jessica's abroad blog

Dublin: Learning the Irish Way

2009-04-09T17:31:00.008+01:00

You know, every country I've been in so far .... all of the stereotypes are true.

The French are pretty, conceited, and bundled up.

The Scottish say 'aye' and 'wee' and wear kilts.

The Swedish are tall, blonde, and shy.

The British are loud, bold, and rich.

Well, the Irish. You know what the Irish are. They're drinkers.

I went to Dublin this past weekend with Carmen, Hilde, Suzan, Maria and Vasilis. We spent every night we were there in the same pub -- The Oliver St. John Gogarty. The pub's hero is a crazy man who's done everything from write poetry, be a surgical doctor, a sportsman,to being and for activism. The pub itself is huge. It's got three floors and on each floor separate bars. They play either crazy obvious singles from 60s+ like "Dancing Queen" to "I Feel Like a Woman" or traditional Irish music.

On the first night we were there, we went and enjoyed the first floor, the one with the obvious singles. We met a handful of ridiculous Irish men, but they were pretty hilarious. That night was also the night I discovered Dublin had TIM HORTONS. I was tres happy.

The next day, we did most of our touring before ending up at Gogarty's again.

The group of us walked around the city but split up when Vasilis and Maria wanted to go on a tour of Trinity College, so the girls and I went to see the giant needle in the middle of the city and walk around the River Leffy, ending up on a pier drinking coffee and tea all classy until it rained and we were the only people left on the pier - covered in all four of our umbrellas. After that, we visited a church I don't remember the name of, had some food, and then ended up in St. Stephen's Green park.

That's when we ended up back at Gogarty's - for the Traditional Irish Music Pub Crawl. Two professional musicians, one Irish, the other Scottish, took us and a group of about 20-30 more people (all older than us) to two different pubs, where they sat us down for a pint and played us, well, traditional Irish music. One played violin, the other guitar. It was nice and relaxing, but I got so tired that I zoned out for a while. They provided us with some history and context, and it was interesting. It was then that I realized how much musical history Dublin has, and how many buskers out on Grafton Street and more there really are. There's tons of music stores, but since going to Dublin, I've been pretty bummed I didn't get to go explore them. Oh well - it's probably for the best. The city is ridiculously expensive, so I would have been in trouble.

Anyways, most of the group ended up going back to Gogarty's for another drink afterwards but Suzan and I retreated to our nice hotel for some relaxation. At this point, I was getting rapidly more exhausted after my travelling since Sweden (I only had a day and a half in London between trips and that was spent in class).

The next day, the group of us went to the Dublin Castle and played around in the park for a while. We then split up: I went with Vasilis, Maria, and Carmen to the Guinness Storehouse and the Dutch girls went to explore the castle and city more. I was aprehensive about going to the Guinness Storehouse for so much money but it turned out to be worth it (besides, it includes a free pint). It's actually fun, and seriously the beer version of Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory. You go through a maze of Barely, Hops, Water, and more. You see how they mix everything, their old advertising campaigns, and by then you get up to the gravity bar -- seeing all of Dublin while nursing your pint.

That evening, we went out for dinner and ended up at Gogarty's again - it was a Sunday so less busy, but still entertaining on the Obvious Singles floor.

Our last day was Monday, but it rained. Just like the day we came. So Carmen, Hilde and I ended up walking along the water under umbrellas again and stopped at another cafe talking about horror stories for quite a long time. Then we met up with the Greeks and proceeded back to our hotel before flying back to London.

Swedish Plants and Animals

2009-04-09T17:01:00.007+01:00

On Tuesday, (March 31) , Vanessa, Isak, Jamie, and I went to the Varmlands Nature Centre and Animal... something. It was kind of a groggy day as all of the past days were, but it was still a lot of fun. Isak brought his dog and together the five of us walked through the abandoned park and had lunch in the nature centre.

From there, we walked through the animal park and saw goats, black sheeps, ducks, and cows. No sight of the supposed horses. Played around on the playground for a few minutes, but then it was time to catch the bus back into town.

Vanessa and I then went and hung out in the library/tourist centre, where I finished my souvenir buying, checked my email, and sat around because I was sooo tired.

That night, we just hung out again, watched more of the Big Bang Theory. I had to leave in the moring, so we were pretty sad.

The next day, I got up early and got myself down to the train station. Took a train to Gothenburg City. I had four hours to kill before my bus to the airport to take me back to London, so I decided to walk around on my own for a bit. By then, the weather in Sweden was beautiful (of course just when I'm leaving) and really hot out, but unfortunately I was all layered in coats so I didn't have to pack them and walking around was somewhat of a tiring task. Anyways, walking around I realized Gothenburg is more of a nicer, friendlier Paris. Everything shines and everyone is out shopping and happy. There's a few canals I walked by, and pretty European buildings. I didn't walk very far, but I found my way a few streets over to where the university is. There's a canal and a hill covered in flowers, so I sat on a bench for an hour and read my book (Cider with Roadies). All of the university students were out sunbathing sitting on the ledge of the canal. After that, I walked back to the station and got an ice cream and sat outside listening to a podcast until it was time to go home.

Sweden overall was a really good trip. I got to reconnect with Vanessa and Denis and I made a couple of new acquaintances. The atmosphere is really relaxed and I think it's definitely a challenge for Vanessa to live there and to learn how to live a slower lifestyle compared to Toronto. I liked having time off from the big ol London, and probably deserved that snowstorm because I missed all the big January ones in Toronto.

