This one is for you Kelley (although you might not be reading this)

So I have decided to do a complete blog on the various birds that I have seen around my campus. Now these birds are mainly various water fowl including ducks, geese, swans, seagulls, some little black bird with a white head that looks similar to a kiwi...but with a short beak, and then of course pigeons (which aren't really water fowl...but they do drink water and smell fowl).

Well lets start with what I see everyday...out my kitchen (and now bedroom) window:

Two (sometimes four) Ducks... Normally Mallards in their nice little pairs, male and female. These are also the type of bird that has not found my window...I think they like me.

Two (sometimes just one) Geese...these do not show up every day like the ducks...they come occasionally and if they do not get fed they leave. The type that we have on campus (and that come see us) are Greylag Geese.

Two black swans...who make this funny noise...and I am a little afraid of. Because they have such long necks they can almost get to the crack in the window where we drop food out of and so I am a little afraid to feed them...or go near them...I guess after looking them up on a few different pages that they must be Mute Swans but they are black...with pinkish beaks instead and they do make a noise. These show up occasionally as well, although they have been more frequent than the geese.

Then the mystery bird. These are all over the campus but I cannot really seem to find out what they are...oh wait...there they are...they are Coots. The funny things about these are their feet. They are bigger then their own head. Which I think makes them look really peculiar.

There are other forms of ducks...I think this website has a pretty good selection...but i haven't seen all of these... http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdidentifier/form.asp#

I think my favorite bird on campus though are these: ok well they are either Bar-headed Geese or Barnacle geese...I have only seen them from afar and they look really pretty (yes Kelley I think they are pretty) so yea. Hopefully I will get some pictures myself and then post them on here...someway...haven't figured that out yet.

OH yea then there are the seagulls that fly around and screech their heads off and the pigeons that you have to watch out for...because there are a few overhangs that they can perch on...and poop from.

I have heard some really pretty sounding song birds, and seen some crows...but that is all with the normal birds.

Anyway this is all the wildlife I have seen...water fowl. I know its kinda pathetic, I thought that I would have seen a fox by now...and maybe heard an owl. But no luck.

Well I'm off to bed. Hope you enjoyed this. Will publish more about my daily life at another time.

so...its been another week.

This past week I started class...which went alright. Monday we had a lecture that was just an overview of what we would be learning in this module (thats what they call class here) and then some basic stuff about Postcolonial lit and how it works with other lit etc. etc. etc. I have to admit that this was one of the best lectures I have ever sat through though, not because the guy giving the lecture had a really cool british accent...but because he really knew his stuff. He was able to really explain everything and at the same time come off his notes and give examples or pronunciations or spellings or just more general knowledge to us. Sadly, he did get interrupted by the fact that we had to leave...so we never really finished the lecture, but still the fact that I came out of a 9:15 lecture really happy and really feeling like I got something was really nice.

I then didn't have class till 1:15 that same day. This lecture of course didn't pick up where he left off...it wasn't even the same person. Instead it was over the library and how to work the online stuff...boring!...but helpful...kinda. Anyway the library system here is not as extensive as at U of I where every department has their own library and then there is the Undergrad and the Main Stacks as well, no instead it is all in one building...but their online resources trump U of I's by tenfold. I have to admit that the library is really nice. They don't have a cafe right inside or next to it, which makes me really sad...but the places to work are really nice and big and quiet, and the stacks are really easy to get through...and they have something called Key Texts which is really nice because then certain books you know are always going to be there for you to check out for four hour periods of time. I have used this already with an assignment that i had to do (see later in this blog) and also have used the library as a place to study a few times...one thing that I keep forgetting is how cold it gets. It gets REALLY cold in there. I am always wearing like a t-shirt and then a sweater...or yesterday i wore a long sleeve shirt and a tank top and still froze. It's not cool. (well I guess it is cool...but you get the idea).

Ok, off the library and onto class again. My next class period wasn't till Thursday, but my tutor (TA) had assigned everyone groups and presentation topics on our first book (Wide Sargasso Sea, Jean Rhys) and so I had to meet with my group and work on that. Our topic was the historical context...and i was stumped...but it worked out. When I met with the other two girls I was assigned to work with they both had done some pretty extensive research, where I had only found one article...so I had my work cut out for me...but I did get my own topic to work off of, Jean Rhys and her history. They both did historical context of the book. It turned out to be a really good presentation (really chill and not that much pressure) because we covered all ground. I think my tutor was impressed with it. But that was done thursday at 4:15-6:15 in the afternoon. Having class that late is really weird...I mean i am kind of used to it (orchestra...) but not when it comes to a "real" class. It turned out nice though and we did get to go through a good amount.

