Read Me From the Top Down…AKA THIS ONE FIRST!

As long as you are already caught up!! If not refer to the one titled “Finals” or “I suck at updating my blog” or something along those lines.

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OK, if you’re ready so am I, it’s about time I got caught up!!!!

Well, I’m going to post these in a couple continuous installments. After this they will be in chronological order from where I left off before (AKA Right after WALES). I am doing this purely to help you pretend that it’s not the longest thing you’ve had to ever read in one sitting. Or to mark a good stopping point until you motivate yourself once again to read this madness I am producing.

I guess I’ll start with now and then go back to the beginning of memory lane. Right now I am on my first ever night train. Zurich to Wien, you know it better as Vienna (“the American way”). I am in the cheapest of accommodations because, hey, I already forked out hundreds of bones for a rail pass, I figured 36 Swiss Franks was plenty. I am in a 6-person “couchette” type room. Pretty much the seats on both sides double as beds, as do the headrests fold down into another level of beds. And then the “ceiling huggers” get to be all the way at the top of the rickety ladder (which isn’t that high, but is still kinda weird). I’ve deemed myself a “ceiling hugger” tonight. This is my explanation as to why 28 minutes into the trip I’ve decided this. 1. The two other people in the room know each other and will probably keep talking longer than I want to stay awake, so I can’t exactly be awkward and lie down where they are sitting, and I sure can fold down the “headrest level”. And 2. The old lady will break her hip if she tries to climb this ladder. Hell, I might break MY hip!

Anyways better get to the good stuff before I pass out!


(Oh and just FYI – I’m taking a break too. HEY! Being funny is tiring work!)

Everyone’s Irish in Dublin.

Ok 4 ½ minute break over...I’m too bored to be too tired to write.

OK. Flash back to Thanksgiving. And before you get sad, don’t worry we had a little turkey dinner at the flat complete with stuffing, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, the works! It was fabulous and such a great time. Especially when Mike pulled his plate into his lap… HAHAHA. Oh man.

Anyways, Thanksgiving day, Katie and I headed to Gatwick and boarded a 35 GBP return flight to Dublin on this little airline called RyanAir. They are the premier budget airline, and man are they cheap. No free anything not even water, they don't even get a jet way thingy! We had to walk to the plane. LOL. Once on, we could sit wherever, the seats were bright blue with yellow tops… and they didn’t reverse. It was like being in a cartoon. However, the flight was only 1 hour so it didn’t really matter a whole lot.

Anyways, get to our hostel, Avalon House (totally awesome!) and head out to the “Temple Bar” district to meet up with Katie’s friend Lauren from Santa Cruz and her flatmate Annika (I know she spelled it different than that but I can’t remember and that’s how I like to spell it!). Was a good time, this crazy Irish guy kept buying us Jameson Irish Whiskey. Anyway, wake up the next morning and check out of Avalon House, unfortunately we could only stay there one night because we booked late. We walked across the River Liffey (I really hope that's the right name – I’d feel like a right wanker if I blew that) and got to our new hostel “The Shining Emerald”. It was not shining. And it was not an emerald. It was crap. But hey, chalk it up to experience, at least Katie and I had each other.

We spent Friday at Christ’s Cathedral (built in 1000 AD), Dublin Castle (now a palace, the castle burnt down), learning that Earl Grey was a viceroy of Ireland and got the tea named after him, and wandering down Grafton Street enjoying the scenery and shopping. Friday night we met up with Lauren and Annika for dinner at some place in Temple Bar. And then the BEST part was we went to this small pub near the river that had a live Irish band playing. IT WAS AWESOME!!

Saturday morning, Katie and I got up bright and early to do a castle and ocean tour. We were taken to Malahide Castle – it’s famous for being owned by the same family longer than any other property in Ireland. After the castle tour we were driven all along the coast and Dublin bay before getting dropped off. Great views and a great way to see some stuff but stay dry since it was quite rainy. After getting back to town we got an Irish Coffee at The Brazen Head pub – oldest pub in Dublin. We met up with Lauren and Annika again and did the Guinness Brewery in style. It was awesome!! And the free pint in the top floor bar was awesome because it was so cozy and already decorated for xmas that it felt like we were at an exclusive holiday party over a brewery pub. Dinner at The Brazen Head was the biggest fish and chips I’ve ever had, but also the best. Saturday night was mellow after that because we had an early flight back Sunday morning.