Oh, and Swedish sounds like a mixture of Sim language and Italian. Strange, huh?

Exploring Karlstad

2009-04-09T16:39:00.004+01:00

By Monday, most of the snow had thawed down in Karlstad. So Vanessa took me around the town on a little tour.

We discovered that Swedish people only work Wednesdays to Fridays, and had a long contemplation on how they hell they stay alive because all they do is shop. She took me past the "Entertainment Factory" where all the cool kids go, a salon dedicated to Elvis, and a church that has an interior that's almost all white.

We ended up in a small mall where we had baguette sandwiches for lunch. Then we walked across the street and went into one of the probably two Karlstad record stores. I bought a vinyl single that was warped into a strange bowl. The single: Mili Vanili's 1989 hit, "Girl You Know It's True".

From there, we spent an awful long time in a bookstore in the town square, finding the strangest kid books. Creeeepers.

We topped off our shopping with a little H&M therapy (hey, we're in Sweden, we had to go there) and the grocery store to buy dinner supplies. That night we watched a lot more movies/tv and made vegan cookies. Awesome.

I've really missed Vanessa. We've been living together for so long now, she's pretty much one of the cool sisters I never had (others: Felizia, Nahmi, Caroline, Clara, Laurel). So just hanging out all the time in Sweden was great for me - I didn't care what we did, I just wanted to be with my friend. However, everything we did was so much fun.

Swedish Learning

2009-04-09T16:10:00.006+01:00

On my second day in Sweden, Vanessa, Denis and I trekked over to the Varmlands Museum after we had a lovely half-Swedish breakfast of cheese sandwiches and this dessert soup with ice cream.

We couldn't read a word at the museum, but it turned out to be really interesting with random paintings, a much too fun kid exhibit, and a history of the Varmlands area, which is where Karlstad is.

Afterwords, we went back to Vanessa's place where we attempted to watch the Science of Sleep but it was in French with Swedish subtitles so we blew it off and went to the Audio Video store and giggled over silly Swedish translated movie titles until we picked out the wonderful Be Kind Rewind.

The next day, Denis left early in the morning so Vanessa and I had the lazy Swedish sunday to do pretty much nothing. We decided to bike over to town to go to the Royal Cafe. I have not biked in yeeeeears and was really excited to do so, until I found out how much of a pain it gave me (butt bruises, really). I whined the whole way there, but by the way back even though I was sore, I had fun soaring through the pathways of the thawing Karlstad with the wind blowing through my hair. For the rest of the night, Vanessa and I just chilled watching movies/tv.

Snowy Sweden

2009-04-09T15:54:00.003+01:00

My first impression of Sweden was a snowy one. Deciding to drop buckets the day I arrived, it made travelling around by foot in the tiny town of Karlstad an interesting one, especially after the fact that as soon as I set foot on Vanessa's doorstep, I fell and got a pretty nasty bruise on my right knee.

However, I was welcomed into wide, warm arms by Vanessa and our friend Denis, who also went to visit her at the same time. I was beyond happy by the time I saw them, after travelling for ELEVEN HOURS. We trekked to a Lebanese restaraunt where I met Vanessa's friends Brian, Isak, Jamie, and Keilin. I of course just had pizza.

While Vanessa, Denis, and Jamie went to go see the Hives (was bummed I didn't because it was in Sweden!) I discovered the joys of Swedish pirated internet (R.I.P.) and laughed myself silly reconnecting with Scrubs and Ugly Betty.

Edinburgh Videos

2009-03-18T00:50:00.003Z

Braving the Scottish Wind

Walking around the Scott Monument

A View from the Castle

Jess being Jess at the Castle

Edinburgh, Day Three and Glasgow For a Day

2009-03-17T23:54:00.010Z

Day Three was definitely day of walking.

Carmen and I started our day by climbing the Scott Monument, which was made in 1840 by a man named George Meikle Kemp. It's 200 feet high, and has four observation levels. We climbed 287 steps, and got a certificate at the end!

It was a really beautiful view, and we met a lot of tourists (some from Canada! Others from US, Ireland). The steps were spiral, narrow, and only sometimes had a railing so we found ourselves clutching the walls climbing up and down (whimpering a little, I might add). Each floor had something new to offer. Some other pocket of Edinburgh to see. You could see a hill and water in every direction, and it was just so serene.

After that climb, we had a short ice cream break. Then Joyce took us over to Edinburgh Castle, so Carmen and I could explore that. (Had to walk up the steepest incline ever to get there!) It was much more costly than the Monument, but pretty worth it. We got to walk all around, look out on each side, people watch, and go into some rooms of the castle like the prisons of war, sword room, a great hall, a chapel, a monument for dead soldiers, etc. We were acting pretty goofy (probably because we were so tired at this point) and had a few funny times.

Once, I was sitting on a horse statue, and a worker came up to me yelling "please get down! this is a monument to the dead and you're being very disrespectful of the dead by sitting on it!" Woooops. *collar tug*

We also stopped some traffic being silly with jumping pictures, doors with eye windows in them, and laughing about audio tours.

By the time we got to the top, it was even more amazing than the monument. We just stood there and stared at the view for ages.

After that, we did some tourist shops for a bit, walked around, and found our way back to the Elephant House to meet Joyce. Then we went out for Chinese food at a place named Chop Chop.

The next day we went to Glasgow. We went for breakfast at the famous Willow Tea Rooms, then did some shopping (I got new ipod speakers for only 3 pounds!), and just walked around. My feet hurt too much from the day before.

