Drinks! Hostels! Rugby!

Sorry I've been away so long.  The sun has been villainous in its absence the last few days so my energy level has been at an all time low.  However, today the sun was out in full for the first time since I've been here.  It was amazing.  Every ray was like a small reassurance that England is actually habitable by human beings!

No complaints though.  I've had a pretty wonderful couple of weeks.  I went out to Battle of the Uni's last Monday (Feb. 18), which was the biggest party I've ever been to.  It was my school, the University of Leicester, versus DeMontfort University just up the road... the returning champions.  If you're wondering how our universities battled, then go on wondering because I can't help you.  All I know is, there was a lot of cheering and then the DJ announced that we won and then there was lots more cheering.  I'm compressing time a bit, of course.  There was music and dancing and drunk people, of which I was one.  It was the first time I'd been out with my dorm mates so we all went super hard.  For them, I'm sure it was about proving English dominance in drinking ability; but for me it was about proving English dominance in drinking ability... I was hopeless.  I'm sorry, America!  I've failed you as a representative.  I wore my giant sky-high stilettos and I only fell twice! I twisted my ankle pretty badly, but I've made a full recovery... No need for hysterics!  That means you, Mom.  Don't book a plane ticket just yet.

I went out again Friday for International Student Night at Club Republic.  When we walked in the door, there was a large table full of stickers of flags from around the world.  The idea was to wear your flag in place of a name tag and perhaps find fellow countrymen studying here as well... the only problem with that was that there is a ridiculous amount of Americans studying here, so by the time I got the table, the great stars and stripes were all gone.  *sad face*  But the lady behind the table smiled and gave me a union jack sticker instead.

Yeah, so I'm basically British now.  That's pretty much the naturalization process, right?  Before that night, I had no idea that there were so many South Koreans here... but that all changed when GANGNAM STYLE started playing.  It was like everyone was riding a miniature horse, but the South Koreans were true artist equestrians.  It was beautiful in the most wonderful and ridiculous way!

I also booked a week in Dublin, Ireland.  I'm staying 6 nights in a hostel called Ashfield House; and before any of you gasp and holler at "hostel", it's more like a bed and breakfast, and not at all like the film.  I'll show you a picture:

See?  It's nicer than many of the motels back home!  And I'm told there will be no more than 3 men with criminal histories in my room at any one time.  KIDDING!  I'm kidding, Mom.

I've also booked my trip to London for the weekend of March 9th and 10th, during which I'll be seeing Macbeth starring James McAvoy live in a West End theater!!!

I am so excited for this!

But let's catch up to today. I went to my first rugby match to see Lucy (my roommate) play.  That is the most violent game I've ever seen.  Those girls aren't messing around!

There were two injuries while I was watching.  1) A girl fell to the ground and did not get up, but she was clutching her face... I thought she had broken her nose at first, but when she finally stood up there were tears streaming from her eyes and Lucy told me she got poked in the eye.  Poked in the eye bad enough to lay on the ground for 5 minutes in agony!  "She'll just get over it", was Lucy's explanation to the look of horror on my face.  Next, after a particularly eventful "scrum" (which is maybe the most intimidating part of rugby.  The team all link together in 3 lines and run head first like a battering ram into the opposing team who are doing the same.), a girl fell and started screaming holding her knee.  She started crying bloody murder, and I've recently found out that it takes a lot to make a rugby girl cry... like a broken kneecap and torn ligaments.  Ouch.  They might need to work on the efficiency of treating injuries because they just carried her off the field in their arms.  The walk is a good quarter mile from the field to the road where the ambulance was waiting.  Yeesh.  

After the game, Lucy came back home and took a bath... and then showed me her war wounds from the game.

Ouch.

Everybody remind me to never piss my roommate off.  Ever.

I promise to post copious pictures from London and Dublin! Stay tuned, my lovelies!

Tex-Mex Night!

It's just dawned on me that I haven't posted any pictures or information about my flatmate, Lucy; which is ridiculous, because she's been the biggest part of my time in England.  Lucy is the sweetest, kindest roommate anyone could have ever asked for.  Plus, our flat is pretty fantastic.  I've lucked out in ways I completely don't deserve!

For example:
Lucy works at a cafe in town called Cafe Express. She had to work today, and she invited my friends and I in to have some drinks.  We get there, and Lucy runs up and greets us with her perfect smile and British politeness.  She promised that the hot chocolate was too good to pass up so we all said "Heck yes!"... Then Lucy proceeded to make us the best hot chocolate my American mouth has ever tasted.  Every sip was like a warm hug from a very large and loving woman.  When I pulled out my wallet, Lucy said, "As if you're going to pay."  It was amazing.  She then gave me my first scone complete with strawberry jam and cream... so delicious.  I love this country.