I didn't have a movie screening this week...so I do not know how that works...but I do have those every other week at like 3:15 till whenever the movie is over. It's really interesting having all of these times for one class. Also I have a ton of reading...its not just one text per week...but then the tutor can add texts on to our reading that she wants us to do for maybe a tutorial (go to her office and discuss stuff) or for seminar, or both. So I have another novel to read for tomorrow (I am half way right now) and then four big packets of poetry and essays and then some poetry in an anthology of caribbean poetry (that is in the mail and should arrive tuesday via amazon.com)

Classes here are at first glance similar to those at home...but honestly the reading load is a lot larger. I also had to think of my first essay topic for this week...they do not hand out general topics that you have to specify or choose from... you decide what you want, and then thats what you get...so we shall see if she likes my topic...i think i can write a good paper on it (only 2500 words)

So there is a general look at class structure and how much I have to do...I have spent a few nights out with friends, but at the same time I spent those days at the library. SO it evens out.

This weekend I planned a trip to Cardiff...hung out with friends, watched a football game(soccer) and then a rugby game (all of this was on tv) and then got a student rail card and wandered the Minster today...oh and dinner/coffee/fun-ness with Katherine, Maria, Claudia, and Lena.

If I didn't say enough or you have questions you can reach me at email address...or facebook...or snail mail. Ask mom for address (unless you are a U of I friend...then ask me).

To those who read this...I am sorry.

Yes, I will be a week behind if I let this slide before tomorrow. Of course tomorrow I start school...and I already have homework...as in a presentation for thursday so I really do have to get the book I am reading done at some time...hence the fact that there is no update yet. Here is a brief overview of what I have been doing.

Tuesday: General Visiting Students Orientation. Then later English Visiting Students Orientation. Then downtown for a night with Erasmus at The Louther. Much fun, met new people, had a blast, barely caught the bus home.

Wednesday: Orientation for History Visiting Students. That was it.

Thursday: read, hung out, watched Bones. Went to McQ's which is a pub next to my College(dorm) and saw local college life at its best. Very chill, Maria and Katherine and I had a good time.

Friday: oh friday...epic day. Went to the Grocery store, got a good amount of food (I thought...lots of veggies and fruits and some chicken...) then went back and got ready for a Pub Crawl with Erasmus society. Went to four different places. It was a blast.

Saturday: Woke up at noon and then went shopping at two with Claudia. Shopped at a few stores, got two cute dresses and a pair of leggings...still looking for new boots and a few other items. Then went to the Courtyard for its first birthday. Danced till about midnight then went home...talked to parents, grandparents, joy, and lauren...oh and Alex. Bed.

Today: LAUNDRY!!! forgot to wash one pair of jeans...bummer. Then read. Dinner with Katherine (I cooked chicken...lots of chicken...and i didnt burn it!) then hang with Lea (from California) Maria, and Katherine in Katherines kitchen meeting her flatmates and all that. Then back to my room to read.

There. I am caught up. More to come...now back to reading.

First of many Manic Mondays!

Alright it really wasn't manic, actually far from it. Katherine and I decided that today we were going to try to figure out classes. I knew that I had to run by the english department at some point to pick up a packet of information and she knew that she needed to run by the philosophy department. Also we had been told that there was going to be an International Student Welcome thing. So we headed out into the cold in search of these places. First we went to Langwith where the english department is and I got my packet and also my timetable for my course. Yes course. Singular, not plural. This term I will be taking only one class, Literature in English. Thats it. Its worth one whole term's amount of credits, so that is all they will let me take. Honestly I am looking forward to this, one class monday tuesday and then thursday. Its set up differently though.

I have three different types of class setups. I have lecture, then seminar, then tutorial/movie screening. So in all my schedule actually sounds like this:

Monday lecture from 9:15 to 10:15 then again at 1:15 to 2:15.

