Top O' The Mornin' To Ya!

I leave for Ireland, TOMORROW. That's right people. I'm going to be exploring castles and tip toeing on cliffs and jammin out with some Irish people at a pub and drinking Guiness and listening to that GORGEOUS accent for 4 days.

Ireland is one of those places that you just have to go to in your lifetime (so I've heard). And, um, HELLO, "P.S. I Love You" anyone!? After that scene where they first meet each other on that hill, I knew that I had to go. I'll be going with Silvana, which I'm totally pumped for.

Traveling is one of my passions, and experiencing all of these new cultures and places with your best friend is incredible. PLUS another one of my loves, Kristin, is currently studying there. That will be cool too because I MISS HER and she can show us all of the exciting pubs and things to do in Dublin.


If you are interested in knowing more about the tour I'm doing, here's the link:
Shamrocker 3 Day Southern Rocker

Kristin and Me at Unity

Dublin!

P.S. I Love You

Other than Ireland, I've been noticing fun little cultural differences between London and home.

Phrases:

Fit - means very pretty

Buff - another way of saying someone is good looking, and has nothing to do with muscles

Loaded - drunk

Taking a Piss - making fun of someone

Getting Pissed - drunk

Git - asshole

Wanker - idiot

Cheers - I don't know, it's like the movies and they say it ALL of the time

Chav - their version of white trash

Habits:

1) No one goes outside in sweats. If you go outside in sweats, it means you're a chav because they are known to wear sweatsuits and hang out on the streets. Trust me, I've seen it. It's not just sweats, it's the Jockey sweatsuits and they wear it all in one color, like blue or grey. 

2) People are more concerned with your class in society. Your accent can tell a person whether your family is from a high or low class. It has less to do with money, and more to do with education and your placement in the world.

3) Cars in the road really do not care about pedestrian safety at all. I'm from New York, I know assholes in cars, but they take it to a whole new level. If you're in the street when the light turns green you better start running or you're going to get honked at and maybe a dirty look.

4) Girls are always wearing stockings and leggings. I thought it was just in Scotland, but it's also in London. I have seen some girls in short shorts with black stockings underneath to go out at night. They also wear a lot of make up, especially bright lip stick. I have also seen a ton of "big hair" that has been teased and bobby pinned.

5) Restaurants are all much classier than in the US. Pret a Manger, one of their biggest fast food chains, prides itself on farm fresh ingredients that has been made by the people working there. It is super healthy and they are on literally every corner. Also, if you are eating at the place you're getting your food aka "staying in," you pay a little more for them to put it on a plate rather than in a bag. If you are "taking away" the food is less expensive, but it's the exact same thing. I'm not really sure why that is, but it's an interesting difference. 

Anyway, I have to start packing for Ireland and finishing my marketing project on Heineken :) I won't be in touch while I'm in Ireland but I promise to post pictures and tell you ALL about my adventures while I'm back.

Love,

Miriam

I don't have any socks left...

Because I haven't written in SO long, you all must think that I've been having the time of my life and have TONS to share with you. Well, the sad fact is I sat on my butt from Wednesday to Friday and literally did nothing. Pathetic, I know, but it was a much needed break from traveling everywhere and I really needed to not go crazy for a while.

However, this weekend changed all of that. I went to a club friday night called Fabric. It was a cool name and some people in the house were raving about it so I figured I'd put on my party outfit and join the crowd. Overall, it was a good time but it wasn't a club- it was a rave. It was mostly guys and from what I could tell they were all on hallucinogenic drugs and dancing like cave men... We found a room though that was alright and we danced for a few hours. By 2:30 I was exhausted and I thought I was bleeding from my ears because the room was SO loud.

Last night was wayyyy more fun. We went to a club in Picadilly Circus called On Anon. It was 7 floors with different music on each floor along with a different theme. Drinks were INSANELY pricey (Jagerbombs 5 pounds, Magners 5 pounds, Double Mixed Drink 8 pounds) and it cost 10 pounds to get in but I figured it was going to be my last night out in London for a while so I might as well enjoy it. I met quite a few British guys that were all pretty nice. One of them was sweet but kept saying how Americans just don't listen to international news and they don't really care about the outside world and went on about our political system. I just told him that not all americans are like that and I didn't come to a club to talk politics, I came to drink and dance with my friends. 

