Ok, so I'm finally posting about my last two weeks in London. I've been home for a week now, but I need to write about stuff and finish off the report of my adventure. It's a good thing I keep a nightly journal, or I'd never be able to remember everything. I actually started a new journal just 10 days before I left London, so they majority of my adventure is in one, but not the end.
The week of the first was pretty normal, work etc. I finished the image research for a book about the many wonderful uses of bicarbonate of soda, which is the second of three books that I did all of the image research for. I had to say goodbye to my institute teacher on Thursday because I had the thing for school the last Thurs in London, and it was harder than I thought. Don't get me wrong, the people in my branch in IA are great, but I'm really going to miss the community of Saints in London, like the fact that there are actually people my own age. Institute was cool too, getting to learn from someone who is so smart and knows so much about the gospel. I'm going to miss that.
I had to give a presentation on Friday connecting something in my internship to my academic studies, which is a surprisingly stupid task for and English major in a nonfiction publishing internship. With Dad's help, I came up with a presentation that equated the precision and care of crafting fiction to the work I put into selecting images for the books I work on. I had a powerpoint of a few examples of images that I liked and corresponding ones that I didn't, of sink drains and toilets. I think people really liked it, which was good because I was really worried about it being stupid and unacademic. Friday night we went to our last London play, Twelfth Night at the same theatre where Molly and I saw Ivanov. The production was good (with Derek Jacobi as Malvolio) but it was a very safe and perhaps flat interpretation.
Saturday the sixth I went on a grand walk around London; I really just wanted to walk around and soak the city up. I started at our flat near Regent's Park and walked down to Oxford Street, from there to Charing Cross. Then I noodled around Covent Garden for a bit, shopping etc, and then took Whitehall to Westminster, where I crossed the river and followed it all the way back to the Globe. Then I recrossed to St Paul's and walked for a while until I got tired, and then tubed back to Oxford St, shopped there a bit, and walked home. I calculated later that I had walked around 6 miles, and it was an unusually gorgeous day.
Sunday was chill: I ignored my paper and started packing. I didn't have to say goodbye to church peeps because we decided to have a goodbye party on Tuesday. Before that was my birthday on Monday. I had to work for most of the day, but the night before we stayed up until midnight and took a picture of the clock, which in military time read 0:00. I think that is the coolest time. It's like New Year's every night. Anyway, after work we went out to dinner to a delicious risotto restaurant. Dad and Kathleen surprised me with a package sent from Harrods of cocoa mix and biscuits and I had a bunch of wall posts from friends and I got to talk to everyone in my family; it was a good birthday, I felt very loved. I can't believe I'm 21! So old.
Tuesday for the goodbye party we had planned to meet at Hard Rock Cafe, but I ended up being really late. I got there 45 minutes late, and I was still the first one, except for one of my friends who had come and gone already. So we ended up going to Katherine and Leslie's and just ordering pizza and hanging out. It was tough to say goodbye to people, but I was so lucky to have friends there.
Saturday, 20 December 2008
Monday, 1 December 2008
Thankful for the Long Weekend
Last week was good. The first part was normal, just work etc., but I got Thanksgiving off and I had a great long weekend. Thursday morning I went grocery shopping and there was just this holiday feeling in the air even if they don't celebrate Thanksgiving here. It's probably just me, but it felt very fresh and bustly and Christmasy. For dinner, three of my flatmates and I went to Professor Vinter's house, which was just great. I had wanted to make sure that I didn't just spend Thanksgiving hanging out like a normal day, and going to Vinter's worked out just right. She provided the turkey and everyone brought a side dish or a dessert. I made dad's sweet potatoes and they turned out pretty well, considering I was doing it from memory sans recipe, except I got a brown sugar/sweet potato stain on one of my sweatshirts (who knew that was even possible? I didn't). There were about 30 students at dinner, we were all crouching in corners with our plates, but it was a really fun time.
I'm thankful for a lot of things this year. I'm in London, having the best time, I have a new healthy beautiful baby niece, my family's all doing well (despite the obvious crushing missing of me), I have great friends, and I'm going home soon at (I think) just the right time. A good year.
Friday morning I went shopping with Erin. We had the best time shopping and being silly, it was really fun. I had wanted to buy something cool for myself before I go back to the states, a coat was what I had in mind, so we shopped along Oxford St for a while. I must have driven Erin crazy because I'm not good at committing to buying things; I shop and look and pine, but don't buy. I ended up getting a pair of really cool chucks ("Chucks would put you at the next level of cool" -Ben), but no coat. Well, I went out the next morning and bought a coat we'd looked at, red wool, and a super cute hat. Saturday I also went to Portabello Rd. Market with Beth and got some general stuff for me and not for me. Both of these days I didn't get very much done on my paper that's due on Wed. grrr.