Tuesday I have lecture again from 9:15 to 10:15.

Then wednesday I have nothing assigned.

Thursday I have seminar from 4:15 to 6:15

and then every odd friday I will have a movie screening.

tutorials are set up at my tutor's (at u of i they would be either TA's or instructors) discretion.

So this term (ten weeks) I will just be doing that. Not so bad I think.

After we went to the english department we went to the philosophy department and Katherine figured out that she was currently not enrolled in any philosophy classes. I also found us free planners. Hey they were sitting on the table with a sign saying to take them, so now we have York versions of the iBook, or basically a weekly planner with anything date-wise or information-wise in them. After that we went back to Langwith where the International Welcome thing was being held. This was a big stroke of luck, because at first I felt like we were in the wrong place at the wrong time. I felt like I was a freshman again trying to hang out with the big orientation leaders or something, everyone seemed to know everyone already, but in the end there were a few who were new as well. The group is called Erasmus and you will hear a lot about them later because they are my new group of friends.

But back to the meeting, well Katherine and I sat down and started to chat with a few of the people there. I talked to a girl from Germany named Claudia about school and what I was studying and everything and she told me that she was actually working not studying in York. We also learned about this Treasure hunt they were going to put on later in the City Center and because Katherine and I needed to still pick up some basic food essentials we said that we would come back later for the treasure hunt.

I honestly didn't really want to go back, I wanted to instead go back to my room and curl up and watch a movie or read or do something solitary...but Katherine thought it sounded like fun and so I decided to go as well.

We went to the grocery store and I picked up lunchmeat, some grapes, diet coke, milk, greek yogurt, and a microwavable rice thing. I thought that this would last me a couple of days, and it has...sorta. We then both went back to our dorms so that we could put the stuff away and then meet up to go back to Langwith.

Skipping to the treasure hunt...when Katherine and I got back to the Erasmus welcome room there was a slightly larger group. We sat down next to a girl named Maria from Cornell University and began chatting with her. A few minutes later three other girls joined us. These three are from Norway and they are Siv, Marie, and Suzanne. This was our group for the treasure hunt. Our goal was to answer all the questions as we went around a already mapped route through the city center. We would not have a guide, or anyone to help us. It was just up to us. So everyone headed down via bus (sadly these buses are not free) and we started off.

We had two hours to do the whole thing, but it ended up only taking us about an hour and ten minutes. We worked well as a team, with Katherine and I's prior knowledge of the city, and the Fantastic Norwegians energy to win we knew we had it in the bag. The quest started us off of Parliament square and ended us at the minster, but we didn't just go straight there. No we went through the shambles, over the bridge a few times, to Clifford's Tower and also the Kings Manor. Now we finished the whole thing after the first group...but their guide to their starting position also went with then through the whole thing, while we told Chris (our guide) to leave so we wouldn't cheat. After turning in our answers we set off for dinner at a pub Suzanne had noticed on our way back to the Minster. It was called The Hole in the Wall and was quite cozy. They had a good menu and good tea. They also had a fireplace! Which was the reason Suzanne noticed it in the first place. We all chatted and ate and passed paper around to get phone numbers and facebook names so that we could stay connected and all that. After we ate we headed back to meet everyone else so that we could catch the bus...but of course they had left. So we called the guy in charge and he walked back to get us...nice guy and all that. We found out then that we were also the winners of the contest by one point. I now have a large box of shortbread sitting on my shelf waiting for a chance for all of us to get together to eat them.

When we got back to campus the Norwegians had to leave, but the rest of us, after dropping stuff at rooms, went to a campus pub called The Courtyard. There we sat and talked until it looked like they were cleaning up. After that, back to dorms to sleep.

Because of Erasmus I have now met and become friends with some really interesting and fun people. I have found a niche and I am glad that I have.

Continuing to Sunday...and maybe some more.

Alright. Sunday January 10th 2010 (or 10/01/10 which is how the brits write dates).