That is the one thing I seriously cannot stand about English people. They always rag on America. Now listen, I understand that a lot of Americans have a very nationalistic view of the country. That's to be expected because it's our culture. British and European people don't understand why everyone wears American flag pins and hangs a flag in their yard because if you do anything like that here it's basically a war cry. That's what caused the two world wars- nationalism. So, it's expected here that you are proud of your country but you don't need to shove it in everyone's face. Not only that  but don't call all Americans dumb. When we met the Cockney guys at the pub a few weeks ago one of them was drunk and told us the Jews caused September 11th. REALLY? really.

Anyway, other than that, the club/bar was a ton of fun but I didn't go to sleep until 5 in the morning and I woke up at 2 PM. I now have to spend the rest of my day actually doing homework which is SUPER LAME. I also have to do laundry because I am completely out of socks.

Drinking with Teachers and House Annoyances.

Yesterday my international trade class went on a pretty cool field trip to the Greenwich Observatory and stood on 0' Longitude. We saw Canary Warf and the new business district of London which is mostly American architecture and made me feel like I was in New York City which was a nice change. THEN, our teacher decided to bring us to the Trifalgar Tavern right on the Thames river where many a famous person had a drink and plotted the next move of the British Empire.

Where are all of MY pictures you ask? Well, I forgot my camera. So google has supplemented them.

I had a good day though, and drinking with my good ol' mate Frank (they don't like us to call them professor, or even Mr. ___. It's interesting...). AND I successfully stole my pint glass with a Heineken logo on it! GO ME!

Speaking of academia, I got my internship placement.

Drumroll please...

Dear Miriam,

I am pleased to inform you that the FIE Internship Team have provisionally placed you in an international internship with HCA Healthcare. HCA Healthcare is a top American owned UK based healthcare company who owns and operates around 200 hospitals in Britain.

I will be doing accounting for their company, YAY! Do I sound sarcastic? Why yes, I do. I know it's bad to bitch and moan about my placement because FIE researches very hard on our behalf, but my dream was to work in the financial district of London. I wanted a taste of finance in one of the finance capitals of the world, especially because I've already had two accounting internships and have a job with an accounting firm when I graduate. You never know how anything will turn out though, so I'm expecting for the worst and hoping for the best.

Now for the house DRAMA:
All of the girls of the house have pitched in and bought cleaning supplies for the kitchen without so much as asking for money from the rest of the house. Monica graciously bought a Brita filter that cost a pretty penny along with dishwashing tablets, I bought dish soap, Cierra and Ruth and Genna have all bought sponges, paper towels and napkins. Why? Because we all know that eventually everyone is going to have to pay. However, one roommate bought a box of dish tablets for 2 pounds and wrote a note in the kitchen asking each of us for 18 pents (a little over 20 cents). Imagine asking 11 people each for a quarter. It doesn't make sense. Had this been the layout of buying stuff for everyone, it wouldn't have been a problem but now it's just rude.

Our retaliation? Both myself and Matt each bought a 40 tablet and 30 tablet box of dishwashing supplies. And I didn't ask for anyone's money.

Tonight should be a fun night. We all want to go out. We are all in London. It should be a good time. Hopefully I will take some pictures!

<3
Miriam

Kilts, Alcohol, and Funny Accents

I want to preface with my apologies. I haven't written for a while, but I figured writing a lot with no pictures is super boring, but I'm back in London and have uploaded all of the pictures from Glasgow!!

First off, I want to share pictures of the University. It has been rumored that J.K. Rowling modeled Hogwarts after the University, and after you see it, you know that it's true.

Do those arches look familiar? Yes. They do.

The main tower at the university. It looks like the main tower at Hogwarts, just like the one Dumbledore was killed on.

Did Harry learn how to play Quittich here? Maaaaybe.

Anyway.... After my wildest night, ever, I had a lazy day Thursday. Silvana and I went to the botanical gardens in Glasgow and I saw a bunch of pretty flowers. We just hung out and walked around the city. It's apparently not as pretty as Edinburgh, but I was perfectly content being in Scotland with one of my best friends in the whole wide world.

 

The guys we met on the street who were then at Viper on Wednesday night invited us to go to another club in the main part of the city so, DUH, we went. When will I ever be 19 and invited by entertaining guys in Scotland to a club called Kushion after this visit? Never again. So we put on our cute clothes and hopped in a cab. It turned out to be a fun night. We explained to them how, in the states, if something is really awkward, you make the awkward turtle or tortoise. I also explained the "awkward palm tree" but one of the guys we were with just didn't get it. He thought it was funny, so he made his own which was more like an Irish Step Dance with some gangster hand gestures. That's the only way I can describe it, but let me tell you, it was hilaaaaarious. 