THE END!

SWITZERLAND!!

I am lucky enough to have international friends. And even luckier that they are willing to offer me a place to stay in their homes. I spent the last weekend with my friend Peter in Aarau, Switzerland. Its just about a ½ hour train ride away from Zurich. I arrived Friday evening and Peter picked me up from the train station and took me to his house. I met his family (Mother, Brother, Step-dad) and, lucky for me, dinner was served right after. I’m not sure what it was exactly…something meaty (they like meet in these parts!) and Hungarian (Peter’s mom is from Hungary) and sooo good!

Saturday I slept in a bit because I was so tired from finals all nighters, but then went into Aarau with Peter. He showed me his old school (where his brother is now) and all around town. It’s such a quaint little place. And very old fashioned. Apparently, Aarau is famous for the ornate paintings they do on the inside of the building awnings. They were gorgeous!! Unfortunately the photos didn’t really come out though. We walked back to Peter’s house from Aarau along the river (about a ½ hour). At home we had cheese fondue for dinner w/ his brother Matthew. It was so good and so fun to eat! Hehe. Then we met up with Remo (another friend I know through Marcus) and the four of us went out to “The Boiler Room” – Aarau’s little club. It was a LOT of fun just to be with friends and have fun dancing. Sunday I went into Zurich and walked down Bahnofstrasse (the main street off the train station – and home to all the shopping. Sunday night we got to have traditional Swiss food: wurst of some sort w/ Rossti (hash browns of sorts w/ gravy and WAY better) with applesauce and salad. Then we just watched a movie and hung out.

Today was a long day. Peter had school all day in Zurich, so I got up with him at 6:30 and even attended his first class. He is a mechanical engineering major and his first lecture is analysis (pretty much advanced calculus). The reason behind going is because his professor is this crrrrazy American guy who can barely speak German. So whenever he wants to emphasize a point he starts yelling wildly in English. It was one of the most entertaining lectures I’ve ever been to. Oh and Peter’s college is like a palace! The Uni is on top of a hill with gorgeous views of Zurich below and inside its new and huge and awesome. I’m jealous. Balmer High sucks. ANYWAYS back to the story. After school I headed to Grossmunster (Cathedral) and the church across the river from it. Gorgeous stained glass and gorgeous organs in both of them. Also, gorgeous architecture – Baroque style. Hrm, then I went to Café Sprungli. Its famous for its chocolate. I had some minestrone and a 5 Frank cup of hot chocolate. Worth every penny!! It was soooo good! Afterwards, I did a bit more photo taking and a bit of holiday shopping then headed to Luzern.

Luzern, just about a hour from Zurich, is the epitome of Swiss towns. Tiny quaint, water, mountain views, castles in the background. OMG, it was amazing. Great to just take a bunch of pictures. I stared at the mountains forever – and really, really wished I was on my snowboard. I also walked through their advent (pre-xmas period) market which was a lot of fun because there were a lot of unique crafts.

Spent the last couple hours of the day just eating dinner and relaxing at Peter’s house before heading back to the train station to start my adventure. I am officially on my own for the next 8 days. 9 if you count the entire day of flying back – I don’t because I’ve done that part alone quite a few times. Anyways, I’m all by myself… all by myselllllllf… however that song goes. I’m really excited though! I get to do everything I want and nothing I don’t want to, I get to meet lots of cool people and see some amazing places.

AND BEFORE ANY OF YOU WORRY— I PROMISE TO BE VERY CAREFUL, NO STRANGERS HOUSES, NO WALKING ALONE AT NIGHT, ALL THAT. ☺

Anyways to end the blog marathon I’ll give you a preview of what I’ll be doing (NOTE: some are just key words/phrases I don't want to give it all away!!!)

