working out that way, but it was definitely an awesome night.

So, first of all, I don't know if anyone's ever been to Liverpool Street Station, but it's not a tiny little tube stop like the rest of them. No, Liverpool Street Station is an enormous train station. There are people everywhere, 2 or 3 different courtyards, and at least 5 exits. So, I got there and realized that there was no way that Zab and I would just be able to find each other in there. So, I went across the street to stand under the obnoxious, glowing underground sign. Unfortunately, Zab didn't understand that I had gone upstairs, and so couldn't find the sign. Eventually we decided just to meet in the middle of the main courtyard on the lower level. I couldn't see him, so I called his phone and asked where he was. He told me to turn around, and he was standing right there. Yay! And so the saga of how to find each other in the giant station ended.

Oh, and side note, I really don't care for his glasses, and I've been talking to people, trying to figure out how many dates I'd need before I could tell him he would look way more attractive with different glasses. Well, apparently, he had figured out that I liked him so much more without them, because he showed up without the glasses. Again, yay!

Zab knew somewhere that he wanted to go for dinner, so we headed out in that direction, or so we thought. We ended up completely lost, but it was alright, because it gave us some time to talk, and it was actually really funny. Eventually, we found a restaurant (not Indian, but really delicious), and ate. Then we decided to go to a bar.

The first bar we ended up in turned out to be a karaoke bar, so we hung out and watched people for awhile. It was hysterical! I have decided that I love karaoke bars, even though I will never actually sing in front of people. Then we went to another bar, and stayed there until it closed and they kicked everyone out. At that point, it was 2:30 or so, and I was getting exhausted as I'd been up since 8:30 that morning, so we made our way back to Ramsay.

All in all, it was a great night, and eventually we'll be having movie night and a cheesy touristy outing, probably to Westminster Abbey or the Tower of London. I promise that eventually there will be photos of him on facebook, so keep your eyes out!

Thursday, September 30, 2010

We're Gonna Dance All Night Because We Say So

So, after being sick for pretty much the entirety of Monday and Tuesday, I was getting really antsy to go out and do something yesterday, but it seemed like most people were going to the Freshers events which, due to a combination of my inability to do anything, such as purchase tickets, this week and the ridiculous cost of the events, I was not going to. Plus, the people that I normally hang out with weren't around last night for some reason. So, I ended up having dinner with a different group of girls last night, which actually turned out to be the best idea ever!

One of the girls, Mishaal, had a ticket for this concert at Koko, and was going with another girl from the building and one of her guy friends from another dorm. And guess who the band was? 3oh!3 !!!! And the concert wasn't sold out! Seriously?! (In case you don't know who they are, their two most famous songs are Don't Trust Me and My First Kiss). So I went back to my room, ordered a ticket and about an hour later, Mishaal, her friend Emily, and I were heading out to Koko to meet up with their friend Matt for the concert.

On the way there it started downpouring, so that we looked like drowned rats by the time we got to the line, which was two blocks long. Instead of waiting there for hours, we decided to go into the pub next door and have a few drinks and watch a bit of the game while we were waiting. We got ourselves cleaned up so that we looked presentable again, and after awhile got back in line.

Eventually, we made it into Koko, got our tickets, and attempted to find a spot. Fortunately, I had brought heels, so I could see over people's heads (the heels lasted just long enough to be able to see 3Oh!3, and then I wanted to dance, so they came off and I was in my roll-up, sparkly flats for the rest of the night). It was an amazing concert! I didn't know a whole lot of their songs, but I am definitely buying some now. There was so much energy and everyone was dancing all night long!

If you ever get the chance to see them in concert, I highly recommend it! I almost think they sound better live, and they are amazing performers. Now I'm exhausted, but that is alright with me, because last night was 100% worth it.

Random lyrics for you from I Can Do Anything

I can do anything, anything, anything I want,
anything, anything, anything I want,
anything, anything, anything I want,
It’s golden now
Why would I slow down?

Love,
Emily

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

How I Spent my Sunday Night

Alright, I know this has taken me a long time to post, but I kind of forgot about posting it until now.