Then Carmen and I hopped on a bus to Glasgow Aiport. We got there, realized we were way too early, and hung around looking at magazines. It wasn't until we asked someone where to check in that he said "oh, RyanAir doesn't fly out of here... that's Glasgow Prestwick Airport!" He laughed and said it happens all the time. Our stomachs fell. We rushed outside and caught a cab, and luckily we got the nicest driver ever who sped us there and let us pay what we had. But the best part was him, driving off into the fog, swirving enough for me to fall over in my seat and saying "BUCKLE UP, AND HOLD ON TO YOUR HOLLYHOGS!" We got there in time, thanks to the nice people of Scotland.

Edinburgh, Day Two

2009-03-17T23:18:00.005Z

After resting up some from a very, very long day, Joyce, Carmen, and I geared up for another one.

We started off the day by walking through a food market set right under Edinburgh Castle. Where they sold all sorts of food like ostrich, boar, porridge, hogs, and much more. I ended up eating a cupcake. Joyce ate an ostrich burger and said it tasted like plastic.

Then we were on to go see the water! I still don't really know what body of water it was, but I think it was the Firth of Forth. Anyways, it was SO windy, like, ridiculous. But it ended up being hilarious, and worth many giggles. It was beautiful out there, the sky was so blue (not the water though), and we walked along on the rocks.

From there, we went to see one of Joyce's school's campuses. One of the buildings was some inspiration to the movie version of Hogwarts, and also a former insane asylum. Since we were there on a weekend, it was abandoned, and thus creepy. Carmen got pretty spooked, and I did at one point, but other than that it was cool. There's a great view from there because it's on a hill, but I don't really see why the building would be much inspiration to Hogwarts.

Then we went to her other campus, because Joyce and Carmen were booking their Euro trip on the computers there.

After that we went to go see Marley and Me, which I bawled through half of because it hit so close to home with my dog, Chips. (Warning family: don't go see!) So I was pretty out of it for the rest of the night, sigh.

Came back to Joyce's apartment and realized we were all to be squished in her room for the rest of the trip due to certain circumstances. Turned out to be a good thing.

Edinburgh, Day One

2009-03-17T22:43:00.005Z

I'm taking Vanessa's approach to blogging and doing it day by day.

So, this past weekend I took a trip with Carmen, my fellow Ryerson Journalism Buddy On Exchange In London, to see Joyce, another RJBOE but in Edinburgh. Get that?

We got up really early (5AM) and trained, planed, and bussed our way to Scotland. Turns out, we booked all the wrong bus tickets, but we still found our way.

We found a different bus to get us from Glasgow Prestwick Airport to the Glasgow city centre. I swear, this bus must have been a shuttle for an old folks home, because it felt like walking slow-mo through a movie with all of them looking at us like 'why are you on our bus' type of thing. And even later, we passed a crossing sign for elderly people (an example of such sign here) and I thought to myself 'isn't this where they have to get off?' But they didn't. Oh, and another thing, Scotland has a LOT of sheep. On this bus ride I saw approximately 998723847 of them, a few hairy cows, 2 horses, and 1 ba ba black sheep.

We got to the Glasgow Buchanan station and somehow got on another bus to Edinburgh. It wasn't until we arrived at Edinburgh Station that we realized we missed our stop at Haymarket, but the bus driver took us there anyway, the nice man.

Carmen: "is this where we get off?"
Bus Driver: "Aye, laksjdfkahsdf"
Carmen: ".... is this where we get off?"
Bus Driver: "AYE."

I love it. AYE.

Anyways, we finally found Corey and he took us to his apartment with Joyce. Carmen and I were tired but really hungry, so Joyce, Carmen, and I went to TGIFs for a big dinner, then walked around Edinburgh some, and ended up at the Elephant House, thus making me drool. A lot.

(not a fake!)

The Elephant House is where J.K. Rowling used to go to write her early Harry Potter novels, she would look out the window at Edinburgh Castle. Sigh, so magical that I was in its presence! It's covered in Elephant things, and not much of HP stuff, which is interesting that it didn't cash in on it. But it's packed! It has a really nice warm atmosphere, and all the elephant toys look so friendly. I wish I could have gotten into the back room, but it was completely full.

(i sat in that cute chair!)

Recap of a LIFETIME... or more like a month

2009-03-03T20:25:00.015Z

That's right. I can't believe I haven't updated you on my faaaancy trip in almost a month! So, basically, I can't take more of mainly my friend Yahlehly's swift internet kicks towards me to update.

Here's the deal. I won't expand on much, because really, there's not much to expand on. I will give you the basic updates on what I've been up to, with pictures of course. If you're further interested, please inquire within. Blogging is a tiring process. Oh, and I've developed a cold as of yesterday, so my energy is close to zero.

Anyways, last time I updated was when I got back from my trip to Manchester. I was preparing for my boyfriend Ryan to come visit.

So.. Ryan came. It was very romantic and lovely. It was way too long not seeing him. It was really cute at the airport, because even though I was late so technically he was waiting for me, I still got to run and jump on him in excitement. <3

These pictures are from Thursday, when we went to the Natural History Museum. Too much cuteness!The next day I had class, and I don't remember what we did after that.. haha. Friday was epic. We got up early and went to see the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace, then walked through the beautiful St. James's park, over to see the Cavalry, Big Ben, the view of Westminster, and the Houses of Parliament.