Sunday was good, second to last church! Study Abroad really is a weird thing, that we go somewhere completely new and establish a life there, but then bag it up and head home after only a few months. Very odd. Overall, though, I must admit that I do want to go home; I had a long conversation with Ben Saturday night and it reminded me how much I miss him. Of course I'm going to miss London, and I'd love more time here without school work keeping me from everything I want to do, but home will be really nice.
Miss you guys,
See you soon!
I'm thankful for a lot of things this year. I'm in London, having the best time, I have a new healthy beautiful baby niece, my family's all doing well (despite the obvious crushing missing of me), I have great friends, and I'm going home soon at (I think) just the right time. A good year.
Friday morning I went shopping with Erin. We had the best time shopping and being silly, it was really fun. I had wanted to buy something cool for myself before I go back to the states, a coat was what I had in mind, so we shopped along Oxford St for a while. I must have driven Erin crazy because I'm not good at committing to buying things; I shop and look and pine, but don't buy. I ended up getting a pair of really cool chucks ("Chucks would put you at the next level of cool" -Ben), but no coat. Well, I went out the next morning and bought a coat we'd looked at, red wool, and a super cute hat. Saturday I also went to Portabello Rd. Market with Beth and got some general stuff for me and not for me. Both of these days I didn't get very much done on my paper that's due on Wed. grrr.
Sunday was good, second to last church! Study Abroad really is a weird thing, that we go somewhere completely new and establish a life there, but then bag it up and head home after only a few months. Very odd. Overall, though, I must admit that I do want to go home; I had a long conversation with Ben Saturday night and it reminded me how much I miss him. Of course I'm going to miss London, and I'd love more time here without school work keeping me from everything I want to do, but home will be really nice.
Miss you guys,
See you soon!
Sunday, 23 November 2008
New Niece and Thoughts on the Return
I have a new neice! She's tiny and beautiful and wonderful and I can't wait to meet her. She is one of the many things complicating the fact that I'm leaving London in three weeks. I am managing to have two extreme, conflicting emotions at once. I am really excited to go home, hold Amelia, watch movies with Ben, bug my parents, drive my car, all those great things. But at the same time I am extremely sad that this abroad adventure is ending. I really do like it here, living in the middle of the city and having so much awesome stuff at my fingertips. I think this is the best position to be in, though, because it means that both places, London and home, are both awesome. If I wasn't both sad and excited it would mean that I wasn't happy in one of those places.
I had a pretty good week, full of work and stressing/working on my big paper. At work I'm researching pictures for a book on cleaning tips. This, in comparison to researching Morocco, is boring. I mean really, who wants to look at hundreds of pictures of showerheads or car tires or carpet? But I am doing something important for the production of the book, which is a cool feeling. I went to a couple of libraries this week to do research for my paper, and it was fun exploring around with a map to find these different places. Now I actually have to read my sources, oh, and write the paper. Ugh. I'd really much prefer just enjoying my last few weeks in London. Thanks, Grinnell.
On Friday I got to go to the London temple, which was pretty cool. Going to the temple gives you such a feeling of peace and rightness. I love it. Yesterday I hung out with some church peeps; we ate chinese food and played sardines in our six story church building. Tons of fun.
I know this is a really short entry, but there really isn't that much to report in my life. See you all soon! (whether that is too soon or not soon enough, I have no coherent opinion).
Love,
I had a pretty good week, full of work and stressing/working on my big paper. At work I'm researching pictures for a book on cleaning tips. This, in comparison to researching Morocco, is boring. I mean really, who wants to look at hundreds of pictures of showerheads or car tires or carpet? But I am doing something important for the production of the book, which is a cool feeling. I went to a couple of libraries this week to do research for my paper, and it was fun exploring around with a map to find these different places. Now I actually have to read my sources, oh, and write the paper. Ugh. I'd really much prefer just enjoying my last few weeks in London. Thanks, Grinnell.
On Friday I got to go to the London temple, which was pretty cool. Going to the temple gives you such a feeling of peace and rightness. I love it. Yesterday I hung out with some church peeps; we ate chinese food and played sardines in our six story church building. Tons of fun.
I know this is a really short entry, but there really isn't that much to report in my life. See you all soon! (whether that is too soon or not soon enough, I have no coherent opinion).