- Vienna
- Sound of Music
- Munich
- Cinderella’s Castle
- Dachau
- Berlin

Peace to the Middle East! I love you all and miss you tremendously! See you soon!

Cheers my dears!

XX, Sara

Its that time of year again...

No I'm not talking about Christmas.

FINALS. Well, the English version. Papers. Lots of them. This is going to be the excuse I use to explain my inability to post the new pictures and blogs you all want and deserve. I apologize for cheating you, my small but loyal fan base, of this.

But, good news. It's sunny today so on my way to the Library I will take pictures of my campus. So everyone can finally see what it looks like. And so that I cannot ever forget.

Until that glorious moment happens when I actually do post them...Or actually post about my trip to Dublin. Or my plans for Switzerland and Germany. I bid you adieu.

Because for once in my life I am not too cool for school. Because school is for cools. And I am one of those.

UK Tour Part 1 of 3

WALES!!!


Yes, yes, I went there. Get over it. Ha. In America the response is, "You went to Wales?!? That's awesome! How was it?" In England its more of, "Why? Did you have to go there for something? Did you enjoy the sheep? Hahahaha..." Quite the contrast!

But back to the point. I went to Wales last weekend to visit my friend Donney (I know him from Seattle, he's just home in Wales for a couple months). And let me tell you it was awesome! It was fabulous to be able to lounge on a couch, watch tv, eat home cooked meals that I didn't make, talk about Seattle and San Deegan and have someone know what I was talking about, see someone I knew from before this adventure started... etc. etc. It was like a mini vacation from my life. Haha.

Anyway, Donney lives between Neath and Swansea on the southwest coast of Wales. So we spent quite a bit of time touring through Swansea and the more upper-class neighborhood, Mumbles. I got to see the Welsh coast (unfortunately no pics--it was so cloudy the sky kind of melted into the ocean) and Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas's house. :) We ate ice cream at one of the best ice cream parlors I've ever been to, Joe's. Just plain vanilla ice cream -- usually not a fan, but this was the BEST vanilla I've ever had. And we got it with chocolate bits (sprinkles) and strawberry sauce. YU-UM! So good, that we went again on Sunday.

Friday night and Saturday were both devoted to football games which was great! Friday night was Swansea City -- unfortunately a loss and a very boring game to watch. Still a cool atmosphere though. And then Saturday we went to Cardiff (the REAL cardiff) and watched Wales play Republic of Ireland. Saw a great goal from Wales and a last minute penalty to tie the game in the end. Really cool. Also got to experience the Swansea nightlife. Pretty similar to anywhere else, but fun for a first timer in the area.

All in all a great, relaxing weekend.

Next week: Part 2 -- Dublin

Remember, Remember the 5th of November,

Gunpoweder, treason, and plot,
I see no reason why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.

Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, 't was his intent
To blow up the King and Parliament.
Three score barrels of powder below,
Poor old England to overthrow;

By God's providence he was catch'd
With a dark latern and burning match.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, ring bells, ring.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, God save the King.


So obviously this post is about the 5th of November, better known in England as Guy Fawke's Day. After Guy Fawkes's plan was foiled, the 5th became a day of celebration not too different from our 4th of July. There are big bonfires and even bigger fireworks shows. And yes, everybody seems to be drinking. This is true for the majority of England. However, in a town like Lewes, "Bonfire Day", is a HUGE deal. It is probably the most looked foward to and celebrated day in town. And all of England knows this. A Within Lewes there are 5 Bonfire Societies composed of hundreds of members each. We're talking 10 days olds to 10 decades old. And they ALL participate. From about 5pm on to about 9, there are continuous processions throughout town. These processions consist of 90% of members (even the 3 yr olds!) carrying something burning, usually a torch, and 99.99% of them in an elaborate costume of some sort. As it gets closer to 9 (the Grand Procession), the burning things become bigger. Huge crosses that commemorate the lives of Lewes Protestants killed by Bloody Mary (no NOT the drink), crazy pink flares that make you blind, popper things that make you cry they are so loud, the list goes on.



