I had a really nice break... ups and downs, for sure... but I got to see a lot of people I'd missed, and I got to spend a lot of time in the sun. I even wore a skirt on my birthday on Wednesday, and got to go to the beach that week as well. In January! Fabulous. There are pictures on facebook.

Anyway, getting back here was the worst and longest traveling experience of my life. I left the boys' apartment at 5:30 PM on Friday, after surfing through rush hour traffic got to the airport at 7:15. Flight delayed. Great. Didn't take off until 12:30. Sitting around in the airport is terrible. Flight landed in Toronto the next morning. As usual, couldn't really get decent sleep on the plane. Raced around the airport, stood in the customer service line for an hour, finally ran to get onto a different flight to London. Left at 10:00 Toronto time. Sat in the plane for a very, very long time while they put weird green stuff on the wings to keep the plane from being icy. Flew to London while some very large dude slept on me. Of course, couldn't get good rest again. Arrived in London at about midnight (was originally supposed to get in at 9:15), went through passport check, baggage claim, etc, just in time to miss the last tube out of the airport by TEN MINUTES. I couldn't afford a taxi that far, and I didn't think the night bus went all the way up to Cockfosters, SO... I had to sleep in the airport. Wonderful. This was the first time I'd ever had to do this. I don't recommend it if you can help it, but there were a bunch of other people there doing the same thing. Couldn't really sleep, though, again. Woke up, went to catch the first tube. It was 1/2 hour late. Finally got on it, but it made me change at King's Cross and wait half an hour for the next one to come. Finally got to Oakwood at about 7:45 AM. The stupid school shuttle wasn't supposed to start until ten, so I tried to get a cab. No cabs available. So, I had to walk uphill on Snakes Lane for 1.5 miles with all my super heavy luggage after not sleeping for two nights. You can imagine I wasn't very happy about this. I didn't manage to get into my room until 8:30, since I was slow at walking and took a lot of breaks. I was so exhausted. Over 30 hours of travel with hardly any sleep is NO GOOD. I hate flying. I hate traveling, really. I LOVE going to new places, I just wish there were a less awful way to do it.

I was really sad when I first got here. It was weird to be back in my room after being gone so long. I was really lonely though, after being able to go home and see so many friends, to then be the only one in my entire hall... Fortunately, five people moved in in the afternoon and I went out and met them, and they all seemed really, really nice. That made me feel a million times better. A few are drama majors, and a few are hippies and are going to not go to Asda with me, so I am very excited.

This week I have an intensive for my physical theatre class. 10-5 every day. It's going to be awful. I'm not going to have caught up on sleep, and it's going to be awful. This blog is full of complaining. Better ones will happen; I promise.

See more travel blogs and travel reviews at TravBuddy.com

What do I do, one might ask, when I'm not running around in the city, spending lots of money, and taking lots of pictures, and collecting memories to write here for the whole 3 people that will read about it later? A very good question, indeed. I sit. Sometimes I read, or watch someone else's movies, or listen to songs that remind me of being younger, or watch the people on the other side of the building through their windows, or eat biscuits, or take a nap... but mostly, I sit. I sit and think about my life, and how I don't know what's going on, and I freak out about it. Being here is hard... I mean, it's not scary by any means, and I don't think I'm necessarily suffering from homesickness or culture shock anymore, but I have SO much more time to myself in my room than I ever had in Irvine... more time to think about my priorities, and my relationships with everyone in my life, and whether what I'm doing the right things.... blah blah blah, I'm sure this is not exciting to read, I just wanted to make sure that my three fans that read this know that I don't just run around the city all the time... At least half of the time I am sitting in my room going crazy and trying to figure my life out, and wondering what it's going to be like when I go back, and trying to cope with how much I feel like I've already changed in the one month I've been here... GAH.

In other news, Nathan and I took a little break from sitting in our rooms and went on a walk in the park on campus. We originally went on a search to go climb trees, but ended up trying to get ourselves lost in the woods. We were partially successful. I feel really lucky that I get to stay somewhere where I can enjoy the "English countryside," and be a tube ride away from the middle of the city.