Let's see...I woke again after noon. Sat around in pj's again and was still feeling not really great because my clock was still off kelter, but at the same time I think the sitting around was a good thing. It was nice to just relax. Sunday I got internet in my room. It was glorious. Finally I was able to sit in my room and talk to my parents on skype and just sit on my bed and relax. Sunday was actually a pretty uneventful day, I hung out with my flatmates (or actually I hung out next door and was introduced to everyone Sarah (girl next door) yelled at to come meet me.) I think I might be able to put about four names to faces, other than that...yea not going to happen. It was fun though watching everyone mingle acting like I wasn't that new, and it was nice to meet people. Also I learned that snow is a big deal, as in the guys built an igloo, had a snowball fight, and were able to get snow into Sarah's room through the window. I also learned that my flat (hall) is loud. But thats normal (Allen hall has gotten me ready for something!) Everyone was moving in on sunday so the campus was in a weird limbo, nothing open, but everyone here. Hence the fact that I really didn't leave my flat till that night, when I met up with Katherine (from U of I) Katherine (from York who studied at U of I last term as a visiting student) and two of Katherine (York)'s friends Kate and Richard. They took us to one of their favorite pubs on campus (currently I am forgetting the name) and we sat and chatted about everything from football(soccer) to football(american), tv, U of I, embarrassing moments, magic tricks, meercats, geckos, where we were living contrasted to where they used to live, traveling the US...so much. Both Richard and Kate had exams to still study for, so this was like a study break...that lasted three hours. It was a blast though to just sit and chat and the pub was basically empty so we could hear each other and the cider was good.

At this point people need to be filled in on a little key detail. The drinking age here is 18. I am legal here.

We had a nice time. Afterwards a few of us had remembered that we really hadn't eaten dinner yet so on our walk back up towards where Kate and Katherine(York) lived we stopped at a food venue called Efe's. For those from U of I its like a mixture of Antonios and Juniors Burgers, with maybe better chips then you could get anywhere in the states. For those of you from rockford it is both pizza and burgers and chicken and fish and chips.

Instead of eating and walking Kate and Katherine invited us back to their house for a cup of tea and a warm place to eat. So we went, they don't live on campus, but they live on the main road between campus and city center in a really cute thin flat/house fit for five. They have three other roommates who when we got there were not there at the time. We ate our Efe's and drank our tea while watching Friends (yes the original Friends...I think Richard said it was season ten or something (chandler and monica were married and joey was a member of days of our lives)) It was fun just hanging out. Once we had finished our tea Katherine(york) drove Katherine and I back to campus and that ended our Sunday.

A quick look at the last few days...

So, I have about five days to summarize in one post...this is going to be another long one. To those who are reading, grab a comfy chair/bed/area where you can either bring your laptop/printout/internet source and settle in ( I also recommend a cup of tea!)

I have up to this point filled you in on my trip here. Now here is everything else.

Saturday January 9th 2010:

I woke up at like noon. My room was still freezing and I didn't have any food really. I still didn't have internet so I got dressed, packed my computer into my backpack and went to see what the computing services could do for me. They were closed, but at the same time I found the grocery store here on campus and got myself a loaf of bread and a box of Cheerios. I then went back to the payphone and called the parents again because I needed a friends phone number so I could call her. Of course it was while sitting on the phone in the corner talking to my parents that I got internet to work. FINALLY!!! I was reconnected. Facebook loaded, mail could be checked, and I was again in the loop. After talking to parents and experimenting with various calling plans we hung up and I called Katherine. She didn't answer at first, but then the payphone rang and it was her. She invited me into the city to hang with her and her mother. She didn't know that we could have moved in early, so she was at a hotel. I decided to join them because I still needed a phone and this was the perfect opportunity. So I took my carbohydrates home and went in search of a bus stop. Now the nice taxi driver had shown me where the bus picked up and how it was easier to walk across campus to grab it then around campus so I wandered my way across and found the stop next to what I perceived as the library (later I discovered that no the library is across the street and up a very tall hill). A bus pulled up (not purple...the taxi driver said the purple busses were the ones to city center) but it had the right title so I got on and asked the driver what I should do. He answered "I don't know what you want to do" and I then looked the dumb american I was trying not to look like. I told him then that I wanted to get to the Minster and he said "single or return" and I said single (because he was by then pretty frustrated with me) and paid my pound ninety and sat down.

Now unlike any bus I have ever been on- the English buses don't tell you which stops are coming up...so, when the lady next to me pushed the stop button I asked her kindly which stop this was and she said that it was Clifford St. and the stop I wanted. We then bonded slightly over being both from different countries (her Toronto Canada). She also gave me some very vague directions on how to get to the Minster (because it is on the other side of City Center).