Love,
Tuesday, 18 November 2008
Musing
Hey people, sorry it's been a while. I've tried to write before, but my life is kind of boring right now so there just wasn't much to say. My days are full of doing very interny things at work, not that much interesting stuff to report on that front. Once I get home I don't really want to do anything, mostly just watch the Office. I don't want to grow up and do this whole working all day thing, although at school I'd have classes, work, and then homework all evening, but it's not as exhausting because class is intermitent, work is short, and homework is followed by hanging out with friends. The reality that this adventure is ending is beginning to sink it as I passed the one month mark until I come home. I miss my family and my friends, but I really like it here and I've made friends here too and I don't want to leave. It will be good to be home too, though; I've started listing all the reasons I'm looking forward to going home.
In lieu of current events to write about, I think I'll muse on an issue I've been thinking about lately. For a long time I've said that I want to be an editor, but lately I've reconsidered this plan. For one thing, what I see editors doing at my company is not what I want to do, and while I want to work in publishing and not the nonfiction that Flame Tree does, I still have doubts. A couple days ago I was watching Elizabethtown and there was one scene that really struck me. The main character was at the viewing for his father who had just died and the actor just made the moment amazing through the most minute changes in his posture. By imperceptable degrees, he hunched his shoulders, an action which not only made him look more tentative and vulnerable in itself, but it also made the sleeves of his sports coat inch down on his fists, which made him look like a little boy in clothes too big for him. At other points in the movie there are flashbacks of him with his father when he was just a kid and it just made the moment so poignant. I want to find a career that takes advantage of the fact that I notice and love things like this. It would mean a move from a difficult to get into industry (publishing) to one even more so, and I hope I never say the phrase "make it in movies," but you never know.
I'm sure I'm giving all of my parents a heartattack with that comment, and my film studies brother, but hey, I'm finding myself in London, right? Who knows where I'll end up; I'm almost halfway through my third year of college and the real world is looming. Frankly, I'm terrified. I crave more safe years of school without having to think about my real future. Maybe that's why everyone goes to grad school.
Probably not the "this is what I did this day" you were expecting.
I want to wish my brother a happy birthday and thank him for being my best friend. Ben, you are one of the hardest things about being in this country. I miss you and I hope you have the best birthday (and that you enjoy your London present). I can't wait to watch movies with you on the couch at home and listen to music together. I love you.
Good night
In lieu of current events to write about, I think I'll muse on an issue I've been thinking about lately. For a long time I've said that I want to be an editor, but lately I've reconsidered this plan. For one thing, what I see editors doing at my company is not what I want to do, and while I want to work in publishing and not the nonfiction that Flame Tree does, I still have doubts. A couple days ago I was watching Elizabethtown and there was one scene that really struck me. The main character was at the viewing for his father who had just died and the actor just made the moment amazing through the most minute changes in his posture. By imperceptable degrees, he hunched his shoulders, an action which not only made him look more tentative and vulnerable in itself, but it also made the sleeves of his sports coat inch down on his fists, which made him look like a little boy in clothes too big for him. At other points in the movie there are flashbacks of him with his father when he was just a kid and it just made the moment so poignant. I want to find a career that takes advantage of the fact that I notice and love things like this. It would mean a move from a difficult to get into industry (publishing) to one even more so, and I hope I never say the phrase "make it in movies," but you never know.
I'm sure I'm giving all of my parents a heartattack with that comment, and my film studies brother, but hey, I'm finding myself in London, right? Who knows where I'll end up; I'm almost halfway through my third year of college and the real world is looming. Frankly, I'm terrified. I crave more safe years of school without having to think about my real future. Maybe that's why everyone goes to grad school.
Probably not the "this is what I did this day" you were expecting.
I want to wish my brother a happy birthday and thank him for being my best friend. Ben, you are one of the hardest things about being in this country. I miss you and I hope you have the best birthday (and that you enjoy your London present). I can't wait to watch movies with you on the couch at home and listen to music together. I love you.
Good night
Sunday, 9 November 2008
Starting the Internship and Actually Being a Social Animal
Lots of stuff to report on this week, mainly 1) the beginning of my internship and 2) my crazy busy weekend.
1)
The first day was rather overwhelming, as first days tend to be. I’m doing my internship in a company of about two dozen people and I don’t appear to have a direct supervisor, so my services are pretty much up for grabs. I worked on projects for five different people my first day, most of them in my department (which appears to be basically the editing area) but not all of my tasks fell under that umbrella. Some of the tasks I did last week were to:
- write polite rejection letters to people who sent in unsolicited manuscripts
- editing the format of a huge guitar book
- removing all of the english from four books so that they could be printed in dutch with the same picture format
- creating barcodes
- updating a database of freelance editors, authors, proofreader, and indexers ( Flame tree itself does not appear to employ these types of positions but instead hires on a short term basis as need arises.)