Friday we decided to do some much UNneeded shopping. The shopping district is huge but nothing out of the ordinary. It's a bunch of stores that are trying to sell you clothes, shoes, souvenirs and books that you don't actually need. Of course, Silvana and I saw a shoe store and went in. And of course, they had the most perfect pair of flat black boots that fit me perfectly, so of course, I bought them. That night we went to another club where we met some adorable girl from Sweden and her two friends from Latvia. If you said you would pay me 1 million dollars to point out Latvia on a map, I would not be 1 million dollars richer. But it was still fun meeting them and dancing with them at the club.

The main street with pubs on it is called Ashton Lane and it is adorable. It's a cobble stone street, though, and part of the entertainment is watching the Scottish women walk with their VERY high heels on it and seeing the ones that power through it without so much as a stumble, and the girls who are just not cut out to walk it in high heels. We went there literally every night before going to the clubs. Pubs are open until about 11 or 12, so you get drunk and then get to the club where you can drink even more because drinks are only 1 pound, at least for "Fresher's Week."

My last day in Scotland was a lot of fun. We slept in until about 1:30 to catch up on all the sleep we hadn't been getting for the other nights. For lunch we went to a cute French cafe, and then headed to one of the main museums. You can look at my pictures on Facebook to see all of the funny comments about the different items in the museum. Everything was kind of squished into random order, and the cards below were ridiculous. If they had been under pictures at the Met in New York City, people would be very confused.

This is a good example of what I'm talking about. Definitely a "WTF" moment.

My last night in Glasgow was pretty interesting. We went to dinner at a chinese restaurant thinking we could get a feeling of home. Silvana and I were wrong. The waitress was from China and had come over to Scotland and we couldn't understand anything that she was saying. It's difficult enough to understand Chinese accents in America and Scottish people (separately), but put the two accents together and get ready for the most awkward conversation of your life. I got yelled at while ordering "Mandarin Beef" because I didn't say how many I wanted. Then, two people brought our food out and it was the most chaotic experience, ever. Plates were flying all over the place.

That night we went to the student union which is basically a HUGE club. There are about 4 floors, 5 bars, and sweaty Scottish college students getting wasted and attempting to dance to the weirdest techno music I had ever heard, but it was still fun and quite the adventure.

Getting back to London was pretty quick, but it was exhausting and weird to get back to the house. I had just gotten my bearings in London, and then I went to Scotland for 5 days, so my brain was all out of whack and I got really homesick. What made it worse was talking to Diana, then Cory, then my mother. 

My main problem here is when I get tired, I get emotional and homesick and tell myself that going to study in Australia might not be a good idea. I'm seriously debating whether or not I could be away from American University and home for an entire year and be mentally sane when I come back. We'll see.

Alright, this is where I leave you. But I have something funny to leave you with...

Scottish men actually wear kilts. It's even funnier when you speak to them when they're wasted.

Love,

Miriam

5 Minute Net Gain.

The Scottish way of thinking:
"A cigarette takes off 5 minutes of your life, but it takes 10 minutes to smoke it so you have a 5 minute net gain." - Chuckie from Viper
Also, "you can drink while your pregnant, but you just can't get drunk." - Silvana's planner.

After I updated my blog yesterday, Silvana cooked a delicious meal of pasta and red sauce. We drank a bottle of wine between three people- me, silvana, and her flatmate Caitlin. After, we went this HUGE bar called "The Loft" where we got a pint of Magners, the alcoholic cider, and then took shots of whiskey because, hello, we're in Scotland. I met a bunch of Silly's friends and they were all really friendly and FUN. We ended up getting split up because they wanted to go to the student union for "Fresher's Week" (basically welcome week for freshman) so Silvana and I decided to go to a club nearby called Viper that she had gone to and had an awesome time. It was only 10:30 so we went to the pub across the street to drink more, and then headed over.

Here are a few notes about Scottish people:
1) The girls dress like huge skanks. They wear really short skirts with black stockings and wear ridiculous amounts of make up and tease their hair.
2) Everyone loves the color purple. It's weird.
3) The guys are way too nice. They are friendly and aren't creepers and text you later in the night to make sure you've made it home okay and then text you when they wake up to see what you're doing. And they aren't in it for sex, they are talking to you because they genuinely want to be friends with you. WEIRD.
4) Scottish people do not dance. They are epic white man overbite syndrome. They just bob their heads and have no idea how to move their hips and are amazed when you shake your ass. It's hysterical.
5) Because they don't know how to dance, they don't know how to creep either. There are literally no creepers anywhere to be found in the clubs. It is the most fun I have ever had because I haven't needed to worry about some weird guy coming up behind me and grabbing my hips.
6) Everyone drinks ALL of the time.