My story starts here. I went down to Lewes with Mike and Karl and the rest of Sussex Uni and probably about 40,000 (!!!!) other people from Brighton and beyond about 4 pm on Monday. We made a stop at Harvey's Brewery Pub to grab a pint of their special November Ale always released on the 5th. Bonfire Boy. A very appropriate name. We ventured up High Street trying to find a good spot to watch the processions when we were suddenly shoved aside (hey we got front row seats!!) for them. 3 hours of processions followed. After the grand procession we had the option of 5 different bonfire sites speckled around town. We decided to skip the crowds and followed the majority of the young people up a GIANT neverending hill to the top of the Lewes Golf Course. We found a comfy spot on the green and settled down. Our view consisted of all 5 bonfire sites and subsequently all 5 fireworks shows. These shows put our San Diego fireworks shows to shame. ABSOLUTE shame. They were comparable to the Lake Union 4th fireworks, but there were 5 of them. So way cooler! Anyways, all in all, a fabulous, insanely crowded, 8-hour, surreal, unexplainable no matter how hard I try, wouldn't-take-it-back for a million dollars kind of evening.

Check out this link for a good little article about it:
http://www.icons.org.uk/theicons/collection/bonfire-night/features/november-5th-in-lewes

Pictures up soon! Cheers ma dears.

Peanut Peanut Butter

So. I met a kid tonight who loves peanut butter as much as me. Eats it out of the jar and actually likes it on bananas and apples! Woo hoo. At least there's ONE person in England who thinks PB on fruit isn't completely disgusting! I'll just try to forget that he actually did live in Boston for 5 years, so that could be why.

Naughty Nurses & Paralyzed Rats?!

According to social norms in England, specifically Brighton though, it is perfectly ok for a perfectly normal (i know i know) heterosexual boy to wear girls clothes for a fancy dress party. Its just cuz its Halloween time right? No. It's a quite normal Monday evening actually. For how unpopular of a holiday Halloween is here a fancy dress party is, for Uni students, the highlight of a very normal week. Every week. HM interesting.

So walking along the water to The Concorde to see Against Me w/ Alex, Katie, and Mike we saw a rat. Ew right? Oh no it goes further. This rat was paralyzed from the waist down. I kid you not. It was dragging itself along. Double ew. Worst part? It would have beat any of us in a race. Talk about accepting the hardships and moving on - literally.

Naughty nurses with a side of paralyzed rat all in one night?!? A great -completely normal- Monday night in Brighton!

Cheers my dears.

Writing on a Friday Night? I bet Thomas Paine did it!

Hey! Its not like its schoolwork! PLUS, I'm about a week late getting my Lewes dally and photos up...

Ok, ok you caught me. NO social life. Sad sad me.

Anyways Lewes, spelled to sound like loos (teehee) actually pronound louis, is about 10 minutes away from school. Well at least as far as the bus is concerned its that. I think it would be East of us, but I really have no idea what direction is what anymore.

Once again I digress. Alex and I took the bus in last week. After choosing to get off at the second stop (the 1st one was the jail), we were left in a very quaint, straight out of The Holiday, countryside town. Narrow winding cobblestone roads, corner bookshops, even a castle! After perusing one of the local churches complete with graveyard -- hey, its morbid I know, but they are so interesting -- we decided it was time to eat. And get a pint. We wander deeper into town and stumble across the White Hart Hotel & Restaurant. Nothing special on the outside except a little gold plaque, which at this point makes it the 20th one we've seen. But being the tourists, or maybe its nosy Americans?, we are we stop to read it. Low and behold it is stating that Thomas Paine used to live in Lewes and worked in this very hotel, before it was a hotel of course. Now quick history lesson -- Thomas Paine wrote Common Sense which was very influential during the Revolutionary War and helped writers pen the Declaration of Independence. He also later wrote The Rights of Man (influential during the Frency Rev. War). So now, we are EXCITED about this place. We head in and it is soooo old and cool! After ordering Fisherman's Pie (salmon and cod w/ mashed potatoes and cheeses served w/carrots, yams, and leeks--best dish I've had since I got here!) and a pint of the amazing Harvey's Old Ale the bartender tells us that the front part of the building is almost 500 years old and that they have one of the original copies of the Declaration of Independence in a conference room upstairs!!! So then of course he asks, before we have to, if we'd like to go see it. HECK YES! So we got to see it, and take pictures. Neener neener neener. Seriously though, it was so cool!

