Bitter and Sweet. Like Chocolate.

And here I am, in the Americas. It's crazy. It's weird. It's bitter (oh so bitter), but it's also sweet.

I'm actually not in the States yet, but I'm somewhere hovering over the waters (when I wrote this, I'm now posting it while at home because I don't have Wifi in mid-air...). I should be landing in about 6hrs, methinks?

First, let's talk about how bitter this is, in random order:

-Living on my own. No chores? No rules? It's not like I'm the ultimate rebel but I did enjoy my independence.

- Midnight Kebab or Burger King or whatever else we could get at such a strange time.

- Although I disliked how far the bathroom was, I actually enjoyed having a sink in my room. It's a strange but useful perk.

- London trips!!! That place is so amazing, the fun really never ends.

- Easy transportation. Yes, nothing like waiting for half an hour in the freezing cold for the N25 at 2am. Worth every minute.

- British accents. After a while I didn't even notice them anymore, but rather got annoyed by American accents being so bland. As of right now, the stewardesses still are Brits, but the moment I land it's gonna be all LIKE OMG.

- Following people with RED SHIRTS!!! aka our super, duper, lovely tour guides. *cough* Especially Tom and Becky *cough*

- Brighton! I've lived/visited many places in my short lifetime, and Brighton is so far my absolute favorite. You want the country? You want the beach? You want the nightlife? Or just good ole English beauty? IT'S GOT IT ALL.

- Having my roomed cleaned weekly. Yup.

- Constant outings/discoveries aka SHENANIGANS aka bad ideas that nobody bothered to stop from happening.

- Taking over the karaokeeee every Tuesday.

- Being considered over 18 rather than under 21.

- TEAM SUSSEXY. I love them all so. freakin'. much. They were the bow tie at the end of the present that was England. Everyone I met in general has been wonderful and I will probably continue the friendships; but these guys live all over the place and although we plan on remaining in contact by passing a letter around the world (like the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants but without the pants), I know it'll be difficult to see each other again and the mere thought breaks my heart.

- I've left England with a burned palm, a burned tongue, injured fingers, injured abdomen, an empty bank account and guesss what? COMPLETELY WORTH IT. Because I also left with a whole basket of wonderful new friends, new experiences, and yes, a new person (no silly, I didn't bring anyone, I am the new person XD).

Of course, there is some sweetness awaiting at the end of this:

- I remember leaving my family like it was 2 months ago, and I miss them dearly.

- I've brought a bunch of people back a bunch of great little knick knacks (and tales, so many tales) that I can't wait to share.

- In n Out and PANDA EXPRESS and Taco Bell!!!! Omfg.

- My own bathroom that doesn't look like it's been attacked by chewbacca.

- Mi madre's homecooking. Or just not needing to stand up and cook for myself every freakin' time I'm hungry. I like independence, but I also like free food xD

- Disneyland trips

- Mis amigos (:

- Beaches with sand? Yes. And sunshine? Heck yes.

- Work! It's so weird, I really missed work! Then again, my job is to roll around in sandboxes with a bunch of toddlers--you'd miss it too. That and I enjoy filling my bank account.

- Driving--THE CORRECT WAY. I wonder if I still know how.

- No fire alarms every other week, 6 times a day.

So, yeah, I don't know what to say anymore. I'm afraid my laptop might short circuit if I flood it with tears :'( This may or may not be my last entry on this subject, we'll see. If it is, thank you for reading and following me through an epictastic journey. Yay!

The Amount of Epic in this Post Cannot be Titled

I usually don't blog about a specific day (I usually don't blog at all...), BUT yesterday was indescribable. So I just have to describe it.

4:00: Finally go to sleep after a long, pointless but lovely talk with some great friends in their kitchen. Why? Who knows coughsotipsycough. But I got an intense massage out of it!!

8:10: Snooze.

8:20: Snooze.

....

8:50 FINE I'LL GET UP. fml. Wake up still sore from working out afew days ago, and walking into a table.

9:40 Buy group (of 4) discount ticket to London with three people I don't really know and don't care to know. I just wanted a cheap ticket because that's all the money I had left anyways.

12:00ish Ello London!! Everyone off to their own places. I need to go pick up the money my aunt transferred to me in Western London and then I'm visiting Wimbledon!!

12:20 Find out that for some reason my ticket says Aug. 22nd instead of the 19th therefore cannot be used today. When I try to exchange it, I can't because it's a group ticket so I need the rest of the group. I have no idea where this said group is. I can't call them because 1) Don't know them and 2) I'm out of money in my phone.

12:23 Realization that I'm stuck in London alone and moneyless. Keep calm and carry on??

12:26 Ask the info person how one would go to Nottinghill Gate (where my money was transferred to). He tells me to take the bus which costs £2.20.