See more travel blogs and travel reviews at TravBuddy.com

I've been going to a dance show on campus pretty much every weekend lately because Daniel's flatmates are both dance majors, and are in things/choreographing things. It's cool because it's reminiscent of what I do when I'm at UCI: go see friends in smaller, free shows on campus. They mostly focus on "contemporary" dance here, which translates to "modern dance" in the states. So, it's a little out there if you don't know much about modern dance, but fortunately I've been able to keep up. After the show tonight, a bunch of us went to the Student Union to hang out. We ended up doing a bunch of contemporary dance stuff being really silly just for fun, because David wanted to record it all on his phone (they all have really fancy phones over here). Fun times. Everyone in the bar was really intrigued. Some guy even came over and wanted to know if we were all a famous dance troupe or something. That was funny. I was like "Heck no, I'm not even a dance major." These people are awesome though. I have so much fun with them. Yay. 

See more travel blogs and travel reviews at TravBuddy.com

OY! What a long way to travel! I had a hell of a time getting over to London... waking up late, leaving the house late, thinking I forgot my passport and making my dad pull over on the way to the airport while I rummaged through my stuff, didn't find it, freaked out, and then found it hidden between papers, carried super heavy bags everywhere, had to say goodbye to Zach at the airport while I was feeling really sick to my stomach, couldn't sleep on the plane, ran like hell through JFK with my baggage cart wearing way too many layers of clothing, waiting in lots of long lines, not sleeping on the plane AGAIN, and then not being able to exchange any of my money because the girls I met on the plane said the rate was a rip off. Taking the bus from Heathrow to my new dorms didn't look like anything special. It was very green, but looked like it could have been many places I've been in the U.S. Still one of the biggest cultural differences here is driving on the other side of the road, and on the other side of the car. Riding on these huge buses (yes, the red double deckers are real, and are everywhere), I ALWAYS feel like we're going to get in an accident. Anyway, getting to the campus I'm living on was nice, though. You have to drive up this skinny little road called Snakes Lane that's lined with trees. It looks like something out of a movie. The campus itself is beautiful as well. it's very green, and we have this big mansion that we have classes out of. It's in the middle of a park (Trent Park), so that should explain quite a bit. The weather was moderate, which surprised me. Everything is pretty disorganized here, generally, and so I had to stand in line, or queue, rather, for a LONG time just to get my keys. During my short time here thus far, I've found that British people have a very different attitude about waiting in lines. In America, everyone is very impatient on a constant basis, but here, people don't find standing in line, and are polite and quiet about it. Anyway, I live in a very, very old brick building called Gubbay Hall, and I live on the second floor, even though it's called the first. I have my own room at the end of the hall in the corner. My room is ugly, but it makes me laugh. It's got stained and scuffed light yellow painted walls, a very ugly printed bedspread, beat up wooden furniture, a VERY stained old blue/gray carpet, and the ugliest curtains anyone could ever compose. And the radiator behind my desk is leaking. I do have a nice view out the window, though. Yesterday we took trips to the local Asda, which is a grocery store here (or market, rather). I think I spent $100... I needed to buy a lot of food because there's no meal plan and I'll have to cook out of the kitchen that I share will a million other people. The exchange rate makes us all cry. I went to a place to get my money exchanged and I gave the man $200 and got £101 back. Sigh. Also I've been having a hell of a time getting ahold of people at home because I can't find a place to buy a converter, and my phone cards aren't working. Everyone smokes and drinks and is very friendly. More friendly than people had told me. Random people working at the school will start talking to me and the other US exchange students at random. I love it. But I do miss California and everyone there very much. Anyway, I have to go to bed, but soon I will take pictures, and I will write about other things I've done.