So at Viper, we proceeded to drink way too much alcohol and dance like crazy and have a TON of fun. I've never been so happy. Then to top it off, we met guys who were from Northern Ireland and were absolutely hysterical. Chuckie was the guy we met outside and he told us his really intelligent theory on smoking cigarettes. When we were back inside we ended up seeing him again and before we knew it, he had taken the water we had in our hands and thrown it on the floor and then had lined up 9 jack and cokes, 3 for me, 3 for silvana, and 3 for him. He wanted us to chug them. How do you say no to someone asking you to chug 3 free drinks? You don't.

As we left the bar to go to the dance floor he shook hands with this guy that was one of his friends. I looked closer and realized it was one of the guys we had met on the street a few hours before and we had been frustrated for not getting his number and making new friends. But there he was! Small world.

As you can imagine, I had a very slow start this morning. And I'm still going slow. I promise to not drink that much again while I'm here. I need to see the sights.

And I might try haggis.

Maybe.

<3 Miriam

Glasgow- Pronounced GLAZ-GO!

I'M IN SCOTLAND.

Here are the tips you need while traveling to Gatwick and using EasyJet:

You need to get to the Victoria tube stop. Then, you need to get a train ticket to Gatwick. There is an express train but because I was in a rush I didn't know that I wasn't getting on it, so I took a regular train that stopped in the middle of England for funzies. It sucked and I was scared shitless that I wasn't going to make my flight.

Second - Easy Jet does not allow you to have a carry on AND a purse. You can only take one. They charge 18 pounds extra to check it. Luckily, I added a carry on by accident when I was buying my ticket to Glasgow so I was all good. NEXT, EasyJet does not tell you what gate you have to go to until 30 minutes before your plane takes off. It SUCKS. So you have to stand there, staring at the screen and then run to your gate. I was first in line so I got an awesome seat on the plane because they don't assign you seats.

I discovered on the flight that English people not from London are really nice and so are Scottish people. Anyway, I landed and Silvana was waiting for me at the airport and it was really cute and romantic. We hugged a lot. She then showed me her university which LITERALLY is Hogwarts. I was going around pointing out places that looked like they were in the movie

"Oh, there's the tower where Dumbledore fell out of and died."
"Oh! This is where Ron tried to make Malfoy 'eat slugs!' but it backfired"
"This is where Harry was told about Quittich from Oliver Wood"
Okay.. I'm going to stop now.

So basically, her university is the prettiest thing I have EVER seen. I am still astounded how nice everyone is and the accent is SO MUCH BETTER than the English accent. I fell in love with every person I talked to... okay just the hot guys that we met on the street because I'm super friendly :) We ended up going to Tesco here which is basically 7-11 but classier and sells more food and I got the drink "IRN-BRU" which is literally the most sugar you can put in a drink before it becomes a honey-like consistency. It tastes like bubble gum and is really weird but you keep drinking it anyway.

Alright, I have to run- Silvana is cooking dinner in her flat for me and some people and we are going to hit the town!

OH! And I've decided that I will be staying in Glaz-go for Christmas with Silvana, so I definitely won't be in the States until January. I'm REALLY excited.

Love,
Miriam

p.s. I won't have pictures until I'm back in London on Sunday so these posts are going to just be text. Hope you don't mind!

London Laundry = Hell.

I am currently sitting in the basement of the main flat for Manson Place contemplating punching myself in the face. There are two washers and two dryers for 100 people. I don't think I've ever hated doing laundry as much as I will for the next FOUR MONTHS.

Good news is, while I'm here I can update you on the FANTABLULOUS weekend I have had. Saturday I slept in again and woke up feeling much better and ready to take on London. Only problem was, the entire flat had been going out and partying so no one was down to go out and about, except for grocery shopping. I got really excited because I found a DVD for 5 pounds, but was told after I bought it that the DVDs here are not like the DVDs in the states and I had wasted my money. I have to now go back and return it.

Saturday night we went to a club called "Tiger, Tiger." It was jam packed and unfortunately the club didn't know how to properly air condition the two floors so it was basically a massive AU frat party with British people. I don't think I've ever sweat so much in my life, but for a while it was quite fun. We took a double decker bus home and we sat on the upper level which was another unique experience. I mean, it wasn't THAT amazing. We were just higher up than usual.