- Americanizing a couple of annotated tables of contents
- organizing and downloading images for several calendars (In this company at least, the selection of what images correspond to which month is not the intricate and scientific process I had thought it was. It is, in fact, the first task given to the new intern on her very first day. )
The workplace is for the most part one large room divided into sections for the various departments. Everywhere where there isn’t a desk (and there are lots of them) is a bookshelf crammed with Flame Tree publications; the bookshelf across from my desk is filled with books in other languages. There is music playing all the time, louder in some places of the office, a varied mix of easy listening with some more funk and hip hop tunes wedged in. The brits drink an amazing amount of tea. I was probably offered tea of coffee by four different people half a dozen times before they realized that I don’t drink either, and that wasn’t the last time they asked each other. My desk is on the fringe of the editing area, next to a guy named Jordi; I cannot for the life of me figure out what he does. It’s interesting how into the American elections the brits are. A lot of my coworkers were asking me about it and I noticed multiple conversations about Obama and McCain.
You already got the wonderful blow by blow of my election experience. The next day I went out and bought four different newspapers because I was so excited that Obama was on the front page of all of them. So exciting. Wednesday night we watched V for Vendetta, as it was the fifth of November and that movie is so centered on that day and Guy Fawkes.
2)
This week was aparently the week to have a million church activities - I didn't go to them all and I still had a really busy week. For the last three nights I haven't gotten home before 11 - pretty amazing for little old me. Institute on Thursday as usual. There was a dance on Friday, but I didn't go. I gave it a try last time and it's just not my cup of tea. I shouldn't be surprised, I've never been one for huge crowds of people. Instead I went to the house of a couple of my church friends (the same one's whose house I ate at a few weeks ago) and we watched a movie. It was really fun to hang out with them and nice to do something other than just watch a movie in the flat. Saturday was very full - I'm becoming quite the social butterfly. It started with going to Quantum of Solace (which was awesome!) with some friends from church. There was a talent show at church that night, so instead of going home just to turn right back around, I went to Katherine and Leslie's again with Trey and we all played monopoly. Oh yeah, mormons know how to have a good time. That evening we headed over to the church for the talent show, which was basically exactly what you would expect from a church talent show - various female singers, a euphonium, a guy drinking water, some really random and odd dancing, and two guys on guitar hero, among other things. Today was a pretty normal sunday - avoiding work and going to church. As part of our internships we have to take a class that includes a BUNCH of stupid work that we were not warned about. That's what I was avoiding. I also finally found a way to watch the office online, so there was that too. I am amazingly tired right now, which is unfortunate because I should have spent the weekend resting up for the week, not getting more tired. Ah well.
I hope all is well in the first western country to elect a black president!
Miss you guys
1)
The first day was rather overwhelming, as first days tend to be. I’m doing my internship in a company of about two dozen people and I don’t appear to have a direct supervisor, so my services are pretty much up for grabs. I worked on projects for five different people my first day, most of them in my department (which appears to be basically the editing area) but not all of my tasks fell under that umbrella. Some of the tasks I did last week were to:
- write polite rejection letters to people who sent in unsolicited manuscripts
- editing the format of a huge guitar book
- removing all of the english from four books so that they could be printed in dutch with the same picture format
- creating barcodes
- updating a database of freelance editors, authors, proofreader, and indexers ( Flame tree itself does not appear to employ these types of positions but instead hires on a short term basis as need arises.)
- Americanizing a couple of annotated tables of contents
- organizing and downloading images for several calendars (In this company at least, the selection of what images correspond to which month is not the intricate and scientific process I had thought it was. It is, in fact, the first task given to the new intern on her very first day. )
The workplace is for the most part one large room divided into sections for the various departments. Everywhere where there isn’t a desk (and there are lots of them) is a bookshelf crammed with Flame Tree publications; the bookshelf across from my desk is filled with books in other languages. There is music playing all the time, louder in some places of the office, a varied mix of easy listening with some more funk and hip hop tunes wedged in. The brits drink an amazing amount of tea. I was probably offered tea of coffee by four different people half a dozen times before they realized that I don’t drink either, and that wasn’t the last time they asked each other. My desk is on the fringe of the editing area, next to a guy named Jordi; I cannot for the life of me figure out what he does. It’s interesting how into the American elections the brits are. A lot of my coworkers were asking me about it and I noticed multiple conversations about Obama and McCain.