See more travel blogs and travel reviews at TravBuddy.com

I ditched a planned trip to explore the campus on my own this afternoon. I've said many times that I wished that I was going to school at one of those old, traditional-looking universities that had super old buildings and had been around for hundreds of years, instead of just 40. I most certainly got my wish. All of the buildings around here are made of brick, and have obviously been here for a very, very long time. The campus is very beautiful, and is surrounded by trees, gardens, and... well, what do you know... A PARK! I was wandering around looking at buildings, and I saw all these old couples walking around behind where I live, and it turns out there is a park behind the dorms with a whole bunch of trails and stuff! So I explored around there for a while. It was really exciting because it reminded me a lot of home. The pictures I took should tell the rest. 

See more travel blogs and travel reviews at TravBuddy.com

First day of classes at Middlesex.
I only had one class, "Shakespeare and His Contemporaries in Performance," for three hours. There are 17 people in my class, four of which are American girls (myself included). It's really neat taking Shakespeare with a British professor (or, "tutor"), and being so close to the new Globe, Stratford, etc. I felt like a tool for most of the class, though, because I don't have a British accent, and so it doesn't sound as good when I read because I don't have the dialect that the scripts were written for. He said he wanted us to read Midsummer and Macbeth outside on the lawn though, if weather permitted (open air, "as it was intended"), so I do have that to look forward to. I also learned, when discussing Mark Twain's "anti-autobiography" on Shakespeare, that not a single British student in my class knew who Mark Twain was, or had even heard of him before. Granted, he's an American author, I thought that we were supposed to be the ignorant ones who don't know anything about anyone else's culture but our own. Hmm.

It's going to be interesting for me to adjust to the British school system, because I hardly have any classes. I only have class on Monday and Friday. I'm only in three classes, and each of them only meets once a week. Apparently there is supposed to be a lot of outside work (reading, papers, etc) that are also required.

When I was bored after class I went down Snakes Lane to Oakwood to see what it had to offer. There are a few little shops (coffee places, etc) that I might think about getting a job at. There is a residential area behind the tube station that was really neat to walk around in. I walked by a store that had a bunch of wedding dresses in the window, and found a really, really beautiful one. I think if I ever felt like getting married, I might want to wear this......

See more travel blogs and travel reviews at TravBuddy.com

For those playing at home, I thought I should mention something about what I'm up to inbetween fabulous adventures.

I've been very busy with class this semester... I have school every day, which takes away a lot of the free time I had before. I'm taking: Contemporary Television Drama (we watch tv, talk about it, and are going to film our own pieces at the end), Acting 2 (Commedia stuff... not too into it yet), Invisible Theatre (Boal, social issues, we're devising our own pieces to do in some public space... scary), and Solo Performance (we're jsut screwing around in class now, but at the end we get to perform our own pieces of whatever we want... I think I'm going to sing). Most of my classes are about things I already know/things I've already studied, but I'm still trying to get as much out of it as possible. I think things will get better towards the end of the semester. I've also been taking outside classes. I'm taking ballet at Pineapple more regularly, and I started taking Alexander Technique lessons at an Alexander center on Oxford Street. I'd spoken frequently with one of my professors at UCI about how this would be beneficial to me, and after months of putting it off and being afraid, I finally decided to do it. It's going to help me to open up physically and emotionally to allow me to be more vulnerable onstage, which is obviously really important for an actor. It's been scary, but I know it will be good for me. In other news, I'm hanging out with the year-long Americans and the new group of British people I'm friends with more often. We go over to Irish Daniel's flat often to play games or watch tv (it's sad how excited I get when I can watch Friends reruns in another country), but it's also fun to stay in with Nikki and Greg (the Americans) and have tea and share stories about how we're getting on over here. I've been a lot happier this semester, because after my long distance relationship being cut off, I don't resent being here anymore. I actually enjoy living in Europe instead of feeling guilty about the decision to come here and counting the days until I can go back to California. I think it was a blessing in disguise, and I plan on fully relishing in the fact that I have more time to myself over here. I stopped missing people at home as much, because I know I'll see them again before I know it. I am still very worried to move back, however, because I know I won't be able to relate to many people. Even when I went home over break, I felt that there was this huge divide widening between me and my friends because I'd been away and had all these crazy life experiences separate from them, and they didn't know what I'd been through. I wonder, sometimes, if it's worth it to go away and explore the world, only to have to come back home and have no one understand you and be alienated. Hmm. Anyway, after last semester being sort of a practice run, I'm diving in head first to the "study abroad" thing now so that I can go home in June without regrets.