Pure. Sweat.

Sunday was definitely SUNDAY FUNDAY! I got up, got dressed, and skipped my way to St. Regent's Park to meet my love, James Randle, who is a friend I met way back in the fall of Freshman year. While on the tube, my headphones broke, and I was close to these two Irish guys who were making fun of the tube and all the silent snobby english people. I started laughing.

Anyway, I met James in the park, which has got to be one of the prettiest places in London. It is the biggest park and there are fountains and gardens and trees lining the main path called the "Broadwalk." We didn't spend much time there, except for lunch at the Honest Sausage, which was where I had my second English meal of sausage and mash. It was pretty good!

We then went to Camden Market, which is officially my favorite place in the city. It is the best tourist trap, ever. It used to be stables for horses and factories and now it's these mini shopping stores with fun jewlery and clothing and furniture. We stopped at this Lebanese restuarant/cafe and got the BEST MINT TEA! It was literally hot water and like 5 pounds of mint stuffed in. I bought a book from a used book shop - Gulliver's Travels. I've never read it and now I am DYING to, just because I got it in a used book store, in London.

James and Myself and the amazing MINT TEA!

Afterwards, I kissed James goodbye and hopped on the tube down to the Tower Bridge to meet up with the rest of my flat for a festival on the Thames river and fireworks for later that night. After walking 1586 miles (exactly 1586 miles.) I made it, and everyone greeted me with smiles, mostly because they had already had something to drink. We walked around, MORE, and looked at what the vendors were selling and then proceeded to drink more, and eat more, and just hang out staring at the Tower Bridge and the dirty Thames river.

THEN, we walked for another 30 miles to the Blackfriar Bridge to see the fireworks. I had to pee SO BAD and the bar next to the bridge had 30 women waiting for a bathroom while the men were waiting 30 seconds. Cierra and I had the brilliant idea of just using the men's room. It was really embarrassing, but totally worth it. The fireworks were fun, but the ride home wasn't because we had to switch over 3 lines.

Today my marketing class went to HARRODS! It's the British version of Saks 5th Avenue, but so much better. They were selling yorkshire terrier puppies for 1,400 pounds. SO WORTH IT... not. It was really cool to see so much expensive stuff that I could never afford, in one massive building. Then International Trade, and now I'm sitting in the pit of hell waiting for my clothes to be dry.

... UPDATE...

I finished my laundry, but didn't finish my post. Joe and Matt cooked us an amazing dinner and it was tons of fun. THANKS GUYS<3

Family Dinner

Most Importantly... I GET TO GO TO SCOTLAND TO VISIT SILVANA ON WEDNESDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't have a fun fact of the day or a phrase, I'm too tired and this post is really longgg.

<3
Miriam

Who Blogs About Healthcare?!

Here's a little information about the regular healthcare in London/United Kingdom. With my program, if you go to a doctor it costs about 50 pounds (quid), because you aren't from the United Kingdom and you don't pay taxes. So we were told during orientation going to a doctor should be the last resort.

I've obviously talked to my mom while sick and she immediately wanted me to go to the doctor, because no amount is too much for her babygirl. I HATE going to the doctor so I figured just sleeping and waiting it out would be the easier, cheaper, and more convenient way of going about being sick. I talked to Rebs, who is in my fraternity and did my program last year, and she said that I should go to the pharmacy before going to the doctor, but if I chose to go to the doctor, they are really nice and helpful.

This morning I woke up and was feeling better, but still had a nasty cough so I decided to take a walk down to Boots, the CVS of London. Turns out, before I even got there I passed a place called Bliss Pharmacy. I went in and the pharmacist was unbelievably nice. He gave me this medicine called Beechams (pictures above) and a sleep remedy so I could fall asleep at night. AND I FOUND RICOLA DROPS (That's for my mom!). I can't find them anywhere in the states so I got two boxes and I'm so excited.

But anyway, I actually like how the healthcare system works here. You don't go to a doctor unless you really need to. Pharmacies sell over the counter drugs that are stronger than in the states, so you don't have to waste your time having someone probe you and waste the money. ALSO, they have a phone line you can call to ask what nurses and doctors recommend for free. I called and the nurse said to keep drinking liquids and hot tea and if worse comes to worse go to the pharmacy and get a drug with "paracetemol" in it, which the pharmacist ended up giving me. A huge bottle literally only cost 5 pounds. In the US it would have easily cost 15 dollars. 