You already got the wonderful blow by blow of my election experience. The next day I went out and bought four different newspapers because I was so excited that Obama was on the front page of all of them. So exciting. Wednesday night we watched V for Vendetta, as it was the fifth of November and that movie is so centered on that day and Guy Fawkes.
2)
This week was aparently the week to have a million church activities - I didn't go to them all and I still had a really busy week. For the last three nights I haven't gotten home before 11 - pretty amazing for little old me. Institute on Thursday as usual. There was a dance on Friday, but I didn't go. I gave it a try last time and it's just not my cup of tea. I shouldn't be surprised, I've never been one for huge crowds of people. Instead I went to the house of a couple of my church friends (the same one's whose house I ate at a few weeks ago) and we watched a movie. It was really fun to hang out with them and nice to do something other than just watch a movie in the flat. Saturday was very full - I'm becoming quite the social butterfly. It started with going to Quantum of Solace (which was awesome!) with some friends from church. There was a talent show at church that night, so instead of going home just to turn right back around, I went to Katherine and Leslie's again with Trey and we all played monopoly. Oh yeah, mormons know how to have a good time. That evening we headed over to the church for the talent show, which was basically exactly what you would expect from a church talent show - various female singers, a euphonium, a guy drinking water, some really random and odd dancing, and two guys on guitar hero, among other things. Today was a pretty normal sunday - avoiding work and going to church. As part of our internships we have to take a class that includes a BUNCH of stupid work that we were not warned about. That's what I was avoiding. I also finally found a way to watch the office online, so there was that too. I am amazingly tired right now, which is unfortunate because I should have spent the weekend resting up for the week, not getting more tired. Ah well.
I hope all is well in the first western country to elect a black president!
Miss you guys
Tuesday, 4 November 2008
Report from the Middle of the Storm
It is a quarter to midnight here, making it almost 6 in the evening at home. I am conducting an experiment as I wait for the election results in my jammies. I went to bed at about 8 and set my alarm for 11:30. My plan is to then to go back to sleep after I find out what way the world is going. I am so scared and hyper and hopeful. This is truly an historic evening.
Back to my record of the Wales adventure. Tuesday. We spent this day in Conwy, exploring and shopping. It rained a lot, of course, but we were well dressed and ended up having a pretty good time with it, I think. We went to the castle, which was pretty cool, and then spent most of the afternoon shopping at the little shops in town. I keep buying things, and thinking I'm spending too much, but the things I buy are usually for other people. I need to figure out how to buy souvenirs for myself. After shopping we went back to the hostel in an attempt to regain feeling in our feet, and then headed back out again for a while. Conwy, like many other Welsh towns built by Edward way back in the 1200's, has town walls that go all the way around the original town. Most of the circut is open for pedestrians, so we hiked around lots of that. It was really fun and pretty, due in part to the hail that fell throughout much of the walk. I'm really glad mom and I stayed positive (and even a little silly) in the crumby weather. We ate at a little Indian restaurant that was quite tasty and then turned in early once again.
They've called projections for Kentucky (McCain) and Vermont (Obama). Lots of other states are taking longer to report than was expected (yet, this is expected).
Just called S. Carolina (McCain).
Wednesday we took a roundabout bus route to a town called Betws-y-Coed, which was significantly more touristy than Conwy. It was also, amazingly, rainier and colder. We went on a hike in the mountains and got pretty much completely soaked, but I still think we had a good time. Mom's knee was bugging her, which made the experience less enjoyable for her, and the issue continued to plague her the whole time she was here. I hope she is feeling better now. Slogging in the mud was fun-
Just called Pennsylvania. OBAMA!
-but once we got back to the hostel, we couldn't bring ourselves to put back on our soggy shoes. So once again we ate at the hostel.
Now might be a good time to mention that I'm following the election through BBC on TV as well as CNN, MSNBC, and Reuters online, at this point. At this point: McCain 34, Obama 103. Keep it up.