See more travel blogs and travel reviews at TravBuddy.com

Even though we were all exhausted from clubbing the night before, Kai wanted to have a picnic on Trent Park. At least this was convenient for the Americans, since this is where we live! After I crawled out of bed I spent the afternoon pretending to do homework on the fields out by Cockfoster's Lane. It was a sunny day, for once, which was swell. The guys were being really rowdy playing frisbee and such. When we got hungry a few of us walked down Cockfoster's to Miracle's Cafe (DELICIOUS) and got milkshakes and hummus and pita. Yummy. It made me miss laying out on the beach at home. Is that homesickness I sense? Nah. Not yet. 

See more travel blogs and travel reviews at TravBuddy.com

Last day in London for the semester before I head home for Christmas, and then come back for another crazy four months. Today I wanted to sit and reflect on my time here thus far, but instead had to run a bunch of errands, pack, AND go to class. Oh well. 

See more travel blogs and travel reviews at TravBuddy.com

This weather is making me homesick for California. It's not as warm as home, but it's really nice weather for England, or so I've gathered. Every time I have an afternoon class, everyone's always complaining about how they want to have class outside. I'm learning to ignore the brisk wind at times, to be able to enjoy the sun the way they do. There are beautiful daffodils that apparently pop up every spring here on campus. People are always having lunch outside... playing... it's nice... After I tried to help Nikki calm down after her crazy allergic reaction I walked around with some friends outside. Here are a small group of pictures. 

See more travel blogs and travel reviews at TravBuddy.com

Today I had my directing class and my physical theater class. They are both going to be a LOT of work. For directing I have to direct a scene, and cast people in it (I don't know anyone!) which I'm angry about. My physical theater class is going to get me back in shape, though, which is good. We already did a bunch of yoga on the first day, so maybe I will be able to fight back against all the biscuits I've been eating. I don't want to write a lot about this day, because it was a very grumpy day, and this is not the place for being grumpy. On a lighter note, I am lucky, because my teachers for all my classes are very nice, and very laid back, so at least I have that. I'm going to learn a lot about accents JUST from listening to them, too, because they all speak very different dialects. Other news, the weather is finally being British, and it's been drizzling rain on and off throughout the day. I will write more exciting things about tomorrow, because we are going into the city.

See more travel blogs and travel reviews at TravBuddy.com

After being here for eight days, it finally started raining this morning. Stephanie, Kristin and I had to run a few errands around campus in the rain today and discovered that it was a nice, warm rain, however. I'm nervous about how we'll fair once the rain gets cold in the winter. At least I will get a chance to wear my polka-dotted rain boots. The rain makes everything very different around here. The fields behind the Mansion looked more like something out of a Brontë novel than before, and the dark clouds give the buildings and trees outside of my window a richer, grayer gloss that feels much more like England to me than the sunny days I'd experienced thus far. I tried to take a few pictures out of my window, but I don't know how successful they are... 

See more travel blogs and travel reviews at TravBuddy.com

So, as a hangover tradition from the days when everyone in England was still religious, they have "Pancake Day" before Lent. Apparently this is an "everywhere thing" instead of an "England thing," but it is definitely not an "American thing," at least where I come from. Luckily, having had the good fortune of making friends with enough Brits finally, I was invited over to Daniel's apartment for eating pancakes. They explained to me that since, back in the day, you were supposed to fast for Lent, the day before Lent you put everything you have left in the kitchen together and make pancakes. Sort of. I knew about the religious side of this, but I just didn't realize people actually cared about doing this. Apparently they do! Even when we went to Tesco to buy ingredients they had a sign up promoting foods to help with Pancake Day. Our pancakes were actually more like crêpes, but were very tasty. I am terrible in the kitchen, but I offered to help anyway. Mine turned out pretty lumpy and broken. Ha. Then we sat down with tea and ate them together! They showed me that you squeeze lemon juice on them and then add loads of sugar. We'd also melted some chocolate for them, which was just as delicious. A day dedicated to eating is an amazing thing, so I might have to bring this one back home with me. 