Then we went back and somehow Ryan started to feel sick since we went into Marks and Spencer to get food. Later on, we went on a Friday the 13th tour of the Jack the Ripper sights, and at the end of that he started to feel sick again. So, for the weekend from Friday, through Valentines Day, until Monday/Tuesday, Ryan was terribly sick and we were confined to my room, pretty much just hanging out. It was still a cute Valentines Day though. :)

On Monday, we did the London Eye, and that remains my favourite part of London. Then we did a bus tour. I was upset about the tour because we ended up on a tour that wasn't as good as the one I did with my mom. Oh well. We went to Piccadilly Circus, and then went home from there.

On Tuesday, we took the boat ride down the Thames to the Tower.

Anecdote from the Westminster Pier:
Ryan and I sit down on a three-seater bench. Next to me on one chair is a briefcase, left unattended. A group of adults and a TON of kids come over and ask if that chair is taken. We say we don't know, we didn't know whose bag it was. They freak out and call security. Security freaks out and is about to evacuate the pier, but then this couple that had been at the end of the pier were like "ooooops hahahahahah" and so it was fine. It just goes to show ... people here freak out about unattended things, thinking they're bombs, but Canadians, they don't notice! ha.

ANYWAYS. so Ryan really enjoyed the boat ride. Then we got the Tower, walked around. Then we decided to go to Madame Toussads. That was a ton of fun, but pretty overpriced.

Then we went out for dinner and drinks with his friend Stash at this crazy Belgian restaurant in Covent Garden.

Wednesday was Ryan's last day and we were both ridiculously bummed, so we kept it more low-key. We walked to King's Cross to see Platform 9 and 3/4, which really was moved to a nook off Platform 6 (and the movie was filmed between 4 and 5).

Then we walked back, he crazily bought me 3 purces at Accessorize (my new favourite store, obviously), went for lunch at Pizza Express, and then we walked along the canal for a bit.

Thursday was a depressing day. Saying goodbye to him was very close to how hard it was saying goodbye the first time. The first time was terrrrriiiibbbbllleeee. I cried for days. But this time was different. I knew I was okay on my own, but then it was worse because now it's twice as long until I see him again. Blaaah. The airport was not a fun scene.

After taking him to the airport, I decided to go see this band Passion Pit play an instore at Pure Groove Records.

You can see my video report here.

Then I went to class. Awesome.

-------

Since that epic week, here's what's happened:

My friend from home, Brendan, came to visit with his friend Tracey. We proceeded to have a good drunk night out.

I had a chick flick day with the girls. Shopaholic and He's Just Not That Into You.

Homeworkhomeworkhomework.

My Canadian roomie Vanessa, who's studying in Sweden, came to visit!! She left this morning.

Thursday (26th at this point) - I had class most of the day, so V decided to go be a tourist all day. Went out for dinner at Thai Square.

Friday -- Attempted the British Museum, but it was closed due to a gas scare. So we ended up finding the Comics Museum, which was cute. Then we walked around Covent Garden until we got to Tottenham trying to find a place to eat. Then we went to go see Elliott Brood at the Borderline. I filmed for SPIN. Man, was that an amazing show! I'll have a probably slightly more detailed review of that over on Round Letters ....soonish.

Saturday -- British Museum. Again, very interesting!

Sunday -- Rock and Roll tour, and then our own Jack the Ripper walk. Also walked through Spitalfields Market.

Monday -- I had to do an interview and an essay so V toured around more.

Any time that we werent being tourists, we were basically sitting in my room watching Friends like old times.

(i'm sure vanessas going to have a much greater recap on her blog, so i will let you know when she does)

So that brings me to today.

That wasn't much of a list, was it?

Coming SOON:
-Elliott Brood video
-Hopefully seeing Wicked
-Next weekend, going to Edinburgh, Scotland with Carmen to visit Corey and Joyce, fellow Rye J-Skoolers
-Hopefully my Manchester loves visit me soon!! I miss them SO MUCH already!!

In other news:
-I'm reading Microserfs. I have a few other books just waiting to be read, ahhh!
-I have a loooot of feature work here to do
-I need to get on the ball in terms of setting up journalism stuff in Toronto
-I bought a postcard from 1903 that was sent from Winnipeg, of a picture of BC, to someone in London. Greatness.
-Also bought some new artwork of the grafitti artist Banksy. It was 3 for 10, how could I not? They're lovely. I wish I didn't have to wait two months to put them up.
-I'm getting closer to planning my Sweden and Germany trips by CENTIMETRES. I just found out a few minutes ago Italy most likely can't happen, therefore I can't see my long lost buddy Francesca in Milan. :( sigh.

Okay, this was MUCH more than enough. Decades long.

Next time I'll have a better update, I (half)promise.

More Manchester

2009-02-09T23:16:00.002Z

Look under this post for my recap of my trip to Manchester.

For now, here's two videos from my trip!

Weekend in Manchester

2009-02-09T17:24:00.012Z

I've definitely realized over the last month that leaving a place to go to another makes you appreciate the first one so much more. That's what's been happening with my Toronto to London relationship. I can't stop thinking about how much I miss Toronto. I appreciate the little things like how when you drive up into the city, it feels so epic. There's nothing that tall on the outside of London to make any drive into it feel epic.

I needed to appreciate London a little bit more. And this was remedied by going to Manchester. But, turns out, I loved Manchester so much.

I went on the trip to visit my friends Kat, Louie, and Dave, who were exchange students at Ryerson two years ago that I became very close with. I've missed that crew a lot, and was so excited coming to England just because I could see them again. And you know how they say you know when you've met a good friend because even if you've been separated a long time, when you see each other again, you can just pick up where you left off? That's what it was like with these three. It was like nothing ever happened in those two years.