After we leave White Hart we head "down the hill and over the bridge", as the bartender told us to, to Harvey's Brewery. Finally we had found a local brewery. We walk into the shop where there are souvenirs and bottles of all their special beers they brew throughout different parts of the year. After talking to the guys there for a little bit we end up getting taken to the back room for a tasting of their current beers. Super cool! The guy, Robert, was telling us about the beer they brew just for November called Bonfire Boy and that it unfortunately wasn't ready for us to try quite yet. The beer commemorates November 5th. Guy Fawke's Day, England celebrates it every year as the day that Guy Fawke's plans to blow up parliament in the 1600s were foiled. There are fireworks and bonfires ALL over England the weekend closest to the 5th. Kinda like their very own 4th of July! And according to Robert, Lewes has one of the biggest festivals around and its actually on the 5th. They debut this years batch of Bonfire Boy at the Brewery, there are 2 or 3 bonfire parades, and of course actual bonfires and fireworks. Awesome. Needless to say, I'm sure you all know where I will be on the 5th.

So that's about all for now. Photos are up. Going to pretend I have a life again. Cheers!

Hey Kiddies...

ITS STORY TIME!

The uploading of my second photo album has triggered some adventures locked away in my brain. Lucky for you guys they are free for the telling now.

1. Fish & Chips Beach Date (could also be labeled as yet another (mis)adventure)

After watching Manchester United win one brisk Wednesday night, Mike, Karl, Katie, and I decided it would be a fantastic idea to be quite British. Not too difficult seeing as how 50% of the group IS British. Anyways, I digress, we decided in order to "be" British we must take fish and chips down to Brighton beach and, oh yes, eat them. The best place to do this would have to be at the blue and white painted Fish & Chips place on the water. It had the perfect corner location, decent amounts of people in it when we had walked by before, the fact that the phrase "established for over 45 years" was painted on the outer walls only helped its credibility. So we order our grub, which they serve to us in a homemade paper cone and walk to the beach. We settle comfortably on the rocks (since there is no sand) and begin to eat. First bite is Amazing because we are so proud of the fact that we are being sooo British and cool. Second, third, fourth bites I start to realize we probably could have found a better place, but not wanting to "ruin the moment" I say nothing. Fast foward through finishing our food, playing in the rocks, skipping stones, and wandering home we are all on Karl's bedroom floor gobbling Katie's fruit flavored TUMS. Ouch. Never again.

2. Take me Out to the Slot Machine...

After watching England beat Estonia (I love how all my stories are post sporting events...) Alex and Millsy and I decide that since it is quite gorgeous outside we will walk across the street from Belushi's to the pier and "check it out". The pier reminds me of Santa Monica Pier except way cooler because it is in England. We walked into one of the arcades and I realized there were slot machines! It was like Christmas come early, I was a little kid in a candy store with no prices, I was ... ok really, it wasn't that amazing. But since I've never gambled I thought it was kinda cool. We park ourselves at the closest 10p machine I can see and have a go. One 10p coin in slot, press button, nothing. One more 10p coin in slot, press button, nothing. HOW BORING! How little old ladies can sit in Vegas all day in front of those things is beyond me. If I had won after sitting in front of one of those things for 6 hours I'd probably die. This is my reasoning, after 6 hours you have accepted that your life sucks, you are only capable of doing this one mindnumbing sequence, all of a sudden there is a loud swirly type sound screaming at you, you go into cardiac arrest because the sound scares the crap out of your silly head, and you die. Woops. Bit overboard I know, but I thought slot machines were WAY cooler than that!

Aussies in the UK?