I got off the bus...walked about a block or two...turned...looked up and saw a steeple...thought oh hey its a church must be the Minster...and ended up in front of a catholic church...oops. I was lost. So I asked another lady who gave me some more detailed instructions along the lines "walk down this street till you get to a squareish place walk straightish across and then turn right after you see the mcdonalds." Umm...ok. thanks. I headed off.

As I was walking I saw a "Phones 4 U" store a "vodophone" and a "T-Mobile" since the other two seemed a little sketchy (i wasn't familiar with them so I didn't trust them) I went with the T-Mobile. Guess who is now paying more than anyone else for texts and minutes...ME!!! yup but i did manage to get myself a phone without help and for only twenty pounds (cash). The guy who helped me was really nice and recognized that i was new and a little bit crazy and so didn't mind me whatsoever. I kept walking and actually using those directions I had gotten did make it to the Minster in one piece. Here I met Katherine and her mom and we headed out to explore the town. Both of them had already figured out the streets and which ones were the most important. So we traveled down the Shambles and looked in shop windows and watched the people. I was getting a little hungry, having not really trusted solid food in a while and so we decided to stop at a teashop named Betty's. It was sooo pretty and quaint and delicious! If you come to visit, I will take you to tea there. It's a little pricey, but really worth it. After tea we went back out to shop and recognized that neither Katherine or I had any tea, or a mug, or anything to eat on. So we found a tea shop and purchased a bowl/plate piece and then a mug and some tea. I have not brewed my tea yet...will try later, but it smells nice. We then went back to their hotel to dry off and decided where we were going to go to dinner. They stayed at a really nice hotel and will recommend it to anyone who needs a place to stay in York.

We ended up deciding to eat at Oscars which is a pub/bistro/wine place. We were going to try Indian, but with my stomach still iffy, simple food sounded better. I had a burger, while they both had tikka masalla (I apologize spelling wise).

Quick side note...everywhere serves curry dishes...as in CURRY NIGHT MONDAY NIGHT! or CURRY DISH AND FREE DRINK. I haven't been anywhere yet that hasn't had this as some option on their menu (well Betty's didnt...but thats a tea shop).

Ok, so after dinner we went next door to a nice bar and met some friends of Katherine's mother. They were really really nice and welcoming and invited us to call on them if we ever needed anything. We talked until late about everything from school, to books, to traveling, to dogs, to food, etc. Then I caught a cab back to my dorm and went to bed.

That is saturday...I hope I haven't forgotten anything, I might've but if so then tit wasn't as important...maybe.

Well I got to run to meet some friends for coffee, so cheers for now!

I'm Here. (cont. so if you havent read the first bit dont read this bit yet)

Ok...so where was I. OH I got my room. First of its on the ground floor. Pros: not so many stairs to climb/lug a suitcase up, Cons: it kinda looks like a basement room. Its a little smaller than my room at allen...which means that it is kinda spacious. Its about the same color as allen...yellowish with two sets of shelves one above my desk, the other above a blank space on the wall. My bed is next to the door and my wardrobe is across from that with my sink right next to my door on the other side of the room. My radiator is broken...someone was out today to look at it and so I now have a lovely little electric heater to keep my room warmer. There are only two plugs...so I will have two strips (a uk strip and a us strip) but all in all the room is growing on me. Except for the ugly black pealing tack board located right next to my bed. Lets just say I have some decorating to do. When I first got to my room I dropped everything and just relaxed. Then I noticed that I was missing something...BEDDING! They had not placed a bedding bundle in my room (something I had requested). So I had to go in search of that. I also had thought that there would be a phone in my room, but there wasnt and the only thing I wanted to do more then sleep was call my parents. So I bundled back up and headed out the door. As I was doing this I met two flatmates (Sarah and Tom) and we introduced ourselves.

To get a bedding bundle I went to the Porters desk (front desk for my college (dorm)) and no one was there so I headed towards the information center. Of course by now it was dark, and I had forgotten my map back at my room...so I just wandered campus trying figure out where everything was. Finally I found the information office and was helped by a few people so that I did get my bedding bundle and was even told who to go to because I couldn't get the internet working (it is now). By then I also had been told where a pay-phone was and was able to talk to my parents for a while. It was really nice to talk to them after my crazy day. After that I went and watched some Castle back in my room and went to sleep (freezing).