(the gang two years ag0)

I stayed with Kat and her boyfriend Lee. I got into Manchester around 4 p.m. Friday after being stuck on the megabus in the snow for too long. Met up with Kat and Louie and we drove around so I saw some of the city. Then we hung out at Kat's for the night, Dave came over, and we just were drinking and merry. They are so hilarious, I've missed them so much.

(the gang now)

On Saturday we got up late, then Kat and I were too enthralled with the tv show Shipwrecked to get out of the house until 2. (It's like a British young-people version of Survivor. And the people on it are SO annoying, of course. Especially this kid from Liverpool. I can't listen to him without cringing.) Then Kat and I trekked down into the city, visited the pretty library, walked around the Council building, until we got to the Manchester Eye, which is about 1/4 of the London Eye, but still fantastic and much, much cheaper. That was a lot of fun, and we got to go around four times, so we were pretty stoked on that.

Here's a view from the Manchester Eye.

Louie came to meet up with us then and we walked around until we got to the pub where Lee works, and we hung around there for a while until the four of us walked around the city to try and find a place to eat (unsuccessfully). But it was fine, because I got to see the city nightlife and certain areas like Piccadilly (much better than London's Piccadilly might I add, and somehow looks like Toronto City Hall). But we just ended up going back to Kat and Lee's for dinner. Then we all ended up going into half-comotose state watching tv. Somehow ended up watching like three movies, but none of them the whole way through. It was fun though, really, I just wanted to go to Manchester to see them, so it never bothered me that we didn't get to see all that much.

On Sunday, we got up late again and were just chatting (and of course Shipwrecked came on again, aaah) until we met up with Louie to go to lunch at some hip pub near where Kat lives. It's in a trendy area, which is mainly populated by students, so it was pretty fun, and I'm sure way more fun at night.

Then they drove me to the station, Dave came by, and I had to say goodbye. I was really bummed about it, because I had such a great weekend hanging out with them. I was glad that my friend Denis was on the bus to keep me company though and keep my mind off of that. We had a good conversation and then we both drifted off. I didn't get any sleep on the bus though, and today I feel kind of crappy.

Anyways, it's one of those times where I wish I could be in one place that I loved with all of the people from all over the world I know I've accumulated in that one place. Ah, how simple and lovely that would be.

Coming back to London, I appreciate it more than I did last week, but now I miss two places: Toronto and Manchester.

Hopefully plans work out and the three of them will come visit me for a day soon.

I've realized that I'm pretty much booked solid until I leave the UK, and it's freaky! Ryan is finally finally finally getting here tomorrow night(!!!!!), and he's here until the 19th. I'm so so so so excited! Then Vanessa's coming on the 25th until I forget when in the first week of March. On March 13th I think Carmen and I are going to see Corey and Joyce in Edinburgh, Scotland. In April, somehow I have to manage Barcelona, Italy, Germany, and Sweden. And maybe if my dad and brother are coming? I really don't know. I wish my plans could be set though so I can stop worrying about them! At least I know I have fun things to look forward to before I have to go home and try and salvage myself some type of job. But, it's Toronto!

If only the weather would clear up here I think I would be much more happy about London. All I want to do is walk around and explore, but this weather isn't permitting me the best moods or times for that. Soon, I hope.

dragons and snow "storms"

2009-02-02T18:03:00.007Z

it's been an eventful weekend, you could say. except, this week, my weekend counts from last thursday until... this coming thursday (if i even have school) due to the snow. but more on that later.

on Friday, Suzan and I finally got to go to a concert in London. We ended up down the road at the Lexington to see Darren Hayman, the front man of now defunct indie band, Hefner.

his opening bands were a boy that looked like a tim burton character (and pretty sure that's what he was going for) singing about a spider he found as a child and then actually doing an adaptation of the snow angel song from Edward Scissorhands. it was ridiculous. The other band was called My Sad Captains, and I really like them now. (there will be more coverage of this show on Round Letters.... soon.. also once SPIN Earth is up, you can see my video report). It was fun, and I really liked the Lexington. It was a good night overall.

on Saturday, Carmen and I headed over to Wagamama for dinner. I really can't get enough of this place. I tried the chicken katsu curry when i went on Monday (...) with Martha, and I had to have it again (as well as that wasabi cake). It's SO GOOD. seriously. my stomach feels happy every time I think about it. Anyways ... *drool* we then met up with Hilde to go see Rachel Getting Married. And it was good, but depressing. Didn't help Hilde or Carmen much in their moods, as the night before they unfortunately witnessed a man getting hit by the bus they were on... yeah. I wasn't kidding to anyone when I said these buses have no mercy.

on Sunday, it was the London Chinese New Year Celebrations. Carmen, Hilde, Suzan, and I met up with Soren and our new Italian friend Davide for the festivities.

(Suzan, me, Davide, Soren, Hilde)

We walked around Leicester Square (seeing the dragon dance and eat lettuce..) then to Trafalgar and saw the concert going on there. It started snowing, but I didn't believe it, I just thought it was dust or something. Really.

We then ended up at a pub chain named Garfunkles, for a long time because it was so cold outside and we had nothing else to do. It was a lot of fun. I still can't get over how funny we are together.

Then, we went back to Leicester Square to see the fireworks. Right in the middle of the square. The square surrounded by trees and buildings. I know, I couldn't believe it! It was awesome though. Usually I don't like fireworks and think 4th of July is lame, but this was fun.