I'm an Aussie magnet. I can't help it. It's just part of my uncontrollable charm. Some people have it, some don't. I definitely do. Hm. Yes.

A Much Needed Fix

Ok my faithful blog readers, aka family, my next blog is here! There's no real theme to this blog seeing as the last two weeks have been full of lots of random, unrelated but all equally important things. That being said I'm just going to take a chronological approach with this...

So October 1st marked the beginning of Uni for all us freshers. And let me tell you its quite different! I have 4 classes and they are mostly just once a week. So my "longest" day of school ends up being monday because I have 3 one hour classes. DIFFICULT, I know. Anyway, the two hardest things that come with such a lax schedule are a) remembering that I am actually here to learn and not just play around and b) getting the motivation to go off campus and check out the area because really, my campus is in the middle of a cow pasture. NO JOKE. Assessment as they call it here, is a bit different as well. Its all based on essays and unseen exams. Lucky for me my two classes that have unseen exams take said exams in MAY. So since I won't be here my grade gets to be based on just a short essay and my involvement in the class. Now, assessment is my biggest downfall because its hard to keep motivated when all I'm going to be graded on is an essay on a topic of my choice that only encompasses a part of the course. Oh well. So far so good though, because all of my classes are really really interesting.
History of the Holocaust, Sociology of Health and Medicine (social inequality, socialized medicine,etc), The Novel (reading Dickens, V. Wolfe, Defoe, James Joyce, etc), and then Intro to Management (counts as a business class I need back at UW).

Now onto the fun stuff. My Social Life!

Generally, most evenings have been spent making dinner in my flat, hanging out with my flatmates, and maybe heading over to East Slope (campus bar) for a pint o' Guiness.

That being said some nights have been spent in Brighton checking out the nightlife there. I do like the club scene here a lot better than in America because the music is much, mucph better. Most clubs are playing either really old school fun to dance to music or electronic trance type music. Non of this "ghetto rap" junk they play in America. My top most memorable club nights in Brighton thus far have been Paul Oakenfold and last night.

So last week a group of us went to see Paul Oakenfold (really well know DJ - even in America) for cheap! 7 pounds cheap! It was soo much fun and at a great venue in town called Tru (pictures up on site). We danced and had a great great time. I even met a pretty cute Aussie (Andrew). hehe.

Last night was the opening student night for Oceana. A giant club chain would be the best (and worst) description. This is, I believe the 8th or so Oceana to open in England. The club itself has 4 themed and decorated to the theme bars: Tahiti, French classic, Alps, and then like a swanky lounge type. It also has two clubs: Icebox or Icehouse or Icesomething (during the week 18+, weekends 20+) and the New York Disco (20+ during the week - I felt special! and 23+ weekends). This disco room is amazing! The dance floor is full of multi colored tiles that light up in some sequence or another and of course tons of disco balls! Katie (flatmate) and I started off the night by visiting Andrew at the bar he works at across the street (coincidentally enough its an Australian themed bar - almost too cheesy) and then meeting up with friends at Oceana. Great, amazing brand new place with pretty good tunes. It ended up being a fabulous night for the sheer fact that I was there with friends, great atmosphere, lots of cool new people to meet.

Hm lets see what else. I'm falling in love with football (soccer) and rugby and watching said sports at different local bars/pubs in Brighton. Karl and Mike (flatmates) are teaching me the ins and outs of premiership teams and we've been usually watching a couple games a week. This past weekend and then tomorrow (wed) have been/will be exciting because they are national games (England team playing instead of teams w/in England) and are qualifying games for the Euro 2008 Tournament. Also going on right now is the Rugby World Cup (every 4 years). And England has successfully beaten Australia in the quarters and France in the semifinals and will be playing South Africa (reeeeeally good team) on Saturday to defend their champion status. We'll be camping out somewhere with A WHOLE LOT of Brits cheering England on.

Other than that just starting to square away some side trips before my time is up here. I've got the beginning of my winter trip to Switzerland and Germany figured out. I'll be staying in Zurich for a few days with a friend and his family. I'm also days away from booking a weekend trip to Ireland (Dublin) which is looking like mid to late november. Also a possible trip to Paris to visit a girlfriend studying abroad from UW.