12:30 Realize I have approximately £0.50 in my wallet. o___O

12:35 Ask some guy in a map store to direct me to Nottinghill. The quickest way? A 2-hr walk.

12:37 I sadly commence my 2-hr walk with my bag of cookies in my purse and the motto to keep calm no matter what. Because I have no choice.

12:42 Ask the info lady at the entrance of Hyde Park for directions again. When she asks why I'm making a two-hour walk and tell her my sitch. She proceeds to give me £2 pounds for the bus. God bless her!!!!!!!

13:00 Arrive at Nottinghill Gate, get my money, add money to my phone. Life is good again.

13:30 Decide to take the bus all the way to Wimbledon because I like adventures. Annnd don't want to buy another train ticket.

14:00 Among my many bus transfers across London (even though my bus ticket was apparently for one journey only), I stop in South Kensington (sp?) where there is a Natural Science museum. Free admission? Sure, why not!

15:00 Buy some food from a fake Subway, and I'm off to Wimbledon!

16:15 Arrive in the beautiful little town that is Wimbledon. I expected some majestic place but it's as if someone took a normal town, like in the country where I used to live in NorCal, and then placed an epic tennis tournament off on the side of it. I decided to walk to the courts so I could take it all in.

16:45 WIMBLEDON COURTS!!!... close in 15 minutes. :'( The tour is closed but the shop is still open. So I rush in and buy some souvenirs for my dad and "uncle"(we call him uncle but he's just family friend).

17:15 Take the train back to central London (it's only £4 from where I was) where it all started. I'm planning to go home until I arrive and remember that some friends where planning to go watch Wicked. I'm exhausted as heck, but sure why not?

18:00 Buy last-minute Wicked tickets for only £22.50!! Which is even cheaper than how much they got it for hours earlier.

19:30 Watch the most amazing musical EVER.

22:30 Still don't want to buy a train ticket home. Try my chances again with the one that says the wrong date and... get through!

0:00 I'm homeee. Holy cheeses, whattaday. Skype mom to wish her a happy anniversary and give her a quick summary of my day.

1:00 I needs sleep.

Days like this are why I never want to go home. But I have to in 7days ):

Forever Changed

This is just going to be a big blob of ramble since I have not updated in a while (this is why I don't blog). Soooo:

• I went to the homeland (Paris, France) over the long weekend between Session I and II, and it was FANTABULOUS. I was like this all 4 days: ^_________________^
• Whilst there, I visited Versaille for the first time and got into the Chateau for freeeee (because I was studying in EU and under 26yrsold).
• When I returned my easily adaptable accent was confused. French-British. Brench? Fritish?
• I met a new group of amigos from all over Europe + Canada and Mexico. And they're bomb-diggititious. We are Team Sussexy.
• We went to London DAYS before this whole riot business, and it was wonderful. I don't understand humans, ruining such a great place :/
• I actually have to return to London to receive the money my aunt transferred from France. I hopes I don't die. o.O
• (I'm currently listening to an MJ playlist. It's like an ear orgy. No, it very much is.)
• I'm sore from playing tennis and tired from being sick (AGAIN @#$%@#$). I don't understand my immune system here, in fact I think I left it in the USofA.
• I've deemed England the land of many firsts. In the last month and some I've experience some of my 'firsts' life moments. Growing up... one bad idea at a time.
• I was at the edge of a cliff! NOT. I stood like a wimp a few metres (look at me spelling it all British) away. But it was still beautiful. Here's a pic:Oooooh. Ahhhhh.
• On that note I'M HAVING THE TIME OF LIFE AND NEVER EVER WANNA LEAAAVEEEEE. (Although I do miss my mom's homecookin'. I'll take that...)
• I was thinking about how people who'd gone on the trip in previous years kept saying "it changed their lives" and I thought it was a bunch of BS. Or that they had a pretty lame life. Well, it's not even over yet but I can def say my life has been permanently altered. PERMANENTLY. O_O

Meet Me Halfway

About one month down and exactly one more to go. I'm on the middle ground about how excited I am. On one hand, it's crazy how fast this trip is going and I'm sad that some people who only came for the first session will be going home this week. On the other hand, I've had my homesick moments so I don't mind thinking about my return to comforting (and sunny!) California.

Random updates:

• I've lost my hearing. My voice is also a bit raspy, but I definitely cannot hear from as long a distance anymore o.O You can blame that on speakers from clubs and karaokes, wooh.
• Almost saw Coldplay last weekend which is on my life to-do list. Sooo close!!
• I'm running out of food and money really fast. And by that I mean if my mom doesn't not send me more by the end of this week, I'm as good as a hobo.
• Might be going to home #1--Paris--for this upcoming long weekend. I'm insanely excited for all the baked goods I'm going to consume.
• Talking about consuming, somehow, despite my low-budgeted supply of food, I eat like a freakin' cow.
• This Physics ordeal is a BLAST. /sarcasm
• Despite the missing home and being broke ordeals, if I could reside in Brighton I would. Beautiful, beautiful place. I just can't get enough.