Thursday is what we would call a bust. It was the day of missing trains. We did have a good time in the morning though; we visited Caernarfon and saw another totally cool castle. This one was in much better shape and had tons of cool passageways all through the walls etc. We had a really good time racing up to the tops of the turrets with our backpacks to take pictures and then back down because it was so cold. It was after leaving this town that we kind of started to fail. We took a bus to a town called Porthmadog where we had wanted to catch a scenic narrow-gauge train that mom had heard about. Well, we got off at the normal train station and then discovered that we actually wanted to be at a different train station across town. By the time we got there, we'd missed the train, and of course, by the time we got back to the normal train station, we had missed the train to our next hostel town too. So we hiked back across town to the information center to get the train/buses figured our to get to our hostel and then waited at the train station for our train. By the time we got to the hostel (which involved a train change in a town I can't spell) we were once again exhausted and just ready for bed. The day kind of disappeared in travel.
Friday was our last day in Wales. We had a hearty breakfast at the hostel and then left for a hike along the coast. The plan was to take our backpacks and hike to the next town over where we would catch the train to leave Wales. The hike was something like 7 miles and we were told it would take about two hours. With our backpacks and mom's knee, it ended up taking us 4 hours. We had planned to get to the destination town two hours before our train was scheduled to depart. We got there with 10 minutes to spare. (I prayed really hard for both of us and it worked.) That train took us all the way to Shrewsbury, where we ate dinner and then waited (for a long time) for our train back to London. It was so great to be back in the flat.
2:00 am, 15 states polls close. Results: McCain 76 Obama 175. We're getting there.
Saturday was another day in London. In the morning we went to Borough Market and wandered around there. I think Mom had a good time exploring the crowded market and we bought some tasty goodies. After that we returned once again to Thorntons to get a final stock of delicious toffees. We had tickets to a matinee of the Lion King and it was absolutely amazing. The first song was so inspiring and stimulating that it made me cry. The show was just so cool. I'm so glad we got a chance to see it, in London, and that I got to see it with mom. After that we went back to the flat and then ate dinner at an Indian restaurant near home.
Oh my goodness, BBC just called Ohio in favor of Obama. This is amazing. This should be it.
Dropping Mom off at the airport on Sunday morning was tough, but we had such a great week. I'm so glad she came, it was so wonderful. Church was good that afternoon. It was good to be back after not having been there for a week and a half. I love church.
3:00 am. Obama gets IA. (McCain 135, Obama 207)
4:00 am. Polls close on the west coast. Obama wins CA and Washingon.
OBAMA WINS! We have elected our first black president. I have so much joy in my heart at this moment. This is it, this is the first step towards change.
Good morning. To more than just November 5.
Back to my record of the Wales adventure. Tuesday. We spent this day in Conwy, exploring and shopping. It rained a lot, of course, but we were well dressed and ended up having a pretty good time with it, I think. We went to the castle, which was pretty cool, and then spent most of the afternoon shopping at the little shops in town. I keep buying things, and thinking I'm spending too much, but the things I buy are usually for other people. I need to figure out how to buy souvenirs for myself. After shopping we went back to the hostel in an attempt to regain feeling in our feet, and then headed back out again for a while. Conwy, like many other Welsh towns built by Edward way back in the 1200's, has town walls that go all the way around the original town. Most of the circut is open for pedestrians, so we hiked around lots of that. It was really fun and pretty, due in part to the hail that fell throughout much of the walk. I'm really glad mom and I stayed positive (and even a little silly) in the crumby weather. We ate at a little Indian restaurant that was quite tasty and then turned in early once again.
They've called projections for Kentucky (McCain) and Vermont (Obama). Lots of other states are taking longer to report than was expected (yet, this is expected).
Just called S. Carolina (McCain).
Wednesday we took a roundabout bus route to a town called Betws-y-Coed, which was significantly more touristy than Conwy. It was also, amazingly, rainier and colder. We went on a hike in the mountains and got pretty much completely soaked, but I still think we had a good time. Mom's knee was bugging her, which made the experience less enjoyable for her, and the issue continued to plague her the whole time she was here. I hope she is feeling better now. Slogging in the mud was fun-
Just called Pennsylvania. OBAMA!
-but once we got back to the hostel, we couldn't bring ourselves to put back on our soggy shoes. So once again we ate at the hostel.
Now might be a good time to mention that I'm following the election through BBC on TV as well as CNN, MSNBC, and Reuters online, at this point. At this point: McCain 34, Obama 103. Keep it up.