I'm Here.

Whew. So the last few days have been crazy. But I think its best if I start from the beginning...

Thursday January 7th.

I woke up that morning and finished repacking my suitcase so that it was as tiny as it could be (meaning it was about a foot wide and four feet tall). My dad came home and we headed off. It was snowing. After making a few stops for cash we called to see how my flight was and heard the one word we did not want to hear. "CANCELLED" Yes. My first flight (the one that would take me to Toronto so that I could then head to London) was cancelled. The mad rush began. My dad then got on the phone with a guy trying to get me on anything going to London, whether it was a flight to Toronto to catch my 8:15 flight to London or a straight shot to London from Chicago. The guy was able to get me to stand-by on a straight shot that would leave at five, and then a 1:22 flight to Toronto, which would make me wait a long time for the 8:15. So this is what I was looking at when I got to OHare. At OHARE the lady behind the counter asked what I was on so that she could get my ticket all ready and when she looked up my name, five or six different tickets showed up. She also told us that it was not possible to stand-by on an international flight, even though with the weather there was going to be openings on this flight. So my dad and her worked on trying to get me a flight. As we found out, not only was my flight to Toronto cancelled, but Air Canada had taken me then off the next flight to London and switched me onto a flight the next morning, making me have to spend the night in Toronto, and then (because of the time difference) spend the night in London, because there was no way in the world I was going to try to catch a train at 9:00 at night to get to York about eleven. During this whole ordeal I was worried that I wasn't going to arrive until maybe today or the 12th which made me really scared and added to my nerves that I already had. After a while it became clear that no matter what I would end up not on the 1:22 to Canada, but probably not leaving till around 8.

But then a magical thing happened. The lady next to us at another counter wasn't helping anyone so she was looking to see what I could do as well. She must have checked the straight shot again just because she was looking at all the options, but I am glad she did because there was a seat open. And I got it. They needed permission from a supervisor to put me on it, but they said yes as well and soon I was the proud owner of a ticket to London (no canada) leaving at five. It was of course by now about 1:30, so we had some time. My parents were able to come back into the airport with me so we ate lunch and headed to the Red Carpet Club. There I fell asleep until about four thirty when it was time to head down to the terminal. When I got there there was a bunch of people, but my dad (being the cool guy he is) was able to get me priority seating meaning that I was able to board close to first. This allowed me to settle into my seat before my neighbor arrived. I had the window.

My neighbor was a middle aged mad traveling on business and trying to catch another flight to somewhere else. He was very nice, especially since he had to deal with me and an upset stomach the whole flight. Yes, I will admit it, that flight was the worst I have ever taken. The take off felt like a roller coaster with different pressures coming at me and me just nervous that we would crash and burn. By now my stomach was already hurting, but I thought it nothing. If my stomach doesn't feel right before getting on a plane again, I'm not sure I will be getting on that plane. I ended up not eating anything the whole flight (except water) and sleeping enough, but at the same time, not really enough. We got to Heathrow with no problems and landed about 7:30 in the morning (UK time). I got off the plane and made my way toward baggage claim. Immigration was no problem and getting my luggage took no time at all. I'm not sure if I skipped customs or I just didnt have anything that needed to be told, but I just went straight through on my to try to get to the Underground. I grabbed a water and a newspaper at a stand for a pound. The underground was interesting. I had to actually roll my luggage (which was not a pleasant thing because it was so heavy and the wheels were a bit odd) but I got my ticket and got onto the train. This took me to Kings Cross. At this point I am going to go into a little bit of a Harry Potter nerd moment, so if you would like, skip the next paragraph.

OK. Kings Cross Station is completely different then I thought it was. Sadly I did not see Platform 9 or 10 so therefore no 9 3/4 due to the fact that I had to sit by the big board to find out when my train was actually going to arrive. Yet at the same time I kept glancing out to where the trains were and I could just picture a beautiful train showing up, red, and people would be getting on it and off it with trunks (instead of terrible suitcases) and owls and all of that. The platform itself is a little more modern then I thought it was going to be,but at the same time all I had to do was look up at the soaring ceiling and there was the old architecture mixed with the new. Sadly the train I got on was not an old train at all, but a very fast electric train.

