Recap

So, I went to Scotland and Ireland for 10 days. I'm back in the swing of school and my aunt Shauna is in town. Busy, much?

Ireland was gorgeous. The countryside is intoxicating. At one point we stopped at a beach and I'm not quite sure I've been happier than I was in that moment during my time abroad. The water seems to calm me and excite me in ways that no other scenery can. Dublin was a dirty city. We stayed right in Temple Bar area which is notorious for being a tourist area where they only drink, drink and drink some more. So, it was gross. There were people throwing up on the side of the road and everyone was so loud. Definitely interesting. I had tons more fun on our 3 day tour of Ireland. The tour group was amazing (made so many Australian friends!) and the guide, Kev, told many Irish folk stories and that was a lot of fun. We stopped in a faerie ring and we got to go in to some caves that are hundreds of thousands of years old. They were gorgeous! We stopped one night in a town with only 4 pubs and some amazing live music. We bumped in to some fellow Pacific Northwesters (in a tiny town in Ireland...) and they bought us a round of drinks! They were probably my parents age and one of them has a kid at UPS! Crazy, right? She's a freshman and I had to keep reminding them that because we're abroad we haven't met her yet! We went to the Guinness storehouse where I learned to pour the perfect pint (and then enjoy it) and it was a lot of fun. I was sick by this time, but we made the most of what we had. It was definitely good times in Ireland.

Scotland felt like going home. I feel such a familial connection there that I was overwhelmed with my love for Caledonia! Our hostel ended up being quite sketchy and we tried to stay out of it for as much time as possible... BUT! Edinburgh was a fantastically haunted city. (Even if my mom is skeptical). We did another 3 day tour, but this time of Scotland. We saw so many castles and Loch Ness, the Isle of Skye, Glencoe, and so many other sites. We went to the castle that Made of Honor was filmed at! And we saw the castle that Monty Python and the Holy Grail was filmed at! We went to the William Wallace monument which was really cool! We saw Hamish the hairy cow. (they call them coo's though) Our tour guide told terrible (but AMAZING) jokes! The tour group was a bit different this time. They were younger (more our age) and had their hopes mainly set on getting drunk, but I was sick and didn't really feel like wasting my time and money on alcohol. Edinburgh was fantastic as well. We did a ghost tour late at night where we got to go into the vaults of Edinburgh. We also did a free walking tour and I fell in love with our guide. We even went to the cafe where JK Rowling wrote Harry Potter! We were sitting at a table that had drawers and hundreds of notes in them. We contributed our own notes as well. It was so much fun. The last day there Melissa and I went to the Edinburgh Castle and it was really cool. We got to see the honors and the stone of destiny!

Overall our time was fantastic! There were some ups and downs that come with being with the same people for 10 days straight, but we had fun. I'm still a bit sick, but recovering. I just need some good sleep and rest.

Shauna, like I said, is in town and we went to dinner and a musical last night. We saw Avenue Q and it was absolutely hilarious! Exactly what we both needed, a good laugh. I'm seeing her again tonight and I have no idea what we're doing. But I know it will be entertaining.

I'm missing my family more than ever. I love these experiences, but I will be ready to be home when I go.


Cheers!
Kaitlin

Goodbye London, Hello Ireland and Scotland.

So, I'm going on vacation. hahahaha funny, right? I'm already on vacation, kind of. Well, for 10 days I will be in Ireland and then Scotland.


Wish me luck.


There will be a lengthy blog afterward, I'm sure.



Cheers!
Kaitlin

Mid-Term week is looming...

Hello all,

Well, it's about 24 hours until the insanity of mid-term week. I have finished 3 of my 6 papers and I'm about halfway done with my 4th. Movin' and groovin'. It's interesting how during the semester it seems like we had NOTHING to do and then all of a sudden BOOM homework out the wazoo. Oh well. I'm somehow managing to keep my sanity.

Monday and Tuesday night I will be seeing plays. Monday is The Comedians. It's a play about evening classes (they love those here) and a group of men that want to leave their day jobs to become comedians. On Tuesday we will be seeing Othello in Trafalger Square. It looks like it will be a really cool adaptation. I'm pretty excited about it.

Thursday evening I will be leaving with a few friends to visit Ireland and Scotland for 10 days. In Ireland we are taking a 3 day tour around the country and then spending one full day in Dublin. Don't you worry, I will be visiting the Guinness factor! When we get to Scotland we will be doing another 3 day tour of the country and we have saved 2 full days in Edinburgh to see what all is going on there. It is a little bit stressful trying to write papers, study for tests AND prepare for a 10 day vacation. Yea, poor me, right?