Thursday is what we would call a bust. It was the day of missing trains. We did have a good time in the morning though; we visited Caernarfon and saw another totally cool castle. This one was in much better shape and had tons of cool passageways all through the walls etc. We had a really good time racing up to the tops of the turrets with our backpacks to take pictures and then back down because it was so cold. It was after leaving this town that we kind of started to fail. We took a bus to a town called Porthmadog where we had wanted to catch a scenic narrow-gauge train that mom had heard about. Well, we got off at the normal train station and then discovered that we actually wanted to be at a different train station across town. By the time we got there, we'd missed the train, and of course, by the time we got back to the normal train station, we had missed the train to our next hostel town too. So we hiked back across town to the information center to get the train/buses figured our to get to our hostel and then waited at the train station for our train. By the time we got to the hostel (which involved a train change in a town I can't spell) we were once again exhausted and just ready for bed. The day kind of disappeared in travel.
Friday was our last day in Wales. We had a hearty breakfast at the hostel and then left for a hike along the coast. The plan was to take our backpacks and hike to the next town over where we would catch the train to leave Wales. The hike was something like 7 miles and we were told it would take about two hours. With our backpacks and mom's knee, it ended up taking us 4 hours. We had planned to get to the destination town two hours before our train was scheduled to depart. We got there with 10 minutes to spare. (I prayed really hard for both of us and it worked.) That train took us all the way to Shrewsbury, where we ate dinner and then waited (for a long time) for our train back to London. It was so great to be back in the flat.
2:00 am, 15 states polls close. Results: McCain 76 Obama 175. We're getting there.
Saturday was another day in London. In the morning we went to Borough Market and wandered around there. I think Mom had a good time exploring the crowded market and we bought some tasty goodies. After that we returned once again to Thorntons to get a final stock of delicious toffees. We had tickets to a matinee of the Lion King and it was absolutely amazing. The first song was so inspiring and stimulating that it made me cry. The show was just so cool. I'm so glad we got a chance to see it, in London, and that I got to see it with mom. After that we went back to the flat and then ate dinner at an Indian restaurant near home.
Oh my goodness, BBC just called Ohio in favor of Obama. This is amazing. This should be it.
Dropping Mom off at the airport on Sunday morning was tough, but we had such a great week. I'm so glad she came, it was so wonderful. Church was good that afternoon. It was good to be back after not having been there for a week and a half. I love church.
3:00 am. Obama gets IA. (McCain 135, Obama 207)
4:00 am. Polls close on the west coast. Obama wins CA and Washingon.
OBAMA WINS! We have elected our first black president. I have so much joy in my heart at this moment. This is it, this is the first step towards change.
Good morning. To more than just November 5.
Monday, 3 November 2008
A Wales of a Tale
Me and my puns. Forgive me.
Hello People! Welcome to part one of me catching up on my blog. Tonight you will be treated to the Wales adventure, followed by the report of my internship that I know you are all dying for in the next couple days.
Mom arrived safely last Saturday. It was so exciting to go to the airport and pick her up - I had been so focused on the end of classes, both my sadness that they were over and my stressing over finals, that I kind of forgot to be excited so it all came at once right around Friday. We stopped off at the flat and then wandered down to the Charing Cross area and Covent Gardens. We discovered that that was one of the places we had gone when we were here four years ago. We went to the toffee place and got treats for others, but sadly, those didn't make it very loud (we ate them). We ate dinner at a risotto restaurant on my way to school that has always intrigued me. We had shared two different kinds; one of them was butternut squash with sage and it was one of the most delicious things I have tasted. I am definitely going to have to go back there.
Sunday was full of more brisk wandering - no church, sorry. First we went back to the West End to buy tickets to the Lion King for the next Saturday. It rained torrentially. Foreshadowing? For lunch we went back to the Pakistani restaurant where we ate for my globo class; I had wanted to take mom there and I'm so glad I did, even if it involved a little nervous adventuring. I love London because you can get on the tube and get off in what seems like another world. In a matter of minutes we left the theatre district of the West End and stepped out next to a mosque where we could hear chanted prayers. Totally cool. The food was of course to die for once again. After that end of the world, we went to Camden Market, which let me tell you is even more alien than the last neighborhood. I never would have thought that I would walk down a street and look into shops with rows of two foot neon bongs. Totally bizzare. I did buy a cool hoodie though, that is in no way related to bongs.
Monday morning we left for Wales. We got into Chester, the first leg of our journey, around lunch time. We decided to check out the town a bit, but the weather was cruddy and it made us rather grumpy. Luckily, it improved sufficient for us to enjoy a walk on the town walls and some pasties. The next train was the one to Conwy, where we were staying for three nights. Unfortuantely, the stop for Conwy was "request only," so we had to alert the conductor that we wanted to get off there. One glich in the system was, however, that WE COULD NOT FIND THE CONDUCTOR. Mom literally went up and down the whole train more than once and he was hiding, I swear. He turned up just in time for us to get off though, but at that point we were both exhausted from the stress of a day of traveling. That, coupled with the premature darkness brought on by daylight savings last Saturday night, made us rather lethargic once we reached the hostel tired and soggy. We had planned to go back into town for dinner, but we ended up staying in, eating at the hostel, and going to bed at 9:00. Disgusting, but delicious.