It just proves to me the healthcare in America sucks. We stuff ourselves with medication before we actually need it and we end up being worse off and having terrible immune systems. At least, that's what I'm going to tell myself while I'm living in the UK.

Fun Fact: British people LOVE big brother. They are absolutely obsessed with it, along with all game shows, like Deal or No Deal. It's very strange.

Love,

Miriam

WHY am I sick!?

Being sick in London is NOT fun. I'm used to getting a ton of sleep and relaxing, so my body bugged out because I've been sleeping less and running around the city and drinking all the time (not binge drinking, don't worry family!). So, today I woke up and my throat yelled at me. I decided I wasn't going to let it dictate my day, so I went sightseeing and did a ton of touristy stuff with Genna.

Parliament and Big Ben

I have to say, London is a pretty city. It's not the prettiest I've ever been to, but some of the buildings are amazing. I was staring at Big Ben and Parliament thinking to myself, "Am I really in London!? How is this happening, how did I get here?" It hasn't fully sunk in yet. I mean, it has, but I haven't had the culture shock yet and because we're in such a nice neighborhood with no distinct signs of the London I think of in the movies, it's hard to see it from a tourist standpoint.

After going to see Parliament, Big Ben, and Buckingham Palace I realized how my view of London will be different than the tourists. Taking pictures in front of the different landmarks isn't being in London. By going to the pubs and meeting the Brits and talking to different sorts of people living in the city, that's how I want to get to know London, and that's how I want to get to know all of the other cities I'll be traveling to.

Me being a tourist in front of the London Eye, on the London Bridge.

Buckingham Palace: It's got really ornate gates, but honestly, I didn't think it was anything special. I still don't really get the whole "royalty" thing. Like, cool, an old lady has blood that dates back to all the special kings and whatnot but she's just a figurehead. Lame. (Sorry if I'm pissing anyone off). I mean Prince William and Prince Harry are some hot stuff, but what do they really do? At least The Situation has earned his fame (just kidding).

Flowers in St. James' Park

I have officially booked my first ticket for traveling and it's to visit the love of my life, Silvana, in Glasgow. I'll be going next week from Wednesday to Sunday and I am BEYOND excited. I've been learning about Scotland in my British Life and Culture class so it'll be interesting to see the differences and to hear the accent! 

My goal, you ask? To be called a bonnie lass.

Hopefully I won't be hacking up a lung when I go.

Love,

Miriam

Phrase of the Day: "I'm Getting Pissed!" - Actually means "I'm getting drunk!"

p.s. You can comment on my posts. I love hearing from everyone!

Wait, We Actually Have To Do Work!?

Hey guys!

Sorry it's been a few days since I last posted. This is actually going to be a short post because I have class in an hour! Ugh.

The rest of the weekend was fun. Sunday, not much happened, except that the girls went grocery shopping and I ended up making dinner for the entire flat. Pesto pasta, pasta with red sauce, and 16 chicken cutlets. It's one thing to go shopping for snacks at a grocery store, but this time it was harder because I needed things like flour and breading, both of which were weird items to purchase. First, because the flour didn't say flour it said bread-something, and they only had one kind of breading that was in a tiny little box on the last shelf of an isle. It REALLY made me miss home.

We all bonded over dinner and everyone was happy and we all went to sleep to wake up the next morning and have... *GASP*.... class! My first professor was this 35 year old English guy who owns his own marketing firm, so he seems nice. My second one was older but very enthusiastic about international trade. The down side? They get VERY boring after 3 full hours of class. The accents stop making it fun after about a half hour or so.

Today I had British Life and Culture which was absolutely fascinating. We got a whole explanation on not just England, but Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales. I was surprised at how little I really know about it all.

Anyway, I'm starting to get sick so I've been sleeping as much as possible. It costs 50 pounds to go to the doctor so I'm just throwing back vitamin C and sudafed and I'm not going to go out tonight with the rest of the flat.

In other news, we found a new pub last night and we met some pretty funny guys there. I walked in and one of them looked at me and said "Oy, I was waiting for you! Why were you so late!?" It was pretty funny. The bartender is American but he's only going to be in England for another 8 days and then he's off to Florida. We made friends with him, so we're going to go back to the pub on Sunday so go to his going away party. Should be fun.

Anyway, I gotta run. ANOTHER 3 hour long class... LAME.

FUN FACT! Princess Diana isn't from Wales. Neither was her husband. The last real Prince of Wales died in the 1200's. It's just to make them feel included. But you know who IS from Wales? Catherine Zeta Jones. I didn't know that either.