So, I met this guy, Zubair (Zab)at a club last Friday and ended up dancing with him for about 4 hours. We exchanged phone numbers and made a date for Sunday night. I had an escape plan in case it turned out that he was super creepy. My friend Susey texted me at 9:30 telling me that she needed help, so I could say I needed to go if need be. Fortunately, it turned out that I didn't need to use that.

We met at the Camden Town tube station at 8PM and went to a Chinese restaurant. It was a really confusing place and it took us awhile to figure out how to order, but that was alright because it gave us some time to talk. He is a 24-year-old grad student at Metropolitan studying finance and accounting, although his real interest is in IT. He was born in Saudi Arabia and lived there through most of grammar school, then moved to India for 10 years. He now lives and studies in London.

This may seem off topic, but I promise it ties back in. Apparently someone felt that it was a good idea to bring their dog into the restaurant and let it off its leash, so towards the end of our meal, a dog suddenly jumped up and put his paws on our table, trying to get at our food. It was hysterical and we both ended up laughing about it for about the next hour. Afterward, I decided that the situation was actually a really good way to judge his character, as he could have easily freaked out. instead, he found it just as funny as I did.

After dinner, we found a pub and got some beers. However, the pub closed really early (around 11:30), which was very weird, so we left and then he asked if I'd be interested in going to his favorite bar, which is located in Covent Garden. Of course, I said sure, since I hadn't been to Covent Garden and I wasn't quite ready for the date to end, so we took the tube out there. It turns out that the last Sunday night of every month is a Flair Competition. In case you don't know, Flair is the really crazy bartending tricks, where they flip bottles in the air and juggle glasses, etc... So we ended up getting to watch almost the entire competition (except for the one guy who went before we got there) and it was amazing!We also danced a bit, obviously.

We ended up leaving around 2 in the morning, and making our way back to my dorm, which was a feat in and of itself, as I have the worst sense of direction known to man. We kissed, and I went into my dorm while he went home.

We're seeing each other again tomorrow night (going to Brick Lane for some Indian food; everyone keeps telling me it's amazing), so there will definitely be updates then!

Monday, September 27, 2010

I have made it through my first week

As it is now Monday, I have officially been in London for a week and a day. So far, I love it! Although I have yet to do touristy things. I think that will be my goal for this week, as I have recently found out that I have yet another week before we actually start going to classes and being productive around here. Number one on my list of things to do (okay, I suppose it's actually a tie for #1), find Sylvia Plath's hosue, and go to Westminster Abbey.

What I've actually been doing- I've managed to go out to pubs quite a few nights. The people on my floor are great, and we all tend to hang out together. I have also met people outside of the dorm. On Friday night, Susey (who lives on my floor with me) and Molly (another English student) went with me to this club called Koko. It's a really famous club in London and there was actually a Freshman event there last night, but it was a lot cheaper for us just to go on our own. It was amazing! There was an enormous disco ball in the center of the room and lots of flashing, colorful lights. I'm easily distracted, as you may know. Anyway, this really awesome band was playing, although I have no idea who they were, so I can't actually find their music :'( I met this guy and ended up dancing with him for about 4 hours, until finally Molly and Susey decided to cut in and let me know that it was 4 in the morning and we needed to get back to our dorm.

We ended up taking the bus back since the Underground stops running a little after midnight. We missed our stop and had to walk quite a ways, but we did eventually get back, and so all is well.

In other news, I am sick. I have been a little melodramatic all day, telling people that I am dying, but seriously, my head hurts really badly and my glands are swollen and I'm pretty congested. I've basically locked myself in my room and slept all day, so I'm starting to feel better, but I am not enjoying this one bit. If I don't feel better tomorrow, I'll have to suck it up and walk to the pharmacy to get some cold medicine. And maybe find some honey and lemon. I feel like that would help a lot. I think the illness is just a combination of travelling, rapid temperature changes, and trying to do way too much. I'll be fine, and hopefully I'll update the blog in a few days with something interesting.

Love y'all!
Princess Emily

Thursday, September 23, 2010

I have made it to London!