So I apologize for the density, and lack of humor, in this blog but I can't leave anything out ya know? I'll get better about posting more frequently. ANNND more pictures are going up next!

Cheers!

Couple Things About the Photo Website

*Its really easy to navigate.
*If you look on the right hand side, near the corner, you'll see a box that says size w/ 3 different box sizes next to it. The middle one will be highlighted and if you hit the big one it gives you a good size clip of the photo and most of the caption.
*You can also click on the photos to get a large version.
*There is also a slideshow button that will (shocker!) run a slideshow and include the captions. That's all!

And Now For Something Completely Different...

A two-fer!

Part I: School Sponsored Pub Crawl

Just a quick diddy on the USSU's (student union) Fresher's Pub Crawl. I guess because drinking in Britain is such an important activity with very little negative stigma attached to it, it makes perfect sense for the school to host such an event. I mean, hey who thinks that bringing hundreds of freshman to bars all over town and then ending the night by booking out the 4 busiest clubs right on the beach isn't a good idea?? haha. Quite like my previous post on drinking here, I found the school sponsored pub crawl shocking, but of course I signed up. Great way to meet people and learn where in town is fun to go. Once on the buses we got the 411 on the evening; we would be split up into different wristband color groups, herded around town by Resident Advisors and Student Union leaders, and ultimately be dropped off on the beach and have any of 4 clubs to go to until the buses came to get us between 2 and 3am! A-MAZING! (i mean amazing that this is school sponsored -- days later I am still in awe of this)

My favorite part of the evening besides meeting all the international students (we got our own group) was the location of the clubs. It was similar to Mission Beach or Santa Monica in the sense of the layout of the beach. Ocean-Rocks (no sand)-boardwalk-buildings. Except that instead of houses it was 4 clubs. Pretty cool to go inside dance to 90's hits and jackson 5 (very big here - oh michael haha) and then walk outside and be on the beach to cool off.


Ok, Part II: London (Mis)Adventures

This past Friday and Saturday I spent time in London with Katie (my flatmate from UCSC) and her boyfriend Jesse (from UCSB-hes studying in London for the year). Friday night we went to a play called '39 Steps' in the west end (Picadilly Circus!). It was in a beautiful and very quant theater, and it was hilarious! We were cracking up the entire time. Afterwards we wandered around and marveled at the mass amounts of tourists and lights. We ultimately ended up at an Irish pub called Dublin's because of the huge flyers advertising live music. This is by far the biggest pub I've been to. 2 floors of dance music and food, and the best part, a 3rd floor room just for the band. It was a great Irish band, all guys in their 40's and 50's. The whole second part of their set was dedicated to covers of currently popular music with some lynard skynard mixed in. Great place!

The "(mis)" begins here. At 1 am we were ready to head back to Jesse's dorm on the other side of London. However, the tube stops running at about midnight even on Fridays. Sooo "We'll talk the number 25 bus" says Jesse. No problem. Except that the 25 picks up absolutely nowhere near Picadilly Circus. Woops! So we get on a bus that we think will get us to the 25 and end up going 25 minutes in the wrong direction. Thankfully we get dumped off the bus at a stop that DOES have a bus that runs to Jesse's. So ten minutes later we are on an hour long busride to his place. This ride is complete with drunk Londoners discussing the evening, lost foreigners, and random and rather intoxicated individuals trying to have civilized conversations with very sober and very tired americans (aka me, katie, jesse). I had the privelage of speaking with an Aussie boy dressed to the nine about why he had moved to London; "Well there's this little game you may have heard of called cricket..." he starts. "Well I'm actually quite good, so I've come here to play professionally..." he continues. I almost barf and think do you ACTUALLY get girls with that line?!? Regardless, he was quite pleasant and clean so he didn't creep me out. Eventually at about 3 am we successfully made it back to Jesse's and all slept better than we had in days.