Back at the table, my friends looked at me like I had won the lottery and they were green with envy.  "You're roommate is amazing."  "I can't believe she just did that for us."  "Seriously, she's the best person I've met here so far!"  Suddenly, I was the object of their jealousy and it felt so good.

So.  Good.

Afterwards, Lucy and I went grocery shopping and bought ingredients for fajitas, complete with my homemade Tex-Mex guacamole.

Lucy had never had it before, so naturally she now worships at my feet.  The English clouds temporarily parted and my Texas warmth shone down on our little flat in Leicester... and it was delicious.   Mmmmm.

Lucy about to eat the guacamole...  

You can just sense the anticipation, can't you?  It's like she can barely contain herself.  

Lucy eating the guacamole...

Look closely and you'll see, on her face, the absolute blissful perfection that is the unadulterated enjoyment of Tex-Mex.

Lucy just finishing the bite...

She can't even chew.  She froze in ecstasy.

 Lucy approves!

It was such a good day, and an even better night.  

Now we're playing each other our favorite music.  I'm lovin' me some England!

I miss you all back home... but I might never come back!

Someone(s) I Met Today: Kyle and Sarah

Kyle and Sarah were on the bus with me today.  We had plenty of time to get to know each other because the ride from Leicester to Stonehenge was 3 hours...

and then the ride from Stonehenge to Bath was 1 hour...

and then the ride from Bath back to Leicester was another 3 hours. 

They are a couple from Canada living in an apartment in the Leicester city centre. 

Forgive me, but I don't remember what part of Canada they're from... My foreign policy skills are atrocious, I know.

I was shivering in my 4 layers today and Kyle looked at me like I was crazy.  

He said to me, "This is nice weather.  This is like May weather back home."  

I wanted to punch him in his polite Canadian face!  :)

By the way, the frequency with which they said "Ay" was very enjoyable.  And every time they opened up a snack of any kind, they always offered me some first.  Seriously, Canadians are the most polite people I've ever met.  I loved this day!

The Beautiful City of Bath

I realized recently that many of you, while you may know I'm in England, have no idea where I am specifically.  Let's study the often-forgot, and therefore frightening subject of geography for a moment.

My town, Leicester, is smack dab right in the middle of England.  I hadn't traveled outside this city yet, unless you count my brief time in London at the airport (which I don't); but today a big group of study abroad students went to Bath (it's not on this map... sorry... but if you look in the lower left side of England before the peninsula really starts to jut out, and just parallel to the bottom-most point of Wales, you'll see a city called Bristol, which is very near Bath).  

Bath was a stunningly beautiful town with architecture around every corner that took my breath away, and history enough for 10 cities!  However, before I availed myself of the copious culture Bath had to offer... I had to have me some lunch.  

So finally I had...

 Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

Delicious!

 So this table of food quickly turned into...

...this table of empty plates!

I was a happy girl!

From there, my friends, Mayra and Megan, and I began wandering the streets of Bath to see what we could see; and oh my goodness what we saw!!!!

Right after we turned the corner from the block with all the restaurants we saw this.  

And a few doors down:

Even the simplest of buildings had a kind of artistic presentation about them.

 And still others knocked the wind out of me with their beauty.

 An English cliche!  How exciting!

They seem even more cliche with the streetlamp, doesn't it?  Narnia, anyone?

 The houses and cottages of Bath on the hillside.

The coat of arms of the City of Bath, which was explained to us by the nicest gentleman after we all stood there with our heads cocked to the side asking, "What is it?"

 However, my favorite part of Bath came at the end of the day when we finally found the Roman Baths... 

which were unfortunately closed already; but not unfortunately was the adjacent building: 

The Bath Abbey

 Pictures can't begin to do it justice.

 I stared slackjawed up at this for what seemed like hours.

 The glass of the windows was so beautiful!

 I can only imagine what this would have looked like at night with all the perfect lighting.

 Every inch of this building was covered in detailed work that completely amazed me.

 Even the door!

 And as the daylight began to fade, the Abbey looked even more beautiful.

Bath is also known for being the home of Jane Austen for several years before she was published.  In fact, Bath features prominently in great detail in many of her novels.  So naturally there's a Jane Austen museum in Bath; and even more naturally I went!

All of the museum staff were clothed in Regency era costume and spoke with proper English accents of the time.

Jane's likeness was plastered on everything that would keep still inside!

This little tidbit of information was incredible!

(James McAvoy's character in Becoming Jane)

There was a costume section that allowed you to adorn yourself in the garments of the regency period... and I had to try on the top hat.  I mean, come on, who could resist that level of temptation?

 Oh, and also the bonnet.  

Autograph from Matthew Macfadyen... my personal favorite Mr. Darcy!

So yes, all in all, it was a wonderful English day filled with too many cliches to count and every one of them as enjoyable as the last!