Love,

Miriam

You put dish soap in the DISHWASHER!?

Day 3.

It's a good thing I'm writing a blog because otherwise I would not be able to keep track of the days going by. Everything is going so quickly I don't know what to do except post here because it's new and exciting.

So, we have all figured out that this flat is basically "The Real World-AU-London." There are 12 of us living in a flat, working together and having our lives taped. To find out what happens when people stop being polite, and start getting REAL! Just kidding, but honestly, minus the taping part that's us. We are already bonding faster than I could have possibly imagined. We go out together, we hang out in the flat together, and we're coordinating buying textbooks together to cut the cost.

The names: Cierra, my roommate who happens to be in my fraternity and she is absolutely hysterical. Genna, loud, fun, and from Long Island so obviously we get along. The boys next door are Matt, a brother in PIKE so the frat guy of the house, Joe - the sweetheart, Paul - okay he's a sweetheart too, then the other girls downstairs Monica and Jill who are a ton of fun too. Alex and Dennis, also nice guys who I knew previously to getting here because we're all in Kogod. I'm skipping two because they don't really associate with our group but their names are Ruth and Thomas, who seem nice also.

Yesterday, after all of those lectures, we all decided that we wanted to go to a pub for the evening activity. We were told that some places are now saying 21+ to weed out all of the 16 year olds trying to sneak in, but we ended up not having that problem. I hope it's not a real rule, because otherwise I'm screwed. I doubt it is though, because at Sainsburys (aka A&P) the lady at the register asked me how old I was, I told her 19, and then she swiped my liquor as though my word was a valid way of testing my age.

Joe and I picked out a place close to our flat called "The Builders Arms" and I wrote down the directions and we all got ready together and left (minus Dennis, Alex, Ruth, and Thomas). Joe is much better with a sense of direction than I am, so I handed him the directions and let him lead the way. Apparently I skipped writing down a street, so we got kind of lost and ended up asking people on the street for a good pub to go to. After an hour or so of walking we finally founda place called, "The Greyhound." Matt saw the sign and said "Guys, there's an animal on the sign. Definitely a pub." I'm guessing that's a good way to pick them out, haha.

When we got there it was hopping! There were about 20 people smoking outside (so many people we thought there was a line to get in) and when we got in the soccer game was on between England and Bulgaria. Obviously, I was SUPER pumped, because it was an authentic pub, in the middle of Kensington, and we were the only Americans which meant the other 300 FIE students haven't found it yet :) Anyway, I was at the bar and had no idea what type of beer to get. I wanted a British beer because who drinks Corona or Becks or Stella when you're in LONDON! So, this sweet (okay, really cute!) British guy was next to me so I decided to be bold and tap him on the shoulder and ask him what type to get. He said the "Doom Bar" was good or "London Gold" which were both British bitter ales and "flat." Silly me, I thought that was a slang term, but they really are flat. As he was ordering 3 of his "mates" came into the pub and threw him pounds to get them drinks so when the four pints came he gave me a sip of Doom Bar and London Gold to see what I liked more. It was quite funny being at the bar and having this random dude give me a taste test of his friends' beers, but I just went with it. The beers were flat and quite disgusting, but because he recommended them I didn't want to NOT order it, so I did. They were only 2.25 so they were the best deal there.

So there we were 8 American students, chillin' in a British pub watching the football game. It was SUCH an amazing feeling. I can't even describe how wonderful it is here. Our flat is gorgeous, we all get along, and there are pubs and shops and people everywhere!

OH! The title of my post. So, we got back from the pub and Paul had thought it was a good idea to use dish soap in the dishwasher because we didn't have any detergent. Well, after seeing the suds flowing out of the dishwasher, we all knew that was NOT the best idea in the world. I was scooping the suds with my hands into the sink, but it did no good and everyone ended up laughing at me (Genna took pictures). Quite a funny moment in the flat.

Today we were all hungover and rolled out of bed for a coach bus tour of London. It was fun to see the sights, I must say, but it wasn't personal because we were sitting in a bus and not really walking the streets. We got back and all passed out and I just woke up. I'm now sitting on the couch in the living room writing to all of you. Tonight we're going to find "The Builders Arms." I am dedicated to finding this stupid pub.

DAD - if you're reading this I asked the tour guide who was an older man about the Blitz. We'll skype and talk about it, but I'm not posting the details in my blog.