Herded like cattle down the tube station, we finally got home to Angel and then went to Tortilla (Hilde pronounces it 'tor-til-ia') for dinner. Then we hung out for the rest of the night. It was a fun day.

By the end of the night, there was a little bit of snow. Carmen and I giggled at first but then were frustrated. We came here to get away from it, we said. (Ha)

(Carmen and I in front of the Canada...place)

By this morning, I woke up to children playing outside around 11 and thought that was strange. Turns out, this city went into chaos while I was sleeping and then proceeded to wig out for the rest of the day. All the schools were closed. The tubes weren't running. Snowmen popped up everywhere on the streets. My friends messaged me to exclaim their joy over classes being cancelled, people in the streets with their cameras, and even sheer excitement of just seeing it.

(Sledding on the street)

See, London hasn't had snow like this in almost 18 years. And seriously, it's nothing compared to Canada. It's literally like, 2 inches? I don't know, I can't measure with my mind. But it's NOTHING. doesn't even cover your foot.

(Seriously, look at that stump. That's how much snow there is.)

So as everyone was joyous, Carmen and I were frustrated. Stuck inside because we didn't bring our snow boots with us, we decided to do laundry. And then we found out our class for tomorrow was already cancelled because the snow that happened today. And I only have classes Tuesday and Thursday... so.. yay long weekend. I feel a little guilty though, and... I'll get to work .... tomorrow.

oh, PS -- my plant died. :( its too sad to put it in the garbage, and i have nothing to plant it elsewhere with...

also, thanks Carmen for half of the photos!

aaaand... 8 days till Ryan is here :)

random late night facts and musings

2009-01-27T02:30:00.000Z

there's a buzzing coming from one of the rooms i'm in between that's been driving me nuts for days. i don't know what it is, where it's coming from, or how i can stop it.

however, all the new music i've recently acquired has helped me through this. and then i try and get myself out of my residence room for a good amount of time, that works too.

but falling asleep has been hard. staying asleep has been hard. waking up has been hard. sleeping is just generally not a fun task anymore. i haven't had a pleasant dream since i've been here, lately i keep waking up, and also the last few days ive been woken up by very, VERY loud drilling on the street outside my window.

my floor kitchen gets grosser by the day. the one thing that was clean, the microwave, was product of some explosion by this morning. i don't know but it's a little appetite-stealing. guhh.

today, i met up with an old acquaintance, Martha, from toronto who used to be my journalistic mentor-ish who's now doing grad school here, ate a huge lunch at wagamama and drooled thinking about it all day, wrote in Round Letters, wrote some emails to publications back in Toronto with hopes of getting a summer internship, then met up with a friend, Alex, from Ryerson who was only in London for the day before he flew off to his exchange in Denmark. Carmen and I went to meet him and took him to a pub near Leicester Square. Then Hilde, Suzan, and Soren met up with us and we went to celebrate Chinese New Year in Chinatown at some restaurant I completely forgot to get the name of. Then Alex left. Then after dinner, the five of us wandered Chinatown in search of fortune cookies. Then Soren left. Then the four of us wandered Leicester Square until we got to Piccadilly Circus and then as Hilde really (hehe) wanted cheesecake, we trekked back to Angel, walked fooorever (I'm lazy) down Upper Street to another restaurant I forget the name of and stayed there for quite some time especially after giggling for at least a half an hour after all the new ways Hilde discovered to say "I'd tap that."

I've been feeling kind of homesick the last couple days. I don't miss some significant things, but it's just the aura of it. I miss my routine. My room. My house. Concerts. Ryan. You know. I wonder what it will be like when I get back...

That said, I'm back to fretting about my journalism future.

Oh. The crew and I are planning a trip to Barcelona for a weekend at the end of February I believe. I hope this works out! I never thought I'd want to go there, but right now I really do. Jetsetting here is way cheap, and we might as well take advantage of it! Trips still to come: Manchester, Oxford/Brighton/Liverpool? Hmmm. Then Edinburgh, Karlstad, and wherever Francesca lives in Italy and wherever Malte lives in Germany. I. Am. Excited.

15 days until Ryan's here!

i can't wait until its warm out so i can find places to walk to in this city, sit down, and read a book. or people watch. although, everyone here has a scowl on their face. especially at Sainsbury's.

oh last ps -- more photos up here.

will you let me romanticize the beauty in our London skies?

2009-01-21T15:03:00.001Z

Jamie Cullum's song "London Skies" has been in my head for days.

Paint a picture,
Clear cut and pale on a cold winter's day,
Shapes and cool light wander the streets like an army of strays,
On a cold winters day.

Chorus:
Will you let me romanticize,
The beauty in our London Skies?
You know the sunlight always shines,
Behind the clouds of London Skies.

Patient moments chill to the bone under infinite greys,
Vision hindered mist settling low like a ghostly ballet,
On a cold winter's day.

Chorus

Bridge:
Nothing is certain except everything you know can change,
you worship the sun but now,
can you fall for the rain...

Chorus

It's beautiful. Below, listen to a clip. Otherwise, you can download the song here.

In the past few days, a lot has changed.

Carmen and I spent days stressing over our journalistic futures, and it's exhausting. We decided that since we're in London, only taking four classes (and I only have two days of classes a week, HA), we're going to try and be more zen. We're learning how to relax in this new city, all the while plotting our plan of attack on the future. And it's turning out to be a really healthy decision. I feel so happy right now, and content (minus the fact that I'm missing people so much.)