Ok, I know I made bold promises, but I'm tired and I'm going to bed. I am so stressed about the election. I'm not sure what I'm going to do tomorrow, but it will probably involve me being up at 3 in the morning. I just found out that Obama's grandmother died. How sad, and oddly timely. She believes we have it in the bag -COME ON THE REST OF AMERICA. THIS IS THE MOST INTENSE LARGE SCALE THING I'VE EVER EXPERIENCED. LOOK AT THIS, I NEVER WRITE IN ALL CAPS BUT I'M SO STRESSED/SCARED/HYPER/ELATED/NERVOUS/HOPEFUL/EVERTHING ELSE THAT THERE IS NO OTHER WAY TO EXPRESS THE YELLING IN MY BRAIN.
Ok, I've calmed down a bit now. Go Obama!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GOODNIGHT
Hello People! Welcome to part one of me catching up on my blog. Tonight you will be treated to the Wales adventure, followed by the report of my internship that I know you are all dying for in the next couple days.
Mom arrived safely last Saturday. It was so exciting to go to the airport and pick her up - I had been so focused on the end of classes, both my sadness that they were over and my stressing over finals, that I kind of forgot to be excited so it all came at once right around Friday. We stopped off at the flat and then wandered down to the Charing Cross area and Covent Gardens. We discovered that that was one of the places we had gone when we were here four years ago. We went to the toffee place and got treats for others, but sadly, those didn't make it very loud (we ate them). We ate dinner at a risotto restaurant on my way to school that has always intrigued me. We had shared two different kinds; one of them was butternut squash with sage and it was one of the most delicious things I have tasted. I am definitely going to have to go back there.
Sunday was full of more brisk wandering - no church, sorry. First we went back to the West End to buy tickets to the Lion King for the next Saturday. It rained torrentially. Foreshadowing? For lunch we went back to the Pakistani restaurant where we ate for my globo class; I had wanted to take mom there and I'm so glad I did, even if it involved a little nervous adventuring. I love London because you can get on the tube and get off in what seems like another world. In a matter of minutes we left the theatre district of the West End and stepped out next to a mosque where we could hear chanted prayers. Totally cool. The food was of course to die for once again. After that end of the world, we went to Camden Market, which let me tell you is even more alien than the last neighborhood. I never would have thought that I would walk down a street and look into shops with rows of two foot neon bongs. Totally bizzare. I did buy a cool hoodie though, that is in no way related to bongs.
Monday morning we left for Wales. We got into Chester, the first leg of our journey, around lunch time. We decided to check out the town a bit, but the weather was cruddy and it made us rather grumpy. Luckily, it improved sufficient for us to enjoy a walk on the town walls and some pasties. The next train was the one to Conwy, where we were staying for three nights. Unfortuantely, the stop for Conwy was "request only," so we had to alert the conductor that we wanted to get off there. One glich in the system was, however, that WE COULD NOT FIND THE CONDUCTOR. Mom literally went up and down the whole train more than once and he was hiding, I swear. He turned up just in time for us to get off though, but at that point we were both exhausted from the stress of a day of traveling. That, coupled with the premature darkness brought on by daylight savings last Saturday night, made us rather lethargic once we reached the hostel tired and soggy. We had planned to go back into town for dinner, but we ended up staying in, eating at the hostel, and going to bed at 9:00. Disgusting, but delicious.
Ok, I know I made bold promises, but I'm tired and I'm going to bed. I am so stressed about the election. I'm not sure what I'm going to do tomorrow, but it will probably involve me being up at 3 in the morning. I just found out that Obama's grandmother died. How sad, and oddly timely. She believes we have it in the bag -COME ON THE REST OF AMERICA. THIS IS THE MOST INTENSE LARGE SCALE THING I'VE EVER EXPERIENCED. LOOK AT THIS, I NEVER WRITE IN ALL CAPS BUT I'M SO STRESSED/SCARED/HYPER/ELATED/NERVOUS/HOPEFUL/EVERTHING ELSE THAT THERE IS NO OTHER WAY TO EXPRESS THE YELLING IN MY BRAIN.
Ok, I've calmed down a bit now. Go Obama!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GOODNIGHT
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