We went to Bath on Friday for a day trip. It really is a beautiful city and worth seeing. I feel like our mutual stress about mid-terms made the experience a little less fun. Oh well. We had some pad thai and Alyssa and I found some crepes. Yes, Nutella and caramel with a scoop of blackberry gelato. It rained and was chilly the entire time we were there which was kind of nice because it felt a little more like Tacoma. It's really really strange how sunny it has been. I shouldn't be complaining, but isn't London supposed to be super rainy all the time?!

I'm excited for a package my mom sent me. I haven't received it yet, but it has one of my favorite sweatshirts and I just can't wait to bundle up in that. Reminders of home are always nice.

Back to my paper... but first here is a picture from PostSecret that I absolutely love and adore.



Cheers!
Kaitlin

I'm avoiding writing papers. So...

So, I was reading Claire's blog and I really liked that she showed her room. So, I thought I'd copy her. (isn't that the best form of flattery?) I'm going to give you a little sneak peak into our room (mine and Melissa's) because I'm 100% positive you're dying to know where I'm living!


These are the rules of the house.


This is my bed that will give me back problems for the rest of my life. And don't worry, Pinky made the journey over just fine.


I am currently sitting in that chair and typing on my computer. This is the only thing separating me and Melissa. Our beds are vurry vurry close together. Its quite a small room for two people, but we manage quite well.


This is the view from our room. Alice has a large apple tree (its on the upper right) and that is where our apple desserts come from. You might be thinking "apple dessert! awesome!" Well, the same dessert (and having dessert) every night gets to be too much. Would it kill us to eat something healthy? I think my host mom thinks so.


Well, this is where I'm living. One of these days I'll put up a picture of the front of the house. Its quite quaint.

Alice got us a treat last night for dinner. Fish 'n' Chips. If you know me then you know how difficult that was for me. Me + Seafood = No Bueno. Its the kind where the scales are still on it. Yuck. And I'm still a smidge sick and it was basically a giant greaseball. Not so good for the body. I feel bad because she thought she was being so awesome to us. But really I secretly feel like she is trying to kill me. I also (after eating it) explained that I don't really like seafood and she proceeded to tell us where we can get some more if we'd like. Really?... REALLY?

Anyway. I should probably start writing my essays. I spent all day yesterday procrastinating...

OH. I also have postcards! and will be mailing them soon. So, if you are reading this and don't receive a postcard... I'm really sorry... They're kind of expensive. But I will try and send out as many as I can!

Cheers!
Kaitlin

P.S. London is a dirty dirty city. Proof:

This is a wall and all that black stuff is dirt, exhaust, and other gross things in the air.

Miss Sniffles

So, here it is. Cold season. Oh, and not to mention. Everyone in London is within such close quarters that I'm pretty positive the entire city has a cold. We went to see All's Well That End's Well at the National Theatre last night and it was almost hard to hear over the sniffles, coughs, and sneezes. Seriously. I've got a cold and hopefully that's it. My throat hurts, my nose is congested and I've got lovely headaches. I hate being sick and the feeling is amplified because I'm on a different continent. I don't want to be complainy, but I really hate it.

I've been here a few days short of a month. Isn't that crazy? I still feel like I have no routine and that every day is overwhelming and new. Sometimes all I want is a routine that keeps me busy. All this free time is overwhelming. London is such a huge city and I have a lot of free time! What am I supposed to do with myself?!?!? I still haven't adventured much in to the nightlife here. I'm usually busy and I'm so tired by the end of the day that going out at night seems too exhausting!

I had the realization the other day while taking the Tube home that London IS my campus. Isn't that crazy to think about? This massive and historical city is where I roam as a student. I want to become more familiar with my surroundings and really make London feel like another home to me, but its tougher than I originally expected.

Don't get me wrong, I'm enjoying it here. It's just a different experience than I was expecting. I will be writing papers in preparation for mid-terms which are in 2 weeks. Here's the good news: in exactly 2 weeks I will be spending 10 days in Ireland and Scotland. This is real and so exciting. I'm falling in love more with the people every day. Catching someones eye and smiling has become a little game that I enjoy on public transportation. I'm finding pleasure in the smaller moments rather than the moments that I expected to enjoy so thoroughly.

Also, I absolutely adore seeing at least one play a week. It really makes me happy. I feel like its Christmas day every time I show my ticket, take my seat, and the lights go down.

Well, I'm sleepy and sniffly and watching CSI. Time for bed! This post was a bit pointless. I just felt the overwhelming need to complain a smidge. I'm sure the next one will be more optimistic. I'm hanging out with Jesse and Stephanie tomorrow and we're going to the Tate Modern and possibly Hyde Park. My slice of UPS in the midst of crazy London. ALSO. there is a commercial with laughing babies! Oh, the British are so clever. They know how to make me smile! Okay, bed time.

Cheers!
Kaitlin