And further helping the zen are our new journalism exchange student friends Hilde and Suzan from Holland and Soren from Denmark. The five of us together are hilarious, we never stop laughing. And it's not like we aren't just fooling around. I love when we get onto topics of journalism and such that we can really dig into.

Anyways, we've been out the past two nights on the town: the Angel neighborhood and Camden Town that is. We've been finding lounges and restaurants. One of the ones we found in Angel the other night has DJ nights every Thursday with 70s, 80s, and 90s music, so you'll be sure we're hitting that up tomorrow to check it out.

I had my first class -- International News -- on the Inauguration Day of Obama. We didn't actually talk about Obama, apparently the professor is saving that for next week. Instead we talked about war and journalism and the risks journalists take to cover it. It was pretty interesting, and I think the rest of this class for the semester will be helpful. And then for Obama, the crew and I went to the schools' student union to watch the ceremony. It was fun, but I kind of wish I was in the States for it.

I have three other classes coming up by next week: Features, Print Production, and Web Creation & Design. The latter of which I already have to get started on as I'm a semester behind the rest. They're all doing podcasting now. This is great because I've been thinking about getting into podcasting myself, so now I'll be able to learn how to do it. Yay!

Today, Carmen and I are doing laundry and taking it easy. I've already spent most of my day reading the Watchmen and listening to all this new music I discovered. You can read about these musical studies on Round Letters.

updates

2009-01-15T01:39:00.001Z

Two things:

Soon, you'll be able to check out more London updates on my other blog, Round Letters.

And for more London videos that I've taken, go here.

a beautiful day

2009-01-15T01:05:00.000Z

Yesterday, Mom and I took a bus tour from London to Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, and Bath. Before we went, I was a bit skeptical of the tours, and I didn't think Stonehenge was more than a bunch of rocks, and I didn't know what we would do in a castle and the Roman bath houses.

But it turns out, it was a great day. Albeit long and for every minute I was on the bus and then some after, I was nauseous.

So, we went to Windsor Castle first. This is where the Queen stays most of the time, but she wasn't there when we went. It was created by ... a King. I don't remember his name. In order to keep the Romans out? Geez, I guess I was listening to Arcade Fire and not the tour guide Godfried more than I thought.

Anyways, we walked around a bit with the group, checked out Queen Mary's doll collection and old documents of the Royal Family, and then checked out the changing of the guard. Which was awesome! And hilarious (especially at the part when towards the end guards came out of nowhere running out of step into the Guard Room in the back hahah).

Here's a video of the beginning of the service (which was about a half an hour or so):

Then we got back on the bus to get to Stonehenge. It took about an hour or so, and then we got to the Stonehenge Inn for lunch. I had my first ever chicken pot pie with gravy. It was good!

Then a few minutes later, we were at Stonehenge. It was beautiful from the bus as the sun was just over it. Who knew? I never thought I would like looking at a bunch of rocks, but it's the way the sun hits them that matters. And the plains, oh the plains. They roll forever. However... some mounds are actually burial grounds from the people that built the structure 5,000 years ago. A little creepy, no?

It was just so green. And blue. And bright. Yesterday I was really in love with England.

Then we headed over to Bath. I didn't know what to expect, I thought it was a little place that happened to have old Roman remaining bathhouses there. No, it's now a city of 3500 I believe, and it's beaaaautiful. It looks like it's straight out of Italy. It feels like a place of its own, like Horton's Who. Everyone looks special, and they glow. A woman we met today said that all of the bricks there were specially made for that city. The stores glow onto the paths, and over the hills you see distant little lights. The Roman bath water is supposed to have healing power, I think that it mainly has been sponged into this city to make everyone beautiful and glowey.

Too bad that when I had a sip, it made my stomach hurt for a half an hour.

alone in their own worlds

2009-01-15T00:53:00.000Z

I've noticed that in London hardly anyone has headphones on while they're navigating the underground. And when I do see people that have it on, they're usually men probably in their 20's, 30's.

I did see this one girl get on the tube the other day though, that was all dressed up from work. She was heading home. She got settled into her seat and looked all snugged in. She took out her ipod and then all I could hear was hardcore music coming from her headphones and she had this content little smile on her face and her head was banging really slowly. She didn't fit the part of her music, but she loved it so much.

(In a sidenote of unusuals on the subway, I also saw a fancy dressed up man who, as his legs were crossed, you could see his socks that read "Who's the Caddy?")

Anyways. As almost everyone in Toronto has their headphones on, listening to whatever makes them feel better that day, it makes me wonder.

Are Torontonians more scared to be alone with their own thoughts? Or do Londoners not need the music in their lives?

Maybe they just have shorter trips.

Navigating the Underground

2009-01-15T00:10:00.000Z

In my life so far (twenty-one years people, even though every person in Britain feels the need to look ridiculously shocked when they find that out) I've learned four subway systems.

Buffalo, Toronto, NYC, London.

Buffalo. To me, this is useless. It's one line that gets you from University at Buffalo's South Campus to the HSBC arena. In other words: The Sabres path. I'm sure it works out for Canisus students, the maybe 100 people that work downtown, or subway fanatics. But it's ridiculously overpriced and doesn't do much difference against just driving to your destination.

Toronto. Now, I've come to appreciate Toronto's TTC for the fact that it gets me from home to school and back. And to all of the places I ever want to get to in Toronto, it gets me there. It's my time to zone out and listen to my music or catch up a bit in a book. However, both trains and stations are dirty, the trains are constantly interrupted, and the system is not very complex. In fact, what branches out the most are the busses and streetcars. But one of my main beefs is that they shut down at 1:30 AM.