Of course the trains were delayed as well. This was not because of weather, but because of a train breaking down in Petersbourogh (or some spelling like that) and so everything got pushed around and delayed. But they weren't telling us how delayed, so we kinda just had to wait and see and they called out platforms and trains as they came in. So, finally my train came in, and there was a mad dash to get seats (its a first come first serve deal) and I ended up on the train, but with no seat. about three minutes before it left, a guy stopped by and told us that there were seats at the front, but there was no way in hell I was going to lift my suitcase off the train down the platform and then back onto the train in two minutes so I just stuck where I was. I was standing with an elderly couple, a couple younger guys, and a elderly mother and daughter.

About an hour into the train ride another person came and told us that there were seats still in the first car, so some people went in search. I stayed where I was because of the bag, but then about a half an hour later when the train came to a stop (because there was something wrong) i decided i needed a seat. I was feeling light headed and really tired so I grabbed my duffle and backpack and headed down the train. In car B (i started in H) I found two seats facing forward and dropped my stuff. Then I went back for my suitcase. If it had been any wider then it was it would not have fit between the seats. I was able to push it along running over probably about four feet and having to lift it over a couple of bags along the way. But it made it to B with only a broken handle. Then I slept for the next hour and a half, only waking to look out the window or ask the guy sitting in the seats across from mine (cute guy, i think he was from New Zealand) which stops we had hit. He wasn't paying attention at all. The train stopped i think twice more because of some problems (it wasn't moving that fast at all) but in the end we got to York and I got off the train. To get to the area where the taxi's were though I ended up lugging my bag up about two flights of stairs, and then down the same amount...I thought my wheels were going to break. Thank god they didn't. I got into the queue for a taxi and finally was on my way to campus. The taxi driver pointed out some spots on the way and so we had a lovely ride. I checked in and got to my room.

Well it is now time for me to actually socialize/get some stuff done...so I will pick up with the story at a later time...sorry its so dry.

I leave on Thursday.

I cannot believe that in two days I will be leaving the US. I am currently sitting on my bed which is covered in everything that I will be packing (if it all fits that is). This IS happening. And I am freaking out. I have never traveled alone, so the fact that I am flying out thursday afternoon to catch a plane in Toronto that will then take me to Heathrow Airport outside of London, is a little intimidating. Thank god for the three hours I have between plane one and plane two. Of course I then get to take the Underground (tube/subway) from Heathrow to Kings Cross Station (Platform 9 3/4 anyone???) and then a train to York from there. That is how I am getting to my new Home University. Knowing me though I will fall asleep either in Toronto, or on the train and miss either my flight or my stop, but still I am a little jazzed that this is all happening.

For those of you who are new to this blog. Hello. I will be gone from January 7 to July 6. My schedule is ten weeks of classes, five weeks off, then ten more weeks of class.

Other news items is that if you want a postcard (or in some cases movies) sent to you you HAVE to get me your address (school, home, work) so that I can send them off. I will be sending postcards...I promise. If there is anything you think I need to do, see, eat, drink, please let me know. I think I will make a facebook page/note. Or something that people can comment on with ideas. I have some already, but I know there are more out there. This of course doesnt just deal with England, but the whole of Europe as well. Because those five weeks of break I am hopefully going to be on the mainland...we will see though.

Within that note or facebook page I will also place my new address so that people can send me stuff as well. Also my skype name and any email address that people might want. Please feel free to email me anything.

Random blonde moment I had. I got a really neat power plug adaptor and it has plugs for not only the UK, but Europe, Australia, and I think even africa. I amused myself for like ten minutes trying to figure out how they work and how to change the US one to the Australia plug (all you have to do is like turn these two things and all of a sudden its an Ausie plug!!!) Yea it was funny...maybe not so funny here in writing.

OH dont try to text me using my phone number now...i wont have it with me so i wont get the texts. I actually wont have a phone at all that will reach across the Atlantic. Hence SKYPE! lol.

So thats it for now I need to get back to packing...because I still need to go shopping for some essentials, like jeans, and new shoes.

TTFN!

Next time I will be posting I will most likely be sitting in either the Toronto Airport...or LONDON!