Below are a before (1st week) and after (right now) pics of my food supply (not counting the stuff in the fridge. The bag contains rice and pasta and spices. The box of assorted cookies was mauled by a hungry teenage girl and is now empty.... sigh.

Boredom?

Today, our first set of homework and labs were finally due (yeah, I'm here for Physics 'member?) and just a few minutes ago I reached a high enough level of boredom to go wash my dishes. I'm in England, I shouldn't be getting bored, right? RIGHT?!

Wrong.

I'm an international bore. Granted, I expected this--I get bored really easily. I need to constantly be doing things. Nonetheless, this is not a bad boredom. It's a British boredom. I feel good and relaxed. Usually, back in the USofA, when I get bored I get anxious and stressed. Here the possibilities are endless: a run? a club? the beach? A run to the club that's on the beach?? Endless!!

For now, I just ate and am thus in a food coma. So my boredom is actually laziness and will leave as soon as I digest. Huh. So... this entire post is irrelevant. My bad.

PS. Happy France Day (Jour de la Bastille)!! Wrong country I know, but I would celebrate this no matter which country I was in. (:

PPS. Who's going to the midnight HP premiere??? Not me. I'm not enough of a potterhead. But I will watching it some time this weekend hopefully. Can't wait!

PPPS. I just realized my last three posts have been on national holidays: Canada, USA, France. In that order. Oh snaps.

Questions I Have

So I've made it safely to Brighton, and am already having a super blast but just as the title suggests I have a few things that I'm pondering on. So in random order...:

• Why did I wake up at 5am this morning? Even though I didn't go to bed until probably 1ish.


• How am I managing to live never knowing what time it is?? No cell, no laptop, no clock. Where am I?


• Why did I not bother check if my convertor would actually work in the UK so I could charge these things?


• Why are my parents not answering the very detailed email I sent them?


• How did we manage to sing the US National Anthem in a bus in England without getting kicked out?


• Why do I feel like I've been here for a week?


• How am I already speaking like someone who's been in Brit-land for months, dahrling?


• When will I get my tea party?


• Why does my class and the pub tour and the ice cream party and the HP premiere have to all be on the same day? I can't make these decisions!


• Why is Brighton just so darn adorable?


• Why are the pictures I'm taking so lame?


• How do I always manage to hang out with the best group of people when traveling?


• How does the stove work? I need a proper warm dinner.


• Why does the internet in my room just absolutely refuse to work?


• Why does everything open at 9am and close at 4pm?


• Why do they put vinegar on fish and chips?


• Why are (most, not all) the people that came here from UCLA so snobby?


• How am I talking to someone who is still in yesterday (in the US)? Mind blown anybody?


• Why so many seagulls and rabbits?


• Whare the @ and " key inverted? Who does that benefit??


• Is this enough questions? Will I receive answers?

I'm going to go have breakfast now as it is 7:30am. The time I thought I had woken up at. -__-"

The Clock is Ticking

The little countdown clock on the left reads 6 hours: 22 minutes: 35.. 34.. 33.... seconds.

OMG.

I kinda wanted to lie to you and say I'm sitting here nonchalantly waiting for the plane to come. But as I said, that would be a l i e. Here's the real situation:

- I have not finished packing. By this I mean, I know what I'm bringing but it's just laid out there waiting to be neatly folded and whatnot >.<

- I still feel like I'm taking a journey into the unknown. So many things can and probably will go wrong, it's just a matter of can I handle them?

- I did not have time to reserve some British Pounds from my bank for some reason. (Maybe that reason was spending all day at Disneyland, but that's besides the point...)

- I'm still slightly confused as to this whole phone thing is going to work.

- Foooood. I have a feeling I'm going to finally lose those 10lbs while abroad, which can be a good thing. Depends how its done though--starving to death is definitely not the proper way.

- I learned the difference between a converter and adapter. I feel so inteligente.

- Bring from here or buy there? The eternal question.

- I'm just tired of worrying and want to be there getting my British accent on already. Let's get-er-dun!

Nonetheless, I'm excited. This is insane, I've wanted this since my day of birth! Ish. I absolutely cannot wait, but my nerves definitely are not helping with the transition.

I would ramble more about the ordeals I have encountered in the process of getting ready but I seriously need to finish packing! XD

The next time I post I will probably be in GMT +1 *spazzes*

PS. Beware of E. Coli whilst abroad. Because, you know, I don't have enough things to worry about -__-"