NYC. The scariest one yet. I thought I would never be able to handle it, but my pal Vanessa got me through it when we went to the city in October. It's got a ton of connections every other stop you need to take, disgustingly dirty and dark, and you have to walk a ways to get to the one you need, but if you have a map in your hand (and there isn't any ridiculous construction that makes you go in a different way but nobody says anything) it should work out alright. It still feels way sketchy, though, and my last trip in October involved a crazy woman yelling at an imaginary person, and then a real person. And then everyone started yelling.

Now, London. I thought this was never going to let me master it, but surprisingly, it's way easier than I thought. You must, must, must, plan out where you're going ahead of time, and once you're in the station, you're gold. The signs are clear (much unlike NYC) and show all of the stops in big bold letters where you want to go, and even the stations with 4 different lines running through them, it's easy. Now, when you get on the "tube", it's usually small, a bit cramped, but still nice and cozy with their colourful seats. There's screens that tell you what station is next just in case you've got your headphones on, and signs in the tube that show only that line you're on.

So far, London has my favourite underground railroad.

tourist updates

2009-01-11T22:42:00.000Z

Hey all, I've got quite a few days of recap for you.

Let's see..

We've done the London Eye, which has probably been my favourite part so far. It's the most amazing view. And it just baffles my mind how it's still fairly new. It was built in 2000 as a present to London! I forget from who. Maybe from London. You never know. Anyways, that's where I've taken some beautiful photos (if I do say so myself) and didn't once stop to lament scarily over the fact that I was so high up.

Oh, before that, we took a few moments for our first glances of the Parliament and Big Ben. So detailed.

Then we hit a bus tour, which spanned Thursday and Friday. We saw all of the famous parts of the city, and it's beautiful. It's hop on, hop off, so we got off at a few places.. first stop was St. Pauls Cathedral. There, we paid to walk around inside and ponder over the statued caskets and higher than high ceiling. Then we climbed the ridiculous stairs up to the second level to the Whispering Wall, where we couldn't hear the whispers because the organ was too loud. Figures.

From there, we got back on the bus and toured around until (the real) Picadilly Circus, where we stopped to use the washroom and find mom a sweater. In fact, whilst buying the sweater, she left her credit card, which we didn't discover until a day later. (The Gap kept it: good luck!)

Then we got back on the bus which showed us where the Princes live, where the bowler hat was invented, The Tower, Tower Bridge, London Bridge, and back to Westminster. There we checked out the pretty Parliament and Big Ben at night, and I got a couple great shots there too.

On Friday, we went to the London Bridge and walked from there to the Tower Bridge. Then we went to the Tower, walked around, saw the Crown Jewels. Then we had a nice lunch and got on the boat cruise down the Thames, to get off at Westminster. From there, we went over to Trafalgar Square via the bus tour to book tickets for Paris and Stonehenge tours. Then it was back to Westminster for the Abbey's Evensong.

Saturday was Paris. We had to get up at 3:45 to be at St. Pancras station by 5:30. Mom left her camera in the cab, and they returned it that night (more good luck!) Then the Eurostar was stuck in Kent for an hour because another train got stuck in the chunnel. By the time we got to Paris, it was noon and we had to be back to leave by 5:30. So we hopped on a bus which took us to the Eiffel Tower. You know, all my life I thought it was black? No, it's brown. Or at least really rusty. Actually, all of Paris is dirty and stinky, and I had never heard that before (apparently everyone knew but me, instead I had this Lady and the Tramp view in my head). Anyways, we ate real french nutella crepes (tasted just like Cafe Crepe in Toronto) and got on a boat cruise of the Seine. So many bridges!! And all the buildings look the same, and the same colour. It's kind of strange. Anyways... then we got back, checked out the Tower again, and somehow found our way over to Notre Dame, where we had lunch at Cafe Panis right across the street, looking out the window at the cathedral. It was pretty. There was a french couple sitting next to each other that were so into each other. The waiter didn't seem to like us tourists and made us wait for everything. I had french fries in france and they tasted just like Toronto fries too. Whatever. We got back to Gare du Nord (station) and were delayed on the train again. Also, France is REALLY COLD.

Lets see... then today my mom let me sleep in and relax for the day, which I was very grateful for. Then we grabbed some really tasty Thai food in the neighborhood and saw Bride Wars. haha.

I know this is kind of a flavourless update, but I'm getting tired.

Also, as of the last entry, it's not the posture that makes everyone cooler.

London Calling

2009-01-08T10:41:00.001Z

I arrived in London Tuesday evening. Today's Thursday. Since then, I've been staying in a very nice hotel/apartment (or, how you say, 'flat') on City Road, checked out my new neighborhood of Islington via school, residence, and Angel marketplace-square-typething. I've also been on a terrible sleep schedule and I am paying the price.

London is everything they say it is. Grey. Rainy. Fancy. Old.
The people seem to be about 10x cooler than anyone, no offense. They have this air to them. Maybe they have better posture. Mental note: check this out today. Prove thesis.

I've enjoyed watching British television, everything seems 5x more important. (At least on the news. Although, even silly commercials like for KFC don't seem so terrible. I'm sure these people know their accent is convincing. Market! Market! Market!)

My new neighborhood is great, although I've been adviced twice so far to not walk alone at night. Seems easy enough.

Today, mom & I will be riding a boat down the Thames River. She says it's pronounced 't-ems'. We shall see. I bet it sounds more convincing if you say it British. Speaking of which, I find I've been catching myself trying out the accent on the voice in my head. Just be glad it's in.