See more travel blogs and travel reviews at TravBuddy.com

Josh and I flew back to London from Spain today. We had to get up really early in the morning. Before the chick that was in charge of the hostel was even up. It was a long day, as usual... carry all the bags down the cobblestone hill... took a bus to the train... took the train to the airport... plane back to London... bus from Stansted to the city... tube from the city to Oakwood...

That in itself was exhausting. But then we had missed one of the few and far between opportunities to catch the stupid Golden Boy shuttle to campus, so we had to submit to walking. Thank GOD that Vicky was on her way up to visit Greg, so she gave us a lift. We were so grateful we didn’t have to drag our bags up Snakes Lane.

I wish I could have rested, but when we got home I had to go organize getting props set up for my final the next day.

We had a mellow night, though. I was really happy to see Nikki and Greg again. Middlesex was having winter ball in the pub next door so we went over to Nikki’s room and had tea with her and her friend Megan who was visiting and listened to all the dance-y music and spied on people. 

See more travel blogs and travel reviews at TravBuddy.com

I had a really terrible dream last night where everyone was trying to kill me. When I woke up, I was really scared, and crept out of my bed very carefully... but instead of finding a murderer behind my curtains, I saw this beautiful scene of a thick, fresh layer of snow covering everything outside... and even snow actually coming down out of the sky! I was so excited that I cried a little bit. You will not understand exactly how I was feeling unless you also grew up on the coast of California, or somewhere equally temperate. I've seen snow, like, 2 or 3 times on vacations, but I've never seen it like this, and I don't think I've ever seen it snowING. So I took a bunch of pictures out the window, and then started stupidly piling on clothes so I could go take more pictures before I had to go to class. I don't know how to dress for snow since it doesn't snow where I live, so I just put on bajillions of layers of clothes, the big coat that my mom let me borrow since I don't have warm clothes, my hat from Germany, and my rainboots (wellies, whatever). I didn't know if that was legit or not, but ran out anyway. I took pictures of EVERYTHING. It was so beautiful and I was so excited. I felt like a little kid. It was great, too, because since this was about 8:30-8:45 in the morning, hardly anyone was on campus yet, and the snow was all still fresh and un-walked upon. When I went to class I saw everyone else wearing way less clothes than me, and I felt pretty dumb. Oh well. The teacher didn't come for half an hour, so we all took off (a lot of people couldn't get to campus because of the snow), and Daniel (he's from Northern Ireland; we've been hanging out a lot lately) and I went to go run around. We made a wimpy looking snowman with this guy Ronnie. Ha, it was great. Except then Daniel lost his camera. We don't talk about it. Anyway, we went into the forest-y bits by the lake behind campus... man, it was so pretty everywhere... walking around campus, and around Oakwood was so cool, because everyone everywhere was playing in the snow... making snowmen, having snowball fights, rolling up really huge boulders of snow... someone rolled a big ball of snow and put it in front of the stupid shuttle. Ha. Everyone told me that this kind of snow wasn't typical for London, and that it hadn't snowed like this in quite a few years. Lucky for me, I guess! Daniel and I got breakfast, and I had my first traditional English breakfast... beans, egg, "bacon" (thicker than in America, more like ham to me), chips (fries, for all you kids at home), fried toast, and some buttered bread to eat the chips with (so I was told). Oh, and tea. Duh. Seriously, the most fattening thing I've seen in a long time. Lots of carbs, fried things... my brainwashed SoCal mind was telling me that this was a bad plan. But it was so tasty. And a really cool cultural thing to do. I can't say I wouldn't do it again. Anywho, we met up with some more people, and walked to Southgate, jumping around in the snow and throwing snowballs at one another the whole way. Later that night we all got pizza and hung out together. It's great being able to hang out at someone's apartment instead of in my little hole of a room. This was definitely one of the most memorable days I've had here. 

See more travel blogs and travel reviews at TravBuddy.com