Hey!

I know it's been almost a week and I haven't updated the blog yet, so there may be a lot more information in this post than you actually care about, so just bear with me.

I left Chicago on Sunday and began my LONG trip to London. The problem with the flight was that I left at 6:15 Chicago time and arrived in Dublin at 1:20 Chicago time, so I was not able to fall asleep at all on the plane, as I don't normally go to bed until 1 or 2 in the morning anyway. So, I got to Dublin about 20 minutes early and raced to the gate for my flight to London. On that flight, I managed to fall asleep for about 30 minutes. Then, when we arrived in London, it was about noon London time, or 6AM Chicago time, so I was exhausted and getting a little loopy. Combine that with trying to lug two enormous suitcases around a very confusing airport, and being unable to find the taxis, after asking 2 or 3 people, and it was a very dramatic first hour in London. I eventually found the taxi and was just coherent enough to give him my address. He was very friendly and got me to my dorm, where I had to register and figure out how to get to my room (it's really confusing, even now).

As for my dorm, there are four wings, each labeled with a different world city (London, Paris, Rome, and New York). I live in New York. My floor is pretty awesome, and I like everyone that I've met here. There are usually people around and most of the time, they keep their doors open, so it's easy to just pop in and out of people's rooms. My room is a little bare and depressing, but I am planning on making a wall of postcards and letters, so if anyone wants to send me some, I'd really appreciate it!

What I have done so far since getting to London...Monday night, a few of the people from my floor and I went to a bar to watch a soccer game. After that, we came back to the dorm for a little while, and then the guys and I and a few different girls went to another, American themed, bar where they play American sports on the televisions. It was really fun, and I met some British guys who offered to buy me drinks. We got back to the dorms at about 1:30AM, which is apparently late for London. Then yesterday, we had the meetins with our departments and I have chosen my classes! I'll be taking Chaucer, Modern English Language, Modern Period I, and London in Literature. I also met some people who are also in the English department and are here for the entire year, so I won't be totally alone next semester!

Last night, a few of the girls from the floor and I went out to Soho to get dinner, and we ran across the London premiere of Eat, Pray, Love. We couldn't quite see, but we were SOOO close to Julia Roberts! It was insane, in the best possible way. Once all the celebrities went inside the theater, we left and found an Italian place where I come some amazing tortellini. We then returned to the dorm and I was apparently way more exhausted than I thought, because I fell asleep almost immediately and slept for 10 hours.

Today, I went to a talk on Living in London, which seems like it's going to be very helpful. I then made my first international friend, a girl named Janna from Germany, who I'll be hanging out with tomorrow on the London bus tour. I also signed up for a Jack the Ripper walking tour, and meant to sign up for one of the club outings, until I realized I didn't have enough cash on me at the time, so I'll just have to go back tomorrow and do that.

That's about it for now. London is awesome and I'm so glad I decided to come. There will hopefully be more updates in the near future, so until then!

Love,
Emily

Friday, September 10, 2010

Yes, I gave in.

So, despite my protestations that there was no way in hell I was going to start a blog about my study abroad trip (something about "everyone does it" and "I am way too lazy for that"), I gave up and made one. Can't guarantee you'll find this interesting, but at least I'll entertain myself!

Background,
I am a junior at Tulane University, located in New Orleans, LA. I am majoring in English and Gender and Seuxality Studies, although I will be focusing on the English half this year.

I will be spending the entirety of my junior year at University College London (UCL). I leave on September 19th and, aside from a brief return for winter break, will remain there until June. I cannot believe I have allowed myself to be deprived of bread pudding, jambalaya, jazz street musicians, and NOLA in general for an entire year, but alas, I have briefly gone insane and decided that this would be a good idea. Don't get me wrong, I am definitely excited for British accents and fish and chips! I have just realized that it would be a great help if there could be two of me, or if I could learn to time travel.

I will be updating this blog as frequently as I can (aka, as often as I remember that it exists), but in case you can't wait that long to hear from me, I can be reached by e-mail, by text, or by skype.

Love you all!
Emily, aka Princess of All the World