I PROMISE to post pictures on facebook soon. This is a whole lot of text and not a lot of photography. I've already took pictures, so by tomorrow they'll be up :)

Word of the day:
CHEERS - they're way of saying goodbye, but really they say it all the time. Our tour bus said goodbye by saying "Cheers!" I love it.

Love,

Miriam

I'm here!

Hello!

I am currently sitting in my bed, in my flat, in London! It has been a CRAZY few days.

Leaving was the scariest thing I think I have ever done. After saying goodbye to my mother, it felt unreal walking through security alone, going to the gate alone, and getting on a plane to go to a different country alone. I was terrified and I just kept thinking to myself "what the HELL am I doing?" That thought stayed with me through the entire flight and I probably got an hour or so of sleep.

When I landed, I saw some people that looked my age so I asked if they were also doing the FIE program and coincidentally they were. I took a taxi with another girl to Metrogate (the main flat for the program) to register and get my keys. The taxi drivers here are absolutely wonderful and definitely not like New York taxi drivers, plus you only have to tip them up to the next pound. So, if the taxi ride is 4.50 you tip them 50 pents (their way of saying cents. Pounds are also called quid).

The flat is gorgeous. It's definitely not like living in the Avalon but it's more fun than a dorm because its more of a community, especially because everyone in the flat is an AU student. ANYWAY, after taking a three hour nap Cierra and I went to register and get our cell phones and we took a walking tour of the neighborhood. In all honestly, the tour did nothing for me because nothing felt real and all the buildings in the area look exactly the same. What's fun about the London streets is that the street signs are on the buildings, not on posts on the sidewalk, and they are super  fancy looking.

Today (it's only 2:10 so the day is hardly over) we are going through orientation with FIE and although we are just getting lectured at it's so fun to imagine my next four months here. Everyone is warm and welcoming and all of the AU students I'm living with are great. We're already becoming a mini-family.

Last night we were already yelled at for partying too loudly. They don't sell ping pong balls ANYWHERE, so the guys were using the beer bottle tops. When we were playing flip cup it got pretty intense (boys versus girls) and one of the RA's from the next house over came in and said we were being extremely loud and that we only get one warning. Oh well, no drinking games in the flat! We were also notified that we are in the most expensive neighborhood in all of London and the neighbors have no problem calling the police and fining us a lot of money, so I guess our crazy nights are going to have to be on the town and not in the flat.

I'm trying to remember anything else fun that's happened so far... Hmm. We all just went grocery shopping at Sainsburys, which is just like Shop Rite or A&P, except for the fact they have every type of liquor and beer imaginable in the store! Oh! And Boots aka CVS-London displays condoms and lubricants literally on the first shelves you see as you walk in. They also have vibrating rings available for purchase right next to the cash registers. I thought it was absolutely hilarious.

In a few hours we all have to go back to get lectured about our internships, which should be interesting. In the lectures this morning we were told fun facts about London. One I liked was about all of the taxi drivers - they have to pass something called a "Knowledge Test" which means they have to know all of the bars, pubs, street names, theatres, ect. in London and have the pass the test before they can become a registered driver.

Alright, I need to run to lunch. I've decided that I'm going to leave a fun British slang word at the end of every post.

PILLOCK - idiot, fool. "That bloke was such a pillock!"


Love,

Miriam

London, Here I Come!

Hello all!

The day has FINALLY arrived. After weeks of avoiding packing my suitcases and actually believing I could have signed myself up to do this, I have come to the startling realization I am leaving the country for four months to a city I have never been to. These last few days have been the most stressful that I can remember, maybe even more stressful than the days before I left for college.

I was sitting outside last night trying to remember the emotions that came over me the last few nights of being home before I left for American University. The truth is, I can remember some of the fear but the happiness that D.C. has brought me has wiped out all recollection of the genuine stress I felt as I packed up my mother's car to hop onto the highway to college. Hopefully London will do the same thing, and by the time I'm leaving for Australia I won't be near this stressed.

All in all, I'm now becoming excited and happy that I'm leaving. The first few days are going to be pure insanity, but hey, what's life without a little chaos? All the advise I can give to the people who want to study abroad next semester is PACK EARLY!!! Make lists of everything you need, because now I'm afraid I'm going to forget something super important and start hyperventilating when I'm above the Atlantic Ocean.

Shout out to all of my D.C. loves! I miss you all and I will talk to you as much as I can when I'm in London. I'll be thinking of you on the plane! ( RUSH AKPSi!! ) Woot!

I will write as soon as I can!

Love Love Love,

Miriam