Saturday was the Tate Modern and some fabulous Greek food on the Thames. Not very exciting, but a fabulous day.

School's started. So far so good. I'll be posting shortly about that. It'll make for a good one once I get a bit more material.

Until then, Cheers!


PICTURES ARE UP!

A Couple Facts About Alcohol...

1. You can drink it in public. So on a Friday and Saturday n ght the subways and streets are full of pre-funking bar patrons.
2. Fosters is REALLY popular here. It's served everywhere.
3. Singles are like drinking juice or soda and doubles are a single.
4. IT'S VERY EXPENSIVE!

So there you go, my observations. Cheers!

Freshman Take 2

Never in my life did I think I'd feel like I was 18 and going to college for the first time, again. Move in day was everything it should be and more. The excitement of being mere hours away from a world with no parents, freedom some might call it, was everywhere. And of course that comes complete with parents (mostly moms) having break downs in almost every car I happened to pass on the way to the co-op. I think its pretty rad they have a co-op store on campus. I have found out pretty quickly that Sussex is fairly known for being a more liberal Uni.

Anyhow, I'm situated in Park Village for the next 3 months, building 25 room A. Each building has 3 floors, 4 rooms on each floor, kitchens on 1 & 3, and a bathroom on 2. Pretty good setup. I think we've got about 5 boys and 7 girls. Weird sharing a bathroom with boys! But we all get along pretty great, well the 9 of us that choose to be social anyways. We spent last night hanging out in the 1st floor kitchen/hall area and getting to know each other. Complete with an excusion to the co-op for wine (wine on campus!!) and walker's prawn cocktail crisps (translation: Lay's chips that taste like cocktail sauce). Luckily we skipped the roast chicken crisps and jammie dodgers (they dont sound too bad... I love the name though and had to drop them in somewhere).

Today was a short excursion into Brighton. We had some lunch, walked around the mall, and got some food from Marks & Spencers (fairly similar to the Metropolitan Market). Tomorrow I have a compulsory (mandatory) session at 9 to listen to the international program director. Afterwards Katie, who lives upstairs and is from UCSC, and I are going back to Brighton with the International kids to have a proper tour of Brighton. As for the rest of the week, we've got Wednesday through Sunday off, so she and I may head to London later in the week to go to a show (mamma mia? rent?) and hang out with her bf who is at Uni. London.

Ok, long enough. Will get pictures up soon! Promise!

Address at Uni: Sara Johnson
House 25, Room A
Park Village
University of Sussex
Falmer, East Sussex BN1 9RD

Send me stuff!

London Calling!

Well Ladies and Gents, I MADE IT! I'm sitting in this fab little (but VERY packed) cafe called Tinderbox sipping on the hands down best vanilla latte I've ever had and just trying to soak in the amazing-ness that is London.

After waiting over an hour to get through customs at gatwick (apparently NOT normal at all according to a local) and having a treacherous experience with the train and underground (subway) due to my excess amount of baggage, I dragged my tired little self into the 4-star Hilton Islington to check in early. After freshening up a bit I head out to live up my day in London. Grabbed a sandwich from the ever fabulous (I almost cried when I saw it) Pret-A-Manger "lunch-type" shop and took the underground to Trafalgar Square to meet up with Corey. He's a fellow UW student heading to Sussex this fall. We galavanted all over town and checked out Parliament, Buckingham Palace (the Queen is in), Harrod's, etc. Anyway, now I'm here relaxing for a bit before dinner and a drink in Picadilly Circus area tonight.

My plan with this blog is to try and get a new post in once or twice a week to keep all of you updated. I'll also have a picture website that you can reach at http://picasaweb.google.com/saramarie86.

To reach me while I'm on this fabulous vacation (yes, even though I have school it's DEFINITELY a vacation) you can do a few things:
Email --> saramarie86@gmail.com
IM --> tinkabell321
Skype --> saraj171
Call --> (206) 905 - 1465 This IS a Seattle number, its a feature from Skype, you call it from your home or cell and it calls my computer, if I'm there I answer and we chit chat, if not leave a message!

Until next time,
S.